Revision: NO IMPACT MAN by Colin Beavan

With a cover made from recycled paper, I knew that when choosing to read No Impact Man for my Winter Break this autobiography wouldn’t be just any green-lifestyle guide—it truly is an extremist’s guide at attempting to be planet earth’s superhero.  From “no-trash, no-carbon-producing transportation and sustainable-eating…no elevators, no subway, no plastics, and no TV” to name a few, the Beavan family transformed their lifestyle in New York City’s Greenwich Village to be one that tried to improve the earth, rather than harm the earth (Beavan 2-43).  Amidst their journey, documented in this autobiography, it seems as though the Beavan family unearth a lifestyle that is in actuality more natural for humans than the lifestyles most humans in our go-go-go society are living today.

Something that struck me as both witty and candidly true was when Beavan discussed a trip to the market he took with his two-year-old daughter, the rain clouds looming above they hurried along, but the rain poured down and Beavan’s daughter, Isabella refused to be shielded by an umbrella.  Although quite unaware of the experiment her parents were undergoing, this little girl was so much a part of it—she comprehended that “This is what walking on a rainy day, instead of using mechanized transportation, is like: you get wet sometimes” (87).  How true that is!  Before the time that umbrellas existed, what would a person do?  Just hide away until the rain ceased…that would be ridiculous.  It also maybe is ridiculous to think that all us humans have a desire to get sopping wet every time it rains; what I believe Beavan is trying to express to the reader is that if you get wet from rain, then you get wet.  Humans should not try to resist nature to such a degree, because it will just fight back.  Look at the weather patterns, as Beavan put it “It is January but seventy degrees outside” (7).  More close to home for us living in Fairfield, we have had tornado warnings much more prevalently than in years past, we have had record breaking snow fall, but today it was almost 65 degrees and it isn’t even March!  Beavan’s ability to point out the fact that climate change is real and needs to be addressed without preaching to the reader is what makes this book have such high literary merit in my opinion.

Beavan indicates truths about our earth, this one in particular made me really stop and think: “We are mowing down some nine football fields of trees in the Amazon rain forest every minute” (49).  (**this made me want to go plant a tree in the Amazon for all of the college mail that I have had to recycle lately!)  This autobiography is such good literature because of facts such as these, which are stated, but never dwelled upon.  This book would be painful to read if Beavan just chastised the reader for grabbing Poland Spring water instead of that ‘Klean Kanteen’ reusable bottle.  With these facts juxtaposed with tough questions that the author poses to himself, but in turn poses to the reader.  “What is the purpose of our lives?  What makes us happy and fulfilled” (218)?  It obviously doesn’t make us feel happy to know that we are breathing in chemicals that simply float around in the air, it cannot possible make us feel fulfilled to watch the hole in the ozone layer become sickeningly larger and the sun penetrating our earth to warm it even more.  Beavan makes it seem logical that the humans that walk this earth need to change, but the problem is that yes “We cannot wait for the system [of trashing the earth] to change.  But we individuals are the system” (221).  With this sentiment Beavan leaves the reader to make a choice; he doesn’t ask the reader to be “a martyr…just try to live life deliberately” and make changes in a lifestyle that are feasible (224).  The merit of this book truly is defined by the peace the author finds in his life by committing to the no impact man project; this peace is what almost forces the reader to champion Beavan’s cause.

NO IMPACT MAN BLOG: http://noimpactman.typepad.com/

*Check it out, it’s worth it!

AMAZON: http://www.amazon.com/No-Impact-Man-Adventures-Discoveries/dp/0374222886/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1298941543&sr=1-1

The God Delusion

http://www.amazon.com/God-Delusion-Richard-Dawkins/dp/0618680004

In his 420-page negation of both the existence of a god and the benefits of religious belief, Richard Dawkins creates a novel that is sure to stand the test of time. Unique in the extent that he attacks the institution of religion, Dawkins criticizes the most famous ‘proofs’ of god, scientifically details the improbability of a divine creator, proposes theories for the roots of both religion and morality, explains the evils of religion and why it is so important to abandon it, and, most importantly, calls the general population to raise their consciousness to the wonderful possibility that is atheism. There truly is not an aspect of the religious debate that Dawkins does not tackle. In all ten chapters of his book, he incorporates and analyzes quotes from other writings on religion by both theists and atheists to completely dominate the issue of god.

Throughout all of this, Dawkins demonstrates his place in society as not only the face of modern atheism but also as a great novelist, as he is able to flow between styles of precise logic when detailing his explanation of evolution and comical incredulity when commenting on the persistent beliefs of creationists. Notably different from other novels refuting the existence of God, Dawkins is able to incorporate a subtle type of ironic humor that will leave a careful reader rolling on the floor laughing. In an effort to make sure that every assertion is proven thoroughly and every possible counter-argument is refuted (something that Dawkins’s opponents fail to do), The God Delusion can get a bit dull in places of extensive analysis.

Not to worry though, the quality of Dawkins’s arguments is unparalleled. If read by every religious person on the face of the Earth, there is no doubt that a overwhelming majority of them will end the novel having seriously questioned their religious beliefs. The elegance and never-ending logical insight that Dawkins provides makes it a must read. The publication of this book represents the greatest leap in the atheistic movement in the history of religion. People are now armed with the greatest arsenal of ideas an atheist could ever ask for in the never ending battle against religion (although don’t misunderstand the metaphor. We are an incredibly gentle people.). After reading The God Delusion, I have serious hope that more children will reject their parent’s indoctrination of religion and become aware of the possibility of atheism. My goal of living in a world free of religion may become a reality before I die; and this great book may have triggered it all.

