Monday 4.5.10

I was actually gone for this class, but my reason for absence works out perfectly with the theme of this blog. In class we talked about how Sexson's friend always travels places but never reads books. Sexson said that the fufillment of reading a book can often be as rewarding as traveling to the place, if not more. I agree that reading books can be personally rewarding, but sometimes you just have to go to the place to actually experience it.

I was in Seattle this weekend visiting my boyfriend. We've been trying to date long distance for about three months now, seeing each other about once a month. I don't think any kind of reading could substitute actually going there to visit him. I think that's where the grey area begins in the controversy of reading books vs. visiting the real thing. If you're visiting a place to experience something that wouldn't necessarily take place in a book, then I'd say that going to that place is more rewarding then reading a book about it.

Wednesday 3.30.10

A while back, when were reading Antigone, we discussed how women and children with deformities were brought up to the top of a mountain and left to die. For the most part I agree with this but at one point in greek history, around the time of Alexander the Great, Greeks were fascinated with deformities, especially dwarfism. You can find the subject matter in many works of art from the period.

Monday 3.28.10

In class we discussed tragedies we've personally experienced. I haven't experienced a loss of a family member since I was around three, so I don't remember much. Something that really affected me recently is the loss of our van, Big Red. I grew up driving Big Red. She handled anything great - snow, rain, mud..anything. I have many fond memories in Big Red - from using her as the "party bus" to driving up to Glacier Park to go fly fishing. Big Red was special to me...she almost had a mysterious power behind her - I've never gotten in an accident and I think that's partly because of her. When my mom called to say they had taken her to the junk yard I actually stared crying. Not only was it the end of great memories, but the end of an era.

Friday 3.26.10

This week we discussed the true sense of tragedy and how are lives are all tragic. We were suppose to talk about a terrible day we've experiences recently. For the most part, my life hasn't been tragic. I've grown up in a good family and haven't suffered any major losses in my life. The only events of semi-tragedy that I think of revolve around relationships. When ever relationships have gone south, it seems like I'll fall into a bout of depression for a couple of months afterwards. So I guess what I'm trying to say is that initially you think that your life isn't a tragedy but when you think about it one bad even leads to another and you just have to live through the tragedy.

Wednesday, 3.24.10

Dostoyevsky claimed that Dmitri took on a life of his own as he was writing the book. He said that it was an iteresting experience; almost uncontrolled. I'm not sure if I believe this experience completely. I feel like Dostoyevsky said this to justify something that he couldn't flat-out say. You can use your writing as a portal to something that you wouldn't be able to say on your own.

Monday 3.22.10

In class we discussed how we've become boring, not our literature. This was in response to some people in the class claiming that the Brother K is a "boring" book. I think for the most part, that we have become a boring, impatient society. It's not really our fault though. We've been raised to find a faster, easier method to everything. The exercise of reading was not pushed enough in schools when I was growing up. I hated reading when I was little and elementry school didn't do much to help change that. It wasn't until junior high that I decided I enjoyed reading. I don't think it was one particular book or anything, but I just realized that it was really relaxing and intellectually stimulating to sit down and enjoy a good book for a couple hours. Hopefully when I have kids, the joy of reading won't be completely lost in school.

Friday 3.12.10

Today, Sexson asked us to look up the meaning of 'theodicy'. Here's what I found:

Theodicy is an answer to the problem of evil. Specifically, Theodicy is a specific branch of theology and philosophy which attempts to reconcile belief in God with the perceived existence of evil. As such, theodicy can be said to attempt to justify the behaviour of God (at least insofar as God allows evil).

In The Brother K, I believe it was Ivan that said "It's not that I don't accept God, I just don't accept the world he created."

This book has one of the biggest questionings of God in literary history.