by Kat Altomonte
I like pink, unicorns, sparkles, and (loooove omg) One Direction. Taylor Swift is my hero and I cried when I wasn’t able to watch the Biebs’ concert in Manila. I’m a fangirly girly girl and everyone knows it. What people don’t know and don’t often ask about me is that I spend a whole lot of my time reading sci-fi and fantasy books and getting a stuffy nose from the allergies I get from flipping through old pages.
It’s crazy how one book can reveal a whole other world to you! One of the most brilliant and hilarious books I have ever read was The Hogfather written by Terry Pratchett. I reread it every year before Christmas – it’s that good! The book contains subplots that lead up to one big story on the Hogfather’s (similar to Santa) disappearance and Susan, Death’s granddaughter, trying to find him.
The text of the book is a powerful experience. The first read will have you confused with a normal premise that twists into action you wouldn’t expect. It reveals how limited your world and your thinking is and pushes you to engage in the text to build a framework for growth. The text gives you so much mystery and excitement that your mind becomes more receptive to new ideas and more possibilities. It gives you an opportunity to maximize your creativity in looking for and finding answers to the questions we have about our own lived experiences. The text is very engaging, funny, and will open you to be insightful. It celebrates the innovation and creativity behind the human mind.
Death: YES. AS PRACTICE. YOU HAVE TO START OUT LEARNING TO BELIEVE THE LITTLE LIES.
Susan: "So we can believe the big ones?"
Death: YES. JUSTICE. MERCY. DUTY. THAT SORT OF THING.
Susan: "They're not the same at all!"
Death: YOU THINK SO? THEN TAKE THE UNIVERSE AND GRIND IT DOWN TO THE FINEST POWDER AND SIEVE IT THROUGH THE FINEST SIEVE AND THENSHOW ME ONE ATOM OF JUSTICE, ONE MOLECULE OF MERCY. AND YET—Death waved a hand. AND YET YOU ACT AS IF THERE IS SOME IDEAL ORDER IN THE WORLD, AS IF THERE IS SOME...SOME RIGHTNESS IN THE UNIVERSE BY WHICH IT MAY BE JUDGED.
Susan: "Yes, but people have got to believe that, or what's the point—"
Death: MY POINT EXACTLY.”
