Essay 1: Book Groups
This course was divided into three main components. These were Plurk, a way for the class to communicate thoughts and feelings throughout the day, Blogs, a way of interacting with the class material, and Book Group. Book Group incorporates an additional novel, outside of the readings assigned for class. Each group consists of a dozen or so members, who analyze and discuss the given novel through an online Discussion Board. The novel I chose was Midnight Robber. My group broke the book down into approximately 50 page sections and at the end of each section wrote responses. I approached the book group by first writing my own response, without reading other entries. After I did this, I went back and responded to 2 or 3 other students. By approaching it this way, I was able to see the similarities and differences in my opinions compared to others. Midnight Robber turned out to be a novel that many can relate to and I grew engrossed in it. This section of the class was different from other components, down to the type of novel that was chosen. It was an interesting experience.
I preferred the book group to blogs and class discussions. What I liked about it was that everyone gets a chance to first write their own reflection and not be influenced by others. During class discussions, it can be easy to prefer another person’s opinion to your own and then not speak up on your own. After writing your own reflection, you then have the opportunity to read what others thought and agree or disagree accordingly. I also preferred the setting of the book group. It was comfortable to respond online and for me, communicating this way made it easier to speak my mind. The book group also differed from the way we approach the other assigned novels. Discussions for Midnight Robber included book interpretations, character analysis, and audience perceptions. With the other novels assigned in class, we mostly discuss how they relate to our lives and what the author is trying to portray. Also, because we broke down the book section by section, it became only natural to predict what would happen next. Basically, in book group the analysis of the novels go deeper than only discussing the main points that our class time allows. Book group allowed students to grow extremely involved in a novel. Midnight Robber consists of many spectrums that are easy to relate to, including fantasy, family issue, romance, life struggles, and personal development. This is very different than the novels in class that we have to open up our minds to relate to. It made for good discussion.
The book group also had a few negative components. Part of me wished it was more like class, where we spent less time discussing the specifics of the book and more time questioning what the author is trying to portray. I realized after I finished the novel and all of my responses that I was still unsure of exactly why the author wrote what he did. This course has taught me to strive to find that answer in every reading. Also, it is impossible to have an uninhibited conversation in book group. Because we all log on at different times and it was difficult to stick to the deadlines, many posts do not receive responses and there is little consistency. Although breaking the book into sections really helps the focus, in person discussions allow for more personal interpretations and debate. I find that in class, although we may get off topic from the novel, the discussions are extremely relevant to everyday living. With so much structure to book group, this is nearly impossible.
When I began the book group I was very skeptical for two reasons. First of all, I was weary of whether or not I would enjoy the novel assigned, and secondly because I was unsure of how the discussions would be handled. Aside from plurk, this was the first time I had experienced class discussions online instead of in person. For the most part, everyone took the discussions seriously and it was evident who was really putting in the effort of understanding the novel. Overall, everyone put in equal effort. It was a unique way of discussing a novel and differed greatly from class discussion, blogs, and plurk. In the end, my skepticism was proven unnecessary and I learned a lot.
Essay 2: Blogs
The blogs were a component of the class that consisted of posting 700-1000 words a week. The blogs were meant to not be a summary of the material but an analysis of what is going on. It involved a higher engagement of the readings. On average, I did one to two blogs per novel. Sometimes it was extremely difficult to put into words how the material affected me. Sometimes the material itself was almost impossible to follow. The directions towards the blogs were very open ended; therefore every student’s blog page consisted of different things. My blog page was rather structured, with every title including the novel I was writing about. In my blogs, I related the readings mostly to my life and how I interpreted them. At times, I brought in class discussions, but for the most part I stuck to how the book applied to my life. Basically, with our blog posts every individual in the class had 700-1000 words per week to do what they wanted to with. A lot of times I was unsure of whether or not I was approaching the assignments right. However, once I looked at other blogs from the class I realized that perhaps we were meant to produce mixed results.
When told to pick a student to compare blogs with, I went on the Nanotext blog page and picked another student at random. This proved to quite interesting. I ended up reading Alex Lindner’s blogs. I first noticed that I took the 700-1000 word minimum much more seriously than he did, as well as the requirement to post weekly. Although we differed in the way that we organized our blogs and our amount of postings, I was still curious to see what his blogs consisted of compared to mine. Both of us had our first blogs about The Invention of Morel, which were rather similar. They included both summary and analysis and were both lengthy. At this point, we were both experiencing the same things from the course, but remember this is just the first week. After this point, I did my best to stay caught up with the readings and handled my responses to each reading rather similarly. After this point, Alex and I seemed to go in different directions with the class.
In my blogs, I worked to apply what I was learning to my personal life. Whether what I was reading was opening my eyes to viewpoints of sex or the outburst of technology, I wanted to use this class as a way to improve my own life. I was learning so many unique things and the novels were opening my eyes to opinions that I had never even considered and I decided it was really a time to change. I think my blogs reflect this. Alex seemed to approach his blogs as responses to the course instead of responses to the novels. After his blog about Morel, his blogs were about class discussions, humanity, and Ribofunk. Basically, we connected very differently. What I did like about his blogs was that at one point he has a discussion via blog, in response to his class discussion blog. This was something that I never did. He also posted a picture in his response, which is something I never did. Alex made some interesting points about sex and humanity, but I think he could have applied himself to the reading a bit more. Our blogs ended up differing greatly, but I must admit it was somewhat comforting to see that I was not the only person who struggled along the way.
After glancing over a few other’s blogs, as well as reading Alex’s, I think it is safe to say that no two blog pages after very similar. I approached the blogs as writing for myself. It seemed as though the only person who would really be reading them was the professor, so I did a lot of reflecting of my personal life and the viewpoints I was encountering. I am not sure how many other students used the blogs for this, but for me it was effective. Perhaps that is what the point of the blogs was. There seems to be no right way to approaching the blogs and as long as you apply yourself in one way or the other, you are guaranteed to find the approach that works best for you.
Essay 3: Others
As this course progressed, it became extremely evident why the novels were placed to be read in the order of which they were. Radical Alterity was the second novel assigned and a great starting point for the course. This was the novel that first began to open up my eyes to thoughts that I had not considered before. The fact that the introduction is titled “Cool Thinking,” leads you to believe that this novel is working to open up your eyes. It did.
Radical Alterity was a good starting point for me because it helped me to become comfortable with unique texts. It was a bit overwhelming at first because I was presented with so many new ideas. I found the authors to be brutally honest, which is another reason why this novel was necessary to the course. Clearly, this course is not designed to sugar coat issues. The first line of the book is, “The only deep desire is the desire of the object.” My interpretation of this was that it is a brutally honest way of confronting humans in always wanting what we can’t have and being rather selfish. The text also introduced technology as communication destined for disconnection, which confronts humans on absorbing technology and growing away from personal relationships. Both concepts proved to be true, at least when I applied them to my life. The texts that we are assigned after this novel only grow more and more open and honest. One could even say they grow disturbing and repulsive. Every text was meant to make us uncomfortable and then grow from it. Radical Alterity gently breaks us in to opening up our minds.
Alterity posed a few strong points that made me rethink how I approached this course, specifically the focus of the course, being the Other. The first line that struck me was, “Each person retains his or her freedom, enima, and solitude.” This made me realize that freedom is in the ability to think for oneself. It made me wonder how many times I have actually thought for myself and then realize that it was time to begin trying. The text also speaks of the, “…guilt of not knowing or understanding enough…” At this point I knew that I have felt this guilt before and I needed to open my eyes to the ideas I was being presented with. The text then stated, “…the mode of thinking is more important than the thought itself.” I think this is a point that this course embraces, for we are encouraged to write about anything and simply apply ourselves, instead of given specific instructions on what to write about. I’ve grown up rather sheltered and have not had too many experiences where I have had to think outside of the box. Although I still find the idea of “the Other,” completely mind boggling, I’ve grown to embrace it a little more every day.
Radical Alterity was a necessary novel for opening the minds of every student in this course. I am sure that there are other students in this class that were used to this type of material, but for me it was brand new and took a lot of effort to comprehend. Alterity helped me to rethink every part of this class. With every novel, I grew more open minded and more accepting. It was evident as class discussions progressed that this was the case for the majority of the students. Alterity brings forth the goal of, “Transforming the circles of stereotypes and critical thought into something totally different but with a rigorous and secret relationship to the original discourse.” This seems to be what we accomplished in our class. The class seemed to grow more random every day, whether it was from a cartoon, a YouTube video, or a girl in a gorilla suit walking in for some bananas. Students without the background to the course would think we are crazy, but because we began by learning of this new way of thinking, the class turned into pure entertainment for those involved.
