Ashley Wagner

GCSC Contemporary Literature Blog

[thisgirlcalledashley]

12/7/2014

What a letdown!! That movie was awful to me. I enjoyed the book about a million times better than the movie. It felt very awkward to me as a whole. The major differences which made me dislike it was the lack of the train, the lack of similarity to the timeline of the book, and I felt as if the bunker scene was just skimmed by. Nothing was how I pictured it. Especially the big house scene. I didn't picture them having to walk through some tunnel thing to discover the slaves there. Also, the stereotypical having of the black man stealing the cart put me off big time. Oh and how could I forget about how they were sleeping in cars?!?! That was not in the book. In the book the goal was to stay AWAY from the road at night; they were practically sleeping on it in the movie. I was expecting there to be a scene at the semi truck, nope. It was just so different and made me hate it. Something I liked about the movie though was when they were in the big house and the scene of the father maybe having to kill the son. That was only part I really was on my seat about it was going to be played out. The ending was ok, I guess. I mean I started to get into the scene about the father dying but then I was distracted so after that I was done with the whole movie. None of the characters were how I imagined and I will probably never watch this movie again. But I will probably read the book again and some of his other books. 

[thisgirlcalledashley]

Post 12

This book has been such a good and easy read! I was a tad skeptical to begin with of the book and it's setting but soon I found myself glued to this book. During the walking scenes I would read the paragraphs super slow but then any sort of action I seemed to speed up my reading, causing me to miss quite a bit and have to go back and re-read. My opinion on the ending was and is very positive. Even though, in all honesty there was a part of me, while reading, thought maybe after the man wrapped the father in blankets the son would go back to say good-bye and find his father dismembered; they would end up killing him too and turn out being bad guys. Thankfully that random thought was not true or I would have been devastated!!! Today's discussion really enforced my interpretation as well. I feel like they had been following the father and boy for awhile. Then, with the mention of the second boy, this was confirmed for me. The way professor Clark put it about the book being Christian allegory really made sense to me. I didn't see it that way but looking back it makes complete sense. Also until today I didn't catch the hint of maybe the daughter from the other family and the son being the start of a new world. . That is why I love our class discussions so much, I always see a different inference whenever we discuss a book or section!

[kayla2407]

I have really enjoyed this book. I was not looking forward to reading it only because of the fact that I am not a fan of reading. But to be honest I have loved this book. It has a weird liking of adventure and not knowing where the next meal is going to come from. It was not at all what I thought...

[thisgirlcalledashley]

I really like only having 2 characters to deal with as well. It's a nice change from the he said and she said we are used to. Also it makes perfect sense for this book. Why include all the extra "he saids" when there are only 2 people and they are only talking to each other? It makes you much more in the moment as you read. Well, for me it does. 

[thisgirlcalledashley]

Post 11

I have been looking forward to reading this book since the beginning of the semester. I had read a brief summary and thought it would be so interesting. Especially since we are seeing more and more of these types of novels now. Ex: Hunger Games, Divergent, The Giver, and The Maze Runner. The first 20 or so pages were hard for me to stay interested because of all the monotony, ut I found myself at page 75 not wanting to put the book down. I have to say I think this will be my favortie book of the semester. I like our discussions in class as well. I know when I read the book I interpret things so differently and attach meaning to certain things. It's great to see what everyone else is thinking and attaching meaning to in this book. I'm also looking forward to finding out if the boy and his father's relationship stays a strong one throughout the novel.

I also found the mother's decision to be both heartbreaking and interesting. I can't blame her for wanting to end her life and wanting to do it as a family. Most would probably look at the mother as being selfish but I see her as compassionate and looking at the bigger picture. She didn't want her son the endure the horrors of being raped, tortured and numerous other things. Or for him to have to witness that done to her. 

[meglou12]

What can I say about this book?? At first I really did not care for it. I could not tell who was who it jumped around way too much, but as I read I grow to like it. It makes you want to find out how there lives interwind together. It was hard to get through the first few chapter,...

[thisgirlcalledashley]

I feel the same loss of "urge" to continue reading. It's like the book has the potential to be great but I just don't think I'm grasping it or something. Hopefully it starts to turnaround quick. Most likely I will start to enjoy the very end and then it will be over. haha

[thisgirlcalledashley]

Post 9

Well this book has been pretty disappointing for me. There are a few parts that I enjoy but so often I find myself trying to pay attention to the book. Which is honestly causing me to put off the reading until the last minute. I'm hoping that I start to really get into this book soon. But if not I think the story is decent I'm just finding it hard to connect. That may be due to non-interest or that I'm anxiously waiting to start several books I purchased recently. 

