"I fear I am not in my perfect mind."

King Lear is definitely livin' the dream.  I know it has always been an aspiration of mine to have the freedom to skip through the forest bedazzled in flowers. So I am definitely a little jealous. Who cares if he's a little crazy?

Now Gloucester on the other hand...PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER. Stop flopping around on the ground trying to kill yourself.  You're blind, not stupid. Go get some revenge! And stop and think for a second because your son is taking care of you and you don't even recognize him.

Cordelia...you seem lazy and uneventful. You bore me.

King Lear: Scene 3

Woah. Slow down. Things just got crazy...well, more crazy.

Regan and Cornwall totally went off the deep end.  You do not pluck someone's eyes out and then step on it! (Totally reminded me of Kill Bill for some reason). I get Regan going a bit crazy, it may just be in her blood, but Cornwall seems to be doing most of the damage.  Cornwall's lines "Though well we may not pass upon his life/ Without the form of justice, yet our power/ Shall do a court'sy to our wrath, which men/ May blame but not control"(3.7 25-8). He's pretty much saying "Screw the rules, I'll do what I want". They're going rogue!

And the scene in the cave with King Lear, Edgar, and the Fool holding the mock trial really creeped me out.  Something about the amount of insanity really disturbed me.  The Fool was especially frightening, cause to me it seemed like he was just pushing them further into their madness.

Anthem: Part II

Where can I get an awesome nickname like "The Unconquered"?  This guy is turning into a superhero.

So this guy gets beat, slashed, and tortured, and he still won't tell them where his little hideout is. Then he runs out in the middle of no where with his soon-to-be lover "Golden Eyes" (not nearly as cool as The Unconquered, but good effort), and then they find a house. That seems a little random and somewhat frightening. But I'm glad they escaped and are now going to have awesome, little weird-named children together. OH! And where are the police? Seriously, these guys just escape and no one goes after them? I get that its unexpected, but you should have some sort of system set up (note to self)*. Everything just happened too fast.

Ayn Rand totally woo-ed me with the last line of the book though: "The word which can never die on this earth, for it is the heart of it and the meaning and the glory. The sacred word: EGO". It made me really happy. Everyone should read this book.

Anthem: Part I

For any of you out there who haven't read anything by Ayn Rand....well you should. She's kind of amazing. She created a completely realistic, fictional society, but at the same time I can see our world turning into it at some point. She sums up the whole society in this anthem "We are one in all and all in one, There are no men but only the great WE, One, Indivisible and forever."

It was a little confusing at first because it kind just throws you in the midst of a society with a total ignorance to the correct use of pronouns, but after a while you get used to it. But Equality 7-2521 is a total hooligan. And he may be a bit of a kleptomaniac. I think he's stolen pretty much everything in the town by now. But I'm interested to see what he'll figure out. He seems really smart.

Nectar In A Sieve: Part II

Its the same book. Oh, you couldn't find your long lost son at the first three places you looked? How strange. He left his family and his children? How unexpected.  Come on!

Rukmani's experience was a little different than Kumalo's. She didn't have the help of anyone except a little homeless boy for help; which is much different than having the church backing you.  And she ended up working for more money after all her stuff got stolen.  I felt a little sad that Nathan died, but it wasn't so much of a shock.  What made me really sad is that he ended up keeling over into the mud. It just seems sort of a bad ending for a people so dependent on how they appear to others. He was with his wife though, which made everything better. His last words choked me up a little. The whole "Would you not hold me when my time is come?" really brought their entire weird love story into a whole new context for me.

Nectar In A Sieve: Part I

This book is boring. Its so simple that I'm not even sure I could qualify it in the usual "literature" spot. It's not very thought provoking nor does it require an analysis of any kind.  The author rights so simply and lays things so directly in front of you that a rather amazing story comes off a boring.  Going into this, I thought a story about India would be colorful and symbolic, but Markandaya disappoints.  I think some of it may come from the difference between an American style of writing and an Indian one.  I'm probably just an ignorant American who expects to be wow'ed all the time, so I apologize.

So far this book completely reminds me of Cry, the Beloved Country. Everyone is suffering. The modern world invades the traditional village, and then slowly causes more suffering. Sinful behavior is on the rise.  Prostitution is evident. It just mirrors it a lot.  Also religion is quite a big part of the Indian life as it was in South Africa.  I just feel like I'm reading the same book again. Even this quote reminded of Cry, the Beloved Country: "Hope and fear. Twin forces that tugged at us first in one direction and then in another, and which was stronger no one could say."

House of Mirth: Book II- The End

She comes to the realization of what she needs/wants in life to have solidarity in it, and then she dies. Of course. Why did I not see that coming? I thought through the entire book she would be flawed, but not flawed enough to end up dead. I was wrong. Edith Wharton definitely made it realistic.  It was such a quiet, subtle ending to such a loud life.  Then again, I couldn't see this particular anti-hero truly being happy.

The person I feel worst for is Selden. I think he would've made Lily happy, and I think he thought so too, which is why its so sad. He just had really bad timing. REALLY bad timing. 

Overall, it was a good book. I just wish these authors would stop toying with my emotions.

