OH MY GOD this is my life.
Ah jeez, I'm doing this one late again. I have a great reason though, I promise! I helped out with a spring fling event that went until 2 am on Saturday and then had to get up for 7am on Saturday to help set up for Battle of the Bands, a.k.a. yet another spring fling event. That went until about 1am Sunday. Sunday was sleep and a boatload of homework, Monday was a continuation of the boatload, Tuesday was a day of classes, and today has been meetings, work, symposium, and more meetings, and more work, BUT HERE IT IS!
Unfortunately...
for the first time in the course of this blog, I don't think I actually read a single word of a book this whole week. That's so horribly sad for me. Dx Actually, you know what? I did finish up the end of
We Came to the End by Joshua Ferris
So I did read something, though it was only about 30 pages. If it helps, I did write several pages though. This book... it was weird. The narrator is permanently in we, but the final line pulls the reader in by addressing "you" and it's very confusing when suddenly someone expects that you totally understand everything that was going on because you were a part of it all when the whole time you were hearing it as a separate narrated story. How confusing! It was an odd book, and even after this time I've had to give it some thought, I'm still just a little... baffled. It felt like the book version of the t.v. show The Office right to the end. It took a bit of a dark turn, but even that... I don't know. Ugh, this one is such a mess.
Wednesday, April 29, 2015
Sunday, April 19, 2015
April 12 - 18
Then We Came To The End by Joshua Ferris
This book is kind of like the t.v. show The Office. It's just a story about a bunch of people who work at a job that they sometimes hate with people who they sometimes hate. It took me a while to get into it at all---just like it did with The Office. The interesting part of this book is that it's written in... uhm, plural person? I don't even know what to call it because I've never encountered it before. It's written entirely as "we." "We always knew..." "Those of us who wanted bagels would have to wait to hear Benny's story." It's very strange. The story is very heavily focused on dialogue, and is written in such a way as to encourage that group mentality to the point where sometimes you might need to backtrack to figure out who is saying what and at what point chronologically it occurs. The plot is also constructed in a really strange way, because it's a story that's almost entirely stories related by other people being yet again related. There are times where it will be Benny telling Marcia a story, and it will turn to the scene played out between Benny and Chris and suddenly Marcia will say something, apparently having entered the scene between the two men, and it will then simply resume. It's very realistic, but I can see it being confusing at times. I'm still a little baffled by this book. It's like I'm reading a diary that a whole group of people wrote together, or took turns writing in but did so in third person so no one knew who said what. The characters are developed in a roundabout way since everything is largely he-said-she-said. I didn't know it was even possible to write a book this way.
This book is kind of like the t.v. show The Office. It's just a story about a bunch of people who work at a job that they sometimes hate with people who they sometimes hate. It took me a while to get into it at all---just like it did with The Office. The interesting part of this book is that it's written in... uhm, plural person? I don't even know what to call it because I've never encountered it before. It's written entirely as "we." "We always knew..." "Those of us who wanted bagels would have to wait to hear Benny's story." It's very strange. The story is very heavily focused on dialogue, and is written in such a way as to encourage that group mentality to the point where sometimes you might need to backtrack to figure out who is saying what and at what point chronologically it occurs. The plot is also constructed in a really strange way, because it's a story that's almost entirely stories related by other people being yet again related. There are times where it will be Benny telling Marcia a story, and it will turn to the scene played out between Benny and Chris and suddenly Marcia will say something, apparently having entered the scene between the two men, and it will then simply resume. It's very realistic, but I can see it being confusing at times. I'm still a little baffled by this book. It's like I'm reading a diary that a whole group of people wrote together, or took turns writing in but did so in third person so no one knew who said what. The characters are developed in a roundabout way since everything is largely he-said-she-said. I didn't know it was even possible to write a book this way.
Saturday, April 11, 2015
April 5 - 11
Oh dear...
I haven't done very well with the past month. I'm sure I could blame it on a whole range of things (school projects, Praxis test, being sick...), but this is basically only for me, and I'd be lying to myself, and that's pretty silly. So while I had a bit of a lapse, I feel that it was kind of inevitable, and this wasn't really so bad. I was consistent for about 6 or 7 months, which is pretty good! I *did* have drafts of my last posts, even if they were fairly scant. Anyway, here are my recent reads!!
Without You, There Is No Us: My Time with the Sons of North Korea's Elite by Suki Kim
I had put a hold on this book at the end of a long waiting list a while back when I stumbled upon it and it came available recently, so I really had to jump on it even though I was pretty busy. I'm so glad I did! I'm not sure where my recent fascination with the Koreas came from, but this book fed into it pretty well.
Suki Kim managed to score a job at a school run and funded by Christian missionaries in North Korea, despite not being exactly religious herself... and despite being a journalist, and using the time to gather information and experiences for this very book. Reading about the struggles there... well, I don't really know what to say about it. It was certainly an enlightening book, and was even more engaging for me because of the unique perspective of a teacher with her students. What a difficult situation, to be a foreigner teaching students who have been taught their whole lives to fear and hate the two very nationalities that you are! It was touching, and chilling, and funny. It was truly heartbreaking. Really, just read it for yourself, and you will be able to see all that I mean. It was dangerous every day and probably one of the most taxing experiences someone could have, but I appreciate Suki's efforts for what she was able to share with us.
I haven't done very well with the past month. I'm sure I could blame it on a whole range of things (school projects, Praxis test, being sick...), but this is basically only for me, and I'd be lying to myself, and that's pretty silly. So while I had a bit of a lapse, I feel that it was kind of inevitable, and this wasn't really so bad. I was consistent for about 6 or 7 months, which is pretty good! I *did* have drafts of my last posts, even if they were fairly scant. Anyway, here are my recent reads!!
