Nineteen Minutes Is One Of Those Topical Novels

Nineteen Minutes is the story of a massacre that takes place in a high school. Author Jodi Picoult implements an “it takes a village” type of approach to analyze and dissect how this crime occurred in the high school of the small town of Sterling, New Hampshire.

The book’s first chapter tells the story of the day of the shooting that leaves ten people dead and nineteen wounded. Shooter, Peter Houghton is not the sort of teen one would normally associate with a violent crime. He’s quiet, intelligent, sensitive, shy and introverted, the only son of two very successful parents—Lewis, a college professor and Laci, a midwife.

The first chapter establishes the shooter’s identity beyond a doubt, and the rest of the novel goes back and forth in time to pivotal, influential incidents that lead to the shooting. I have to hand it to Picoult. She never loses control of the narrative—in spite of the fact that the details are revealed by increments through crucial events. The author presents a refreshing premise: a high school shooting is instigated by far more complicated forces than the lyrics of some rock band.

Nineteen Minutes is one of those topical novels, and unfortunately high school shootings certainly hit the headlines far more than we wish. All of the shootings raise some terrible questions: how did this happen? Were there warning signs? How did the shooter access weaponry? Where were the parents of the shooter or shooters during all of this? In dissecting the shooting and examining the events that lead up to the fateful day, Nineteen Minutes paints Houghton as a victimized youth, so bullied and tormented by high school jocks, that in a fractured mental state, he returns to school armed to the teeth.

Picoult examines every angle of the story—the defense attorney, the police detective, the parents of the shooter, the aftermath in the town, etc. Every possible angle is examined, and for the most part the shallow characters are entirely unbelievable. For example, there’s judge Alex Cormier who’s such a bimbo that she imagines she can try the case against Houghton in spite of the fact that her 17-year-old daughter was at the scene and injured during the shooting. Before we can say "Conflict of Interest" we are supposed to swallow Alex’s chest beating dilemma—should she try the case or step down? If the trial is good for her career, is it good for her daughter? These sorts of navel-gazing dilemmas are rife throughout the novel. In another example, the police detective (another unbelievable character) gets the hots for Judge Cormier. So there’s more agony … should he date her? What if people find out? Will a romantic relationship with the judge impact the detective, blah, blah, blah. In trying to answer all of the questions left in the aftermath of the shooting, Nineteen Minutes is an ambitious novel, but the novel’s weepie, overly sensitive style is grating.  Stuffed full of sappy, trite lines, the novel hits every cliché. Here’s Alex Cormier in the hospital at her daughter’s bedside:

    “We will go to the rain forest, or the pyramids, or a beach as white as bone. We will eat grapes from the vine, we will swim with sea turtles. We will walk miles on cobblestone streets. We will laugh, talk and confess. We will.”

It’s no doubt valuable and certainly fascinating to examine what makes someone snap into violence, and perhaps a different type of novel could examine the situation in a credible way, but Nineteen Minutes, emphasizing the emotional fallout of the shooting, is too superficial and shallow to even begin to delve deeply into such a complicated situation. If the reviews on Amazon are any indicator, then I certainly have the minority opinion here. As of today, Amazon boasts 395 reviews—230 of which are glowing 5-star homages; 98 are 4-star reviews, 43 are 3-star reviews, while at the bottom of the barrel are 15-2 star reviews and 9-1 star reviews. Oh well.

I realize the novel is fiction, full of fictional characters that don’t exist, and I actually have no problem whatsoever with the idea that everything here is fiction. To me, most of the fictional characters are very superficially drawn, very one-dimensional and unbelievable. But given the notoriety of real-life high school shootings, I found it impossible not to recall the horror of Columbine, and draw some similarities. I consider it most unfortunate that the novel seems determined to paint Peter as a victim—from his first day of kindergarten when someone grabs his Superman lunchbox. While it’s true that he is the recipient of horrible bullying, the author goes to great lengths to make her point by painting some of the victims as monstrous. Matt Royston, for example, one of the high school jocks in the book is obnoxious enough without adding the other dimensions that slip in as the chapters mount. Personally, I think it’s a cheap shot to paint the victims as somehow "asking for it." It’s certainly valid to analyze what pushes some people over the brink, but Nineteen Minutes goes overboard in its portrayals and its agenda to discuss peer bullying. In spite of the fact this was fiction, the novel left a bad taste in my mouth.