Essay 4: Animals and Machines
This course was filled with viewpoints on both animals and machines. Life Extreme was a book filled with pictures of animals and short quotes next to them. It is said to be “An Illustrated Guide to a New Life.” It compares original beliefs of nature to the reality that we live in now. In one of the first pages, this book brings forth the idea of, ”What is nature?... Even in a laboratory, nothing is natural…Nature is no longer even when one thinks one can look into so called natural objects.” This texts continues to bring forth ideas of the development of, or perhaps loss of, nature.
The question that is presented in regards to Life Extreme is if there is a difference between animals and machines. I would have to argue that despite all that technology has changed, there is still a huge difference between animals and machines. Perhaps it is because I am such an animal lover, but I find animals to be much more fulfilling than anything technology could present. Animals have a sense of innocence, whereas machines are human made. There is no argument that there are similarities within animals and machines. For example, the text states, “An animal’s eyes have the power to speak a great language.” Animals and technology both have their own languages, yet still I find the animal language to be so much more real than technology. This realness is a result of pureness that cannot occur with something human made. Although technology is pushing for nature to be more than it is meant to be, I hope that this desire does not go over the edge, for I do not believe animals need to be subjected to all of the changes our world is making. I think the main difference of technology and animals is that thus far, technology has proven to be eternal. Life Extreme states that, “Nothing is stable in the whole universe, everything passes; all the forms are made only to come and go.” Up to this point, technology hasn’t gone anywhere and I think it is safe to say that it will not go anywhere until perhaps the end of the world, unless it prevents it. The only way animals will ever become eternal is with the use of technology, therefore there is a huge difference in machines and animals.
With such a focus on animals and technology, one begins to wonder where humans fit in this picture. It seems as though humans are the beings that are engrossed in all of this change and working to adapt to it. As they adapt, the changes that humans encounter is incredible. The text states, “Does a house still shelter people or technology and invisible people?” In a way, throughout this evolution of technology, humans have become invisible. Looking back at my blog, I saw that my focus of Life Extreme was wondering what happened to simplicity. Humans seem to be relying on technology and other means to make them happy; when in the past they used to embrace the natural blessings they were given. I then read the response given to that blog, which said, “Why is this scary not exhilarating?” This made me realize where humans fit into all of this. In a way, humans are the ones along for the ride.
Humans, technology, and animals are the three main categories of existence in our world. Technology seems to currently be the superpower. It has already consumed humans and is now working towards animals. Although there are differences that separate all three categories, technology seems to be the dominant one that is changing the remaining two. Humans have evolved all that they can; therefore it is only natural to wait for something else to evolve. The new evolution is technology and at this point perhaps all we can do is sit back and enjoy the ride.
Essay 5: Filth/Censorship/Mores/Sexuality and Technology
The Ticket that Exploded and The Filth were the two hardest readings for me to get through. I was not the only student who felt this way, for in plurk and during classroom discussions, it was evident that these two readings made the majority of the class uncomfortable. It was easier to discuss these texts depending on which format was most comfortable for you personally. Essentially, both are set out to provoke and manipulate emotions out of the audience. They both succeeded. In the end, both readings apply to the question: why does pornography work?
When I first read The Ticket that Exploded I was extremely offended, likely to be one of the most offended students in this course. Probably what angered me the most was the idea of the Garden Of Delights, G.O.D. I found it incredibly disrespectful to use God’s name as the acronym for some land of sex. I remember even having to call my mom to vent about how angry the book made me. I had not been exposed to this type of material yet. It wasn’t until the end of that novel when things began to come together with the statement, “After analyzing a conversation you will learn to steer a conversation where you want it to go.” You realize that the author steered his novel in the way that he wanted the audience to see it. It was eye opening. This then brought forth the question in class: what does sex look like outside love and emotion? I realized that this was something that I needed to consider. It was not necessarily a lifestyle that I would pursue, but it was an idea that I needed to respect. By the time I was reading The Filth, I was so open to reading about sex that I was somewhat immune to the disgust that I once had. I was able to take The Filth for what it was meant to be, a story about para personalities. Although it was consumed by sex and violence, I was able to see through it and focus on the concept of good vs. evil. I was worried that the pictures in the novel would make it harder to read than even The Ticket, yet in a way it made me understand the characters more. I understood The Filth to be a comic about the enemy from within, whereas if I would have read it before this course I would have seen it as porn in comic book form. These two novels were very spaced out in the course and the fact that I was able to adapt to The Filth instead of being as insulted as I was during The Ticket That Exploded, really proved my personal growth throughout this quarter.
The best way for me to discuss the readings from this quarter was through blogs. I never spoke up much in class, although I was impressed by many profound statements that other brought up. I preferred to write them down and reflect on them later in blogs. The blogs allowed a sense of anonymity, as did plurk. Both allow students to speak their minds through a computer instead of in class. For me, I preferred online discussion because these are still somewhat uncomfortable issues for me to speak about. Others were completely open to discussing them out loud and probably preferred to this way. As the course progressed, the need for censorship dwindled away in all three aspects of the course. In fact, I would be ten times more comfortable discussing some of our class topics now than I was two months ago. The diversity of our readings and the ideas that we are presented with were originally very uncomfortable to me. As the course progressed and has now come to an end, I have learned to see everything as opinions. It does not matter whether or not I disagree with these opinions, but to be a well rounded and intelligent being it is time to learn to respect all of them.
I think the reason humans consume porn is obvious: sex sells. Sex is everywhere. It is in the media, music, and now even our readings. The real question is: Why does sex sell? The main reason is for the attraction to it and the fulfillment of a desire, but it is more than just that. Sex sells because it is an escape for just a moment; the living of a fantasy that is fulfilling in just small doses. It also sells because there is nothing invested in it, in fact it represents the absence of a relationship. However, our class has proven true the main reason why sex sells: more people are open to it. Just like technology, the more we are encouraged to love it the more we will. In fact, there is no longer a need to be anonymous about your sex life. The majority of people openly speak of their sex lives, for sex has evolved just like everything else. As this course has proven, the more you work through an uncomfortable topic, the more you become immune to it, and eventually embrace it. Even simply comparing the class discussions on The Ticket to the class discussions on The Filth, our progress is amazing. This has proven to be true as my need for anonymity was much higher in the beginning of this course than it is now.
The first few novels in this class, especially The Ticket That Exploded, made me incredibly confused as to what the point of this course was. It took about 10 novels to figure it out. These readings were meant to bring one to seeing life in a different viewpoint than the norm. Every author worked towards provoking an emotion out of the audience and these emotions bring forth intellectual growth. Perhaps it is not the best quality to be immune to being uncomfortable by sex, but it is a good quality to be able to respect altering viewpoints on what could be an uncomfortable issue. The Ticket That Exploded and The Filth turned out to be two novels that opened my mind and see the world through less sheltered eyes.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Postsingular blog 1
As I begin Postsingular, I feel as though I was entering into a new world. This new world however, seemed to be a world that the one we live in currently is about to turn into. All of the possibilities of what to do with nants seemed more efficient than the way our world operates today. For example, Chu and Ond spoke about using nants to make the sky as bright as the moon. This would save energy and the economy could run around the clock. There was also the idea of selling ads in the sky. As crazy as it might sounds, it also sounds crazy enough to be something we would try. We are constantly looking for ways to conserve energy and help our environment. More so, we are always looking for ways to save our failing economy. Like Ond said, the new environment would take some getting used to, but people would get used to it. In fact, people might end up liking it more. Humans are encouraging the rapid improvement of technology and it will only be so long before we expand it to the rate of a 24/7 economy. It is in human nature to adapt to the changes the world throws at us. I would go as far as to say that we not only adapt, we embrace the changes. Everyone wants the latest and greatest gadgets. It is a power struggle, or a status issue. Then, it grows into a necessity. For a while, people managed to get by without pagers, without internet, without cell phone phones. Now it seems to be a necessity to not only have a cell phone, but perhaps internet on your cell phone. The world we live in is not far from Postsingular, where technology is an addiction. The only difference is that Postsingular is more advanced than we are, at least than we are right now. Technology is constantly bringing new desires. The question is, how far will these desires take us? Technology has also created dependence. Therefore, if a new invention is created, we are bound to make ourselves believe that it is a necessity. Because we are so dependant of technology and because we desire everything new, we are likely to only encourage any changes.
