Month: November 2017

 

Dirty Pretty Things by Michael Faudet is a collection of poems, short stories, and quotes of love, lust, and heart-wrenching loss. Faudet, the long-time partner of poet Lang Leav, released the collection as his first book in 2014. The two worked together in many aspects of the book from editing to publication as well as the signing tour, the introduction of the book even features a short piece from Leav that shows her admiration of him as a fellow writer as well as her lover.

Faudet captures a wide array of human emotions through his work with a powerful lack of censorship and refusal to follow a typical or traditional pattern. He showcases his versatility through this piece by offering a variety of works in many different styles of writing, all centered around the most intimate aspects of his personal life and painting an image of who he is as well as how he came to be the writer he is today.

Perhaps the most vulgar collection centered around love and human desires that I’ve read thus far, reading Dirty Pretty Things was an entirely new experience. At times I caught myself wondering things such as “Can he say that in here?” or even physically cringing at certain phrases or mental images that would be typically censored or simply not told in poetry and short stories in today’s society. These reactions caused me to dwell not only on the human condition and what I’ve been lead to believe was acceptable, but also opened my eyes to the reality of writing not introduced to us in a structured learning environment.

Writing is not always pretty. What we learn in schools is not necessarily reality, but a watered-down version of it. Contrary to classroom censorship; life can be hideous, life can be vulgar, it can be one of the most grotesque things humans ever experience, but in that there is beauty. There often isn’t a happy ending waiting on the other side of a mountain of struggle; depression can kill even the biggest smiles, anxiety can bring a bitter end to the most wonderful relationships, only a fraction of endings result in smiles and fond memories, but all can provide entertainment.

Heartache, love, and lust are feelings most (if not all) people can relate and connect to. Faudet realizes this and embraces it with gritty phrasing and primal imagery, often throwing in an element of sarcasm. Through his work, he is able to reach the minds of many, whether they be teenagers driven by heartache and infatuation or adults who’ve matured well past their teenage years and wish to have a moment of recollection and think back to names and nights forgotten. Through his raw emotion and lack of censorship, he’s created a style of writing far different than any I’ve seen thus far.

Pieces in Dirty Pretty Things can range from only a few words or lines to several pages long, each conveying its own message, a timestamp in the author’s life. I enjoyed reading it and experiencing different moments from the poet’s life.

 

Overview:

In 1818, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley wrote Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus (now simplified to Frankenstein). It is a Gothic horror fiction book that stars the titular character, Victor Frankenstein, (not to be confused with the creature, commonly known as Frankenstein) genius but lonely scientist who becomes fascinated with the secret behind life. He decides to create life himself, unnaturally in the form of the 8-foot tall hulking monster (but he’s not really a monster!). He regrets it the moment The Creature opens his eyes and abandons him. From there, because of Frankenstein’s neglect The Creature, disastrous events occur.

Rating and Its Effect on Me:

I’m going to do something different. I’ll give a rating first. I HATE this book. 2 out of 10, and it only gets that is the…

Diction:

Frankenstein is a very well written book. I enjoyed its manner of speaking. Most famous novels are black or white, Shakespearean language that’s difficult to comprehend, or JK Rowling, easy to pick up because of the currency of the speech. Mary Shelley sits right in the gray area of that scale. The pretty wording truly is pretty wording, but it is not too elaborate for a modern reader to understand.

A Really Big Negative (A Small Rant):

VICTOR FRANKENSTEIN IS THE WORST FICTIONAL PERSON IN EXISTENCE.

Now, that I have that of my system, I’ll try to approach this rationally.

