Story Analysis

After hitting a personal record of 154 books read in 2016, I decided to scale things back this past year. Apparently being a full-time English teacher leaves me with a lot less free time than being a college student teaching on the side. Who knew. I still got to 101 books, but the vast majority of those books were read before August when reading time went out the window.

It was easier to choose my top 10 this year since I was sorting through a lot less books, so here are the top 10 books I read in 2017 (yes; my list is pretty eclectic–I have a lot of varied tastes). I included a brief snippet about the book below, and the titles are linked to my Goodread reviews for the few of you ~~foolish enough~~ curious enough to want to read more of my thoughts on these books.

10. The Book of Strange New Things by Michel Faber

This is an odd book in many ways. One of the best works of Christian speculative fiction I’ve read–and it was also written by an atheist. It markets itself as a sci-fi first-encounter-with-aliens book–but it’s really about the trials of a long-distance marriage. It doesn’t fit into many neat categories. But it was also a breathtakingly beautiful and profoundly tragic work. Really fascinating stuff.

9. A Grief Observed by C.S. Lewis

I had no idea Lewis published a book like this–a raw journal-like look at his personal struggles and thoughts following the death of his wife. Lewis is honest about his doubts, his anger, and his confusion. But while most of the book is depressing and somewhat-dark, the gleams of light present in the book are all-the-more powerful for that. [Read more…] about Top Ten Books Read in 2017

I recently saw The Last Jedi over this past weekend. It was one of those films that took me a while to process because of just how many plot twists and surprises were packed into its two and a half hour run-time. The more I’ve thought about it, however, the more it strikes me that The Last Jedi may have the best thematic breadth in the entire Star Wars series. (Warning: Spoilers follow.)

In most Star Wars movies, the thematic aspect of the film seems to be pretty focused on one character. A New Hope focuses on Luke’s character arc as he learns to trust the Force. Han has a character arc as well, but it’s more minor and disconnected. Empire Strikes Back is about Luke being forced to choose between achieving greatness (whether as a Jedi with Yoda or a Sith with his father) or protecting his friends (among other things; there are a couple different themes, but they seem to mainly revolve around Luke). Revenge of the Sith likewise focuses everything around Anakin’s turn to the Dark Side. Great themes with a lot of depth. However, all these themes are largely focused on one character in each of the films.

I was surprised to find that this isn’t the case in The Last Jedi.

Instead, The Last Jedi “democratizes” its key theme by developing it through the lives of a bunch of different characters instead of through one main character.

I’d like to suggest that the biggest theme in The Last Jedi is the theme of pride: or, as Luke puts it, the theme of hubris. (The past is another big theme, but I think pride has an edge on it). The film is about people who trust themselves and don’t trust others–and the chaos this creates in its wake. [Read more…] about Why The Last Jedi Has the Most Thematic Breadth in the Series