Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Jodi Piccoult

What's our favorite and why? What do we think about her interpretation of the "hot topics" she chooses to delve into in her books?

Between us, we've read a lot of Piccoult's books. I think we are only missing four books. I guess going to Princeton and Harvard pays off! We know it must in terms of all the research she has to do on those controversial topics. The books are very intelligent and the topics interesting. We like the controversial topics, exploration of other cultures (Native American, Prison, Amish), that teenagers are featured (so the books appeal to multi generational), and the complex endings have more than one twist. But, we worry about the predictability: Will we start to figure out the story before its over?

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We like to read these books as total escape, like we also read Ed McBain, John Irving, or Alice Hoffman (Practical Magic).

We also discussed how Piccoult (and other authors like Tony Hillerman) culturally appropriate stories, spirituality, and contemporary issues from the Native American peple and make tons of money, while authentic Native American authors who write with Native American themes make no where near the same amount of money. The public seems to prefer the made-up White European American "Indian" to the real one.

About the 2009 movie of My Sister's Keeper - Without spoiling the ending, let me say that it is different than the book and we were split on whether we liked the ending of the movie or the book better. It's clear the director chose to focus on the mother/ill-daughter (Kate) relationship more than the pyromaniac older brother, distant fire-fighter father, or epileptic lawyer/healthy daughter (Anna) relationships and characters. We did agree that someone who had never read the book, would love the movie, and we loved it, too. Bring a box of tissues if you go to see it.