Two questions
What does one gain from independent travel?
What is my reaction to the changes in Z from one who values the collective to one who values individualism?
Monday, February 25, 2008
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Mo's Reflections on the first half of "Concise Dictionary"
First things first. I majored in English. I was a huge nerd, I spoke too much in class, I was clever, wrote pretty good papers, despite my spelling and grammar mishaps. Perhaps I was a smarty-pants sycophant- but I loved a good story- and I loved the theoretical aspect to how I approached the story. Technical terms, names, arguments, psychoanalytical, psycholinguistic, Marxist, Dereidian deconstruction, feminist, historical, reader response, all of that is a fog to me now- (might have been a fog ten years ago while sitting in a class learning these things for the first time as well) What has remained is my obsession with how the author uses the narrative structure to convey a story to his or her audience. How the author establishes a relationship between the plot and the reader. This is why I will read and re read Heart of Darkness-- all those layers of story telling, why I thought Paradise Lost was so good. Milton hit you with Paradise Lost from different points in time, Conrad as well- but he also adds different levels or what I call "frames" of narration. If you haven't read Heart of Darkness- ask me I'll tell you what you need to know.
I sat down with the book for the first time last night. I had been forcing myself to wait on it until more people had their copies, and I am glad I waited. I made it halfway through the book in one sitting- I certainly don't want to give anything away about the book- but thought I would use that Degree I earned in Literature and put some things out there that I'm mulling over.
1) Paratext What?? This is a term (I think) for text outside the direct narrative- so in this book we see paratext in the definitions she lists, the prologue- the bits in Italics that appear on their own , These are elements that the author include in her work- but not in the story. Why? I am such a nerd that I have books on this sort of thing- I started, but dropped a class on this exact subject at Queens College. I bet I'll have notes on this for the March 1 meeting.
2) Every now and again we have shifts in time- we are reading a diary- but she has some moments of retrospective commentary- I'll check the page number- this commentary is also paratextual.
3) Natural metaphors used in sex scenes- cave, garden, etc... Using metaphors across cultures and language.. Is there some sort of archetype going on?
I sat down with the book for the first time last night. I had been forcing myself to wait on it until more people had their copies, and I am glad I waited. I made it halfway through the book in one sitting- I certainly don't want to give anything away about the book- but thought I would use that Degree I earned in Literature and put some things out there that I'm mulling over.
1) Paratext What?? This is a term (I think) for text outside the direct narrative- so in this book we see paratext in the definitions she lists, the prologue- the bits in Italics that appear on their own , These are elements that the author include in her work- but not in the story. Why? I am such a nerd that I have books on this sort of thing- I started, but dropped a class on this exact subject at Queens College. I bet I'll have notes on this for the March 1 meeting.
2) Every now and again we have shifts in time- we are reading a diary- but she has some moments of retrospective commentary- I'll check the page number- this commentary is also paratextual.
3) Natural metaphors used in sex scenes- cave, garden, etc... Using metaphors across cultures and language.. Is there some sort of archetype going on?
Sunday, February 17, 2008
March Book Meeting
As promised a date, time and place have been set for the first Not Oprah's Book Club meeting.
Book: A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers by Xiaolu Guo.
(you will need to order it from your preferred book seller. Book Works on Rio Grande will offer you a 10 % discount if you tell them you are part of "not oprahs book club" [www.bkwrks.com] if you chose to order from them do so soon as it takes about a week to get the book in)
Date: Saturday, March 1
Time: 5:00 pm
Location: Yusif's Cafe, 216 Yale Blvd SE (north of Lead on Yale) (www.yusifs.com)
Please forward on to anyone who is interested. All are welcome.
Please bring with you ideas for future books, thoughts on the "Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers" and your calendar so we can set the next meeting date.
Don't hesitate to contact us if you have any questions- notoprahsbookclub@yahoo.com
Read on!
Monique and Angela
Book: A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers by Xiaolu Guo.
(you will need to order it from your preferred book seller. Book Works on Rio Grande will offer you a 10 % discount if you tell them you are part of "not oprahs book club" [www.bkwrks.com] if you chose to order from them do so soon as it takes about a week to get the book in)
Date: Saturday, March 1
Time: 5:00 pm
Location: Yusif's Cafe, 216 Yale Blvd SE (north of Lead on Yale) (www.yusifs.com)
Please forward on to anyone who is interested. All are welcome.
Please bring with you ideas for future books, thoughts on the "Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers" and your calendar so we can set the next meeting date.
Don't hesitate to contact us if you have any questions- notoprahsbookclub@yahoo.com
Read on!
Monique and Angela
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