Tuesdays With Morrie

For this break, I read a couple of different books and decided on one that I felt had the most impact on me to write about on this blog. Yet again, I chose to write about a memoir: Tuesdays With Morrie by Mitch Albom. Despite my previous knowledge of it being hard to write about memoirs, I am inclined to write about this one because of the way in which it touched my life, and my experience living life, and ultimately my heart.

Mitch Albom is a very successful author and in this novel specifically, Mitch writes about the relationship he and his greatest professor, Morrie Shwartz, had when he was taking his classes in college and then beyond that to when Morrie knows that he is dying. The book tackles the uncomfortable knowledge of knowing that you are dying, for the whole book takes place around the visits that Mitch has with Morrie as he is dying. Albom touches upon many aspects of the human experience in this novel and in my experience in reading it, I felt I was discovering the true way in which to live my life. All humans have the tendency to ask themselves and others questions that really have no specific answer to, for example, what is fear? what is death? why do we live? Questions such as these are similar to the ones that Mitch and Morrie discuss in Morrie's final months of life. Every Tuesday Mitch flies out to see Morrie, just for the day, and they discuss life, love, experience, and the meaning of what it is to be human. After reading this novel, my outlook on life has changed in many different ways. Morrie's ability to come to terms with the fact that he is dying, not mourn for his lost life, but instead, take advantage of the time that he has left really inspires me to view life as if it is short.

One of my favorite lines of the novel is when Morrie says, "We are too involved in materialistic things, they don't satisfy us. The loving relationships we have, the universe around us, we take these things for granted"(Albom 84). I think that Morrie really does touch upon an aspect of life that many humans are afraid to talk about, and that is the value and importance of materialistic items that are consuming our world today. I sometimes ask myself, what would I do without my cell phone? and I feel ignorant and ridiculous after doing so. Our culture and our society depends too much on materialistic items,(in my opinion) such as pricey cars, houses, clothes. We are all worried about what others think about us, but we do not take advantage of the love and the relationships and truly important experiences that we have each day. One thing that I do to remind myself that these types of things: phones, ipods, clothes, are really not as important as they seem is to think about my Grandma. I would give up every material item that I own for my Grandma to remember me again. That is what I believe to be important. I think that this is somewhat of the message that Morrie is portraying to Mitch in this novel, and just as Mitch learns to live a new type of life by the end of the novel, I am reminded of the true meaning of life; loving relationships and a fulfilling experience.

Morrie's undying ambitions and the truly admirable way in which he handles his inevitable death make me want to live life as if I was in the place that Morrie was throughout the book. One moment in the novel that really inspired me was when Mitch was observing Morrie in his suffering one day when they were visiting. Mitch writes, "But it was also becoming clear to me--through his courage, his humor, his patience, and his openness--that Morrie was looking at life from some very different place than anyone else I knew. A healthier place. A more sensible place. And he was about to die"(63). The relationship between the importance of life and the importance of death and the way in which Morrie handles this shows his strength as a human being. Reading this novel has really resulted in me having a slightly different outlook on life and I think that Mitch Albom does an extremely good job at portraying the life of this dying old man as an inspiring story from which all should learn.

NO IMPACT MAN by Colin Beavan

http://www.amazon.com/No-Impact-Man-Adventures-Discoveries/dp/0374222886/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1298852985&sr=1-1

No Impact Man was an opportunity for me to read what one may refer to as an eco-freaks bible.  The autobiography describes Colin Beavan's journey for one year (in NYC no less)to try to make as little to no impact on the world's environment.  All I thought, before reading the novel, was that the Beavan family would be doing what an average eco-friendly person would do, only for one year; bringing reusable bags to the supermarket, trying to walk/bike instead of drive (or maybe even just owning a smart car of some sorts)...I completely underestimated the difficulty of this experiment! 

Colin and his wife Michelle and their 2-year-old daughter Isabella (who by Colin's description seems like the most adorable little girl!  She seemed to enjoy their experiment the most!), gave up television, use the stairs instead of elevators, walk/bike and NEVER use any form of transportation that emits CO2s (i.e. planes/trains/cars/taxis...you get the picture!).  So as I read the first 20 or so pages I felt that this family was basically creating their own mini eco-cult, but as the book progressed it became evident that they were actually living harmoniously with nature.  It can even be said that they were living in a way that humans (in the natural order of things) are meant to live.  Okay, I can honestly say that might sound a tad confusing, but think of it; before the time of umbrellas if it rained, you got wet.  Before the time of a society that is go-go-go, you stayed home and rested-and were not obligated to text/email/facebook message/call/fax someone to let them know you can't attend whatever pressing occasion you had to miss.  As Colin puts it "Back before the days of mechanized transportation and personal telephonic communications and coffee in to-go cups, there would be down times between the times of stress.  Maybe you had a presentation at the office or a great party to go to or a tense talk with your girlfriend.  But between those things you'd get a break.  You couldn't carry your coffee, talk on the phone, ride a taxi to the next stressful event all at the same time" (89).  The lives that the Beavan family led for this one year seems like the most idealistic way for any human to live--with reducing carbon emissions and impact on the environment they simultaneously reduced their stress and chose to not take part in a society that values stress above most other things.  In this I find the literary merit of the autobiography-Colin is able to craft his book forcing the reader to ask themselves the hard questions: What will our earth be like in 10 years?  15 years?  By the end of my lifetime?  Will I leave this earth worse than it was when I entered it, or will I leave it changed for the better?  These questions are raised not by Colin preaching to the reader, but by him discussing his own witty happenings during his one year project.  He described the horror of knowing he had to call his parents and cancel the train ride from NYC to ironically Westport, CT in order to abide by his no impact project, he discussed how an ordinary sneeze that would come with a tissue in tow was now a production of finding that reusable handkerchief.  These little things that happen in the novel are what give the novel it's quirkiness.  Now by the end of the novel, Colin admitted that his one year of being the Green Superhero was seriously exhausting, the thought of having to not use toilet paper, tissues, or walk up one more flight of stairs in lieu of the elevator was not going to happen-so the no impact man project ended, but Colin retains, till this day, many of the aspects of his no impact experiment...one being he keeps a blog encouraging average people to try to limit their own impact, check it out for yourselves:
http://noimpactman.typepad.com/blog/