Over the years, scholars have argued who the true villain of Frankenstein is, The Creature or Victor. I have to say Victor Frankenstein is. He is the one terrible thing about this book.  He blames The Creature for things out of his control. His hurtful words make The Creature become the Monster. He neglects his family, friends, and fiancee in favor of his precious work, who ironically enough is the very Creature he places the blame his misery and un-health upon. He isn’t a strong character; his constant inability to deal with life (fainting, making himself sick, going senile) annoyed me to no end. This is especially terrible because towards the end of the book, he decides to track The Creature to kill him. I couldn’t take him seriously. Victor’s only saving grace is that if weren’t in the story, the story wouldn’t exist, and that’s not a very nice compliment. If I don’t like the main character, how can I like any of the book?

Here’s How– A Really Small (but 8-foot tall) Positive:

The Creature is very best character in the story– with  the exception of perhaps Henry Clerval, who unfortunately isn’t in the story for long. He is nothing like I expected him to be, like his 1931 Hollywood counterpart. He is extremely intelligent, and quick learner, and an optimist. That is, until he is pushed to the brink of the madness. Eventually, he does kill, quite a lot, but at no point does he have no cause to do so. Even if it is for a petty reason, I understand his every action. In fact, every time he murders, I found myself pitying The Creature, instead of the character who was supposed to pitied, Victor. He was a magnificent character.

The Strange Framework:

I suppose I ought to mention the strange framework. It might be off putting. It is a story written by Mary Shelley, narrated by Robert Walton who is telling his sister, Margaret, the story Victor told him, who in his own story includes the story The Creature told him somewhere in the his own story.

… It’s difficult to explain, but not so much while reading it. Even the reader can wrap his/her head around this idea, they are in for a very good reading.

True Rating:

I rate this story 9 out of 10 stars, for it’s amazing storytelling, and very good characters. (Note: Victor is great character, but a terrible person.) I probably won’t ever read it again though, thanks to Frankenstein.

The book The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, is a wonderful story about greasers. I think that this book might be one of the best books I have ever read. It’s a great book that has described greasers perfectly as characters. The way that this book is written is wonderful. It manages to constantly pull you back in every single sentence. The story gives you these incredible characters that you become easily attached to. It manages to give out the background story of many important characters so well without interrupting the flow.

There are so many great characters in this story. There are basically two groups that don’t necessarily get along. There are the Greasers and the Socs. You automatically get sucked into the world of the Greasers as a group and so you start to not really like the Socs. I think the Socs might be one of the greatest antagonists I have ever read in a book. They genuinely strike you as people that you want to get away from the main characters.

In the story, we follow Ponyboy, a 14 year old boy who runs track. As soon as you understand that these people are all about 14-20 you begin to get sucked into this world that has horrible kind of situations. It manages to pull us in because it doesn’t spare us the straightforward areas in this story.  Sodapop Curtis is 16 and Ponyboy’s brother. he dropped out of school and works at a gas station. again, just small aspects of a character brings the reader right into where they are and what is happening. The author writes these characters so well and it manages to keep our attention. Johnny Cade is Ponyboy’s best friend who is 16 and lives with his abusive parents. I think that even though abuse is considered very cliche now in writing, I believe that this book writes about how abuse can cause kids to act certain ways because of what happened to them and how they were raised. Johnny is a great character and he is written very well, he just came from a bad area in his life. Darrel, known as “Darry” is the oldest brother in the Curtis family. He is 20 and basically leads the gang. Darry is one of those characters that are tough but is a very loving character. He cared for his two younger brothers when their parents died from a car crash.

There are so many great characters in this story. I appreciate how well written every single character is and how the author doesn’t seem to care about what people think because he does not shy away from serious issues. The writer understands what makes a great character and he does. I think that there is just a perfect balance of protagonist and antagonist in this story. Enemies are very well written here and the plot of the story is so well thought out and well executed. I think that many people should read The Outsiders. I highly recommend it.

 

“It’s hard to get right when the free folks out there are more trapped than the criminal folks in jail. I just want to be free” (Brown).

Yet again, I found myself reading another work from Mr. Kiese Laymon. This week, I read an essay entitled, “Teaching White Students Showed Me the Difference Between Power and Privilege”. This work was found on his website under the extension of essays. I originally began reading another essay, which was going to be the topic of my blog; however, this essay caught my attention the second time around of searching for a piece to analyze.

