Never let me go- Wow.

Never let me go is by far the biggest page turner of all three books that we have read for ENGL 387. Reading is usually a struggle for me because I always fail in allowing myself get completely emmersed in a book, but with Never let me go it could not have been further from the truth. Maybe it's because my name is in it that I seem to be biased, but I would argue that it's because of the realistic nature of the book that I love.

We often talk in this class about being able to "relate" to characters, and while we came to the conclusion that you don't have to be like someone/thing to relate to them, I can't help but feel the most attached with this book. It drives my curiousity and it makes me think.

A professor of mine had said once "no tears in the writer, no tears in the reader". I have no necessarily cried just yet, however the amount of emotion and intrigue that has been sparked by what I have read so far in this book is staggering.

Ishiguro's depiction of what life is like as young students at school was spot on. Through his descriptions (which are wonderful), seeing what life was like at Hailsham is more than seeing, I find my self re-experiencing it.

Night at the Circus

Firstly I would like to respond to the comment that Veronique made in regards to the differences between television and literature. I also find it fascinating that there are questions surrounding the vulgarity within some of the literature we have been reading. Every day we are exposed to inappropriate commercials, explicit sexual content, extreme violence and even malicious horror on the television. Perhaps the problem isn't the content, perhaps the reason is that we are simply more aware of what we are taking in.

It is all too easy to perch oneself in front of the television for hours, but reading involves much more from the audience. In fact we are not an audience any more when we are reading; we are a part of the book.

Commenting also on Veroniques statement about Carters use of the "clowns" also spurred some thought. The difference between what actually is and what is being portrayed is vast, and its interesting to read/witness such an discrepancy between appearance and reality.

Geek Love post # 1

What I found most interesting of all is the correlation between the dynamics of a family suffering from alcoholism and the Binewski family's dynamics.

We have talked alot in class about dependency and control. Everyone in the Binewski family is unhealthily dependent on each other in many ways. The most obvious way is the love/hate controlling relationships. Specificially between Arty and Ollie, the control & love/hate relationship is quite apparent.

In the past I have researched quite a bit about the dynamics within a family affected by alcoholism, and the similiarities in regards to control and the love/hate relationship are astounding. I found that the more I read Geek Love, the more I can understand their characters. They are dysfunctional human beings, with battered self esteem and a confused self worth. Many dysfunctional families, such as the Binewskies, have so many reoccurring instances and symptoms in regards to control, low-self esteem, feelings of being different, etcetera.

The Binewski family is not special. Minus their physical deformities, many of the underlying feelings throughout the text involve the same feelings that can be linked to other dysfunctional families which are suffering from Codependency.


-Ruth O'Mahony