Book Review: Dancer, Daughter, Traitor, Spy

The premise of this book is great. Marina, a teenage ballerina, and her father are forced to flee the Soviet Union in the 80s, shortly after Brezhnev’s death. Marina’s mother, who is also a famous ballerina, has been taken away by the Soviet government, and the story is about Marina’s life in New York. The possibility of being caught by the KGB looms over her. She wants to continue her dancing at Juilliard, but she doesn’t know who to trust. What if her dance partner is a spy?

The elements of espionage, action, and danger are what made me pick up the book. It seemed so exciting! It was also cool that it was set during the Cold War. Unfortunately, it fell short of my expectations.

The main problem with the book is that not much happened. I was halfway through and it still felt like the author was setting up the story. Thing is, the book is only about 280 pages, so there isn’t enough time or space to spend so long on exposition. As a result, even though it’s written pretty well, the story doesn’t really go anywhere. There isn’t any fast-paced action; it’s mostly Marina’s thoughts and dialogue about what could happen.

Marina and her mother also have a “sixth sense” which isn’t really explained well or developed. It was confusing to read at times because I wasn’t sure if something was actually happening or if it was just a vision. The idea of having visions also didn’t sit well with me. I don’t know if the author was going for magical realism here, but being able to see the past or the future seemed jarring in a book that otherwise adhered so much to reality.

As for the good stuff? Well, I loved the details about Russian culture woven into the story, and I also loved the references to music. Most of the chapters were song titles or had something to do with music, and I liked how Marina used these songs to tell her own story. As I mentioned before, the story is also written pretty well (the problem was with plot, not writing).

Overall though, I was disappointed with the book. It just wasn’t what I was looking for. I didn’t care enough about the characters to get into it as much as I wanted to. It seems that the author had some excellent ideas, but they weren’t executed as well as they could have been. This book probably wouldn’t be at the top of my list of recommended titles, but I do realize that it is the author’s first novel. I would definitely be interested to know what she writes about next.

The Perfect Idea + The Best of 2014

So at this point there are about six hours until 2015, which just goes to show how good I am at procrastinating. I think the reason I stayed away from this blog for so long was that I just didn’t know what to write about. I wanted to write something interesting, something people would enjoy reading, but I didn’t know where to begin. I spent so long searching for the perfect idea that 2014 got tired of hanging around and just sped on by.

It’s the same way with writing novels. I’ve been sitting around for a year now, just waiting for the perfect idea to come to me. Just waiting for inspiration. But I finally realized that you can’t just sit and wait, because life will pass you by. The perfect idea isn’t something that comes; it’s something that’s made. And it can’t be made unless you start somewhere. So from now on, I’m not going to sit and wait anymore. My resolutions for the new year are to resurrect this blog and to write as often and as much as I can.

That being said, even though 2014 went fast, it was a great year, and I feel obligated to recount some of what made it so memorable for me:

1. Graduating high school/getting my IB diploma/starting college

2. My trip to Egypt, Yemen, and India/seeing family

3. Getting my driver’s license

4. Summer sleepovers/get-togethers with friends/volleyball/badminton/playing euchre all night

5. The coldest winter ever/the most snow days ever/skiing/bonding time on the ski lift

6. Performing at teahouse

7. Prom

8. Senior prank/senior skip day/senior skit

9. Playing “I Spy” with my friend Shriyash during band class/band in general

10. My last synchronized swimming season

So here’s to 2014 –  and here’s to 2015 being even better.

What Good Poetry Does

Yes, it’s been a long time since I last posted. And yes, I don’t have an excuse. But I’m not going to make one up. The truth is that I had plenty of opportunities to post. I just didn’t. Maybe it had something to do with the abnormally cold winter that Michigan experienced this year? (It was nice getting snow days at first, but after a while it was miserable. Sucked out all the motivation.) Maybe senioritis kicked in and I felt like doing absolutely nothing, including updating my blog?

