Book Reviews: Table of Contents
A Bumpy Road To Maturity
2
by Evelyn Blessing
A New World Not So Far Away
4
by Luke A’Dair
With a Matador’s Finesse
6
by Megan Fitzgerald
Birdsong’s Evolution:
A Call For a Revolution to Save The Rain Forest
8
by Zoe Cross
An Off Red Tale
12
by Andrew Walsh
Pinochet’s Victims Speak:
Dorfman Reveals Our Shared Humanity
15
by Erica Anderson
Cultural Identity
20
by Tegan Dixon
Tight Potential, Loose Ends
24
by Erik Chalhoub
The Rhythmic Understructure of Poetry
27
by Scott Pozzi
Obstacles to a Better Education
31
by Daisy Flores
Practical Dreamsmith: A Review of
Neil Gaiman’s “Fragile Things”
34
by Ilya Baykin
Once Again Women Detectives Kick ASS!
by Jared Carlsen
37
A Bumpy Road To Maturity
PGR 2
by Evelyn Blessing
Have you ever gone back to a certain time in your life when you thought
you were, all that and a bag of chips, but through time you came to certain realizations that just made you want to slap your younger self? With a little time,
and a little wizening through experience we all come to realize that some decisions we have made could have been made better in the present day. The main
character of How to Ruin My Teenage Life, by Simone Elkeles, comes into her
maturity with a little help from fate and her newfound religion. Answers.com
defines ‘maturity’ as, “The state or quality of being fully grown or developed.”
(Answers). The maturity that our main character experiences however is a maturity of the mind and of her behaviors. Amy Nelson Barak is a privileged girl
who on the outside seems to have everything handed to her, but on the inside is
confused about life, faith and why things are changing so much. Going into this
book I had the notion that it would be just another puff book, but in it I discovered more. I discovered the author trying to portray the confusion that is young
adult life. Simone Elkeles is reminding everyone what it was like to be in that
stage of life, right in between childhood and adulthood.
This book is the second in a series, I found myself slightly confused at some
points in the novel wondering if I was missing something or not. In the first book
Amy goes to Israel and finds her religion, Judaism, that is transferred over into
this book and we get to see Amy exploring her new way of life. She said in the
beginning of chapter 16 that “Some people will think differently of me because
I am Jewish. Some people will call me names because I am Jewish. Some people
will hate me because I am Jewish. Should I ignore them or confront them?” (131)
Through the book the investigation of her new religion helps Amy grow as a
person, she states in the very beginning of the 30th chapter that, “Abraham had
such faith and fear God that he almost sacrificed his son Isaac because God commanded it (Genesis 22:2). Abraham knew God would make everything ok in the
end. I have faith that God will make everything ok in the end, too.” (Elkeles 255).
Sometimes as humans we forget that everything is going to be ok in the end,
Amy didn’t because of her religion and her God. Without them everything that
she goes through in this book might be too unbearable to deal with.
One of the many things that Amy is learning to cope with in the book is her
growing family. When she discovers that her mother is expecting a baby things
start to head downhill for Amy. She isn’t able to get her mind around the fact
that she will no longer be the baby. But with some time and some guidance she
figures out that she can’t get everything she wants, and that maybe the baby will
be a blessing. Amy says near the middle of the book, before things get resolved,
“What is God’s definition of family? I’ve been trying to figure out my own definition, but I can’t come up with one that makes complete sense.” (208) I think
that in the end she figures out what family means. With time she realizes that it
isn’t all about her anymore, there are greater things in the picture, like her moms
happiness, and the soon to be baby’s. The fact that she is able to come to terms
with the baby situation really shows how much maturity she gains with such a
short amount of time in the book.
The baby was not the only thing that pushed into maturity though. In the
novel Amy’s dog impregnates a poodle, in order to pay for the veterinary bills
that the whole thing will come out to Amy is forced to get a job. In every young
adults life it is a great stepping-stone when it comes time to get their first job.
