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[eaglefan4life]

The Road and AVFTGS were great books but I would have to say the Road was more entertaining to read and easier to follow. Don’t get me wrong AVFTGS was a entertaining but it I jumped around so much and changes points of view a lot and left me feeling dazed and confused. It wasn’t until I went back...

[cassie-nagel]

I agree with you about the Road being so cut and dry and easier to follow. But after reading all of the post modern books in this class, I really didnt seem to like how cut and dry it was. I liked A Visit from the Goon Squad ten times better because it was more relatable and always had something going on even though it was difficult to follow at some points. I did have to go back and reread some parts in AVFTGS, like you said you had to, but I feel that by doing that, you could really get an idea of all the details that were bringing the story together. 

[cassie-nagel]

The End

I have always preferred movies over books, just because I can enjoy it by sitting back and relaxing. The book, just like the movie portrayed, was dark. I felt as though the director of the movie did a very good job in creating an accurate portrayal of the Road as it was in the book. The differences, like the beetle or Papa stapling his leg shut were just done in the movie to add a cinema touch to it and to make it more dramatic. Of course, I liked the movie better than the book, mainly because it is much easier to sit through a movie of two hours or so than to sit down and read a book that is dark and simply about a walk on this road. I still say that I would have never watched or read The Road if it was not in the curriculum. It is just not my cup of tea, I prefer more uplifting or more intense scenes in my books and movies. I think we probably should have ended the class on a nicer novel in my opinion, just for a happier ending. But I'm glad that this semester is over. It was a good run and this class was thoroughly interesting and I'm glad I chose to take it. 

[cassie-nagel]

The Road Finally

The Road is finally over, after a long read. Out of all of the books, I really did not like this one the most. I just could not get interested in it no matter what I did. For me, it is one of those books where I just have to break it up, I cannot read it in one sitting. When I finally got to the last couple of pages, I could not read fast enough. The walk for Papa ended, which is bad to say, but since we first found out about the coughing, his death seemed to be almost inevitable. The thing that I did like was how the author kept hinting at the family following them but I didnt make the connection until the very end where the boy was united with essentially, his new family. Other than the thinking that was involved in making that final connection, I didnt like how the movie was just as it was, no thinking was needed and that is what made it uninteresting to me. I felt as though, there was no underlying plot going on, it was as it was, take it or leave it. This book was probably one that I could have gone my life without reading and I think that my life would still be completely satisfactory. 

[cassie-nagel]

The Road

I really did not like the beginning of The Road. It was very slow, and reminded me of The Lord of the Rings. Before you are like, what? Let me explain. To me, Lord of the Rings is a very dark movie and book. And especially the movie part where you watch Frodo take his journey with the ring, to me, it drug on exceptionally long and I had to keep wanting the director to switch back to the others that werent with Frodo. The Road too, I kept wanting something exciting to happen, so that I could get interested in it but even when Papa and the son have a run in with the cannibals, that scene, to me ended too soon. The way they just kept walking and walking and were cold, or Papa was coughing, was very boring to me. They kept walking and walking just like Frodo Baggins kept walking. It seemed to be a never ending story about walking, never completely reaching his destination. Walking seemed to be such a big part of this book and I am just not that interested in the walk. I like to always think about something or to wonder what is going to happen next but I feel as though this book was very dull along with being very dark and just plain boring. 

[cassie-nagel]

AVFTGS

I turned out to really enjoy reading this book. I am definitely going to go back and reread this book so that I can really get the minute details that I know I missed. I ended up loving the way the book was set up to where all of the stories have a tie in some way to each other. All of the character's lives end up intertwining to create this story, kind of like a puzzle. By far, this was my favorite story that we read this semester. All of the stories were relatable in some way, whether it be to someone you know or your own self. I liked how after I would finish reading a chapter, I would have to relate it to the other characters in the book and attempt to relate them all to each other. Another thing I liked, was the pauses and how the pauses really pulled the entire book together. When the book first started talking about pauses, I had no idea what in the world they were talking about. I am not a very big music junky, so I had never even heard of a pause in a song. When Lincoln, Sasha's son makes an entrance in Alison's powerpoint and has an obsession with pauses, that is the exact time that I was able to understand what a pause was. In the entire book, the reader would have to wonder if they were going to be just left with an unsolved puzzle of that character they just read about or if they would make a reappearance. You dont know until it happens.

