"The unusual events described in this chronicle occurred in 194 - at Oran." From the first sentence of Albert Camus' critically acclaimed novel, The Plague, you can tell narrator participation in the story will be crucial to convey central facts, events and character descriptions. Winner of the 1957 Nobel Prize in Literature, Camus goes on to describe events happening in the coastal Algerian town of Oran during the outbreak of a plague. He decides to focus on a small group of people who interact throughout the book, and the effects of the growing epidemic on each of them.
The story surrounds Dr. Bernard Rieux, one of the prominent town doctors, and his relations with his patients and other town members. Tarrou is another “witness on the period” that the book revolves around: “his notebooks comprise a sort of chronicle of those strange early days we all lived through” (24). This phrase not only reveals the book’s structure and the fact that it’s “made up” of different collections and recollections, but also the odd narrative presence. Speaking as a witness of this plague, and using words such as “we” and “our,” the narrator’s identity isn’t revealed until the end of the novel.
As the pestilence escalates, communication with the “outside world” is shut down and the general public gets increasingly worried about the rising death toll and effects of the disease on the town. The core of the story revolves around the characters reactions to death and the rapidly spreading, fatal plague. Most likely based on the bubonic plague that occurred in Oran in the mid 19th century, this book focuses mainly on how a population deals with an epidemic and ultimately, the inevitability of life and death.
Overall, this book was pretty average in my mind. For some reason, I thought it was going to be as scientific as say, The Hot Zone, but I was slightly disappointed when I found it was more of a philosophical story with science at the core. Although Camus uses very eloquent language to describe his characters emotions and behavior, the detail of the plague and individuals the make up the central story isn’t extensive enough. In short, the writing style is very graceful, but my expectations were too high regarding the left-brain side of the novel. Because the book was written in the mid 20th century and set centuries before that, it’s completely understandable that the scientific aspect of the storyline isn’t very detailed.
Personally, I find the writing much too vague and almost disconnected to have any real attraction to the story and plot. Even though the premise is reasonably likeable, I feel that Camus doesn’t connect readers to the characters or events in the book. Although I understand the point of the novel is to convey Camus’ opinion on how the world deals with the absurd (people cannot find meaning in the universe because there is none), I was expecting more detail and captivating events, characters, or even basic writing. I’d recommend this to readers who like philosophy with a hint of science mixed in, but not to those who are drawn to a more factual, to-the-point style of writing.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Angle of Repose-Wallace Stegner
Wallace Stegner’s Angle of Repose reveals the truth about impact from past generations of a single family. Narrated by Lyman Ward, an old man confined to a wheel chair because of an amputated leg, this novel merges the two stories of past and present to offer a sense of the development of life (in the West.) Lyman, intrigued by his Grandparent’s past and left with nothing else to do but investigate the lost generations of their discoveries of the west, rummages through what has been saved to create a story of the past.
His grandparents were pioneers, per say; out to discover and settle the west. Well, his grandfather was. After schooling to be an engineer, his grandfather, Oliver easily finds work out west, but before he leaves he meets Susan, a sophisticated young women growing up wealthy in the east. Oliver is first introduced as a rather mysterious character. Unlike Susan, we don’t know anything about him when we meet him. When they meet in the library their love penetrates through the words on the pages. Both characters, suddenly thrown into these feelings of enchantment decide on moving to the west, displacing both of them and throwing them into an adventure.
The book takes place in multiple locations throughout the west. The novel itself is broken into different sections representing different areas where the couple (and their children) lived. With this fracture in time and in place the novel was focused on the different stories of different areas. Throughout each section there is a constant shift in tone from the present to the past. Lyman, narrating the whole time, also talks about himself and his own present experiences. His son Rodman is simply a distraction, without an appreciation for the past like his father and only a constant worry of Lyman’s handicap, he plays an annoyance to our narrator. Shelly, Lyman’s niece, is hired to assist him in his investigations of the past. Her opinionated comments about the letters and records she reads and re-types annoy Lyman, but also offer good conversation. Shelly, though in a different way than Lyman, seems to appreciate the past.
Susan’s correspondence with her friend Augusta back home keeps reality about the time period in check. It is easy to get lost in the fantasy world of Oliver and Susan and all of their friends in the west, but Susan constantly expresses regret and consent to her friend Augusta. This change in tone, shifting from Lyman to Susan, makes the past seems even more real. I would highly recommend this novel for its complex nature of incorporating the past into the present and making neither seem better than the other, just simply showing a natural progression in life.