Everybody does it at some point and usually it helps him or her grow as a human being. According to About.com, “Getting a job is a huge responsibility that
teens can handle if they have reached a certain level of maturity.” (About) Her
father decided it was time when she made a mistake that had a very costly fix.
Amy gets a job at the local coffee shop named Perk Me Up though she truly is
not happy there at first she soon grows into it. The job brings about a sense of
responsibility, having to be in one place for a certain amount if time everyday,
this helps with her road to maturity.
All in all Amy realized that it doesn’t pay to be a snobbish little rich girl, that
religion is fun and helpful and her family is important, on her journey to maturity. She said near the end of the book, “It’s not so easy to convert as one might
think. I still have to go before three respected Jewish community members
called a ‘Bet Din’ and take a verbal test. Rabbi Glassman told me not to stress
over it, it’s not like the SAT’s. Life is full of little SAT tests, though, isn’t it?” when
she really began to realize that life isn’t always just handed to you, sometimes
you have to work for it yourself. I recommend this book for people who want to
read a quick and witty book. I found it enjoyable and I think the public will also.
It is nice to read a book every once in a while that I feel I can relate too, we all go
through the awkward, gangly, teenage years when everything horrible seems to
happen at once and none of it makes sense. I got a real sense of reality from the
book, and a different view of a religion I have never really thought that much
about. I think it was a learning experience for both of us.
Works Cited
PGR 3
Elkeles, Simone. How to Ruin My Teenage Life. Woodbury, Minnesota: Flix, 2007.
“Maturity.” Answers.com. 2007. Wikipedia. 17 Apr 2007 <http://www.answers.com/
maturity>.
“Parenting Of Adolescents.” About.com. 2007. New York Times. 17 Apr 2007 <http://
parentingteens.about.com/od/teensandjobs/f/readyforjob.htm>.
A New World Not So Far Away
PGR 4
by Luke A’Dair
Imagine that you live in a world where both men and women have both become sterile. Naturally it’s the woman’s fault, because in this world, much like the
world that we live in women get blamed for most things. Though there are a select
few women that have the ability to carry a child, but instead of being treated like
Gods like they should be, they are treated more like slaves. Handmaid’s are the name
given to these slave women. They are fertile and are forced to procreate with men that
“own” them, while the men’s wives watch. If that doesn’t sound horrible enough, this
isn’t just happening in one spot. There are thousands of these people who are forced
to “do the deed” with these men that they’re not in love with. Margaret Atwood challenges the “norm” in the novel, and brings up many controversial subjects that generally sparks some interest in many people.
One of the many that caught my attention is that Atwood is sugesting that
in this “new world” women have stopped fighting for their rights. There are still talks
behind closed doors about what needs to happen to evoke change, but nothing is
done. This reminds me of the world today. Women have not necessarily stopped the
fight for their civil right’s but have hit more of a mesa and leveled off. There was a lot
of activity in the mid 1900’s, but after women gained the right to vote and most of the
same labor rights as men, they seemed to be satisfied and that’s where women have
stayed for the last 30 to 40 years. I’m not saying that all women are satisfied, but the
majority of women today, if you asked them would tell you that they are more than
satisfied with the lives that they live today, except for the fact that some wish their
husbands would make more money or pay more attention to them and their families,
but in the class of civil rights they have pretty much leveled off.
Another issue that Atwood touches on more than once in her novel is the
sexual objectification of women. “I used to think of my body as an instrument, of pleasure, or a means of transportation, or an implement for the accomplishment of my
will...”(Atwood). In today’s world women are sexually objectified almost everywhere
we look. The message that Atwood is trying to get across to the reader is that this
objectifying of women is not alright, and something should be said to eliminate it.
I’m not going to lie though, as a man, if there’s a product that the producer wants me
to buy, the best way to grab my attention is to put a beuatiful half naked woman on
the cover and I can almost guarentee that my attention will be instantly averted from
what I was doing and onto that product.