A little P.S. to my blog post:  When reading this novel I quickly found myself realizing that it has become so insane to fathom living an impact free existence because protecting the planet so often clashes with humans desire to protect themselves before others, 'others' referring to the earth.  I find myself feeling that my happiness would in some respects be slighted if I had to trudge to school everyday...rain, snow, sleet, and all.  Although I know I will definitely not be able to begin a no impact project, I have this strange sense that by driving in my heat-blasting car during the winter, by throwing out whatever I don't want, by not even stopping to think about taking the stairs when I have the opportunity to take an elevator is fighting precisely what keeps myself alive-the earth...without the earth, where would I be?  The moon?  As Colin discussed in his novel, "the moon bakes away at inhuman temperatures during the day and becomes an icicle's icicle at night" (70).  Guess that won't work then.

The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen

The book I chose was The Truth about Forever, by Sarah Dessen. Though more of a beach read than scholarly, I liked the novel a lot because it is relatable. Macy is a junior in high school, who still suffers from the pain of watching her father die of a heart attack only 2 years before. Since then, her and her mother have lived without speaking of his death, within a perfect facade of "fine just fine", as Macy refers to it. Macy was the "perfect" child compared to her older sister, a reputation heightened by the fact that her boyfriend, Jason, is the ideal teenager. Smart and nationally recognized for his school-recycling program, Jason is the cliched, perfect child that every parent wants to have. He leaves Macy for camp, breaking up with her in the process, and Macy is left to a summer with a job at the library and books of SAT vocabulary. However, Macy's life begins to change after her mother's real estate party is catered by Wish Catering. Eccentric and chaotic, Macy is immediately drawn to Delia, the woman who owns the company, and its teenage employees. She meets Wes, a boy who understands her having lost his mother to cancer, and makes friends with Kristy, Bert, and Monica; Macy becomes truly happy for the first time since her father passed away.

This novel is cliched and predictable, yes, but I loved how Dessen sets up her characters. Though they are all different, it becomes easy to relate to each one: Delia is comforted by the chaos of her business, Bert has an obsession with the end of the world, Kristy is boy-crazy and eccentric, and Wes is caring and intriguing. The reader can easily relate to Macy's struggles with her father's death and her mother's inability to cope with her grief, and wills the story to have a happy ending. There is a quote in Ms. Parrish's room by Emily Dickinson: "Forever is composed of nows". Dessen's book expresses the same message; with so little time to live in this world, it becomes so important to truly live while you can. Macy spent so long grieving for her father and trying to live up to her mother's expectations that she never focused on her own happiness. Wish gives her this happiness and allows her to experience a real, imperfect life. The last few sentences of the novel read, "That was the thing. You just never knew. Forever was so many different things. It was always changing, it was what everything was really all about. It was twenty minutes, or a hundred years, or just this instant, or any instant I wished would last and last. But there was only one truth about forever that really mattered, and that was this: it was happening" (Dessen 374). Dessen's novel is enticing because it is a story that readers can easily connect to; though the novel's themes are not very original, the characters and storyline are. I would recommend it as a quick read just for fun.

http://www.amazon.com/Truth-About-Forever-Sarah-Dessen/dp/0142406252/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1298841865&sr=8-1

A Wild Sheep Chase by Haruki Murakami

A Wild Sheep Chase by Haruki Murakami was, to be honest, a little bit creepy. In fact Murakami's creates a setting within the novel similar to the mood and tone of Housekeeping - one that was a bit haunting, mysterious, and eerie. The book is basically about a man who gets singled out to find a mysterious sheep with a star on its back, or face "dire consequences". Thus, his journey begins as he sets out to find this sheep, who holds a mysterious connection to his friend Rat.

The literary merit of this book is definitely in Murakami's skill in the manipulation of the tone, plot, and characters. This novel actually fit really well with the "myth" unit we are currently studying and I actually saw a lot of similarities between this novel and The Road as well as parts of The Power of Myth. Like McCarthy, Murakami also choses to not reveal the names of any of his characters (the Rat is just a nickname for his friend). Additionally, he draws on elements of mythology, weaving it in effortlessly with real life. The protagonist meets a girlfriend with magical ears, a sheep man, and eventually (what seems to be) the ghost of the rat. By the end of the novel, my mind was spinning and it was hard to distinguish what was real and what was surreal. Murakami utilizes language in a way that blends reality and fiction to create a almost dream-like setting in which the protagonist appears to be struggling, but is conveniently helped along his journey by guides at just the right moments. What was really appealing was the way that the plot gradually grew darker as the novel progressed. It starts off with the protagonist living an everyday mediocre societal life with a wife, a business partner, a successful business etc. But by the end of the novel (and his journey to find the mythological sheep), the protagonist becomes completely isolated without friends or family snowed in an mansion in the rural mountainsides. When I got to part of his isolation, it actually gave me goosebumps (for other reasons that would give away the book).
 Additionally, Murakami creates this huge buildup of desperation, anxiety, mediocrity, darkness surrounding the protagonist that is never directly addressed, or resolved. Murakami begins the build up when the protagonist realizes that was simply a pawn in the man in the black suit's plan. He narrates:
        
