What is your reaction to the novel as a whole? If you liked it, what did you enjoy most about it? If you didn't, what about the story did you find lacking?
Upon finishing Oracle Night, I was left in awe, possessing some feelings of astonishment concerning the ending of the novel. The novel is very captivating and interesting. The fact that Paul Auster was able to juggle two different plots is extremely talented. Somehow the novel’s ending wasn’t satisfying enough, yet somehow it is exactly the perfect ending for the novel. Surly it did rap-up all the single story lines in the novel, but it was missing the certain “flavor” which had been available all through the rest of the story.
Auster’s way of not dividing his novel into chapters is noteworthy, especially when understanding one of the main themes, time, and how time is linear, as though everything continues to continue. Even though the plot is over duration of a couple of days, the author allows everything to flow easily, depicting the flow of time. There are many references to time and the explicit difference between the past and future mainly when Sidney was considering writing the screenplay. “…As soon as one person began to travel in time, time as we knew it would be destroyed…”
From its multi-layered gripping plots to the occasional foot notes in which the Sidney describes the background, there are many special and unique features about Oracle Night.
Monday, September 8, 2008
Sunday, May 25, 2008
What do you think about The Rock of Tanios so far? Is there anything that you especially like or dislike about the plot, setting, or characters?
"In my native village, the rocks have name." The first sentence of the novel is captivating enough to initiate the reading of the novel. So far, I sincerely think that the novel is great! Many aspects in the novel allow me to believe so…
Firstly, the fact that the book is settled around a village in Lebanon is an advantage to it. Due to its setting, all the reference and traditions are familiar to me. On page 48, it is mentioned that all the village women had 'their hands deep in the cinnamon and caraway … preparing the meghli in honor of the newborn son.' This custom is well-known in Lebanon, let alone all other Middle Eastern countries. As a result, it is easy to make the cultural connection between my everyday life and that spoken of in the novel.
The characters are very interesting. The author makes them seem to be three dimensional. We, as readers, are able to visualize how they might look and understand their personality with their flaws. It is evident how feudalism affects the lives of the people there and how each person has their "position" in society.
Personally, I got carried away with the novel. I was extremely anxious to find of whom in truth the father of Tanios was. Even though it isn't clearly stated in the novel whether it is Gerious or the Sheikh, there are many reasons to justify why it is most probably the Sheikh. Page 34 says, 'She [Lamia] smiled. And so he shared with her all the September fruits.' Even though it is not evident, it is most likely to be a reference to sexual intercourse, especially because the timing was perfect. Gerious was away on a task the Sheikh had sent him on, they were alone in the castle, and soon after we find out that Lamia is pregnant. So, it is just a matter of filling in the blanks.
The Rock of Tanios is truly a page turner. In some ways it reminded me when reading Midaq Alley. They both explain the sociology of human nature, even though in different time periods. The novel has a lot of hidden meaning. To a certain extent it explains the history of Lebanon, the role of religion and feudalism on the people, and the culture of Lebanon at the time. It is all a matter of reading between the lines.
Firstly, the fact that the book is settled around a village in Lebanon is an advantage to it. Due to its setting, all the reference and traditions are familiar to me. On page 48, it is mentioned that all the village women had 'their hands deep in the cinnamon and caraway … preparing the meghli in honor of the newborn son.' This custom is well-known in Lebanon, let alone all other Middle Eastern countries. As a result, it is easy to make the cultural connection between my everyday life and that spoken of in the novel.
The characters are very interesting. The author makes them seem to be three dimensional. We, as readers, are able to visualize how they might look and understand their personality with their flaws. It is evident how feudalism affects the lives of the people there and how each person has their "position" in society.
Personally, I got carried away with the novel. I was extremely anxious to find of whom in truth the father of Tanios was. Even though it isn't clearly stated in the novel whether it is Gerious or the Sheikh, there are many reasons to justify why it is most probably the Sheikh. Page 34 says, 'She [Lamia] smiled. And so he shared with her all the September fruits.' Even though it is not evident, it is most likely to be a reference to sexual intercourse, especially because the timing was perfect. Gerious was away on a task the Sheikh had sent him on, they were alone in the castle, and soon after we find out that Lamia is pregnant. So, it is just a matter of filling in the blanks.
The Rock of Tanios is truly a page turner. In some ways it reminded me when reading Midaq Alley. They both explain the sociology of human nature, even though in different time periods. The novel has a lot of hidden meaning. To a certain extent it explains the history of Lebanon, the role of religion and feudalism on the people, and the culture of Lebanon at the time. It is all a matter of reading between the lines.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
My thoughts to Lord Byron and his poetry...
