impulse

Thoughts on impulse by Ellen Hopkins

Inside cover reads:
"Sometimes you don't wake up. But if you happen to, you know things will never be the same.

Three lives, three different paths to the same destination: Aspen Springs, a psychiatric hospital for those who have attempted the ultimate act--suicide.

Vanessa is beautiful and smart, but her secrets keep her answering the call of the blade.

Tony, after suffering a painful childhood, can only find peace through pills.

And Conner, outwardly, has the perfect life. But dig a litle deeper and find a boy who is in constant battle with his parents, his life, himself.

In one instant each of these young people decided enough was enough. They grabbed the blade, the bottle, the gun-- and tried to end it all. Now they have a second chance, and just maybe, with each other's help, they can find their way to a better life-- but only if they're strong and can fight the demons that brough them here in the first place."

My resposne:
I hoarded this as soon as I knew of its existence. I had to special order it from the library in the next town. heh! Phenomenal. I didn't quite like it as much as I liked burned, but it's still a great, quick read. Undaunted by the 666 page workload, I dove right in as soon as I got it, and, thanks to a few days of subbing, was able to polish it off in about 4 hours total. I love how hopkins uses poetry as her medium. My 11th grade chemistry teacher would love these books... he always used to say, "say what you mean in an optimum amount of words, kids. More is not better." Damn skippy.

She develops the three protagonists in an optimum amount of words. We meet Conner, Tony, and Vanessa, each with their own set of deep-seeded emotional problems. The entire story takes place in a mental hospital... so it's really reminiscient of Girl, Interrupted. What I like about her style is that we really get to delve deeply into the heads of the characters... they aren't shallow and 2-dimensional. There is a crapload of stuff in here that I can relate to. It certainly wins the Word Nerd Seal of Approval.... but I definitely liked burned better. Extra props for using lots of big words! Words! I love words!

Quotes:
"Memory is a tenuous thing, like a rainbow's end or a camera with a failing lens" (17).

"Says the guy with the hellfire eyes" (55). I know exactly what she's talking about.

"the coward in me wants to turn around, but screw him. The kid inside me wants to see his dad again, and the avenger wants to grill him alive" (121). meeting my dad after 4 years of silence.

"An ice princess mom who raised me with glass kisses" (134). my mother.

"I feel like ice cream on an August sidewalk" (163). love this.

"I don't believe in God, don't believe in the devil. Unless you want to count my mother. She might be Satan's sister, I suppose" (203). My thoughts on my mother when I was in high school.

extricate (262).

"Ms. Littell draws herself up real straight. Teaching us posture, too? Or trying to feel more in control? She talks about herself for 10 minutes--who she is, what she does, how well pulblished she is. Then she rambles on for another half hour about what makes a poem good-- word choice, the power of metaphor. Finally she instructs, Write a poem about your happiest memory. Excite me with your words"(348). WTH? i hope i never give that impression to my students.

"They made me feel like a total loser geek" (569). Everclear reference, anyone?

"I am so much like her. A grenade of my own anger explodes inside my head. I am damaged. Decayed. A gust of wind roughs up my hair. The paper airplane sits heavy in my hand. I cock back my arm, release, let it fly straight to hell" (636).

"My vomit tastes like death" (655).


See also:
http://scarlet2snow.blogspot.com/2006/12/burned.html
and
http://scarlet2snow.blogspot.com/2006/10/crank.html