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!