Wednesday, January 25, 2017

Week 4

    American Psycho was a weird book overall for a read. I will admit I have read this before and this is my second read because I wanted to go back and see what I may have missed the first time reading it. If American Psycho has a thesis, it’s that certain types of people are so obsessively set on outward perfection that they miss the real substance of being human. Money and beauty insulate these people from regular needs but create a hypertrophied rivalry over status: the novel’s characters boast of paying more than they really did; they seek relationships for show rather than companionship. When Bateman continues his exhaustive detailing of designer clothes while tearing apart the body of a sentient human being, he’s showing us where a culture of vanity takes us: to a place where the label matters more than the person. This would thematically justify the violence as a ruthless way of showing how little other human beings matter to the type that Bateman represent if the novel didn’t provide this perspective already. But it does: on every single page this culture is mocked in thoughts and dialogue that have little need of physical manifestation. In one scene, Bateman listens to his friends guffaw about how “the only girls with good personalities who are smart or maybe funny or halfway intelligent… are ugly chicks.” He then spoils their fun by referencing someone else who also had a highly reductive view of women: he quotes a serial killer who says he wants to do two things when he sees a pretty girl.

Sunday, January 22, 2017

Week 3 Asian Horror



By far one of the weirdest books I have ever read which is not a shocker coming from Kafka. The author tends to pick topics that are strange and very out there. The strange star mark sheep has the ability to take possession of people’s mind in order to control social and political power in the world. What makes the novel so appealing I believe is the authors ability to strike common chords between the modern Japanese and American middle classes within the younger generations. The book has its moments were I question the political system taking places in the locations and the ability and affect it has on the younger generation. While some have called A Wild Sheep Chase a fable or a myth, I would never regard it as such. Murakami uses the surreal to underscore what is wrong with reality. He is very much the critic, and everything he puts in his books is a comment on Japanese society and culture. The namelessness and blandness of many of the characters is part-and-parcel with Murakami's critique on Japanese uniformity and work-a-day lifestyle. Indeed, the protagonist's life prior to the beginning of his adventure is very much a prison--he goes to work, comes home, eats, sleeps, and repeats the process, simply passing time. The pointlessness of his existence demands the reader to ask if the man is simply waiting for death. Instead, Murakami delivers a Campbellian call to adventure, and the hero leaves to discover just how deep the rabbit-hole goes.

Week 2 Vampire



    The book “Interview with a Vampire” starts with the main character Louis the vampire. After conducting a interview with a mortal boy it changes Louis life forever. With twist and turns throughout the novel he faces betrayal amongst his own kind. With a road of immortality ahead of him Louis soon figures out its best to be alone. Louis struggles with feeding off others to survive and wishes that he didn’t have to. He later gets a companion named Lestat. Lestat has a different outlook on life compared to Louis. She wants to explore and enjoy her immortality unlike Louis who usually complains or thinks a negative aspect. Most of the time he reflects on life and only sees the bad when she doesn’t. When Lestat causes issues with Claudia things take a turn for the worst in the book. The drama between the characters goes back and fourth sticking the main four and how they choose to live out there endless lives. Drama, revenge, and loyalty are all main factors in this book. Overall not a book I would read again because of the topic. I was never a fan of vampire novels or the hype that was brought upon by Twilight and many other books. This was one of the better ones that I have read but again lacking in interest made if difficult to read and fully enjoy.

Wednesday, January 18, 2017

Week 1 - Frankenstein : Mary Shelley

    After reading the book Frankenstein by Mary Shelley Robert Walton's letters to his sister frame the story that Victor Frankenstein tells to Walton, and Frankenstein's story surrounds the story that the monster tells, which in turn frames the story of the De Lacey family. Frankenstein is a gothic novel. Although Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is compelling in and of itself, it also functions on a symbolic level or levels, with Frankenstein's monster standing in for the coming of industrialization to Europe, and the death and destruction that the monster wreaks symbolizing the ruination that Shelley feared industrialization would eventually cause. One of the early parts of the book I can recall to was when the monster has taught himself to read and understand language so that he can follow the lives of his "adopted" family, the De Laceys. While the monster wanders the woods, he comes upon a jacket with a notebook and letters that were lost by Victor. From the notes, the monster learns of his creation. He has endured rejection by mankind, but he has not retaliated upon mankind in general for his misfortune. Instead, he has decided to take revenge on his creator's family to avenge the injury and sorrow he endures from others. Frankenstein's creation was bent on revenge against the creator because of the creators pain and sorrows. In the end Frankenstein dies leaving the reader and myself somewhat sad and it was unsettling. Over all good book never was able to read it in High school glad I had the chance to this time around.