          I was ready to get the hell off the mountain, but somehow that offered no satisfaction
          I had gotten in too deep. I would have been so easy if only I could have cried. But
          crying wasn't an option, because I felt that far ahead of me there was something really
          worth crying about.
                                                                                                      (Murakami 315)

The protagonist, as he is waiting for the Rat, also experiences "a terrifying dream. A dream too terrifying to recall" (323) during the middle of the night. In addition to this dream, the protagonist's feeling that something "far ahead of me...was something really worth crying about" served to intensify the premonition that something momentous will happen in the next few chapters. One would think that it is upon the arrival, and exit, of the Rat , but the protagonist does not "cry" until after his journey ends. Furthermore, the protagonist continues to exists in a dream-like state even after the Rat leaves when he becomes "unbearably cold", hears "someone whisper in [his] ear" and sees random people like the chauffeur, the Sheep Man and Charlie Christian (340). His fevered state accompanied by his frenzied actions and disjointed thoughts all help build up the expectations of a moment of catharsis for the reader. However, (for me at least) this moment never came.
In the end, the protagonist returns to "the land of the living"that he accepts as "[his] world...no matter how boring or mediocre it might be" (348) while distancing himself from 'memory'. The the ending occurs just as the novel began; the protagonist simply resumes his life of mediocrity by starting a new business with a new partner, without addressing his 'memories' of his sheep chase. Even when he eventually "cries", the protagonist does not address his reasons at all. He just cried, wiped his tears, and continued his walk, leaving the reader to wonder for what (or who) was he crying for? Why was he crying? What was "worth crying about"? The reader is left with a million more questions in addition to emotional build up that Murakami had created, successfully making the reader think harder and deeper about the meaning behind the novel.

However, I liked that Murakami intentionally leaves an open and seemingly insignificant ending because the book itself was so disjointed and symbolic. The plot is seemingly juvenile (with a Sheep Man and a girlfriend with magical ears to name a few characters) but the novel itself is anything but.

Although this book was a little eerie, I would definitely recommend it.

Link:
http://www.amazon.com/Wild-Sheep-Chase-Novel/dp/037571894X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1298786826&sr=1-1

The Turn of the Screw by Henry James

I cannot say I was expecting a ghost story when reading the back of this book which says: “a young governess is left in sole charge of two charming and beautiful orphans…and is swiftly drawn into a frightening battle against unspeakable evil”. Being in English class we’re a bit more used to a symbolic sort of evil, but nope, these were scary dead-people who possess little children. Not really my cup of tea, but it was well written and supposedly “the original” in terms of all these modern day mystery ghost stories we see in movies.
The appeal of this book and its literary merit I think lie in the narration of the governess. Even if you don’t think she’s insane when she first sees the ghosts she is most certainly driven insane by them. She considers her herself a heroine, and is very willing to sacrifice herself to the ghosts in place of the children but is truly unable to stay mentally strong. She has no conviction and is not even sure of what she believes. This is definitely masterfully shown considering James never uses any physical evidence to show her going crazy and never even relies on those archetypal symbols such as distortion in a mirror. It’s strictly verbally done; the best way I can describe this is that she talk herself in circles, never coming to any logical conclusions. I think this is best shown in the following lines:
“I preternaturally listened; I figured to myself what might portentously be; I wondered if his bed were also empty and he were too secretly at watch. It was a deep ,soundless minute at the end of which my impulse failed. He was quiet; he might be innocent; the risk was hideous; I turned away.” (63).
If looked at only through a rhetorical lens the prevalence of the semicolon is what stands out and it demonstrates how she thinks she’s come to a conclusion, finished, then questions herself and starts again. Also, “I turned away” as the final of those lines is powerful considering after all that she’s debating she ends up never facing what she fears. She’s willing to stare down ghosts, but she’s frightened to even ask the children what they are up to. She’s definitely not as brave as she tells herself she is.
It can be a bit tedious to read, but it’s definitely evident that James is very purposeful in his drawn-out passages. This sort of narration runs throughout the book so the governess’ moral struggles and attempts to make sense of the mystery make up most of the book with very little progression action-wise.
What I think is most frustrating about this book is the jaded modern day reader will not be scared or surprised at the mystery or really impressed with James’ techniques. I thought it was pretty obvious that the children aren’t as innocent as soon as the governess meets them, since no child could be as perfect as the countless descriptions of “the radiant image of [the] little girl [and boy]…with angelic beauty” and perfect manners(16). We’ve learned that a good majority of narrators, especially if its first-person, are completely unreliable. Maybe in 1898, people would have believed everything the governess said and uncovered the mystery as she did, but for any modern day reader it’s pretty obvious from the very beginning. I found myself hoping the mystery would be beyond that- the children are the killers! The governess is really the bad guy!-but, there’s really not much evidence for any secret meaning. Even of the governess really made up the whole story, it really doesn’t add much of another dimension.

Ambiguity is also really heavily relied on; most questions remained unanswered such as why did the little boy get expelled? Why exactly are the ghosts evil, why are they there, and what do they want? I’m a bit tired of the ambiguous ending, to tell the truth, I feel it’s used absolutely everywhere, and it doesn’t really affect me as strongly anymore. For example, without spoiling it, the book ends in a way that makes the reader and the governess unable to ever be able to find out any answers (121). Again, maybe in 1898 this was new and exciting, but now it just seems a bit weary. If you like modern day horror, this is probably a good book for you since you’ll really see the origins of what has become every Hollywood B movie horror film out there. It’s not really my favorite. I wanted to read "Emma", but they didn’t have it at the book store.

