Thoughts on: Princess Academy, Chapter 1

"Miri woke to the sleepy bleating of a goat."

To follow Shannon Hale's Squeetus summer book club for Princess Academy, here is the blog post for the first chapter she discusses:
Squeetus summer book club: Princess Academy, chapter 1

There was something about the visual from that very first sentence that made me like the book immediately. And the visuals continue with all the detailed descriptions throughout, describing the home that Miri lives in, the rest of the mountain, as well as the people living on the mountain.

One thing that I love about Shannon Hale's prose is her attention to detail (and lots of it) that let you see what's unfolding rather than just being told about action by one of the characters. The descriptions and analogies are awesome, and I only wish my vocabulary were that good.

The chapter begins with a narration describing life on Mount Eskel, a typical day, as well as diving into Miri's own personal belittle-ments (I know that's not a word, but whatever). The people of the mountain mine Linder for a living and almost everyone takes part in this work. Miri yearns to join her father and the rest of Mount Eskel in the quarry for this important work, but for her whole life, has been denied the opportunity. And because of this, she has always felt small and worthless (talk about a belittling complex).

We get a lot of visualizations of the beauty that is Miri's home village, from the quarry to the homes, and even the surrounding scenery. We meet a lot of the village girls immediately (also with strong visual descriptions unique to each girl) and then we even get to learn about Quarry Speech.

The chapter right away leads us into the main plot device of the book after giving a rather smooth, quick introductory of Mount Eskel and its people. We even get to meet Peder Doterson, a young boy who would be Miri's love interest, as we note the descriptions of how Miri feels those changes taking place like a school girl and her first crush. Of course, this side romance is set aside for later when the Princess Academy is formed and Miri, as well as all the young girls aged twelve to seventeen, will be taken to the Princess Academy to prepare for the Prince's decision.

Not being able to see each other all the time equals: no main romance. But for this particular plot device, it works even for a hopeless romantic like me.

I don't really have much to say about the first chapter that I didn't already say. It's very well paced and I am forever in love with Shannon Hale's prose and style. Of course, at times the dialogue reminds me that this book was written in the form of a fairy tale since a lot of the speech seems too formal and too unnatural to be "the way people actually talk." This isn't a book based on modern day society after all, so it's appropriate; it's more of an historical fairy tale type of book.

The humor, however, could be very easily lost on a lot of people. I, personally, am a person of dry sarcasm or smack-in-the-face simple humor. When you create a character who likes to make people laugh, the most difficult task is making sure that what this person says and does actually comes across as funny. Unfortunately, not everyone finds the same things humorous; and while silly stories about Bena's grandfather smashing a fly against his mouth and leaving it there might sound strange and cute, it may only elicit a laugh from few.

I like to think that, sometimes, when the character isn't purposefully trying to be funny... that's when the hilarity ensues. It's a natural humor that only seems funny because of the seriousness of the situation attached to a single sentence or moment that just stands out like a tickle.

For instance: In Shannon Hale's Book of a Thousand Days there is one particular scene that had me chuckling. Dashti is fretting about the entirety of the situation wherein she and her lady are stuck in a tower with a depleting supply of food because now there are rats creating havoc. On top of that, Dashti has decided that escaping the tower and facing the guards who may no longer be present again is better than facing a starving death. And so in her writing she denotes the following:

Day 920 

[...] Just now, rat meat sounds as tasty as winter antelope. 

Day 921 

Rat meat is not tasty.

What really got me about this particular entry was simply the way it was expressed. You have one day where she is exclaiming that rat meat sounds tasty and the very next beat (the next day) she confirms that rat meat is definitely NOT a delicacy. Maybe the entire context of the situation needs to be read to get the humor. I don't know; call me strange, but I found it funny as I also find a lot of Dashti's narration entertaining and humorous at all the right places. For the most part, it's because she is stuck in such a dire situation, but still has time to be sardonic about it.

But anyway, I digress...

As I already mentioned, the biggest factor of a Shannon Hale book that won my heart has always been her attention to detail and her smooth descriptions. The details, even the littlest of details, shows a reader that this author is indeed paying attention to the characters, setting, and culture she's created to go along with the story. It's not just the story line propelling the characters and the reader along, it's the little things that make you forget that you're reading a fictional telling of a bunch of characters "doing whatever the author has decreed." In Shannon Hale's case, her characters are typically living the stories to completion rather than just being dragged along for the ride.

First chapters are hard to write; if not done properly, it doesn't give the reader that hook that's necessary to continue on. While a lot of us have patience to give the book at least three or four chapters before dooming it, others don't have that kind of time. And so in terms of a first chapter scale which managed great introductory as well as plot progression and descriptive story telling, I would give Shannon Hale a rather high score. The first chapter isn't an immediate hook, but it doesn't drag on the set-up and is written beautifully.

