Most of the Read for a Lifetime books are what one would consider of a coming of age novel. It turns out that there is a more specific term for this type of book. Bildungsroman is by definition, "a literary genre which focuses on the psychological and moral growth of the protagonist from youth to adulthood." This basically means that the book focuses on a time period where the main character is growing up, but not necessarily to an adult I find. They just have to mature and be faced with an issue that makes them have to realize the real world. This genre of literature originally came from folk tales of a dunce or youngest son who goes out into the world to seek his fortune. The goal is maturity, and the journey to that is hard and long, but eventually they do and become a part of society.
In Five Flavors of Dumb, one could most definitely say that it is coming of age. In this story though, I wouldn't call Piper a generally sensitive character. Like any decent character, she can get emotional, but overall, I'd say that she rather has a pretty strong personality. It's definitely dealing with an adolescent growing into adult years though, considering that she is preparing to go to college. Piper proves to be a rather interesting protagonist in this sense. She's very independent, smart, and witty. She'd probably make for a pretty decent friend, although like any other adolescent, she has her faults and her immaturities. She gets angry and jealous very easily, even saying things that might hurt her sister's feelings even though she cares so deeply for her. I wouldn't want to give away the ending, but I would consider Piper's journey into adulthood a very good read, as are many other books in this genre.
No comments:
Post a Comment