I was never a big fan of the comic book scene. Something about them never really grasped my interest, but Persepolis has made me think twice about that. The illustrated autobiography of the journey of an Iranian adolescent struggling through the 1980 Revolution proved that graphic novels do indeed have a place within the teaching cirriculum. The aspect that it reads very quickly is certainly appealing to most high school students, but that notwithstanding, Persepolis is one book that I most certainly do not regard as a waste of my time.
It is primarily the depictions of conflict and metaphors in Persepolis that strike me as being characteristic of this graphic novel. For example, the rather literal, morbid, and graphic image of the graffiti slogan "To Die a Martyr is to Give Your Blood to the Veins of Society" really can't be described in words. I myself won't try to do so because I've already stated that it simply can't be done.
It's primarily a story regarding a particularly turbulent journey of growing up, and yet it can't help but bare some of the political tensions that surround the controversial Middle-Eastern nation. The allusions are enough to make you think deeply, but not enough to completely drown the entire point of the book, which I like. I've found myself unconsiously reading "Persepolis" in class, not due to boredome, but because I want to find what happens next. It's habit, however, that I shall have to break.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Catcher in the Rye Shinanegans
I shall confess, the play put me a wee bit behind on readings, but I have caught up in relativety, so here I go.
The scene where Holden meets the nuns in the restaurant is fresh in my head. Like many of the scenes in the book, this one made me feel somewhat embarrased for Holden. I think we were all aware that Holden does indeed act like he's about 12 years old, but this part emphasizes why he comes off as incredibly immature. I don't believe that Holden is insane in any way: rather, he just has a rather intense Napoleon complex, which is interesting due to his complaining other character's inferiority complexes. In his psyche, he is constantly seething about every little thing, yet in conversation, Holden is a particularly meek and pathetic figure. With these nuns, he just rants about them as people in general to himself, and simultaneously attempts to offer them large sums of money ad nauseum. This demonstrated to me that Holden's problem is simply the angst of a 12 year old in the body of a 17 year old: his thoughts are sporadic simply because he doesn't know what his thought are. Therefore, he just decided to think everything. This is probably an exagerrated psychoanalysis of the average teenager, but I can forgive Salinger (a big pot of angst himself) for this inflation, for it is a necessary thing to do when telling a story. But for more of Holden's symptoms: He wants desperately to talk to the nuns about everything in his life, yet their responses keep angering him. He goes out of his way to respect them, and yet accidentally blows smokes in their faces. But seriously, who smokes in front of a nun? Way to go, Holden.
And in tribute to Holden, I decided not to make any paragraphs whatsoever.
The scene where Holden meets the nuns in the restaurant is fresh in my head. Like many of the scenes in the book, this one made me feel somewhat embarrased for Holden. I think we were all aware that Holden does indeed act like he's about 12 years old, but this part emphasizes why he comes off as incredibly immature. I don't believe that Holden is insane in any way: rather, he just has a rather intense Napoleon complex, which is interesting due to his complaining other character's inferiority complexes. In his psyche, he is constantly seething about every little thing, yet in conversation, Holden is a particularly meek and pathetic figure. With these nuns, he just rants about them as people in general to himself, and simultaneously attempts to offer them large sums of money ad nauseum. This demonstrated to me that Holden's problem is simply the angst of a 12 year old in the body of a 17 year old: his thoughts are sporadic simply because he doesn't know what his thought are. Therefore, he just decided to think everything. This is probably an exagerrated psychoanalysis of the average teenager, but I can forgive Salinger (a big pot of angst himself) for this inflation, for it is a necessary thing to do when telling a story. But for more of Holden's symptoms: He wants desperately to talk to the nuns about everything in his life, yet their responses keep angering him. He goes out of his way to respect them, and yet accidentally blows smokes in their faces. But seriously, who smokes in front of a nun? Way to go, Holden.
And in tribute to Holden, I decided not to make any paragraphs whatsoever.
Friday, April 9, 2010
Hola: Mark II
I'm Xander, a wonderful man who's pretentious enough to name his blog after a
Rene Magritte painting. Besides that, here's the rest of me: I'm a second semester Senior who still has to decide whether he'll wallow the next four years in Madtown or the Windy City, I made a decision a long time ago to dedicate my life to the stage, and I'm in a race to catch up with my blogs. AP Comp wore me out, I must admit--so here I go.
My favorite book honestly changes all the time, but I can honestly say that the current placeholder was my book for AP Comp last Quarter, All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren. I advise all of you not to watch either of the film versions, but the novel is simply extraordinary. In short, it's a political and philosophical drama that is meant to imitate the rise and fall of the life of Huey "the Kingfish" Long, the infamous Governor and Senator of Louisiana during the Great Depression who ruled on a Populist Doctrine. This description may sound like it only appeals to history and political junkies, but my reading of the book finds this is not so. More than anything, it is actually an analysis of how a a well-meaning, and yet meek and pathetic man can quickly turn into a bombastic and charismatic figure who wallows in corruption. Like the historical tale, it too takes place in the South and has a very poor, and yet not so Dixie feel to it. It is not necessarily a tale of history, but of moral dilemnas ranging from Willie Talos (the alternative to long in this book), the struggles of the protaganist and Talos's close associate Jack Burden, and the complicated role of his partner Ann Stanton in the book. I'll stop here for the sake of exposition's sake. My favorite book will undoubtedly change very soon, but for now, this is it.
Time to catch up...
Rene Magritte painting. Besides that, here's the rest of me: I'm a second semester Senior who still has to decide whether he'll wallow the next four years in Madtown or the Windy City, I made a decision a long time ago to dedicate my life to the stage, and I'm in a race to catch up with my blogs. AP Comp wore me out, I must admit--so here I go.
My favorite book honestly changes all the time, but I can honestly say that the current placeholder was my book for AP Comp last Quarter, All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren. I advise all of you not to watch either of the film versions, but the novel is simply extraordinary. In short, it's a political and philosophical drama that is meant to imitate the rise and fall of the life of Huey "the Kingfish" Long, the infamous Governor and Senator of Louisiana during the Great Depression who ruled on a Populist Doctrine. This description may sound like it only appeals to history and political junkies, but my reading of the book finds this is not so. More than anything, it is actually an analysis of how a a well-meaning, and yet meek and pathetic man can quickly turn into a bombastic and charismatic figure who wallows in corruption. Like the historical tale, it too takes place in the South and has a very poor, and yet not so Dixie feel to it. It is not necessarily a tale of history, but of moral dilemnas ranging from Willie Talos (the alternative to long in this book), the struggles of the protaganist and Talos's close associate Jack Burden, and the complicated role of his partner Ann Stanton in the book. I'll stop here for the sake of exposition's sake. My favorite book will undoubtedly change very soon, but for now, this is it.
Time to catch up...
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