The Curly One

[daniellehumphreys-blog]

This Literature class has taught me more than what’s on the inside of the texts. Not only do I have a greater understanding for Postmodern Literature, I have a few new favorite authors. Laurie Anderson, a little odd, but it is what makes her stand out. She was ahead of her time. Also, I thought...

[marybkent-blog]

I liked Laurie Anderson too! She is one cool lady. I wish I had the kind of spunk that she possesses. It takes a lot of guts to do something that no one else seems to fully understand. I imagine her to be some gal that likes to wear odd things just to see how others will react. I think that alot of her writing could have been used with "A Visit From the Goon Squad". That book seemed just as random as her stories, yet both contain so much meaning and so many feelings. I believe thats what made them my favorite.

[marybkent-blog]

Mhmmm

It's over! The semester is done! Unlike some you, I can believe it! It has been jam packed! It seems like it was years ago that I was taking my fall classes. I have enjoyed this class; mostly because it feels like book club, and really who doesn't like a book club?! I also liked having to be pushed out of my "reading-confort-zone" and try some new things. If I saw any of these books on a random trip through Barnes and Noble I most definetly would not have picked them up. But that is one of the great things about a book club; you don't pick the books, you just read them and see what happens!

[daniellehumphreys-blog]

Movie or the book? In some ways the movie differed from the book, but it stayed mostly the same. I think in order to succeed as a movie, they had to add more to the humanity and sympathetic aspect. I believe that is why there was more about the mother and wife in the movie as compared to the book....

[marybkent-blog]

Haha! I thought Eli was going to be a lot different as well. I imagined him with no shooes and a small shoulder bag. I actually imagined the man that played Dumbledore in the firts two Harry Potter movies. Lots of hair... Basically I imagined the character he played in the Count of Monte Cristo. I also imagined him much quiter; more reserved. I suppose that is because in the book the narrative can be much longer. However in a movie dialogue is a much needed aspect of every scene.

[marybkent-blog]

No negativity

I am not going to talk about the differences between the book and the movie because that would make for a very negative post! I am so ready for finals! Only in the since of taking them, I have just begun to study. I am really excited about starting my summer reading list! I am going to join the band wagoners and read the hunger games...I kinda wanna see what the hype is about! I also want to read "In Cold Blood" by Tuman Capote. I loved that short story! I enjoy getting to know the killers and learning how they think. Not in the "she a psycho" way, it just interest me! Hope you all have a nice reading list waiting for you as well!

[pineda-joanna-blog]

Whoa, we’re all done reading all these books! How exciting!! Anyways, The Road was probably my favorite book to read, even though it was super depressing.

My favorite part of the book is the little boy and the man’s relationship. No matter how hard life gets, or how scared they get, the boy...

[marybkent-blog]

They do have such a wonderful relationship! I think you ruly see that when the little boy will say more than "okay". Sometimes they have these converstations that are actual full sentences! Plus part of being so close is being content with just a single syllable. It is odd to have such little diaglogue. I like to read "chick lits", which are teen girl books, and they have tons of dialogue since girls never shut up! Haha! I just didn't like the redundancy in the main narrative of the book. I feel like I kept reading the same thing over and over again.

[marybkent-blog]

All Done

I am happy to have finished this book. I did enjoy the ending, but I think that is only because the rest of it was entirely too depressing. Because of this book, however, I am considering making a bunker. Not for me, I would be dead in the first day, but for the brave little troopers out there. Its awesome that we are coming to the end of this semester! Except for the added stress of finals. I have really enjoyed exploring the pomo genre and realize that there are several books I need to read this summer, including some Truman Capote.

[aliteraryconspiracy-blog]

So I started reading The Road

It’s making me depressed and the inner editor in me wants to cry because of all the fragments in this book. I am actually going to be pulling out my hair for this thing. There WILL be bald spots. Everything is just so gray and dead… and the whole time, all I could think of was Viggo Mortensen and how gross he looked with that beard…

AND there is no chapters. I don’t understand this…

[marybkent-blog]

I hate that there are no chapters!!! I never really know where to take a break. Sometimes I will go back to reading and have no idea what had just happened becasue there was no pause, like what is created by a chapter ending. I am being depressed for reasons other than the editing. However, my brain has problems reading all the fragments! I just pause and go "whaaaa?" But I know we can make it through it! Thank goodness we don't have to write a paper on this one. Haha!

[marybkent-blog]

Depressed

I am sadly not enjoying this book at all. In fact, I am having to read it in 20 page increments because it depresses me so much. You may thing I am being a drama quen, but my mom recognized something was really wrong with my mood and I told her I had been reading The Road for the past hour. She made me stop and I soon felt better! Knowing that, I did not read any at all yesterday since it was my birthday. I was so incredible sad when the mom left. I understand why she did, but it just broke my heart! I cannot imagine leaving my child to die, nor could I ever kill them. The father is an extremely strong man, which I admire. No matter what issues they face, he remains calm and takes care of his son. I want to like this book, but I can't.

[dmc1003-blog]

I got to say I much rather be in New Orleans with the smart kids, but since I am stuck here I guess getting caght up on the reading is a great idea! I enjoyed Chapter 1 because I knew a clepto like Sasha. This person like her would steal anything not tied down and that’s the truth. But unlike...

