So, some confusion reading this one. I start skimming this one and the character refers to another as "Bastard" which I am just thinking is a man who she dislikes.
She is Pregnant and then starts to talk to this character about it but then he asks her kid questions like how the baby got into her belly. So this confused me...
The discussion of whether it is a boy or girl reveals the old school thinking behind pregnancy. "The first one is supposed to be a boy." and that boys kick and hit in the whom where as a girl does not.
The names in this just confuses the junk out of me especially when I am multitasking when reading this... I have a family you know.
The character dreams of a big house in Budapest which tells me that they are not well off.
They meet up with a thin woman that is probably a tourist. Stuffing her mouth with food with a camera in hand. The other characters are unfamiliar with what it is so they are ignorant to the technology.
The thin lady throws what is left over of her food away which shocks the other characters as they have never seen anyone throw food away before.
It is finally reviled that the main character is 33 yrs old and the others are a bunch of kids. Bastard is eleven. So now it all makes sense.
...
Details about pooping.... OK these people are dirt poor. They go outside to squat.
End notes: It's a story about people who live a simple life. Although they are poor or seem poor, they are used to it. Not saying that it's not a bad thing but when you live without, without knowing that there is so much more you don't notice. The only thing that is concerning is food water and shelter. Everything else is fluff.
Sunday, February 21, 2016
Reflections on recent materials
In class we brought up all the stories recently read and they all have a common theme. Women's rights. In the time that all these stories were written women's rights was a huge issue. It still is an issue today but the people that wrote these stories were ground breakers. They helped pave the path for the women today. They paved the path for my wife and my daughter. My wife helped me realize that.
I really do complain when reading these assignments. To the point that I will try to find them all in audiobook form. Now that my wife has reminded me that this literature effects my daughter I now have a different mindset when reading.
So.. on to the next story.
I really do complain when reading these assignments. To the point that I will try to find them all in audiobook form. Now that my wife has reminded me that this literature effects my daughter I now have a different mindset when reading.
So.. on to the next story.
Sunday, February 14, 2016
"The Story of an Hour" Kate Chopin
Hmmm.
The story of a frail old woman with a heart problem who's family is concerned. Concerned because her husband has been killed in an accident. The family are afraid to deliver the news in fear that it will kill her. They do tell her ultimately and she then goes to her room. There she goes through the stages of depression and grief while staring out her bedroom window. She is sad and grieving, then she feels empty, then she feels acceptance, then the happy positive possibilities of the future.
This is an old story about an old woman in a society that is run by men. Her life with her husband although not bad is now free from any and all control. So she realizes that she is now "Free" She now doesn't have to appease him anymore.
When she leaves the room with her sister happy feeling independent and strong looking forward to her new future without her husband.
As she comes down the stair case her husband turns up at the front door perfectly fine and was not involved in the thought accident.
The woman sees him and has a heart attack and dies.
Does she die from the happiness brought by her husband alive or by the sadness that she will never be able to live out the fantasy she conjured up of her new independent life?
???
I think the latter.
The story of a frail old woman with a heart problem who's family is concerned. Concerned because her husband has been killed in an accident. The family are afraid to deliver the news in fear that it will kill her. They do tell her ultimately and she then goes to her room. There she goes through the stages of depression and grief while staring out her bedroom window. She is sad and grieving, then she feels empty, then she feels acceptance, then the happy positive possibilities of the future.
This is an old story about an old woman in a society that is run by men. Her life with her husband although not bad is now free from any and all control. So she realizes that she is now "Free" She now doesn't have to appease him anymore.
When she leaves the room with her sister happy feeling independent and strong looking forward to her new future without her husband.
As she comes down the stair case her husband turns up at the front door perfectly fine and was not involved in the thought accident.
The woman sees him and has a heart attack and dies.
Does she die from the happiness brought by her husband alive or by the sadness that she will never be able to live out the fantasy she conjured up of her new independent life?
???
I think the latter.
"A Good Man is Hard the Find" Flannery O'Conner
???
A Story about a Grandmother of yesterday. My grandmother may have had a mother or grandmother just like this one.