Finally, the novel’s resolution felt forced. This was the first time that, on reaching the end, it felt like Picoult had painted herself into a corner regarding resolution. Even though there are very few happy resolutions to her other novels, there always seemed to be a note of hope for the futures of her characters, but the attempt here was hollow, predictable. It’s perfectly okay for a novel to end on a pessimistic note, as long as it is sincere, as long as it rings true to the characters and the story. Though most of the novel was compelling, its tendency to tread water with the unnecessary and the overcomplicated caused it to drag more than it should.

The Fountainhead, By Ayn Rand Is A Complex Philosophical Novel

The Fountainhead, by Ayn Rand is a complex philosophical novel about being honest with oneself. A concept expressed by Hamlet in six words took Ayn Rand 700 pages to explain. “To thine own self be true” is read, remembered, and quoted by millions, but few understand the conceptual implications of the phrase to the extent articulated by Ms Rand.

The idea that man becomes great through his or her own powers of accomplishment and capacity to create permeates the book as Howard Roark decidedly stands up to a society that constantly rewards inept ability. Peter Keating, a college acquaintance of Roark’s, is the poster child of social achievement by means of complete and utter inability. After reading one of Toohey’s books Keating “… was certain that it was profound, because he didn’t understand it.” Keating was the perfect victim.

After years of avoiding it I finally had to read this book, since Thoughts lent it to me saying its one of her favorites. I am talking of “The Fountainhead” by Ayn Rand, the much revered classic. I had attempted reading this when I was in school or college, found it immensely boring and thrown it away.

And now? Well, sadly my opinion has not changed drastically. I did enjoy the book to a great extent mostly in the first half. But after around 250 pages or so, it starts going through highly philosophical corridors where I lost my way. I am guessing I am the last person to read this book but still here goes. To put it briefly, The Fountainhead follows the life of architects Howard Roark and Peter Keating. Enmeshed with their stories are the lives of newspaper critic Ellsworth Toohey and their love interest Dominique Francon.

It is through Roark that Rand propounds her theory of objectivism, the following of individualistic pursuits as against collectivism. And I did find the beginning extremely interesting. I was fascinated by Roark, a seemingly cold, emotionless and terse figure who refuses to design buildings which conformed to popular designs. Roark worships creativity and individualism and he struggles to maintain his values in an age that blindly follows the past. Erecting buildings based on past classics such as the Parthenon or decorating a building with superfluous trimmings like angel figures imitating Renaissance structures, is something he abhors. Keating too, is passionate about his work, to the point of being callous. He meets Ellsworth Toohey and the critic is impressed enough to write a column on him. However, just after he informs Keating of this news, he is shot at. Keating’s immediate reaction, “If he’s dead, does that mean they won’t publish his column tomorrow?”

But while Peter Keating gives his clients what they want, Roark tells his clients that if he has to work on a design it cannot be altered in any way later. He lives life on his own terms and because of his almost inhuman demeanor he has few friends and fewer clients.

Into his life comes Dominique, his mirror personality and they fall passionately in love. But for reasons that I only vaguely understood Dominique marries Keating with the full mutual understanding of Roark. The confession of his love, one of the rare and fleeting glimpses of humaneness in Roark’s manner, is in fact touching to read. “We never need to say anything to each other when we’re together. This is – for the time when we won’t be together. I love you Dominique…. To say ‘I love you’ one must first know how to say the ‘I’.”

Frankly, after this Rand lost me. I never fully comprehended Dominique’s character. She goes on to marry Gail Wynand too after she divorces Keating and by then I was groping around for meanings. At the end of the book, Roark remained my favorite. He remains pretty much unchanged and I absolutely loved some of his ideals. One of his thoughts that instantly was burnt into me.

“To sell your soul is the easiest thing in the world. That’s what everybody does every hour of his life. If I asked you to keep your soul – would you understand why that’s much harder?”

The essence of the book is in Roark’s long speech in the court right at the end of the book, which says we shouldn’t blindly copy the past and fail to utilize the energy of the zeitgeist. I was reminded of T S Eliot’s essay Tradition and the Individual Talent, written around the time Rand’s book is set, in the 1920s. Eliot says the poet must take traditions and ideals from the past and express it in his own way thus making it unique. But here Rand overrides that completely, going one step further saying the past should not be followed at all, through Roark’s voice.