[jgriffi16]

Post 8

Generation X and Imago were not my favorite stories to read.  I just don’t like sci-fi things all that much.  I understand how the authors were trying to relate back to fairytales and things like that but other than that it was just really hard for me to read.  I’m looking forward to starting A Visit From the Goon Squad though, it seems like it is going to be a good book, so hopefully I can get into reading it.

[thisgirlcalledashley]

I completely agree with you. I had the hardest time trying to connect to the stories and pay attention to them. I enjoy more realistic stories where I can imagine them actually happening. From what I've looked up of our next book, it should be really good. I'm excited!

[thisgirlcalledashley]

Post 8

I enjoyed reading Imago more than Generation X. As I was reading, it seemed much easier to connect and read Imago as a story vs how it was reading Generation X. For me, it was just harder to get into and get interested in. This was probably due to my purchasing of some other books and I was rushing through these so I could start on reading my other books. I'm looking forward to starting a new book for class this week, as well! 

[kayla2407]

This midterm exam review I think helped me remember back to all the little things that we have read. Of course I remember the novels but we read so many little things, seeing them on the board reminded me that I probably need to go back and re read them. Haha.

I really like how professor Clark...

[thisgirlcalledashley]

I think that by Professor Clark putting us into groups it helped me to study even more. It was like 2 extra days of studying for us. Also us knowing exactly what to study and think about I found very helpful. I've had some professors tell my classes just to study generalized topics and that didn't help me much. But this set up, I think has really helped me. I couldn't believe I had forgotten about some of the stories from PAF, without being in groups I don't think I would have been able to remember accurately as much from the stories. 

[thisgirlcalledashley]

Post 7

I am really looking forward to our midterm, and feel very confident about it. Probably because of the work we put in making the questions and answering them in our groups which helped us study even more. I really liked my group and felt like we really were able to help each other and bounce of different ideas off of each other for some of the questions that could be open ended. It's always great to get another person's point of view on something!

[kinpando]

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close was an up and down read for me. Some parts, I was not wanting to put the book down and just keep reading all night. Other times, it seemed like the writing was at a lull and I had to force myself to get through a chapter. One part that got me thinking was the...

[thisgirlcalledashley]

This is exactly why I loved this book so much. I felt like I was kept on my toes looking for the next hint that will make the whole book make sense. The scene you spoke about made me put the book down and go " wait what did I just read" then it completely made sense for me. I love books that keep me looking for the next hint and I really hope the next book we read is more similar to Extremely Loud and Incredibly close rather than The Things They Carried. 

[thisgirlcalledashley]

Post 6

This book was amazing! The last quarter of the book was the best part for me. I do feel like Oskar finally did get his closure even though the key meant nothing to him. He was able to sit and tell him mom how he was feeling at the end and get all of his emotions out. Being able to talk about an incident is one of the first steps of moving on and coping. By talking to his mom I think it let him feel not as alone. From the beginning of the book it pins the mom as a distant, neglectful mom but in the end she really was watching out for Oskar and was trying to deal with losing her husband in her own ways; without dragging Oskar down with her. Another way I think Oskar gains closure is by digging up his father's grave and reflecting the Falling Man as his dad. I really loved the last page how everything was in reverse, as well. Several times in my life I have thought what if one tiny decision I made put me on a completely different track and then I begin to replay things in reverse. This book really just was fantastic to me. I loved it.

Since the past 2 books we've read have dealt with death and coping I do hope that the next one is a change in pace!

[rebecca-cooleyy]

I am enjoying reading the book, “Extremely Loud And Incredibly Close,” by Jonathan Safran Foer, although it has been difficult to follow at times. There has not been a lot of character development, which has raised a lot of questions in my mind. I was encouraged when Professor Clarke said many of...

[thisgirlcalledashley]

I can relate! I'm also very shy and was even more shy at the age of nine. Just imagining a 9 year old going on this type of adventure alone is insane to me. At 9 I would barely talk to strangers or anyone I didn't know well. Oskar is very courageous!! 

[thisgirlcalledashley]

“In bed that night I invented a special drain that would be underneath every pillow in New York, and would connect to the reservoir. Whenever people cried themselves to sleep, the tears would all go to the same place, and in the morning the weatherman could report if the water level of the Reservoir of Tears had gone up or down, and you could know if New York is in heavy boots.”

