Daughters of Eve by Lois Duncan

     Title: Daughters of Eve
     Author: Lois Duncan
     Publisher: Laurel Leaf
     Published: 1979
     Number of Pages: 256
     Genre(s): YA, Thriller, Suspense, Horror
     Date Read: 2002 (The 1st time...)
     Acquired: Coles (First copy) Amazon.ca (Replacement copy)

Summary: 
It's 1979 but in the small rural Michigan town of Modesta the ideals and values still scream 1950s, especially when it comes to girls, women's rights and the feminist movement. The girls at Modesta High are being driven slowly insane trapped in the anti-feminist time warp that is trying to suck them under. 

Ruth Grange has to deal with the fact that her three brothers get everything and get away with anything they want simply because they are boys, leaving Ruth to be their mother and housekeeper without a thought for her desires or dreams.  Laura Snow is the overweight girl that nobody tries to notice, for anything other than making fun of her that is, all she wants it a friend. Jane Reardon is trapped in an abusive household with a mother who won't stand up for herself let alone Jane. These three girls' lives are changed radically when they get invited to join the Modesta Chapter of the Daughters of Eve, a sorority-esque club that is home to the elite females of Modesta High and sponsered by their worldly and strong feminist art teacher, Ms. Irene Stark.

 It's more than a school club though-it's a secret society, a sisterhood, and they have a mission, to change the school, cast out the backward anti-female attitudes of not only the school but the town. At first, it seems like they are actually changing the way guys at school treat them. But then something happens and Ms. Stark begins to urge them to take more vindictive action, and it starts to feel more like revenge-brutal revenge. Some of the girls begin to question the group's actions, and Ms. Stark's motives and past,  but they are ultimately blinded and bound by their oath of loyalty and so the Daughters of Eve become instruments of vengeance. Can one of them find the courage to break the spell before real tragedy strikes and there's no going back?

Review:
I enjoyed this book so much that when I went to reread it about 5 years after first acquiring it and I couldn't find my copy I went out and bought a new copy.

This is a pretty dark and gritty novel, but one shouldn't expect anything less from the author of I Know What You Did Last Summer. It's also a very powerful novel, showcasing the results of what one negative influence can do to a group of people, especially a group of young, malleable &  impressionable people like the girls here. Irene Stark has a dark past and as you get further into the novel you can see just how unhinged she truly is to be capable of doing what she does to these girls. She could have benefited from counselling, it's this type of person that when you hear about them in real life you have to ask yourself how they even managed to become teachers and ask why we don't give psychological screenings to educators?

Another running theme in this novel is what happens when you give in to negative peer pressure, a club like this with binding oaths to secrecy, where the stronger members can force their will on the weaker characters and make them do things they wouldn't normally do if not for the pressure of being accepted and being part of an elite group, these are very real things that teenagers, girls especially, deal with on a daily basis. The girls in Daughters of Eve go down some very dark paths thanks to peer pressure. It's also interesting to pinpoint the moment where it goes from being simple peer pressure to mob rule. Very horrific to picture as you're reading it.

Duncan manages to explore those themes completely and thoroughly in under 300 pages, which I find incredibly impressive for such hugely loaded themes. Another aspect that impresses me is the way she manages to actually develop all of the many characters within the novel in such a short length. Other reviewers complained that she tried to take on too many characters and that many just ended up being stereotypes. I am inclined to respectfully disagree with that opinion, that is theirs and I have my own. I don't mind trope-y characters, tropes in characterisation fill a need. So yes you've got the brainy girl in Fran and the man-eating girl who of course is named Bambi as two examples, but both of these characters are much more fleshed out than that. Fran for instance ends up bonding with a boy, and emotionally and interpersonally she's actually one of the stronger voices amongst the girls and they all respect her and look up to her as a leader, where as the stereotype usually has the very brainy girl as being a wallflower, loner, plain or unattractive etc. Duncan makes certain that all of the Daughters of Eve are very real and very relatable, I remember the first time I read finding different aspects of myself within a few of the girls and that makes it very easy and enjoyable to connect to the book.

And now that I'm talking about it I want to re-read it again! Maybe I will!

