Water For Elephants

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen not only managed to provoke a manner of realism in a past and present tense but also allowed the reader to challenge all preconceived notions of a circus. The outlook of the book reminded me much of Heart of Darkness in the sense that it was so tragic, it was beautiful.

The manner in which the animals were treated made me angry. I couldn't help but think if we had the animal treatment acts in place that are now, but then, many of the horses that were slaughtered and fed to the other animals may have survived. I tried to keep in mind that it was a hard life for the people involved in the circus, but even though I lived most of my life not having enough money to pay for food through the week I could not imagine ever treating animals or even people the way the circus did.

The way "freaks" were characterized was relative to the time period but still just as disturbing to me. When I see someone of a small stature I treat them the same as anyone else, same for anyone of any ethnicity, weight, or tattooed. I believe in equality and half the time I found myself wanting to shout at the book or how wrong things were but just as compelled to keep reading.

Middle-American Gothic

Middle-American Gothic by Jonathan Ames, made me think about the stereotyping that I see happen everyday. I have friends who claim to be gothic as it may seem but, categorizing my friends in a stereotype like they want makes me feel like I'm filing them away in some dusty old file cabinet along with all of the worlds stereotypes.

I'm no stranger to stereotypes, being called a geek freshman year of highschool, and then a prep after that. I know that stereotypes are not fun when they demoralize someone or break down someones self esteem. Ames' article made me think about how often people break the mold, or fight stereotypes. I love how he chose a morbid stereotype to throw his audience into. Concerts full of people who someone may not think fits in that mold made my heart happy, in a sense he was breaking the mold most people grow up in.

I can't remember a day sitting with my parents going through old yearbooks that they didn't say oh yeah that was the head jock, or cheerleader, or something along those lines. It made me wonder what children in highschool would be like if they were striped of those stereotypes. I would hope that each person would see someone for who they are and less of what they are labeled (much like Sufjan's introduction of reading food labels). I can't help but think the world would be a better place.

Suffian Stevens

Suffian Stevens achieved a metaphoric analysis of the education system without directly stating it. I thought the most thought provoking situation was when I realized that the child was learning to read from food labels in a grocery store. I thought it was both ridiculous and ingenious at the same time. I wondered what good would chemical and ingredient names do a chidl in learning to read? But then I thought that that was the irony. That he could write an introduction like this and have learned to read form a grocery store. By no means was I believer of such a ridiculous claims.

Not to mention his reading of Edward Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. I was no believer of teh fact that he had read all 3,568 pages in one night. When I attempted to even read some of such a book I was bored and didn't get far at all. In retrospect when I have read books I am interest in, at most I can read a book of 1,000 pages in about a day, but to more than triple that? I don't think I was expected to eblieve that he read that book in one nigh, that is part of the irony- that this is a book of unrequired reading and he read a very large novel. I figure there is more to his fake reading than there is to believe he actualy did read it- that each and every story has a point- a thought provoking factor.

Rock The Junta

Rock the Junta by Scott Carrier made me think about what everyone really wants out of life. I mean you have this reporter who at first makes me think what the heck is he doing there, and then I though well wait, what would I be doing if I was there. It made me realize that the peculiarity of the reporters situation allows the reader to relate on a subconscious level or even internalize what is going on with the reporter.

The alien manner in which the reporter saw "shells" of people made me think of when I went to see the Dalai Lama. When I looked at the crowd I saw the spark in some eyes where his presence was truly appreciated. In others, I saw blackness- an empty shell of a person not even grasping the consequences of what was going on, what people would give to switch places with someone who was there for all the wrong reasons. I remember when he first came on stage to speak, someone behind me started laughing, proclaiming he sounded like a star wars character. It made me want to turn around and ask him if he knew what respect was, but then I realized that by no means would that have been peaceful.

I felt able to relate to the reporters position in the alien-like nature of the environment. I tired to put myself in the same situation but, I couldn't even see myself being in such a place. I call that an accomplishment in Carrier's respect because I had inadvertently found that the situation was so real I would not have even put myself there- allowing for me to see more of both myself and the standards of different areas that seem so alien to each and every varied nation.

Literature Unnatured

Literature Unnatured by Joy Williams, stuck me as a thought provoking piece of literature that I never would have picked up off of a local bookstore shelf, but something that after reading, I wish I would have felt compelled to do so. The relationship between nature and words seemed both metaphoric and yet not. I felt like the interpretation by the end was left to the reader, and that that was the point. That there isn't one solution to just anything, that each and every person pulls something diferent from experiences.

It made me think about how "manufactured" in a sense the entire world is. I can't think of a day that I don't use a computer, or my phone, or even my identification card. It made me think of George Orwell's 1987 in the manner of the Big Brother factor. It made me want to strike out, technology-less and try and beat the grid. I had read articles before of peopel going off the grid in order to prove that people can live, and he difficulties wrapped up in a situation like that made me realize that I take advantage of what I have around me. That I am a student at a University with limitless access to book after book, my passion after all, where I could be more absorbed in what I was learning and passing on to others. It made me wonder if the standards I hold for myself academicaly are lower than I know I can achieve- and at the same time what US standards are compared to other country's standards.

The manner in which our words are being "manufactured" reminds me of the mechanic like lives we could end up living, and that I hope we never do live.