The mock epic poem Don Juan is considered by many scholars to be Lord Byron's greatest work. What are your thoughts as to the literary worth of the first two cantos that we have read? Are they good poetry?
Lord Byron's epic poem Don Juan is certainly unique. One of the many appealing qualities to it is the fact that Lord Byron uses a lot of parallelism between his life and that of Don Juan in the poem. Had it wasn't assigned to me from before to read the biography of Lord Byron, I wouldn't have recognized the parallelism. These similarities between the two personalities include the various amounts of sexual intercourses and death of their father at such a young age.
Lord Byron uses a lot of allusions, both historical and religious. In the cantos, historical references include mentioning Nelson, "Britannia's god of war", "Banquo's monarchs", and "great Caesar...Titus the master, Anthony tha slave,...". All these figures have some sort of historical importance either as a warrior or leader, which gives the poem more flavor with the description used. Numerous references to Eve in both the cantos are used such as, "Don Jose, like a lineal son of Eve"(Canto the First-Stanza 18) and "As when she rose upon us like an Eve"(Canto the Second-Stanza 213). It can be deduced that with all the references to Eve, Lord Byron is ridiculing the idea of religion and Genesis. With these descriptions, it is more vivid for the reader to visualize the poem and gives it more atmosphere.
It is very important to note that Don Juan is a mock poem. Lord Byron uses a lot of sarcastic language mocking many issues. One of the most mocked ideas is that of love. In Canto the Second, Stanza 205, it says, "Oh, Love! Thou art the very god of evil, /For after all, we cannot call thee devil." This part is self-explanatory describing the hypocrisy of "love". Certain examples show how Lord Byron is trying to also critisize society, but they are not as evident as in the rest of the cantos.
In comparison to Child Harold, I like Don Juan more. I feel as though Lord Byron depicts himself more in Don Juan than in Child Harold. Don Juan is original and that is probably all I can say. It tells a story of the main character, Don Juan, in the form of a poem, which isn't easy or used commonly.
Lord Byron's epic poem Don Juan is certainly unique. One of the many appealing qualities to it is the fact that Lord Byron uses a lot of parallelism between his life and that of Don Juan in the poem. Had it wasn't assigned to me from before to read the biography of Lord Byron, I wouldn't have recognized the parallelism. These similarities between the two personalities include the various amounts of sexual intercourses and death of their father at such a young age.
Lord Byron uses a lot of allusions, both historical and religious. In the cantos, historical references include mentioning Nelson, "Britannia's god of war", "Banquo's monarchs", and "great Caesar...Titus the master, Anthony tha slave,...". All these figures have some sort of historical importance either as a warrior or leader, which gives the poem more flavor with the description used. Numerous references to Eve in both the cantos are used such as, "Don Jose, like a lineal son of Eve"(Canto the First-Stanza 18) and "As when she rose upon us like an Eve"(Canto the Second-Stanza 213). It can be deduced that with all the references to Eve, Lord Byron is ridiculing the idea of religion and Genesis. With these descriptions, it is more vivid for the reader to visualize the poem and gives it more atmosphere.
It is very important to note that Don Juan is a mock poem. Lord Byron uses a lot of sarcastic language mocking many issues. One of the most mocked ideas is that of love. In Canto the Second, Stanza 205, it says, "Oh, Love! Thou art the very god of evil, /For after all, we cannot call thee devil." This part is self-explanatory describing the hypocrisy of "love". Certain examples show how Lord Byron is trying to also critisize society, but they are not as evident as in the rest of the cantos.
In comparison to Child Harold, I like Don Juan more. I feel as though Lord Byron depicts himself more in Don Juan than in Child Harold. Don Juan is original and that is probably all I can say. It tells a story of the main character, Don Juan, in the form of a poem, which isn't easy or used commonly.
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Untitled
Sitting here,
On the balcony,
Of my beautiful house in the mountains,
I look out and see life passing by
I see cars driving on the roads,
Each with a different speed and color
I see kids playing basket ball
With their round, half blown orange ball
I see people entering shops
Then others leaving with bags in their hands
I see a mom, a dad, two daughters, and two sons
Riding on bikes, giggling along the way
And I see my whole family
Surrounding me,
Supporting me,
Allowing life to pass gracefully
For me to grow and experience.
On the balcony,
Of my beautiful house in the mountains,
I look out and see life passing by
I see cars driving on the roads,
Each with a different speed and color
I see kids playing basket ball
With their round, half blown orange ball
I see people entering shops
Then others leaving with bags in their hands
I see a mom, a dad, two daughters, and two sons
Riding on bikes, giggling along the way
And I see my whole family
Surrounding me,
Supporting me,
Allowing life to pass gracefully
For me to grow and experience.
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