Place is Georgia. Time is probably the 50's or 60's. Racism is very apparent toward black people. The grandmother is a white woman from what I gather. She is not aware how bad she sounds when describing things. It was just her upbringing.
The dreaded road trip with grandma in the back seat. The cat naps, old time talk, and the unexplained diarrhea of the mouth.
Grandma convinces her family to take a detour to one off her old stomping grounds which she later realizes she was mistaken and they were in the wrong state from her memory. Traveling down the dirt road into what seemed to be know where they get into a car crash roll over and everyone survives.
A man stops to "aid" them. Turns out he is a character from the grandmothers past.???
To be honest.. I don't know what happened.
A Bobby Lee entered the picture at sometime and now I am thinking it was all planned by the family.
Not sure..
The Misfit is the man she might have had a past with and he ultimately kills the old woman.
Bobby Lee is happy she is dead and... the end.
The writing could be clearer about the characters presented. I don't know who Bobby Lee is?
???
Grandmas dead anyway.
A Story about a Grandmother of yesterday. My grandmother may have had a mother or grandmother just like this one.
Place is Georgia. Time is probably the 50's or 60's. Racism is very apparent toward black people. The grandmother is a white woman from what I gather. She is not aware how bad she sounds when describing things. It was just her upbringing.
The dreaded road trip with grandma in the back seat. The cat naps, old time talk, and the unexplained diarrhea of the mouth.
Grandma convinces her family to take a detour to one off her old stomping grounds which she later realizes she was mistaken and they were in the wrong state from her memory. Traveling down the dirt road into what seemed to be know where they get into a car crash roll over and everyone survives.
A man stops to "aid" them. Turns out he is a character from the grandmothers past.???
To be honest.. I don't know what happened.
A Bobby Lee entered the picture at sometime and now I am thinking it was all planned by the family.
Not sure..
The Misfit is the man she might have had a past with and he ultimately kills the old woman.
Bobby Lee is happy she is dead and... the end.
The writing could be clearer about the characters presented. I don't know who Bobby Lee is?
???
Grandmas dead anyway.
"Where Are You Going Where Have You Been" Joyce Carol Oates
Bad GIRL! A tease.
I hope my daughter doesn't turn out like the main character in this.
I am pretty sure she won't. Why? Because my daughter has me.
This girl doesn't seem to have a father. Her name is Connie.
Her rebellion personality , I believe, is the manifestation of the dull and damning lifestyle of her mother. Her mother hates that Connie is good looking and catches the eye of the boys. Connie is upset that her sister who is not a looker is treated better. At least in her eyes. It sounds like there is no father figure in the picture. The lack of a father figure forces her to find attention from the boys. This makes her an easy target that teenage boy hope for.
She is a daydreamer that dreams about boys, fun, and parties all the time.
She has a double life. In her mothers company she looks, acts and dresses one way. When she is out with her friends she looks, acts and dresses another way. I understand that this is normal for a teenage girl to do. I still do believe that the story would change greatly if there was a loving father figure in the picture.
The story goes on to describe an encounter she has with a new young boy she meets. An encounter that doesn't go as planned.
It's the same story told again and again about girls who are careless and free with the boys. They eventually land one that turns them into the typical white trash lifestyle living int a trailer with a bunch of dirty kids running around with a PittBull chained up in the front.
Story is not my kind of story....
I hope my daughter doesn't turn out like the main character in this.
I am pretty sure she won't. Why? Because my daughter has me.
This girl doesn't seem to have a father. Her name is Connie.
Her rebellion personality , I believe, is the manifestation of the dull and damning lifestyle of her mother. Her mother hates that Connie is good looking and catches the eye of the boys. Connie is upset that her sister who is not a looker is treated better. At least in her eyes. It sounds like there is no father figure in the picture. The lack of a father figure forces her to find attention from the boys. This makes her an easy target that teenage boy hope for.
She is a daydreamer that dreams about boys, fun, and parties all the time.
She has a double life. In her mothers company she looks, acts and dresses one way. When she is out with her friends she looks, acts and dresses another way. I understand that this is normal for a teenage girl to do. I still do believe that the story would change greatly if there was a loving father figure in the picture.
