Natalie Valentine: "Dear Rene Sears: All the Things that Work or Make a Tear Jerk"

Dear Rene Sears: All the Things that Work or Make a Tear Jerk

By Natalie Valentine

            I think you are spot on when you mention that word choice and language can make or break a book. There were some stories I read as a preteen where I just could not get past the writer’s style. For example, Gracling by Kristin Cashore was a very enjoyable book, other than the fact that her sentence structure was so short that I found my brain struggling to focus on the actual story from all of the new knowledge being introduced in every sentence. More importantly, the themes that I found in the book were very complex (or very mature), and the two styles just did NOT seem to mesh for me while I was reading.

            In the story, there are many internal conflicts that the main character faces that become really overwhelming after her character gets fully introduced. However, she still thinks in binary, which bordered on infuriating me at some points in the story. Because I related to the internal struggles that she faced, I didn’t understand why she had to be a robot while trying to work through her issues. It really broke me out of my immersion, and sometimes I wanted to stop reading during the slow sections. Perhaps my feelings of frustration were because of my innate need to overthink everything and come up with all sorts of solutions, but the main character still seemed dreadfully simple for such an interesting and complex narrative.

However, because we are supposed to reference books that we read in class, I have to point out that the style that Tolkien used in The Hobbit fit very well with the themes present. Knowing that it was a children’s book also helped me to deal with the very straightforward language and ideas. I think what really sold the style to me was the occasional conversation-like tone that Tolkien uses in order to keep his readers interested in future stories. It was a really clever way to keep his audience with him for the rest of a series. One point in particular was when Tolkien stops the action, and he tells the reader of a great battle that will happen at the place the characters stand. Not knowing The Lord of the Rings franchise very well, that almost made me want to read the rest of the stories on my own time.

There weren’t a lot of themes and struggles that I could relate to while I was reading The Hobbit, however, I definitely enjoyed the narrative being told. It was a simple story with simple language and ideas that all seemed to complement each other quite well. At the beginning of the story, we see Bilbo as a one-dimensional character that doesn’t want to adventure. This is reflected in the simple rejection of adventure at the beginning of the story. As the narrative continues, the reader finds that Bilbo starts to think in more complex ideas. This shows his growth, and it makes the reader believe in Bilbo because he learns so fast. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing Bilbo grow and gain respect as he went through his adventure with the dwarves.

Comparing these two fantasy stories is somewhat difficult because they cover very different topics and are for different age ranges, but I just can’t get over the fact that there is more character growth in a children’s book rather than the young adult book. The simplicity of thought in Graceling is almost on par with the simplicity of The Hobbit, but the ideas present are so different in complexity (and maturity). It’s almost as if the Cashore doubts her readers will understand, but still wanted to add very difficult concepts. The Hobbit took a much simpler approach, and I think it really benefitted the story. Because it was a children’s book, there were no sexual undertones, and the way Bilbo thinks is easily understood. The same approach doesn’t work when you want to add those naughty adult themes.

Even though I’m ranting, I would still highly recommend both books. Like I mentioned earlier, perhaps all of my complaints about Graceling stem from an untamed instinct for overthinking. Maybe I just wasn’t ready to imagine two adults doing the hanky-panky in an old castle when I was reading. The Hobbit was much better than the movie, in my opinion, and I think it deserves to be read by kids instead of watched by adults.