Like a Supermax on Steroids

Lockdown by Alexander Gordon Smith
New York : Farrar Straus and Giroux, 2009.
273 p. ; 22 cm. 

Given the use of  brutal, personality-shattering Supermax prisons in the US, the nightmarish glimpse inside US detention prisons in Iraq, the bloated rates of incarceration in the US, and the growing evidence of wrongful convictions - Lockdown is a timely and compelling novel - albeit, from an author in the UK and not the US. 

The story centers around a young teen, Alex, who has been pursing a life of crime - mainly home burglaries - until he is framed for a murder and sentenced to the notorious underground penitentiary, Furnace, where all the inmates are boys and young men serving sentences of life without parole.  The horrors of Furnace are many - murder, giant guards with superhuman strength, mutant dogs, and the sinister Wheezers, who come occasionally in the dead of night to drag away prisoners to a fate apparently worse than death.  Alex is determined to achieve the impossible - survive AND escape from Furnace - and so the action of the novel.

I would have been happy if the novel did not include the science fiction creations of mutant dogs and black-suited giants for guards, and instead relied on good, old human cruelty and malevolence for it's horror.  Nevertheless, it is a compelling read that excels in creating an atmosphere of dread, deprivation and impending violence.  Another strength of the novel is it is exceedingly readable.  The plot hooks you in and takes you for a ride - though a bleak and disturbing one at that. I can say that several young men who read this novel from our library, really liked it.  In fact, part of why I finally read the novel was because a patron returned the book a few weeks ago, and before leaving, said, "Mr. Murrey, you HAVE to read this book!" He was right.

Sit Back, Read, and Unwind

Unwind by Neal Shusterman
New York : Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2009, c2007.
335 p. ; 22 cm.

I really love the premise of this book: in a future United States - after a war between abortion rights and anti-abortion rights forces - children between the ages of 13 and 18 can be signed over by their parents or guardians to be "unwound": all of their body parts and tissues are harvested and donated to those who "need" them.  Reminds me a little bit of the premise of the a great novel, The Unit, where older people deemed "expendable" are sent and harvested for tissue and organs until it kills them. In the world of  Unwind, the law doesn't view it as "killing" since the person is never officially dead, but hurriedly/medically disassembled until they loose consciousness - and are no longer a living individual, but an assortment of distributed "living" parts.  Needless to say those signed over to be unwound find little comfort in the niceties of legal jargon.

And so - as you might imagine - the novel is a thriller, following a several teens who are set to be unwound, but manage to escape and go on the run. There are several interesting subplots that all come together in a dramatic conclusion.  The end of the novel is set up so that a sequel is possible, and Shusterman has answered the call with a follow-up novel, UnWholly, billed as the second in a trilogy.

There is a lot to recommend this book.  It definitely gets one thinking about what defines "life" and the legal implications of new medical advances along with the ethical implications of the individual versus society. Metaphorically, there is a lot to think about regarding the relationship of parents to teens and society to teens and the ways that they are viewed and treated.  There is also material for thought and discussion regarding the ethical complexities of violence used to oppose violent and unjust systems.  In all these ways, the book would be a great classroom text - a great springboard for discussions.

My main complaint with the novel is that at times the plot is overwrought with melodramatic characters and action - for example, the character of Roland, an evil teen in the unwind underground whose sociopathic behaviors feel like a stock "bad guy" character, and not very believable.  In spite of my problems with some of the characters and scenes, I'd definitely recommend this book as a substantive/thoughtful read for someone who likes thrillers and/or dystopian futuristic novels.

Gone Fishing

Cod: a Biography of the Fish That Changed the World by Mark Kurlansky
New York : Penguin Books, 1998, c1997.
viii, 294 p. : ill., maps ; 19 cm.

Our library owns several books by Mark Kurlansky, and the last one I read by him was Salt: a World History - which was a great read. The great talent of Kurlansky is to chose a subject that at first glance might seem rather mundane (if not downright boring) and to reveal how it is a topic of great historical and cultural significance.  While he's doing this he spices (salts!) his narrative with fascinating facts, anecdotes, and asides. I recall finding Salt so fascinating for how humans around the world have developed cultural tastes for extremely fermented (some might say rotten) foods - such as the Roman favorite - garum - a sauce made from fish scraps and remains fermented for months in salt.

Cod doesn't disappoint either.  Whether Kurlansky is making the connections of how the colonial/early American New England economy was powered by the trade of plentiful/low-grade cod to the Caribbean (to feed the slaves being worked in the hellish sugar cane plantations) or explaining the connections between overfished cod stocks and international law of sea treaties, he manages to do it in a concise, interesting and clear way.

I would definitely recommend Cod (the book) to a student interested in US history, environmental studies, wildlife studies, or off-beat, non-fiction reads.