Peaceful Resolutions to Conflict

Ok so there are many stories out there in the world that involve protagonists finding peaceful solutions to the conflicts that they face. Usually they are also torn about finding this peaceful conflict because the others around them are encouraging them to try and use violence instead. The ones that I can think of off the top of my head include “How to Train Your Dragon,” “Avatar: The Last Airbender,” and “Steven Universe.”

Stories like these create quite a contrast from the rest of the violent and indulgent media that gets shoved down our throats on a regular basis (if you don’t know what I’m talking about, turn on the nearest TV). They teach peace and putting effort into creating a solution even though it may not be the easiest to carry out.

There’s one major factor that links all of these stories that I’ve mentioned together.

THEY’RE ALL MADE FOR CHILDREN.

Why are we only telling kids that peace is good? Why isn’t that message important for adults as well? Why is this considered more immature than stories that feature blood and violence? Messages that promote nonviolent solutions are important for people of all ages, especially in a world where it seems that everything around us is about to be torn apart by war.

Really the only reason that I can think of is capitalism. The reality of the situation is that violence sells. People are more interested in watching someone get ripped apart than they are in watching someone struggle to keep the peace. As a result, media with well thought out conflicts that are resolved peacefully and reasonably have been regulated to “family friendly” media and considered juvenile.

Over the centuries there have been several theories about how art and morality intersect (Plato comes to mind). There are even more contemporary examples such as how terrorist groups recruit members through the media. I’m not saying that we should ban violent media because it ruins our morals, on the contrary, I think that they have a right to be out in the world. But if you ask me, if we want to change the way that the world is, we should develop a greater interest in plot lines with peaceful resolution and stop considering it to be something that is only for children. Because it’s not just for kids, violence affects us all and we all have a role we can play in stopping it.

“Sharp Objects” by Gillian Flynn

So I found this book at a book swap (I love those so much) and figured I’d give it a shot since it’s the same author as Gone Girl and everyone seemed to like that. (Disclosure: I’ve never read Gone Girl so I don’t actually know how good it is.)

This book is a pretty quick read, and centers around two child murders in a small, Southern town. The main character is a reporter who is covering the murders, and in doing so needs to return to her hometown where they took place. This turns out to be an unhealthy decision as she doesn’t get on too well with her family.

This is compounded by the fact that she also recently got out of a psych hospital for cutting words into her skin, which makes for a unique narrative since she is constantly describing how different words are “burning” into her body at times. This words then translate how she’s feeling or what she is thinking about into something physical, which adds an interesting layer to her psyche.

Honestly though, besides the protagonist it is really hard to like any of the characters, the rest are just idiots that she’s stuck dealing with.

Since this is a mystery, the ending is not one that you would expect. But looking back on it, that is the direction that the plot was going in the whole time, so it makes sense and flows naturally from the story.

So this is a good mystery and/or thriller novel with an engaging and memorable narrator, the rest is pretty ehhhh.

"Life From an RNA World" by Michael Yarus

This was a very interesting read, especially as someone interested in genetics. It is very accessible, even to novices, and written very clearly. Sometimes the style is a little obnoxious as the author likes to throw in references to literary works which can get kind of irritating (this is a science book, you don’t need to show off your knowledge of great works of literature).

What is very helpful is that the reader can use this book as a jumping point into more science, if they so choose. At the end of every chapter is a list of works and sometimes a short description of them. This can be used to further your studies of RNA, if you want. Or it’s just fun to examine.

Yarus here primarily posits the existence of an RNA world, or a world where organisms evolved without DNA. This is an interesting concept, and one that I hadn’t heard before. To show how he came to this conclusion, he brings you step-by-step through his thought process, starting with the principles of evolution. Everything is very clear and easy to follow.

I thought it was a great read, and a rather quick one too. It is important to know what we have evolved from, and the origins of life itself. I would highly recommend this to anyone interested in learning more about evolution, whether they are in the sciences or not!

The First 90 Days by Michael D. Watkins

Full disclosure: I was given this book for free when I started my job so I figured that I’d read it and give it a try. It’s about the first 90 days in a new job or new position and the changes that you should expect and tips for how to deal with them. Honestly, I don’t think it’s helpful at all.

Transitions are important, absolutely, and you want to get up to speed asap, but the ridiculously anal way that the author expects you to go about them I think would create more problems than it would solve. For example, you really shouldn’t irritate your co-workers by filling out a little chart of every conversation and the things that you accomplished. The result is that some things are really overcomplicated, and then others are simplified down to the point of annoyance. He also uses all of these various acronyms and mnemonic devices, but it seems like he made them up and they aren’t actually corporate jargon because I’ve never heard/seen of them outside of this book.

Sure these techniques are probably helpful, and it is good to know what to keep in mind when going to meetings and everything, but take it with a grain of salt please!

Then there’s the general structure. Each chapter is started with a story about some hypothetical person who switched jobs or was promoted and did everything wrong. I think maybe 1 out of the 10 chapters involved someone transitioning well, which is just disheartening. And it nearly always was obvious what they did wrong, which makes me question the purpose of these little anecdotes. If you can figure out what they’re doing wrong right away, then do you even need to read the chapter?

So this book has a nice concept behind it, but not implemented terribly well.

"How to Fight a Dragon’s Fury" by Cressida Cowell

I finally got my hands on the finale to the How to Train Your Dragon book series. (It involved sneaking around the kids section of the library trying not to look out of place when I’m about 3 times the size of the rest of the people in there.)

Disclaimer: not the same as the movie. The books and the movies have taken pretty different paths, even though I think they are going to end up in the same place in the end. To be perfectly honest, I love them both and usually I prefer the books but in this case the movies are so well done that I enjoy all of them. To me they’re essentially separate entities, the differences between them don’t detract from the fact that they’re amazing and have dragons!

In the final book of the series there are plenty of characters who come back, which is nice. Seeing as how the book series is 12 books long, there are several characters who come and go, and it is almost a requirement of children’s series that they all make an appearance towards the end. Which is good if you really like a character that appeared in say, Book 6, but haven’t seen them since.

One thing I will say about this book is that it has less sass than the other installments since this one is focused on the plot. The whole point of this book is how Hiccup deals with the upcoming war between dragons and humans, so it is understandable that humor would take a backseat here. But don’t worry, there’s still sassy moments and funny dialogue, it’s just less present than the other books in the series.

And of course it explains why there aren’t dragons around anymore, which is what the entire series has been leading up to. Which is so much more emotional than I thought it would be, the ending in general is really poetic and well written. It blew me away since I was not expecting something like that from this series. A wonderful, heart-felt conclusion, you can really tell that this whole work was a labor of love from Cowell.

Again, I’d like to publicly apologize for having this series take over my life, it means such a ridiculous amount to me. I’m so sad that it’s over, but there’s still another movie coming out!