I know I haven’t done justice to the book in the review mostly because long parts of it simply zinged by. And thus, Rand has not changed my life in a radical manner as she has done for many people who have been recommending this book to me. I agree with most of the points that reader Navin Quadros says in his review and I have to leave it at that. And yes, like Roark, I stick to my opinion/ideas about the book, though contrary to the majority. At least, Rand taught me that much.

The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn Is Certainly A Great Pick For Young Adults

Everyone likes coming of age novels. And while there are many titles to choose from, one can never commit a mistake if the choice lies with a classical title such as Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The famous novel of the American writer is known all over the world. For many kids, the characters of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn and their adventures become a source of inspiration — lighting up their imaginations and their desire to explore the world.

Like most of you, I must have read both The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn more than once. I have seen films based on the books, but it was not until recently when I found out that Audible.com released a new audio-book: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, read by Elijah Wood, that I was filled with a desire to revisit both my childhood and the wonderful world created by Twain. Furthermore, I realized that through the creation of the character of Huckleberry Finn, with his penchant for mischief, sense of right and wrong (which like for every other teen does not necessarily coincide with the standards set by society) and the desire to take on the world — Mark Twain has accurately portrayed the coming of age process in which youthful innocence is challenged by the “increasingly technological and complex word of adulthood”.

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn An audio book review Coming of age book coming of age book review For the unlikely theskykid reader among you who doesn’t know the story, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a coming of age narrative told in the first person from the perspective of Huck Finn – a young boy in his adolescence who is both a protagonist and an observer. Elijah Wood did a wonderful job narrating the story, capturing Huck’s spirit and presenting it to the listener in an original and believable manner thanks to his youthful voice and use of the Southern accent of the story protagonists. While one would think that it is not so important, after you spend some time listening, you will feel just as if you have traveled back in time and are sailing down the Mississippi River on that raft alongside Huck and Jim. Some of you may remember Elijah Wood’s portrayal of the character whose story he is now narrating, from the 1993 Disney film The Adventures of Huck Finn. Without a doubt, his experience in portraying Huck Finn in the film played its role, allowing him (and the listeners of the story) to identify with the compassionate thirteen-year-old boy.

To complete this audio book review, I would like to quote Mary B. O’Shea, who summarized the Huckleberry Finn character in her essay Crazy From the Heart – Southern Boys and Coming of Age.

Indeed, the real depth of this novel seems to be in the development of the relationship between Jim and Huck–with Jim eventually taking a largely paternal role for Huck, who, of course, doesn’t recognize this in any way. Huck also develops a greater sense of self, fighting for Jim’s freedom, and, not questioning racism or slavery, but choosing to go against it for Jim because of their personal relationship; however ironically, Huck considers his own behavior in helping Jim escape to be ‘wicked.’ The novel, typical of Twain, is rife with irony, sarcasm, and satire, all of which, to my thinking is obvious, if often entertaining and sometimes, even, thought-provoking.

Of course, maybe my skepticism/dislike has everything to do with Twain’s disparaging comments about Jane Austen. I can’t honestly say… In any case, I can’t say that I wholly disliked this novel; I’m just not sure why everyone makes such a fuss over it. I think it’s blatant ignorance to ban the book (you’ve absolutely missed the point, if you believe that), but I’m also unconvinced that it’s crucial reading for every 16 year old in the country despite it’s practically unquestioned place in the canon and, moreover, in the High School American Lit classroom.

Wonderful Book-Who Moved My Cheese?

It is very well said that “In the present scenario it’s not the fittest that survives’ instead the glory is reserved for the adaptable”. ‘Change is inevitable’ but we resist change. This book helps us to cope up with change. The change can be at workplace, in family life or anywhere. People resist change because they are comfortable with their routine habits. This book tells us not to resist change but to handle change in a very lucid manner. If you adapt, you can fit in any environment and survive.

"Who moved my cheese" is an amazing way to deal with change in your work and your life was written by Dr. Spencer Johnson in 1998. This book has stayed in the New York best seller list and has remained on the Publishers Weekly hardcover notification list. Dr. Johnson has also written the book ‘”Yes” or “No”: The guide to better decisions. Dr. Spencer Johnson M.D. is also co-author of One Minute Manager with Ken Blanchard.

