#15: The Physiognomy

Ford, Jeffrey: The Physiognomy. New York: Avon Books, 1997. Print. 218 pages.
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SETTING: The Well-Built City, a world ruled by a merciless man, called The Master, who believes it is appropriate to exterminate people based on their physiognomies in order to create a utopia.  
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SUMMARY: Physiognomist Cley uses his observations and measurements of people's physical features (i.e. eye color, width of the bridge of the nose, length of the great toe nail, whether or not a mole has a long strand of hair on it... I can keep going but for brevity's sake, I'll stop here.) to assess their characters and then use that information to kill or imprison the characteristically impure members of that world in order to stop them from marring it.
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FAVORITE QUOTE: "'It doesn't matter what we were, Cley.  I was no innocent; none of us were.  We will head for paradise.  There is no room for hatred there.'" - Chapter 13, page 89.
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Although I'm from Southern California, I have a love for the Bay Area that Los Angeles can never hope to compete with.  I had to visit San Francisco and Berkeley one last time before leaving for the East Coast, and during that week long trip I headed to Moe's Bookstore, one of Berkeley's biggest used book stores.  Not only is Moe's full of used books, but it has FOUR FLOORS of used books!  (For those who don't know or don't remember, I prefer used over new books because used books have so much more character and history.)  It's been a few months now since I bought this book at Moe's, but I somehow forgot about it.  Oops!  It was a completely random pick too, chosen because I liked the title.  And, hoooooooly crap!  This is by far the weirdest book I have ever read.  EVAR.
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Things I liked about this book:

1. A whole lot goes on in a little more than 200 pages.  It's quite impressive.
2. It's so bizarre!!  The author definitely has some strange things going on upstairs, but it's undoubtedly brilliant.
3. The protagonist's arrogance is literally smacked out of him after about the first quarter of the book.  I wish this was a more common occurrence in reality... there are way too many arrogant people out there who are not nearly as awesome as they think they are.
4. The sulphur mine workers eventually turn into sulphur statues.  The explanation goes as follows: they spend so much of their lives exposed to the sulphur dust that it mixes with their biology, eventually taking over and solidifying the former mine worker into a statue.  Somewhat parallel to what mine workers, throughout history and in present time, experience(d), no?  They spend their adult lives working in the mines, only to die of some, usually respiratory-related, illness for which their exposures to dust and toxins in the mines were the direct cause.
5. The protagonist's arrogance leads him to botch a plastic surgery on the woman he is in love with. Her face is so damaged that anyone who looks at her is instantly killed.  Great example of how carelessness and arrogance can have serious consequences.  If you haven't picked up on it yet, I can't stand arrogant people!

Things I didn't like about this book and/or found strange:

1. Loads of violence and gruesome torture methods are used throughout the entire book.
2. The characters in this book use an opiate called "sheer beauty."  It is used intravenously, which led me to conclude that it is probably something along the lines of heroine.  What was really disconcerting was that the protagonist feels the need to use it while doing procedures because (a) he's addicted and (b) he thinks it enhances his performance as a physiognomist.  
3. The author could have done a lot more with this story.  It seemed like it was only half developed.  Perhaps he was going for that, but I would have enjoyed it more if it had a stronger story line.

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Again, this was such a strange book!  There were some amusing parts that made me smirk, but it was otherwise just one weird occurrence after another.  I won't go so far as saying it was a waste of a read, because there is rarely such a thing (I can't say never because I have read some books that felt like a waste of time (case in point: the second and third Hunger Games)).  However, the history behind physiognomy and its use in the past to assess character is very interesting.  In all honesty, I think I had more fun researching the history of physiognomy than reading the book, but its the book that inspired me to conduct the research, so for that I'm grateful.
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Recommend?  No.  But yes if really weird dystopias are your cup of tea.

#4: Catching Fire

Collins, Suzanne: Catching Fire. New York: Scholastic, 2009. Print. 391 pages.
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SETTING: The country of Panem (a post-apocalyptic world where North America once existed), sometime in the future.
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SUMMARY: Every 25 years, a special edition of the Hunger Games is held, and with the 75th Hunger Games approaching and Panem in a state of unrest after the conclusion of the 74th Hunger Games, tension and rebellious rumblings are growing.   The rules have become such that the authorities will not hesitate to make changes that will preserve the "peace" and stop a repeat of the unrest that led to the formation of the Hunger Games 75 years ago.
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FAVORITE QUOTE: "'It's good.  You're good with this healing stuff,' he says. 'It's in your blood.'
'No,' I say, shaking my head. 'I got my father's blood.' The kind that quickens during a hunt, not an epidemic." - Chapter 22, page 322.
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After the kick-assness that was exhibited in Book One, with the excellent descriptions of the blood, gore, and mayhem that is the Hunger Games, I started Book Two with the assumption that I'd find myself comfortably situated in a similar atmosphere.  To be blunt, I was gravely disappointed.  The first half of the book is too mushy for my taste, and the second half did not live up to my expectations.  The ending redeemed the story in the slightest of ways, but I'm also aware that I'll probably have to read the third installment before I can make a final decision regarding the merit of the entire series.  Again, referring to The Lord of the Rings, the second movie became my favorite after I watched the third movie.  Perhaps something similar will happen?  You'll have to wait until I finish and review Book Three to find out!
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Things I liked about this book:

1. Individuals who should be adversaries team up for a central cause.  I love stories where people from different backgrounds, who are expected to kill each other at the first opportunity as is the case in this scenario, join together to fight for a common goal.
2. The toxic fog/gas that causes nerve failure and muscle spasms.  The biology enthusiast in me was very excited by the mechanics of this event!
3. The arena designed as a clock, although I thought they figured it out just a little too quickly.
4. Wedding dress --> POOF!  FLAMES! --> Mockingjay dress.