Another issue that Atwood brings up is the use of selective breeding or eugenics to create a controlled society. This was kind of a scary side of Atwood’s writing. It almost borders the ideas of Hitler and the Third Reich, but she presents it in
such a way that it’s believable and that this idea of selective breading could very well
be where our society today is headed. We could be there sooner than we all think. I
personally believe that’s this is already happening with stem cell research. It’s all just
a matter of time until someone with a rediculous sum of money pay’s off a geneticist
and clones themselves and after that it’ll all be down hill from there. This is a very
scary time for the world. People are tampering with things that were not meant to be
messed with and we will eventually learn that the hard way.
This piece of literature has opened my eyes to many things that are happen-
ing in society today, in a way that was entertaining and had a weird kind of gravitational force that pulled me in for more. There are many other controversial issues that
Atwood touched on, like the issue of race, gender, social and political issues. I believe
that if everyone read this novel, many more people would open their eyes to the collision course with disaster our society is being almost violently thrown into. Something
needs to be done, whether it’s not electing a totally ignorant oil mogul as our president, to just being nice to one another.
Works Cited
PGR 5
Atwood, Margaret. The Handmaid’s Tale. 1st ed. New York 1986. Houghton
Mifflin Company. 1986.
With a Matador’s Finesse
by Megan Fitzgerald
1986 in the words of Pedro Lemebel:
PGR 6
A year scarred by smoking tires in the cordoned-off streets of Santiago. A
city waking up to the sounds of banging pots and pans and lightning blackouts,
electric wires dangling overhead, sputtering and sparking. Then total darkness,
the headlights of an armored car, the Stop, you piece of shit!, the gunshots, and the
terrified stampede, like metal castanets shattering the felt-tipped night. Gloomy
nights, pierced by shouts, by the indefatigable chant of Now he will fall! Now he
will fall!... (Lemebel 1)
On September 8, a group of Marxist guerilla fighters ambushed the motorcade of Chilean President Augusto Pinochet (BBC). Though Pinochet was hardly
wounded, five of his bodyguards were killed while all of the rebels escaped
untouched. My Tender Matador is Lemebel’s fictional account of the spring and
summer before the planned assassination attempt.
The author’s own background—having lived through the Pinochet dictatorship—
lends creditability to a setting that is already believable. His narration weaves its way
through the perspectives and voices of the characters, some fictional—like the protagonists—and some factual—such as Augusto Pinochet himself. And in the context
of a novel about the resistance against an oppressive regime, Lemebel also rebels
against the widely perceived limitations of gendered pronouns.
The English translation by Katherine Silver read very smoothly for me. I was never
pulled out of the story by any cumbersome awareness that Silver had left a gap in
the meaning of Lemebel’s fluid prose (and a few snippets of Spanish phrases remain
here and there). I was totally absorbed because the flow and precision are intact:
“That September night in 1986 was dense, the streets like caverns of howling coyotes,
the city convulsed by house-to-house searches, broken-down doors, shouting, and
shoot-outs...” (Lemebel 143).
The most amazing strength of Lemebel’s novel is the linguistic finesse he uses
to reveal his characters. Readers who have never considered the fluidity of gender before might be puzzled at first by the dance between he and she both used
in reference to the main character—who is given only the title Queen of the
Corner instead of a name. But the stride is easy to fall into: “All he needs is his
Prince Charming, whispered the old ladies standing out on the sidewalk across
the street” (Lemebel 2). The perspective changes between the way she perceives
herself and the he or she of the way the Queen is perceived by others produce
the effect of a clear and deeply resonant voice. And this sense of voice is further
compounded by the way the dialogue is blended with the narration instead of
separated by the traditional quotation marks.