The book tells the story of two mice (Sniff and Scurry) and two little people (Hem and Haw) captive in a labyrinth. In the book ‘’Who moved my cheese” is cheese a metaphor for everything you want in life. In real life everything what mice want is really cheese but for the two little people cheese is a metaphor for security, success, happiness and financial safety. If we find ‘’our cheese’’ we prefer to cling to the cheese. The cheese-stock is exhaustible, a company reorganises, a partner can leave us, in short uncertainties robbery us. The labyrinth in the story represents where we spend time to look for what we want in life. It can be in your relationship, the organization you work and more.

What's very important in the story that the mice and the little people find at one day cheese in the Cheese Station C. They are all very happy with the finding and day after day they come back to the Cheese Station C to get the cheese. There are differ between the mice and the little people: the mice always explore their surrounding when they are in the neighbourhood of Cheese Station C. The little people where very comfortable with the whole situation and this feels like security, success, happiness and financial safety.

Then the story turns: the cheese disappeared from Cheese Station C. The mice and the people react very differently.

Mice: Sniff and Scurry
The mice are surprised but they choose a new direction to find new cheese. They didn’t analyse the situation because change happens. When change happens they know how to deal with it and they immediately start a search for a new Cheese Station. And after a few days they find the new Cheese Station with cheese that was even better than the old cheese.

The little people: Hem and Haw
The little people react very emotional, because Cheese Station C felt like their home. They were shocked, outraged, scared and don’t know what to do. In their comfort they didn’t notice that the cheese was reducing. They felt that the situation was unfair, they stayed in Cheese Station C and hoped that the cheese come back. But the cheese was gone.. After a period Haw felt weak and decides to look for other cheese. He was very afraid of what might happen to him, he was afraid of the unknown. During his seek he was writing life lessons on the walls of the labyrinth like ‘’ Çhange happens, Anticipate Change, Enjoy Change’’. Him stayed in Cheese Station C, it is not clear if he ever reach the new Cheese Station.

The first part of the book former classmates talk about a class reunion about change and how to deal with them in their lives. The second part is the story about the mice and the little people and how they react on the changes in their lives. The third part of the book brings you back to reality in a playful way. It gives you insights in how change processes work at people

Reflection
I like the book because of it’s simple language, it’s metaphors. The book is easy to read and makes you think about yourself and the way you behave and react in change situations. The book deals with fear and show you how to deal with it to overcome yourself. The changes can give you also new opportunities, both businesslike as private. For me sometimes change is scary but the book shows you that change can also be fun. The book gives seems very simple but there are a lot of things in life we do not see anymore. We take it for granted. A few things were very important insights for me after reading this book:
1. If you don’t change you ‘’die’’.
2. If you keep an eye on the little changes you are able to accept the bigger changes more easy.
3. Old beliefs doesn’t lead you to the new ‘stuff’’.
4. If you let go of the fear you will be free
5. In a change situation you have to find new paths for everything you want in life.

For me reading the story was perfectly timed because I just lost my job and I was in a change process myself. The book helped me to view the situation with a helicopter view and I could see the change process in perspective. The book made me smile because of the metaphors and the simple way the author wrote about these difficult and complex change processes.

Value of the book for Imagineering
Imagineering is ‘’a design approach to value co-creation making use of imagination. It’s a way to create a new appealing ‘’lens’’ to find ‘’a blue ocean of uncontested market space’’ that inspires all stakeholders to co-create’’ (Nijs, 2009). Imagineering is a way to approach organisation transformation. As Imagineers we use the Roadmap (Inspiration phase, Creation phase, Exploration phase and Organisation phase) to realise transformation in organisations. Changes are in every part of the Roadmap during the transformation. Alexander de Vries mentioned in one of his lectures: ‘’You have to be in a nothing to loose modus, then you are free’’.This is exactly the lesson I learned from this book. You don’t need control, you need trust for transformations. When you are still in control, you are not driving fast enough. Trust make people grow, but trust is scary for a lot of people. So you need guts to create trust. Trust starts with purpose. Why are we here? Imagineering is a construct which also is able to construct trust.

As an Imagineer / change leader you first have to know yourself to reach something. The book helps you to understand how you react on changes, you are able to compare yourself with the mice and the little people. From a Imagineering point of view it is important to start from a positive thing in change. If we look to the story ‘’Who moved my cheese” the mice are positive to the change and the little people are scared. So in this story we can learn a lot from the mice.