Everyone knows you're not supposed to judge a book by its cover, right? But we do, of course. I mean, when you're browsing the library shelves, it's the cover that attracts you to a book, isn't it? I've heard that you're supposed to read to page 90 (!) of a book before you decide if you should read it, but I sure don't have time for that!
So anyway, when I saw Resistance is Futile the other day, I was sure this was just the book for me. Anyone who's read my blog posts before will know that I'm a bit of a Star Trek nerd (just a wee bit!) so I was really excited to read this geeky love story with a Trek reference in the title. It looked like it was going to be the perfect read.
But I was wrong. It wasn't that the story wasn't any good--I enjoyed it well enough--it just wasn't what the cover had lead me to believe. I was expecting a kind of Rosie Project-ish story, but with a geek-girl protagonist and a few Star Trek references thrown in. But what I got, was an X-Files-ish murder-mystery-come-alien-romance story. There was not so much as a single "Beam me up, Scotty" or "Live long and prosper" to be had. I think there might have been a vague reference to the Prime Directive on page 265. Maybe. Or maybe I'm just clutching at straws.
Of course, sometimes it's the other way around.
When I read the blurb of The Round House by Louise Erdrich ("A mother is brutally raped by a man on the North Dakota reservation where she lives... Traumatized and afraid, she takes to her bed and refuses to talk to anyone - including the police...") I groaned inwardly. "Who chooses these books anyway?" I grumbled. But it was for book club, so I had to at least attempt to read it. Grudgingly I began...
...and instead of the abhorrent, disturbing tale I was expecting, I discovered an arresting, thought provoking story of a young man's search for justice for his mother. Although the story was often upsetting, it was not gratuitous. I learnt fascinating and shocking things about life on a Native American reservation. I was amazed that Erdrich, a (then) 57 year old woman, could create a teenage-boy-character so utterly believable and real as Joe. I laughed at the oddball characters of his extended family. And I cried as the conclusion approached, knowing, without knowing, what was about to happen.
And... I reveled in Joe's love of Star Trek! Both for its own sake, and because it was so unexpected! Joe and his friends idolised the super-strong, fully-functional android Data; they wanted to be Worf, the Klingon warrior* (they were also Star Wars fans, of course--but I forgave them). A few chapters in, I suddenly realised that each chapter shared its title with an episode of Star Trek: the Next Generation (yes, I am that much of a Trekkie that I know the titles of the episodes, and I only had to check the synopsis of a couple of them to be sure what they were about). I then had a sudden desire to watch all those episodes, and analyse the connections with each chapter. In fact, I found myself wanting to write whole essays on this book. Back in the dim reaches of history, I actually did a degree in English. I was even invited to do Honours (though I didn't, for reasons which I've now forgotten). I loved studying, but I don't think I've ever read a book since that I so wanted to write academic essays about. The more I think about it, the more I think this book deserves the "Missbeecrafty Best Book" award. I'm sure that's almost as prestigious as the American National Book Award for Fiction which it actually won in 2012.
Literary prize winning books aren't for everyone, I know, but don't judge this book on its prize-winning-ness. And don't judge it on it's Trekkie-ness! If you're not a Star Trek fan, don't worry, I've read a bunch of reviews, and hardly anyone else seems to have even noticed it, and they still loved it. And don't judge it by its cover, either!
Just read it.
*I always had a soft spot for Data myself. And Worf too, once the make-up department gave him a decent hair do.
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