Things I didn't like about this book:

1. Waaaaaaaaay too hormonal for the first half.  Does Katniss love Peeta?  Or does she love Gale?  Who will she sacrifice her life for???  Sorry, Ms. Collins, but I don't care!  I love romance, but I don't have much appreciation for teenage romantic drama.  I'm also surrounded by enough of this type of thinking in everyday life, and I look to books to provide an escape from reality.  This book did not do that for the first 266 pages.  There was potential for the romantic aspect of this series to go somewhere, but there wasn't enough development of the emotions between Katniss and Peeta, and Katniss and Gale.  All the reader receives is Katniss' constant revisitation of who should receive her affection and loyalty.
2. Dresses and makeup and ribbons and glitter and too much girly stuff for my taste.
3. Not enough Hunger Games action!

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I'm going to give Book Three a try, but I've decided to take a little break from the series before doing so.  With so many people saying they love the series, it only seems right to give it a fair chance to end and redeem itself, rather than start it when I'm still reeling from the disappointment of the direction Book Two was taken by the author.

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Recommend?  Yes, but only because it's a shame to start a trilogy and not end it.  

#3: The Hunger Games

Collins, Suzanne: The Hunger Games. New York: Scholastica, 2008. Print. 374 pages.
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SETTING: The country of Panem (a post-apocalyptic world where North America once existed), sometime in the future.
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SUMMARY: To remind the citizens of Panem of the consequences of rebelling against the governing bodies, an annual survival contest, called the Hunger Games, is held that sets 24 young people, ages 12-18 years-old, against each other to fight to the death.
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FAVORITE QUOTE: "In our world, I rank music somewhere between hair ribbons and rainbows in terms of usefulness.  At least a rainbow gives you a tip about the weather." - Chapter 16, page 211.
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I began this book thinking it has definitely been over-hyped (in the same way the movie Napoleon Dynamite was, which I did not enjoy at all), and finished it feeling slightly overwhelmed and depressed.  I don't like buying new books, because old, borrowed, and used books have so much more character which contributes to the overall enjoyment of the story.  Because of this book's popularity, it's taken me a while to find someone to borrow from, but I was finally able to get my hands on it!  The structure of this review will be slightly different, mainly because I don't have any points of dislike, and was surprised by my reaction and thoughts while reading and after finishing the story.  
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Things I liked about this book:

1. Katniss + Peeta! (I have to start with this- I'm a professed romantic, and there are parts of their story that made my heart smile...).
2. Quick and easy read, as it should be considering it's a young adult novel.
3. Didn't skirt around descriptions of blood, gore, and overall nastiness.
4. It's a dystopia!  Dystopias provide a constructive, and somewhat protective, avenue through which the reader can reevaluate the evils that we see, hear, and read about in our everyday lives.  It's also fun to think about the "what if's" that accompany picturing the future.
5. Katniss. is. kick. ass.  And I hope I'm as kick-ass as her when I fearlessly come face-to-face with the most lethal of infectious diseases in my pursuit of being the best in infectious disease epidemiologist North America has to offer (if you're thinking epidemiology has something to do with the skin, you're wrong!  Please wikipedia it and learn about this awesomest of health subjects.).

Things that surprised me about this book:

1. I didn't mind the first person narration.  I usually avoid novels and short stories written in first person because I become quickly annoyed with the narrator.  Definitely wasn't the case here.
2. How quickly I was able to read it while still retaining all the little details.  I can read fairly quickly, but that doesn't mean I always remember every little thing I've read.  I can't explain why, but the author's descriptions of events and surroundings were definitely not lost along the way.

Main thought that was running through my head while reading this book:

• Psychological trauma, anyone???  Of course, I then thought about how there are children, teenagers and adults, in this realest of worlds, who have to face horrors such as death and killing another human being to ensure their own survival.  And how about poverty, starvation, racism, dehumanization, oppression, and on and on and on and HOW DO WE FIX IT ALL?  This is why I can't enjoy life sometimes; I'm overwhelmed by these thoughts and feel helpless.  Another reason I'm completely willing to uproot my life and move all the way across the country: hopefully acquiring medical skills to add onto my public health and epidemiology background will make a small dent in the health realm of the disastrous parts of the world?

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I'm glad I was finally able to read this book, and I undoubtedly enjoyed it, but I don't find myself as enthusiastic about the book as my family, friends, and acquaintances are.  I'm definitely reading the next two books in the series, because I'm not satisfied with where the story is after book 1, similar to the way I felt after watching the first Lord of the Rings movie (LOTR is the one book series I have yet to finish; the books were ruined because I watched the movies first.  Since then, I usually take care to read the book before watching the movie).  Continually thinking about how the horrors in this book can be found in real life left me feeling depressed and with the dangerous thought of "what can one person possibly do to change this?"  But soon enough I found myself feeling all awesome about the plethora of things I'll hopefully be able to do sometime very soon in life.  Anyway, perhaps my opinion of the book will change once I've finished the entire series.  Quite exciting that I already have two more books lined up to read!

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Recommend?  Yes!  It was a quick and enjoyable read.