New York : Tor, A Tom Doherty Associates Book 2020<\/p>\n
398 pages<\/p>\n
ISBN 978-1-250-21731-8<\/p>\n
In December Donostia Book Club reads a novel that can be enjoyed both by teenagers and adults, The House in Cerulean Sea<\/a>. A tender fantasy fiction opens with a not so tender image of the world where innocent children with magical skills are chased and locked in special facilities, separated from society.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Published in 2020 the novel caused quite a commotion: on one hand it was praised for the maestry of style and causing pure feeling of joy in its readers, on the other the author was said to be inspired by Canada\u2019s residential schools, and in particular, a cultural genocide tactic called \u201cthe 60s scoop\u201d and that caused some controversies. Our protagonist is Linus Baker who for the last 17 years has been working in the Department in Charge of Magical Youth. A model worker who never asks questions, does what he\u2019s told to do and assumes his superiors are doing the right thing. But\u2026 are they? Once Linus is sent to the secluded orphanage where Arthur Parnassus takes care of six children considered highly dangerous by the Department, Linus starts questioning if his work is really just and focused on protecting society.<\/p>\n The novel is a perfect example of how fantasy can be used as a social critique tool. It gives us feel good vibes, but the story is darker than it might seem while reading it. It focuses on topics of tolerance, fear, cultural prejudices, discrimination\u2026 And all that with the trope of the found family forefront.<\/p>\n The novel being a fantasy story won\u2019t be liked by all, genre books still tend to cause some unjust rejection as simple or of lower category. Also, not everyone enjoys the elements of magic. But those who can look past these things will definitely find a complex story with characters that make us wonder about how one can make the world a bit more just. <\/p>\n New York : Tor, A Tom Doherty Associates Book 2020 398 pages ISBN 978-1-250-21731-8 In December Donostia Book Club reads a novel that can be enjoyed both by teenagers and adults, The House in Cerulean Sea. A tender fantasy fiction opens with a not so tender image of the world where innocent children with magical […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":24107,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[50],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24105","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-eleberria"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogak.donostiakultura.eus\/liburu-dantza\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24105","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogak.donostiakultura.eus\/liburu-dantza\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogak.donostiakultura.eus\/liburu-dantza\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogak.donostiakultura.eus\/liburu-dantza\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogak.donostiakultura.eus\/liburu-dantza\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24105"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/blogak.donostiakultura.eus\/liburu-dantza\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24105\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24126,"href":"https:\/\/blogak.donostiakultura.eus\/liburu-dantza\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24105\/revisions\/24126"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogak.donostiakultura.eus\/liburu-dantza\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24107"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogak.donostiakultura.eus\/liburu-dantza\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24105"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogak.donostiakultura.eus\/liburu-dantza\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24105"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogak.donostiakultura.eus\/liburu-dantza\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24105"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nFor those of you who would like to participate in our book club meeting on December 1st<\/strong> or to analyse the book on your own, here are some questions prepared by the publisher, TOR:<\/p>\n\n\n
\n \n - As an employee of DICOMY, Linus Baker works under very rigid rules\r\n and regulations (and that\u2019s literally the name of the handbook he refers\r\n to quite often!). He\u2019s constantly being monitored, yet he still manages\r\n to produce quality work. Why does he push through working under\r\n such pressure? And if you were in his shoes, would you be able to\r\n work under those conditions?<\/span><\/span><\/span>\r\n- Linus is a very lonely man and prior to investigating the Marsyas\r\n Island Orphanage, his only friend and family is his aloof cat Calliope.\r\n While building a family and a home becomes important for Linus as\r\n the story progresses, why wasn\u2019t this a priority in his past? Why is he\r\n so isolated as an adult, and do you think this can this be attributed to\r\n what his home life was like growing up?<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>\r\n- This book is thoroughly endearing, and part of the reason is because\r\n of the children! They each have such unique and incredible powers.\r\n Whose magical abilities appeal to you most? If you were to choose\r\n your own magical powers, what would they be and why? <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>\r\n- Linus and Lucy bond over their love of music, and artists such as\r\n The Everly Brothers, Sam Cooke, Bobby Darin, The Coasters,\r\n Little Richard, The Big Bopper, and Buddy Holly <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>are frequently\r\n mentioned. Why is music such a large part of the story?\r\n What role does it play in the characters\u2019 lives?<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>\r\n- Let\u2019s talk about Chauncey! He\u2019s such a loveable and sweet\r\n character. It\u2019s clear he wants to grow up and help people.\r\n While there are many professions in which people help others\r\n (like doctors or firefighters), what about the prospect of being a\r\n bellhop specifically entices him so much?<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>\r\n- Each of the characters in this book have different fears to work\r\n through and conquer. Arthur fears for the safety and wellbeing of\r\n the children. Linus fears stepping out of his <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>comfort zone and truly\r\n being seen. The villagers fear the magical powers the children\r\n possess\u2014and that fear manifests into hate. Do you think the\r\n characters face their fears in <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>beneficial ways? How do you deal\r\n with your fears? Do you feel you can relate to any of the\r\n characters\u2019 ways of coping?<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>\r\n- Body size is mentioned quite often throughout the book. Linus\r\n always attempts to shrink himself\u2014both literally and figuratively.\r\n Can you explain the dichotomy between him <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>being a larger person,\r\n yet seeming to take up little or no space? And how does size have\r\n an impact on the story overall?<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>\r\n- Lucy suffers from terrible nightmares. He says that in these\r\n nightmares he has spiders on the brain. His night terrors are so bad\r\n that his bedroom is actually the closet off of <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>Arthur\u2019s room. Do you\r\n think Lucy sleeping so close to Arthur is a good idea, or does it\r\n prevent him from being more independent like the other children?\r\n Does it show favoritism in any way? Why does he suffer from such\r\n terrible nightmares? <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>\r\n- The townspeople who live near the Marsyas Island live in fear of the\r\n six children in the orphanage. Why do you think that is? Where does\r\n prejudice come from? Why do people <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>fear the unknown?\r\n At the heart of the novel is the importance of surrounding yourself with\r\n people who feel like home and finding a place where you wholeheartedly\r\n belong. How do you personally define \u201chome?\u201d What are the essentials?<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>\r\n\r\nTaken from:\r\nhttps:\/\/images.macmillan.com\/folio-assets\/readers-guides\/9781250217288RG.pdf<\/a><\/i><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/pre>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"