“The Night Circus” by Erin Morgenstern

Let me start by saying that I loved this book. Not only was the writing great, but the story was engrossing and worked for me on many levels. Basically, it’s the story of two magicians, male and female, who are pitted against each other by their teachers. Their competition is staged within an unusual circus setting. The two eventually fall in love, and I won’t give away the ending.

While on the surface, the story probably seems similar to a hundred stories you’ve read in the past, but that’s the beauty of this book. It is really a book about the cycles of stories and how they are passed down and retold. It is the telling and retelling of stories that is important, keeping timeless tales alive by narrating them in a new way that speaks to a contemporary audience. So it’s “Romeo and Juliet,” “The Tempest,” and a dozen other stories woven together in the black and white fabric of the circus, like black ink on a white page. As one of the characters in the book states: “Old stories have a habit of being told and retold and changed. Each subsequent storyteller puts his or her mark upon it. Whatever truth the story once had is buried in the bias and embellishment. The reasons do not matter as much as the story itself.” (p. 345)

The image of the circle is a prominent motif in the book. Structurally, the story itself is circular. Rings are used to bind the two young magicians to the challenge, and ultimately to each other. The circus itself is comprised of rings. All these images tie together to reinforce the importance of the cycles of storytelling.

Another aspect of the book that I found very interesting was the dynamic between the two teachers, Hector and Alexander. They each represent a particular school of thought, Hector being the embodiment of experiential learning, while Alexander represents the classical textbook method of education. The struggle, played out by their respective students, symbolizes the conflict between the two predominant educational styles. I also noticed a similarity between the two teachers and Plato and Aristotle. Hector is more like Aristotle, appreciating the importance of the stage as a means to communicate, while Alexander is more like Plato, staying with the more private, traditional forms of learning.

On a personal level, I connected with the reveurs in the book. These are people who follow the circus from town to town, attending as many performances as possible. They reminded me of my younger days following the Grateful Dead from city to city. The reveurs are the equivalent of the deadheads, seeking to escape the ordinary by indulging themselves in a counter-culture, sharing rides and accommodations with other fans, identifying themselves by their splash of color (a touch of red for the reveurs and a tie-dye for the deadheads). I suppose there is no coincidence that taking off to follow the Grateful Dead was often referred to as the modern-day equivalent of running off to join a circus.

I could certainly write more about this book, since there are many levels to explore, but I will let you wander the tents yourself. As with any great book, the life experiences that you bring with you when you open the cover will add to the story. To quote the book: “We add our own stories, each visitor, each visit, each night spent at the circus.” (p. 223)

To Boldly Build…

I just read an article that made my geek heart flutter. An enterprising engineer wants to build a fully functional version of the Starship Enterprise. (Click here to read the article.) How cool is that? He estimates the cost at approximately $1 trillion and that it would take 20 years to build. For those of you who are as nerdy as I am, there is a site where you can follow the project (click here to check out the site).

Personally, I’m not going to get my hopes up, but I bookmarked the site and will check it out occasionally to see what is going on.

The Shame of Amendment One

“I read the news today, oh boy.”

I’ve been finding it difficult to express my disappointment this morning with the latest chapter in bigotry and intolerance: Amendment One. As I watched the church buses yesterday shuttling people to the polls to joyfully strip an entire group of citizens of their civil rights, I felt waves of disgust. I suppose I had hoped that as a society we had made more progress.

Asheville Citizen-Times columnist John Boyle eloquently sums up exactly how I feel in today’s article: “Amendment One becomes our state’s shame” (click here to read the article).

I am going to try to remain optimistic and hope that this sad event becomes the catalyst that drives the movement for equality forward.

Artificial Writers

I read an article in Wired magazine last night that fed my nightmares and caused me to wake up in a state of anxiety. The article was entitled “The Rise of the Robot Reporter” written by Steven Levy (click here to read the article online). The story explores the advances by Narrative Science, a company that successfully created an algorithm that can analyze sports and financial data, then generate well-written news articles based upon that data.

The company’s CEO and co-founder, Kristian Hammond, makes the bold prediction that within the next 15 years, 90 percent of news articles will be written by computers and that a computer will win the Pulitzer Prize in about 5 years. At first, this seemed kind of cool. I mean, I’m a geek and stuff like this is fascinating to me. In addition, who doesn’t secretly wish that the news contained more plain, factual information and a lot less spin from media with political and social agendas? But as I slept and allowed this information to percolate in my subconscious mind, I became aware of a personal threat.

I work in the field of technical communication, writing various forms of internal and external communications for a software company. Some of these documents include user and administrator guides, as well as technical reference materials. I became very aware that much of what I do could be outsourced to a computer. Essentially, I gather data, analyze it, then compile it into a format that is usable and accessible to my target audience. This is no different from what Narrative Science’s software does. For me, it doesn’t seem like a stretch to see this algorithm being applied to technical writing, where the application analyzes the code, reads the engineering notes, and determines the functionality, then generates a set of instructions or reference materials that is accurate and useful. So where would that leave me?

