3 Stars for Ta-Nehisi Coates's The Water Dancer

I really feel awful giving this book a three star review for two reasons: 1. Most of my teacher friends love this book and 2. It's clear Ta-Nehisi Coates did a ton of research which deserves reward. My problem with it is that it reads like a one of those true crime stories with unknown actors and actresses. The main character, Hiram was as flat as a pancake cooked in Crisco. Despite his hard life, I never got the emotional outpour of emotion from him and my theory on this is that Coates did way too much telling. As a reader, I like to feel and think for myself. The only character with the potential to pull at my heart strings was Sophia. This would have been a much better book if Coates had let her tell the story and allowed her to show her emotion rather than tell us what she was feeling. Considering the background of the book, loosely based on William Still, an African-American abolitionist, this is a noteworthy book, but it is not a literary great such as Morrison or Hurston. 

5 Stars for Intruder in the Dust by Faulkner

This is not a great Faulkner novel. At best its mediocre; however, its Faulkner. I've never read a Faulkner novel or short story that didn't force me to see someone's perspective other than my own. Told in the perspective of a boy named Chick as he tries to understand Lucas, a black man accused of killing a white man, I become painfully aware of Lucas's complex character. Lucas was the best character in the story and from page one you root for him. You want justice for Lucas. Lucas is flawed with stubborn pride in a time period that didn't allow a black man to have pride. It is this so-called flaw that makes me like him. Lucas is also painted with precise intelligence. He knows who he can trust and who he cannot. This line of reasoning just might save him. Lucas also values life which is why he saved Chick long before the novel begins. Lucas's pride refused payment for such a grand gesture. Both Lucas and Chick have a inner faith in the goodness of humanity. Lucas because he's a really good guy and Chick because he's still a boy and maybe hasn't had time to lose his faith. Faulkner says this much better than me...

“A man or a race either if he's any good can survive his past without even needing to escape from it and not because of the high quite often only too rhetorical rhetoric of humanity but for the simple indubitable practical reason of his future: that capacity to survive and absorb and endure and still be steadfast.”

Faulkner's stories are always presented in a setting loaded loaded with racism decorated in the antebellum of backward pride. It's a tough place to find even a thread of hope in humanity, but Faulkner finds it. In Intruder in the Dust, that faith is found in Lucas and spills over onto Chick. In Faulkner's novel, Light in August, identity is once again explored and steadfastness is discovered through not Joe, but Lena's love. "She was the captain of her soul." In The Sound and the Fury, it was the perspective of Quentin that gave me hope despite Quentin's ending.  Intruder in the Dust is a short read and it often steers off the plot topic, but it is worth reading; however, if you have never read a Faulkner book don't start here. Pick up As I Lay Dying or Light in August, or start with a short story like A Rose for Emily, that one is creepy Southern Gothic suspense at its best.  

4 Stars for FantasticLand by Mike Bockoven

FantasticLand by Mike Bockoven is a child of William Golding's novel, Lord of the Flies and The Walking Dead's Negan episodes. Lord of the Flies because of the deeper psychological element that makes us question the darker side of ourselves and that of others. Lord of the Flies is also loaded with symbolism representing intellect, unbridled violence, and leadership. All of these characteristics are found in humanity. They are also represented in the tribe leaders, intellects and violent acts of the Pirates and Warthogs in the book, FantasticLand. 

The underlying question of this book is why did a group of teenagers turn so quickly to gruesome acts of violence? In quick summary: FantasticLand is about a little over 200 teenagers who find themselves stranded in an amusement park for several weeks. They begin killing each other in less than a week. Why? I feel the answer to this question lies within our human psyche and the small percentage of real psychos out there that can (leadership) manipulate others who are weakened by tragedy, thus the hurricane that stranded the teens. 

As mentioned, this also reminded me of the Walking Dead Negan episodes because the bad Pirate group in the story used fear tactics much like Negan and his men. That scared me worse than the blood shed. Scarier than the Pirates was the Warthogs. The chapter on the Warthogs was the best chapter. I understand there is a sequel here. I definitely want to get my hands on it. This leads me to why I gave this book 4 stars rather than 5. That rating came from the Warthog chapter. After reading that chapter every other chapter fell short. The warthog chapter found the magic of suspense and kept me on the edge of my seat until the very end. The rest of the book intrigued me, but nothing like that one. 

That said: Bockoven wove together a clever book with a dynamic premise. FantasticLand was told in several interviews piecing together the massacre. Bockoven's ability to create very distinct voices throughout brought a real human element to the monsters of FantasticLand. In the end, you may question what group you fall into: Pirates, Shop Girls, Deadpools, Fairies. You notice I didn't include the Warthogs. Hopefully, you don't either.