TWISTED

Last night I finished reading Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson. This will have SPOILERS.

I'm working on my diss chapter that uses Speak, so I had to check it out of the library-- you'd think I'd buy it-- I own all the other books I'm working with, and I think it's a great book-- but I saw Twisted, and I thought I'd check it out and read it when I finished my chapter-- well, I cheated because it's due back at the library and I'm finding myself reading more secondary sources than I thought I would be. Anyway-- enough rambling.

Twisted-- Tyler Miller-- a tortured soul if there ever was one. I think there are a lot of guys who could really identify with him. I have to admit-- I was hooked by the catch line-- Everyone told me to be a man-- no one told me how. I like that Tyler seemed so normal-- For me, the text had immediacy-- he's a kid who isn't popular, who wants to be popular, and when he does what he thinks it will take to become popular, it backfires on him. Then, that almost does make him popular, but being a "good" guy with his love interest doubly backfires, and he's in much worse shape than he was before the book started. This sort of comedy of errors, without cheesy humor, forces him into manhood. I like Anderson because she usually has good metaphors and analogies running throughout her text-- She uses English teachers to introduce fitting texts, Dr. Faustus, Paradise Lost-- the idea of motif and analogy-- things she is using. Tyler is also playing his video game that has him descending farther and farther into hell. He doesn't even realize how connected these texts are-- that would be an interesting paper for his English teacher-- How his video game is a modern day version of Dr. Faustus. or How he too must decide if he will sell his soul to the devil. Happily, I must admit I was happy when he beat the demon, when he didn't kill himself. For a while I thought he was a goner, and I wondered how Anderson would end the first person narrator text. There are too many young men who have taken that out-- not known what to do, reached the end of their rope, and signed the paper. Although it makes the text slightly didactic, Tyler's recovery is powerful. Custodian Joe's challenge to run away somewhere warm becomes a catalyst for change. Does he have to run away to take charge of his life or can he do that while remaining at home. I didn't think his dad's response was overly realistic, but I was glad to see Tyler become a man--to fight his demon--to win.