Hope And Humanity

Hope!  Hope is such an integral part of humanity that it resonates within each of us.  Either there is the tingle of hope which entices us to believe things that our minds tell us we should not ("he/she really cares for me"), or we feel there is no hope in some cases.  As readers, we cling to the hope that our hero or heroine will save the day.  We hope that they won't die in the process. We hope sometimes, that our characters find the love which has been sitting right under their noses.

Hope is what keeps us going both in reality as well as in our reading.  Perhaps, in an arduous reading assignment our only hope is to get to the end unscathed.  Still, it's hope or a distinct lack thereof (which basically just preps us for the introduction of hope).  If the reader isn't hoping, what is to bring them into the story as if they were old acquaintances?  Hope is recognizable on many different levels and creates common ground for the reader regardless of the exact circumstances.  I may have never hoped to pass a board exam in my quest to become a lawyer, but I have hoped to pass a driving test, or even other college or high school tests which hold the keys to my future. This translates into something understandable and garners sympathy for our characters.  Without hope, a character falls flat and fails to engage the reader (assuming they never find hope throughout the book).  A character without hope for an entire book, is not a book which will most  entice a reader to pick it up repeatedly and will not earn it a coveted spot on the bookshelf.  It may even cause deletion from the reader's digital library ~gasp~!

There is a time for rosy hopes, but because hopes can be small and are often found in the character's goals themselves, don't need to be boring or trite.  A character can hope that a sick friend or family member overcomes a debilitating sickness, or it could be that the character hopes a friend lands the job their dream job.  A character may hope for just a normal day.  The hope does not necessarily mean the outcome will be favorable, but a character without any form of hope (even deeply repressed hope) is not realistic.

Hope is what inspires us to take risks, to finally try and accomplish our dreams, to change our situation for the better, to reconnect us with our own humanity, to stir emotions.  Hope motivates us (and should inspire our characters as well) to achieve beyond our dreams and gives us a reason to persevere.  Hope can seem to break us at times, but it is also the very thing which heals us and gives us strength.

Yay! My Review of Alison Goodmans novel, "Eon"

Finally!  My long-awaited review of the book Eon, by Alison Goodman.

Reading: Alison Goodman and W.E.B. Du Bois

So, more randomness.  I love randomness, in case you could not tell. I am currently reading multiple books, do you do that? People always look at me funny when I carry around a stack of two or three books but I like the variety.  Here is what I am currently reading:

Eon by Alison Goodman

The Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B. Du Bois

I have always had a terrible memory where history is concerned, we’re talking absolutely abysmal.  However, even though there was only about a one-paragraph inconsequential blurb in my history book many years ago, I have always remembered the name W.E.B. Du Bois.  Probably because it is a cool name (and yes I am aware that I just wrote an incomplete sentence. I call it artistic expression).  Imagine my delight when I was walking through Barnes and Noble on a quest for the next awesome book, when I ran into this book on display. I have not even technically started the book, because truthfully, the book includes a timeline of sorts which has me astounded.  If I can accomplish a tenth of what W.E.B. Du Bois did in his lifetime, I will be doing great. Obviously I would not try to accomplish the same things, but I am talking about quantity.  What an amazing individual! This promises to be an interesting read.

I hope to be able to review both books over the next few weeks in addition to my typical, random, sporadic posts. And on a final side-note, I’m pretty sure the horrible coffee creamer at work has hijacked my taste buds because my orange tasted like soap. Ew.  With that last thought I wish you happy reading, writing and pwning!