Review: FEED by Mira Grant

FEED by Mira Grant

Where do I start? How about, wow? That seems as good a place as any for a book that made me laugh out loud then cringe, that left me breathless with fear and anticipation for the characters and made me cry. More than once.

Yep, I cried. Real salty tears that clouded my vision and left me almost – almost – unable to continue reading. And I don’t cry easily. Ok, so I cried when I read Charlotte’s Web but seriously, what kind of hard-arse didn’t?

All this in a zombie novel. So not what one would expect from the genre that usually specialises in the gruesome mauling of people, the eating of braiiinnnzzz and the survivors holed up in some dilapidated building waiting for rescue or fighting their way out with machetes.

Yes, there was plenty of gruesome too. I would have been disappointed if there hadn’t been. People were eaten. There was plenty of action and fighting and gunshots and explosions – but that wasn’t the focus of this story. The focus was on the people, the real-life, breathing humans who inhabit a strange new world where zombies are a fact of life not a sideshow.

I should probably go back a little here and give you the gist of the story. Have I lost you already?

The year was 2014 and cancer and the common cold were cured but in the process something new was created, something terrible that nobody could stop. The infection spread, virus blocks taking over bodies and minds with one, unstoppable command: FEED.

Twenty years after the Rising, the story takes place, told for the most part, in first-person by blogger Georgia Mason who, along with her brother, Shaun Mason are on the trail of the biggest story of their lives – the dark conspiracy behind the infected.

Tagging along as part of the press contingency for Senator Peter Ryman’s campaign for the White House, Georgia, Shaun and their co-workers, Rick and Buffy, will out the truth at all costs – even if it kills them.

What they discover is far deeper than any of them could imagine. Instead of skeletons in the closet of the man who would-be president, they become the targets of something far more dangerous and sinister than mere zombies.

This is a world where zombies are a fact of life. Every human walking the planet has been infected with the Kellis-Amberlee virus which lays dormant in the system until either it spontaneously multiplies and sends the host into amplification or, the host dies – either way, the host is dead and reanimated as a zombie. Those reanimated seek only one goal: to feed and to duplicate the virus in as many others as possible. Breakouts are frequent and security measures have been enacted to deal with that.

People no longer meet en masse and entry (and exit) to and from all public spaces is dependent on a blood test – a positive test means instant death.

Also in this new world – the role of the online blogger has been increased with the majority of the world receiving their news through this medium. Bloggers report the news and make the news. Georgia Mason is a newsie through and through – her search for truth all encompassing.

I categorise this book more as a crime thriller than an average zombie novel, though it’s certainly horrific, it doesn’t fit within the boundaries of horror. The bad guys here are human – and not the reanimated kind.

This is a story that focusses on human nature and interaction, on a search for truth, on integrity and the lengths people will go to for what they believe is right. Above all it is a story of betrayal – and some of this is so brutal it will take your breath away.

The voice of the first person protagonist is fresh and real and through it, through Georgia, we ride the highs and lows every step of the way. Sometimes the exchanges between Georgia and her brother Shaun are enough to make you seriously laugh out loud, others are simply heart breaking.

The best zombie novel I’ve ever read and one of the very best novels of any description I’ve read in recent times, Feed is a book to be recommended.

Can hardly wait to get to my favourite bookstore (Thanks Notions Unlimited) and purchase the next instalment – Blackout.

FEED by Mira Grant

574 pages

Orbit Books

ISBN: 978-0-356-50056-0

Arrests Made for the Eyes of the World

Iman-al-Obeidi has been declared a hero by many after bursting into a hotel filled with foreign media in Tripoli, declaring that she'd been raped and tortured by men connected with Gadaffi's regime.

Her bravery spoke volumes to many of us as she insisted that these men had detained her at a checkpoint because her identification showed she was from the rebel stronghold of Benghazi. Sporting bruises and bloodied thighs to support her claims she screamed for the attention of the world's media before being manhandled and taken away.

Grave concerns have been held for her safety since.

But, this morning, it seems that five arrests have been made in relation to her claims; a Libyan spokesman saying that her claims were being taken very seriously. She has, according to him, been given access to a lawyer, is in good health, is currently with her family and may speak to the media in the coming days.

I only hope this is all true. Does it not all seem a little convenient? And what of other women that Iman al-Obeidi claims are being held and tortured too? Or do they not count because the world hasn't seen their faces?

If one person can really make change, let's hope, for her sake, that it's this brave woman.


http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/Iman-al-Obeidi-Rape-and-Torture-Allegations-Arrests-Made-After-Woman-Burst-Into-Tripoli-Hotel/Article/201103415960967

Review: The Death of Bunny Munro by Nick Cave

Nick Cave, the poetic dark lord, has never shied away from extremes in his song-writing and nor does he here in this, his second outing into the forum of novel writing. The man who once penned lines like “I was born on the day that my poor Mama died; I was cut from her belly with a Stanley knife” and, “I stuck a six-inch gold blade in the head of a girl” pulls no more punches in the long-form writing to ram home his point than he has in his song-writing.

Cave’s satire and gallows humour intersperse beautifully with his dramatic descriptions and elegant prose, combining to create a novel that is both tender and terrifying, depraved and hilarious.

Bunny Monro, the despicable “hero” of the piece is a salesman who spends the majority of his time fantasising about the vaginas of celebrities, particularly those of Avril Lavigne and Kylie Minogue, and those of just about every woman he encounters. When he’s not fantasising, he’s finding his way, using whatever means necessary, to bed virtually every woman who answers the door to him. These interludes are often hilarious, and disgusting and in at least one case, shocking and abhorrent.

Bunny’s infidelities and lack of any empathy for his wife lead to her committing suicide, leaving Bunny to look after his nine year old son, Bunny Jnr. With no idea how to care for someone else, much less an encyclopaedia-toting child, and haunted by the ghost of his wife, Bunny hits the road, dragging his son with him, to “learn the ropes” of door-to-door selling.

The coke-snorting, alcoholic, misogynistic Bunny Munro spirals from one bad encounter to the next, his mental state and depravity declining at an accelerated rate as he hurtles toward the doomed ending that the book’s title suggests. The first line says it all, “’I am damned,’ thinks Bunny Munro in a sudden moment of self-awareness reserved for those who are soon to die.”

And damned he is. Munro is such a despicable character that he is at once unlikable but as his decline in madness and towards his own death increase, we must pity him. Bunny Munro may not be likable but he is absolutely, absurdly and terrifyingly real.

Why should we care about him? What makes us continue to read on, determined to see him through to the bitter end? A large part of that answer is the view we get of him from the point of view of Bunny Jnr. The boy, naïve to the world and who hero-worships his father, gives us an insight that turns the twisting tale of debauchery all too tragic.

We have the sense though, as a reader, that Bunny must reach his bitter conclusion, he must die, in order for the boy to survive, to be able to shine out from beyond the darkness that is his father. Interludes with Bunny’s own father, the elderly Bunny Munro Snr, who is dying of cancer, show all too clearly, the legacy passed from father to son in this family.

Bunny Munro does seek some sort of retribution for his lifestyle, albeit it all too late, with an assembly of all the women he has wronged. The reader is left with an overwhelming satisfaction that the despicable man has gotten the comeuppance he deserved and that perhaps, the young boy that we’ve come to care about, just may have escaped his poison.

Is The Death of Bunny Munro going to be everybody’s cup of tea? Absolutely not. The dark humour, the wit and the beautiful writing can only do so much  to deflect the inexplicable horror of it all. Those who are easily offended will probably not read past the first page.

For my tastes though, this was a fantastic book. One with a well-formed plot, characters that were as real and multi-dimensional as any I’ve read and with the kind of writing that only a song-writer of his ilk could master.  

I only hope that Kylie Minogue and Avril Lavigne, who are both mentioned with “love, respect and apologies” in Cave’s final acknowledgements,  can see it the same way.

Curing Homosexuality? How About Curing Hate?

This morning I posted a link to a petition demanding that Apple remove an iPhone app. that claims to "cure" homosexuality.

How do they do this? Exodus International, the notorious "ex-gay" organisation, offers "freedom from homosexuality through the power of Jesus Christ" and use scare tactics, misinformation and stereotypes to change the sexuality of their clients. This new tactic targets already impressionable and often confused youth - legitimasing the ostracism dealt to them.

Apple doesn't allow any app. that is "defamatory, offensive, mean-spirited, or likely to place the targeted individual or group in harms way", and yet the app that targets vulnerable youth with a message that their sexual orientation is a "sin that will make your heart sick" is given approval.

I've stewed on this all day. It's really bothered me in a way that most things don't. I tend to get fired up for around five minutes and then something else captures my attention. Not this time.

I'm not going to rant about gay rights because well, we're all intelligent people here, right? We already know that homophobia is stupid. What's bothering me most is the idea that people think they have the right to "cure" anyone of something that is intrinsically them.

As a parent, I'm constantly reminding my children to be themselves, that they are perfect exactly the way that they are. To celebrate their differences and the differences of others because its that that makes them special.
I'm not talking about their sexual orientation. My kids are all under the age of ten and so the question of their sexuality hasn't really come up. (Besides, none of them are having sex with anyone, ever, male, female, or otherwise. Realistic much?) What they do know is that Mummy will love them regardless.

I'm talking about their personalities, those traits that make them who they are.

My eldest is the sweetest, kindest little girl you can imagine. She manages to carry the weight of the world on her very small shoulders because she has such a deep empathy for others. I worry about that. I worry that she'll leave herself open to being used and manipulated. I worry that the burden she carries for others is too great.

My eight year old is funny and happy and more than just a little bit nuts. But, sometimes she surprises me with the very profound thoughts that keep her awake at night. I worry that the nutty little girl with the quick smile is a mask hiding the deeper personality from the world.

My six year old is the sweetest, most generous little boy who would rather give something to someone else than keep it for himself. He's quick to anger but even quicker to forgive. I worry that his generosity and his forgiving nature will be taken advantage of.

My littlest, is a demon on two legs with a smile that could light up the world. I worry that she learns too much from her brothers and sisters and won't be given the chance to develop her own personality.

THat's right - I worry for them. I try to help them to become stronger, better versions of themselves to cope with their strengths and their weaknesses. But would I want to "cure" them of any of these things? Of course not. These are things that make them who they are. That make them individuals.

I'd no sooner "cure" them of these than "cure" my son of his deep brown eyes or my daughter of her blue ones.
We can't, and shouldn't try, to "cure" anyone of anything that makes them who they are, the way schools of old tried to cure left-handedness with a cane. Or the way that Hitler tried to cure the world of Jews and gypsies and homosexuals and anyone else he found disfavourable.

I'm deeply offended by this app. I'm offended as a parent. I'm offended as the sibling of a beautiful, generous and caring man whose soul mate happens to be of the same sex. I'm offended as the friend of many gorgeous, funny, intelligent people who share their lives with members of the same sex. But, most of all, I'm offended as a rational human being.

Instead of curing homosexuality, we should be curing the ignorant and the hateful.

If you're offended by this app. too, please sign the petition demanding that Apple removes it from sale.

http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.change.org%2Fpetitions%2Fdemand-that-apple-remove-ex-gay-iphone-app%3Fshare_id%3DTPmCSYLGPl%26share_source%3Dshare-petition%253A%253Avia-facebook_fb&h=3b986