A Happy Death? Or Maybe Not so Happy

A Happy Death by Allison Bechdel, left me torn. How could death be so ridiculously dry? The comic strip is devoid of emotion, somewhat relating to the inability of humans to face death, but also casting an eerie background to her efforts. I must admit that reading this left me with goosebumps on my arms and confusing still ringing in my ears.

I could not believe how much each of the feminine or non feminine characters all looked male. It confused me at first, but then I wondered if the graying of the gender roles could be part of Bechdel's overall point. Once I got to the end, I read through it again thinking I had missed an underlying point about gender roles amidst the subject of death. I was disturbed to discover the likeness of gender roles being switched. Generally I thought it should be father, son- Mother, duaghter type of relations, call me hypocritical. I started to see that there was much more behind the comic strip than just the uncomfortable subject.

Using the subject of death seemed at first, an akward if not uncomfortable subject to read about. Perhaps that was the point. It made me think of Stiff by Mary Roach in the manner the way th dry humor took away from the eeriness of the subject. It made me think that, hey- we are all eventually going to die right? Why am I afraid of something that is inevitably going to hapen. My mind could have strayed then to all of the sci-fi answers of far fetched capabilities but I found that the truth for me was that I was scared to leave things unfinsihed, to leave the people that make me happy, and to not have the things that make my every day life-my life.

Horseman

In Horseman by Richard Russo, the overall tone is resonate. The way that Monroe is haunted by her past is much like that of any other human being. The constant footsteps per-say of the song pulls together her fear of the: wild blind man, Bellamy's accusations of her shortcomings, Bellamy's admittance of tapping out a tune that keeps his father alive, and the tapping of the rain. The haunting that reminded Bellamy of his father- is what keeps Bellamy alive in her memory.

The constant what if's of Monroe's ventures show how caught up she is in the past, making me want to shout, "if you're dunna dit in, dit in." The way Russo ended the short story made me wonder (if not aloud) "what gives, where's the ending?" Although, leaving the story on a note where there is complete uncertainty is in itself a parallel of Monroe's life.

If I had to, I don't think I would read this story again. It was somber, morose, and the ending left me feeling gipped just like Of Mice and Men. On the other hand, the story had something to gain- where there is a general relation point because most if not all people have someone or something in their past that haunts them.

My Year of Meats; Its not very funny, or was he?

In a world where economics and humanity as a whole depends on the stereotypes which define them; meat describes more than one aspect of life. Ironically the women in My year of meats are characterized like pieces of meet being torn apart by the eyes of hungry people, the hunger coming from visceral men, needy housewives, and corporate snobs. The hunger affords opportunity for growth but also its parallel; demoralization.

Setting up a show of meats with the "Stepford Wives" to further the American image of perfection is in itself ironic. In needing to "weed out" specific attributes of a majority of thepopulation- the documentary show in which the women star is a paradox in itself. For years, American women strove to live up to the American dream, and in having and wanting to portray the country as anything other than the troubled place it is ( Which Edwin would surely agree makes people human ) contradicts the message the show is sending foreign nations.

In a manner of itself, the extreme of women as meats to sell a corporate message defines a metaphor of history. As far back as economics go, it has been the exploitation of specific groups, objects, food, or any number of things that led to up-selling that item. Exploiting the uprise in the need for technology has allowed for the majority of the human population to have cellphones, access to bank accounts on the fly, and PDA's. The exploitation of the women is in itself raw- but real. How else did the women riveters during WWI help gather moral for men and numbers for troops. The same goes for My Year of Meats , despite the vulgar and visceral nature of the exploitation; it is as real as tomorrow. 

Ozeki could very well be on to something for authors like Upton Sinclair ( auothor of The Jungle ) compare the likeness of the lives of the human race to that of a jungle- fighting for survival. 

Happiness (Alt. Ending)

The smog that rendered the city so vile prior to "What I learned on the Mountain" was published now had a tranquil quality. Oh the people, were nonetheless as busy and automated as before, but the air in which people carried themselves was different.

At this, Edwin stopped. He stopped at the same place he always has, and with the same feeling he has had since the world was saved, "I love this place."

Edwin's life hadn't changed very much. In fact the only thing that really changed was his life with May. Their lives were less than glamorous, and Edwin was no less the jerk of the office. All things considered, Edwin was happy, as happy as he could be coming home to awkward dirty sex with his wife May, and always going to work in a hell-hole of an office. Everything was right.

There was no book, every copy had been returned, or so Edwin thought.

Happiness

Edwin's views of the world are tragically depressing. Ironically, he finds that when the world he hates ends he misses it. I found that Edwin's circumstances were much like an adolescent who feigns knowing everything; only to realize that when they are in trouble- they actually do need their parents. Satirically speaking Will Ferguson did a tremendous job. The ultimate world of never ending happiness was scary enough to bring to light what being human is about.

I recall sitting through a monotonous sixth grade class, bored out of my mind, when my teacher presented a quote by Alexander Pope, "To err is human; to forgive is divine." For the wonderfully "fake" world Edwin lives in, the very existence of humanity depends on the need for the population to want and need. It seems that Ferguson's objective is not only to write an interesting piece of literature (of course) but to also ensure that each person understands the importance of being oneself.

Ultimately, Edwin is a metaphor for life itself. Life is more than just one person, it is the people we touch in each of our lives, the children we have, the parents who care for us, and the person in the coffee shop you pass each morning. Life, as depicted by Happiness, is more than happiness itself.