Reading

Last night I finished reading The Reader by Bernhard Schlink. Has everyone seen the movie? The movie was fantastic, and this was a case where even after reading the book, the movie seems to hold its own in my mind. The book seemed like commentary. It did expand upon motivations, it explained the character's thoughts, and it presented elements with different emphases, but it didn't vastly outshine the movie to me. I wonder what I would have thought if I had read the book first. It was an easy and interesting read, and I would recommend it for that reason.

Mara, I remember when you wrote about about the movie on your blog. I'd only seen it once at that time, and to be honest, I didn't really know what scene you were referring to. Even when I re-watched it, I barely caught it. She needed kindness and warmth from him, but he was utterly unable to give it. He gave what he could, but he had his limits. I think I almost missed it because I understand. I thought he was justified in what he gave and what he withheld, because I live in a place where I have already had to give too much to others at times, and that has left me drained and feeling like I have little left to give. Thus, I don't entertain grand ideas about my own generosity of heart, or that of others.

The Book of Negroes

I'll admitt to being a little nervous when a friend lent this book to me and encouraged me to read it. Slavery is a hard topic and it seemed likely that this book would be both disturbing and possibly depressing. After finishing it during my convalescence this June, I can now say that I too would recommend it. Yes there are parts that are difficult to read and yes there are topics that are disturbing, but regardless of this the author creates a beautifully written and inspiring story. The heroine Aminata is a strong, intelligent, and compassionate woman and her story draws you in as she recounts her life up until her final days as an old woman in London. Although Aminata is not a real person, her story is universal, it's frought with pain, pleasure, hope, and bitter reality. Although Aminata never accomplishes the one thing that she has set out to do, she finds something even more precious.

"In Aminata Diallo, who evolves from stolen village child to the conscience of abolition, writer Lawrence Hill has crafted one of the most memorable female characters in Canadian fiction.... And here's how readers will come to know this — Aminata tends to linger long after the book's been finished and put aside....The Book of Negroes is thoughtful, stirring, saddening, resplendent and joyful. It's an evocative tome, and among the best in our fiction." The Hamilton Spectator

Re:

I lost the "Comment" button! At least, I didn't see it providing the option to comment on the last post! I hope that's not because you specifically didn't want any comments... So here I go!

Life of Pi had some disjointed aspects to it too, didn't it - scenes that fit a little bizarre-ly with the rest. Did you feel that way? Is that similar to what you found in this book?

I have also noticed Beatrice & Virgil at the book stores and become interested in reading it. I wanted to wait until it came out in paperback though - cheaper, and smaller to fit on the bookshelf! I'll look forward to that now. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and responses. It sounds philosophical. I wonder if it means to just raise questions instead of answer them...

beatrice & virgil

i loved life of pi, so i was all but terrified to pick up yann martel's latest novel, beatrice & virgil. what if it was disappointing?

well, the good news is that it is very, very well written. i'm just not sure how i feel about the story itself. the narrative turns on the question of how and why the holocaust should be depicted in art, and how and why it can be used as a lens of analysis for other tragedies. throw in a talking mounted donkey named beatrice and a talking mounted monkey named virgil and we've got ourselves a story!

the animals appear in a play written by one of the central characters. this man, a taxidermist by trade, writes beckett-esque dialogues in which the donkey and monkey consider the essence of a pear, the uselessness of language, and the degree to which memory is vital.

the use of animals, the description of the pear, and countless phrases of martel's are simply breathtaking. when he describes a room as being "full of adjectives," i just want to hug the book to my chest and let the beauty soak into me by osmosis.

but... like, the ending is terribly odd. the reveal is inelegant and the main character's realizations don't feel natural or follow an organic trajectory. there's an episode of outright melodrama that seems entirely unnecessary.

this book hasn't yet helped me answer its central question, which is one i've wondered about before. i don't know what to think about it.

here's what martel has to say:



i may finally read dante now.

Myself and Others

I recently read Anthem by Ayn Rand. It is set in a post-apocalyptic world (similar to By the Waters of Babylon, a fantastic short story I was introduced to in high school) that has little technology and whose inhabitants look back at our age in wonder. In Anthem, the society that has arisen is also totalitarian: it decides every aspect of a person's life. At birth, people are placed in the home of the infants, and at age five they begin ten years of study, at the end of which they are assigned a career and a home with all the others who do the same job. Each day is completely structured and monotonous. There are no marriages, and mating occurs as an awkward ritual one day a year. There are to be no friendships, for that would mean preferring one person above another. There are to be no preferences, for the state assigns what is best for each person. Learning is forbidden for everyone but the scholars because it is superfluous. The purpose of existing is to serve one's brothers. There is no individuality in this collectivist society. The word "I" has disappeared from the language, and everyone refers to themselves and others in the plural. (It was kind of creepy at first to read the protagonist constantly refer to himself as "we" - it reminded me of Gollum, and then made me question how often I do the same thing myself.)