I read this version:
http://www.amazon.com/Turn-Screw-RED-Penguin-Classics/dp/0141194375

The Interrogative Mood by Padgett Powell

Ahh I'm sorry this is so late!!
Wow? Is this an absolutely wonderful book? Do I recommend that everyone read it? Yes?
Alright, so although The Interrogative Mood is not a quality piece of literature, it is most definitely worth reading. When I heard about this novel I was more curious than anything, simply because I had never encountered a novel comprised entirely of questions. I was not expecting the mind-opening experience it provided.
Powell's questions are not organized in any way other than when certain questions branch off into related questions or dig deeper into the original thought. Some questions are completely random and ridiculous, while some are incredibly insightful and make you feel especially alive even before you have attempted to answer them. One of my favorite ridiculous questions is "How do you stand in relation to the potato?" (Powell, 1). Then "Do you like it when people sing "Happy Birthday" to you?" (130). The previous question is one of many that made me feel a little more connected with the rest of society, because if the answer was an obvious "yes", Powell would not have asked the question, which means that I am not the only person who feels awkward when people sing them "Happy Birthday". Then there are the questions that most readers could easily write an entire essay on. A few examples are "Do you realize that people move on steadily, even arguably bravely, unto the end, stunned and more stunned, numbed and more numbed, by what has happened to them and not happened to them?" (28) and "How did we go so wrong? Wasn't there a day on earth when not every sould was possessed of his or her own petty political and personal-identity agenda?" (18). Many questions throughout the novel force the reader to truly think, and also to make confusion their friend: "Is there enough time left? Does it matter that I do not specify for what? Was there ever enough time? Was there once too much? Does the notion of "enough time" actually make any sense? Does it suggest we had things to do and could not do them for reasons other than that we were incompetents? Did we have things to do? Things better done than not? Thus, important things? Are there important things? Are we as a species rolling together the great dungball of the importantly done into itself and making thereby a better world for the dungball rollers to follow us?" (12). I found myself failing to find the answers to many of these questions, and I realized that being aware of questions you can't answer is rewarding in itself.
The Interrogative Mood also contains allusions to literature we have read, thus deepening understanding of the texts it refers to. The introduction is an excerpt from Walt Whitman's "Song of Myself", one questions asks "Is a body catching a body coming through the rye regarded a good thing or a bad thing?" (7), and another asks "Would you like to go to Pondicherry?" (57). Powell may or may not have been referring to Life Of Pi with that last question, however that was the only reason I could think of for making a trip to Pondicherry.
Although it is nothing like the literature we deal with in school, the questions that make up The Interrogative Mood cause you to question everything from yourself to your beliefs to your society. I highly recommend this novel.

The Road by Cormac McCarthy

Amazon Link:  http://www.amazon.com/Road-Movie-Tie-Vintage-International/dp/0307476308/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1262648309&sr=8-1

Although there were aspects of the novel that i did not particularly love, overall The Road by Cormc McCarthy was enjoyable and compelling to read. As Ms. Parrish and i somewhat talked about in class today, the sentence structure is extremely simple, although the language itself is poetic and beautiful and uses unique, complex word-choice. This, i suppose, is what i did not like about the book. Sometimes i felt the short and abrupt sentences took away from the beauty of the writing itself. Then again, i think this was a deliberate choice by McCarthy as it went hand in hand with the idea being grappled with throughout the novel regarding love, hope and desperation and their ability (or inability, depending how you see it) to coexist. 

I loved the ideas and questions that the novel posed however. Because the story is of the long physical journey of a boy and his father towards the south, following a road, in search of something better, people like them, there is both a sense of hope as well as desperation which can be felt throughout the story. This gave it both a sense of optimism but also a depressing feeling of hopelessness. This father and son are building a bond, love and trust in one another as they move on towards the end of their journey and suffer through starvation, freezing temperatures and many more hardships along the way. I love depressing books, so maybe that is why it appealed so much to me, but i felt that the sadness engulfed in the happiness made the story extremely emotional and relatable. 

One paradox i just wanted to address from the novel once again is that of hope and desperation. The book made me question, does hope evolve from desperation? or desperation from loss of hope?... The entire novel the pair are searching for the light at the end of the tunnel, or the southern coast at the end of their road, yet on multiple occasions each of the two spoke of wishing for death and the appeal that death had as opposed to trudging on through the snow to the unknown. It was as if they wished for death, a stop to their heard journey, yet perhaps death was the light at the end of the tunnel, or the final desired destination and they were simply unaware of that. "Nobody wants to be here and nobody wants to leave."..."People were always getting ready for tomorrow. I didnt believe in that. Tomorrow wasnt getting ready for them. It didnt even know they were there." Both of these quotes, i feel, show the central message of ambiguity between hope and despair grappled with in this novel. 