The work itself was everything I expected as far as a powerful message being delivered, which as I said in my last entry, Mr. Laymon does a fine job at. Mr. Laymon speaks of the connections formed between him and a man in Poughkeepsie, New York, as well as observations as an educator, and the links between the two. The essential message within the text is the repetition of the “black cycle” of supporting “white folks”, and how, as Mr. Laymon states it, “Americans with the least access to healthy choice and second chances are given the harshest punishments” (Laymon).

The piece is in no way a work that slanders any race per se, but it is honest in the view and foundation of the social structures that we as Americans have experienced so long, and how we have come so numb to the feelings of society we find being slandered comfortable. I would say that this piece touches my inner activist. I personally love works that are blunt and aware that the world we are in is crueler to some more than others, and there are not as many people as it should be who are trying to change this because people are turning a blind eye to what does not affect them negatively.

The only downsides of this essay were a few missed opportunities that I feel Mr. Laymon could have explored. In my opinion, the best way to explain without spoiling the work itself is that he speaks of a student and the student’s characteristics, but he never speaks on the student’s own comments or how the student reacts to the circumstances he is born with. I believe him being an educator, then he would most definitely see his student’s comfortability in his life or his self-awareness to the standards.

As far as the writing, on a positive note, the essay is written in the form of a story; however, it is embedded with personal thoughts and logic from Mr. Laymon. The work itself is not long, but for its length, I am very impressed with how well Mr. Laymon packed so much depth into the essay. So many well-written points and lines were put into it that it makes a very rich read. I most definitely recommend this work to any who are interested, and I encourage writers to read more works from Mr. Laymon. If you would like to read this essay, click here.

Once again, I have found myself reading another Kate Chopin short story. What can I say? I think I’ve become addicted to this interesting woman. This time I chose the short story titled “Desiree’s Baby”. A friend introduced me to this story, so I guess it was just fate. “Desiree’s Baby” is a great short story. The central story is about miscegenation (inter-breeding of races), and the setting takes place in Louisiana.  Just to refresh your memory, Chopin was strongly Pro-Confederate during her life. It’s safe to say how she already feels about miscegenation; however, the story’s empathy towards the subject was quite surprising.

The story begins with a subtle flashback to the abandonment of a child, Desiree. Madame Valmonde took her in and claimed her as her own. A very prominent and rich white man fell in love with Desiree years later, and they were married. Eventually, they had a child together. The conflict is a racial crisis between a husband and wife.

It is written in the third person omniscient, playing into the thoughts and emotions of all three main characters—mostly Desiree. As the conflict is introduced in the story, the mood changes. It’s a very abrupt change which worked well. At first, the author had me confused at the time, but I eventually came to a realization.

Chopin does well with having sensitivity towards the emotion of the wife. In a way, she kind of displays the hurt she feels because of identity. In this story, I feel there’s no bias present towards the conflict. The author places herself in the shoes of every character and displays what she thinks they would feel to the best of her ability, which is very appreciative. I love the way Chopin incorporates the Louisiana lifestyle in the story.

Some things I found unattractive of the story was the lack of metaphorical descriptions as I see in her other works. This story was full of literal descriptions, not leaving much up to the imagination, and that’s something I enjoyed about her other works. I also didn’t agree/understand the ‘wrapping up’ of the conclusion. With that being said, the actual ending was amazing, a definite jaw dropper. There was the numbering of the paragraphs, and I didn’t know if this was the actual structure or if the website placed them there. I found the numbers quite distracting and unnecessary. Throughout the story, all of the text was in chunks, and the last section was very small.

In conclusion, this story definitely tops the others I’ve read by Chopin. It’s very well written and emotionally stirring. It really does leave you thinking ‘wow’. I know it did for me. I would definitely say this is one of my favorite short stories now.