--Ren

Pacific Vortex! by Clive Cussler

                                                                        

     Title: Pacific Vortex! (Dirk Pitt #1)
     Author: Clive Cussler
     Publisher: Bantam Books
     Published: January 1, 1983 
     Number of Pages: 93 
     Genre(s): Action, Suspense, Thriller
     Date Read: July, 2012
     Acquired: Waterloo Public Library

Summary: 
PacificVortex! opens with a reflection on famous ships that have sunk in the Pacific Ocean leading into a narrative of the story of Commander Felix Dupree the commanding officer on the newest submarine in the United States navy, the Starbuck, which is on its maiden voyage to Hawai’i. In the tradition of suspense novels, by the end of this prologue the Starbuck is inexplicably lost at sea in extremely mysterious circumstances. Fade to black, fade back in 6 months later on beautiful stretch of Hawaiian beach and up from the water pops, Dirk Pitt, the intrepid star of Pacific Vortex! He’s a former Army Major now working as the number one operative for NUMA (the National Underwater and Marine Agency, which is also totally a real life organisation founded by Clive Cussler.), who happens to be on vacation on the exact beach where a message capsule from the doomed submarine washes ashore; cue the ominous theme music. The message capsule, of course, contains a cryptic account of the Starbuck’s fate makes him immediately suspicious and allows Dirk to connect with the U.S. Navy’s elite salvage operation running out of Pearl Harbour. This is Dirk Pitt’s element; the Salvage team brings him on board and puts him in charge of the operation to find the Starbuck. Pitt risks his life, almost dying several times while he doggedly unravels the mystery of not only the Starbuck’s disappearance but the mysterious fate of thirty more ships who were all also downed in the strange Pacific vortex which has been likened to the Bermuda Triangle, and what he discovers is a shocking surprise that is almost unbelievable!

Review:

The Associated Press, in their review of the novel, which is quoted on the back cover, called Dirk Pitt the Indiana Jones of oceanography; and Clive Cussler himself states in the Forward that when he set out to write this series he was looking to create a character who wasn’t a spy or a detective or a police man which are the stereotypes of the suspense genre. He has definitely succeeded in doing that . The marine and island settings were unusual for this genre back when it was first published. The norm was (and still largely is) cities, with car chases and political intrigue. Cussler broke that mould with Pacific Vortex! A year later Tom Clancy's most well known suspense hero, Jack Ryan, showed up in a submarine thriller, The Hunt for Red October, the 4th book in Clancy's series. I haven't read the Clancy series yet, but from what I can surmise from the summaries, that was the first time Jack Ryan had taken to the sea.

As with most suspense novels that I've read, this one is told in third person perspective and the focus is on following the lead character as he dives head first into the thrilling action that shows us the dangers and perils associated with oceanography and salvaging. What makes this particular plot interesting to me is that it’s not just solely about the action, there is a mystery to solve; clues to follow and conclusions to reach, which makes you invested in the story and gets you right in there with the main character. For me, someone who has a completely irrational fear of sharks and drowning and mild claustrophobia the settings succeeded in making me feel very uneasy at times which definitely added to the suspense of the story for me.

Overall I feel that Pacific Vortex! is a solid example of a suspense thriller thanks to its pacing, it is action packed while also being thought provoking. I really enjoyed this novel and I would recommend it to others. I don’t know if I’ll continue with the whole series but I’ll probably end up reading at least a few more because Dirk Pitt is a very engaging character and the oceanographic adventures are absolutely intriguing to me. That being said I know that Cussler's later books are not written by him, I've been told that he just writes the outlines and hires other people to write the stories based on those. I've read books by other authors who have done that and I have found them problematic and disappointed so I might just steer clear.

This book was written by Cussler though and Dirk’s humour and curiosity kept me into it the entire time and I think they’ll do the same for you.

--Ren

First Read Friday - Casino Royale by Ian Fleming

                                                                         

     Title: Casino Royale
     Author: Ian Fleming 
     Publisher: Penguin 
     Published: 1953 
     Number of Pages: 181 
     Genre(s): Thriller, Action, Suspense
     Date Read: January 11, 2013
     Acquired: Waterloo Public Library

Summary: 
His name is Bond, James Bond. He's slick, suave, and dashing; also ruthless, cold and calculating, all of the ingredients that make a spy like 007 good at his job. If you happen to be the head of British MI6 and you have a job that needs doing, you call on James Bond because he's the best. That's exactly why M chooses him for a very important mission at the Casino at Royale in France. MI6 has the chance to bring down a big fish in the Soviet intelligence network, Le Chiffre, but only if they can beat him at one of the things he does best; gambling, in this case baccarat. Bond is the nine up M's sleeve, the best card player in the service, so he sends him in to clean Le Chiffre out. 