Olive Kitteridge

Amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/Olive-Kitteridge-Fiction-Elizabeth-Strout/dp/0812971833/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1262640407&sr=8-1

Because Ms. Parrish also posted about this book, I will try to add to what was already said and not be repetitive. I liked reading Olive Kitteridge because of the complexity and realness of the characters. I agree that Strout uses subtle, and often beautiful language which makes the novel enjoyable. However, I also agree that the town of Crosby, serves as simply a setting. The foundation of the novel that connects the vast population of characters together is Olive, who is linked to each character somehow. The novel is comprised of thirteen different stories, and honestly, the majority of characters besides Olive and her family were interchangeable in my mind. If the purpose is to focus on how Olive pulls the inhabitants of Crosby together, I feel it would be more effective for Strout to describe about four or five of the different people in depth, so we could at least remember them all. I agree that the structure of the novel is unclear, and still question the purpose of the multiple stories of families within Crosby, if Crosby is not central to the novel. Why not focus on solely people that were close to Olive, regardless of where they lived?

Although Olive is a gruff, cranky old school teacher, and most are either are afraid of her or hold a grudge against her, I found myself sympathizing with Olive throughout the novel. She pushes many people away, and suffers from this. She is truly a complex character, and I don't know if I am supposed to understand her, or if Strout wanted to leave her identity open for interpretation. However, I do know that she is capapble of being a heartfelt person. I would recommend this book solely because Olive's story is interesting and complex, but I cannot say that I enjoyed the content of the novel where she wasn't closely connected to the character's lives.

Catch-22

Amazon Link: http://www.amazon.com/Catch-22-Joseph-Heller/dp/0684833395

Catch 22 by Joseph Heller based on the second half of World War II. It actually took me quite a while to get into the plot, because it involves a lot of military terms and tactics that I had to look up so that I could understand what exactly I was reading about. However, once I reached about the halfway point of the book, I really started to enjoy it, and I would definitely recommend it to others in our class.

The book is told from different points of view, and this made it a little confusing to read. The majority of the plot is told from the view of Yossarian, the main character. I really didn't like Yossarian at first because he was so odd, but I found that he is actually a very entertaining character to read about. Yossarian is afraid of dying, and he believes that dying in a war fighting for your country is just about the worst way to die. The text is in third person, and it's almost satirical- I found myself laughing out loud a few times at what I was reading. Heller describes the war in a seemingly light mannerin the first part of the book, but in the second half, he reveals the terrors and hardships of war. There is rape, murder, a great number of deaths everyday, and of course the terrible feeling that you are going to die everyday, not to mention the fact that your friends and comrades are dying daily. By the end of the book, Yossarion refuses to fly anymore missions, because he is upset by the death of one of his dear friends. He is then forced to face a court appearance, or simply be sent home with honorable mention. What he decides to do is interesting indeed, and crucial to understanding the morals issued throughout the novel.

Then of course there is the Catch. Catch-22 that is. The Catch-22 is mentioned a few times throughout the book, and each time it is described differently-of course this leads to confusion. It is ultimately a law of paradox and circular reasoning- if a victim is found being illogical, they can be punished for it. The first time it is mentioned, Yossarian (looking for a way out of a bombing) declares that he is insane, but is told that according to Catch-22 he is actually sane by saying that, because of course he would want to save himself from going out on a mission. the second time it states that it is illegal to read-and where is this law found? Why in the writing of the Catch of course! which would involves reading. The last time the Catch is mentioned, it is defined as a law that states that anything a soldier can't prevent the enemy from doing is allowed. What to think of all of this...

I think that overall, the book was a great read and really interesting, but you definitely have to have patience when you're starting it-it will get better! A note on the author's craft- I thought that the telling from different points of view, but yet from one outsider's view was really clever and it certainly made the plot more interesting, even if it was more confusing at the same time. The flashbacks that Heller included helped to explain events that he mentioned previously in the text, and each chapter is titled with either the name of a person, a battle, or a place that is involved in the plot. There are so many different characters that it's at time hard to keep track of them, but they all certainly add to the different levels of what was going on in the text.

p.s. keep in mind that when you are a man in the army, about to die, you are going to be craving sex, apparently all of the time...that's involved a lot in the text (which I didn't know when I picked it out!) The whores in Rome are important characters, even though they sound unimportant. But they are...

The Secret Life of Bees

For my outside reading assignment for December break, I chose to read 'The Secret Life of Bees" written by Sue Monk Kidd. The book was a phenomenal pick and I am guessing that several of you have already read it, because it has been on the New York Bestseller's list for a substantial amount of time.

With its complex arguments and conflicts, "The Secret Life of Bees" demonstrates the burdened lifestyle young Lily Owens, must encounter each and every day. At age four years old, Lily Owens kills her mother in an accidental shooting. Throughout the novel, we experience Lily's journey as she searches for love and compassion that was lost along with her mothers' life. Interestingly enough, the only compassion Lily finds is when she is with her African caretaker Rosaleen and when she runs away from her father with Rosaleen and comes across three African women who are bee keepers and live in a pink house. Lily is forced to make a decision between being loved while shunned because she is a white girl living in a house full of African women, or return home to her father where happiness ceases to exist.

Throughout the novel, Lily finds comfort and strength through religion and bees. Kidd uses these small insects that usually represent fear and panic and instead demonstrates the support these tiny creatures hold for Lily.

http://www.amazon.com/Secret-Life-Bees-Monk-Kidd/dp/0143114557/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1262562782&sr=8-1

Sherlock Holmes

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The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes: The Movie

Holmes never said, “Elementary, my dear Watson”.

