Anyway, weird or not I have always believed that I know what I like when it comes to comedy, which made this week's book choice as easy as pie!
In the Thug Notes series Dr Sparky Sweets takes us through his interpretation of classical texts. But he doesn't do it in the usual way, nah Dr Sweets is a true playa from the hood! When he goes through a text you can be sure he's really gonna break it down!
The Thug Notes book takes 16 great fictional works and critiques them using the format from the series. We are first given an introduction to the text and it's it's impact on the world since publication. Then there's a list of central characters followed by a fairly detailed, easy to follow summary of the plot. Finally we read through its analysis, learning about featured themes, imagery and links to other texts or commentaries.
Not one to shy away from helping us to see things crystal clearly, Dr Sweets even provides us with several 'Sparky's Classroom' segments. These help to explain various ideas and terminology such as the word 'existentialism' (he happens to be a huge follower of Dostoyevsky).
Featured texts that come under focus include Romeo and Juliet, Frankenstein, The Colour Purple, Farenheight 451, To Kill A Mockingbird and Moby Dick which I now see in an entirely new and warped light!
All of these texts are properly deconstructed with the love and care of an Oxford scholar and the street smart slang of a hip hop legend.
What I love about this is it's frank and open honesty. Yes I know that the character of Dr Sweets is a fabrication played by a comedy actor. I'm well aware that the people behind both the series and the book are well educated, well read people who probably don't have a clue of what it's like to grow up on the block.
But brought together they've produced something which bites it's thumb (check the Romeo and Juliet reference!) at the literary establishment and through its attention to detail, brings to life texts that many people might find difficult to access.
It pulls no punches and allows us to revel in reading about books which in our day to day lives we might never come across. I for one will be looking into several of the books because of my new found appreciation for them. It lets us see these books for what they are instead of using baffling complex waffle, I find that waffle can be mind numbingly boring.
The language used in Thug Notes is diverse, ranging from rare and unusual words to common slang, with plenty of explicit references and swear words thrown in. There are 'illustrations' which add to the fairly adult nature of the book. This is certainly not for anyone younger than high school age. Ideally it would work best with children in years 8 & 9 (12 - 13 year olds or up) as it would definitely aid with planning of essays or text critiquing.
Considering that this topic of my reading challenge was looking to provide the biggest headache I think I've stumbled across the perfect remedy!
Book 32 of my 52 book challenge and my book of non-fiction essays that knows how to keep it real!
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