Learning to Read

Sufjan Steven's introduction to The Best American Non Required Reading was certainly different. But I enjoyed reading it. I think what I liked the most about it was how honest he was. Sharing that he didn't learn to read until he reached the third grade is a tough admission to make. If I had experienced the same thing, I'm not sure I'd be able to share that with so many people. But his admission didn't make me think any less of him. Looking at his writing, I would have never guessed that, at one point in his life, there was a possibility that he would never become literate. I would have never known without his admission. 

Some people have criticized the way that Steven's learned to read. Which was by studying the labels found on food at the grocery store. But in his story, Steven's wrote about the excitement he felt to go to the grocery store with his father so that he could examine all the soup cans, cereal boxes and coupons. Previously, Steven's had never felt that excitement, that desire to learn. He was lucky to have had a teacher who could stir up in him an inclination to become literate. The focus of the readers thoughts should have been on the celebration of his accomplishment, not on criticizing the method in which he learned. 

Dimension

I found Alice Munro's short story Dimension difficult to get through. I wasn't crazy about the style the author wrote it in. It also seemed to read really slowly and I just had a horrible time getting through it. In fact, I got so frustrated with it at one point that, with only five pages to go, I had to set it down for the rest of the day and come back to finish it later. It's a good thing I came back too, because once I hit the last three pages it actually began to pick up. 

I'm not sure what I found so difficult about the story. I think it was probably the characters. I don't know what to think about Doree. I feel sympathy toward her of course. How could you not? But at a certain point, I just have to say enough is enough. She's letting her husband Lloyd continue to manipulate, while he's in prison. It's hard to imagine someone having so strong of a hold on me that, even while they aren't a part of my daily life, they can control most of what I say and do. 

As for Lloyd, I feel no sympathy for him at all. And I'm a little frustrated that Munro didn't give an explanation for his being found criminally insane. Yes his character was a little off, but criminally insane? I'm not sure I'd believe that. He should be tried, take full responsibility for his actions and face the consequence. After his being put in prison, what really irritated me about him was the mixed messages he was purposefully sending to Doree. When she would come to visit him he would tell her that he didn't expect her to keep visiting him, that he could understand completely if she didn't come. And then, he proceeds to send her letters, sharing just enough information with her to come and see him again. To ask him about his letters in person. I can't believe the grip he as on Doree after what he did to her. 

Another part of the story that kind of irritated me was at the very end of the story. When Doree and the bus driver see the boy drive his truck into the ditch and fly out of the cab of the truck. I couldn't understand the drivers anger at the boy, who was lying close to death on the road. And then after Doree helped save his life, the driver immediately wanted to leave, to get back on schedule. How hard it is to wait for an emergency vehicle to get there and ensure the boys life? That really angered me. 

In the Shadow of No Towers

When I read through the syllabus for this course and saw that we had been assigned a graphic novel, I was slightly surprised. And, to be honest, not really looking forward to reading it. After I bought it, I threw it up on my shelf without looking through it and left it there until I needed to begin reading it. 

Once I started reading In the Shadow of No Towers my only goal was to finish it as quickly as possible. Which meant I did have to go back and reread parts of it to get a better understanding of what was going on. Still, after I better understood what Spiegelman was trying to say, I didn't like it anymore than I had before. I just wasn't interested in the story at all. Whether or not this was caused by my reluctancy to read it is something I have yet to determine. Though I'm certain it played a part. 

I will say though that were a few things that I liked about Spiegelman's work. As it was a graphic novel, I liked that Spiegelman often made the reader analyze his drawings more than his text to gain an understanding of the story he was trying to tell. I also liked that he included some of the comics that he drew inspiration from at the end of the book. I enjoyed looking through them and then flipping back and forth between them and Spiegelman's own work and drawing comparisons.

Other than that, there isn't much more I could say for it. I just wasn't that into it. On the flip side though, I never would have picked up and read a graphic novel on my own time. 

My Sister's Keeper

For the final project my group decided on the novel My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult. I'll admit I was a little hesitant to read the novel, but I breezed through it quite quickly. And it ended up being a really good read. 

There is no challenge when it comes to reading this novel. Definitely no foreign languages that have to be dealt with. But while the novel is easy to get through, the actual plot that Picoult has created is quite intricate. 

The novel focuses on the Fitzgerald family. Mainly the two daughters, Anna and Kate. Kate is dying from Leukemia, in fact she should already be dead. But thanks to her perfect donor match of a sister Anna, Kate has beaten the odds and is still alive. 

Anna's parents created her for a purpose. To help save their daughter Kate. No harm was meant to come of Anna, but as Kate continued to relapse, riskier donations were needed of Anna. But now, as Anna is a teenager, she begins to question her purpose and existence. She's not sure if she wants to continue here life as a donor for Kate. And her ultimately her decision will have a life or death result. 

The Best American Nonrequired Reading

I'm really enjoying what I've read in this so far and I find most of it to be rather entertaining. I had a friend of mine read a couple things out of it too. They seemed to get a kick out of it. 

I'm not sure what it is about this book that makes it so easy to breeze through. I think a lot of it has to do with the title. It's the best nonrequired reading! And who wouldn't want to read that? I also think some of it has to do with the fact that a lot of the pieces found in the book were chosen by a committee of high school and college aged students. And I'm sure another part of its appeal is that it's a laid back style of writing and there isn't as much pressure to find the deeper meaning of what the author is trying to convey. 