The name “Sherlock Holmes” has become one of the most recognizable names in all of history, ranking up there with “Shakespeare”, transcending the name of a single person to become an honored title, withstanding the test of time. There are myriad books, stories, and even movies that deal with the revered detective, so “reading Sherlock Holmes” turned out to be a difficult task. At last, I settled upon a book that presented 12 of Sir Doyle’s stories (the original Adventures):

1. A Scandal in Bohemia
2. The Red-Headed League
3. A Case of Identity
4. The Boscombe Valley Mystery
5. The Five Orange Pips
6. The Man with the Twisted Lip
7. The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle
8. The Adventure of the Speckled Band
9. The Adventure of the Engineer's Thumb
10. The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor
11. The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet
12. The Adventure of the Copper Beeches

Each of these stories is told by an aging Watson, looking back on his notes for each respective case and detailing how his partner managed to solve each and every case using little else but his lens and his brain. The art lies in the way that Doyle manages to challenge the reader – almost taunting us. He warns us to not speed read, or else Holmes will once again show us up. Whether it is something as seemingly trivial as a cane knocking against the pavement (Red-Headed League), or something as blatantly obvious as a hanging rope (Speckled Band), Doyle has the gift to present to the reader all of the details, yet still leave us in the dark.

Ultimately, what Doyle accomplishes is revolutionary – teaching incompetent detectives and people a thing or two about crime and even life itself. Don’t rush through just for the sake of getting through, lest you be bested by others more careful and introspective. This is definitely recommended for anyone who likes to live life in the fast lane as a guide to slowing down and still living an exciting life and is a necessity for those aspiring to be crime detectives.

Also, a note on Holmes' character: it seems that society has been all too kind to Sherlock Holmes. He was truly a jerk and a druggie, albeit an intelligent one. Whether he be "alternating from week to week between cocaine and ambition", or his speaking in condescending manners to Watson.

An American Childhood- Annie Dillard

An American Childhood is Annie Dillard's memoir of growing up in Pittsburgh in the 1950's. I read this book because I had been rampant in thought and engrossed and emotionally invested in Catcher and its themes, and had loved the discussion- I didn't feel ready and simply did not want to leave Catcher in the dust. Here I found a novel that promised a complete and reliable account of growing up (she explores every phase- beginning at 5 and ending when she is getting ready to leave Pittsburgh at 17) that was sure to touch on Catcher ideas ( becoming awake, truth, illusion, leaving childhood etc.) and also come from a truly remarkable and insightful voice, as Annie Dillard's work has always seemed to me.

Dillard tells the story of her childhood "interior life" through a sharp and observant lens that combines her childhood personality and perspective of the time with ominous insight that comes from looking back as an adult. The experiences she recalls are perhaps universal and unremarkable in terms of what childhood is (filling the gaping holes of boredom with imagination: inventing games and ideas, playing in the woods, being with friends, being alone, reading and learning and exploring that knowledge in the real world- She was more intelligent than I am now in many ways at only 9 years old, reading books about insects and birds and rocks and butterflies and adventuring to explore them in the real world, identify them, collect them, explain them as an expert...) but she somehow takes the ordinary and turns all of her experiences into remarkable comments on life. Ultimately, (although it may sound cheesy or cliche) I think the novel celebrates just living life, curiosity, and the wonders of the world- what life has to offer- how we perceive those possibilities as we are young and when we become older, what nature and history and the world can be, the vastness of exploration. She is close to concluding the novel when she writes, "And still I break up through the skin of awareness a thousand times a day" (250). The novel begins when she is 5 and bewildered and entranced by life, and I think it ends in the same way.

I love this book and I know I will revisit it frequently. I do think it is the kind of novel that you can read again and again and at different times discover something new and extraordinary in every read (I feel that I have only absorbed a mere fraction of the books depth in this week), or just purely enjoy it every time, if only to put it down marveling at Annie Dillard as an author herself. While the childhood stories she tells may seem light and unremarkable, the ideas and the insight that come with them seemed to me as profound and heavy, and at times I had to put it down in order to really absorb what she was saying and consider what I thought of it. If anything, her prose give you everything to think about.

Annie Dillard's language in this book is so beautiful and spirited that I found myself reading slower and slower as I went. Her story is the "American Childhood" and I think that most everyone will see a piece of their childhood reflected in hers, or a piece of her anywhere from innocence to adolescence inherent in themselves. The New York Times comments on this book, Annie Dillard is one of those people who seem to be more fully alive than most of us, more nearly wide awake than a human being generally gets to be". This is exactly what the book is like. If nothing else, I would genuinely want to read any and every book that entails being told a story from a like perspective.

Amazon Link: http://www.amazon.com/American-Childhood-Annie-Dillard/dp/0060915188

The Green Mile (from Greg)

Greg's account was not working so I'm posting it for him:


Amazon Link
http://www.amazon.com/Green-Mile-Six-Box-Set/dp/0451933028/ref=pd_rhf_p_t_1

The Green Mile By Stephen King

With a mix or brutal tragedy and sophisticated details, The Green Mile by Stephen King will remain one of my favorite books of all time. Set on "death row" in a 1930's prison (Cold Mountain Penitentiary), the story depicts both the miraculous and tragic events that surround one man, John Coffey, one of the rows temporary residents. The story told by Paul Edgecomb, the wings head honcho prison guard, who is reflecting on it some decades later from his own "death row". While the story will undoubtedly stretch your most innermost beliefs, it will do so in a way that is both memorable and emotional. You will be attached both emotionally and physically from cover to cover and beyond.

Another notable aspect of the story is the fact that it deals entirely with the conflicts between individuals and society, as well as individuals with themselves. I suppose that this story is as much a tool of education as it is a tool to provoke thought. Like in Mrs. Parrish's book, the characters were, for the most part, very realistic (you'll understand the "for the most part", after you've read it). One character in particular, Percy Whitmore, is the most dislikable human being I have ever been forced to acknowledge. This is the same for his counterpart, Brad Dolan, who is easily as dislikable if not more so in the end of the story. John Coffey on the other hand, couldn't be more likeable and human despite his gifts. What are these? You ask. You will just have to read to find out.

