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3.37 AVERAGE
3.37 AVERAGE
Great ideas and some deeply chilling scenes (that one at the friend's house while the credits play on a cliche sit-com still haunts me today) but it just felt a little jumbled though. But it's a cool concept and mostly fun to read. I liked this!
Tackling the increasing adolescent problem of eating disorders has been done with literature many times, but not like this; this it’s a mouth-watering idea (que rim-shot). An attempt to take on anorexia utilising the mythology of the Horseman of the Apocalypse is a concept never dabbled in before, I can assure you, and it’s a stunning, shocking, and frank look at both the illness, and the allegorical characters. The two subjects are weaved together intricately, when Lisa, our heroine, is given the position of Famine, and thus, the ability to control the world’s hunger. Kessler explores the emotional and psychological factors behind the illness, by introducing her character to a world where people don’t have enough to eat, and the terrible repercussions of malnutrition. Despite it’s thin (boom!) stature, the content of this novel(la?) is actually pretty meaty (haha!), delving into the daily life on an anorexic, and even a bulimic, how it affects relationships and self-esteem, and vise-versa. We start at the lowest point in Lisa’s life, whereby she tries to overdose, and instead receives the scales and stead of Famine. Even then we’re kept on route with Lisa’s natural world, following her throughout her reluctant new career, and her attempts to maintain a “normal” life.
Characters are depicted by the third-person-viewpoint of the protagonist, at war with a world she can’t quite digest (dum-dum-tish), and for this reason readers are shown the difficulties placed on the loved ones of those effected by an eating disorder. Kessler portrays the circumstances surrounding anorexia, the need for control, the lack of self-esteem, and the break-down of familial relationships. Lisa has a boy-friend, an estranged mother, a reassuring bulimic best-friend, and a neglected ex-friend; amazingly, Kessler manages to delve into each on of these threads individually, taking on all aspects of hiding an illness along the way. Characters are realistic, but protagonist centric, and strangely, given the subject matter of the story, this doesn’t hinder the book, only furthers to increase tension, and stress the seriousness of Lisa’s emotional pain. On the flip side, we have the majestic characters, Death and Rage being the most prominent, equipped with their own brand of quirky, and oddly, introducing the satirical elements of the narrative. Death spurts one liners worthy of a brick-wall-backdrop, while Rage engages with another part of Lisa’s persona. They’re an interesting take on the mythos, but we never hear about their personal struggles (I’m told there are sequels to come, involving their rise as deities). In fact, the book could have been a lot thicker, and bitten deeper into the world of the Horsemen, and the gut-wrenching pains of hunger, but instead we are given a few brief, but significant glimpses of life without enough to eat, establishing further Lisa’s confusing complex with food. This both accentuates the protagonists plight, and yet dismisses any true comparison between people who have hunger forced upon them, and those who suffer through it because of an eating disorder. A shame, but not something which really bucks the plot.
The plot is solid, short but to the point, and leading to all the obvious life lessons you would expect, without all the obvious, cheesy (cheesy, ha! You get it? … okay, thus ends the bad food related humour) plot points. I was impressed by an unexpected twist towards the end, which really grounded the severity of the novel’s themes. As someone whose never had to deal with Anorexia, it was an insight into a hidden world, mixed with emotive moral choices, and paranormal elements which reinforced eating disorders as a physiological conditioning. Quick and powerful and gripping.
Did you like this review? Let me know if you think I can do better somehow, or tell me what you thought of this read, in the comments at http://aliceradwell.wordpress.com/2011/09/05/hunger-jackie-morse-kessler/.
Characters are depicted by the third-person-viewpoint of the protagonist, at war with a world she can’t quite digest (dum-dum-tish), and for this reason readers are shown the difficulties placed on the loved ones of those effected by an eating disorder. Kessler portrays the circumstances surrounding anorexia, the need for control, the lack of self-esteem, and the break-down of familial relationships. Lisa has a boy-friend, an estranged mother, a reassuring bulimic best-friend, and a neglected ex-friend; amazingly, Kessler manages to delve into each on of these threads individually, taking on all aspects of hiding an illness along the way. Characters are realistic, but protagonist centric, and strangely, given the subject matter of the story, this doesn’t hinder the book, only furthers to increase tension, and stress the seriousness of Lisa’s emotional pain. On the flip side, we have the majestic characters, Death and Rage being the most prominent, equipped with their own brand of quirky, and oddly, introducing the satirical elements of the narrative. Death spurts one liners worthy of a brick-wall-backdrop, while Rage engages with another part of Lisa’s persona. They’re an interesting take on the mythos, but we never hear about their personal struggles (I’m told there are sequels to come, involving their rise as deities). In fact, the book could have been a lot thicker, and bitten deeper into the world of the Horsemen, and the gut-wrenching pains of hunger, but instead we are given a few brief, but significant glimpses of life without enough to eat, establishing further Lisa’s confusing complex with food. This both accentuates the protagonists plight, and yet dismisses any true comparison between people who have hunger forced upon them, and those who suffer through it because of an eating disorder. A shame, but not something which really bucks the plot.
The plot is solid, short but to the point, and leading to all the obvious life lessons you would expect, without all the obvious, cheesy (cheesy, ha! You get it? … okay, thus ends the bad food related humour) plot points. I was impressed by an unexpected twist towards the end, which really grounded the severity of the novel’s themes. As someone whose never had to deal with Anorexia, it was an insight into a hidden world, mixed with emotive moral choices, and paranormal elements which reinforced eating disorders as a physiological conditioning. Quick and powerful and gripping.
