Thursday, July 31, 2014

Podkayne of Mars by Robert A. Heinlein



Why I Read This Book
          I have several friends who think it’s admirable to read informative books, or possibly the classics, but think it’s an absolute waste of time to read trashy fantasy novels.
            And on an intellectual level, I’m inclined to agree with this.  And in my more sober and serious moods, I do my best to steer myself towards serious history books or the classical canon.
 
           And yet, I must confess, the genre does hold some appeal to me, for reasons I can’t really rationally explain.  (I suppose the very definition of a “guilty pleasure” is something you can’t rationally explain.)  I have been, and always will be, a geek at heart, and every now and then I just get this urge to find some sort of trashy fantasy novel and lose myself in the world of imagination.

            After recently following some of the trashy fantasy/sci-fi links from Whisky Prajer’s blog [LINK HERE], I got the urge to set aside some of the history books I was reading, and go down to my local bookstore and just browse the fantasy/sci-fi sections until I found something that looked like it would be just ridiculously fantastic enough to be enjoyable.

            Fantasy books aren’t hard to find these days—even in Cambodia.  There are several used bookstores here in Phnom Penh for expatriates which keep on their shelves all the trashy fantasy books that backpackers bring with them from their home countries, and then leave behind here once they finish them. 
            The difficulty, though, is choosing the right book to get immersed in.  They all have pictures of fantastic beasts or magical things on their covers.  They all promise a world of fantasy and imagination.  But as fans of the genre know only too well, many of the stories between these fantastic book covers are disappointing, and some can end up being very boring.
           
            (In many ways, browsing through fantasy books is a lot more fun than actually reading them.  I can spend hours standing in the bookstore, looking at the covers, flipping through each book briefly, and imagining the world of each book.  But when it comes to actually reading the books cover to cover, I actually get through very few of them.)

            Anyway, it’s always a gamble to try to choose a book by its cover, but sometimes the gamble just has to be taken.  After browsing through several books in the fanstasy/sci-fi section, this book caught my eye as looking suitably promising.  The cheesy artwork and big bubble lettering seemed to promise good-old-fashioned pulpy fantasy fun.  The exotic location and the magical fairy were also good.  And the back cover sounded interesting enough: “this is Heinlein’s famous novel of an adventurous Marsgirl on her first space voyage, her kidnapping on Venus, and her discovery that fairies are neither imaginary…nor nice.”

            I had read Robert A. Heinlein before—two books which I read 8 years ago now on Bear’s recommendations: Stranger in a Strange Land, and Starship Troopers  If you follow the above links to read my reviews, you’ll note that I gave both books slightly mixed reviews.  I don’t remember them as being bad reads, although I do remember that Robert A. Heinlein tended to mix a lot of talk and preaching into his books—something I’m not always looking for in escapist entertainment.  But at the same time, I do remember both books as being competently written, so I decided I might as well give Robert A. Heinlein another go.

The Review
          This is a funny little book.  I’m not entirely sure what to make of it.

            The first thing to note is that the book cover (both the cover art and the blurb on the back) completely misrepresent this book.  (I know that’s just par for the course in this genre, so I’m not going to complain too loudly about it, but I do need to just state it for the record.)

            The bulk of the book is not about fairies or kidnappings or any of that stuff.  In fact, it takes this book a long time before anything remotely exciting starts to happen.  Most of the book is just descriptions of space travel in the future, or of life in the future space colonies.

           The book is about a teenage girl named Podkayne who lives on Mars.  (The book is set in the distant future, when humans have settled the solar system, and there are human colonies living on the moon, Venus, and Mars.)  She begins to keep a journal in which she writes all about her life and ambitions.
            (Sidenote: I’d be curious to know what a female reviewer would make of this book.  There were times when I thought Robert Heinlein did a very poor job of imagining the thoughts of a teenage girl, but I suppose on that subject I’m no more qualified to judge than he is.)

            Podkayne, her younger brother Clark, and her Uncle Tom embark on a journey to see Earth for the first time.  But first, before seeing Earth, the ship stops over at Venus.

            For most of the book, there’s not really a plot.  It’s just the narrator Podkayne describing what life is like for people on Mars, then describing what life is like on the space shuttle between Mars and Venus, then describing what life is like on Venus. 
            As with the previous Robert Heinlein books I’ve read, Heinlein is interested in politics and society as much as with science fiction, so we get a lot of discussion about how the different societies of Mars and Venus are arranged.

            If I’m making this sound boring, the good news is that Heinlein is a skilled enough writer that he can just about pull it off.  The plot will stall for long periods at a time, but the prose is quite readable and I found myself still turning the pages despite my frustration with how unexciting the plot was.