His grandparents were pioneers, per say; out to discover and settle the west. Well, his grandfather was. After schooling to be an engineer, his grandfather, Oliver easily finds work out west, but before he leaves he meets Susan, a sophisticated young women growing up wealthy in the east. Oliver is first introduced as a rather mysterious character. Unlike Susan, we don’t know anything about him when we meet him. When they meet in the library their love penetrates through the words on the pages. Both characters, suddenly thrown into these feelings of enchantment decide on moving to the west, displacing both of them and throwing them into an adventure.
The book takes place in multiple locations throughout the west. The novel itself is broken into different sections representing different areas where the couple (and their children) lived. With this fracture in time and in place the novel was focused on the different stories of different areas. Throughout each section there is a constant shift in tone from the present to the past. Lyman, narrating the whole time, also talks about himself and his own present experiences. His son Rodman is simply a distraction, without an appreciation for the past like his father and only a constant worry of Lyman’s handicap, he plays an annoyance to our narrator. Shelly, Lyman’s niece, is hired to assist him in his investigations of the past. Her opinionated comments about the letters and records she reads and re-types annoy Lyman, but also offer good conversation. Shelly, though in a different way than Lyman, seems to appreciate the past.
Susan’s correspondence with her friend Augusta back home keeps reality about the time period in check. It is easy to get lost in the fantasy world of Oliver and Susan and all of their friends in the west, but Susan constantly expresses regret and consent to her friend Augusta. This change in tone, shifting from Lyman to Susan, makes the past seems even more real. I would highly recommend this novel for its complex nature of incorporating the past into the present and making neither seem better than the other, just simply showing a natural progression in life.
A Review of Cold Mountain
The Author:Cold Mountain was the acclaimed first novel written by Charles Frazier one of the only two he has written so far, and has also been traslated in to a motion picture however I have not seen it. Charles was born in 1950 in Ashvile, North Carolina, to Charles and Betty Frazier. He graduated from high school with an aspiration to teach literature and went on to obtain a M.A. from Appalachian State University, and a Ph.D. in English from the University of South Carolina in 1986.
Cold Mountain: Cold Mountain follows the story of Inman a deserting confederate soldier and Ada a heiress to a farm that once her father died fell in to ruin from Ada's lack of farm hands and her lack of knowledge how to do the work her self. Inman, being based partly on Charles Frazier's great-great uncle, W.P. Inman, eludes The House Guard, an organization to capture deserters and traitors and send them back to the front lines, and embarks a journey from a Virginia hospital to Cold Mountain in Tennessee made all the more difficult because he left before a wound on his neck could heal. All the while Ada struggles to stay a live by her self on her farm in Black Cove high in the mountains.
The novel as a whole: This book is an excellent quick read. Very well written. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a book for entertainment or those seeking another book for use on the A.P Lit test with not a lot of time to read.
Cold Mountain: Cold Mountain follows the story of Inman a deserting confederate soldier and Ada a heiress to a farm that once her father died fell in to ruin from Ada's lack of farm hands and her lack of knowledge how to do the work her self. Inman, being based partly on Charles Frazier's great-great uncle, W.P. Inman, eludes The House Guard, an organization to capture deserters and traitors and send them back to the front lines, and embarks a journey from a Virginia hospital to Cold Mountain in Tennessee made all the more difficult because he left before a wound on his neck could heal. All the while Ada struggles to stay a live by her self on her farm in Black Cove high in the mountains.
The novel as a whole: This book is an excellent quick read. Very well written. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a book for entertainment or those seeking another book for use on the A.P Lit test with not a lot of time to read.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
The Sun Also Rises: the story our history books fail to tell
Quoting the poet Gertrude Stein in his epigraph, "you are all a lost generation", Earnest Hemingway preludes his novel, The Sun Also Rise, with a somber tone. Throughout this tale of a motley crew of expatriates traveling from Paris to Pamplona, Hemingway highlights the tragic loss of masculinity, the aimless wandering of the post World War I generation, and the unrequited love between multiple characters.
The story begins with a simple description of Robert Cohn: a Princeton graduate who was ostracized for being Jewish and ultimately falling prey to the claws of social-climbing women. However, through the narration of the main character, Jake Barnes, we discover more about Barnes than we do Cohn. Jake is a war veteran (unlike Cohn) who hides behind a complacent façade and only truly reveals his opinions and desires through his observations of others. After several chapters, we are also introduced to Lady Brett Ashley; a sexually independent woman who revels in her numerous affairs with various men (including most of the men in Jake's group of friends), Brett is immediately characterized as the most masculine of the bunch based on her sexuality and freedom from the need to commit. Though other characters are also thrown into the mix, such as Mike, Bill, Harvey, and Pedro Romero, these three are the essentials to the story.