Only then could she breath—or, rather, gulp down a breath of air—to get
the strength to reach the gate, where a soldier on duty asked her in a friendly
way, What’s the matter, sir? Are you sick? You look pale. And she, without looking at him, answered, Don’t worry, it happens at my age, I’m not a young man
anymore. (Lemebel 50)
Though in some places, as in the above passage, there are narrative indications such as he asked and she answered, sometimes the reader is entirely dependent upon the sense of voice to recognize the speaker. And Lemebel does not let
us down, even when conversations are blurred into a single paragraph:
What did I say that upset you? Nothing, cutie, don’t worry; for a moment
I allowed myself to be swept up in this stupid story. Let’s change the subject. Tell me, how did you escape after the attack? Don’t say attack, because
it wasn’t that. So what should I call it? (Lemebel 165)
Our need to stick to one side of the two dualistic she and he pronouns gives
way once we realize that the persona of the Queen—the essence of character
used to identify her—is something much deeper than a pronoun. Lemebel is
enough of a master with his craft that we can know the Queen by her voice.
Lemebel’s novel is also very important because it illustrates the role gays and
lesbians play in world events, which are hardly represented by most media. I
might even say they usually intentionally overlooked. But the main protagonist
of My Tender Matador—a gay man submerged in a culture dominated by sex and
gender roles for heterosexuals and homosexuals alike—is revealed as a complex
and sympathetic person rather than an archetype of any preconceived expectation: “It was no sweat for her to make them laugh at her sleazy show, leaving
them so turned on and unnerved they didn’t even check the car and barely
looked at the documents...I have the soul of an actress; I’m not really like that,
you see, it’s all just a show” (Lemebel 17).
In the quotation, the Queen is explaining to her love-interest that the played-up
drag queen persona she used to distract the soldiers at the roadblock is not who
she really is. And likewise, Lemebel shows us throughout the novel that the Queen is
much more than simply the roles she plays. So we are challenged here, not just to revisit the historical context of Chile in 1986, but to see it through the eyes of someone
who also rebelled against limitations imposed by other cultural norms.
WORKS CITED
“1986: Pinochet survives rebel ambush”. BBC On This Day. September 8. BBC
News Archive. April 17, 2006. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday>
PGR 7
Lemebel, Pedro. My Tender Matador. Grove Press: New York. 2003.
:
Birdsong’s Evolution:
A Call For a Revolution to Save The Rain Forest
PGR 8
by Zoe Cross
My Aunt’s nickname is Chickadee. My grandmother bestowed this name
upon her because, in her early years, she chattered non-stop. What my grandmother probably didn’t fully consider is the fact that the chickadee’s song is
actually being sung with the intention of communication, and is not just mindless chatter. As a matter of fact, if you knew my aunt, you would appreciate the
irony. The book, “Birdsong” (Stap), explores this world of bird language and
brings the reader into harmony with the meaning behind the “hey sweetie” of the
chickadee, the “zeeeeeup” of the northern parula warbler, and the “bonk” of the
bellbird. It also uses very powerful, highly descriptive language that persuades
the reader there is an absolute need for attention to be given and action to be
taken to stop the devastating practice of deforestation.
This book offers a compelling and complex read which is highly fascinating
to a science buff, like me. It is a pleasing balance of storytelling and scientific
study. However, the average reader will require a large dose of tenacity to wade
through the first half of the book, due to the fact that the author tends to jump
very abruptly from one bird species to another and from one timeline to another. He would have more effectively
engaged the reader from the beginning, if he had focused more in-depth on
a single species before moving on to another, while simultaneously building up
that particular story line with rich detail. I found that by the time I had reached
the middle of the book, I had gotten more comfortable with his style of writing
and the story began to flow more smoothly. In addition, by the mid-point, the
author focuses mainly on the bellbird as opposed to talking about a wide variety
of species.