The story goes on to describe an encounter she has with a new young boy she meets. An encounter that doesn't go as planned.
It's the same story told again and again about girls who are careless and free with the boys. They eventually land one that turns them into the typical white trash lifestyle living int a trailer with a bunch of dirty kids running around with a PittBull chained up in the front.
Story is not my kind of story....
Sunday, February 7, 2016
The Grand Budapest Hotel
I haven't seen the movie in a while.
It's not on Netflix Instant stream so I am going from memory.
The connection I can see between Stefan Zweig and the Movie is that the movie takes place in the time frame of Zweig's stories and they all hit on Love, Loss, and Death.
The movie was entertaining and kept me following because of the dark comedy and striking visuals.
Zweig's writings, not so much.
I really liked the prison characters. The shirtless old guy with twitchy muscles was a great character that stuck with me....
...so yeah...
Sorry, not much more for me to write about on this literature besides I didn't really like it due to the subject matter. I do not like close to reality stories. I guess this is because the life I have lived has been filled with traumatic real stories that I chose not to relive. If I have a choice in reading and watching I chose fantasy. It's better for my Psyche. Otherwise I find myself rehashing old traumatic memories.
My Past: Combat Search and Rescue and Firefighter Paramedic
This is why I choose fantasy.
It's not on Netflix Instant stream so I am going from memory.
The connection I can see between Stefan Zweig and the Movie is that the movie takes place in the time frame of Zweig's stories and they all hit on Love, Loss, and Death.
The movie was entertaining and kept me following because of the dark comedy and striking visuals.
Zweig's writings, not so much.
I really liked the prison characters. The shirtless old guy with twitchy muscles was a great character that stuck with me....
...so yeah...
Sorry, not much more for me to write about on this literature besides I didn't really like it due to the subject matter. I do not like close to reality stories. I guess this is because the life I have lived has been filled with traumatic real stories that I chose not to relive. If I have a choice in reading and watching I chose fantasy. It's better for my Psyche. Otherwise I find myself rehashing old traumatic memories.
My Past: Combat Search and Rescue and Firefighter Paramedic
This is why I choose fantasy.
Stefan Zweig Stories
After spending time trying to find some free audiobooks on this author...I found none that we were to read on the list... I finally dredged through my first story by this author.
Forgotten Dreams.
Just to let you know I am not one to read any material like this and it was painful for me to skim through. Yes there is an art and talent to writing literature. There also is an art and relent to writing code for computers...
This story, I think is about lost love and what could have been in the eyes of a woman. It went into great depth in the females perspective describing a tall dark and handsome man that she finds out is married? I think. Anyway she is depressed at the end. On to the next story.
...
In the Snow
This one I was able to slow down a bit. It caught my interest.
Forgotten Dreams.
Just to let you know I am not one to read any material like this and it was painful for me to skim through. Yes there is an art and talent to writing literature. There also is an art and relent to writing code for computers...
This story, I think is about lost love and what could have been in the eyes of a woman. It went into great depth in the females perspective describing a tall dark and handsome man that she finds out is married? I think. Anyway she is depressed at the end. On to the next story.
...
In the Snow
This one I was able to slow down a bit. It caught my interest.
Why? A peaceful German town settles down for a night of jubilation celebrating Chanuka. It turns out that they are all Jews. There is a man who rushes into the town aggressively at first. You don't know if he is friend or foe. He comes to a home and then we find out he is a fiancee that has come to warn everyone about a group of flagellants coming there way which are " are practitioners of an extreme form of mortification of their own flesh by whipping it with various instruments." After that quite frankly I started skimming. The story started spinning it's wheels speaking about things too much in depth and they lost me. They spoke about fleeing to Poland and by the end I found it was a commentary about the genocide done to the jews by the Nazis. I think. anyway on to one more story...
The Star Above the Forest
Man. Stefan does a lot of writing about love, love lost, lose of life/ death, massacres. The influence of World War 1 and 2 are definitely apparent in his writings. This experience gives his stares a dark undertone. I still had to skim though.
This story.. Love lost. At the end one star above the forest reminds her of her loneliness...
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