Reading & Writing

Overall, I tend to like American Contemporary Fiction more than I do British. And it could just be that I've been reading it on my own and haven't been able to talk with anyone about it, but at least as far as short stories go, I would pick the American. Although, that being said, I haven't really read any Contemporary British novels. So I should probably do that. I've read American Contemporary, and International Contemporary, but nothing specifically British. After finals I'm going to return to a blog post I did a while back with a list of some "must-read" British contemporary literature. 

This blog had been extremely helpful in helping me write about what I read. It's also inspired me to get more into writing, and not just reading. I used to be more of a writer than reader, but now it has kind of shifted. I want to get back into writing again.

Maybe I'll also post some of my own writing on this blog...maybe. I'm all for writing for myself, but once it gets to the part where you have to share it with others, it becomes a lot more difficult. But that's something I can work on.

I'm going to start writing again!

And to finish, here are some awesome quotes I found! 

And then this quote, because I think it's hilarious and accurate:

Let Me Count the Times, by: Martin Amis

I read this short story today, and honestly don't quite know what to say about it. After I read the story I have no idea what to go off of for writing a blog post, so I researched it a little and found some interesting information:

-Martin Amis has been called the "best American writer England has ever produced." Ironically enough, his father was also a writer, but he was called the "least American writer England had ever produced."

-This specific short story is part of 'Heavy Water', which is Amis' collection of nine short stories. Maybe if I read the entire collection, or at least part of it, I'd feel different about this story.

Honestly, the story just wasn't really my style. I can see how it could be appreciated, and how others really like it, but it's just not for me. 

Passion in Stories

Last night Brian Doyle (author) visited the BYU-Idaho school campus and did a reading for an hour. I went for part of my English class (the one that I'm also doing this blog for) and I really enjoyed it. It was pretty powerful. There was humor and lots of laughing, as well as somber moments of reflection. It's been a while since I've been that inspired by someone, someone who is SO passionate about what they do that it makes me have passion for it as well. I need more people like that in my life. Here are just some notes I jotted down during the reading:

-Stories are GOOD. Give darkness the finger with your stories.

-Don't let your religion be only your religion. Dig deeper to find the true meaning of it.

-Literature is not literature with a capital L.

^This is probably one of my favorite parts, just because a lot of the time I think people think that in order to count as literature it has to be a long, drawn out novel. But that's not the case. Stories, jokes, books, etc. are all literature.

-Stop trying to be cool. Cool is a joke.

-The best writing isn't always about you. Everybody else is more interesting and also stuffed with stories.

-To be a writer we only need to know how to say three words: "Really? Then what?"

"Violence is a failure of the imagination."

"When in doubt, lower your standards."

-"No one talks about the people that nothing happens to, but it does happen to them."

-I got a bigger story than yours.

-There's got to be a better way to end the violence and stop the wars. 

-To say thank you all the time is the real prayer.

-We all have the power to CATCH and SHARE stories.

-Stories are huge, don't take them for granted.

"Be tender, everything else is a footnote."

And probably one of my favorite parts of the whole reading was toward the end when he gave us some advice on writing:

"Stop thinking! Don't think when you write. Just see what happens!"

I'm super grateful I could attend last night. It inspired to read and write more, and listen to other's stories more carefully. Really, everyone is stuffed to the brim with stories. Who are we to not listen? I needed that inspiration.

It was great. 

The Kite Runner: Paper Ideas

Well, I just got back from a trip to China and Taiwan, and I finished The Kite Runner! That's basically all I did on the plane ride, and I love that book. It's heartbreaking and inspiring at the same time. Now I just want to watch the movie (like I did with the Book Thief).

The next assignment I have to do for The Kite Runner is a 3-5 research paper, so now I need to brainstorm some ideas I could write about. 

Here are some ideas I have:

- Obviously a huge theme is redemption, and the search for it. When Rahim Khan calls Amir he says,  "There is a way to be good again." I think this sets up the entire novel. Amir goes back to Pakistan to try and redeem himself. He's been living with guilt for so long, and it haunts him. This novel could be claimed as a being a search for redemption.

- Another huge theme is family, and the role that families play and how the family members relate to each other. You have Father and Son relationships, such as Amir and Baba, as well as Hassan and Ali. You also have Husband and Wife relationships, such as Baba and his wife, Ali and his wife, and Amir and Soraya. So I could write about something to do with how families help us on our search for redemption? I don't know yet. 