Without You, There Is No Us: My Time with the Sons of North Korea's Elite by Suki Kim
I had put a hold on this book at the end of a long waiting list a while back when I stumbled upon it and it came available recently, so I really had to jump on it even though I was pretty busy. I'm so glad I did! I'm not sure where my recent fascination with the Koreas came from, but this book fed into it pretty well.
Suki Kim managed to score a job at a school run and funded by Christian missionaries in North Korea, despite not being exactly religious herself... and despite being a journalist, and using the time to gather information and experiences for this very book. Reading about the struggles there... well, I don't really know what to say about it. It was certainly an enlightening book, and was even more engaging for me because of the unique perspective of a teacher with her students. What a difficult situation, to be a foreigner teaching students who have been taught their whole lives to fear and hate the two very nationalities that you are! It was touching, and chilling, and funny. It was truly heartbreaking. Really, just read it for yourself, and you will be able to see all that I mean. It was dangerous every day and probably one of the most taxing experiences someone could have, but I appreciate Suki's efforts for what she was able to share with us.
Saturday, April 4, 2015
March 29 - April 4
Shakespeare saved my life: ten years in solitary with the Bard by Dr. Laura Bates
I saw this book offered as an eBook through sobering called the global book club. I had no idea what that was, but it sounded like an interesting book anyway! A college professor works with prisoners to study Shakespeare, including most notably one man who had life without the possibility of speak for parole. Larry Newton had been in prisons since he was ten and went to juvi several times. Escape attempts, stabbing officers... It got pretty bad. So he had to go to solitary confinement... For a decade or more.
The story focuses mainly on them working together to create a workbook for other insured who would benefit. They make some pretty amazing insights into Shakespeare's work, and in that way I was even able to learn about some of his works that I wasn't familiar with (such as many of the historical plays that tend to get passed over in traditional education... and in my interests). It was pretty solid. Interesting to see how prisoners view Macbeth and his hallucinations after looking Duncan, his holding onto the daggers... seeing those scenes from the mind of people who have murdered was incredibly revealing. I can't believe no one had acted on that idea before. What a great payout!
Wicked by Gregory Maguire
This book has been sitting on my shelf for SO long, and during this break I finally had some time and got randomly intrigued by it once again. I picked it up and didn't stop reading until I had to stop for family events and returning to school! This is such an interesting take on a pretty well-known tale. I love the imaginative back story for Elphaba, Galinda-turned-Glinda, and Nessarose. I find myself totally drawn in to their world, with the Animals and their compelling push for equal rights! Go Doctor Dillamond! I'm constantly wondering how and IF it will line up with the version of the story I know. When will those worlds collide? When will this rebellious and strong girl colored green turn into the Wicked Witch of the West? Do I really trust Glinda all that much? And really, what the heck happened at the Philosophy Club?! That was such an unexpected scene! So not what I would associate with little Munchinklanders and Animals that are aware! How bizzarre!
The progression in this book is done extremely well. We go back to Elphaba's mother and learn about them, as well as Elphaba as a very colorful (ha!) infant. We meet Glinda, a rich girl, heading off to a ritzy boarding school in the big city. There are adulterers and places of sexual deviancy and thinly veiled insults and blatant insults and sorcery and brain washing and corruption and exploitation and poverty and starvation and bloodthirst and secret rebel societies, and, and, and...! There is SO much going on here, and I love it!! I cannot wait to finish it up, although unfortunately it's going to be a bit on hold for now because I have so many Big Things coming up!
I saw this book offered as an eBook through sobering called the global book club. I had no idea what that was, but it sounded like an interesting book anyway! A college professor works with prisoners to study Shakespeare, including most notably one man who had life without the possibility of speak for parole. Larry Newton had been in prisons since he was ten and went to juvi several times. Escape attempts, stabbing officers... It got pretty bad. So he had to go to solitary confinement... For a decade or more.
The story focuses mainly on them working together to create a workbook for other insured who would benefit. They make some pretty amazing insights into Shakespeare's work, and in that way I was even able to learn about some of his works that I wasn't familiar with (such as many of the historical plays that tend to get passed over in traditional education... and in my interests). It was pretty solid. Interesting to see how prisoners view Macbeth and his hallucinations after looking Duncan, his holding onto the daggers... seeing those scenes from the mind of people who have murdered was incredibly revealing. I can't believe no one had acted on that idea before. What a great payout!
Wicked by Gregory Maguire
This book has been sitting on my shelf for SO long, and during this break I finally had some time and got randomly intrigued by it once again. I picked it up and didn't stop reading until I had to stop for family events and returning to school! This is such an interesting take on a pretty well-known tale. I love the imaginative back story for Elphaba, Galinda-turned-Glinda, and Nessarose. I find myself totally drawn in to their world, with the Animals and their compelling push for equal rights! Go Doctor Dillamond! I'm constantly wondering how and IF it will line up with the version of the story I know. When will those worlds collide? When will this rebellious and strong girl colored green turn into the Wicked Witch of the West? Do I really trust Glinda all that much? And really, what the heck happened at the Philosophy Club?! That was such an unexpected scene! So not what I would associate with little Munchinklanders and Animals that are aware! How bizzarre!
The progression in this book is done extremely well. We go back to Elphaba's mother and learn about them, as well as Elphaba as a very colorful (ha!) infant. We meet Glinda, a rich girl, heading off to a ritzy boarding school in the big city. There are adulterers and places of sexual deviancy and thinly veiled insults and blatant insults and sorcery and brain washing and corruption and exploitation and poverty and starvation and bloodthirst and secret rebel societies, and, and, and...! There is SO much going on here, and I love it!! I cannot wait to finish it up, although unfortunately it's going to be a bit on hold for now because I have so many Big Things coming up!
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