This book is a chronicle of the author’s personal journey of self discovery that
accompanies his exploration into the field of ornithology. He entices the reader
into the world of birds with metaphoric imagery that allows even the non-scientific person to feel his passions and take on his causes. His obsession with
the evolution and many varieties of birdsongs combined with his quest to educate the reader about the devastating effects of deforestation left me emotionally
charged and motivated to take action and do further study.
Stap’s explanation of the evolution of the birdsong is technical, but easily understandable. He presents the scientific analysis and tedious facts with beautiful descriptions that stand on their own with their poetic value.
The sun was just rising over the hills, beyond the tree, silhouetting the
wren against a pale sky. In the cold dawn air, the wren poured out
song after song, each accompanied by a little puff of exhaled breath.
Kroodsma stood and admired the scene: the wren, tail cocked, head
thrown back with each song, his tiny body
quivering—a beautifully etched cameo in the morning sky. How had
evolution lead to this moment? (Stap 73)
He provides a compelling description of the way in which evolution has im-
PGR 9
parted the ability of birds to learn their songs despite their marvelously complicated symphony. The book also reiterates a fascinating claim that birdsongs are
the basis for human music.
The sapsucker’s succession of drummed notes with their pauses and
shifts in speed sounded just like the first few notes of “Dueling Banjos.”…
Frank (a man Stap was working with) was making the kind of connection
between the music of birds and man that has been made for centuries…
The question we might have asked was whether we should be comparing
the sapsucker’s drumming to the music or the music to the sapsucker’s
drumming. (Stap137)
It appears that birdsongs might also be at the foundation of human manipulation through language, as is demonstrated by female birds who sing the
exact same song as their mates, in an effort “to trick the male into returning [to
the nest] to defend his territory from a trespassing male” (Stap 86). It is a shame
that the birds that live in South America can’t use their complex language skills
to communicate with humans about the devastating effects deforestation is having on their habitat.
Stap describes his journey into South America, to record the bellbird’s
song, in an effort to help prove that the bellbird learns his song as opposed to
knowing it by instinct. While in South America he confronted with the intense
suffering many species of birds and other animals are experiencing due to deforestation. His writing about this situation is poignant and stirs the reader
emotionally. The South American Rainforest is one of the few places left on
earth that is truly wild. It is home to an incredibly diverse number of species
and nurtures the delicate balance between the birds that live above the trees, the
monkeys that live in the trees and the insects and other animals that live below.
“Birdsong” offers a view into this complicated world, which is so intertwined
between the species, that if we destroy these forests the whole ecosystem will
fall apart.
[South America] is the fourth largest continent and it is a home to one
third of the animals on Earth. It has the largest rainforest, river, and
waterfall in the world… The Amazon Rainforest is the largest rainforest
in the world…Every year the Amazon rainforest is destroyed by mining,
foresting, agriculture, and erotion….The Amazon Rain Forest produces
over 20% of Earth’s oxygen. (Home Page)
If deforestation is allowed to continue, all that will be left will be stumps
of trees. There will be twenty percent less oxygen and one third less animals.
“Birdsong” highlights the fact that there is actually very little effective protection for the forests.
Despite Costa Rica’s much praised system of national parks and biologi
cal reserves-which protects roughly 12 percent of its land (the United
States, by comparison, protects about 3.5 percent of its land)-roughly half
of Costa Rica’s forests have been cut down since 1940. Moreover, the
great majority of what is protected lies high in the mountains Lower mon
tane forests, particularly those favored by bellbirds, fall into the “coffee
belt,” the land best suited for crops. Little of this forest type remains.
Next to nothing is protected. (Stap 174)
Stap is not the only crusader raising awareness of deforestation Many or-
ganizations are working to educate people about this issue. The National Arbor
Day Foundation, for instance has created a very informative web-site that offers
excellent information and gives a list of things that each one of us can do to help,
under the heading “So What Can I do?”