Following the group from the alcohol infested night scene of Paris in the 1920's, to the Running of the Bulls in Pamplona, Spain, Hemingway allows for subtle conflict to explode violently. Each character is ultimately tied to the other through sex, the war, false friendship, of simply coincidental acquaintance. What remains constant, however, between the characters is a sense of lost purpose and, naturally, that they're all alcoholics.
Earnest Hemingway has been praised for his simplistic style of prose yet in this first book, it becomes strikingly apparent that Hemingway's attitude for "less is more" is undeniably correct. As a journalist and short-story author, Hemingway had already concreted his status as a writer before The Sun Also Rises was published in 1926; however, this novel became one of the quintessential stories depicting the postwar era of the 1920's. With ease, Hemingway eloquently describes the struggle between Jake and Brett and their unrequited love while also highlighting the loss of masculinity between all the male characters as they struggle to control Brett. It is perhaps, also, that in this simplistic style of writing, Hemingway more clearly conveys to the reader how lost this group of characters (and ultimately, his generation) really is. The dialogue between each character hides their true thoughts and feelings and is so brief it's a wonder they know anything about one another to actually consider themselves friends. Only through Jake, the narrator, do we hear the contradicting thoughts of a man who drowns himself in alcohol to make up for his impotence and lost innocence the war has taken from him. We can only assume that through the dialogue that Hemingway provides us, that each man (and Brett) struggles with the aftermath of the war either through denial, humor, sarcasm, sex, or massive amounts of alcohol.
This novel is horribly filled with angst yet a must read even for the most unromantic at heart. The simplistic style of Hemingway allows for a tragic romance that most high school boys wouldn't label as a 'chick novel' and ought to read simply to recognize a great writer and to truly understand an era that our history books do not adequately describe. Though most would term this novel a pessimistic one which highlights the darkest effects a war can have on a man, it is surprisingly optimistic in the end. As Hemingway wrote, "the sun also rises"; despite a lost generation that wanders around hopelessly in search of anything to fill the void the war has left in them, the Earth continues to spin and the sun continues to rise and fall, completely indifferent to our short comings and inadequacies.
The story begins with a simple description of Robert Cohn: a Princeton graduate who was ostracized for being Jewish and ultimately falling prey to the claws of social-climbing women. However, through the narration of the main character, Jake Barnes, we discover more about Barnes than we do Cohn. Jake is a war veteran (unlike Cohn) who hides behind a complacent façade and only truly reveals his opinions and desires through his observations of others. After several chapters, we are also introduced to Lady Brett Ashley; a sexually independent woman who revels in her numerous affairs with various men (including most of the men in Jake's group of friends), Brett is immediately characterized as the most masculine of the bunch based on her sexuality and freedom from the need to commit. Though other characters are also thrown into the mix, such as Mike, Bill, Harvey, and Pedro Romero, these three are the essentials to the story.
Following the group from the alcohol infested night scene of Paris in the 1920's, to the Running of the Bulls in Pamplona, Spain, Hemingway allows for subtle conflict to explode violently. Each character is ultimately tied to the other through sex, the war, false friendship, of simply coincidental acquaintance. What remains constant, however, between the characters is a sense of lost purpose and, naturally, that they're all alcoholics.
Earnest Hemingway has been praised for his simplistic style of prose yet in this first book, it becomes strikingly apparent that Hemingway's attitude for "less is more" is undeniably correct. As a journalist and short-story author, Hemingway had already concreted his status as a writer before The Sun Also Rises was published in 1926; however, this novel became one of the quintessential stories depicting the postwar era of the 1920's. With ease, Hemingway eloquently describes the struggle between Jake and Brett and their unrequited love while also highlighting the loss of masculinity between all the male characters as they struggle to control Brett. It is perhaps, also, that in this simplistic style of writing, Hemingway more clearly conveys to the reader how lost this group of characters (and ultimately, his generation) really is. The dialogue between each character hides their true thoughts and feelings and is so brief it's a wonder they know anything about one another to actually consider themselves friends. Only through Jake, the narrator, do we hear the contradicting thoughts of a man who drowns himself in alcohol to make up for his impotence and lost innocence the war has taken from him. We can only assume that through the dialogue that Hemingway provides us, that each man (and Brett) struggles with the aftermath of the war either through denial, humor, sarcasm, sex, or massive amounts of alcohol.
