Posts

Sag Harbor is Confusing - Blog Post #5

I haven’t gotten around to reading the last chapter of Sag Harbor yet, but so far it has been quite a confusing read in terms of structure. I don’t really have any problems understanding any particular plot point, but I have no idea how they are all meant to tie together or if they even are meant to do so. We’ve described a couple books in this class as a collection of short stories, but this one feels like nothing but that, not even attempting to tie all its tales together. It’s true we are getting to know Ben as an adult through his narration, and while that could be seen as the culmination of all these short stories, it feels too disconnected from the events being described to be as satisfying to follow as something like Jason’s growth (Though my mind could completely change when I finally read the finale this weekend). However, as good as I am at being a needlessly critical prick, it wouldn’t be quite right if I didn’t also give this book some praise seeing as it’s my second f...
2 comments
Read more

Jason's Narration - Blog Post #4

Out of the four narrators we’ve come across in this class, Jason is definitely my favorite. To me, his narration simultaneously manages to be the most amusing of the bunch and the most engaging. Whether it’s from coming up with contractions such as “wouldn’t’ve” or quickly telling us how much of a wank a schoolmate is, Jason likes to toss in little tidbits of both intentional and unintentional comedy to help lighten the overall pretty grim tone of the book but never dwells on them so long that it hurts the pacing. My favorite example I’ve unsuccessfully spent the last hour looking for is prolly when he just casually mentions that none of the boys know entirely how periods work and are all afraid to dwell on the topic and then continues his current rant without blinking an eye. One piece of Jason’s narration I quickly grew quite fond of was his ignorance of his family situation. As cruel as it may sound, Listening to Jason say things like “I don’t know why they’re being so generous”...
4 comments
Read more

Rereading Fun Home

Normally, I have a hard time getting through a book more than once without losing interest or skipping around to my favorite parts. Even when rereading some of my all time favorite novels I’ll frequently find myself skimming through slower segments of the story or catch myself mindlessly scanning the pages without actually taking anything in. This was surprisingly not the case when for some indiscernible reason I decided to reread Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home twice more over Spring Break.  The best part of rereading a book is always drawing connections that were impossible to make during your initial reading thanks to critical puzzle pieces of information being absent until later in the story. This is especially true in the case of graphic novels since their imagery adds much more for the reader to unpack. Fun Home is no exception. My favorite example of this is one I immediately noticed upon my rereading on the first panel of page 15. While Alison begins to lay out some metaphors t...
2 comments
Read more

What Was the Purpose of Joan Gilling? - Blog Post #2

What was the purpose of Joan Gilling? Upon my initial reading, I found her character to be needlessly confusing and admittedly couldn’t think of her in any way other than “She’s Esther if her recovery failed.” This still rings somewhat true, but after rereading I realize it’s a whole hell of a lot more complicated and meaningful than that. She’s definitely the hardest character for the reader to understand and come to terms with due to Esther’s distorted depictions of Joan and the (somewhat unlikely) possibility of Esther purely imagining Joan's existence. But, after some rereading, I think I finally understand how this confusion adds to her character, her bond with Esther, and her role in the novel’s tragic themes. Above all else, The Bell Jar is a novel about suicide and depression and would feel incomplete if it didn’t explore the aftermath of taking one's life. However, I don’t think having Esther’s narration continue in whatever afterlife Plath could’ve put her in would...
6 comments
Read more

Did Holden Come of Age? - Blog Post #1

Did Holden Come of Age? For our initial notebook prompt of “What does coming of age mean to you?” I wrote how I thought coming of age could only be achieved through some horribly drastic and daunting change in an individual’s lifestyle and habits. In fact, my initial definition had such ridiculously high standards for a coming of age change that when reflecting on my original idea it took me several minutes to even think of someone I knew that fell into my definition. My view on the requirements of a coming of age event have since been drawn back a fair deal after our various class discussions and readings, but I think it would be more entertaining to answer my question with my prior definition rather than my current one. So, did Holden come of age? When it comes to his education, it’s hard to say as Holden’s very insistent on refusing to give a straight yes or no answer when contemplating if he will finally start to apply himself in his studies. However, up until this point in the...
4 comments
Read more