Octavian ISN'T Nothing!

So... yeah...

Take a deep breath before you read the title of this post's book.

The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Vol. 1: The Pox Party by M.T. Anderson.

Now that's what I call a LENGTHY title (which I will more than likely be shortening to simply Octavian Nothing in this blog post... unless I start to feel particularly obnoxious...). And it's a fairly lengthy book, might I add. In general, I can plow through a book in a good couple hours. This one I spent a few DAYS on.

Number one reason being that it is just plain HARD to read, something that I actually found rather pleasing about the book.

But hmm... summary right here would make a lot of sense.

Okay, so this book is about this boy, Octavian (cool name, no?) who is living during the era of Revolutionary America. He lives with his mother (an incredibly beautiful African princess) in a house full of old philosophers (or geezers, whichever term you may prefer). Now these philosophers perform 'experiments' of sorts on Octavian, in order to see if he, as an African, is as "human" as a European. And this whole time, Octavian thinks this is completely normal and is totally okay with it all (something that's difficult for us to wrap our minds around). Everything is good in his world, and he is receiving this top-notch education. Now since I don't want to spoil anything, I won't go any farther with my summary. I'll only say that Octavian's life drastically changes from what it was when the book begins.

Now, why is this kid so great? What makes Octavian so special, though, is that he is so incredibly bright, regardless of his education. He is insanely smart, and he's only seven when the narrative begins.

Smart little Octavian is the one who is telling the story, which is what makes this book so difficult for a lot of people, and yes, a little bit for me as well. Octavian uses complex syntax, difficult vocabulary, and an 'old' way of speaking, all of which would sound perfectly normal in his life, surrounded with philosophers and molded by a classical education. In our day and age, though, we just don't speak like this anymore (and a tiny part of me wishes we did... the language used is both elegant and eloquent).

I LIKED that it was difficult to read though. Too few books these days are challenging, and that's sad, in a way. Shouldn't we be trying to stimulate the world? We shouldn't make books easy just for the sake of being easy. I dunno... it's difficult to put all my thoughts on this together.

I guess...

Yes, it's difficult to read. Yes, it's boring at first. Yes, it's historical fiction. And YES, these are ALL things that make you not want to read it. But trust me! It's good!

But really, it's good in a much different way than I'm used to. Good books to me simply bleed emotion, and this didn't really do that for me. I wasn't overwhelmed! But this book made me think, and that may be more important than "feeling a connection to the protagonist" or whatever excuse somebody may use to deem a book "worthy".

I should better phrase what I'm trying to say before I move on....

A lot of times when I read books that are deeply moving, I bawl my freaking eyes out. I'm an emotional reader. I know, and I'm not ashamed.

However, when I read Octavian Nothing, I didn't bawl. I got to the point, though, where I WANTED to cry. I just couldn't. I was so touched by the book, by Octavian's story, that all I could do was think about what was going on, rather than acting in my own weird way (crying til I have no more tears). It was a rather cool experience.

Gosh, this post feels all over the place! Argh.

I'll end it now with a few last thoughts, so as to not waste more of your time.

1. Fabulous book. Different. Difficult. Special.

2. It makes you think, something that is becoming more and more rare in this world.

3. Incredibly moving and touching and heart-felt.

4. There's a second one (and eventually a third). I'm gonna have to get it one of these days.