The Magicians: Interpretive Playlist

The Magicians Playlist:
1) Nowhere Man- The Beatles (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfWEPu0w-7w)
He's a real Nowhere Man
Sitting in his Nowhere Land
Making all his nowhere plans for nobody

Doesn't have a point of view
Knows not where he's going to
Isn't he a bit like you and me?
Quentin is the “Nowhere Man.” His one big dream in life is to find Fillory. That is his “nowhere plan,” it has no basis in reality, just fantasy. The only time he has any sense of purpose is when Fillory is the prize. The majority of the novel, Quentin has no drive. He is just going through the motions of life, first at Brakebills and then after graduation. “Doesn’t have a point of view.. knows not where he’s going to,” Quentin never commits to anything. He’s scared, he’s the ultimate middle man. Even when Fillory is in his sights, when Penny provides him with a chance that it actually exists, Quentin is still in his “nowhere land,” unwilling to take the risk. “ ‘Look Penny.’ Now Quentin could play the reasonable one and he did it with maximum nastiness. ‘Slow down. You’ve gotten so far ahead of yourself, you can’t even see how you get there. You’ve seen an old city, and a bunch of pools and fountains, and you’ve got a button with some heavy duty enchantments on it, and you’re looking for some framework to fit them all together, and you’ve latched onto this Fillory thing. But you’re grasping at straws.’” (250).
2) Modern Man – Arcade Fire (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8GbxFjH7kc)
So I wait in line, I'm a modern man
And the people behind me, they can't understand
Makes me feel like
Something don't feel right

In my dream I was almost there
Then you pulled me aside and said you're going nowhere
I know we are the chosen few
But we're wasted
And that's why we're still waiting
In line for a number but you don't understand
Like a modern man
As Quentin spends more time at Brakebills and is less involved in the non- magical world, he loses touch with James and Julia, he feels disconnected from them because they are unable to understand the experiences he is going through and because they feel hurt that he left them so suddenly. “It hadn’t occurred to Quentin that they might not be completely glad to see him. He knew he’d left abruptly without explanation, but he had no idea how hurt and betrayed they would feel” (72). Quentin is also now a member of the Brakebills elite. He is one of the “chosen few.” However, after graduation, the enormous talents that Quentin and the students of Brakebills have and they themselves “are wasted” because they have no impetus to utilize their skills for anything more than their own pleasure.
3) Show Me What I’m Looking For- Carolina Liar (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IqCfxgKZd8)
Save me, I'm lost
Oh lord, I've been waiting for you
I'll pay any cost
Save me from being confused
Show me what I'm looking for
Show me what I'm looking for…oh lord

Don't let go
I've wanted this far too long
Quentin has spent his entire life looking for Fillory. When he arrives at Brakebills, his immediate conclusion is that he’s reached Fillory. Although this is not the case, Quentin has found something almost as good, he has found a place where he is special. He believes that the unhappiness and problems that have characterized his life will be over since he is now part of this magical new world and as a result, he clung to the escape Brakebill’s provided him, “He was worried that if he left Brakebills they’d never let him back in. He would never find his way back again – they would close some secret door to the garden behind him, and lock it, and it’s outline would be lost forever among the vines and the stonework” (70).
4) Back to Where I was- Eric Hutchinson (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfZK_PnmzSU)
New life decides to come through the front door
and makes us wish we'd shown respect before
though i don't have much of a choice
i resolve to regain my voice

if i only just begin to understand it that's because
every time i start to change my mind again
it gets me back to where i was
This song is representative of the cyclic nature of Quentin’s life. He is constantly depressed and unhappy because he feels as though life has not turned out the way it should and that all his dreams are just outside of his reach. However, with each new opportunity, Quentin believes all his dreams are finally being fulfilled and that he has finally found what he’s looking for. This is the case when he enters Brakebills, gets involved with Alice, finds Fillory. However, with each “new life,” Quentin ultimately ends up in the same situation, “back to where he was,” unhappy and unfulfilled.
5) Rabbit Heart – Florence & the Machine (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nxO-yPQesA)
The looking glass, so shiny and new
How quickly the glamour fades
I start spinning, slipping out of time