The story is about the liberation of two characters from this society. Equality 7-2521 is banished for an innovative but wholly illegal discovery, and his forbidden love Liberty 5-3000 follows him. Together they find happiness in living a non-communal life.

The story concludes with these discoveries:

For I know what happiness is possible to me on earth. And my happiness needs no higher aim to vindicate it. My happiness is not the means to any end. It is the end. It is its own goal. It is its own purpose.
Neither am I the means to any end others may wish to accomplish. I am not a tool for their use. I am not a servant of their needs. I am not a bandage for their wounds. I am not a sacrifice for their altars.
I am a man. This miracle of me is mine to own and keep, mine to guard, and mine to use, and mine to kneel before!
I do not surrender my treasures, nor do I share them. The fortune of my spirit is not to be blown into coins of brass and flung to the winds as alms for the poor of the spirit. I guard my treasures: my thought, my will, my freedom. And the greatest of these is freedom.
I owe nothing to my brothers, nor do I gather debts from them. I ask none to live for me, no do I live for any others. I covet no man's soul, nor is my soul theirs to covet.
I am neither foe nor friend to my brothers, but such as each of them shall deserve of me. And to earn my love, my brothers must do more than have been born. I do not grant my love without reason, nor to any chance passer-by who may wish to claim it. I honor men with my love. But honor is a thing to be earned...
For the word "We" must never be spoken, save by one's choice and as a second thought. This word must never be placed first within man's soul, else it becomes a monster, the root of all the evils on earth, the root of man's torture by men, and of an unspeakable lie...
What is my joy if all hands, even the unclean, can reach into it? What is my wisdom, if even the fools can dictate to me? What is my freedom, if all creatures, even the botched and the impotent, are my masters? What is my life, if I am but to bow, to agree and to obey? (95-97)

At first I questioned the hyper-individualistic premise of the book. But then I learned that Ayn Rand grew up in Soviet Russia. She knew what she was writing about, and although collectivism can often be beautiful, she had seen its ugly sides. I found her perspective to be a very interesting one, and her background lent credibility to her argument.

This is not to say that I agree or that I am converted. I see her point; I feel like my view has gained a new dimension, but I think hyper-individuality can be similarly dangerous. I'm a big fan of the middle ground.

Around the same time that I was reading Anthem, I was also reading Becoming Human by Jean Vanier, the man who started the L'Arche communities that welcome people with disabilities. He offers a more communal view, saying that "A society can function well only if those within are concerned, not only with their own needs or the needs of those who immediately surround them, but by the needs of all, that is to say, by the common good and the family of nations," (34) and he feels that personal maturity requires involvement in a community (41). He sees individualism as a negative quality. However, he acknowledges the tension necessary between these two extremes, and he sees how living as part of a group can be unhealthy, oppressive and stifling. He acknowledges the need for personal attention.

I think the best alternative lies where we seek to develop ourselves in order to be a willing blessing to others. There was a moment of this in Anthem: Equality 7-2521 is excited to share his discovery with his brothers because it will benefit them, and although his personal search for knowledge is illegal he is sure that all will be forgiven in light of the gift he is presenting. Later, however, when things haven't turn out as he anticipated, he doubts his earlier goodwill and believes he only sought his own glory. I wish he hadn't changed his mind; I think the idea of giving to others is beautiful. I think that Equality 7-2521 went too far. But, then again, I have a relatively good sense of self, and I have never been forced to live for others. I have been able to aspire to this by choice.

Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town

I just finished reading Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town by Stephen Leacock. I borrowed this book from my Mom, who got it from a gift exchange, where it was contributed by someone who received it in a culture exchange at a Diabetes conference that brought nurses together from all over the country. My Mom has valued it much more than the original owner did, and she lent it to me with the recommendation that it is very charming.

Charming it is. Sunshine Sketches is about the inhabitants of a small town in Ontario. The stories are amusing, but one of the book's most interesting features is its narrator. He seems gullible and eternally optimistic, and much of what he relates is cause for a chuckle as we can see through what he says. He is boastful and egocentric, assuring the reader of the importance of his tiny town in the grand scheme of things, and yet he still remains charming.

Stephen Leacock is a Canadian author, and the book was written in 1912.

2 Good Quotes from "Slumdog Millionaire"

"I reflect on how good it is to have simple, uncomplicated ambitions, like shaking a film star's hand." (29)

"Meeting a long-lost friend is similar, I suppose, to eating a favourite dish after a long time. You don't know how your tastebuds will react after all this while, whether the dish will still taste as good as it used to. I met Salim after five long years with mixed emotions. Would our reunion be as warm as our friendship used to be? Would we still be as honest with each other?" (188)