One of the first lines of this novel was, “We’re unobservable now.” I thought it was interesting that while these boys were working with their inventions that they felt unobservable, much like most people feel when they are on drugs. The dependence individuals have on technology is like any dependence on a drug. It is hard to function without it. I’m not quite sure how I would function without my lap top, the internet and my cell phone, and those are only the basics of technology. I couldn’t tell you the first thing about the depths of technology and I still couldn’t function without the basics. I would be completely torn. What is sadder is that until this point I didn’t even realize that the dependence on technology is an addiction. On top of that, it is pretty safe to assume that the majority of the world is dependent on some sort of technology. I even see older generations beginning to adapt. Just this last year my dad taught himself how to email and set up an account and is learning to use the internet. It became a necessity for him in order to find more business. My mom has been forced to learn computers as well and although she still does not know the internet she can edit pictures from her camera and print them out. She also got On Demand this year and can work her TV better than I can. Even my grandmother takes advantage of Tivo. If the older generations are encouraging the change in technology, the new generations will completely embrace it. It makes me wonder when this will end? It’s definitely not simply a technology craze and something that will pass. It has proven to be a part of a lifestyle. This then makes me wonder, are there any limits to technology? Reading books like Postsingular kind of scare me because it makes me think of just how far we will take this lifestyle.
One of the first lines of this novel was, “We’re unobservable now.” I thought it was interesting that while these boys were working with their inventions that they felt unobservable, much like most people feel when they are on drugs. The dependence individuals have on technology is like any dependence on a drug. It is hard to function without it. I’m not quite sure how I would function without my lap top, the internet and my cell phone, and those are only the basics of technology. I couldn’t tell you the first thing about the depths of technology and I still couldn’t function without the basics. I would be completely torn. What is sadder is that until this point I didn’t even realize that the dependence on technology is an addiction. On top of that, it is pretty safe to assume that the majority of the world is dependent on some sort of technology. I even see older generations beginning to adapt. Just this last year my dad taught himself how to email and set up an account and is learning to use the internet. It became a necessity for him in order to find more business. My mom has been forced to learn computers as well and although she still does not know the internet she can edit pictures from her camera and print them out. She also got On Demand this year and can work her TV better than I can. Even my grandmother takes advantage of Tivo. If the older generations are encouraging the change in technology, the new generations will completely embrace it. It makes me wonder when this will end? It’s definitely not simply a technology craze and something that will pass. It has proven to be a part of a lifestyle. This then makes me wonder, are there any limits to technology? Reading books like Postsingular kind of scare me because it makes me think of just how far we will take this lifestyle.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
The Filth continued...
The Filth is beginning to really intrigue me. It gets more disturbing as I continue reading, however what is also happening is that pieces are breaking out that explain there is more to this comic than meets the eye. The third book got me hooked when Slade was able to look back at life as Greg and grows more aware of what is happening. The fourth and fifth books continue with the strange storyline, but at this point with the books, I am able to laugh at it and enjoy the stories more. That thought scares me, but excites me at the same time. On one hand my mind is opening and on the other I’m technically laughing at pornography and violence.
Book 3, Structures and Ultrastructures, made me feel pity for Slade. He was able to see his life as Greg. Greg is tied up in a closet and Tony the cat is sick. Another thing that was interesting was when he saw the stoners standing outside his window. The life that these kids were leading is similar to the one that Greg was leading. Both are dead end roads. One teenager made the comment, “Ah, I wish something great would happen.” But really, when they are standing in an alley high, what great thing is likely to happen? Similar to Greg’s life, nothing great was happening on his path of a porn addiction and owning a cat. There was even a point when a mom looks through the window at Slade, but I assume she thought it was Greg, and said to her daughter “Don’t look at that man, Laurie, Love. He’s not nice.” This too proves that Greg’s life was borderline meaningless. As the cat is dying I wonder if Greg will soon die also, yet this chapter does give hope to the reader, with the fact that he is still alive period.
Book 3 also gives you a look into what Slade is meant to accomplish. With the characters Adam and Eve, we see that the goal is to restore free will to the universe. This is a hard concept to grasp. One can see how it would seem that we do not have free will. Humans are easily manipulated and although we make our own choices, how are we to prove that those choices weren’t already made for us and we were tricked into them. For example, if I made the choice to buy a new phone. I may think I am doing this for myself, but the advertisement I saw on TV last week really made the decision for me. This can happen in so many larger aspects of life. However on the other hand, that choice was still ours. Adam and Eve also represent original sin. Greg has made his own choices to sin many times. Can one make the excuse that they were manipulated when in the end they participated in that sin? It’s a fine line.
In book 4, Slade was told that every man and woman has a unique personal cloud that follows you everywhere you go. My original thought was that this cloud was your conscience, which would tie this into the concept of good vs. evil. In this story, Slade would be the evil, the bad conscience, yet how can we consider Greg to be the good? Another idea that was brought up was that we are all only angels weighed down by filth. When I think of it that way, it is easier to see where Greg is good, but he is weighed down by filth. This is a unique way to view people, but I agree with it. I have spent a lot of time lately evaluating what is weighing me down in my life. As I read The Filth, I can’t help but think more and more about what the filth in my life is. The hardest part is eliminating that filth. Book 4 then brought forward the idea that internal voices can tell us to love and hate. This is true, but is it also true that we only hear the voice of the eternal germ? It’s an easy trap to fall into and a terrible habit to break.
Although book 5 is too difficult to even put into words, I was interested in the idea of “fuck of be fucked.” This reminded me of what was brought up in class, the idea that the point of this book is that life is messy but someone has to clean it up. In the end, the enemy is from within and we can blame other people and manipulation all we want, but really the only person to blame is ourselves. It is becoming more and clearer that this book is a metaphor for the way that we live.
Book 3, Structures and Ultrastructures, made me feel pity for Slade. He was able to see his life as Greg. Greg is tied up in a closet and Tony the cat is sick. Another thing that was interesting was when he saw the stoners standing outside his window. The life that these kids were leading is similar to the one that Greg was leading. Both are dead end roads. One teenager made the comment, “Ah, I wish something great would happen.” But really, when they are standing in an alley high, what great thing is likely to happen? Similar to Greg’s life, nothing great was happening on his path of a porn addiction and owning a cat. There was even a point when a mom looks through the window at Slade, but I assume she thought it was Greg, and said to her daughter “Don’t look at that man, Laurie, Love. He’s not nice.” This too proves that Greg’s life was borderline meaningless. As the cat is dying I wonder if Greg will soon die also, yet this chapter does give hope to the reader, with the fact that he is still alive period.
Book 3 also gives you a look into what Slade is meant to accomplish. With the characters Adam and Eve, we see that the goal is to restore free will to the universe. This is a hard concept to grasp. One can see how it would seem that we do not have free will. Humans are easily manipulated and although we make our own choices, how are we to prove that those choices weren’t already made for us and we were tricked into them. For example, if I made the choice to buy a new phone. I may think I am doing this for myself, but the advertisement I saw on TV last week really made the decision for me. This can happen in so many larger aspects of life. However on the other hand, that choice was still ours. Adam and Eve also represent original sin. Greg has made his own choices to sin many times. Can one make the excuse that they were manipulated when in the end they participated in that sin? It’s a fine line.
In book 4, Slade was told that every man and woman has a unique personal cloud that follows you everywhere you go. My original thought was that this cloud was your conscience, which would tie this into the concept of good vs. evil. In this story, Slade would be the evil, the bad conscience, yet how can we consider Greg to be the good? Another idea that was brought up was that we are all only angels weighed down by filth. When I think of it that way, it is easier to see where Greg is good, but he is weighed down by filth. This is a unique way to view people, but I agree with it. I have spent a lot of time lately evaluating what is weighing me down in my life. As I read The Filth, I can’t help but think more and more about what the filth in my life is. The hardest part is eliminating that filth. Book 4 then brought forward the idea that internal voices can tell us to love and hate. This is true, but is it also true that we only hear the voice of the eternal germ? It’s an easy trap to fall into and a terrible habit to break.
