Monday, February 11, 2008

Good Things Come to an End

I finished Godless over the weekend and am now moving on to Alex Rider #1, amongst a bevy of submissions that I want to get through this week. But Godless -- I really liked it. I thought the idea of a kid who is questioning his faith, in God and in the adult authority figures in his life, creating a new religion based around the town water tower. I love that it was the water tower. Water towers and underground tunnels and abandoned cabins in the woods always give me this feeling of adventure and parent-less mischief. Maybe because it brings me back to when I was a kid and I would explore all over my town with my friends, going into abandoned water pipes, under waterfalls, through random woods and over train tracks that cross ridiculous high over a very shallow river. So reading about these kids climbing a water tower, opening it up and swimming in it...it brought me back.

I also really loved how each person in the religion took on a different personification. The zealot, the religious separatist, the person who only joined because they wanted to feel included. And then there's the main character, trying to keep order despite his ridiculous, made up rules for his ridiculous, made up religion. And I love how this plot is tied into the concept of faith and teens questioning their faith. This kid thinks religion is a sham, made up and followed by people who are clearly sheep. But then he makes up his own religion and people start following it like sheep, even though they all know it is completely made up. I love the mirroring and the thoughts if provokes.

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In other news, the dating is over (at least with the one guy I was referring to in my most recent posts). He had everything I could've wanted...but there was no romantic spark. Try as I might, I just wasn't feeling it. So I broke it off tonight. It was painful. I know he liked me and he was a genuinely nice guy. I hate thinking that I hurt someone, even just a little bit. He was totally cool but I could hear the disappointment in his voice. It didn't feel good at all. But I know I did the right thing in the end -- it would've been worse if I had ignored it and ended up in a relationship with him, and then said something after months and months of dating. That wouldn't be good AT ALL.

So I'm fresh off of a book and fresh off of a boy. Time to start anew. Next stop Stormbreaker and on the guy front...we shall see.

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