****

The rest of my book blogging about Princess Academy will not necessarily be a chapter at a time, dependent on my mood and convenience. I'm probably going to try to read and enjoy it normally (and slowly) but I won't be blogging everyday just for the sake of blogging. I'll probably end up batching up a few chapters at a time every Monday or something like that (whatever works my fancy).

Thoughts on Princess Academy, by the chapter

I don't really fancy myself a book blogger. In fact, even with my other blog (which is on a bit of hiatus, sadly) I still don't think of myself as a professional review blogger. Everything that comes out just ends up being my own personal opinions, packaged in as nicely a format as I can manage.

And that's that.

For some back story...

I first picked up Princess Academy about three, maybe four years ago at a local Target. My best friend and I love to roam around the store at random moments and look at things that we won't be buying. We peruse DVDs, CDs, books, magazines, and different household items with our own color commentary about who uses this stuff, what use it would become if we bought it, and whether or not it would rate high in our own consumer ratings. With DVDs we would tell each other what kind of movies are good and which ones we have seen and which ones we want to see.

It happens like this a often and repetitively, but it was a nice, lazy way of wasting away the rest of the evening after dinner.

And then sometimes we end up in the book aisle and silently walk around.

I'm a book nerd (as everyone probably has guessed). Whenever you lead me into a book section of a store, it could be at least thirty minutes to the hour before I'm willing to walk away. If you take me to an actual book store, be prepared to spend four to five hours just looking at books with me while I decide what I want to buy and what I know I should spend money on. (Of course, some things have changed now that e-books are the big trend and I can very easily look up a book I want and buy it with a simple push of a button. SO DANGEROUS for my book addiction.)

Anyway, I came across Princess Academy at Target and couldn't help but be drawn to it in every way that makes you know you want to buy that book, on the spot. First off, the cover was pretty attractive, even if quite simple. Its perfect as a young adult, fairy-tale-esque type of story book. Next, the title was just interesting the moment I read it: "Princess Academy. Now that just screams all sorts of adventurous fun with a large group of characters and a learning experience." If you know me well, you know that I'm particularly keen on story lines that boast a sort of "youth group get together" feel. Multiple characters of the same young age living together in a boarding school-like plot device makes for some of the most colorful, entertaining, fun character interactions. (Case in point: Harry Potter was one of my more favorite fictional world settings.)

If it's one thing about a story that draws me in, it's the character interactions. I'm a firm believer that in order to bring characters to life, you must allow the characters to propel the story in their own way, not let the story itself dictate how the character's life will end up. It's sort of a foil to the "Writer is God" idea.

But then again, I' man amateur writer at best, so what do I know?

Coming back to Princess Academy, the final factor that had me excited about the story, was, of course, the overall summary. And this is where the excitement of this adventure begins a new chapter for me.

***

A few months ago, I came across the announcement of Shannon Hale's newest book, Palace of Stone, hailed as the sequel to Princess Academy. Immediately, I was drawn to it. While Princess Academy might not be my favorite Shannon Hale book (Book of a Thousand Days is my favorite), it is still a beloved Shannon Hale read that I really enjoyed. In fact, Princess Academy is the first Shannon Hale book that I laid my hands on, so it's got its own memorable value.

So I'm excited for the new sequel to be release in August (among many other things) and with the upcoming release, I came across a proposed Princess Academy book club activity from Shannon Hale's blog. Each day in July, she will read one chapter of Princess Academy and do an "author's commentary" for all of her reader fans to follow along with.

And I thought to myself, "I had planned on rereading Princess Academy to prepare myself for Palace of Stone's release anyway." And since I wasn't sure how I'd incorporate Princess Academy into my slightly hectic book and drama series itinerary, this was actually a really good proposal. I could follow along, read a chapter at a time (maybe two or three), and slowly have the entire book re-read by the time its sequel is released. At the same time, it doesn't cut into any other books I'm reading, AND I can take a little time out of my day to give a quick summary slash opinion of what I'm thinking.

I've already read the first chapter, but since Ms. Shannon Hale won't be starting her part until tomorrow, July 2, I might give it until tomorrow to post my first set of thoughts on Chapter 1, just so I have time to collect my own thoughts and do a comparison.

***

In other news, my work days are getting quite chaotic (with overtime and my trying to figure out when to sleep since I'm trying to include a routine work-out schedule as well). There are also some family issues happening, involving my grandmother, a total knee replacement, and lots of family visitation.

Finally, one of my best friends will be arriving in town this week for a few days and so there are more things I'm looking forward to as well as some things I'm not too keen on.

I'm keeping myself excited and preoccupied with the two leisurely activities I love the most: reading books and watching Asian drama series. I'm keeping myself updated on what new books will be released when and what new Asian drama series and/or movies will be accessible soon.

Other than that, life has been pretty monotonous, but at the same time, peaceful and fulfilling.