Although book 5 is too difficult to even put into words, I was interested in the idea of “fuck of be fucked.” This reminded me of what was brought up in class, the idea that the point of this book is that life is messy but someone has to clean it up. In the end, the enemy is from within and we can blame other people and manipulation all we want, but really the only person to blame is ourselves. It is becoming more and clearer that this book is a metaphor for the way that we live.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
The Filth
When I first opened up The Filth, I knew this was going to be a harder read for me. For starters, this is the first comic book I have ever read. I have always had the idea in my head that I would not enjoy one and have never tested that assumption. Now, I’ve been forced to. I have only read the first two sections this far, but must admit to at least be intrigued. I am intrigued to the point that I want to continue reading, but worried about how these comics will develop.
The first page of the first comic caught my attention when there were people discussing how they hate smoking, while they are smoking. They compared smoking to violence, they hate it but they do it. One mad said “it makes me feel quite dirty.” I am not sure if he was speaking of the smoking or the violence, but it could stand for addiction in general. When you get into a routine, there comes a point where there seems to be no turning back. In this case, with smoking and violence, it has become who these people are. However it is with everything. The main character Greg seems to be addicted to porn. He is living with a cat and we learn his mom has died and he is divorced. There is no way he is happy with the state that he is in right now, but he seems to think that there is no turning back. I found myself imagining what Greg’s old life used to be like and what got him to the point that he needs to be creating a para persona. One of the hardest things a person can do is be aware of what makes them unhappy and truly cut that out of their lives. It is easier to ignore the problem/addiction, than to face it and fight it.
In the second story from this collection, we learn about Greg’s new personality, Edward Slade. He goes from being Greg, a balding old man, to a younger and muscular man, with great hair. He is aware of the evil that he is contributing in, but does not know how to go back. At one point he makes the comment, “I can’t be normal, I can’t be here, in this place, and still be normal at the same time.” It is impossible for him to live his normal life as Greg and be Edward Slade on the side. It reminded me of the concept of good vs. evil. One can only enjoy both for so long, before one begins to outweigh the other. The evil can easily consume a person. As Edward, the character said, “Why do you think it turns me on so much to ruin and pollute everything that’s decent and good?” As the chapter is concluding, the storyline gets to the point that Edward does not remember who he was when this started. The para personality has taken over.
As I read this, I found it interesting that it is taking place in comic book form. This idea was actually brought up in class: Is this comic? Most readers would begin this and put it down after the first issue. In fact, a student in the class admitted to not understanding it until re reading it after our previous novels. At the same time, there is clearly more to the storyline than meets the eye. The filth is said to contain the “active ingredient” of a metaphor. For the readers in this class, the comic book means more than for the average person. Even though I am still having troubles understanding what the author is trying to get across, the only reason I am even remotely intrigued by these stories is because of the previous readings in the class. It is a good thing this class is opening up my eyes because I have a feeling these comics will only become more disturbing.
The first page of the first comic caught my attention when there were people discussing how they hate smoking, while they are smoking. They compared smoking to violence, they hate it but they do it. One mad said “it makes me feel quite dirty.” I am not sure if he was speaking of the smoking or the violence, but it could stand for addiction in general. When you get into a routine, there comes a point where there seems to be no turning back. In this case, with smoking and violence, it has become who these people are. However it is with everything. The main character Greg seems to be addicted to porn. He is living with a cat and we learn his mom has died and he is divorced. There is no way he is happy with the state that he is in right now, but he seems to think that there is no turning back. I found myself imagining what Greg’s old life used to be like and what got him to the point that he needs to be creating a para persona. One of the hardest things a person can do is be aware of what makes them unhappy and truly cut that out of their lives. It is easier to ignore the problem/addiction, than to face it and fight it.
In the second story from this collection, we learn about Greg’s new personality, Edward Slade. He goes from being Greg, a balding old man, to a younger and muscular man, with great hair. He is aware of the evil that he is contributing in, but does not know how to go back. At one point he makes the comment, “I can’t be normal, I can’t be here, in this place, and still be normal at the same time.” It is impossible for him to live his normal life as Greg and be Edward Slade on the side. It reminded me of the concept of good vs. evil. One can only enjoy both for so long, before one begins to outweigh the other. The evil can easily consume a person. As Edward, the character said, “Why do you think it turns me on so much to ruin and pollute everything that’s decent and good?” As the chapter is concluding, the storyline gets to the point that Edward does not remember who he was when this started. The para personality has taken over.
As I read this, I found it interesting that it is taking place in comic book form. This idea was actually brought up in class: Is this comic? Most readers would begin this and put it down after the first issue. In fact, a student in the class admitted to not understanding it until re reading it after our previous novels. At the same time, there is clearly more to the storyline than meets the eye. The filth is said to contain the “active ingredient” of a metaphor. For the readers in this class, the comic book means more than for the average person. Even though I am still having troubles understanding what the author is trying to get across, the only reason I am even remotely intrigued by these stories is because of the previous readings in the class. It is a good thing this class is opening up my eyes because I have a feeling these comics will only become more disturbing.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Life Extreme
As I skimmed through Life Extreme I was very curious about what I was about to encounter. The title included that it was “An Illustrated Guide to New Life,” which intrigued me right away. I assumed that this book would be a book about changing views on life, or the norm. For the most part, it was. It seemed to be teaching about stepping outside of the box and opening your mind. It helped me to question the reality that I live in. The way that I approached this book was to write down the quotes that struck me the most and to analyze them a bit more.
This book, similar to every novel we have read thus far, begins by questioning the normal way of life. One of the first pages says, “What is the living being? The stability of life or of the living is thrown off course- especially when one evokes technology or machinery, which lean more towards death.” I understood this as a statement directed towards humans who are losing track of simplicity and getting caught up in this technological world that we live in. Technology, like everything, is good in moderation. However in my lifetime alone I have seen technology skyrocket. I remember when I was younger my dad had a cell phone that was the size of brick. Even when my brother was a freshman in high school he carried a pager. Technology has evolved so much in the last decade that I can’t imagine what is going to happen throughout the rest of my life. The same paragraph as before ended with, “Dasein calls upon a different calculus of being, no longer humanly centered.” Are any of us humanly centered anymore?
What caught my attention was some of the quotes about animals. Perhaps they struck me most because I have always been an animal lover, but after thinking about them I realized that even my appreciating for animals has changed in the last few years. This book helped me to take a step back and realized the things that I haven’t been appreciating like I used to, as a result of being caught up in this crazy world that we live in. Quotes such as, “An animal’s eyes have the power to speak a great language” and “I am who I am because my little dog knows me,” really made me think. I think the majority of us rely on other things to make us happy now, instead of the simple things that used to. I know I am guilty of this. Another quote that seemed to be directed towards appreciation was, “Nothing is stable in the whole universe, everything passes; All forms are made only to come and go.” If we are instable and only here for a short period of time, are we spending our time wisely? Will we truly feel fulfilled after spending the majority of our life swept up in technology? I’d have to lean towards no. Perhaps everyone needs to take a step back and reevaluate the whole picture. This brings me to the next quote that, “…the picture isn’t just about the birds, its about the bees too.” I would have to say that too many of us have forgotten about the bees.
While on the topic of animals, the next part of the book that struck me was the section about domestication. Life Extreme states that training is not only for animals, but it is part of domesticating humans. The book wondered what the difference was between family, a couple, and domestication. When you are living with another person and adapting to that person’s way of living, is that not the same thing as adapting to life with your parents or with a partner? Marriage is a way of making your partner your family; however isn’t domestication essentially another form of family? What was interesting to me was the idea of, “Does a house still shelter people or technology and invisible people?” Are we loosing track of the relationships with others and how fulfilling that can feel because we are distracted by technology? For the most part, I do not think we have become invisible people just yet. But I’m sure we have all been in the middle of a conversation with someone and that someone decided to text message or plays a game on their phone. When life was simpler, talking to one other person was just as fulfilling as today’s trend of talking to one person in person, while talking to 3 others via cell phone. This should be considered extremely bad etiquette. Then again, how much do we focus on etiquette anymore?
It is scary to think how much farther technology can take us before it begins to do nothing but take away from us.
This book, similar to every novel we have read thus far, begins by questioning the normal way of life. One of the first pages says, “What is the living being? The stability of life or of the living is thrown off course- especially when one evokes technology or machinery, which lean more towards death.” I understood this as a statement directed towards humans who are losing track of simplicity and getting caught up in this technological world that we live in. Technology, like everything, is good in moderation. However in my lifetime alone I have seen technology skyrocket. I remember when I was younger my dad had a cell phone that was the size of brick. Even when my brother was a freshman in high school he carried a pager. Technology has evolved so much in the last decade that I can’t imagine what is going to happen throughout the rest of my life. The same paragraph as before ended with, “Dasein calls upon a different calculus of being, no longer humanly centered.” Are any of us humanly centered anymore?