Over the years, I’ve learned that it is important to remain adaptable and not fear change. If technical writing becomes automated, I’ll find a new use for my skills, such as developing training materials or managing the information generated by these artificial writers. Our world is changing fast. If you can’t be flexible, you will likely end up joining the ranks of those unemployed individuals unable to use the narrow set of skills they have become dependent upon.

“Mockingjay” by Suzanne Collins

I woke early this morning and finished reading Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins, and I have to say that I enjoyed the book as much as the other ones in the trilogy. Before I go on, though, I have to warn you that there will be some spoilers in here for those who have not yet read the book.

While the first two books explored totalitarian government as represented by the Capitol, this book addresses the problems associated with a militaristic communist regime, as represented by District 13. In the book, “soldier” is used instead of “comrade,” and the propos are the propaganda materials used to sway the views of the citizens to join the rebellion. People in District 13 are forced to dress the same, given assignments and schedules, and basically discouraged from expressing individualism.

I was fascinated by the brainwashing of Peeta, because it was reminiscent of what was done to Alex in A Clockwork Orange. Peeta is given a drug (tracker jacker venom) that causes intense fear and paranoia. While under the influence, it is presumed that he is shown films of Katniss, causing him to associate his pain and terror with her. This is no different from the Ludovico Technique in Burgess’ novel. So while the concept is not new, it was certainly well done and fits perfectly in the story.

For me, the pinnacle of the story was when Katniss realizes that Coin, the leader of District 13, is no different from Snow, the Capitol’s president. Katniss concludes that the slaughter of the innocent children was staged by District 13 to turn the last citizens against the Capitol and bring the war to a swift end. This is followed by Coin deciding to have a new Hunger Games, only this time reaping tributes from the Capitol. As the scene plays out, I kept thinking about the lyrics from The Who’s classic anthem, Won’t Get Fooled Again: “Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss.”

Plutarch has a great line that really sums up the problem with society as it is presented in the book: “We’re fickle, stupid beings with poor memories and a great gift for self-destruction” (p. 274). I am inclined to agree, which is why I am grateful that Ms. Collins wrote these books. Lest we forget, she reminds us of the cruelty we are capable of, and more importantly, she also lets our young readers know.

“There Was a Child Went Forth” by Walt Whitman

Last night, I was reading poems from Leaves of Grass and came across “There Was a Child Went Forth” (click here to read it online). The poem essentially talks about how everything that a person comes in contact with, no matter how seemingly insignificant, has an impact on that person’s development. Essentially, we are the combined imprints of all that we have been exposed to. I truly believe this myself, and as a result have always sought to experience as much of life as possible and to try new things.

There was a particular stanza that resonated with me:

His own parents, he that had father’d him and she that had conceiv’d him in her womb and birth’d him,
They gave this child more of themselves than that,
They gave him afterward every day, they became part of him.

Reading this as a parent, I couldn’t help thinking about how much of an influence I have on my children. Thankfully, I seem to have had a positive impact on their lives, since they are doing far better than I was when I was their age. I suppose that is the best I can hope for, to give them a good foundation before they go forth on their own path through life.

Totalitarianism in “Catching Fire”

This book is a very fast read. It was so engaging that it was difficult to put it down. I found myself crawling out of bed at 4:00 am to get some reading in before the day started and work began dominating my mental energy.

In case you don’t know already, Catching Fire is the second book in the Hunger Games trilogy written by Suzanne Collins. Personally, I enjoyed this book better that the first one. Maybe it was because I was already invested in the characters and the story, but I think it was also the way that the book examines totalitarian government and how a totalitarian regime controls the masses.

While I was in college, I took an interdisciplinary honors seminar that had an emphasis on totalitarian government, and one of the books that made a lasting impression on me was Totalitarianism by Hannah Arendt. The book goes into detail on the social climate that gives rise to totalitarian regimes, how they gain power, and the methods they use to spread misinformation and control the masses. It’s a fascinating book and I have never looked at government and media the same since.

The Capitol in Chasing Fire is the classic totalitarian government. It uses fear and extreme forms of public punishment to control the masses. Control of resources keeps individuals weak and focused on basic survival. Finally, and most important, is media control. The government controls what images and what information is presented to the people. Never underestimate the power of the media when it comes to manipulating people.

I love that this book introduces the younger generation of readers to the threat of totalitarianism. Let’s face it, totalitarian governments still exist today, and in many countries, the sociopolitical climate is ripe for the rise of a tyrannical regime. Large groups of people are embracing the fear that is spread via media and seem willing to accept the oppression of those they fear in order to gain a sense of security. Thankfully, there are still people out there who recognize the threat and can express the dangers in a way that motivates people to stand up and face these issues. I see these brave individuals embodied in the character of Peeta:

He can use words. He obliterated the rest of the field in both interviews. And maybe it’s because of that underlying goodness that he can move a crowd–no, a country–to his side with the turn of a simple sentence. (p. 235)