[marybkent-blog]

Haha! I have known cleptos as well, but they would steal stupid things, like the calculators from math class or the stapler from a teacher's desk. I really think they just didn't like the teacher. I too have found myself quoting this novel, but it seems to come out in situations that don't really call for them. I must say that this book has been hysterical because of all of these odd characters. It becomes even funnier, though, when I can link a character from the book to aperson in my life. lol.

[marybkent-blog]

Rolph

I have strangely taken a liking to Rolph. He is a small character in this story so far, but I hope that he soon appears more! I think he is a smart child because he is able to read into the tones of what goes on in his surroundings. By this I mean how he knows something is wrong between Mindy and Albert. He just has the wrong idea as to what is exactly going on. I feel bad for him, though, as he commits suicide later. I want to know what exactly drove him to this point. Of course I believe it has to do with his father's life style and how Rolph does not live up to his father's expectations of him. He is still my favorite even though I have not yet seen his full character.

[vansoff-thewall-blog]

Postmodern.

My grandma asked me for a good book to read so I sent her extremely loud, she sent it back saying that she just got lost and it wasn’t doing her any good. Oh well.

[marybkent-blog]

Hahaha! Poor grandma! I'm glad she tried it! It is a hard story to follow. and it's one of those that is you don't give it at least eight chapters you may not really get into it and want to give up because it's not worth it. I truly loved that book though! I want to recommend it to several people I know, however, I know that they will also probably not really understand it and will mos likely give it up. I wish there was a way to explain it to them without giving anything away. But there isn't. Oh well.

[marybkent-blog]

Halfway!

I am very excited that we are halfway through this semester. I am also happy that we have a week long break! It is a much needed break but sadly I will be catching up on math homework. The exciting part is that I can start reading our next novel! very excited for it as I have read it before! But now worries, no spoilers here! Hope everyone has a lovely break and I will see y'all in class! everyone better have some tan lines!!!! Just kidding (:

[coltonbond7-blog]

I still don’t fully understand the excerpts from “Housekeeping” and “White Noise”. In “Housekeeping” I fail to understand what their relations with each other and whether or not they are children or young adults. In “White Noise”, I felt the whole plat was extremely disconnected. I was able...

[marybkent-blog]

 I completely agree. I do not like reading these excerpts! I feel like I do not come anywhere close to the meaning of these stories while reading. Then when we talk about them in class and Pro. Clark tells us the back story, everything makes sense!! I just can't get the same meanings from these excerpts as I would get from the actual novel. Maybe that is sort of the point of an excerpt. Who knows...I just don't like it!!!

[marybkent-blog]

So, what HAVE we read?

I actually have read “Housekeeping” and it was so disturbing. I felt so bad for the little girl who got left behind! I can remember being about five or seven years old, and my mom and I would go run errands. If we went to Walmart or Target, or anywhere with a Barbie isle, that’s where I was. I remember she would go grab a few things in the area and make me come with her for the other items on my list. But there were a few times when there hadn’t been any new Barbies to look at and I would go earch for my mother. Then I would get lost and not be able to find her and it was so scary! She always told me to go wait where I should have been and she would find me. I imagine that is how this girl felt when she was suddenly alone.

[danyellwilson-blog]

[eldridgekayla-blog]

I am enjoying reading out of the PAF as well. I also like that the readings in there are so different and random and that’s kinda why I like them. It is helping me expound upon what I know about literature and is also exposing me to different types than I normally enjoy reading!

danyellwilson:

[marybkent-blog]

 I am also enjoying these readings! They are completely random, but I like it. I have always enjoyed obscure things. Plus the POMO aspect are so unlike our usual novels. It's nice to take a break from the usual and enjoy a little weirdness! But some of these stories are so relatedable. "Come Over, Come Over" was just like how two sister I know act. I can totally see that same scene played out in real life. It makes me wonder...is our everyday life turning into post modern??? haha!

[marybkent-blog]

Stories from the Nerve Bible

"You know the reasonwhu some nights

you don't have a dream?

When there's just blackness?

And total silence?

Wel, this is the reason:

It's because on that night

you are in somebody else's dream.

And this is the reason you can't

be in your own dream because

you're already busy

in somebody else's dream."

-Laurie Anderson

I loved this quote so much! I always tell me niece that I will see her in dreamland when I put her to sleep. I think dreams are fascinating… and the way Anderson talks about them just makes so much sense. I remember when I was little I would have these crazy dreams that I was a spy. I think I watched too many spy kid movies. But I had these dreams so often that I began to believe that I was actually a spy. I thought every night I would go out and complete missions but the agency gave me a drug so that I would think I was dreaming. Dreams are so interesting in the ways that they feel real. I loved Anderson’s take on the dreams.

[kingdomheartsangel-blog]

I have to say this book ended on a weird note for me. After finishing this book, I think I understand it a little bit better though. It seems to me that this book is not really a story, but rather a collection of little stories that keep haunting the author even though the war is long over. I...

[marybkent-blog]

 I completely agree with you. I think that's why I loved this book. The fact that he is just recalling stories puts the reader in the author's mind. I felt like I was re-living all of those memories with him. This technique makes his stories feel so real. Of course, it also allows for the reader to experience the same emotions that hte author felt, at least to some extent. I know that's the effect that O'Brien wants, but it makes this book hard to get through, and very depressing.