What caught my attention was some of the quotes about animals. Perhaps they struck me most because I have always been an animal lover, but after thinking about them I realized that even my appreciating for animals has changed in the last few years. This book helped me to take a step back and realized the things that I haven’t been appreciating like I used to, as a result of being caught up in this crazy world that we live in. Quotes such as, “An animal’s eyes have the power to speak a great language” and “I am who I am because my little dog knows me,” really made me think. I think the majority of us rely on other things to make us happy now, instead of the simple things that used to. I know I am guilty of this. Another quote that seemed to be directed towards appreciation was, “Nothing is stable in the whole universe, everything passes; All forms are made only to come and go.” If we are instable and only here for a short period of time, are we spending our time wisely? Will we truly feel fulfilled after spending the majority of our life swept up in technology? I’d have to lean towards no. Perhaps everyone needs to take a step back and reevaluate the whole picture. This brings me to the next quote that, “…the picture isn’t just about the birds, its about the bees too.” I would have to say that too many of us have forgotten about the bees.
While on the topic of animals, the next part of the book that struck me was the section about domestication. Life Extreme states that training is not only for animals, but it is part of domesticating humans. The book wondered what the difference was between family, a couple, and domestication. When you are living with another person and adapting to that person’s way of living, is that not the same thing as adapting to life with your parents or with a partner? Marriage is a way of making your partner your family; however isn’t domestication essentially another form of family? What was interesting to me was the idea of, “Does a house still shelter people or technology and invisible people?” Are we loosing track of the relationships with others and how fulfilling that can feel because we are distracted by technology? For the most part, I do not think we have become invisible people just yet. But I’m sure we have all been in the middle of a conversation with someone and that someone decided to text message or plays a game on their phone. When life was simpler, talking to one other person was just as fulfilling as today’s trend of talking to one person in person, while talking to 3 others via cell phone. This should be considered extremely bad etiquette. Then again, how much do we focus on etiquette anymore?
It is scary to think how much farther technology can take us before it begins to do nothing but take away from us.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Radical Alterity
I found Radical Alterity to be a very thought provoking novel. There were moments where I connected, moments where I was confused, and moments where that introduced me to thoughts that I had never even considered before. It was a very interesting read but at times the issues that were addressed became overwhelming to take in all at once.
The first issue I would like to discuss was the idea of strangers. This was brought into the novel by saying, “People confide in strangers more easily than to those closest to them. It is a remarkable relationship because the person farthest away also becomes the closest.” It seems so strange that a person could confide in a complete stranger before they confide in a parent or close friend, but I have found myself to be guilty of it many times. With a stranger, you have a clean slate. I have the tendency to believe that a stranger would judge me less because they know less about me. A stranger also has the ability to give more honest feedback, instead of someone close to you having the tendency to tell you what you want to hear. Or as the book states, “A stranger can therefore be an impartial observer, taking the distance needed to observe the conflicts or situations that do not concern him or her in any lasting way.” Where it gets tricky, is what happens when that stranger turns into a close friend after you confide in them? When you think about it, all relationships begin with being complete strangers. I mainly related to this idea because I feel as though my core group of friends that I have today are my friends because I confided in them as strangers, during a crisis. During my senior year of high school, my boyfriend of 3 years moved to Arizona to attend rehab. We both were from the same tiny high school, which meant every one of the 86 students in my class only had one thing to talk about: Eddie leaving and Nicole coping. To escape this I had to turn to strangers. I had just gotten hired at Jamba Juice and ended up confiding in two co-workers that were essentially strangers to me. My confiding in a stranger ended up being the icebreaker for two wonderful friendships. Two of my best friends today, exist solely because they were the strangers that comforted me during a transitional period of my life. How is it that during this time I didn’t turn to my best friend of 18 years or even my 3 best girlfriends from high school? It is not that I am not still close with these individuals, but as different experiences bring you closer to different individuals, it makes me wonder how long this cycle continues until your core group of friends is set for life. As soon as you think you are set, another stranger comes along.
Another section of the novel that really caught my attention was when it spoke of adolescence and parenting. I found the idea of the processes that teenagers and parents go through to be very interesting. The novel states, “A teenager goes through the process of mourning alterity, resigning him or herself to being an Other among others. Parents also go through a process of mourning…the moment when parents must kill the remainder that is inside them, the “wonderful child” that all adults leave behind with regret.” This has actually been an idea I have been thinking about since I moved away for college. When will my parents stop viewing me as a wonderful child? In my situation, after leaving home about a year and a half ago, I began to accept the fact that I will still be a child in their eyes, about the same time that they refused to accept the idea that I am becoming an adult. At the same time, my view towards this might be a little more extreme than others. My mom has been a 2nd grade teacher for over 20 years and probably has the biggest heart of anyone you could possibly imagine. She also has the heart of a child and has always had a love for dolls. In my living room are two 10 foot tall display cabinets, filled with hundreds of porcelain dolls. The day I was born, I became her personal doll. Until about two years ago, I was oblivious to just how spoiled I was, and even more so to just how much my mother adores me. Today, I am so grateful for it that words can’t even begin to describe, but before this I took it for granted. Regardless of my situation, in most cases a child will be more thankful for their parents once they become an adult. The question is, when comes the day that one’s parents realize that they have become an adult? It must be a heart wrenching experience for parents. Essentially, it is the death of their child. This thought makes me never want to have the “I am an adult now” argument with my parents again.
This novel goes on to talk about countless more ideas like this. I could go on an entire other tangent on what was said about technology, but I think I’ll be done for now. The introduction did not lie though…I’m impressed by the “cool thinking” that was presented.
The first issue I would like to discuss was the idea of strangers. This was brought into the novel by saying, “People confide in strangers more easily than to those closest to them. It is a remarkable relationship because the person farthest away also becomes the closest.” It seems so strange that a person could confide in a complete stranger before they confide in a parent or close friend, but I have found myself to be guilty of it many times. With a stranger, you have a clean slate. I have the tendency to believe that a stranger would judge me less because they know less about me. A stranger also has the ability to give more honest feedback, instead of someone close to you having the tendency to tell you what you want to hear. Or as the book states, “A stranger can therefore be an impartial observer, taking the distance needed to observe the conflicts or situations that do not concern him or her in any lasting way.” Where it gets tricky, is what happens when that stranger turns into a close friend after you confide in them? When you think about it, all relationships begin with being complete strangers. I mainly related to this idea because I feel as though my core group of friends that I have today are my friends because I confided in them as strangers, during a crisis. During my senior year of high school, my boyfriend of 3 years moved to Arizona to attend rehab. We both were from the same tiny high school, which meant every one of the 86 students in my class only had one thing to talk about: Eddie leaving and Nicole coping. To escape this I had to turn to strangers. I had just gotten hired at Jamba Juice and ended up confiding in two co-workers that were essentially strangers to me. My confiding in a stranger ended up being the icebreaker for two wonderful friendships. Two of my best friends today, exist solely because they were the strangers that comforted me during a transitional period of my life. How is it that during this time I didn’t turn to my best friend of 18 years or even my 3 best girlfriends from high school? It is not that I am not still close with these individuals, but as different experiences bring you closer to different individuals, it makes me wonder how long this cycle continues until your core group of friends is set for life. As soon as you think you are set, another stranger comes along.
Another section of the novel that really caught my attention was when it spoke of adolescence and parenting. I found the idea of the processes that teenagers and parents go through to be very interesting. The novel states, “A teenager goes through the process of mourning alterity, resigning him or herself to being an Other among others. Parents also go through a process of mourning…the moment when parents must kill the remainder that is inside them, the “wonderful child” that all adults leave behind with regret.” This has actually been an idea I have been thinking about since I moved away for college. When will my parents stop viewing me as a wonderful child? In my situation, after leaving home about a year and a half ago, I began to accept the fact that I will still be a child in their eyes, about the same time that they refused to accept the idea that I am becoming an adult. At the same time, my view towards this might be a little more extreme than others. My mom has been a 2nd grade teacher for over 20 years and probably has the biggest heart of anyone you could possibly imagine. She also has the heart of a child and has always had a love for dolls. In my living room are two 10 foot tall display cabinets, filled with hundreds of porcelain dolls. The day I was born, I became her personal doll. Until about two years ago, I was oblivious to just how spoiled I was, and even more so to just how much my mother adores me. Today, I am so grateful for it that words can’t even begin to describe, but before this I took it for granted. Regardless of my situation, in most cases a child will be more thankful for their parents once they become an adult. The question is, when comes the day that one’s parents realize that they have become an adult? It must be a heart wrenching experience for parents. Essentially, it is the death of their child. This thought makes me never want to have the “I am an adult now” argument with my parents again.