I don’t know. But hey, better late than never, right? On to what this post is really about:

This is the last stanza in the poem “The Secret of the Sea” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow:

Till my soul is full of longing
For the secret of the sea,
And the heart of the great ocean
Sends a thrilling pulse through me.

Longfellow might have been referring to the ocean, but good poetry does the exact same thing. It sends a thrilling pulse through me. And then I think to myself, “I want to write like that!”

To be honest, I think that’s the best possible thing poetry can do. Inspire you to write your own. Great writing makes you feel something, but the best writing makes you write something. It’s kind of like when you listen to music that’s so beautiful it makes you shiver. And then you wonder what it would be like if you could do something like that; what if that gorgeous sound you’re hearing were made by you?

Writing poetry is about expressing yourself, but it’s also about putting your thoughts and emotions somewhere. It’s about putting something of yours into the world. And it might seem insignificant, but it’s not. Because it’s yours, and it’s in writing, and it’s there. Even when you’re gone, the writing stays.

I like that. I like the thought of an author or a poet living on through his or her words. I don’t think you have to be famous for that to happen, either. Someone will have read it. Someone will read it in the future. And that, I think, is enough.

How Black Friday Stole Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is my favorite day of the year. I even like it better than Halloween and my birthday. Each year on Thanksgiving, we invite close friends over and my mom cooks turkey and makes other Thanksgiving-related foods. I love it not just because of the food (although it is delicious), but also for how nice and warm the house feels when everyone comes over.

I love the loud conversations and hearing everyone laugh. I love playing games with the other kids. And I love it when the fireplace is crackling and everyone is just sitting around and talking.

The day before Thanksgiving is also great. My family is rushing around trying to make sure the house is clean, and the anticipation keeps building and building until Thursday at 4:30 pm when I’m just sitting and waiting for people to show up. And my mom is cooking turkey and stuffing and the house smells amazing.

And of course, the day after Thanksgiving is great because we get to eat leftover turkey and cornbread and mashed potatoes and drink turkey soup.

I know not every family spends Thanksgiving this way. But there’s this part of me that feels, regardless of how it’s done, Thanksgiving should be spent with family. So it made me kind of sad when I heard that Black Friday deals started early this year and people spent Wednesday and Thursday shopping. It also seems ironic that a day that should be spent being thankful for what you already have is instead spent shopping for more things.

It’s always bothered me that of all the holidays, Thanksgiving seems to be the most neglected. People go right from Halloween decorations to Christmas lights. Stores play Christmas music. I mean, I know there isn’t really any Thanksgiving music, but couldn’t we hold off on the Christmas carols until December? With poor Thanksgiving already being sandwiched between Halloween and Christmas, and now Black Friday encroaching upon it, it really seems like it is being stolen.

I don’t have a problem with Black Friday being on Friday. But it does make me upset when it starts kicking Thanksgiving, my favorite day of the year, out of the way.

The Grinch may not have succeeded at stealing Christmas, but it seems like Black Friday is getting closer and closer to stealing Thanksgiving.

Why I Love to Write

To be honest, I’m surprised I didn’t think of writing this post earlier. I think it’s obvious I love to write, but I don’t think I’ve actually mentioned why.

Maybe that’s because I myself didn’t realize why until today.

I’ve been busy lately. Really busy. With high school, college apps, marching band, and SAT subject tests.

And the truth is, until today, I hadn’t written anything creative since last summer. Which is a pretty long time for me.

Today, I sat down and wrote a poem. You can read it here.

Maybe the poem itself isn’t brilliant (or maybe it is – I don’t know). But it doesn’t matter. The point is, I felt brilliant writing it. I felt lighter, somehow. Definitely happier.

I don’t think writing does this for everyone. But maybe fellow writers can attest to the wonderful feeling of liberation that writing brings after a long period of not writing at all.

Even writing this post is making me feel happier! 🙂

The more stressed I get, the more I tell myself I have no time for writing. Other things fight for attention and my poor writing gets left in the dust.

But I think also that the more I write, the freer I feel. And I don’t have to write a book every day.

A poem once in a while is enough.