1. Save 2500 square feet of rain forest for every $10 you donate to the Na
tional Arbor Day Foundation’s Rain Forest Rescue Program
2. Buy Arbor Day Gourmet Coffee. Our organic shade-grown coffee is
grown in naturally preserved rain forests. You can enjoy its deep, rich
flavor guilt-free, knowing that production is in accordance with conserva
tion practices.
3. Get your local media into the act. Encourage your local media to broad
cast our public service announcements, helping to spread our message to
people everywhere. (The National Arbor Day Foundation)
“Birdsong” may not have mass appeal, in the sense that not everyone enjoys literature with such intense scientific content. However, the consequences
behind its message about deforestation will affect the masses, which make it a
valuable tool in the education process of any reader. Evolution has affected each
and every one of us. Books like this help us understand its impact on the lives of
all living creatures. The author so exquisitely portrays the birdsongs that reader
can’t help but feel that they are standing next to Stap, holding up the recorder,
trying to catch a measure of this amazing sound. Understanding the progression of the birdsong’s evolution helps us to relate to our own.
This will assist us in making intelligent choices today that will create a better
future. Stap’s understated passion persuades the reader to come to terms with
the effects of deforestation at the level of the bellbird, by fostering empathy for
its suffering. This in-turn motivates the reader to take on the bird’s cause and
make it their own.
I remember, though, the words of ornithologist John Fitzpatrick, director
of Cornell’s Lab of Ornithology, in response to the pro-developers’ outcry
that environmentalist
want to change everything. “No, we don’t,” Fitzpatrick said. “All we
want to do is save the few crumbs of the pie that are left so we can smell
them and imagine what the
whole pie was like.” (Stap 134)
Works Cited
PGR 10
“Home Page.” 15 April. 2007.
http://www.callunafineflowers.com/memorial_middle_school/WebQuest/
studentwebsites/21/homepage.htm
Stap, Don. Birdsong. New York: Scribner, 2005.
“The National Arbor Day Foundation.” Rain Forest Rescue. 17 April. 2007.
http://www.nationaltreetrust.org/programs/rainforest/songbirds.cfm
PGR 11
Sara Friedlander
An Off Red Tale
PGR 12
by Andrew Walsh
The authoritarian world of Margaret Atwood’s, “The Handmaid’s Tale,”
paints a dystopian future where fundamentalism reigns and females are commodities. Among the bleak landscape, it is hard for humanity not to hope that
some good will somehow comes from such horrible things, but this is an optimistic view. The time period of the story “liquidated a number of original architects of Gilead” (Atwood 306), and suggested that no one was immune -not
even “Nick.” The reader is left wondering what happened to the movement itself
when it had eventually lost its own perspective, and to consider the darker ultimate ending of that society’s demise. The speculation of freedom, combined
with the tragedy of Gileadean society imploding on itself, paints a dark and
fatalist picture. “Offred” could have been freed or arrested depending on what I
have found to be equal evidence in the book. I will show both of the viewpoints
and let the reader come to a decision.
The first argument is that “Offred” was being “freed”, rather than arrested, and proof of her escape gives the reader hope for humanity through her
freedom. I believe that Atwood has given us clues to show the benevolence of
“Nick” towards “Offred” and the potential for “Offred” to escape Gilead. However, it is the glimpse of hope and accounts of “Offred’s” reprieve that makes the
reader wonder whether there were others like “Offred.” Maybe their fates were
different, and maybe their futures were not as bleak? All of these events depend
on the nature of “Nick” and the clues left by the author. Was he a “true believing” spy, or a part of the Underground movement?
The Historical Notes section reveals that “Nick” was an Eye (Atwood 3083) but the tale is left openly ambiguous so that we don’t know his true nature.