This novel goes on to talk about countless more ideas like this. I could go on an entire other tangent on what was said about technology, but I think I’ll be done for now. The introduction did not lie though…I’m impressed by the “cool thinking” that was presented.
Monday, February 2, 2009
The Ticket that Exploded: Blog 2
The final chapter of The Ticket That Exploded did help tie a few things together, but for the most part left me just as angry as the rest of the novel. It seems as though this novel was not too different than the others and proved just how easy it is to manipulate an audience. One line that caught my attention was “after analyzing recorded conversations you will learn to steer a conversation where you want it to go.” This made me wonder where the author wanted this novel to go. In a response to my last blog, Prichard wrote “It is odd that as readers we assume this voice is a proxy of the author. What if like many writers of satires he approaches the writing from the view of the culture itself. Doesn't culture view homosexuality and homosexuals in ways that are not too far off from this book…” Perhaps that is the answer to the question. Perhaps by appalling the audience, Burroughs was also hoping to manipulate the audience into seeing what we are blind to. As we discussed in class, people go to movies to be manipulated. A romantic comedy will meet our desires of what we consider true love. Manipulating someone into believing a fantasy is easy, yet in order to be manipulated into realizing the truth, we need something a little more shocking. I agree with Prichard that culture views homosexuality in a way that is not too far off from this book. Although we are improving generation by generation, many are still caught off guard by homosexuality. Even someone who claims to be completely open about it might get uncomfortable when a sexual gesture is actually acted upon.
Both of my best friends are homosexual, yet I was raised to believe that it was unnatural and abnormal. Both of my parents hold strong beliefs that homosexuality is a mental problem. I am forced to battle between supporting my best friends and respecting the beliefs of my elders. Homosexuality has become an unspoken issue in my household, because agreeing to disagree is easier than debating my parent’s unchangeable views. However, I also know many other homosexuals and can admit that the gay community is much different than the heterosexual. The idea of, “what does sex look like outside of love and emotion,” was brought up in class. In the case of every homosexual I know, sex exists first outside of love and emotion. At the same time, I was still offended by this novel even though I do accept that many people hold different morals. There needs to be a line, where homosexuals respect the beliefs of the elders, and the elderly are more accepting of a more open generation. It’s not that homosexuality just originated, yet it is just not beginning to be accepted.
On Plurk, the idea was raised that this novel would have had an entirely different response if it was about all women instead of men. Personally, homosexuality used to be an issue that I was very uncomfortable with it because it was something that I was sheltered from. Even though I am accepting of it now, I still find lesbians more unnatural than gay men. Attraction to your same gender is not the issue that I have trouble finding natural, it is the issue of homosexual sex. If lesbians have to bring in inanimate objects in order to have sex, this seems much more unnatural than the processes of gay men. That said, for me this novel would be just as, if not more, offensive if it was purely about women. Yet for some reason, society does not think into natural and unnatural, they are turned on by the idea of two women. With that said, even if I would be disgusted by the other version of this book, I would have loved to see the author’s take on it.
The novel ended with the line, “the more you run the tapes through and cut them the less power they will have.” This made me think about how the more you read the book the more normal and less offensive the material comes. The more immune you become to the disgust you once had. I know that in time this is exactly what is going to happen with homosexuality and the more normal it will become.
Both of my best friends are homosexual, yet I was raised to believe that it was unnatural and abnormal. Both of my parents hold strong beliefs that homosexuality is a mental problem. I am forced to battle between supporting my best friends and respecting the beliefs of my elders. Homosexuality has become an unspoken issue in my household, because agreeing to disagree is easier than debating my parent’s unchangeable views. However, I also know many other homosexuals and can admit that the gay community is much different than the heterosexual. The idea of, “what does sex look like outside of love and emotion,” was brought up in class. In the case of every homosexual I know, sex exists first outside of love and emotion. At the same time, I was still offended by this novel even though I do accept that many people hold different morals. There needs to be a line, where homosexuals respect the beliefs of the elders, and the elderly are more accepting of a more open generation. It’s not that homosexuality just originated, yet it is just not beginning to be accepted.
On Plurk, the idea was raised that this novel would have had an entirely different response if it was about all women instead of men. Personally, homosexuality used to be an issue that I was very uncomfortable with it because it was something that I was sheltered from. Even though I am accepting of it now, I still find lesbians more unnatural than gay men. Attraction to your same gender is not the issue that I have trouble finding natural, it is the issue of homosexual sex. If lesbians have to bring in inanimate objects in order to have sex, this seems much more unnatural than the processes of gay men. That said, for me this novel would be just as, if not more, offensive if it was purely about women. Yet for some reason, society does not think into natural and unnatural, they are turned on by the idea of two women. With that said, even if I would be disgusted by the other version of this book, I would have loved to see the author’s take on it.
The novel ended with the line, “the more you run the tapes through and cut them the less power they will have.” This made me think about how the more you read the book the more normal and less offensive the material comes. The more immune you become to the disgust you once had. I know that in time this is exactly what is going to happen with homosexuality and the more normal it will become.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
The Ticket that Exploded: Blog 1
After reading the first chapter of this novel, I was so disturbed and confused that I was about ready to cry. Instead I put the book down and gave up for the night. I blame my 7 years of Catholic school for my disgust towards this novel. There were run on sentences left and right, as well as a complete disregard for a more modest view of sex. I was constantly re-reading lines and if I were to complete the entire novel and comprehend it, I would need a lot more time. Luckily, I saw in class today that I was not the only person who was noticing missing pieces. In fact, one student admitted to opening up to random pages and reading those, because the book did not follow a timeline anyways. At least it was comforting to know that everyone was pretty confused.
One of the first things that really set me off about this novel was being introduced to the Garden of Delights. It was introduced by, “…his plan called for Cinerama film sequences featuring the Garden of Delights shows all kinds of masturbation and self- abuse young boys need it special it’s all electric and very technical you sit down anywhere some sex wheel sidles up your ass or clamps onto your spine…” Not only is it extremely disturbing the thought that young boys have to experience this, I was angered by the fact that this Garden was referred to as G.O.D. for short. I am not a strict Catholic and I do not follow every single moral that Catholicism encourages, however I do respect them. I by no means expect anyone to save sex for marriage, but I do think that it should be treated a little more seriously than “I want you to shit and piss all over yourself when you see the gallows.”
I understand that there are many ways of viewing sex. A few months ago I was having a conversation with a close friend where I explained that I didn’t understand the difference between having sex and making love. That person responded with, “Well maybe you have never had sex with someone that you are in love with.” He was right. There is a huge separation between the meaning behind sex and the meaning behind making love. Sometimes sex can treated as a casual fulfillment of desires. Other times it can be viewed as making love, which includes devotion, and emotion. However, the sex described in this novel seemed more along the lines of rape and fetish. It made me sick to my stomach.
The author must have motivation behind his madness. For me, he succeeded in provoking anger. At the same time, he forced me to evaluate my morals and religious views, and compare them to that of the books. A thought raised in class was, why can sex only exist within a certain frame? This is where I see a clear difference in the term “sex” versus the term “making love.” The sex in this novel did not occur due to love. On the contrary, this novel includes a lot of hatred and evil. I still have more connecting to do with this book. Right now I am still pretty confused by the author’s motives behind this type of book and am still working on understanding the text as a whole.
One of the first things that really set me off about this novel was being introduced to the Garden of Delights. It was introduced by, “…his plan called for Cinerama film sequences featuring the Garden of Delights shows all kinds of masturbation and self- abuse young boys need it special it’s all electric and very technical you sit down anywhere some sex wheel sidles up your ass or clamps onto your spine…” Not only is it extremely disturbing the thought that young boys have to experience this, I was angered by the fact that this Garden was referred to as G.O.D. for short. I am not a strict Catholic and I do not follow every single moral that Catholicism encourages, however I do respect them. I by no means expect anyone to save sex for marriage, but I do think that it should be treated a little more seriously than “I want you to shit and piss all over yourself when you see the gallows.”
