Scholomance 1 and 2, Novik

I read the second novel, The Last Graduate, in one of those all-nighters that starts, "oh, I'll just read the first chapter before going to sleep." Riiiight.

( Book one spoilers. )

( Book two spoilers. )

Somehow, in the dubious misadventure that was 2020, I read but never logged A Deadly Education. I could blame 2020, but I also struggled with whether I really wanted to talk about fanfic as part of my reaction. Well, it's 2021, another year that has done little for my faith in humanity at the micro level, so my level of caring about how much Transformers fanfic I talk about in public has achieved new lows. 

And the reason this comes up is that people who follow Novik's fanfiction might reasonably see "magical boarding school novel" and think back to her stint in Harry Potter fandom, a decade-plus ago. However, I opened the book to snarky, overpowered, angry El, and her keen sense of the Scholomance's class injustices, where students are treated "equally" (but some came in more equal than others) and thought, "it's not Hogwarts, it's the arena," and other unhelpful things like "they have built an empire of lies / where the dead beneath are buried twice / to better feed the living above / and you can keep the teeth of hunger off your own neck / only if you tell the ravening lies yourself." 

( All the spoilers and speculation, based on the first two novels. )

Booklog Catch-Up

The Gift of Death: Confronting Canada's Tainted Blood Tragedy (Andre Picard) (1995): Globe and Mail journalist who covered the Canadian Red Cross's negligent mishandling of the AIDS crisis writes a book.

This one came to my attention when a podcast interviewing a Canadian blood banker talked about the Canadian handling of blood products during the '80s HIV and hepatitis crises as a "never again" moment in the country's transfusion medicine history. So I dug through the internet for more information, and found this out of print book published during active investigations into a combination of foot-dragging, cover-ups, political gaming, and downplaying because "normal" Canadians weren't affected by HIV.

Except, uh, they were. And also condemning people as "not us", and to a slow and humiliating death because they're hemophiliacs, Haitian, have sex with men, or struggling with drug addition is the definition of non-compassionate, in my book.

As of the publication time, the Krever investigation was actively ongoing: wiki tells me it was complete and submitted to the House of Commons in November 1997; by September 1998, the Canadian Red Cross had gotten out of / been removed from the blood business, with the Canadian Blood Services and Héma-Québec (because Quebec) created to supply safe, effective blood and blood products to Canadian donation recipients.

It should go without saying, but since some people don't seem to get it, I am going to share my thoughts today.

Viruses do not have motive. Viruses do not have a brain that can care about virtue. Viruses did not hear that wealth is God's indication of holy favor on Earth. Getting infected with HIV, syphilis, influenza, a vaginal yeast infection, the common cold, tuberculosis, or any other virus or bacterium is not a reflection of whether someone has been "good" or "bad". Infectious disease is driven only by method, and opportunity.

Knowing the methods of infection, humans can modify their behavior, to reduce infection opportunities. Diseases transmitted by blood? Avoid sharing blood with others: use clean needles, use condoms, get vaccinated for hepatitis B. Perform donor screening and infectious disease blood unit testing to avoid transfusion-transmitted infections. Avoid surgical techniques associated with increased bleeding! Infectious diseases passed through contaminated food and water? Wash your hands. A lot. Get vaccinated for Hepatitis A. Diseases of the lungs? Wear a barrier mask and get vaccinated, when a vaccine is available.

As far as the book goes: average on the science, probably outdated on current events and records unsealed in the last decade. But The Gift of Death was for me an interesting look at the Canadian angle on the HIV epidemic.