I've only read two short stories out the book so far, the one by Conan O'Brien and the Middle American Gothic article from Spin. I liked the Commencement Speech that was done by Conan O'Brien, but at the same time I kind of felt like he was trying too hard. Obviously he's a funny guy, but some of the jokes were a little overused. As for the American Gothic piece, I quite liked it. It was funny, without trying too hard, and it was interesting. I'm not at all familiar with the Goth scene so this was a good representation of them that was given without bias because the author was unfamiliar with the goth scene as well. So the reader was given a truthful look at the topic. I liked that. 

Then there was the comic we were asked to read. I wasn't really looking forward to reading it, to be honest it looked a little daunting. Not really something I'd like to spend my time reading, but I did enjoy it in an odd way. It was a rather depressing depiction, but it was on death, so I guess that's to be expected. It was pretty blunt and straightforward as well, no sugar coating the subject at hand. I liked that aspect of it. 

As for part one of the book, I just found all of that to be quite entertaining. Especially the failed American tv pilots. And those pilots actually exist, I'll have you know. I watched a few of them. I'm even going to give the link to one of them. The Bedroom, in which the walls of a bedroom talk to each other. 

http://www.channel101.com/shows/show.php?show_id=242

It's actually rather funny.

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

I think I may have been one of the few people who actually liked this novel from the beginning. It was a little slow at first, but I felt like it had a lot of potential and I pushed through it. Good thing too, as the novel is rather remarkable. It did win a Pulitzer Prize after all. 

The idea of a language barrier came up a lot in our class discussions. And while I found the Spanish excerpts slightly vexing at first I barely noticed them by the time I finished the novel. A lot of the time I was able to pick up on the gist of what was being said and other times I felt completely shut out. But having finished the novel with the Spanish throughout, I don't think I could see the novel the same way without it. 

I liked most aspects of the novel, but I found the whole sci-fi angle more frustrating than the language. I'm really rather oblivious to all things sci-fi and fantasy, so some of the allusions to the Lord of the Rings and such were way over my head.

I liked the style in which Diaz wrote this. I especially liked that we were given the opportunity to look into all the characters lives and see different aspects of the novel from more than one point of view. This kind of writing reminded me a lot of a novel I read a few years back called Caramelo by Sandra Cisneros. It mostly chronicled the life of a young girl and her family as they traveled back and forth between living in the U.S. and living in Mexico. 

Some people in class also brought attention to the fact Oscar was going to die in the end, which from the title, we all knew was true. But I had completely forgotten that detail as I read the novel, that is until I reached the point in book where he attempts suicide. And I would have been rather frustrated if his attempt had turned out to be successful, as I felt that would have left too many doors open in the end. 

And speaking of the end of the novel, I quite liked the ending. Yes it was sad, but at the same time it was satisfying. All loose ends were tied up and I wasn't left questioning anything. That's the kind of ending I go for. 

Water for Elephants

I was really excited when I found out Water for Elephants was one of the required texts for this class because I had already read it and I'd really enjoyed it. I'd been recommending it like crazy to a lot of people over the summer. I was also excited it was on the syllabus because that meant it was one less book I had to buy, as I already owned it. 

During our discussions in class we talked quite a bit about the style that Sara Gruen used to write the novel, in the sense that she used a lot of flashbacks to convey what was happening in the story. I often found myself forgetting that a lot of what I was reading were Jacob's memories of the past and I usually found myself somewhat startled as Gruen thrust us back into the present. I did like that Gruen used flashbacks to tell the story though because I felt like that helped make the novel seem more realistic. 

We also mentioned in class that Water for Elephants is seen as a work of historical fiction. And we discussed whether or not we thought Gruen was able to paint a realistic picture of a depression era circus. I think she did it quite well. We see examples of this in the scenes in which different 'classes' aren't given their pay. I say classes because in the novel there were obvious separations of class among the members of The Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth. As the novel progresses, more and more classes are losing their pay. We also see hints of the depression when another show goes out of business and Uncle Al decides to pay a visit to see if he can make any spectacular finds. Members of the previous show are seen begging for jobs and food and they are turned away because Uncle Al can't afford to bring them on. This is also an example of the sinisterness that Gruen paints throughout the novel. 

Another thing we mentioned in class was the way we saw the novel in our mind. Most of us agreed when we imagined a lot of bright colors, I see a lot of reds, blues and yellows. But we also said we imagined a sense of doom overhead. It's always there, but it's often pushed to the side. When I imagine the novel I can sometimes see it playing in my mind and I often find myself relating it to a show called Pushing Daisies. The colors on the show are very bright, popping colors which is slihtly ironic because it is a show about death. When thinking of the novel I am also reminded of a movie I saw not too long ago called The Fall. The colors are very bright and the film is kind of double sided like Water for Elephants. The bright colorful side of the film is there to offset the sinister side of the film. It's not just this that reminds me of the novel though. The film is presented to the audience with time in the present as well as time in an imagined place, it flips back and forth between the two throughout the film. And that was something that reminded me of the novel as well. Anyway, it's a great film and you should definitely check it out!

As for Water for Elephants, it is a spectacular novel that should absolutely be kept on the list for the next class!