-A big symbol I noticed throughout the novel was that of kites. I mean obviously, the novel is titled The Kite Runner. So what do kites symbolize throughout the novel? They symbolize joy and happiness, but also guilt and regret. They symbolize hope for a better world, without war, what the world was like when Amir and Hassan were growing up. 

-The setting is HUGE as well. I mean in Pakistan and Afghanistan with the Taliban and the war going on. I've got to talk about that in my paper at some point. I'm just not quite sure how to tie it in. 

So, I want to talk about the theme of redemption, the symbolism of kites, and the setting. But what do I want to claim about these things? What do I think Khaled Hosseini is trying to claim through this novel and these aspects of the novel? Or not even that, what do I claim from the novel? 

-I could try and use a literary theory, and use the 'lens' to write my paper. I'd most likely end up using New Historicism or Historical Criticism, but I'm not sure if that's the route I want to take. 

-I could also try and use something like a journey, or a quest. But I really want to talk about those themes/symbols, so maybe not that either.

I'll think about it some more and see what I come up with. 

Memories of the Space Age

I just read my first Science Fiction short story and it was, interesting. I think my biggest problem with short stories in general is that a lot of the time there's no resolution or closure. Or, in the case of this story, the resolution was completely ridiculous and did not leave me feeling like I had any answered questions. 

First, I'm going to write some random thoughts I have about this short story:

1. What just happened? I feel like even after reading all of the story I still have no idea what is happening. Maybe that was J.G. Ballard goal, and if so he succeeded greatly. But really! I just want someone to lay out in clear terms what happened with NASA and the 'Space Age.' There's so much alluding to it, without any clear, cut answers.

2. Now that I think about it, the way the story is written is very skillful. There's so much allusion to what's happened and what is still happening to Mallory and his wife, Anne, but it's never once stated openly. I think writing like that takes a lot of skill. So props to the writer on that one. 

3. I recently watched the movie The Martian, so space and astronauts and NASA just completely fascinate me. Could there possibly be some disease that will affect people who have been in space? Or would we know by now? Besides getting stuck in space forever, what's the worst that could happen in space?

4. Is J. G. Ballard trying to make an overall point or is there an overall theme to the writing? Or is it really meant to just fascinate and confound us? Because if it's the latter, spot on. But if there was meant to be some other meaning (most likely to be careful with going in space...? Maybe...) I didn't quite catch it. 

5. Now that I'm thinking about overall meanings and themes for the short story, one idea keeps popping into my head...time. The disease which affects the characters seems to leave them in a time-less trance, where time stops. And one characters idea of how to get ride of the disease is to "get out of time." So something along the lines of transcending time, or getting a way around it? After all, I don't think any of us really ever feel like we have enough time to do everything we want to do. 

Now that I have some of my thoughts written down, I'm going do some research on this story and see what I find:

So basically, J.G. Ballard is very well-known for his Science Fiction writing, both short stories and novels, he has written them both. Memories of the Space Age is actually a collection of short stories, all being very similar to each other. I would actually really enjoy reading these other short stories. They might give me a greater sense of closure than I had with this one story. 

This is the website I found and got most of my information from, it's extremely helpful:

http://www.ballardian.com/ballard-and-the-vicissitudes-of-time

Well now I guess I'll go on to some other short stories and see what I can learn about them. 

Poetry vs. Short Stories vs. Novels

Here's the conclusion I've come to lately with my English classes: I much prefer reading novels and longer books to short stories or poetry. I enjoy poetry, but there's a line for me. I would prefer short stories to the poetry. We've started reading Contemporary American short stories lately in one of my English classes and I much prefer those to poetry. However, I'm also reading The Kite Runner at the same time, and I would rather read The Kite Runner than read the short stories. 

I think since the short stories are, well, shorter, they're harder for me to get in to. And since they're so short, you have to pay very close attention because every aspect and part is definitely important. I feel like with the novels and longer books I've read and am reading, such as The Book Thief or The Alchemist, since they're longer the plot line takes longer time and thus I, as a reader, can get more immersed in it. 

I still enjoy the short stories and poetry, but if I had to pick, the novels would definitely win. It's interesting though, because if I were to ever be a writer, I would definitely write more short stories than long novels, I think.

____________________________________________________________

I read more of The Kite Runner last night, and I still love it. Even though I'm only on chapter 8 or 9, it's great. I've started reading it for 30-60 minutes or so before I go to bed, and it helps me sleep too. So win-win!