Did you like this review? Let me know if you think I can do better somehow, or tell me what you thought of this read, in the comments at http://aliceradwell.wordpress.com/2011/09/05/hunger-jackie-morse-kessler/.
This was a very interesting read and definitely not what I expected! Everyone should read!
Wow. This was such a powerful book. I remember when I was younger, having an eating disorder. It was horrible. This book shows you the terror behind it while also intertwining the supernatural element. The plot was great, the story line was sad, but I cannot wait to finish this series. Very powerful statement.
Page 42:
I just started this and, as much as I like the writing style and the idea behind this whole series, one thing isn't sitting right with me: Kurt Cobain as Death? If this is true, I will be rating this book/series down due to blatant disrespect for Cobain... So far, it's looking good... But we'll see.
Page 49: This book is about to get a one star for implying that Kurt Cobain would ever use the word "Yo."
Finished: This book was good, it moved along nicely and had very few lulls in the plot, which was kind of a given seeing how short the book is... The only thing I really disliked, besides the blatant disrespect for Cobain, is the fact that we don't really have the chance to connect to Lisa, the main character. Despite other characters in the book saying "You're not acting like yourself," or "this isn't you," we don't really KNOW who Lisa IS. All we get is that she's a sick, anorexic girl who wants to be normal but who was she before that? Who IS Lisa?
I'm hoping that the second instalment allows us to get to know the main character on a deeper level.
I just started this and, as much as I like the writing style and the idea behind this whole series, one thing isn't sitting right with me: Kurt Cobain as Death? If this is true, I will be rating this book/series down due to blatant disrespect for Cobain... So far, it's looking good... But we'll see.
Page 49: This book is about to get a one star for implying that Kurt Cobain would ever use the word "Yo."
Finished: This book was good, it moved along nicely and had very few lulls in the plot, which was kind of a given seeing how short the book is... The only thing I really disliked, besides the blatant disrespect for Cobain, is the fact that we don't really have the chance to connect to Lisa, the main character. Despite other characters in the book saying "You're not acting like yourself," or "this isn't you," we don't really KNOW who Lisa IS. All we get is that she's a sick, anorexic girl who wants to be normal but who was she before that? Who IS Lisa?
I'm hoping that the second instalment allows us to get to know the main character on a deeper level.
I actually really liked this book. I think the subject of anorexia is one that is very overlooked sometimes. I liked the irony in a girl who was anorexic being in charge of famine. I liked that the other riders, Death, War, and Pestilence, were portrayed in a somewhat different way than you normally see. I like the choice that Famine was given. This book did speak to me personally, not that I'm anorexic, but that I struggle with weight, and I understand the feeling of looking in the mirror, and what you see is not what others see. There are times I leave my home and I thought what I put on looked good in my mirror. Then I get to school and walk by a window and see my reflection and hate how fat I look. Or I'm somewhere like a party, in an outfit I planned and thought made me look really good, then I see a picture later and think wow, how fat I really am, and why don't I see that in the mirror when I look. And then other people will say how good I look, and I don't think I look like that. For a long time, when I was younger, I never understood how anorexics could look in a mirror and feel fat, when all I saw was barely any person there. But now that I can't trust my own eyes when I look in a mirror, I get it. And I think this book showcases that very well. I like that at the end it isn't just easy for her to begin eating and be normal. She thinks she can, but soon that "thin voice" is back in her head telling her how many calories, or minutes exercising each food will cost her. And making her feel guilty for even thinking of eating one french fry.
I look forward to reading the next one in the series, Rage. This was a quick read, as it is a short book, and I think there could probably have been more detail to flesh the story out and make it last a bit longer if there was anything that wasn't perfect about the book, that's it.
I look forward to reading the next one in the series, Rage. This was a quick read, as it is a short book, and I think there could probably have been more detail to flesh the story out and make it last a bit longer if there was anything that wasn't perfect about the book, that's it.
This is closer to 3.5-3.75. Good story,fast read-anorexic girl as famine.Two stories nicely meshed,not done as an issue novel which would have been annoying. Really like the character of death-is that the rock star fangirl in me showing thru? Looking forward to the next volume
Are you ever supposed to enjoy a book about anorexia? Because I think I just did and I'm feeling a little guilty. My review: http://bit.ly/hungerjmk
Plot: The premise of this book is very alluring. The concept of an anorexic chick being chosen as Famine is brilliant. The author, Jackie Morse Kessler, attributes the idea coming from a comic book at the end of the book but either way, the execution of the idea is wonderful.
Characters: Lisa! This girl has major food issues. She has a “thin voice” that tells her exactly how many calories are in each food item she thinks about eating... tells her that she’s fat.. and the whole time you just want to yell at Lisa to STOP LISTENING!
Read rest of this review at http://pensivebookeaters.blogspot.com/2010/09/hunger-review.html
Characters: Lisa! This girl has major food issues. She has a “thin voice” that tells her exactly how many calories are in each food item she thinks about eating... tells her that she’s fat.. and the whole time you just want to yell at Lisa to STOP LISTENING!
Read rest of this review at http://pensivebookeaters.blogspot.com/2010/09/hunger-review.html
This was a fast read.
And also not really what I was expecting. While this book dealt with Lisa's battle with anorexia and being Famine on top of it, I'm curious to see how the rest of the series will pan out.
And also not really what I was expecting. While this book dealt with Lisa's battle with anorexia and being Famine on top of it, I'm curious to see how the rest of the series will pan out.