I am loving this book way more than I intended to! Oskar is just adorable; I find him to be very quirky and intelligent beyond his days! The fact he really does understand everything going on around him but sometimes doesn't register emotions that well is intriguing to me. I find the parts when he speaks about bruising especially hard to read, even though they are only a couple sentences. His inventions also make me like him even more. My favorite so far is the invention about the Reservoir of Tears. I guess since I have had some times when I can relate to this invention is what made me so drawn to it. Surprisingly it is very easy for me to keep up with the way the book is written. I love that it isn't the typical  "He said.... She said...." Today I have not been able to put this book down, but that was probably also attributed to the gloomy day we've had today. Also,  I do regret is watching this movie. I watched the movie when it first came out with no intention of reading the book and in certain parts I catch myself trying to remember and compare it to the movie. I ALWAYS make a point to read the book before I see the movie and unfortunately this time I can't do that. I don't remember a lot but as soon as I finish the book I want to watch the movie and pick out all the differences and similarities. 

One very interesting thing I remember from class on Wednesday was when we discussed the falling man. I can not imagine if I were to be put in the situation of the people who had to jump due to fire and such. Let alone being one of the family members trying to identify my loved ones through footage of them jumping to their death. It is truly heartbreaking.

[1kr]

[briidean2]

POST 4:

Ever since Professor Clark talked about Marina Abramovic in class I have been obsessed with her. She is huge example of  postmodernism.  Although she does not identify as a feminist because of the fact that it puts her in a specific category that she doesn’t agree with, she is still incredibly talented and inspirational to me. She isn’t your traditional artist. Marina Abramovic did a very passive role in one of her performances called “Rhythm 0” where she let the public reaction be the artwork. This performance really says so much about peoples actions. For people to dehumanize a person who doesn’t fight back is particularly powerful because it defies what we think we know about humanity. Its hard for me to put this whole performance into words. It is just extremely powerful and such a brave and huge message Mariana Abramovic made.

Marina Abramovic: Rhythm 0, 1974 Instructions There are 72 objects on the table that can be used on me as desired. Performance I am the object. During this time I take full responsibility. 6 hours (8 pm-2 am) Studio Morra, Naples List of obects on the table: gun bullet blue paint comb bell whip lipstick pocket knife fork perfume spoon cotton flowers matches rose candle water scarf mirror drinking glass polaroid camera feather chains nails needle safety pin hairpin brush bandage red paint white paint scissors pen book hat handkerchief sheet of white paper kitchen knife hammer saw piece of wood ax stick bone of lamb newspaper bread wine honey salt sugar soap cake metal pipe scalpel metal spear box of razor blades dish flute band aid alcohol medal coat shoes chair leather strings yarn wire sulphur grapes olive oil rosemary branch apple (Source: Marina Abramovic: The Artist Is Present - Klaus Biesenbach and Marina Abramovic)

[thisgirlcalledashley]

After class I went home and researched Marina too! I honesty love and admire all of the work she has done. I really looked into this piece in particular too, Rhythm 0, and read that supposedly someone did hand her the gun and her people that were there monitoring the situation had to step in, take the gun and give her a small break. Whether that is true or not I'm not sure. I only found that on one site. I also watched an interview with Marina about Rhythm 0 and she said that after they called it quits and said the performance was over no one could make eye contact with her. Everyone who had done something to her just left. It amazes me that they were fine cutting her and doing other things to her when she was quiet, but as soon as she became "human" again the guilt kicked in for everyone. I really like that most of her work involves the human body and different elements too! :)

[thisgirlcalledashley]

Post 4

I found Maus to be the most interesting story we have read this week. This probably is because I have always been interested in the Holocaust and reading about the survivors stories and what they had to endure. It is absolutely unimaginable to me what they had to go through. In high-school, I believe it was junior year, I had a teacher and she spent a whole quarter teaching us about the Holocaust and showing us pictures and real life accounts of what took place. It was hard to sit through some of the classes due to the inhumane treating we witnessed in pictures. Our teacher was Jewish and she hinted at that some of her family had survived the Holocaust, but never outright told us the whole story of her family. That 9-week period I never enjoyed learning and reading so much. For me, it's much easier to learn something when I can put myself in the place of what is going on. She brought all the facts to life and it was much more of an eye opening experience than reading a textbook of Holocaust facts. Like with Maus, that was the whole point of making it a "comic", that we the reader could try to put ourselves in that position. Versus reading cold hard facts with no emotion. 

[rebecca-cooleyy]

I really enjoyed the book, “The Things They Carried,” by Tim O’Brien. The first chapter was titled the same name as the title of the book, “The Things They Carried.” To me this was one of the most interesting chapters in the book. This chapter gave an inventory of what soldiers had to manually...

[thisgirlcalledashley]

If the first chapter would not have been written as it was I feel like the book would not mean nearly as much as it does. That first chapter allowed us to put ourselves in their shoes and imagine what they legitimately carried. As well as hinting at all the emotional burdens they processed. Personally, if the last chapter would have ended in the same tone as the first (all the things they carry after the war) I would have been much more pleased with the book as a whole.