Monday 23 April 2012

NOVEL - Jasper Jones (Craig Silvey)

This book caught my eye at Kinokuniya one day in 2011 as the guy on the cover reminded me of Lip from Shameless US (ie: Jeremy Allen White) and that was purely the reason why I wanted to read the book.

Then I read the blurb then looked at the price tag of the book and thought 'okay..no," and put the book back down.

To be honest, it didn't sound that interesting. A bunch of kids in an Australian regional outback town. Okay, no thanks.

(interesting fact: the blurb of this book was in the 2010 School Certificate Paper)

Fast forward to one year later and things have changed greatly. The novel isn't extremely long, but it was able to make me laugh, cry and make my heart ache. It deals with prejudice, racism, death and love in a way that isn't too overwhelming and the lessons to be learned from the book aren't shoved down your throat, they subtlety seep into your mind.

It makes you wonder how a book which appears to be another typical teen book can contain so much meaning. I finished the 300+ pages in well under a week and I would gladly read it again. Books like these deserve to be read more than once. There are moments in which you suddenly burst out laughing and with that, I want to acknowledge the flawlessness of the character Jeffrey Lu. Much of my laughter was due to him.
  • “He couldn’t hit a cow’s arse with a banjo.”

Jasper Jones also contains many good, insightful quotes, and I'll end this post with one of them.
  • “Life might be easier if you give in a little, but it’s better if you hold onto something so hard you can’t give it up.”

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