The members of Tequila Mockingbird have selected the following books to analyze using the methods learned in How Writer’s Read throughout the semester. We will begin with We Have Always Lived in the Castle, by Shirley Jackson, as a sample then continue with the following…
1. The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
Primary Reader: Alexis DuBois
Amazon Summary: First published in 1959, Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House has been hailed as a perfect work of unnerving terror. It is the story of four seekers who arrive at a notoriously unfriendly pile called Hill House: Dr. Montague, an occult scholar looking for solid evidence of a “haunting”; Theodora, his lighthearted assistant; Eleanor, a friendless, fragile young woman well acquainted with poltergeists; and Luke, the future heir of Hill House. At first, their stay seems destined to be merely a spooky encounter with inexplicable phenomena. But Hill House is gathering its powers—and soon it will choose one of them to make its own.
Reasoning
We first chose this story out of necessity. We had already chosen the other three novels and were looking to shy away from the contemporary young adult. When we started to look through the “Classics” section on audible, this was the one that stood out. At first it stood out because it was an author we had already encountered, but then the summary attracted our attention even more. The idea of delving into a horror book was a concept we were all excited about. The thing about horror books is that often times, it is also an examination of human nature. How people react when they are scared or in danger can be very telling about their personality. We will be engaging with the text through a thematic lens. What small detail can lead to a larger dynamic? Although the lens will be thematic, the attempt will be to make the words more figural than transparent. The decisions in language will also be a telling sign. Out of all the words in the English language, why choose that one? I personally have not read much in the horror genre. I love scary movies, but I am concerned that I won’t have the same reaction to the same genre conventions if they are being read. But that is just my preconceived notion, and I look forward to being proved wrong.
2. Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn
Primary Reader: Rebecca Nocentino
Amazon Summary: Fresh from a brief stay at a psych hospital, reporter Camille Preaker faces a troubling assignment: she must return to her tiny hometown to cover the murders of two preteen girls. For years, Camille has hardly spoken to her neurotic, hypochondriac mother or to the half-sister she barely knows: a beautiful thirteen-year-old with an eerie grip on the town. Now, installed in her old bedroom in her family’s Victorian mansion, Camille finds herself identifying with the young victims—a bit too strongly. Dogged by her own demons, she must unravel the psychological puzzle of her own past if she wants to get the story—and survive this homecoming.
Reasoning
The book, Sharp Objects, written by Gillian Flynn originally stood out to me because of summary. While trying to find a book that would both captivate and provoke thought within my reading group, I decided to search for one that already seemed to interest me within the summary. I had so many questions after just reading the short synopsis—Why was Camille in the psych hospital? What happened to the two girls who were murdered? Why does Camille relate to them? How does her psycotic mother and “eerie” step sister tie into all of this? Sharp Objects seems like the type of book that you just cannot seem to put down in order to get the answers that you want. Even Stephen King, who is looked upon by the public as a highly acclaimed, genius horror writer of our time, said the quote, “I found myself dreading the last thirty pages or so but was helpless to stop turning them” in a review.
3. The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon
Primary Reader: Dina Folgia
Amazon Summary:
Natasha: I’m a girl who believes in science and facts. Not fate. Not destiny. Or dreams that will never come true. I’m definitely not the kind of girl who meets a cute boy on a crowded New York City street and falls in love with him. Not when my family is twelve hours away from being deported to Jamaica. Falling in love with him won’t be my story.
Daniel: I’ve always been the good son, the good student, living up to my parents’ high expectations. Never the poet. Or the dreamer. But when I see her, I forget about all that. Something about Natasha makes me think that fate has something much more extraordinary in store—for both of us.
The Universe: Every moment in our lives has brought us to this single moment. A million futures lie before us. Which one will come true?
Reasoning
Contemporary young adult fiction is a massively popular genre today, and I have bought into it completely. My to-be-read list contains many titles in this category, but The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon has always stood out to me, and it’s honestly a wonder that I haven’t gotten around to reading it already! The great love story between Natasha and Daniel has fascinated me from the first moment I laid eyes on the inside cover. This isn’t a typical story “boy meets girl” story: it is a chronicle of two people who don’t have room for love in their life, but somehow discover it anyway. The great mystery of fate becomes a driving force behind these two souls, bringing them together against the odds, and I for one can’t wait to see what the universe has in store for them.
4. Last Night in Montreal by Emily St. John Mandel
Primary Reader: Matthew Vesely
Amazon Summary: When Lilia Albert was a child, her father appeared on the doorstep of her mother’s house and took her away. Now, haunted by an inability to remember much about her early childhood, Lilia moves restlessly from city to city, abandoning lovers and eluding the private detective who has dedicated a career to following close behind.
Then comes Eli. When Lilia goes out for a paper and fails to return to their Brooklyn apartment, he follows her to Montreal, not knowing whether he wants to disappear, too, or help her find her way home. But what he discovers is a deeper mystery, one that will set past and present spinning toward collision.
Reasoning
Having read two other novels by Emily St. John Mandel, I have a feel for the way the author writes. She writes complex narratives that send the reader on an infinity graph race track. Even with varying perspectives, the structure of her novels (jumping around to different points in the overall story) tend to give the reader a well-packaged adventure that manages not to feel disjointed in any way. Rather, the jumping around tends to juxtaposition the story-points by placing certain pieces of the narrative together. Have done a series of blogs before on her most recent novel, Station Eleven, I’m confident this novel will have all the workings of a satisfying mimetic, thematic & synthetic register. Mostly, I’m fascinated by the synthetic register of her works, especially her structure.
Tequila Mockingbird 