Laura Thorne's blog

David Mitchell's appearance at this year's Festival has garnered well-deserved hype that rivals Joseph Boyden's circa VIWF 2009. Indeed, it's been building and building until this sellout event finally arrived: the intimate evening with the man who currently owns the literary world. The anticipation in the PTC Studio - and the satisfaction that "we got tickets, you-ou didn't" - was tangible and snapping with electricity as we waited for the man of the hour to emerge from backstage.

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Eleanor Catton's debut novel begs for a very certain kind of review. One that scoffs at the vernacular, begins with a deeply rhetorical question, and discusses in depth the contrast of life and the illusion of it presented through the arts.

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Family Fugue...wait, what does that word even mean??!

That was the question on pretty much everybody's mind at the start of this event. The authors, and host Anne Giardini, couldn't do much to clear it up, finally deciding that whatever it is, the audience is about to witness a massive simultaneous one. In case you're still wondering, I urban-dictionaried it and got "A state which is entered after the mass consumption of a reality changing substance". Hmm...how does this relate to family-based literature? Who knows...

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The thing I hate about youth-targeted events is that the organizers and performers always try way too hard. They feel like to impress youth, they have to get into our mindset - they have to say words like 'cool' and 'hip' and while they're at it, why not throw in a few casual references to rap? The truth is, events like these are a total underestimation of us and our interests. We don't all speak like wangsters or quote Snoop Dogg on everything as adults seem to think.

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Mariatu Kamara is one of the most selfless people I have ever seen. She grew up without an education, working as much as an adult on her village farm in Sierra Leone from the time she could lift and carry (age 7). At age 12, at her uncle's request, she left the sanctuary in which her village was hiding from rebels in order to travel to the next village for food. Along the way, she was captured. She had to watch as her friends were burnt alive; then, the rebels cut both her hands off.

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