I've started thinking about what I could write about for my paper, which only has to be 3-5 pages (so not too bad. My Book Thief paper was almost 10 pages! and I'm probably going to base it all off of characters. Most likely Amir, Hassan, Baba and possibly Ali. I could definitely change my mind though as I start to read more of the book, but these seem like the biggest characters so far. 

I'm not quite sure what type of claim I'll make yet with my thesis and those characters, but I'm sure as  I continue reading it will come to me. 

____________________________________________________________

Finally, here's an uplifting literature quote for the day! 

'The Kite Runner': First Thoughts

I started reading 'The Kite Runner' by Khaled Hosseini, and I'm pretty sure I'm going to love it. ABSOLUTELY love it. I can't believe I haven't read it before! I also watched the trailer for the movie, which I also haven't seen, and that's going to need to happen once I finish the book. 

Here are some first thoughts I have about this novel:

-In some ways it seems completely different than The Book Thief and The Alchemist, but in other ways it seems very similar. The points of view are completely different, which definitely effects the story and the affect it has on the reader, but the stories themselves are extremely similar, especially compared to the Book Thief. I have a feeling I'm going to cry while reading this novel too. Great. They're both about heartbreak, with war involved. Obviously, The Kite Runner is set over a larger period of time than The Book Thief was, but still very similar. At least with what I've read so far. 

-It has a different tone than other novels I've read lately. It seems more conserved. The Book Thief wasn't a happy or light-hearted book by any means, but it wasn't quite as dark/reserved than this novel is so far. They're both amazing, just different. 

I'm excited to continue reading the book! And to watch the movie when I'm done with the book. 

'The Fishing-Boat Picture'

The short story I read today was 'The Fishing-Boat Picture' by Alan Sillitoe. Out of all the contemporary British short stories I've read lately this one is probably my favorite. It wasn't too long or short, and was fairly easy to understand. However, there's still a lot to get out of the story, and a lot of different ways of interpreting it. 

These are some of the main things that I got out of the story:

Regret.

A HUGE theme I found in the short story was regret. You can especially notice it towards the end of the story. Harry - the narrator - regrets letting his wife, Kathy, leave him those so many years ago. You also get the vibe from Kathy and her weekly visits to Harry that she regrets leaving him, and running off with another man.

The last three paragraphs of the short story are also very important to note. It's all Harry reflecting on his life and what purpose it had. Especially the last paragraph:

"Then optimism rides out of the darkness like a knight in armor. If you lover her ...(of course I bloody-well did)...then yo both did the only thing possible it i was to be remembered as love. Now didn't you? Knight in armor goes back into blackness. Yes, I cry, but neither of us did anything about it, and that's the trouble."

This is a feeing that almost everyone can relate to; that bitter regret when you realize what you once had is gone and there is nothing you can do now to get it/them/whatever it is back. 

The Picture Itself.

What does the fishing-boat picture represent in the story? It's sure talked a lot about towards about halfway to the end of the story. 

In my own opinion, I think it's a representation of Harry's and Kathy's relationship. For one, they obviously don't communicate well. After all, Harry gives the picture to Kathy who sells it. HARry then buys it back, and Kathy ends up selling it again. None of which was actually communicated between them. This illustrates their lack of communication in their own relationship.

I also feel like the painting represents their old relationship. I really liked the quote Harry says, 

"I don't think she wanted the picture especially to sell and get money, or to hand in her own house; only to have the pleasure of pawning it, to have someone else buy it so that it wouldn't belong to either of us anymore."

I think that says a lot about what the picture represents: their relationship, how it used to be. All of us in life go through experiences that we would rather not remember, or be shown visual representations of, and that's the way it is with this picture. It reminds them - Kathy especially - of what they used to have how they both make big mistakes.

I really enjoyed this story, and I think it makes a lot of claims about humans and the regret we feel so often. I'll hopefully end up reading another short story similar to this one. 

'Psychopolis': Thoughts

The second short contemporary British story I read was 'Psychopolis' by Ian McEwan. This one was longer than the last one, but still very interesting. All of the events that take place in the story are fairly bizarre and absurd, and I believe that that is part of the author's claim. I mainly noticed a lot about the events, the characters, and the relationships between the characters in the story. I claim that through these ideas, the author illustrates how complex and absurd life can be, and how everyone deals with it differently. 