I understand that there are many ways of viewing sex. A few months ago I was having a conversation with a close friend where I explained that I didn’t understand the difference between having sex and making love. That person responded with, “Well maybe you have never had sex with someone that you are in love with.” He was right. There is a huge separation between the meaning behind sex and the meaning behind making love. Sometimes sex can treated as a casual fulfillment of desires. Other times it can be viewed as making love, which includes devotion, and emotion. However, the sex described in this novel seemed more along the lines of rape and fetish. It made me sick to my stomach.
The author must have motivation behind his madness. For me, he succeeded in provoking anger. At the same time, he forced me to evaluate my morals and religious views, and compare them to that of the books. A thought raised in class was, why can sex only exist within a certain frame? This is where I see a clear difference in the term “sex” versus the term “making love.” The sex in this novel did not occur due to love. On the contrary, this novel includes a lot of hatred and evil. I still have more connecting to do with this book. Right now I am still pretty confused by the author’s motives behind this type of book and am still working on understanding the text as a whole.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Blog 2: The Invention of Morel
Well, that was unexpected. It finally occurred to me at page 44 that I could have been terribly wrong with both of my theories. On pages 44 the narrator refers to new people as “new ghosts,” which made me believe there is the possibility that he is the only living one. However, even with this new thought I still never expected how this was about to unfold. I can honestly say I was glued to the last half of this novel.
The narrator’s “love” for Faustine is the first thing worth discussing. First of all, I would hardly consider it love, but instead an intense lust. What could he love her for? He has never spoken to her, only observed and admired. Although he is willing to risk his life (in his mind) for her, this is not for love. It could be an obsession formed out of the insanity that this island is creating. On page 45 he states, “As I looked at her I reflected that I was risking everything... for that ample body, those long, slender legs, that ridiculous sensuality.” For someone who spoke so poetically about love in the first half, he was creeping me out in the second half of this novel with his fixation on Faustine. For example, the narrator was to the point of thinking about either abducting her or risking his safety for her. Neither of those portrays true romance in my eyes.
I was also very interested in the narrator’s theories for what is happening to himself. At this point in the book I start to see more sanity in him than I was imagining this entire time. The novel set it up to look as though he was going crazy, and I fell right into the trap. The narrator had five theories for what could happen to him. I did think it was humorous that during the first half of the novel I myself set up three theories for what was happening to him. His first theory was that he was imagining the people, second was that he was invisible, third was that the beings were from another planet, fourth was that he was in an insane asylum, and fifth was that the intruders were a group of dead friends and he is the traveler. By the fifth theory I was laughing in my head and making jokes that this entire novel was going to end with him simply having the sixth sense and being able to see dead people. I suppose that joke came back to bite me too.
The point where the narrator understood that he must be dead and that the other beings are not viewing him, made me believe that he wasn’t the one with the problem. He understood the reality of the situation too well to be the insane one. I almost went along with his hypothesis that he was in hell, however he had previously stated how hot the weather was with two suns and hell is actually freezing. At this point I thought again that perhaps he was in purgatory. Then came his statement on page 58: “Now it seems that the real situation is not the one I described on the foregoing pages; the situation I am living is not what I think it is.” I don’t think the outcome of this novel would be what anyone would have guessed. In fact, I am not sure how much I liked it.
I like the overall idea of having a pleasant eternity. Morel invented a machine which will reproduce, record, and project a point in your life, in order to ensure a pleasant eternity. Therefore, Morel set up this week with friends so that they would be at their happiest for eternity. This entire time the narrator had been watching a recording. It is said that these images have souls. As everything oddly fell together I began thinking first about which day I would want to relive for my own pleasant eternity and secondly about how I would have rather had the novel end. At the point where the narrator said, “When minds of greater refinement that Morel’s begin to work on the invention, man will selected a lonely, pleasant place, will go there with the persons he loves most, and will endure in an intimate paradise,” I was thinking that I much rather would have read that book!
Overall, the turn of events in the last half of this novel definitely took me for a ride. It seemed as though the book switched from the narrator being the crazy one, to perhaps being the only sane one. At the same time, living on an island where you are viewing a projection of life instead of actually life, is bound to make anyone go a little crazy.
The end of the novel had a Romeo and Juliet feel for me, but it was hard for me to find it romantic. Instead I found it mostly eerie. I was surprised that he finally got what he wanted: eternity with Faustine. The novel ends with him adding himself into the recorded week. As he is experiencing the transition, the death, he states, “My soul has not yet passed to the image; if it had, I would have died, I (perhaps) would no longer see Faustine, and would be with her in a vision that no one can ever destroy.” I guess it is true what they say, love is blind!
The narrator’s “love” for Faustine is the first thing worth discussing. First of all, I would hardly consider it love, but instead an intense lust. What could he love her for? He has never spoken to her, only observed and admired. Although he is willing to risk his life (in his mind) for her, this is not for love. It could be an obsession formed out of the insanity that this island is creating. On page 45 he states, “As I looked at her I reflected that I was risking everything... for that ample body, those long, slender legs, that ridiculous sensuality.” For someone who spoke so poetically about love in the first half, he was creeping me out in the second half of this novel with his fixation on Faustine. For example, the narrator was to the point of thinking about either abducting her or risking his safety for her. Neither of those portrays true romance in my eyes.
I was also very interested in the narrator’s theories for what is happening to himself. At this point in the book I start to see more sanity in him than I was imagining this entire time. The novel set it up to look as though he was going crazy, and I fell right into the trap. The narrator had five theories for what could happen to him. I did think it was humorous that during the first half of the novel I myself set up three theories for what was happening to him. His first theory was that he was imagining the people, second was that he was invisible, third was that the beings were from another planet, fourth was that he was in an insane asylum, and fifth was that the intruders were a group of dead friends and he is the traveler. By the fifth theory I was laughing in my head and making jokes that this entire novel was going to end with him simply having the sixth sense and being able to see dead people. I suppose that joke came back to bite me too.
The point where the narrator understood that he must be dead and that the other beings are not viewing him, made me believe that he wasn’t the one with the problem. He understood the reality of the situation too well to be the insane one. I almost went along with his hypothesis that he was in hell, however he had previously stated how hot the weather was with two suns and hell is actually freezing. At this point I thought again that perhaps he was in purgatory. Then came his statement on page 58: “Now it seems that the real situation is not the one I described on the foregoing pages; the situation I am living is not what I think it is.” I don’t think the outcome of this novel would be what anyone would have guessed. In fact, I am not sure how much I liked it.
I like the overall idea of having a pleasant eternity. Morel invented a machine which will reproduce, record, and project a point in your life, in order to ensure a pleasant eternity. Therefore, Morel set up this week with friends so that they would be at their happiest for eternity. This entire time the narrator had been watching a recording. It is said that these images have souls. As everything oddly fell together I began thinking first about which day I would want to relive for my own pleasant eternity and secondly about how I would have rather had the novel end. At the point where the narrator said, “When minds of greater refinement that Morel’s begin to work on the invention, man will selected a lonely, pleasant place, will go there with the persons he loves most, and will endure in an intimate paradise,” I was thinking that I much rather would have read that book!
Overall, the turn of events in the last half of this novel definitely took me for a ride. It seemed as though the book switched from the narrator being the crazy one, to perhaps being the only sane one. At the same time, living on an island where you are viewing a projection of life instead of actually life, is bound to make anyone go a little crazy.
The end of the novel had a Romeo and Juliet feel for me, but it was hard for me to find it romantic. Instead I found it mostly eerie. I was surprised that he finally got what he wanted: eternity with Faustine. The novel ends with him adding himself into the recorded week. As he is experiencing the transition, the death, he states, “My soul has not yet passed to the image; if it had, I would have died, I (perhaps) would no longer see Faustine, and would be with her in a vision that no one can ever destroy.” I guess it is true what they say, love is blind!
Monday, January 19, 2009
N + 7
Original Lyrics:
"Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today..."
N + 7 Version:
"Imagine there's no heckle
Jab easy if yourself try
No helmet below us
Above us only skyline
Imagine all the pepsin
Living for today..."
"Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today..."
N + 7 Version:
"Imagine there's no heckle
Jab easy if yourself try
No helmet below us
Above us only skyline
Imagine all the pepsin
Living for today..."
