I appreciate Crank, I've never taken so much time and thought about how frightening the state of addiction is. At first I thought the story would be hard to follow. The strangely designed prose, I thought, might throw me off and the idea that short, poetic pieces could relay an entire stort wrought with so much pain and tragedy was not something I could immediately grasp. But it became clear the story would be easy to follow and, the book, a quick but greatly impacting book.
The deconstructive theory group's presentation offers a strategy to put the sometimes oddly laid out sentence/stanza structure in perspective. When the words are randomly strewn across the page, or seemingly randomly strewn, I get the feel for a state of chaos. Or, when one word is set apart, the focus becomes greater for that word. If the four lines before it all culminate with one WORD, then obviously that is done to make some sort of point. In other cases comments by separate characters would be paralleled in the writing. Chase's comments and Bree/Kristina's would be placed juxtaposition to show their parallel similarity and inherent differences.
But the thing about this book that I will remember was how hard it hit me. Addiction, it seems worse than solitary confinement in the world's most hardened prisons. The way it can ruin a life without the person even taking a step back, then the clear vision of hind sight only serves as a kick in the ass to remind you of the turmoil you let your life descend into. I really felt a little frightened after reading the book. This was a girl with a cushy life. All that changed were her influences, a summer around the wrong people and a little self-consciousness went a long way in the wrong way.
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I too was nervous about reading the book when I opened it and saw how the text was laid out. I had to read some passages more than a few times to really take in all the meanings that were represented just by the lay out of the text. I think that you make a good point about deconstructing this text. Sometimes it isn't really the words that tell all the story. One example is in the section "You Fly Until you Crash (69)." This section is pretty much one word all the way down. I think the one word shows that the author is really tired and is getting ready to crash.
ReplyDeleteI found an exmaple of the one word thing that you were talking about. When the text will go and end with one word. This happens in the section "He Wanted to Kiss Me(76)." At the end only one word is set apart from everything else and that word is forever. It is emphasizing that once you start on Crank everything changes forever, not just for a little while. I think that deconstructive theory helps us really find the meaning of this story Crank.
I had read this book once before, but it was a long time ago and I had forgotten most of what it said. The thing that got me most about this book was the foreward where it said that this book was loosely based off her daughter's own story and that the baby was real.
ReplyDeleteThe thought that something could be so addictive that you will never overcome the addiction and even if you quit always want it is horrifying. If something is that addictive and you get hooked on it then there goes the life you once had and probably the future you dream of. It's a very scary thought and that is what got me the most when I read it.
When I started the book, I was really hoping the book wasn't about drugs. I just didn't want to read a story about a girl addicted to drugs because I didn't think I could connect with her or have any sympathy for her problems. I'm not sure what I thought Crank would be if not drugs, but I was hoping for anything.
ReplyDeleteAs I read the book (at first shaking my head in disapproval), though, I found myself drawn to Kristina and Bree's life. There wasn't anything wrong that Kristina was escaping, there was just the need to express "Bree".
While the book did serve what I assume was the author's intention of warning people about meth, it also showed me how to sympathize for those who suffer from it. It was their choice and they continue to make that choice each time they use, but addiction is scary. Seeing it from the addict's perspective taught me why people do it in the first place and also why I would never want to do it. Also, how difficult it made her life, not so much losing friends and disconnecting from her family, as finding herself loving a child and wanting to keep it healthy while desperately wanting the monster.
I didn't end the book thinking, "poor Kristina" but neither did I end the book thinking she deserved what she got.
I agree. I found the book very disturbing and chaotic. I like the way Hopkins separated the words from each other so each side said something different, but similar at the same time. I agree that the way the poems were written set up a state of chaos and the way her life would spiral in different directions, such as downward as some of the poems were made into V's to show how she was heading down and not for the better.
ReplyDeleteI thought the book was very disturbing and chaotic too, especially for young adult readers. I'm really glad Hopkins did not leave the book with Kristina getting better and having a happy ending because some of the poems seemed to promote how good drugs felt and not enough about the consequences of them. I'm glad that Hopkins also addressed how you can never get over the addiction so it will always be a struggle. I also did not think "poor Kristina" or that she deserved to have the baby, but I think for the audience and especially for young adult readers, reading a book that shows the clarity of the good feelings of drugs and the horrible consequences of doing them is very important. I think YAs would be turned off to the book if it only told the one side of the story, that teens should not do drugs. I like how it showed that Kristina enjoyed drugs, but by the way the novel is written so chaotically and the way that Kristina keeps moving in the wrong direction, it also tells the readers to beware of getting involved with drugs.
ReplyDeleteMy biggest question is this, though: Does this book really advocate "Don't Do Drugs"?
ReplyDeleteI found myself waiting, waiting, waiting for Kristina to break down, talk about her problems to her parents and clean up. I get that Hopkins wants to depict how difficult it is to give up such a strong addiction and how the book was working to realistically portray an addicted lifestyle. But I don’t think she succeeded in the way that was most effective for the reader. Instead, Kristina continues to do drugs, continues lying to her parents, continues her ‘secret’ lifestyle, continues to have a baby (again, while ‘occasionally’ doing hard drugs- that was the most upsetting thing to me). I’ll be honest; I did not like the ending. It ended so soon, without answering questions thoroughly but failing to leave real ‘cliff hangers’ to be compel the reader to read the sequel. Within 13 pages, Kristen decides to keep the baby, goes through seven months of pregnancy, continues on with life ‘normally’ and births her baby (524-527)! Try as I might, I just can’t agree with all these posts of ‘such a great teaching tool for high schoolers.’
Like Drew said, I think this book, because it's targeted at a YA audience, we expect it to end in a way we approve of (sending a positive message). It's like in movies, when we expect anything less than R movies to end with a "happily ever after" ending. I'm not sure this story accomplished what both Drew and I thought it was going to, but I think it did give a strong anti-drug message solely by showing the reality of what crank was doing to Kristina. I think it was a mighty powerful way to do so, too... although not explicit in its ways.
ReplyDeleteI found this book to be disturbing, obviously, because the issues and drug addictions are so serious. Yet, obviously I found it to be so useful (?) too because we can see the drastic evolution of Kristina and also how we can decipher different meanings from the language and book layout.
ReplyDeleteClearly, Kristina evolves quickly, from just experimenting to being addicted to finding a dealer to beomcing one, etc. This is amazing because there are glimpses of hope where she seems to go cold turkey, for a week, or thinks she is still in control. Perhpas this is part of addiction I could never possibly fully grasp.
Additionally, the text is clearly scattered and fragmented, perhaps to feel the affects of addiction or maybe just to create breaks for different thoughts. While this may have bothered some people, I liked it. While this is a serious text and I wondered if it was appropriate for YA readers, I think it is usable for juniors or seniors in high school. These are issues that most older students have at least heard about and need to know before they choose to experiment.
I agree with a few of the earlier posts about expecting the book to end in a "clean" way. I thought it would end with Kristina cleaning up and moving forward with her life. When it didn't end that way, I was sort of disturbed. And then I found out the book was loosely based on her daughter's life, and I was really saddened. But I think because of its ending and its touch of reality, this book made me see addiction in a way I had never before, and it was terrifying. When Kristina talks about her need for drugs, and what she does to get them (ie. hanging out with the wrong people, particularly guys), I wanted to shake her. I wanted her to get a grip. But to see addiction in a way that doesn't end clean was definitely not what I expected.
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