Book Review: The Last American Vampire by Seth Grahame-Smith

   

source

                                             

While I promise to steer away from major plot points and try to keep things vague in reviews some of what I write might be considered vaguely spolierish.  So if you prefer to read a book with no prior knowledge then I would advise not read my reviews.

The Last American Vampire  is the both the sequel and prequel to Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Slayer.   While it does pick up after the events of the first book it also goes back in history to explain the origins of Henry, the vampire protagonist.  We get both his human history and his vampire origins and their relation to one of the earliest European settlements in North America.  It also moves forward in time, giving an alternative history of the United States, with the occasional stopover in the UK and Europe.

The story is fast paced - I think I read it in less than a week.  There is lots of excitement and violence.  Henry also seems to have a habit of running into and either befriending or making an enemy of many historical figures through out the course of the book.  Well, white and male historical figures.

And here's where we come to what really bothered me about the book.  Now it has been years since I read Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Slayer but I do recall that it had mainly white male characters and I wasn't too bothered.  The book was the story of the friendship between a man and a vampire.  However, this is the story of the United States.  Yes it's an alternate history, but it's still a history.  Where the hell were all the women and people of color who helped shape and build a nation?

There is literally only one female historical character who is a major player in the story.  And I am being really generous in saying so as she gets very little in the way of characterization.  What little we are given about her motivations makes her sound more like a one note stereotype of a traditional female character and less like a flesh and blood being.

And, okay, sure.  Henry is around four hundred years old.  His views on race and gender might be a bit antiquated.  And yet, he specifically mentions women's suffrage as something he supports and takes action to punish those who lynched an African American man.  So, if he believes women are good enough to vote and people of color deserve justice - well why are all his friends white males?

I am not kidding when I say over a dozen white and male historical figures are a part of this story.  But female and persons of color?  In some cases they only get a mention in the footnotes, if at all.

I know, I know, it's just a silly book.  And it is silly.  And I like silly.  I just think an "alternate history" where the white male vampire is the protector and savior of the United States is pretty much what we get when we whitewash history.  Except for the "vampire" part.  It's an okay read but I was really hoping for something more subversive. 

An Epic Journey

I read once that socks are the short stories of the knitting world.  If I were to name a literary metaphor for this sweater I would pick an epic poem.  Specifically the Odyssey because I felt like I might never finish.

Initially I thought I wouldn't have enough yarn for this sweater at all.  But I found an extra skein and breathed a sigh of relief.  Until I got near the end.  I ran out of yarn halfway through the button band.  But I wasn't going to be defeated, oh no.  I would finish this baby.  Here were the options:

A) Probably the easiest:  Find yarn in my stash of the same weight as the yarn I used for the rest of the sweater and knit a new button band from it.  It wouldn't be gray like the rest of the sweater but it would be a finished sweater.  Except, I didn't want a gray sweater with a different color button band, I just wanted a gray sweater.

B) Possibly easy: Track down another skein of the yarn.  It wouldn't even need to be the same dye lot - I could just reknit the button band from the new skein and if the dye lot was noticeably different I could live with it.  Except even if they still make that color it will involve buying yarn and you know you can't just buy one skein.  Well I can't. I'm trying to use up my stash, not make it bigger.

C) The hardest: Rip out and re knit sections of the sweater shorter to reclaim enough yarn to finish the button band and for the making up.  Of course, this is what I chose to do.  I ended up re-knitting both sleeves (just the arms, not the cuffs) and having to claim a little yarn from the body as well.  It worked out, the sleeves probably would have been too long as they were and I discovered I bound off wrong on the fronts.  Sometimes doing things the hard way does pay dividends.

While the actual knitting turned out to be a longer journey than expected, the buttons were a miracle.  I've no idea if I picked them up with the intention of using them with this yarn but I found buttons of the perfect size and color in the button box and I had enough of them.  And we know that never happens.  I'm always one short or they are the wrong size or color.

 So was it worth it?  Yes! I love this sweater and wear it almost daily.  I'd much rather go the extra mile and rip and reknit to get something I want, love, and wear all the time.  Sure, completing a project is good, but a finished object that gets used and loved is so much better.  This is why I also rip out or give away sweaters when I no longer use them.  I don't like the idea of something that took hours of my life hiding in a drawer or trunk when it can be out in the world being useful.  Even if it takes me more hours to make it that way or someone else is wearing it now.

The pattern is the "Trimmed with Roses" cardigan from A Stitch in Time Volume 2.  I skipped the color work be cause I wanted something plain. The yarn is Dale Garn Baby Ull.  I would recommend both the pattern and the yarn.  Ravelry link.

Nanowrimo update

Saturday morning I crossed the finish line on my Nano novel.

 After confirming it, I turned off my computer and didn't turn it back on again until this morning.

This is the song I was listening to when I wrote that 50,000th word:

Seemed appropriately festive.

Here's to the return to non-novel writing.

Sadly, Batman didn't show up

Okay, so first of all, since 2004 I've been doing this every November:

So right now I'm mostly trying to get a novel started.  However, after teasing for months I felt like I should at least share this:

Yup, a 1920's style Harley Quinn.  I'm sure you already guessed it.

Because I don't have time right now to put together a whole post on my costume.  I did get photos - not great ones mind you (I swear what looks clear and fine on the camera is blurry 75% of the time.) but photos.

I will have more photos, details, and an explanation for why I chose not to got the closet costume route this Halloween in a full post.  Next week.  Unless I get swallowed by a novel.

Summer Reads

The calendar claims it's still spring but school is out here and it's already too hot to think by midday so I'm ready for some summer reading.  Here's a sampling of what I'm reading now:

I Capture the Castle 
My favorite book ever.  I've read it so much I have passages memorized.  I have forced myself to only reread it once a year.  I always end up reading it now as it's the time when my brain is worn out and I need a vacation.  Apparently my ideal vacation spot is a ruined castle in 1930s England. 

Bust
I used to have a subscription but now I just pick up an issue based on who is on the cover.  This issue it's Dolly Parton, so I had to get it.  I'm not so much a fan of her music as her.  She's a savvy businesswoman and probably a total hoot to hang out with.  Hopefully the article doesn't destroy my beliefs.  Also there's an article on a silent film star, too.

The Hero with a Thousand Faces
I studied Joseph Campbell and archetypes and the hero's journey in both high school and college and along the way I fell in love.  I started this way back in 2009.  I am making notes as I go but it's really silly I've been reading it so long- I need to finish this one before the summer is out.  After all, I can always read it again. 

The Windsor Factor
An alternate timeline novel.  This one focuses on how events would have panned out if Wallis Simpson died before Edward VIII abdicated.  I'm not very far so I am not ready to judge if it's any good.

Dawn Powell : A Biography
In theory I like biographies, in practice they are often hard slogs.  I usually only read about writers or people I love (Myrna Loy, Nina Simone) and Dawn Powell is both.  Like many writers, it's pretty sad.

Free Comic Book day Comics
Yes, I know it was nearly a month ago and it doesn't take that long to read a comic book.  Let's just say I was saving them for summer.  I have a Rocket Raccoon, a steampunk Star Wars, and a fairytale one.

What are you reading right now?