[cassie-nagel]

AVFTGS

At first, I really did not like this book. About five chapters in, I was thinking to myself that I was not going to understand anything going on and I knew I was not going to be able to keep up with all of the different characters and story plots going on. I really liked the chapter about Sasha, I don't really know why though. Im not a fan of stealing things, seeing as though I have never stolen in my life, but perhaps I just like reading about people with different problems and being able to get inside their heads like this chapter allowed the reader to get inside Sasha's. It really confused me when the next chapter started without involving Sasha. I went into it thinking that Sasha was going to be a main character in the traditional point of view. As I started reading more and more into the book, I started to understand how she put the book together and how she could call it a book. It definitely became easier to understand as the book went on and the reader was able to get a further grasp of the character and put their lives together. I wasnt really as into Bennie as I was with Sasha, through the entire book, I just kept wanting to read more about Sasha and her, in a way, dangerous lifestyle. 

[cassie-nagel]

Generation X

This story was very confusing to me. I could definitely tell how it would be considered and fall under the Post Modern genre. The story was very wacky to me about how three sisters all lose their jobs and take care of this random astronaut that fell from space. The story seemed very scattered to me and almost seemed like a young child had written it. Or if a young child had thought up the general plot of the story and then the author made a story out of it. I feel as though, more than anything, this story was meant to teach a lesson, like love makes people do crazy things. When I finished reading the story, my first reaction was to scratch my head and say, "what just happened?". I had to go back and reread some parts to make sure that the scene I had created in my head was what the author really said and in the story. I can definitely say that this was not my favorite reading of the semester, however it is always nice to throw in something wild to take the class in a completely different direction and this reading did exactly that. This story was definitely a first in the weirdness category because I do not think that I have ever read anything quite to this extent as to ask myself if the author was on some sort of drugs.

[cassie-nagel]

Another Late Post

Playing catch up is not as fun as it may seem. This post I believe was supposed to be done during spring break. I went back home to Orlando for my spring break and to be honest, I didn't read Generation X during that time like I believe we were supposed to if my memory serves me correctly. I went home and saw all of my family, because of course they all live in the same neighborhood as I do. If I were to make a correlation, I would make my family relate to the novel Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. My family knows me like the back of their hand. There are no secrets, and if there are, they always come out, whether good or bad. My family has always been the type to kind of let me go in the direction I wanted but was always in the back of my mind guiding me. Just like Oskar's mom was guiding him in a sense, she knew that he would go and visit all of the Blacks but wasn't quite sure what order he would go in. That was his decision but she helped him because she had called ahead, where most people wouldn't let a random boy just in their house to look around and make conversation with. In the end, the way Oskar's mom had his back is the same way my family has mine and I wouldn't have it any other way. 

[cassie-nagel]

Late Post

Sorry guys, I'm playing a little bit of catch up. This post is supposed to be the post after midterm when we were finishing up Extremely Loud and Incredibly close with Oskar's adventures. I really actually liked that novel, probably more now looking back on it. I definitely feel as though I should read it again so that I can catch more of the details that I missed the first time around. When I finished the book, I had a lot of admiration for Oskar's mother. She really stood true of her character as his mom. She knew him better than anyone knew him and knew every single step that he would take to figure things out. I would say that I am glad the semester is half over and that it went by super quickly but because the only thing left in the semester is finals, I'm going to say how I'm really glad I took this class. I learned a lot and I got to read a couple books that I probably would have never picked up otherwise. I knew that this would be my favorite class when I signed up but what I didnt know was how much I would truly enjoy going to class. Even though I didnt speak out in discussion, I tend to be more of a listener, I liked hearing all of the differences of opinions about the various topics that the novels and short stories discussed. So in conclusion, I would definitely say that Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close was probably one of my favorite books to read in this class although it took me a while to get used to the writing style that the author used. 

[cassie-nagel]

The Things They Carried and Extremely Loud

Between the two novels that we have read so far in this class, I think that I prefer "The Things They Carried" over "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close". "The Things They Carried", I feel was an easier read, and although a lot of what was going on was sort of depressing, I felt as though I understood it a little bit more than I understood "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close". Both of the stories are very much post-modern in the fact that they tell the story from different perspectives rather than from just one person, which I don't particularly like because it is hard to keep track of who is saying what. I think that Tim O'Brien however, did a better job at keeping the reader up with who was speaking at what time.

[caitlinjateff-blog]

“There were things I wanted to tell him. But I knew they would hurt him. So I buried them, and let them hurt me.” (My Feelings)

This quote really stood out to me while reading Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. The grandmother wrote this quote in her letter titled “My Feelings.” Even though...