You'd think from all the boozing and gambling that Bond was on a holiday, but he wants you to know he's very serious about his work. Royale isn't all fun and games, there are dangerous Soviet spies running around with bombs and guns hidden in ordinary every day objects! His room is being bugged! He's not in the game alone though, Mathis the French agent is at his side, along with another British agent, Miss Vesper Lynd, who is so beautiful, composed, and focussed on the mission that Bond names a drink after her and then falls for her, but only after the job is done! He also meets his American counterpart, and future best friend, in Felix Leiter, who gallops in on a white steed to save Bond at his hour of need right when he's about to fail his mission. With the help of these three he manages to fulfil his mission parameters but then he is betrayed, and captured, as one would expect from a spy novel. 

There's a twist at the end, and it's as bitter for Bond as the lemon twist in his signature Vesper martini.

Review:
The character of 007 is one of the most well known literary and film characters in existence. Almost everyone knows at least one thing about James Bond; even if it's just the catchy tune they created for the theme of the movies. I'm young enough that the first James Bond I ever knew was Pierce Brosnan. It wasn't until late 2012 though, thanks to the 50th anniversary hype, that I decided instead of just knowing trivia tidbits about James Bond I should probably watch the movies, so that's where I started. I grabbed 3 of the movies that I could get my hands on through the local public library and I watched them. I was immediately hooked. The films are fun and entertaining to watch; so I went out and bought all of them and spent December working my way through them. Halfway through I figured that since I was enjoying the films so much I should probably give the books a try.

That was how I came to acquire Casino Royale from the library. I like to start at the beginning of things and this is Fleming's first Bond adventure. It's well written and it's what one expects from a spy thriller, especially when one remembers that Fleming and Bond helped set the tone for all of the espionage and political thrillers that abound in the reading market today. Is it perfect? Of course not, if you analyse it through the lens of 21st century values, morals and culture, like the vast majority of the reviews on GoodReads seem to do unfortunately, it falls apart. But good literature analysis practice dictates that you have to analyse the book according to its context which means that you must think about the book in terms of the values, morals and culture of the target audience at the time when it was written. I find it supremely disappointing that this guiding principle has gone out the window with this particular book.

 It is a good book in my opinion, but my opinion takes context into consideration. If I take context out of the equation, then I am left with pure hatred for the literary Bond; the character is a brash, boorish, racist, sexist, arrogant pig of a man that defies all aspects of being a decent human being in our society. That's the key, in our society, Fleming's Bond doesn't live in our society, he lives in 1950s, Cold War era, Britain; in a time and place where his behaviours and attitudes were still considered normal by most and ideal by some. The target audience for Bond's escapades saw the type of man Bond is as the model of masculinity and there's nothing wrong with that because those were the values and beliefs of their time. Values and beliefs change over time because we as humans assimilate knowledge and information to grow and change. The producers knew that and that's why they toned down the silver screen Bond, somewhat, when compared to the literary Bond. 

So the lesson here is take it for what it is, judge it based on its context and you'll find it an enjoyable read, try and force it into the lines of the 21st century value set and you're going to have a bad time.

And talking of bad times? I am firmly of the mind set that both Fleming and the producers all missed out on a chance to make Bond truly timeless and immortal. The Bond character should have been like the Dread Pirate Roberts from The Princess Bride, it should have been a job title (007) and code name (James Bond) that went along with the job instead of having James Bond be a real man. Think how epic that would be?! Especially in terms of the movies! Instead of trying to suspend our disbelief whenever a new actor takes on the roll and completely changes the character, or wrestle with believing the fact that supposedly Bond's apparently been in his 30s for the last 50 years, we could have been happily enjoying the premise of each new actor being a successor to the previous James Bond, taking over the title and code name upon the death or retirement of his predecessor. 

Seriously, think about it!

--Ren