One view is that “Nick” cared for “Offred” because he made “love” to her, even
though such acts were highly forbidden. If “Nick” were a “true believer,” he
would have turned the Commander in and “Offred” would not have gotten far
enough into her escape to record a transcript of her accounts. The story’s first
person narration, and evidence of their recording by “Offred”, in the Historical
Notes section, support the view that the account was recorded as a voice transcription. The voice of the book lies deeply in a first person narrative; we know,
by the proof of the tapes, that “Offred” was not arrested. The whole perception
of the tale is through the voice of “Offred”; she tells us, “[this] is a reconstruction too” (Atwood 140) and signifies that all these events are recalled from her
memory. Taking into account the narrative form and the context of its relation
to future history in the Historical Notes, it is fitting that the account of “Offred”
would prove her initial escape.
Even without relying on the context of the Historical Notes, the reader can
still establish an emotional bond between “Offred” and “Nick” by observing
the character of “Nick.” Initially, he appears almost opaque in his emotions, telling “Offred” that he wants “No romance” (Atwood 262). Although, this quote
reveals “Nick’s” own struggle to not become involved; which ultimately fails.
“Offred” visits “Nick” on a consistent basis, empathizing in a common bond to
“not tempt fate [with] ... romance” (Atwood 270.) By the point “Offred” is taken
PGR 13
by the Eyes, there are hints to indicate an emotional bond between “Nick” and
“Offred.” “Offred” revealed her name in chapter 41 (Atwood 270) and “Nick”
whispered it back to her before the Eyes came; “He calls me by my real name”
(Atwood 293). The extradition might have been a genuine escape and not a muffled arrest.
“Nick” had everything to lose by becoming sexually involved with a
Handmaid, and is vulnerable to the ultimate penalty of death. Even if “Nick”
were acting as a mock double agent, having sex with a Handmaid would not be
absolved easily by the puritanical Gildean government. The upcoming purges
would have also compounded “Nick’s” problems whether he was an Eye or double agent. It is in his best interest to secure his own safety and remove anyone
who might reveal his status by exile or assassination. A suggested purge by the
Historical Notes would mean that internal saboteurs like “Nick” would be killed;
history has shown what purges can do to the ranks of any established governing
body. Stalin and Mao’s purges took a few actual dissenters in the ranks but also
managed to wipe thousands of more innocents. If “Nick” were a “true believing” spy for the Eyes, he would not complicate himself with “Offred”; he already
knew of the Commander’s illegal misgivings.
However there is also a connection between “Offglen’s suicide” and “Offred’s” delivery from the Commander’s house. It was a compounding of events
that required action by “Nick.” The view point in support of “Offred’s” freedom
assumes a benevolent nature of “Nick” but there are also cracks throughout the
book that show a darker side to him as well. “Offred” recounts her nights with
“Nick” and how she told him everything; including the identity of “Offglen,”
“I tell him about Moira, about Offglen” (Atwood 270). There are also hints of
“Nick” becoming more distant and obtuse, “He on the other hand talks little: no
more hedging or jokes. He barely asks questions. He seems indifferent to most
of what I have to say” (Atwood 270). The next few paragraphs later, the reader
finds that “Offglen” has committed “suicide” and now “Nick” wants to magically whisk her away to freedom.
The alternate claim is that “Offred” fell into a trap set by “Nick.” The psychological force of the security services over the population were so great that
plans were already devised to destroy groups like “Mayday.” “Nick” could have
been an ambitious Eye for the Gildean government and successfully established
“Offred” as an informant. The information about “Offglen” was critical to the
destruction of a “Mayday” cell and maybe more. “Nick’s” behavior could possibly be overlooked for the results produced and he may have been instructed
to do so. There is even evidence of foreshadowing by the narrator, “Impossible
to think that anyone for whom I feel such gratitude could betray me” (Atwood
270). This evidence supports the viewpoint that “Nick” may be a malevolent
character, who brought about “Offred’s” downfall. His intentions are clear when
he says, “we don’t pursue this” (Atwood 271) and the next time that the reader
sees “Nick” is when he is involved in the “arrest.” The best strategy would be to
confuse the prisoner, and “Nick” knew how to emotionally move “Offred” by
calling her by her real name. The proof of the tapes are not a problem since the
narrative could have been recorded in the Commander’s house from his collection of media and players (eg. voice recorder.)
