(Untitled)

[unbonded_warder]

Bookings (note some of these are not full-length books or plays, but short plays, short stories, or novellas)
Bold the ones you have read:

Anon., Beowulf
Achebe, Chinua Things Fall Apart
Agee, James A Death in the Family
Austen, Jane Pride and PrejudiceBaldwin, James Go Tell It on the Mountain

Comments

[unbonded_warder]

Animal Farm.. hm. That should've been bold. I missed it. Read it for my Stalinism class at Iowa. Three Musketeers is something I'd like to read sometime. I've seen several of the film interpretations, and found something to like in most of them. Roga D'anar has a lot of D'artagnan's spirit in him.

The list seems pretty arbitrary, as there are a lot more works not included that I'd say need, or deserve, to be read more than many things that do show up. Here are the ones that held the most resonance or satisfaction for me:

Ellison, Ralph Invisible Man
Solzhenitsyn, Alexander One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich
Salinger, J.D. The Catcher in the Rye
Lee, Harper To Kill a Mockingbird
Huxley, Aldous Brave New World

I like these because, with the exception of Ivan Denisovich, they appeal to my Idealist focus on "what is possible" and "what is right." Ivan Denisovich is more concerned with "what is actual," but, having experienced quite a lot of health trouble, I find it very interesting how people adapt and defend against hardships beyond their control. I have found non-sensationalized accounts of gulag/prison/concentration camp life to be agreeable and interesting reading.

On the flip side, there was one entry I read that I totally despised and would never bother to go through again: Wuthering Heights. It probably didn't help that I was expected to digest this in 8th grade, but even today, I believe I would find the characters growing just as quickly unsympathetic and stupid as I did then.

There are four categories of conflict for me, whether the participants are two individuals or the United States and China:
- It's personal: Direct offense tends to remove rational objectivity and temporarily prevent proper categorization into one of the below groups. *shrug*
- Misunderstanding/petty squabbling: I try to smooth out communication to settle the dispute, encouraging recognition of differences, or distance myself from the trouble if I dislike all participants.
- Disagreement over a controversial issue: I often have an opinion and support it against all sorts of foolishness. But usually I am willing to allow that my position is not the only one that's right or understandable.
- The emergence of evil: Signalled by disgusting greed and/or cruelty. Hitler. The Spanish Inquisition. A woman who continues to take 50% of her first husband's yearly income in child support even after marrying again to a guy who makes over $100k. There are times when the proper and effective solution is to kick someone's ass (different means of butt-kicking are called for in different situations - military, legal, etc.. but the principle remains the same).

Anyway, I found all of Wuthering Heights' major characters to be quite dislikable, and nursed a virulent hatred of the work because I was not allowed to distance myself from them.