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Mar. 18th, 2008 11:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lady_schrapnellRepossessed, by A.M. Jenkins, was a finalist in the 2007 Cybils - in the YA SF&F division, and a few of the reviews I saw of it then made me pretty sure I'd like it, though there's many a slip and all other such clichés of the sort. But I don't know if I'd have been quite as caught up with thinking and re-thinking it, and arguing out what made me think it was so very good, had it not somehow got entangled in my mind with the whole 'Grow Up', says Roger (Read him!) kerfuffle that blew up a little bit ago. I didn't bother to say anything about that at the time, because it was so adequately addressed by Liz B, Mother Reader and Robin Brande, among many others, I've no doubt.
But anyway, the book. If you combined a hefty dash of C.S. Lewis's The Screwtape Letters (or at least, the book as it is in my memory) with the G.M. Hopkins poem "I Wake and Feel the Fell of Dark, Not Day", a bit of Pullman's Tyranny of Heaven take on matters *without* any of his arrogant They Shall Not Preach preaching, and a lot of the best of YA-with-teen-boy-protagonists sharp humour, -- Repossessed. Or not, but I certainly found myself thinking of all those things both during and after reading it.
I wouldn't have a hope of finding it now, but I was thinking aboutsartorias writing recently that humanity was in a pretty adolescent state overall, and maybe needing play to help us grow up, and in that sense, I might almost buy Roger's command to those of us who read YA for purely recreational purposes to grow up. Because who wants to stop growing up, just because we're old enough to - oh, head up important professional journals, and tell people what to think about what others read or don't read? Not I. And reading and thinking about this (YA - you got that?) book was play of a most wonderful sort.
But anyway, the book. If you combined a hefty dash of C.S. Lewis's The Screwtape Letters (or at least, the book as it is in my memory) with the G.M. Hopkins poem "I Wake and Feel the Fell of Dark, Not Day", a bit of Pullman's Tyranny of Heaven take on matters *without* any of his arrogant They Shall Not Preach preaching, and a lot of the best of YA-with-teen-boy-protagonists sharp humour, -- Repossessed. Or not, but I certainly found myself thinking of all those things both during and after reading it.
Kiriel - who prefers the term 'fallen angel' to 'demon' - gets fed up with his job in Hell, which is to act as a mirror (that's what 'Kiriel' means - 'mirror of souls', for souls' regret, shame, sorrow- and so he steals the body of a carefully chosen human - a 17 year old boy named Shaun, who's about to be hit by a truck. Kiriel knows he won't be able to stay in Shaun's body long, but wants to experience a few things before having to go back. First up: masturbation. Well, actually, first up is sight, and colour, and the co-ordination required just to accomplish walking down the road. And he also delights in experiencing food, a bath, sleep, the smell of clothes - even Shaun's homework is a lot of fun (though the appeal quickly wears off.)
It would be unfair to talk about anything near the ending, though this is one of those books I'd love to discuss with others - I've already warned
steepholm there shall be book-pushing of a fairly serious nature in the near-future - but this book succeeded for me on three fronts: it made me laugh, it moved me, and it made me think. The humour worked so well because Kiriel was such a great character - both infinitely cynical and knowing and naive as can be. The scenes in which he had the bright idea of explaining reasonably and irrefutably (he thinks) to the class bully why he really doesn't want to hurt people just because he can are a great example of the combination of humour and pathos. Funny as hell (no pun intended), and yet... Imagine having to deal with nothing but these kinds of jerks when it's too late for them to do anything but regret having hurt others - and having to do that forever.
Some of the best scenes though, I thought, were with Shaun's younger brother Jason - an unhappy kid who's locked into a pattern of behaviour (and taking some unspecified meds) that's not helping him any, because it looks as if he doesn't care about anyone.
It would be unfair to talk about anything near the ending, though this is one of those books I'd love to discuss with others - I've already warned
steepholm there shall be book-pushing of a fairly serious nature in the near-future - but this book succeeded for me on three fronts: it made me laugh, it moved me, and it made me think. The humour worked so well because Kiriel was such a great character - both infinitely cynical and knowing and naive as can be. The scenes in which he had the bright idea of explaining reasonably and irrefutably (he thinks) to the class bully why he really doesn't want to hurt people just because he can are a great example of the combination of humour and pathos. Funny as hell (no pun intended), and yet... Imagine having to deal with nothing but these kinds of jerks when it's too late for them to do anything but regret having hurt others - and having to do that forever. Some of the best scenes though, I thought, were with Shaun's younger brother Jason - an unhappy kid who's locked into a pattern of behaviour (and taking some unspecified meds) that's not helping him any, because it looks as if he doesn't care about anyone.
... he actually turned around and looked directly at me.There were a few scenes I found a little less convincing - as when Kiriel explains Shaun's uncle's behaviour to his mother, leaving her stunned at his insight, but most were a delight. As was Kiriel's desperate desire for approval - or at least notice - from the Creator. That was wonderfully done, I thought - especially as it was both adolescent (well, if this didn't get His attention, I might as well be really bad) and also rather honestly self-understanding. As I said, I wouldn't want to do any spoilering (what happens at the end may be somewhat inevitable, but not how it happens or how Kiriel reacts), but I loved the unresolved but full of possibilities ending. And how lovely to read a book which proclaims the joys of being alive, and humans and the creation in all our/its imperfections, with a sharp edge of wit rather than being in any way maudlin.
"Why are you being so nice to me all of a sudden?' he asked.
"I don't think I've been particularly nice", I told him. I've been ... civil."
Jason just eyed me. "Uh-huh", he said, but his voice and posture and facial expression radiated ... what was it?
Suspicion.
"We hate each other", Jason told me. Remember? You're not supposed to be civil".
"I don't hate you."
Jason stared at me for a moment. Then he made a strange sound - something like shee-ah, only through his nose more than his mouth so that it was half snort, half word - and went back to blowing away aliens.
I needed to leave the backpack in Shaun's room, then head out to meet Lane at Bailey's. Instead, I stood there watching Jason's back, thinking. I didn't believe that Shaun had really hated Jason. It was more likely just irritation that had become cruel habit.
On the other hand, it seemed to me that Jason had come pretty close to hating Shaun. It hadn't started that way, as I recalled; it seemed like it had started with Jason bugging Shaun.
Why had he bugged Shaun?
Boredom?
Admiration?
Wanting attention?
All three?
Looking at Jason's back, which, really, was what Shaun must have mostly seen of him - I felt suddenly tired. In my line of work, I'd known countless siblings who'd grown apart without ever having actually known each other. By the time they got to me, it was far too late for them to do anything about their regrets.
Well, I thought, I'm not Jason's sibling. It's not my problem, and I can't solve it.
Still...
"I don't hate you, Jason", I told him again.
He snorted again. "It's not like you invited me to go with you today because you like me."
He hadn't taken his eyes off the screen. He'd spoken with utter belief.
So how was it that the last words hung in the air and made it into a question?
I wouldn't have a hope of finding it now, but I was thinking about
sartorias writing recently that humanity was in a pretty adolescent state overall, and maybe needing play to help us grow up, and in that sense, I might almost buy Roger's command to those of us who read YA for purely recreational purposes to grow up. Because who wants to stop growing up, just because we're old enough to - oh, head up important professional journals, and tell people what to think about what others read or don't read? Not I. And reading and thinking about this (YA - you got that?) book was play of a most wonderful sort.
