While The Hours is slightly more engaging than any others we have previously read, simply because of the very interesting characters and easy to read language, but I find myself lacking any real interest in the characters - simply because there is little to no action. Unfortunately, all "great" novels seem to be lacking of any clear action - oh my god throwing away a cake, drama!!!. Not to sound offensive, Mr. Lavender, but it has been very hard to stay engaged in the books we read, and this is probably likely for most of the guys in our class, just because they are mostly just about women and their lives. I understand that some of this is to be blamed upon me, because I do not annotate these books, considering it is impossible to underline anything when you can hardly concentrate on the text, due to sheer boredom.
I'm sure that some books, such as Moby Dick, Purple America, or Catch-22, would be equally respectable to read in our class - they were both on the Christmas list you gave us, and these books are a much better, and an easier read than anything we have read so far, because something HAPPENS in them. I don't give a crap about the struggles SPOILER Laura goes through in her hotel room, even though they are philosophical in their own nature, about understanding her own mortality and how easy it would be, and how many other people have probably, ended their life in that hotel room.
Not only will reading novels such as Catch-22 give us a better chance on the AP exam, because it is much easier to remember things from novels that one becomes actually enganged in. But since I do not make the class sylabus, and have no wish to, I will continue to persevere even through the most feministic of books. On that note, while this book still makes for very poor reading, I understand that this type of novel is an example of something, not sure quite what of yet, and will ultimately be to our benefit on the AP.
1 comment:
Connor,
Talk damning with faint praise! You point about the syllabus is well taken (though one hopes that some day you might wind up appreciating any insights they've given you into a woman's perspective on life--and remember, three of the five 'feminist' novels we've read thus far have been written by men). But the real point (one you seem to have overlooked in your post) is the interconnected nature of these "paired" novels. In order to appreciate an individual text, issues of intertextuality may well be beneficial. Certainly, Barnes and Cunningham represent thoughtful readers responding to other writers' works (something that I would hope could provide a model for your own reading).
Post a Comment