Damn it Feels Good to be a Gangsta, or: Winter of our Discontent

Fell behind in this cuh-razy month. Apparently those two days make a difference. I completed 5 of the 8 books I should have. Many tears were wept, and I dropped caps in a few asses. Lesson one: an upset gansta always drops caps in people's asses. Shanking with shivs is also acceptable, especially when doing hard time or at a job that does not allow fire arms. Lesson two: Shiv (noun)- a homemade instrument of stabbing (definition:mine). Shank (verb)- to stab with a shiv (see previous definition)

Part of this blog will be gangsta-ology. I am well qualified to instruct in this matter, as I am pretty much the most gangsta person I know (or have ever heard of). They call me Vuh-nilluh Xtrakt on the streets.

This entry is gonna cover the whole month. I guess I was too busy pimpin' it to write a weekly entry. Now that my bid-niss be in order, I can get back to blogging. What did I read this month? Here goes:

Clash of Kings. It is part of a series, and a pretty gangsta series at that (in a fantasy nerd gangsta kind of way). This was part two of what will be a five-book series. HOPEFULLY will be, if the author finishes the last one before he passes on. I sincerely hope he does not (for MORE than selfish reasons). The series is NOT, as some claim, the next Lord of the Rings (blasphemers!) but is still pretty stinkin' good. It has a lot of political intrigue, power struggles, a touch of magic n' destiny, a tad of ever-popular incest, and battles, battles, battles. A very good fantasy series for those looking for something less cheesy and more meaty (in a vegetarian sense, of course). Gangsta Lesson 3: Gangstas love battles. Gangstas will love this book. Think drive-by shooting, but from the back of a war steed. 

The next I read was Unwind by Neil Shusterman. FANTASTIC book. Imagine a society that has been ravaged by the Heartland War, a war in which Pro-Choice vs Pro-Life has become a violent force that has cost lives and ripped the nation apart, literally. To quell the fighting, a compromise is reached: no child, born or unborn, can be harmed in any way. Once a child reaches 13, however, they can be 'unwound; if their parents so choose. Unwinding is exactly what it sounds like. Each part of the child is taken aprt and given to a person who needs that organ. EVERY part is used, to the process does not 'legally' cause death. The child is still alive in, just in a divided form. Three teens who are slated for this fate escape. The book does not, as you would assume, side solidly on either side of the life/choice issue, but rather serves as a commentary on the battle that rages on between the two, as well as providing insight into BOTH views. I HIGHLY recommend it.

Really good book. It wasn't as well written as Unwind, but was still great. The world of the novel is a world in which death is no longer an inevitability. Most people take drugs to live forever. This causes problems with over population, so those who choose immortality must sign a pact to never procreate. Those who do are jailed, and their children are sent to work camps/schools to try and atone for their parent's sins. These children are called Surpluses, and the narrator is one such child. She tells the story of growing up to be taught that she is a burden who should have never been born, and must strive her whole life to be useful in some capacity to those who deserved to exist. Gangsta lesson number 4: Do not let the authority keep you down while behind bars. Be the king of your cell block.

After writing a paper on the Musselman of the concentration camps, Elie Wiesel's "Night" seemed a logical reading choice. The story is harrowing. haunting, and something that everyone should read. It portrays not only the horrors of Auschwitz, but the love and loyalty that can exist between father and son even when all else is stripped away.

CS Lewis' "Great Divorce" was a great read, especially for those who enjoyed both Blake's "The Marriage of Heaven and Hell" and Dante's "Divine Comedy". The picture of the afterlife that CS Lewis presents is beautiful and wonderful, and fully embraces both the idea of a completely loving Divine and the idea of man's unrestrained free will. The setting is only half the book, however. His observations of human behavior is extremely insightful, and his understanding if human relationships is eye opening. One does not need to be a theology student to love this book. Best thing about it/ UNICORNS!!!!!!!

Alright, gangstas, that's it for this month. Like I said, I was too busy making my turf safe and keeping hos in line to read.Gangsta homework for you all to work on: write a dope rhyme, and rob something (not necessarily in that order).