House of Mirth: Chapter 10- Book II

I found this section of the book a bit boring.  Except for the occasional creepy antics of Mr.Trenor, it is rather uneventful.
I am beginning to get more attached to the characters though.  Lily Bart is so realistic that I can't help but feel a little sorry for her.  She has so many flaws and causes so many problems for herself.  Lily falls victim to many of her society's faults; Selden describes himself as wanting to take her" beyond the ugliness, the pettiness, the attrition and the corrosion of the soul". Even though she is flawed, Selden sees the these problems and still wants to love her.
Speaking of love and flaws, I think she is a complete idiot for not immediately accepting Mr.Rosedale's proposal. He fits every qualification....well he's rich, and that is really all she's after. Rosedale even acknowledges that he is okay that she doesn't love him as much; he just wants someone to fulfill the role of his wife. I'm assuming she'll run off to Europe and sabotage her superficial happiness, yet again.

One last thing: Kudos to you Lily Bart for not fulfilling the complete role of a prostitute and having an affair with Mr.Trenor.

House of Mirth: Chapters 1- 10

I don't think I've ever wanted to live in a fictional world more than I want to live in Edith Wharton's early 1900s New York. She makes even the most drab moments into something charming. It has such a simplicity to it that makes me envy the lives of characters like Lily Bart and Percy Gryce. And yes, I'm aware of the satirical style of writing of which this book is founded. House of Mirth ignores the poverty of the lower class and focuses on the extravagance of the rich, but it still appeals to the shallow, lazy side of my personality (which is, at times, a very large part). And no one portrays this lifestyle and ignorance better than the main character Lily Bart.
I find her fascinating. She treats New York as some sort of safari-kingdom.  She hunts down these men and uses a different technique for each one.  She realizes Mr.Gryce is shy and withdrawn so she uses his liking of Americana as bait to lure him to her. And during all this she has to avoid the dangers of ill-fitting suitors such as Mr.Rosedale.
I mean I find her tactics (and motivation) somewhat off-putting, but there is something admirable about how she turns finding a husband into an art form. My favorite line of hers is when she says "But we're so different, you know: she likes being good, and I like being happy." That pretty much sums up Lily Bart at this point.

Cry the Beloved Country: Part III

I loved this book. After Part II I wasn't too sure I would be satisfied with the ending, but I was totally wrong. Paton wrapped the book up with an incredibly hopeful (and oddly inspiring) ending.
I was really glad to see some amends between Jarvis and Kumalo. Both lost their son, and I think both felt pity for the other and was trying to do what was right. It was nice to see the two worlds of Kumalo and Jarvis come together; even if such painful obstacles were the thing that forced it to happen.  Together they worked to create a better South Africa, starting with Kumalo's small village. I think Jarvis was mostly motivated to carry on his son's dreams and teachings.  Kumalo wanted to because he had witnessed what happened when the tribal system broke down.  Paton writes that "The great city had opened his eyes to something that had begun and must now be continued." Kumalo witnessed and felt on the most personal level what happened when South African tribes stopped instilling a sense of moral in the native, so he did what little he could to fix it.
Probably one of my favorite parts of the entire book was Kumalo's pilgrimage up to the mountain.  He relied on his faith continuously throughout the book.  Only failing once or twice when he was tempted a thousand times.  He sits there on top of a mountain and prays; not only for his son and sister who have fallen, but he includes thanksgiving in his prayer. I was just really amazed.
So thank you, Alan Paton, for a great book.

Cry the Beloved Country: Part II

Book II depressed me...a lot.  It doesn't seem like anything good actually happened. Nothing. It left me feeling sad and also pretty angry at the South Africa judicial system.
There were a few points in it that did distract me from the over all dark mood of Book II. The beginning of Book II is almost exactly the same as the beginning of Book I; except it focused on a  rich white guy instead of a poor black priest.  This made the degree of separation between Jarvis and Kumalo a little less of an ocean and more of a rather sizable lake.  These two men lived in the same area and witnessed the same destruction of their land. I'm not sure if Paton meant it to make the two men seem closer by doing that, but I was better able to see the relation between the two because of this, so I'm going to assume he did.
After Jarvis reads his son's works and looks through his son's study, I think he begins to become more open- minded. One quote that really punched me in the face was when Jarvis's son writes "The truth is that our civilization is not Christian; it is a tragic compound of great ideal and fearful practice, of high assurance and desperate anxiety, of loving charity and fearful clutching of possessions." Slightly amazing, no? His son doesn't put the blame totally on any group of people, but does say that the natives should not be taking the brunt of the blame.
Then the rest of Book II is just constant sadness.  Kumalo's son is found guilty and most likely going to die, but on the single bright point Kumalo gets Msimangu's money. 33 pounds compared to Kumalo's son's death was not enough to make me happy. I get that that is not the point of the book, but it would've been nice.

 

Cry the Beloved Country: Part I

I'm really starting to love Paton's style of writing.  He's poetic and uses extreme detail, but at the same time gets straight to the point. The lack of quotation marks is somewhat annoying (and at times confusing), but kudos to you, Alan Paton, for being different. 

The main theme that I've seen throughout this entire book is definitely patriotism.  Every person in this book seems to be driven by doing what's good for Africa.  Kumalo wants to preserve the tribal system and his own village.  His brother, who seems to be the complete opposite, is motivated by greed, and wants better wages for the natives.  Everyone seems to want Africa to succeed, but there seems to be confusion on how to get it done.

Johannesburg seems to be everything that is right and wrong with South Africa.  There is crime and poverty, but there is also the chance for a "native" to succeed.  Segregation is also practiced, but many people, both white and black, seem willing to work to end. Father Vincent says this to Kumalo about Johannesburg: " You will learn much here in Johannesburg... It is not only in your place that there is destruction." I'd say that line is totally correct. Everyone in Africa seems to be experiencing destruction, and no one agrees on how to fix it. 

 I just feel sort of bad for Africa...as strange as that sounds.