Treatise On Harmony by Jean-Philippe Rameau

Amazon Link: http://www.amazon.com/Treatise-Harmony-Jean-Philippe-Rameau/dp/0486224619/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1262553110&sr=8-1

As any student of musical composition will tell you, Rameau's Treatise On Harmony is one of thee most important books in the history and development of Western Music. The Treatise was originally published in 1722, during the late Baroque era in which galant-like--chordal (homophonic) melodies that worked to better distinguish the harmonic structure of a piece--pieces were beginning to be introduced. What made Rameau's first Treatise so significant during this period was his introduction of concepts such as that the triad is the most fundamental element in harmony, all melody is rooted in harmony (although this is not to be taken too seriously as Rameau makes it clear that this rule is based more on musical expression rather than the practice of composition), the tonic chord and the dominant chord are necessities in functional, tonal harmony, and chordal inversion in chordal succession that would become the basis of harmonic structure and theory for the next two hundred years.

The Treatise is separated into four books; the first contains mathematical explanations and "proof" of the concepts that Rameau goes on to explain in the other books. The second book is by far the most important and controversial as it explains many of the concepts I previously mentioned and serves as the basis for all tonal harmony. Book Three takes what was explained in previous books and demonstrates how to use such techniques in the practical method of composition. The last book is merely (and I do mean "merely") a practical guide to accompaniment on the harpsichord or organ which contains chapters such as "On how to find Chords on the Keyboard" and then some discussion on reading a figured bass.

The translation from French to English by Philip Gossett makes this book palatable seeing that Rameau's prose is dense, contains errors in syntax and is repetitious and disorganized. Gossett, without taking too much liberty over Rameau's language, makes most of the Treatise easy to understand given that one understands the concepts being explained. However, the first book is extremely difficult to comprehend, even in translation. Acknowledging that this is a result of Rameau's lack of ability to articulate the concepts, Gossett provides a section in the Translator's Introduction in which he explains the fundamentals of Rameau's mathematics and although he himself admits that "In several cases I have not been completely satisfied that I have understood Rameau's meaning, even after consultation with other scholars", I found Gossett's explanation of the basis of Rameau's mathematics to been incredibly helpful (and I'm awful at math so take my word that the math is really only elementary level algebra). Gossett provides his own notes as well as Rameau's notes from the originally included supplementary that prove to be extremely helpful in understanding the text as a whole. Despite the lack of organization of the text--which is accountable to Gossett's own discretion as not to stray too far from the original form of the text--I truly believe that this is the best translation available.

If you are interested in this book, however, I must warn you that it is not a great source to learn compositional techniques and theory from. I would never suggest this book to a beginner; even though the third book provides an adequate explanation of basic theory and voice-leading, I would argue not only that some of Rameau's theories are blatantly false (such as his modal theories and theories concerning the ninth chord) because of the lack of experience with those theories at the time, but that learning theory and composition is not the purpose for this book (not in this time period at least). Rather, one should read this book with at least a basic knowledge of Guidonean and later Medieval music--history and theory--and should have a firm understanding of modern compositional theory as not to be confused by Rameau's arguments. If one has such knowledge, this book's historical significance is more than clear and invites multiple re-readings in an attempt to truly understand the basis of Rameau's theoretical genius. I know I will be forever returning to this text.

Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout

Amazon link

I had been meaning to read Olive Kitteridge for a long time. It is a novel comprised of inter-connected short stories that all concern, at least indirectly, Olive Kitteridge, a somewhat gruff, aging (by the end of the novel retired) middle school math teacher. The novel reminded me a bit of Sherwood Anderson's Winesberg, Ohio in that the town itself is perhaps as much of a character as it is a setting.

I think that what Strout does with the town and with Olive, the only character to appear in each story, is interesting, but I'm a little bit wary of the structure of the novel and the potential it has to be gimicky. I found myself wondering how, if at all, the novel was better served being told in short stories through a variety of limited-3rd person points of view. If Strout's aim was to make the novel about the town (rather than, say, about Olive) or about the process of aging, settling, redefining expectations in old age, then the stories could potentially reveal things that a more traditional narrative couldn't. On reading the novel once, however, I am not convinced that the town of Crosby IS central to the novel in any way other than as the setting.

Ultimately, the characters were subtle and felt real (especially Olive who I found realistically unlikeable) but to me the tone was also a bit sanctimonious. Whether this was deliberate in the author's attempt to make every aspect of the text (including language, perhaps) sharpen our understanding of Olive was not clear to me. I would not put this on the top of a list for all of you, though I absolutely found the writing itself to be clean, thoughtful, even beautiful at times.

Ellen Foster

Amazon link: www.amazon.com/Ellen-Foster-Kaye-Gibbons/

Ellen Foster is a book written by Kaye Gibbons and involves a young girl named Ellen whos mother dies and father is an abusive alcoholic. Once her father dies, Ellen is orphaned and is tossed from foster home to foster home, while she is hoping to achieve a new beginning and new identity. This book is similar to The Catcher in the Rye in many ways- through diction, word choice, plot and personal voice, Ellen is very similar to Holden. Gibbons' novel explores many complexities of Ellen's character but articulates them in a way that makes the audience believe these thoughts and emoitions are coming from an eleven year old girl. Overall, this book was enjoyable, and I would reccommend it to others in our class. Having read Catcher in the Rye prior to this book, I was able to make many connections and similarities that I would have otherwise overlooked.

-Kara