Spinning Silver Reviewed by Zhaoxin Sun

           I read “Spinning Silver” by Naomi Novik. The novel follows the stories of three women: Miryem, daughter of an overly lenient moneylender who learns to return gold out of investments of silver, Wanda, daughter of a physically abusive drunkard, and Irina, daughter of a duke who weds her to a handsome tsar. Through complications involving demons, magic, and parallel kingdoms, the group finds themselves trapped in a dangerous situation between magical and moral paths.

            The book is narrated by six people, primarily by the three female characters. The narration itself is remarkable because of the rich metaphors and imagery, but this book stands out to me because of its creative use of folk tales. It incorporates elements of different tales like the giving tree next to Cinderella’s mother’s grave, a golden dress, turning a material into gold in big storerooms, and a witch’s house for shelter of brother and sister, among many other elements. Most reimagined fairy tales have a forced feel to them, like the author is determined to be unexpected and write a drastic twist. In “Spinning Silver,” however, the tales are woven together seamlessly and make complete logical sense in respect to the situations of the characters.

            Another parallel between this novel and fairy tales is the satisfying happy ending, but Novik avoided the clear cut good and evil that is often in other tales. This book does an excellent job pointing out the nuances of moral code in these stories. There were somewhat good, bad, and truly terrible moral classifications, but almost everything is a gray area. For example, Miryem’s father was a generous and undemanding money lender. This kind of behavior would usually be portrayed as altruistic and ultimately rewarded, but this novel gives much harder realism when their only reward is scorn, sickness, and starvation until Miryem decides she will do what her father refuses to. This novel still has strong moral messages, though. Empathetic love transcends greed, pride, and even a more selfish kind of love. Major decisions are made in the spirit of sacrifice and empathy, and the true happy ending is only earned through them.

            Something that struck me was the depiction of contrasting moral codes and customs in the kingdoms. The values and personalities of characters and their settings were clearly well thought out. The entire world was well considered, including the characters’ living conditions and settings, how that affected their thinking patterns and moral codes, and how those, in turn, affected decision making. This is one of the most deliberately planned books I have ever read.

            I highly recommend “Spinning Silver.” The plot is relatively predictable at some points, but the thoughtfulness that has gone into the story is plenty to appreciate by itself. For those who have been amused by Grimm’s fairy tales, I think this book is a fresh and well written mash-up that you may enjoy!

 

"Fahrenheit 451" by Ray Bradbury

  

 For a few years, I have seen the classic Fahrenheit 451 on book lists, and heard about it from teachers and friends. Recently, I got a chance to read it myself. I had already heard some basic things about the story. I knew that it was about a fireman in a dystopian world where the job of firemen is to burn books, but I did not know much more than that. When  I read the book, there were some interesting details in it that surprised me.

    I think that in dystopian books, it is often the case that there is one evil person or government official behind whatever it is that is wrong with the world. The people are often unhappy and know that it is bad, but are too scared to do anything to fix it. However, in Fahrenheit 451, it is not like that. It was the people that started hating books and the government supported them, instead of being the one forcing change. At the beginning of the book, the protagonist, Guy Montag, meets his new neighbor, a girl named Clarisse who introduces him to a new way of thinking. Clarisse believes in the importance of things like discussing topics like happiness, looking at nature and the world, and exploring. These are things that no one has time for in the world Guy Montag lives in, but he likes Clarisse and becomes interested in the things she says and in the books she believes in. This leads to the action Guy Montag takes later in the story. 

    As inventions and activities started getting faster and faster, people no longer wanted to take the time to read a book, discuss things, or spend time in nature. They preferred to watch shows instead because it was easier and required less effort to enjoy. As people became less and less interested in books, the government made owning books illegal, which resulted in firemen like Guy Montag burning the books and houses of people that owned books. I think that this message of forgetting books because of doing things with increased speed is relevant to today because technology is getting better, allowing us to do things faster and people often do not take the time to do things slowly. It is important that we continue to read anyway.

    Another thing that I found interesting, was that the captain of the firemen, captain Beatty and a few other firemen had also read books before. Captain Beatty himself was curious about books at one point and read them. He even quotes books at points throughout the book. I thought this was interesting because it shows that books made a huge impact on people. Although he thought that books were useless, Captain Beatty did not just forget all the books he ever read. He remembers what the books say and he even quotes them to prove his points, including the point that books are bad. The books make an impact on Guy Montag too. In just a short while, he becomes so involved with books and knowledge that he is willing to take drastic measures to protect books.

    Fahrenheit 451 shows that books are important and influential and should not be forgotten. The book itself, is no exception. I would recommend this book if you are interested in reading a classic or a Dystopian book.

-Maya V.