This novel is horribly filled with angst yet a must read even for the most unromantic at heart. The simplistic style of Hemingway allows for a tragic romance that most high school boys wouldn't label as a 'chick novel' and ought to read simply to recognize a great writer and to truly understand an era that our history books do not adequately describe. Though most would term this novel a pessimistic one which highlights the darkest effects a war can have on a man, it is surprisingly optimistic in the end. As Hemingway wrote, "the sun also rises"; despite a lost generation that wanders around hopelessly in search of anything to fill the void the war has left in them, the Earth continues to spin and the sun continues to rise and fall, completely indifferent to our short comings and inadequacies.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Cukoo's nest
For the holiday reading I chose to read One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey. I enjoyed this book very much and would highly recommend it. I was hooked right from the beginning and it waas easy for me to stay interested, which rarely happens. Set in an Organ mental hospital, Kesey, pits the rebellious McMurphy against the sadistic, authoritarian Nurse Ratched. It is prime example of rising above conformity. It is narrated by a crazy indian chief and half of the time what he is saying are not even happening, yet, the story is very easy to follow unlike Mrs. Dalloway, the transitions were hard to keep track of. There is always something happening so you don't lose interest and the descriptions make the setting and characters exciting to read more about.
At Stanford in 1959, Kesey volunteered to take part in a CIA-financed study named Project MKULTRA at the Menlo Park Veterans' Hospital, the setting of One FLew Over The Cuckoo's Nest. The project studied the effects of psychoactive drugs, particularly LSD, psilocybin, mescaline, cocaine, AMT, and DMT on people. Kesey wrote many detailed accounts of his experiences with these drugs, both during the Project MKULTRA study and in the years of private experimentation that followed. The inspiration for One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest came while working on the night shift at the Veteran's Hospital, there, Kesey often spent time talking to the patients, sometimes under the influence of the hallucinogenic drugs with which he volunteered to experiment. This made for a great book and I'm stoked I chose this one to read and would definitely recommend it!
Friday, January 9, 2009
Recommendation & Review of Fight Club
Brief background of the author: Chuck Palahniuk is an American transgressional fiction novelist and freelance journalist. As a child, Palahniuk lived with his poor family in a motor home in Burbank, Washington, his parents eventually divorced, forcing Palahniuk and his three siblings to live with their grandparents. In his writing Palahniuk focuses on short powerful sentences that can be related to by the most common of readers because of their simplicity yet resonate a powerful, almost bitter tone.
In Palahniuk’s 1996 novel, Fight Club, an anonymous protagonist suffering from insomnia develops an alternate personality in the character of Tyler Durden. Tyler serves as an escape for the protagonist, he creates the idea of “Fight Club” in which men of varying sizes and ages fight each other as a form of radical psychotherapy. Throughout the novel Durden expresses a devout disgust of materialism, capitalism, popular culture, and social order. Eventually this hatred turns into violent destruction when Tyler creates, “Project Mayhem”, a terrorist group that attacks consumerism through destructive acts. The striking differences between the mysterious protagonist and his alternate personality, Tyler Durden, leads readers to think of the two characters as different people when in reality Durden is our protagonist’s alternate personality, the protagonist expressing his true feelings, his escape.
The protagonist’s struggle to balance his two lives eventually leads to a chaotic, epic conclusion. If you’re interested in what you’ve heard so far (even if you’ve seen the movie Fight Club) I would highly recommend you hop on Palahniuk’s tumultuous ride and find out what happens (it’s much better than the movie’s ending).
In Palahniuk’s 1996 novel, Fight Club, an anonymous protagonist suffering from insomnia develops an alternate personality in the character of Tyler Durden. Tyler serves as an escape for the protagonist, he creates the idea of “Fight Club” in which men of varying sizes and ages fight each other as a form of radical psychotherapy. Throughout the novel Durden expresses a devout disgust of materialism, capitalism, popular culture, and social order. Eventually this hatred turns into violent destruction when Tyler creates, “Project Mayhem”, a terrorist group that attacks consumerism through destructive acts. The striking differences between the mysterious protagonist and his alternate personality, Tyler Durden, leads readers to think of the two characters as different people when in reality Durden is our protagonist’s alternate personality, the protagonist expressing his true feelings, his escape.
The protagonist’s struggle to balance his two lives eventually leads to a chaotic, epic conclusion. If you’re interested in what you’ve heard so far (even if you’ve seen the movie Fight Club) I would highly recommend you hop on Palahniuk’s tumultuous ride and find out what happens (it’s much better than the movie’s ending).