You made a deal, and now it seems you have to offer up
But will it ever be enough? It’s not enough
This is a gift, it comes with a price
Who is the lamb and who is the knife?
Fillory is incredibly idealized in Quentin’s mind, however, this idyllic world does not parallel the reality of what Fillory has become. The “glamour” of being in Fillory quickly fades as Quentin and the others encounter the very real violence and conflicts permeating the land, especially in the form of the Beast. “He looked exactly the way Quentin remembered… the terror was so absolute, so all-encompassing that it was almost like calm; not a suspicion but an absolute certainty they were going to die” (352). What remains of Fillory, its faded glory, is “not enough” for Quentin. Also, he feels that he is treated as a “lamb” being led to slaughter by Jane Chatwin. She sets everything up so that Quentin will find his way to Brakebills, to Fillory, all so he will eventually kill the Beast, knowing the very possible risk of death. “This woman had used tem all like toys. And if some of the toys got broken, oh well. That had been the point of the story all along. She had manipulated him, sent him and the others into Fillory to find Martin” (379).
6) Rise- Azure Ray (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_W_t4UQbuU)
and look how low i've sunk
don't ask me to rise
i'll lose you when i'm high
hey, look how low i've sunk
don't ask me to rise
i'll only lose you when i'm
high.....
high.....
After his adventures or misadventures in Fillory, his near death experience with the Beast, the realization that the idyllic Martin Chatwin was the Beast, and Alice’s death, Quentin loses all faith in Fillory, in magic. He refuses to believe Jane Chatwin’s assertion that they won and that Quentin is a hero, “ ‘We won?’ He was incredulous. He couldn’t hold back anymore. All the grief and guilt he’d been salting away so carefully was coming back as anger… ‘We thought we were going on an adventure, and you sent us on a suicide mission, and now my friends are dead. Alice is dead’,” (380).
7) Swim Until You Can’t See Land- Frightened Rabbit (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzjERZU3wbY)
We salute at the threshold of the North Sea
in my mind
And a nod to the boredom that drove me here
to face the tide and swim
(Whoaaaa) I swim (Whoaaa) oh swim (Whoaaa)

Dip the toe in the ocean. Oh how it hardens and it numbs.
And the rest of me is a version of man
built to collapse into crumbs
And if I hadn’t come down
To the coast to disappear
I may have died in a land-slide
Of the rocks, the hopes and fears.

So swim until you can’t see land.
After graduating from Brakebills, Quentin has absolutely no motivation or drive. He has incredible skills and power, yet no idea of how to use it productively and no inclination to do so. He has a limitless supply of money that the magical community has accumulated and as a result is able to spend all his time partying and drinking. However, despite living the high life in New York and being a fully-fledged magician, Quentin is still not happy. This song expresses how Quentin feels when Penny shows him the way to Fillory. He has just cheated on Alice with Janet and his life has hit rock bottom. All his life, he has viewed Fillory as this utopia, an idealized place where he can escape the unhappiness that has been his constant companion on life. Therefore, Quentin fully embraces the expedition into Fillory and galvanizes everyone into action, he’s “swimming until he can’t see land,” trying to leave all his problems and unhappiness behind. “He was in Fillory… This was the place. He would be picked up, cleaned off, and made to feel safe and happy and whole again” (288).
8) Boy With a Coin – Iron & Wine (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDfM1byYLyY)
A boy with a coin he found in the weeds
With bullets and pages of trade magazines
Close to a car that flipped on the turn
When God left the ground to circle the world
A boy with a coin he crammed in his jeans
Then making a wish he tossed in the sea
Walked to a town that all of us burn
When God left the ground to circle the world
When Penny finds the button or “coin” that takes them all to Fillory, Quentin is happier than he’s ever been. He is finally fulfilling his life’s dream and going to Fillory. However, when faced with the reality of what Fillory has become, a place corrupted by human nature, by Martin Chatwin’s manipulating its magic for selfish purposes, Fillory loses its magic. Quentin figuratively “tosses” his coin, his dream, into the sea. He turns his back on Fillory and magic and returns to the non-magic world, the “town that all of us burn.” He forces himself to live in the adult world, where dreams are not part of life. “Quentin felt superior to anybody who still messed around with magic. They could delude themselves if they liked, those self-indulgent magical mandarins, but he’d outgrown that stuff. He wasn’t a magician anymore, he was a man, and a man took responsibility for his actions. He was out here working in the hard flinty bedrock face of it all” (394).

