Ms. Gardzalla reviews a book, pt. 1

In college, I majored in English.  I loved it, even if it isn't making my current job search any easier.  Since one of my few marketable skills is reading the shit out of some books, I figured I'd give reviewing them a try.

Several weeks ago, I was stuck in Union Station for eight hours waiting on a train.  Luckily, there was a Barnes and Nobles there, meaning I could keep myself entertained.  My Facebook news feed had recently been devoured by posts about The Hunger Games movie, so I thought there wouldn't be any harm in giving the book a go.

BASICS:

The Hunger Games is a 2008 young adult novel by Suzanne Collins.  Many hipster douches are quick to point out that the novel/movie is a "ripoff" of the 2000 Japanese film "Battle Royale."  They do this in hopes of sounding cultured and smart, but since they didn't point this out four years ago, I'm forced to conclude these people just don't read books.

Anyway, the basic plot of The Hunger Games is that in a futuristic, post-apocalyptic nation known as "Panem," children are annually selected to compete in  The Hunger Games, which is a televised fight to the death.  The protagonist, a sixteen-year-old girl named Katniss, volunteers in place of her younger sister Prim, surely sealing her own fate.  *SPOILERS* OKAY LET'S IGNORE THAT FOR THE ENTIRE BOOK IT'S PRETTY MUCH IMPLIED KATNISS WINS *END SPOILERS*

Overall, I enjoyed the book.  It was an entertaining, captivating read, and it certainly made the eight hour wait and seven hour train ride go by much quicker.  A lot of people out there are (wrongfully) comparing the book to Twilight.  Having read both series, I really don't see that.  The main focus of Twilight was the romance between Bella and Edward, and eventually the series came to focus on the love triangle between Bella, Edward, and Jacob.  While there is romantic tension in The Hunger Games, it's hardly the focus, and the triangle between Gale, Peeta, and Katniss has been seriously overplayed by idiots.  In fact, one of the reasons why I liked Katniss so much as a protagonist is that she doesn't seem to get bogged down by typical teenage crap.  Given if I were in an arena with twenty-some-odd people who were trying to kill me, I probably wouldn't be worried what the cute guy in my science class was doing either, but then again, that's just me.

It's a sizeable length book-- three hundred some pages, split into three parts.  But it doesn't feel nearly that long.  Every chapter ends on a cliffhanger of sorts, so I found myself stopping in the middle of chapters when I needed to take a break, go to work, or go to sleep.  After I finished the first book, I decided I liked it enough to read the two sequels.  I bought the sequels, even though they're only available in hardcover, which is something I almost never do.  And while it might not be a grand literary masterpiece, it's certainly entertaining as hell, and that counts for something.  I'd definitely recommend it to anyone.

OVERALL I'd give it four out of five. 

On Mad Men...

It's taken long enough, but I've finally started watching Mad Men.  I was hesitant to get into it, but I'm a huge fan of Christina Hendricks, and it's popular enough to be a good small-talk piece.  There's a lot of small-talk in Washington.  Sometimes it's nice not to have it be about politics.

If you haven't seen last Sunday's episode, I'm not going to spoil it for you.  It was the first Mad Men episode I'd seen in a long time, and I remember thinking through most of the episode "Man, Don Draper is kind of a douche."  But here's the thing.  I think that's the appeal of Don Draper.

There's been a phenomenon that I've observed recently.  I'm going to call it the Rise of the Man Child.  I think everyone's encountered one.  They're portrayed in films such as Knocked Up as being kind of heroes.  I think Judd Apatow has pretty much made a career off this genre. I mean who wouldn't want to be these guys?  They get to sit around all day, smoke pot, play video games, and they always end up somehow getting a girl that's way too hot for them.  And she is totally into them.

Sounds like the life, right?  Being in a state of perpetual adolescence means you get to cleverly avoid all the responsibilities of going to college, graduating, getting a job, and contributing anything to society.  You can be a twenty-four-year old male with a weird obsession with My Little Pony and this is considered normal...ish, anyway.  Want to stay up until four in the morning playing video games with your bros?  Go right ahead!  Keep count of how many beers you can shotgun while you're at it.  That's really appealing.

So I got to thinking about Don Draper, and I remembered reading an article that named him the most influential man of 2009.  Don Draper is a hugely flawed character-- he's a chain-smoking, overworked, alcoholic who is constantly cheating on his wife.  A lot of times on the show, he comes across as being (technical term here) "kind of a douche."

Yet so many men out there want to be him. 

Why?  And why do so many women want him?

I'm a dyed-in-the-wool feminist, and I will freely admit that I find the Don Draper character pretty damn appealing.  And I will tell you why:

Don Draper is a man.

I understand the appeal of wanting a man who will share his feelings with you.  I do.  And there is a lot to be said about emotional openness in a relationship.  Yes, Don Draper is an island that is totally sealed off.  But he is in control.  He ACTS like a man.  He's not obsessed with comic books.  He doesn't piss time away on stupid shit.  Don Draper exists to contrast the Man Child.

My friend Rich summed it up pretty well.  "Men want to act like boys, then get mad when women don't treat them like men."

And this PostSecret makes a good point too: