Category Archives: Books

Horatio Alger Sexual Book Titles

Many people write about Lewis Carroll’s odd and possibly pedophilic background.  Few people mention Horatio Alger’s history with sexual scandal and his lifelong interest in stories about young boys though. In the last few days I’ve head a number of people reference Alger’s “rags to riches” tales as wholesome and “All American but comment on Alger’s disturbing history.” My colleague Dr. Greg Kupsky and myself were speaking about Alger the other day and I was surprised to learn that Alger was a former Unitarian pastor who was forced to leave the ministry because he was convicted of having an ”unnatural familiarity with boys” in 1866. As one can most likely gather this is a round about way of declaring Alger a pedophile. Alger did not contest the charges, rather he sent a letter of remorse in which he declared the charges to be true. Because of the time period’s standards Alger was not charged with a crime but was only defrocked. After being forced to leave the church and his profession, Alger began to write children’s books, which almost always featured stories about young boys. Oddly, many of the titles are sexually suggestive to modern ears. Such as:

Ragged Dick; or, Street Life in New York with the Bootblacks                          Rough and Ready; or, Life Among the New York Newsboys                          Tattered Tom; or, The Story of a Street Arab

I understand that the book titles were not as suggestive in the 19th century as today, but many of Alger’s stories feature an odd familiarity between adult males and young boys that becomes quite unsettling when read with a  knowledge of the author’s background. I am not suggesting that one not read Alger’s books or that the author’s works be censored, rather I am trying to add context to a collective understand of the author. Many people laud Alger for creating inspiring “rags to riches” tales, but few comment on the author’s background. This is an oversite that should be remedied. We are often quick to embrace a modern scandal as it develops but are often ignorant of the historical figures on which we heap praise.

Gecko Books & Comics- Honolulu, HI

My job requires me to travel a lot and I try to go to at least one comic shop in every city I visit. Last year alone, I went to comic book stores in Germany, France, the Netherlands, Austria, Michigan, and Seattle. I thought I would start taking some pictures and chronicle the cool comic stores that I get to see. Each comic book shop has its own unique feel and I hope everyone enjoys checking them out. I’m starting with my local comic book store, Gecko Books & Comics at 1151 12th Avenue, Honolulu, HI. Ted Mays, who owns and operates Gecko, possesses a vast knowledge of comic books and popular culture and always seems ready to talk about a number of geek topics. During a recent visit, Ted and I discussed Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Warren Ellis, Kevin Smith, and writers and artists that are constantly late with their work. Gecko is a great comic book store and it is always a pleasure to go inside. Ted has a great selection and I always wind up buying more than I intended to. If you are ever in Honolulu check it out. I don’t think you will be disappointed. Here’s a link to an article about the shop.  And here are some pictures of the store itself.

Tomorrowland

One of humankind’s greatest fascinations has been, and is, trying to predict the future. Artists, authors, scientists, politicians, and people of every walk of life try to image what the world will be like 20, 50, or even 100 years from now. Generally these predictions have at least one thing in common, they’re almost always wrong.  Our present looks nothing like the future predicted by H.G. Wells or science fiction magazines. I own a 1972 copy of National Geographic in which scientists worried about the next ice age. How many politicians have tried to predict the future and being terribly wrong? Even Walt Disney World’s Tomorrowland has to change every decade or so or it will become hopelessly outdated. I have a sneaking suspicion that even the Mayan’s 2012 end of the world prediction will be wrong.  In general, the world looks nothing like how past generations imaged it. Sometimes I’m thankful for this, especially when reading comic book versions of the future like the post-apocalyptic Atomic Knights or the Planet of the Apes-like Kamandi. (Although the giant dalmatians that the Atomic Knights rode were pretty cool.) I’m happy that I don’t have to worry about atomic fallout or giant mutated rodents.  Other times, I bemoan the “loss” of my flying car and robot maid. (No, the roomba doesn’t count. Compared to Rosie, the Jetson’s robot maid, the roomba is little more than a motorized broom. And don’t get me started on the differences between the roomba and Sean Young’s character in Blade Runner.) I started thinking about this the other day when re-reading Brian Fies’s wonderful graphic novel entitled, Whatever Happened to the World of Tomorrow? The book is a thoroughly engaging read that follows a young man and his father from the 1939 World’s Fair to the last Apollo space flight in 1975 and then beyond. The graphic novel uses the father and son relationship and each era’s comic books to explore a changing United States and compare each time period’s future ideal. The book poignantly reflects on both the losses and gains that the future brings and asks the reader to question his/ her understanding of progress and change.

Reading the book and reflecting on my life caused me to question if I was happy with the way the “future” turned out. In order to examine this I decided to use a simple litmus test; would my 13 year old self be impressed? After thinking it through I have come up with a list of the five things that would impress the 13 year old me the most about the future and the five things he would hate/ be afraid of. I’m listing these below as “Positives” and “Negatives.”

Positives

  1. The Internet. This is undoubtedly the game changer of my lifetime.  Although the Internet has many negative aspects it has changed life as we know it in way too numerous to mention here.
  2. Cell phones. When I was younger my parent’s had to rent their phone from AT&T and only have a choice of a few styles and colors. Now I have my own Star Trek-like communicator.
  3. My ipod touch. I remember my first Walkman. How clunky it was and it only played cassette tapes. Now my ipod downloads music and podcasts instantly. Amazing.
  4. Nintendo Wii. I used to own an Atari 2600. Enough said.
  5. The possibility of touristic space flight soon. Companies like Virgin are taking the first steps towards this. If it happens it could be amazing.

By the way, I noticed that most of the things that impressed me about today are technologically based. I think this is a western bias in which we view societal ”progress” technologically. Although I tried to think outside of this paradigm, I couldn’t do it.

Negatives

  1. Airports and airplanes. When I was younger flying was so much easier and more fun.
  2. Loss of privacy and independence. The world seems less open and free than it did in years past. Some of this is understandable but lamentable.
  3. Global warming. This pretty much speaks for itself.
  4. The breakdown of civility in the United States. It seems like it isn’t enough to merely disagree now but one must also belittle and name call. This has always happened but it seems more prevalent today than ever. 
  5. No flying car!

That’s my list. I’d love to hear what you would add to it. Post a comment below and let me know what you like or dislike about the future we are living in.

New Holmes Sales

I went to see the new Guy Ritchie directed Sherlock Holmes yesterday. The film that features Robert Downey, Jr. as Holmes and Jude Law as Dr. Watson has been marketed as a faithful transference of the Arthur Conan Doyle character. Not to be a spoilsport but no movies are ever just adaptations of characters. By its very nature, the process of adaptation forces writers, directors, actors, and dozens other agents to decide what to emphasis about a character and what to minimize or remove. Adapters create a new version of the character that fits their needs and desires. The original character can only truly exist when written by his original author and allowed to remain in his original medium. When a host of modern adapters transferred Sherlock Holmes from his birth medium (novels) to a new medium (film) the character became as much a product of the twenty-first century as the nineteenth. The new Holmes is now a nineteenth century vessel filled with twenty-first century ideas. If this is true, then what are these twenty-first century ideas? Although I must note that movie makers seem to have taken some Sherlock Holmes scenes directly from The Da Vinci Code, this movie really isn’t a mystery or a thriller. The film’s pacing and tone don’t challenge the viewer to become part of the quest to solve the mystery. Holmes is a master detective but the filmmakers don’t invite the viewer to participate. Rather, the audience is expected to marvel at Holmes’s wonderous skills. Although it took me awhile to process the film, it did eventually dawned on me what I was watching. The new Sherlock Holmes is a superhero. While past generations have portrayed Holmes as an uber-intellectual, this film focuses on Holmes’s amazing powers (his mental abilities) and his physical prowless. These new filmmakers define Holmes’s mental abilities as a superpower and he is portrayed as using his deductive powers to slow the world down in a manner reminiscent of the Matrix films. Holmes can do such amazing things with his mind that he seemingly becomes superhuman. This is why the audience is not asked to participate in solving the case. Although we the viewers see the various clues, we could not be expected to keep up with Super-Holmes’s mental abilities.  This Holmes is not just a deductive genius but also a futurist, much like the Fantastic Four’s Reed Richards or Iron Man’s Tony Stark, who can understand what will happen before it does. (There are more than a few parallels between Robert Downey, Jr.’s portrayals of Sherlock Holmes and Tony Stark. Super-intelligence? Check. Inventor? Check. Arrogant? Check. Substance Abuse? Check.) It is no secret that Sherlock Holmes served as an inspiration for many of the early pulp comic book heroes. Detectives like the Avenger, the Shadow, and Doc Savage borrowed heavily from Sherlock Holmes. As did superheroes like Batman and his legion of imitators. Although many superheroes are partially based on Sherlock Holmes, creators have rarely portrayed him as a superhero. Sherlock Holmes has usually been considered a proto-superhero but never a modern avenger. While this change is probably in part a reaction to superhero movies’ popularity, there is also undoubtedly a deeper cultural need at work. (I say this because academics believe that there must be a deeper cultural meaning. We believe that popular culture and society are intertwined and studying this link will reveal much about who we are.)  It is difficult to understand cultural patterns and changes while they are happening. It will be much easier to analyze this ten or fifteen years from now. (Someone remind me to do that in my blog in 2020, please.) If I had to venture a guess though, I would wager that this change has to do with strengthening our mythological defenders so that we feel safer in troubled times. As the economy falters, our trade imbalance with China grows, and terrorists seemingly lurk around every corner, we more than ever need powerful heroes to protect us. Sherlock Holmes was a citizen of a great empire that had entered a transitional period. His nation was fighting a war in Afghanistan and things did not appear to be going well. (Dr. Watson had just returned from battle at the start of the first Sherlock Holmes book.) The economy was unpredictable and millions were without work. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle created Sherlock Holmes for this rough and tumble world that wasn’t too different from ours. Watching Holmes fight to keep society safe makes us all feel a little more secure. With a few modifications the master detective once again serves as a hero, as he most likely will for generations to come. Undoubtedly, future generations will continue to adapt Mr. Holmes to meet their needs. Maybe the next version will even have X-ray vision.

Book of the Decade

Much like most of you, I assume, I’ve been reading a lot of, “best of the decade” lists. My general reaction to most of these lists is that I can’t believe that something happened so long ago. (Seriously, Memento was released ten years ago? How is that possible?) Generally, I agree with some of the picks and some I don’t. To my mind it is impossible to say what is “best” or ”worst” though, because that is essentially a question of taste.  The London Times released its, “100 Best Books of the Decade” list and I was quite happy to see that the excellent graphic novel Persepolis was ranked number two but how does one quantify how good a book is and then rank it? I understand that this is a promotional device intended to sell newspapers and start conversations about books but ranking seems to me to be a fool’s errand. While in high school and in college for my bachelor’s degree, I worked nights at a local St. Louis grocery store. For a time I worked in the produce department and certain fruit like oranges and apples was organized by size and grade. Grading fruit (or student papers) is often more art than science and an utterly subjective process. One cannot grade something without engaging one’s own favoritism and prejudices. I’m not saying that grading is inherently unfair, as long as one applies the same transparent standards to every item then the system is just. What I am saying is that it is almost impossible in practice to match my standards to your standards. Anyone that has ever graded anything (like apples or papers) with a large group of people knows this. While working on my Ph.D. as Michigan State University, I TAed for four years and my contract required that I attend weekly mentoring meetings with other TAs. Our group of eight TAs and one mentor would often read freshmen papers en masse then each of us would assign a faux grade. Although most grades were comparable, I cannot remember the nine of us ever agreeing on a single grade in the numerous semesters that I attended. To my mind, grading is opinion wrapped in pedagogy. Sizing is a much easier and less biased process. It is measuring something to determine how large it is. While measuring a book’s impact is far from scientific, and is just as subjective as grading in many ways, I believe that ranking books by “most important” rather than “best” is more enlightening because the reviewer must describe his/ her criterium. To declare something “best” is to say that I like it but to state that something is “most important” means I must tell you why.

This has all been a long-winded introduction for my pick of “the most important book of the decade.”  My sole criteria is that it is the book that I believe has most changed the world. Although reading is a deeply personal activity and no one can claim to know how a given book affects its reader, I am judging change as a mass movement made of up millions of readers. My book of the decade is, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the seventh and last of the Harry Potter series. In my opinion, it could be nothing else. It’s the conclusion to a series of books that enticed millions of children, young adults, and adults to read. It started the practice of children and teenagers waiting in lines for bookstores to open at midnight. It potentially changed millions of people’s reading habits. If 10% of Harry Potter readers continue to read throughout their lives, then these books have provided society with a foundation of literacy that cannot be overestimated. I enjoyed all of the Harry Potter books and I believe that J.K. Rowling is a wonderful writer but that isn’t the point. The point is that hopefully Harry Potter will be a literary gateway drug for many and maybe society will become more literate. Creating a book that everyone wants to read is a great start and that’s why J.K. Rowling wins my vote for “the most important book of the decade.”