The Magicians Continued

The farther I got into this book, the less I enjoyed it. The book has an extremely depressing mood. I will say that Grossman is very skilled in drawing the reader into the story. However, I cannot say that I enjoy being drawn in. Quentin's entire attitude throughout the book is incredibly frustrating. It is physically impossible for him to be happy. No matter the situation, he has to find or create some issue that complicates it and ensures his continued depression and disatisfaction with life. I don't like any of the characters, they are all extremely self absorbed.

The book also felt more and more like a rip off of the Chronicles of Narnia as the reader learns more about Fillory. It is the same plot, the only difference is the names of the characters. Also, I have already finished the book so spoiler alert, but by the time they all go into Fillory, I was pretty annoyed with Grossman. It feels like he took another author's construction and distorted the world into this grotesque vision that seems to parallel Quentin's emotional isuues. I won't say anything about it since we aren't supposed to have read it yet, but I also really hated the ending.

The Magicians

So far I am enjoying The Magicians. It definitely does not throw you right into the action like Hunger Games does but it has a much quicker start than Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. However, I think that one of the reasons that I am already interested is because the book is so reminiscent of Harry Potter and Narnia.

The whole concept of Fillory, the main character finding a secret world in a hidden cabinet in a grandfather clock in a "dark, narrow back hallway at his aunt's house" seems like a scene straight out of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. However, as the story progresses and Quentin is transported to the hidden college for magic, I feel as though we're moving to Hogwarts. I'm not sure if I like this mix of books. I love both series and feel intrigued by this novel but it does not feel like a new or original idea.

I know it's impossible to accurately judge a book based on the first 47 pages so I am interested in reading further and seeing where Grossman is going with the novel and whether or not new ideas will emerge.

Hunger Games

Hunger Games is by far my favorite book that we've read this semester. I was unable to put the book down and read the whole thing in one sitting. I think it is an extremely well written and engrossing story. Suzanne Collins manages to incorporate so many different elements so effectively that it's obvious why this book is a bestseller. It has aspects that can appeal to many different audiences. This book also reminded me of many others that I have read such as The Giver, Lord of the Flies, 1984, and more.

Although I think that Collins created a very interesting world she doesn't develop it very much or explain a great deal to the reader. However, as much as I would like to know more about the Districts and the Capitol and the whole world in which the characters live, Collins doesn't need to in order to make the book a success. I think her entire construction of the novel around the Hunger Games was very clever. She is able to build up the world, the characters, and the story around it and it adds a sense of mystery that further engrosses the reader.

My one issue is that I found the book very predictable. Since it is the first in a trilogy, I was never really concerned for Katniss' safety, it seemed guaranteed. Also, the book seemed to follow a very predictable progression of events. The reader immediately knows that Katniss will end up participating in the games and that something will develop between her and Peeta. It's very apparent that they will be the final two. I also felt that Collins doesn't really resolve the issue of Peeta and Katniss. This might be because it is the first book in a trilogy and this is Collins' way of holding onto the readers' interest, however, I felt that the end was unsatisfying and a little lackluster. There is also the issue of Gale. In the beginning it appears as though he will be an important character, yet he his main role in the rest of the book seems to be to complicate Katniss' feelings about Peeta.