            And then, the last 30 pages out of 176, the book suddenly remembered it had a plot it needed to get around to, and finally things really began to happen.

****SPOILERS****
           
            So…I’m not at all sure about what to make about this book’s ending.  The prose style was the same as the rest of the novel, but the pacing and plot seemed like they had come in from a different book altogether.
            And then at the very end, the book all of a sudden seemed to forget who its protagonist was, and what the point was.  After the reader has spent so long getting to know the heroine, she’s just completely disregarded at the end of the book.  Her brother gives a quick summary of the dramatic events at the end, and she’s sidelined from the narrative completely.  And then the book ends with the reader unsure of whether she’ll even live or die. 
            While the heroine has been completely forgotten, the focus of the last couple pages is all on the brother, and how he has been ruined by the neglect of the parents.  This is something that had not been a major theme of the book before now, and seemed an odd note to end the book on.

            In conclusion, I’m not really sure what to make of the end of the book.  But the whole thing was a short and pleasant enough read.  I’m not sure I’d recommend it to anyone, but I wouldn’t not recommend it either.

Update
          The Wikipedia page on this book gives some interesting information (W).
            Apparently this book was at a stage in his career when Robert Heinlein was beginning to move away from pulpy science fiction, and when this story was originally serialized in an adventure magazine in the early 60s it caused some friction between Heinlein and his publisher.
            Apparently the ending Heinlein wanted to publish was with the heroine dying at the end, and was upset that his publisher made him re-write it because, he argued, in real life people die.

            The ending with the heroine dying at the end is slightly better than the ambiguous ending that now stands, because in the current ending it’s not even clear if she lives or dies, and at the very least, giving the reader some certainty would have been better than leaving them in ambiguity.

            That being said, although Heinlein’s original ending was marginally better than the re-written ending, in my mind all of the original problems still stand either way—it still jars with the rest of the book, and it still abruptly changes focus.

Link of the Day
Noam Chomsky "Thought Control In Democratic Societies"

Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Advantages and Disadvantages Essay: Feedback and Advice



Google: drive, docs, pub
[This is a feedback sheet I used for my students who had to write an advantages and disadvantages essay.  It is based off of the common mistakes my students were making.  The third sheet (Linking Words and Phrases) is borrowed from a colleague.]

Introduction:
Work with a partner.  What mistakes can you find in the following essay:

Nowaday the Internet is becoming more and more popular all the time.  Many people use the internet everyday now.  However, using the Internet has many advantages and disadvantages.

There many advantages for using the Internet.   One advantage is that you can find information very easily using the Internet.   For example, you can use the Internet to find a lot of information.  On the other hand, the Internet is very useful for studying, and finding information.

There also many disadvantages to using the Internet  and although you can find lots of useful information, but it can also be a waste of time and especially  many people use the Internet too much these days, and will ruin their eyesight.  If we use the Internet too much, it will be bad for your eyesight.

In fact although there are many advantages and disadvantages to using the Internet, but I think the Internet has more advantages than disadvantages.  Using the Internet is very useful for us.



Advice for Writing:

            You will be given a topic.  Make sure your essay follows this structure.

·         1st paragraph: Introduce the topic
·         2nd paragraph: write about the advantages
·         3rd paragraph: write about the disadvantages.
·         4th paragraph: Write your own opinion

(You may switch paragraphs 2 and 3 if you like.)

Be sure to have 3 advantages and 3 disadvantages.  Make sure each of these three points is different.  Don’t write the same point twice using different words.  (For example don’t say: “Caring for children takes up a lot of time.  It also uses a lot of time.”)

It may help to do some planning before you start writing.  You may want to brainstorm ideas, or write down some advantages and disadvantages before you start writing.  For example if the topic is using the Internet, you may want to plan out your three advantages and disadvantages before you start writing, using the structure below.

 What are three disadvantages of the Internet?
1.      Disadvantage 1:__________________________________________________
2.      Disadvantage 2:__________________________________________________
3.      Disadvantage 3:__________________________________________________
What are three advantages of the Internet?
1.      Advantage 1:___________________________________________________
2.      Advantage 2:____________________________________________________
3.      Advantage 3:____________________________________________________
After you’ve planned out your arguments here, you’re ready to start writing.

Additional advice:

·         Be sure that every sentence has a subject and a verb.  Don’t forget that in English every sentence must have a verb.   For example “There lots of trouble.” is not a correct English sentence.  Instead make sure to say “There is lots of trouble.”
·         Make sure each sentence ends with a period.  The next sentence should start with a capital letter.
·         Don’t make your sentences too long.  Short sentences will often work best for this type of essay.  Also when you have a new subject, you should start with a new sentence.
·         Be sure and keep your pronouns consistent.  If you start out talking about “we” in the beginning of a sentence, don’t switch to “you” halfway through.
·         Make sure and indent your paragraphs (leave a space at the beginning of the first line of each paragraph.)