Bel Canto
Anne Patchet’s Bel Canto utilizes an extreme hostage situation to explore newfound love, and evolving relationships. The novel revolves around the relationships between a group of South American terrorists and their international captives. The problem arises when the terrorists find their target, the president, to be missing from the party, leaving their mission unfulfilled. They raid a birthday celebration for Mr. Hosokawa, a Japanese business who holds an extreme passion for opera. His passion for opera was satisfied by the presence of Roxanne Coss, a renowned soprano from Chicago. Patchet showcases the ability of love to overcome obstacles in any circumstance, through the formation of relationships between star-crossed lovers. Bel Canto offers the reader both suspense and romance by revealing the power of love to exceed the fear of death.
I strongly recommend this novel to readers seeking both the excitement of a thriller and the compassion of romance. Patchet allows the reader to become involved in the development of various relationships and their significance. She reveals the resilience of the heart to provide love amidst extreme crisis. She turns a hostage situation into a dating scene without completely diminishing the presence of the terrorists.
One of the primary conflicts throughout Bel Canto is the inability of both the hostages and the terrorists to communicate since they share no common language. Patchet employs Gen Watanabe, Mr. Hosokawa’s translator, to overcome the language barrier and ease the tension between both parties. Gen becomes the hero of the novel by applying his talent for translation to restoring a sense of knowledge to involved persons. The reader comes to admire Gen for his outstanding performance as the mediator, and later how he uses his talent to benefit his love interest. Patchet does an amazing job of setting the stage for the emergence of protagonist, Gen, to stand out among the rest.
Not only does Bel Canto explore the relationships formed between hostages of different nationalities and no way of communicating, it delves deeper into relationships among opposing parties. Patchet creates an environment in which the secrecy of love can thrive. She forms a bond between two hostages of different nationalities to reveal that formal communication is unnecessary to fall in love. She also creates a love interest between a hostage and a terrorist to demonstrate the ability of love to see past reality, and focus on truth. The romantic style of Bel Canto provides a contrast to the terror of the hostage situation by accentuating the positive while concealing the negative. Patchet proves that love is not always safe, but it never fails to provide hope for the future.
I would definitely recommend reading Bel Canto if you enjoy being sucked in by passionate, heartfelt relationships, along with the thrill and uncertainty of suspense. This novel can reach out to anyone because it provides various types of bondage between to people, whether its love, friendship, common interest, or even mutual respect. Patchet allows the reader to make up his or her own mind regarding the morality of each character and his or her actions. I greatly enjoyed reading Bel Canto and it was definitely a page turner for me, so if romance and suspense are of any interest to you this is the perfect book to read!
I strongly recommend this novel to readers seeking both the excitement of a thriller and the compassion of romance. Patchet allows the reader to become involved in the development of various relationships and their significance. She reveals the resilience of the heart to provide love amidst extreme crisis. She turns a hostage situation into a dating scene without completely diminishing the presence of the terrorists.
One of the primary conflicts throughout Bel Canto is the inability of both the hostages and the terrorists to communicate since they share no common language. Patchet employs Gen Watanabe, Mr. Hosokawa’s translator, to overcome the language barrier and ease the tension between both parties. Gen becomes the hero of the novel by applying his talent for translation to restoring a sense of knowledge to involved persons. The reader comes to admire Gen for his outstanding performance as the mediator, and later how he uses his talent to benefit his love interest. Patchet does an amazing job of setting the stage for the emergence of protagonist, Gen, to stand out among the rest.
Not only does Bel Canto explore the relationships formed between hostages of different nationalities and no way of communicating, it delves deeper into relationships among opposing parties. Patchet creates an environment in which the secrecy of love can thrive. She forms a bond between two hostages of different nationalities to reveal that formal communication is unnecessary to fall in love. She also creates a love interest between a hostage and a terrorist to demonstrate the ability of love to see past reality, and focus on truth. The romantic style of Bel Canto provides a contrast to the terror of the hostage situation by accentuating the positive while concealing the negative. Patchet proves that love is not always safe, but it never fails to provide hope for the future.
I would definitely recommend reading Bel Canto if you enjoy being sucked in by passionate, heartfelt relationships, along with the thrill and uncertainty of suspense. This novel can reach out to anyone because it provides various types of bondage between to people, whether its love, friendship, common interest, or even mutual respect. Patchet allows the reader to make up his or her own mind regarding the morality of each character and his or her actions. I greatly enjoyed reading Bel Canto and it was definitely a page turner for me, so if romance and suspense are of any interest to you this is the perfect book to read!
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