Overall I really enjoyed this book and I will definitely be finishing the trilogy.

The City The City

As of now, this book is reminding a lot of the slow start of Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. I've found the first fifty pages very dense and hard to get into. It is a bit of a sensory overload, being thrown into this world with absolutely no background information. I feel like I'm just reading blindly, trying to find something concrete to hold onto to pull me into the world that Miéville has created. However, it is extremely difficult. His blending of this fictional world of Beszel with little inserts about the real world, like his mentions of Turkey, are especially challenging. I'm having a hard time distinguishing the fantasy from the reality. I am also not at all invested in the characters right now. I think this is partially to do with their unfamiliar names, but also to do with the complete lack of personal or background information

However, I do find the book intriguing. The constant, ambiguous mentions that Miéville makes of the divide between the two cities, Beszel and Ul Qoman are interesting, especially because it seems that the cites are practically intertwined yet the inhabitants cannot acknowledge the other's existence. Borlú's comments about accidently seeing or noticing people who I'm assuming are from Ul Qoma and this being practically taboo is very intriguing. I'm looking forward to reading more of the book but hoping that my confusion will be resolved.

House Rules Disappoints

I was very dissatisfied with the ending of House Rules. I felt that the ending was a complete contradiction to the rest of the book and that Picoult after writing a book about a very difficult and emotional subject, took the easy route out by creating a cheesy "happy" ending.

Picoult spends the majority of the book focusing on Jacob's aspergers and the limitations and problems it presents both him and his family. She focuses on how Jacob's life is defined by rules that must be adhered to for his ability to function. His life and sense of responsibility is completely defined by these rules and he lives his life according to them. It is beyond Jacob's capabilities to act beyond these rules' limitations. This at least is the message I got from Picoult. Jacob's ability to act is incumbent on these rules. However, in the end, Picoult contradicts this by having Jacob stage Jess' murder because he is protecting Theo. While Picoult does state that Jacob is still following the rules at this point, the rule to "take care of your brother, he's the only one you've got," she also implies the happy ending that Jacob can overcome the Asperger's, "To all those experts who say that because I have Asperger's, I can't empathize: so there. People who can't empathize surely don't try to protect the people they love, even if it means having to go to court." However, at least from my perspective this seems to completely contradict the rest of the book. Jacob protects Theo because he applied the rules that govern his life to the situation, not out of love for Theo.

House Rules

I have read Jodi Picoult before and I have never really enjoyed her writing. Unfortunately the same can be said about House Rules. While I was immediately drawn into the story and motivated to keep reading, I have not found the book satisfying. I think this is partially because I finished the book already and was not satisfied with the ending. I feel as though there are a lot of details Picoult throws into the novel for no particular reason and then proceeds to ignore. I think she puts in the details such as Emma writing the advice column and Rich enjoying it to try and temper the serious and largely sad subject matter of the book. However, I just felt as though they were very out of place and disconnected from the story.

I also feel that while Picoult does an amazing job of developing Jacob and his issues with Aspergers for the reader, she doesn't sufficiently address or develop all the issues or characters in the book. At the beginning, I thought that Rich would have a larger role in the story since he is initially focused on quite a bit. However, by the end he seems to serve no real role and his narration is just thrown in as an afterthought. Also, Theo's obsession with breaking into houses is never really addressed although it is central to solving the mystery.

While I may have issues with Picoult's writing, I cannot deny that she does an amazing job with creating the character of Jacob. She obviously has some sort of insight into the world of a person with Aspergers and she does a very effective job of bringing and incorporating the reader into that world. I think that Theo's and Emma's narration that Picoult includes does a lot to enrich the story. They are the characters that the reader can relate to. While we may empathize with Jacob and relate to him on a more superficial level, in the sense of feeling like in outside on occasion, we cannot truly understand him or his disease. Therefore, by including his family's perspectives, the people who besides Jacob are most affected by his condition, Picoult is doing a masterful job of making the reader care about the story and characters.