Below is the correct example of how paragraphs should be written.

The food of Cambodia includes tropical fruits, rice, noodles  and various soups. Cambodians like to eat a rice noodle soup called 'kah-tieu' in the morning. Cambodians are famous for a type of 'kah-tieu' called 'kah-tieu Phnom Penh' which has shrimp, beef balls, fried garlic, pork broth and chicken. Cambodians also eat a red curry noodle soup with rice vermiclle noodles. Curry is also eaten with rice or French bread in Cambodia. Cambodian food is similar to Chinese, Vietnamese  and Thai food.
Cambodia also has a mystical tattoo called a yantra tattoo that is popular with soldiers. A yantra tattoo has ancient Khmer and Pali(An ancient Indian language) writing. A yantra tattoo is usually done by a religious person or monk. The tattoo artist guarantees that the person cannot receive any physical harm as long as they follow certain conditions. A person is suppose to not talk to anyone for three days and three nights. Another alternative is to follow the five Buddhist percepts. Movie star actress Angelina Jolie is known to have a yantra tattoo.

The example below is incorrect.

The food of Cambodia includes tropical fruits, rice, noodles  and various soups. Cambodians like to eat a rice noodle soup called 'kah-tieu' in the morning. Cambodians are famous for a type of 'kah-tieu' called 'kah-tieu Phnom Penh' which has shrimp, beef balls, fried garlic, pork broth and chicken. Cambodians also eat a red curry noodle soup with rice vermiclle noodles. Curry is also eaten with rice or French bread in Cambodia. Cambodian food is similar to Chinese, Vietnamese  and Thai food.
Cambodia also has a mystical tattoo called a yantra tattoo that is popular with soldiers. A yantra tattoo has ancient Khmer and Pali(An ancient Indian language) writing. A yantra tattoo is usually done by a religious person or monk. The tattoo artist guarantees that the person cannot receive any physical harm as long as they follow certain conditions. A person is suppose to not talk to anyone for three days and three nights. Another alternative is to follow the five Buddhist percepts. Movie star actress Angelina Jolie is known to have a yantra tattoo.













Linking Words and Phrases


To introduce points:

·         One advantage/disadvantage of
·         A further advantage/disadvantage is
·         One point of view in favor of/or against
·         It can be argued that

To list points:

·         In the first place,
·         First of all,
·         To start with,
·         Firstly,/Secondly,/Thirdly,
·         Finally,

To add more points to the same topic:

·         What is more,
·         Also,
·         Furthermore,
·         In addition to this/that,

To make contrasting points:

·         On the other hand,
·         Although
·         However,
·         In spite of this/that,
·         Nevertheless,
·         Despite this/that,
·         Even though              

To introduce examples:


·         For example,
·         For instance,
·         In particular,

To conclude:

·         To sum up,
·         All in all,
·         In conclusion,
·         All things considered,
·         As was previously stated,

You may use these phrases when you write, but make sure to use them correctly.  For example remember that phrases used to make contrasting points (like “On the other hand”) are good to use at the beginning of a contrasting paragraph.  You shouldn’t use it in the middle of a paragraph.

This is correct:

            The Internet is useful for finding new information.
            On the other hand, the Internet can also waste a lot of time.

This is incorrect:

            The Internet is useful for finding new information.   On the other hand, the internet is also useful for keeping in touch with friends and family.

            Also remember that you can use “but” or “although” in a contrasting sentence, but don’t use both in the same sentence.

|These are correct sentences.

            Although I like pizza, I don’t like hamburgers.
            I like pizza but I don’t like hamburgers.

This is an incorrect sentence:

            Although I like pizza, but I don’t like hamburgers.

Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Pros and Cons



Google: drive, docs, pub
[This is a pre-writing activity to use with students who are learning to write and advantages and disadvantages essay.  Students are put into pairs.  The teacher gives them one minute for each topic to come up with a list of as many pros and cons of each topic as possible.  At the end of the minute, the teacher calls on a student to give one pro, and other student to give one con, and then moves onto the next number in the list.  This is intended as a lead-in for this practice writing here (drive, docs, pub.]

What are the pros and cons of each topic?  Discuss with your partner

11.       Getting older

22.      Having a university degree

33.      Having children while young

44.      Being a vegetarian

55.      Living in a foreign country

66.      Owning a TV

77.      Using the internet

88.      Having pets

99.      Exercising everyday

110.  Driving a car