Wasteland [Paperback]

Francesca Lia Block (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 12, 2004

When you were a baby I sat very still to hold you. I could see the veins through your skin like a map to inside you. I stopped breathing so you wouldn''t ... You were just a boy on a bed in a room, like a kaleidoscope is a tube full of bits of broken glass. But the way I saw you was pieces refracting the light, shifting into an infinite universe of flowers and rainbows and insects and planets, magical dividing cells, pictures no one else knew ... Your whole life you can be told something is wrong and so you believe it.

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 9 Up-Block once again tackles the theme of love and its many variations. This time, she zeroes in on the ultimate taboo: incestuous love. Though Marina and her brother, Lex, struggle against their powerful love and attendant sexual attraction, the force is too strong to be denied. Readers will fear for them as their situation slowly but inexorably propels them toward their ultimate union, and, by extension, to Lex's suicide. It is a double tragedy, because Marina later learns that her brother was adopted. While Block's prose is as poetic and lush as always, her narrative shifts may confuse less sophisticated readers. It's not immediately clear that the italicized portions are from Lex's journal, and chapters switch abruptly from Marina's voice to third person. Also, while parental flakes aren't unusual in Block's fiction, readers may have a difficult time buying into the mother's reason for not telling her children about the adoption. Still, Block might reach a larger audience with this book; it does not stray too far from her characteristic terrain, but is set in a more realistic neighborhood than her otherworldly Shangri-L.A.
Catherine Ensley, Latah County Free Library District, Moscow, ID
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

Gr. 9-12. Teenage Lex and his sister, Marina, have been close since early childhood, always there for each other. But when their love intensifies during a sexual encounter one night, both are racked with guilt. Lex kills himself; Marina tries to carry on with the support of a friend who loves her and knows that her brother did, too. There have been several recent YA books about incest, but what distinguishes this small poetic novel is its quiet. There's no sexual violence, no abuse. In the siblings' short, alternating monologues to each other, the word you is an endearment as each teen remembers growing up with a beloved sibling who was mother, father, friend, and child. The young people remember the small physical facts of their childhood together, the tenderness of Marina's baby hand clasped around Lex's finger; the laughter, then darkness. A plot surprise at the end seems patched on, and a long quote from T. S. Eliot's "Wasteland" may be beyond many readers. It's Block's simple, beautiful words that reveal the loving connection--and then the fragments. Hazel Rochman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 14 and up
  
• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: HarperTeen (October 12, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0064408396
• ISBN-13: 978-0064408394
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #211,895 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Francesca Lia Block, recipient of the prestigious Margaret A. Edwards Lifetime Achievement Award. has been publishing novels, short stories, essays, memoirs and poetry since 1989. Her work has been translated into many languages. Ms. Block lives in Los Angeles where she teaches writing workshops that are also available online.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A wisp of a book, June 26, 2004

By 

bonsai chicken (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wasteland (Hardcover)

This is the third book I've read by this author. One of the things I admire about her work is the way she writes about sensitive issues while completely avoiding any kind of reactionary attitude. This particular story involves a subject which, while entirely consensual, carries a heavy societal taboo. The matter of fact way in which it is handled is refreshing.

Siblings Marina and Lex have always been very close, so close that they have always had trouble finding interest in any others. One night things go too far and shortly afterward Lex takes his own life. Marina is left to deal with the loss of the only person who ever really mattered to her.

I've enjoyed Block's novels in the past, although they tend to evaporate from memory soon after I close them. 'Wasteland' was even more ethereal, seeming insubstantial even as I was reading it. Much of the story is told by Marina, as if she were speaking to her brother, reminiscing about the times they had together, and far too much of it is rambling, directionless, and inconsequential, and tedious to read through. There are a couple subplots generated but never followed through. Only a revelation at the end gives the book any impact. A mild disappointment.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Wasteland-confusing? I think not., October 11, 2004

By 

Star*Shine - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wasteland (Hardcover)

The traditional tragic story of unrequiented love. The twist? The object of Marina's LL (love/lust) is no other than her older brother, lex. Shocking? Maybe. Original? Defidently. Conservatives be forwarned, there is nothing shy about this book. Although the language might be percieved as "confusing" in the begining, I think of it as mysterious. What is he talking about? Where will this lead? A book you want to read agien, and believe me, the second time will be all the more satisfying. So take a break from those dishes and absorbe yourself in Blocks lush, poetic writing. You will be glad you did. -S

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Almost There, June 27, 2004

By 

Annie Cardi - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wasteland (Hardcover)

It felt like Block was getting back to her Weetzie-esque style. Unlike in 'Echo', the characters were more real and relateable, particularly West. Although I've always loved Block's creativity naming characters, I did enjoy that she used more "normal" names; it made the unusual story somehow more realistic.
Still, I felt like the story and characters were rushed. Did Francesca Lia Block's editor force her to meet a deadline before the story was really finished? This is particularly evident with regards to the ending of the novel. It undermines the main conflict and felt like a cop-out. Maybe Block wasn't sure how to end the novel and ran out of time. Also, she could have spent a little more time on the main characters, particularly Marina. I loved her characterizations of minor characters--Lex and Marina's schoolmates, kids at the club--but I felt like something was lacking in Marina.
I'm always thrilled when a new Francesca Lia Block book comes out, but I felt like this one could have used a little more work. I would have waited a month to see what Block could have come up with.