If you’re looking for something great to read in under ten minutes, “Desiree’s Baby” is the answer. You’re in for a good treat. Click here to read the full story, and see the very nice portrait that goes along with it. You can thank me later.

I very rarely find myself incredibly moved by a personal essay other than mine. No, I’m not saying this arrogantly, but I always end up with very tragic personal essays. “The Home That Made Me Doesn’t Exist Anymore” is an inspiring piece of nonfiction work. This essay incorporates a myriad of social disconnections and victims of stereotypes. When the word victim comes to mind, our brain automatically thinks of a person, a human being. However, places and homes can be victims too. There have always been the poor, middle-class, and high-class standards of living. We have a definite picture of how each of these classes lives. When you see an apartment building with chipped paint and a broken window, those are signs of poor or middle-class habitats. It is too often people are judged by the place they lay their head at night, cook dinner for their children, or bathe the day’s dirt away. A home is a home.

In this essay, the main character is the writer, and it travels through her young years to her present self. She is an African American woman from Chicago, which is the setting of the essay. There are many descriptions that give the piece great visuals and a sense of the Chicago lifestyle, more specifically the way she saw Chicago. In the beginning, the little girl is naïve about the place she lives and doesn’t understand why others see her home differently. As the piece progresses, she becomes more and more aware of the faults in her surroundings. For example, the once crystal covered playground is now shards of glass from liquor and beer bottles. It takes a very harsh but gentle turn because the narrator understands now.

There are a ton of great verbs used in this piece such as shimmers, affirmed, ensconced, mythologized, bathed. The writer does very well with progressing the story with interesting words. There also nouns that stood out to me such as haints and maws.

While reading this essay, it became an emotional journey for me. I felt what this writer was feeling and saw this world through her eyes. She gives this place that everyone looks down on admirable characteristics. “Our neighborhoods are broken in so many ways, but there is light here as well.” That was one of my favorite lines from the entire essay because it embodies so much character. It adds depth to the setting and the personality of the writer. This essay also dips into the division of races. “I didn’t learn whiteness as a default, or the limitations placed on those who exist outside of it, until I was much, much older.” This line is powerful because it shows that sometimes you have to learn the hard way of the inequality of the world, and in a way, you must accept it.

Another great thing about this essay is the constant references to other writers. She explained how they were introduced to her and the importance or impact they had in her life. Overall, I wholeheartedly enjoyed reading “The Home that Made Me Doesn’t Exist Anymore.” If you’d like to give it a read, like always, just click here.           

How to Love, How to Work

Chapter 9-11

Chapter 9; “When should you act more extroverted than you really are?”

This chapter begins with a quote by William James:

“A man has many social selves as there are distinct groups of persons about whose opinion he cares.  He generally shows a different side of himself to each of these different groups.”

The quote summerizes the basic thought the chapter is based off of.  It explains the free trait theory veru simply also.  This chapter poses the question “Do fixed personality traits really exist, or do they shift according to situation.?” The Free Trait Theory says we are born culturally endowed with certain personality traits, such as extro or introversion.  However intoverts are capable of acting like extroverts when working on “core personal projects”.  These are things people find personally important- loved ones or anything this person values highly in their life.

This Chapter includes a checklist to see if you are a high self monitor or not.  A high self monitor plays to audience.  They ‘monitor’ their social behaviour more than low self moniters.  Low self monitors go by their own internal compass.  They are less sensitive to social cues and behaviour changes.

Chapter 10

The Communication Gap

‘How to Talk to Members of the Opposite Type’

This chapter begins with a quote by Carl Jung:

“The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances; if there is any reaction, both are transformed.”