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Blog 1: The Invention of Morel
On the first day of class I was sitting in my seat, dreading what I was about to have to endure for an entire quarter. After viewing the syllabus I had no idea how I would survive. Not only did I feel as though the plurk and blog aspects of this course would go right over my head, I also feared that this would be another English class filled with novels that I would not be able to follow or that I would have to fight with to stay awake. It’s not that I don’t enjoy reading, but this was my first college English course that was not purely writing. I’ve been able to only read for pleasure since high school, so needless to say I did not expect much when opening up The Invention of Morel.
Once I got my blog set up, my confidence level for the course rose dramatically. Once I emailed the professor and he told me to breathe, I really felt a lot better. After reading the first half of The Invention of Morel, I was actually excited. Surprisingly, the novel was keeping me at the edge of my seat. I was first drawn in my a few quotes from just the introduction and prologue. Throughout the entire novel there are very thought provoking points. Besides this, the novel kept me interested with the mystery, confusion, and hope. Now that I feel 100 times more ready for this course, I just with Plurk.com would load on my lap top…
I will begin with what drew me into this novel. Page viii states, “The body is imaginary, and we bow to the tyranny of a phantom. Love is a privilege perception, the most total and lucid not only of the unreality of the world but of our own unreality: not only do we traverse a realm of shadows; but ourselves are shadows.” What a better way of putting saying that one quote “it is better to have loved and lost, than to have never loved at all.” The novels way makes you understand why. Love really is a privilege and something that anyone should be lucky to experience. Anyone who has loved and lost, which I believe I have, can admit how much of a privilege love is. Love makes you feel as though the world is at your feet and everything makes sense. The introduction further explained that the author likes to “make both the protagonist and reader painfully aware of solitude, and of the pathetic, tragic, and yet comic ways in which lovers lose one another, and the impossibility of being the heroic master of one’s destiny.” At this point I was hooked. It seems as though every day I think about how beautiful love can be, how tragic love can be, how pathetic people in love can act, and how funny it all really is. I knew that not only I was about to gain a lot of knowledge about love, but that I was about to gain a lot of knowledge about the beauty of solitude. I could go on for pages about just what I have learned from the first 40 some pages of this book, but maybe I should get more into that in my next blog. For now I should probably get more into the characters.
At this point in time I have three theories for the narrator. My first theory is that he is completely insane; however this is only plausible if he is imagining or hallucinating every person he encounters. If the people are actually there, then my theory is that in fact he has been dead for a few years and still convinced that he is alive and hiding. I think that there is a great possibility that he killed himself years ago. My only other theory could be that he is in some sort of afterlife, most likely hell or purgatory. I’m pretty sure my second theory is the one that will play out, however I really hope that none of my theories are correct and I will be completely shocked at the end and feel like an idiot.
I am also very curious as to what the narrator did to have the police chasing after him. On page 34 he states, “I am in a bad state of mind. It seems that for a long time I have known that everything I do is wrong, and yet I have kept the same way, stupidly, obstinately. I might have acted this way in a dream, or if I were insane.” I suppose that could add a fourth theory that he is dreaming, but that seems too easy too. What comes next in the paragraph is what helped me form theory two. He says, “…I had this dream, like a symbolic and premature commentary on my life: as I was playing a game of croquet, I learned that my part in the game was killing a man. Then suddenly, I knew I was that man.” At this point, I began to wonder if in his head the police are chasing after him for killing a man; therefore he is in hiding on this island. In reality, the man he killed is himself, and he is actually living death. It also seems impossible that this man is still alive.
When I first was reading this novel I was convinced that he was simply insane. There are dozens of examples of where he could be insane. From him exploring this museum which seems to be made up in his head, to him hearing footsteps or voices, to him planting a garden that is sure to blow away or get taken by the ocean, to him believing that this woman is just messing with him when clearly she must not see him. It wasn’t until the woman was brought into the novel that I was convinced there is no way he is alive. When he began suggesting what he could write in his gardgen, I got another feeling that he was dead. He was debating between, “You have kept a dead man on this island from sleeping,” “I am no longer dead: I am in love” and “You have awakened me from a living death on this island.” Perhaps this man is such a romantic that he is hoping love will bring him alive again. In that case, maybe we can combine my first and second theories, in that he is insane and dead. I can’t wait to see how this plays out!
Once I got my blog set up, my confidence level for the course rose dramatically. Once I emailed the professor and he told me to breathe, I really felt a lot better. After reading the first half of The Invention of Morel, I was actually excited. Surprisingly, the novel was keeping me at the edge of my seat. I was first drawn in my a few quotes from just the introduction and prologue. Throughout the entire novel there are very thought provoking points. Besides this, the novel kept me interested with the mystery, confusion, and hope. Now that I feel 100 times more ready for this course, I just with Plurk.com would load on my lap top…
I will begin with what drew me into this novel. Page viii states, “The body is imaginary, and we bow to the tyranny of a phantom. Love is a privilege perception, the most total and lucid not only of the unreality of the world but of our own unreality: not only do we traverse a realm of shadows; but ourselves are shadows.” What a better way of putting saying that one quote “it is better to have loved and lost, than to have never loved at all.” The novels way makes you understand why. Love really is a privilege and something that anyone should be lucky to experience. Anyone who has loved and lost, which I believe I have, can admit how much of a privilege love is. Love makes you feel as though the world is at your feet and everything makes sense. The introduction further explained that the author likes to “make both the protagonist and reader painfully aware of solitude, and of the pathetic, tragic, and yet comic ways in which lovers lose one another, and the impossibility of being the heroic master of one’s destiny.” At this point I was hooked. It seems as though every day I think about how beautiful love can be, how tragic love can be, how pathetic people in love can act, and how funny it all really is. I knew that not only I was about to gain a lot of knowledge about love, but that I was about to gain a lot of knowledge about the beauty of solitude. I could go on for pages about just what I have learned from the first 40 some pages of this book, but maybe I should get more into that in my next blog. For now I should probably get more into the characters.
At this point in time I have three theories for the narrator. My first theory is that he is completely insane; however this is only plausible if he is imagining or hallucinating every person he encounters. If the people are actually there, then my theory is that in fact he has been dead for a few years and still convinced that he is alive and hiding. I think that there is a great possibility that he killed himself years ago. My only other theory could be that he is in some sort of afterlife, most likely hell or purgatory. I’m pretty sure my second theory is the one that will play out, however I really hope that none of my theories are correct and I will be completely shocked at the end and feel like an idiot.
I am also very curious as to what the narrator did to have the police chasing after him. On page 34 he states, “I am in a bad state of mind. It seems that for a long time I have known that everything I do is wrong, and yet I have kept the same way, stupidly, obstinately. I might have acted this way in a dream, or if I were insane.” I suppose that could add a fourth theory that he is dreaming, but that seems too easy too. What comes next in the paragraph is what helped me form theory two. He says, “…I had this dream, like a symbolic and premature commentary on my life: as I was playing a game of croquet, I learned that my part in the game was killing a man. Then suddenly, I knew I was that man.” At this point, I began to wonder if in his head the police are chasing after him for killing a man; therefore he is in hiding on this island. In reality, the man he killed is himself, and he is actually living death. It also seems impossible that this man is still alive.
When I first was reading this novel I was convinced that he was simply insane. There are dozens of examples of where he could be insane. From him exploring this museum which seems to be made up in his head, to him hearing footsteps or voices, to him planting a garden that is sure to blow away or get taken by the ocean, to him believing that this woman is just messing with him when clearly she must not see him. It wasn’t until the woman was brought into the novel that I was convinced there is no way he is alive. When he began suggesting what he could write in his gardgen, I got another feeling that he was dead. He was debating between, “You have kept a dead man on this island from sleeping,” “I am no longer dead: I am in love” and “You have awakened me from a living death on this island.” Perhaps this man is such a romantic that he is hoping love will bring him alive again. In that case, maybe we can combine my first and second theories, in that he is insane and dead. I can’t wait to see how this plays out!
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
My Pataphor
After still having trouble with Plurk.com loading on my computer.... Here is my pataphor!
"Janson and Nicole's friendship is a constant upward or downward spiral. Snakes slither through the gossip and mind games. Finally, Janson and Nicole embrace and together climb up the ladder."
"Janson and Nicole's friendship is a constant upward or downward spiral. Snakes slither through the gossip and mind games. Finally, Janson and Nicole embrace and together climb up the ladder."
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