Normal Sleeping Patterns/The Big U
Last night, I slept from about 7:30PM-8:00AM. I realize that this isn't exactly a "normal sleeping pattern", but the key is, I was sleeping during the night. The length of the sleep can be explained by the fact that in order to stay awake until 7:30 (which I forced myself to do) I went without sleep for about 21 hours. Now, I wonder if I'm going to be able to maintain this new sleeping pattern? Probably not XD Oh well, I'll give it a shot!
I finished reading The Big U yesterday. It is... one of the craziest books I've ever read. Perhaps the craziest. It begins as an examination of certain individuals (which is a very key term in the book: those who are different from the norm) living in an overcrowded, uber-industrialized university, and slowly sinks into what is, in the end, a full scale civil war. No, I'm not talking about some sort of conflict between students. I'm talking about the school itself becoming a literal warzone, a site for a war of global importance. The way it gets there is deeply, deeply satirical, and a lot of the humour in the book comes from the pure absurdity of... pretty much everything.
This book was especially relevant for me as a freshman this year. In fact, the book left me deeply disturbed when thinking about the very real parallels and similarities between the world of The Big U and my own. There is a lot to take from the book politically and socially, however, and is a good reminder of extremes faced at university and how not to cross into them. I would absolutely recommend the book. It's hilarious, poignent, and downright terrifying. I would, however, warn people before going in that there are a couple of very disturbing scenes, one of which has to do with rape - a fairly recurring theme in the novel. Rape is always treated as vile, and it's more the effect of it that's explored than the act, but I found the rape scene very, very disturbing. It's a good reminder, especially to women, to NEVER have an open drink unwatched and unattended *shudder*
Well, didn't want to leave the talk of the book on quite a negative note - the book is often hilarious, but when it isn't, it makes its message very clear. Neal Stephenson manag to juggle a pretty impressively large cast. The perspective is always the same, but the focus changes dramatically. This is a really, really well written book, and eveyone should consider reading it, especially those in university this year. I would say those planning on going to university as well, but honestly, I think it might scare you away O_O
Wow, I read two books in three days! Not too bad at all. I'm going to have to see if I can keep this streak going. Next up will probably be a book I was assigned to read for History of Western Intellectual Thought: A Canticle For Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller, Jr.
Well, it's time to get ready for class. I'll post again eventually - although it very well may not be at 3am this time!
I finished reading The Big U yesterday. It is... one of the craziest books I've ever read. Perhaps the craziest. It begins as an examination of certain individuals (which is a very key term in the book: those who are different from the norm) living in an overcrowded, uber-industrialized university, and slowly sinks into what is, in the end, a full scale civil war. No, I'm not talking about some sort of conflict between students. I'm talking about the school itself becoming a literal warzone, a site for a war of global importance. The way it gets there is deeply, deeply satirical, and a lot of the humour in the book comes from the pure absurdity of... pretty much everything.
This book was especially relevant for me as a freshman this year. In fact, the book left me deeply disturbed when thinking about the very real parallels and similarities between the world of The Big U and my own. There is a lot to take from the book politically and socially, however, and is a good reminder of extremes faced at university and how not to cross into them. I would absolutely recommend the book. It's hilarious, poignent, and downright terrifying. I would, however, warn people before going in that there are a couple of very disturbing scenes, one of which has to do with rape - a fairly recurring theme in the novel. Rape is always treated as vile, and it's more the effect of it that's explored than the act, but I found the rape scene very, very disturbing. It's a good reminder, especially to women, to NEVER have an open drink unwatched and unattended *shudder*
Well, didn't want to leave the talk of the book on quite a negative note - the book is often hilarious, but when it isn't, it makes its message very clear. Neal Stephenson manag to juggle a pretty impressively large cast. The perspective is always the same, but the focus changes dramatically. This is a really, really well written book, and eveyone should consider reading it, especially those in university this year. I would say those planning on going to university as well, but honestly, I think it might scare you away O_O
Wow, I read two books in three days! Not too bad at all. I'm going to have to see if I can keep this streak going. Next up will probably be a book I was assigned to read for History of Western Intellectual Thought: A Canticle For Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller, Jr.
Well, it's time to get ready for class. I'll post again eventually - although it very well may not be at 3am this time!