[cassie-nagel]

I really like how you related that single quote from the grandmother's letter to the grandfather and Oskar. I think that single quote could sum up the majority of the book. Oskar did his best to keep the messages from his dad a secret but that burden eventually becomes too much and that is why he, so openly, shared the messages with the renter. These secrets become so much of a burden to any single person that one has to do something to free themselves from it. Just like Oskar's grandfather did when he buried all of the letters that he never sent to his son. 

[cassie-nagel]

Extremely Loud And Incredibly Close

After finishing the novel, I still am not quite sure that I understood it completely. I feel as though I have to read it again in order to gain a full understanding of everything that was going on. I definitely enjoyed the book though. I really enjoyed the grandfather's character and the fact that he couldn't speak but found a way around that challenge. When you cannot physically speak anymore, I think that one would gain a new insight into their life and be able to look at things much different than one would with speech. I feel as though the entire novel had to deal with expressing one's emotions and character and the fact that everyone, no matter how old, has a different way to do this.

[cassie-nagel]

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

So far, this book is interesting. I don't understand however, how the mother has no idea of what Oskar does and where he goes. I do not think that she is quite to the point of being neglectful because she does do things that show that she cares about him, but I think that she could definitely be a little more attentive to what Oskar is doing. For a nine year old, Oskar is incredibly gifted and smart, he knows exactly what he is doing and what he wants to do and is willing to manipulate those around him to get his way. 

[caitlinjateff-blog]

In the novel,Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close,Jonathan Foer portrays the grandmother as a very loving and caring person, even after the few tragic events she encountered in her past. She grew up in Dresden, Germany and lost her family due to the bombing during World War II, her husband left her...

[cassie-nagel]

Oskar's grandmother is one of my favorite characters, the way she cares so much for Oskar and encourages him. She is an example of the way a true grandmother should be, unconditional love for her grandson. After such tragedy takes place in someone's life, like it has in hers, people often shut others out, and I think that it is admirable that she does not do this. I like how Oskar assures her that he is okay every time she calls his name because of the time when he was 'lost' and she could not find him anywhere. The two of them share a bond in this novel.

[juliabeckman-blog]

War as seen through the eyes of an actual war veteran is not all heroic and glory. To me, this is what Tim O’Brien was trying to get across to his readers. As a person that lived through the Vietnam era I saw friends that served in that war and friends that protested that war. It was not pretty ....

[cassie-nagel]

I definitely agree with you. O’Brien was trying to convey the truth of war through his fiction novel. It almost gives the reader the knowledge of some of the truths that these soldiers faced. Not only in the Vietnam War, but also other wars probably have very similar stories. The things these kids had to and have to cope with for the rest of their lives are things that no one should ever have to see or deal with. I don’t understand how, after looking at all of those awful things and having to kill people, how people don’t go crazy.

[cassie-nagel]

Innocence

In the chapter, Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong, Rat Kiley tells a story about a girl names Mary Ann who comes to camp with her boyfriend, Fossie earlier in the war. This was by far my favorite chapter in the entire book. O'Brien writes this chapter as he hears Rat describing it. Rat swears the story is true. The story talks about Mary Ann and how she showed up, in a mini skirt and looking fresh, young and innocent. Throughout the story, Mary Ann starts drifting; her innocence becomes lost in the war. She is forced to grow up in a matter of days. The story Rat tells focuses mostly on how Mary Ann gets lost in Vietnam and her innocence becomes shattered, but behind all of that, it exposes how the war took away all of the soldier’s innocence as well. She gets lost in Vietnam, literally, but in a way, all the soldiers do too. O’Brien emphasizes this point even further when he takes his daughter back to Vietnam to the feces camp where he strips and takes a swim to where Kiowa died. When someone is faced with that sort of tragedy day by day, it takes a toll on the mind. I don’t think that any soldier ever comes back with their innocence in tact or even as the same person they were before. Those memories become forever engrained in their heads and just as Mary Ann was lost in Vietnam, the soldiers are lost too.

[juliettegreen-deactivated201403]

” A True War story is never moral. It does not instruct, nor encourage virtue, nor suggest models of proper human behavior, nor restrain men from doing the things men have always done.” pg65

As I read The Things They Carried, by Tim O’Brien, the stories in the book that stood out to me were the...

[cassie-nagel]

I definitely agree with you. Some of the gruesome scenes, like when they had to pull Lemon off the tree and then they sang about 'lemon tree'. That made my stomach disagree. O'Brien really makes it so that there is no moral to telling these stories besides the fact that they happened. Of course these stories have symbolism in a literary context but I like how O'Brien made the reader think about war and how there is no moral to any war story. And if there is, it probably isn't true.