This chapter tells how introverts and extroverts react to one another.  The book says that introverts actually attract extroverts, as extroverts tend to attract inroverts.  Opposites attract, in other words.  The chapter opens with an example of a couple that is introverted and extroverted.  They love eachother, however the fights they have are normally about social events.  Unsurprisingly the extrovert wants people over constantly, while the introvert does not.  The two admire one another for their opposite strengths.  The extrovert feels grounded will the intovert feels alive.  I good dynamic for a relationship, whether it is frienship or being a couple.

The book also talks about the dynamic of understanding portrayed emotion through each personality.  When arguing intoverts typically get flat toned and sipassionate, whether it is sad news or angry news.  This is hard for extroverts to understand because all they see is a dispassionate person that does not care.  When really, it’s the opposite.  Introverts care too much, typically and do not know how to accurately portray that emotion without breaking into fits of complete vulnerability.

Chapter 11

On Cobblers and Generals

‘How to Cultivate Quiet Kids in a World that Can’t Hear Them’

This chapter begins with a quote by Plato, The Republic

“With anything young and tender the most important part of the task is the beginning of it; for that is the time at which the character is being formed and the desired impression more readily taken.”

This chapter explains how if extrocerted parents are given an introverted child, they often think something is wrong with this child.  However in another household, this kid would be a ‘model child’.  It really does depend on the understanding of the two types of personalities.  It starts with a story once told by Mark Twain about a man in search of the greatest general to ever live.  This man went all the way around the world, and by the time he found the guy someone told him the greatest general ever had died.  The man pays a visit to the pearly white gates and talks to Saint Paul.  The man tells Saint Paul he is looking for the greatest general that ever lived.  Saint Paul points to a regular looking man.   The man says “That’s not the greatest general to ever live!  I knew him when he was alive, he’s just an old cobbler.”  To which Saint John replied with “No, he was not a general, but if he was he would have been the greatest that ever lived.”  This is supposed to show the importance of letting talents flourish.

In conclusion, the tone was factual, but it is biased for introverts.  It refers to extroverts in a sort of outsider way.  I immensely enjoyed this informative concept and structure of the book.  Each paragraph began with a quote and a story as an example of the topic.  It was a very well written book, and I would recommend it.

This book was based on a young girl who had moved to a school district and came to regular school after being home schooled her whole life. She didn’t know how to fit in with the other kids and did things completely out of wack. She didn’t really pay much attention to the fact that people were judging her and instead stayed the way that she had always been. She also named herself according to what sounded good to her. She didn’t stick to one name, she didn’t care that it wasn’t normal.

We see a romance develop between star girl and the main character. This is quite interesting because the main character has opposition to her in the beginning of the story just like everyone else did and then somehow down the road was drawn to that difference. I love the idea of this romance, it was so different than most romance is conveyed in books. This honestly added in so much of a plot and individuality to the work. I also like the idea of him wanting her to change, and not liking the way that she is simply because she didn’t fit in with everyone else. He was helpless to the idea that she wouldn’t change who she was just for him.

The stargirl was selfless throughout the book. She didn’t care what people thought of her, and she almost seemed to not have an ego at all. She only wanted to make other people happen, not herself. If anything, helping other people made her happy. I enjoyed this aspect of this character because it’s something you don’t really see much in other books. You almost have to root for this character, and I always got lost in thought thinking about how it must have felt to be helpless if only for just a moment.

I really like the fact that throughout this entire book there was always some kind of surprise that I would never expect. I didn’t lose interest in the book because every time I turned the page there would be some image sticking in my mind that I couldn’t get out of my head. At some point the idea of a wagon that she kept rocks in was brought up. She placed rocks in the wagon for each time that something made her happy and took it out each time it made her sad. This was a really good example of the surprise that came in this book.

This book still resonates in my mind. The end of this book tied the whole thing together and gets the reader thinking about literately everything that happened in the book all on one page. We think about the fact that this young girl who was so weird had so much of an impact on a school that she was only in for one year. Her leaving almost makes us want to understand why she left in the first place. I wanted to see more of her, to understand what made her act so weird. Most of all I wanted to know what she would do next.