First, the events. Well, it starts out with Mary (a main character) wanting to be tied up by the narrator for an entire weekend. Bizarre. They then go on to be a sort of 'friends' and 'lovers' throughout the story. This illustrates that total out of the ordinary events that take place in the narrator's life. He has just moved to Los Angeles and is trying to get a grasp on everything when one of the very first things to happen is being asked to tie up a woman for the weekend. This is a bit of an extreme way to illustrate the complexities that occur in life, but effective nonetheless.

Another bizarre event is Terence's encounter with Sylvia. He is madly in love with her, and after finally going out on a date with her and professing his love, he says he'll do anything for her. So what does she ask him to do? Pee, in his pants, right in the middle of the restaurant. Totally bizarre. To make matters worse her parents then come over and Terence has to make small talk with them. This, again, is completely absurd, but it illustrates an idea quite nicely:

One, humans are sometimes completely irrational and will do anything to get what they want. 

Two, we all have the ability to deceive and take advantage of others when we want to.

Three, life can be completely bizarre and weird, and all any of us can do is try to make the best of it. Which is what the narrator has to do. 

As for the characters, first you've got Mary. She's the feminist woman who asked to be tied up by the narrator. Completely contradictory desires. 

You also have George and Terence who can't seem to relate to the narrator or his desires and observations on life. 

And then of course theres Sylvie, the one who messed with Terence. 

Not only are each of these characters pretty odd on their own, their relationships with each other (as has already been mentioned) are also very absurd. 

Through these events and characters, I believe McEwan portrays how life is completely out of our control and all of us are trying to just make sense of our lives and everything that is happening. 

Overall, I enjoyed the story and really appreciated it.

'A Family Man': Overview Thoughts

So now I'm starting to read some short stories from Contemporary British authors, and I started with 'A Family Man' by V. S. Pritchett. It was a fairly short short story, only nine pages. But I actually really liked it. 

I did some research on the short story, but before I write about what I learned there I'm going to write about some themes/ideas I got out of the short story:

1. Deceit and Rationalization: This story illustrates very clearly the rationalization and self deception humans take part in so often. The two main characters are Bernice Foster and Mrs. Clark. Bernice is having an affair with Mrs. Clark's husband, and one day, when Mrs. Clark comes to Bernice's home to confront her she lies, more than she ever has in her entire life.

          Bernice claims that she grew up being told that all forms of lying were a sin, and she had never lied that much in her entire life. At first she feels bad about this lying - and rationalization that what she's doing isn't that bad - but as the story goes on she continues to lie, even unnecessarily. 

         This deceit leads Mrs. Clark to feel BAD about confronting Bernice in the way she did. She begins to doubt herself more than her husband. I personally believe that Mrs. Clark still knew the truth about what was actually happening, but she couldn't come to the conclusion. It would be too painful for her. 

          This rationalization and deceit (towards themselves and outward towards others) is a huge, if not THE, main point in the story. Through this short story I believe Pritchett illustrates a very harsh reality which will hit most of us very close to home. 

       2. Most often, humans want what they can't have. And once they get that thing, they don't want it anymore: I don't believe this theme is quite as prevalent as the above theme, but it is still worth noting. When Bernice Foster realizes that Mrs. Clark isn't nearly as beautiful as she thought she was (or as Mr. Clark described her to be), she begins to lose interest in Mr. Clark and wonder why she is with him. This illustrates that humans often times do things just for the admiration/notice of others. Bernice Foster also knew from the beginning that Mr. Clark was married, yet that didn't stop her from being with him. In fact, I would venture to say that it even made him more desirable to her. 

I believe there are many things that a reader could get out of this short story, however those are the two main themes I noticed from it. It was very well written, and I enjoyed reading it. 

Now, the next story. 

The Alchemist: Finishing Thoughts

I have officially finished The Alchemist! It was really good, but it wasn't quite what I was expecting. I wasn't expecting it to be so, inspiring? Or at least, trying to be inspiring. And it was quite a deal more religious than I ever expected it to be. Which was interesting to me. I liked it because it was different than what I was expecting. Here are some of the main things that stood out to me in the novel:

-Personification. SO much personification. Of the wind, the desert, the sun, 

everything. In my own opinion, it wasn't too much personification, but 

anymore and it might have been. It added a nice effect, and emphasized 

the inspirational parts.

-Existentialism. I don't know if this is quite the right word to describe it, 

but that's kind of the feeling I got. Santiago was trying to be so in tune with 

everything around him, and paying so much attention to nature and the desert

 and what the world was trying to tell him. It reminded me of some of Ralph 

Waldo Emerson's work.

-Values and Ideals. I do believe it contains some good, important values

that need to be taught and put into action more so than they are being

currently. For example:

"It's the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting."

