Showing posts with label Classics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Classics. Show all posts
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Classic of the Day: Hello, America by J. G. Ballard

Okay, not exactly a classic novel so much as a novel by a classic author. J. G. Ballard wrote mature and complicated science fiction novels, a few of which were filmed into entirely-inappropriate-for-teens movies, such as David Cronenberg's Crash and Empire of the Sun. Normally the books are a bit hard to read and don't have straightforward plots, but for Hello, America he changes it up a bit and creates a pretty clear plot.

In the mid 22nd century, a ship steams across the Atlantic from England to bring explorers and engineers to a long-abandoned America, a continent devastated by ecological disaster. Finding that the country has been desertified, a vast Sahara in the New World, they nevertheless find a few survivors that scrape survival from the leftovers of the once great nation. Finding their way to Las Vegas, the crew discovers a lush jungle has covered everything west of the Rockies, and survivors are attempting to rebuild society. But, as often the case in such novels, not is all as it seems.

It was odd; as I was reading this, I was reminded of video games I had recently played: Fallout 3 and Fallout New Vegas. Both are set in the same locations as this novel, and while the plots aren't the same, the environments are. Abandoned wastelands of Washington DC and shocking survival and vitality in Vegas. The book reads almost like these games.
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Excalibur: The Legend of King Arthur by Tony Lee and Sam Hart

This was one classic tale that was not too painful to get through -- in fact, this condensed comic version was quite enjoyable. It only covers the basic storyline of Arthur: pulling the sword out of the stone, Lancelot and Guinevere's affair and the battle with Morgan Le Fey, omitting other tales like the quest for the Holy Grail and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. But even the basic storyline offers lots of sword fights, treachery, and dark magic -- one of the best things about this were the evil fairies (no sparkly ones with wands -- phew!).
The tone and atmosphere is of course similar to that of epic fantasy novels -- serious and heavy -- but without the epic length.
Tony Lee is the author of some other comics including the Pride and Prejudice and Zombies graphic novel and Dr. Who series. Lee and Sam Hart have created a similar work to this one on King Arthur -- Outlaw: The Legend of Robin Hood.
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Classic of the Day: Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

This is the grandpappy of books for teen boys. I read this one when I was 12 or 13, and I'm not sure how I got my hands on it. Maybe it found me. I don't know. I do know that I loved it, and it opened a whole new world for me, and that it really kickstarted my adult reading and helped form my tastes from then on, from movies to TV, and obviously reading. The absurd humor, the off-point ramblings, the made up facts from the Guide to the memorable tag line "Don't Panic", it was perfect.

I imagine everyone has this in their collection already, but I can't stress how important it is often enough. Yes, decades have passed since it was published, and Douglas Adams himself is long dead, but the series lives on, as recently as 2009, when Eoin Colfer (ooh, a kids' book tie-in) wrote a surprisingly good 6th installment. If a boy who is transitioning from kids to YA/adult material tells you he loves funny books, and likes British authors, this should be the first stop.

I don't need to describe the plot here. I suspect everyone has read it already, and if not, you need to drop everything and give it a try.

The point I'm trying to make is that while I disdain "classics" in general as being too stodgy, too irrelevant to modern life, some are timeless. Teen boys will always read this. After all, the Guide is Wikipedia, and how modern is that?

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