The value in this quote, is that we all have dreams. And we should all strive to achieve them! There is nothing wrong with going after your dreams. In fact, I think there is something admirable about it. Dream big. (Being an education major, I hope to be able to instill this in my future students.)

"When we love, we always strive to become better than we are. When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better too."

With this quote, love, obviously is a big one. It's important to learn how to love, and to be loved in return. When we love, something in us changes. And when someone loves us back, even more changes. If we can learn to love, and better ourselves, then everything else will become better too.

"There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure."

This is pretty similar to the first quote there, but it's a big one! We shouldn't fear failure! It reminds me of another quote, the only failure is in not trying. Go after your dreams! Even if you fail, at least you tried and learned a few things along the way. 

"The secret of life, though, is to fall seven times and to get up eight times."

The Alchemist seemed to me to just reiterate a commonly held belief, that the joy is in the journey, not the destination. If Santiago hadn't of gone through all the trials and struggles he did to fulfill his "personal legend" then he wouldn't have learned and grown so much on the way. Which, I would argue, was the most important part. It wasn't in him reaching the Pyramids, although that was technically his goal. I think the point of his journey was to become the person he was meant to be by the time he arrived at the Pyramids. I would also argue that Santiago didn't realize that till pretty late on in his story.

I think this can DEFINITELY relate to all of our lives. I claim that Paulo Coelho is making a religious claim through this book, that God knows us. He is fully aware of our goals, and what we need to do to get there. And, like with Santiago, He is fully aware of who we need to be, and what we need to go through to become that person.

It would be extremely hard for me to read this book and not have some religious insights from it. Of course, that could be simply because I'm a religious person. But I do believe that that is one claim Coelho is making with this book. 

I'm still curious as to why this book did not succeed when first published. I need to research it still. It could just be the timing, but I'm curious. 

Overall, I'm grateful I read the book. It was inspiring, if nothing else. I hope to be able to go after my dreams as much as Santiago did. I also hope to be as in tune with my surroundings as he is. 

And to finish off The Alchemist...

The Book Thief: Last Thoughts

This will most likely be my last post on The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. Not because there isn't more I could say about it, because there most definitely is. I could go on about that book forever. But because I have other books to read, thoughts to have, and papers to write, I need to move on. 

(On a side note, I'm jamming out to KISS right now because I'm going to be Gene Simmons for Halloween. I'm pretty excited about it...but anyways.)

Well, I finished reading The Book Thief a couple weeks ago, but it took me a little while to finally write the paper. I had given myself such a broad topic that I didn't even know where to begin. So finally I just started thinking about why I loved the novel so much. In large part it as because it took me out of my world and into another one that I had no idea about. It also gave a fresh, new look on a lot of hard things in life, such as death and trials. Once I came up with that idea I was able to write the paper. I ended it at nine pages, but trust me, I could have kept going. 

(If you're interested in reading that paper, email me.)

I also FINALLY watched the movie of it yesterday, and I sobbed. About as much as I did while reading the book, and writing the paper. It is just so heartbreaking!

My main conclusions after reading the book and watching the movie:

-Although I think they did a really good job on the 

movie, I prefer the book. I think it's deeper, and 

you get more of Death's perspective in there. They

tried with the movie, but it's hard to do. I was

impressed that they did so well with the movie, 

but if I had to pick...

the book would win.-

I thoroughly enjoyed reading The Book Thief, as well as writing about. I will definitely read it again and again. And for those of you who happen to be interested, here are some of my main thoughts I wrote about in my paper:

“Through the point of view in which The Book Thief is written, as well as the characterization of death, Papa, Liesel, and Ilsa Hermann, and the depiction of relationships through the book, the reader is plunged into Liesel’s world and experiences a new view on Death, and how the hard times in life don’t dictate our happiness. Whether the reader likes it or not, through reading the Book Thief, they will experience Liesel’s life, both the joy and the heartbreak.”

and

“Death is portrayed as having a conscious throughout the novel, which makes it more relatable to the readers of the story. Similarly, the other characters throughout the story are also all too familiar with Death. Zusak’s characterization of Death throughout the Book Thief parallels the way the characters view him, as an old friend they can’t seem to escape. And Death can’t seem to escape them either. The very last line of the novel is Death stating, “I am haunted by humans,” (page 550).  Neither party cares to run into the other again, yet there is no choice, and neither has the power to change that.”

And on that note...I'm off to write some about The Alchemist.