When I first read the ending to the “The Handmaid’s Tale” I was frus-
the book. The Historical Notes helped in understanding the background of
the characters but I still wasn’t sure what happened to “Offred.” I initially was
hopeful of a free “Offred” and a benevolent “Nick”, but I also looked closer at
the readings and noticed “Nick” had many opportunities to use “Offred” as an
informant. The text also appears to show him as someone who no longer needed
“Offred” after she told him about “Offglen.” What I realized is that the ambiguity of the ending serves as a talking point for our own optimistic and pessimistic
views; it depends on how we interpreted the events of the book. Reflecting on
our own response to the ending is a reflection of our point-of-view that we bring
to the story.
PGR 14
Works Cited
Atwood, Margaret. The Handmaid’s Tale. New York: Anchor Books, 1998.
Pinochet’s Victims Speak:
Dorfman Reveals Our Shared Humanity
by Erica Anderson
>2,279 assassinated. >1,102 ‘disappeared.’ >500,000 exiled. Such appalling statistics expose the atrocities that define the reign of Chilean dictator Augusto
Pinochet from 1973-89 (Rettig, Transition, Mundi). However, regardless of their
magnitude, statistics alone rarely incite sustained outrage. They are inanimate.
It is the human story, the personal testimony that overwhelms and enrages as
Ariel Dorfman demonstrates with his bilingual collection of poems In Case of
Fire in a Foreign Land. Through a multitude of perspectives written in both
English and Spanish, Dorfman vividly conveys the pain and suffering endured
by the Chilean people during and following the brutal dictatorship of Pinochet.
What distinguishes Dorfman’s work from other accounts of torture and tragedy,
however, is its effect on the reader. Not only does he expose the terror of horrendous repression, but he also succeeds in emotionally moving the reader. Dorfman engages the reader by removing the distance between foreign history and
our present through his humility, direct style, stark imagery, and suggestion of
hope based on solidarity. Above all, Dorfman underscores our shared humanity
on the basis of emotion, irrespective of time and place.
The events of September 11, 1973 cast a dark cloud over Chile. After three
years of the progressive presidency of Socialist Salvador Allende, right-wing
groups backed by the CIA orchestrated a deadly coup. Allende was murdered,
and General Augusto Pinochet took his place (Winn 335-339). The coup succeeded in obliterating Allende’s liberal democracy and installing a dictatorship.
Pinochet’s authoritarian government would remain in power for sixteen years
until he failed to gain majority support in a 1988 plebiscite and reluctantly yielded power to the opposition party (Winn 356-57). The irreparable damage thrust
upon the Chilean people, however, continues to the present.
Pinochet holds responsibility for the gravest of human rights violations. During his dictatorship thousands were kidnapped, tortured, murdered, and ‘disappeared’ (Chile). ‘Disappearances’ generally involve kidnapping by the state and
subsequent torture and murder. For many Chileans, the Villa Grimaldi prison
symbolizes the brutality of Pinochet’s terror and repression. Within its confines,
women and men alike were sexually, mentally, and emotionally abused (Winn
340). These tragic injustices permeated Pinochet’s reign, evidenced by the more
than 3,000 killed (Transition).
Upon Allende’s assassination, Dorfman’s world turned upside down.
Originally born in Argentina in 1942 to Russian parents, Dorfman became a
Chilean citizen in 1967 and proceeded to work for Allende’s government. Following the coup he was forced into exile: a simultaneous blessing and burden
(Jaggi). Dorfman’s exile to the United States positioned him in a unique place as
an author. It promised suffering but also liberty, as it enabled him to document
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In Case of Fire in a Foreign Land
Ariel Dorfman
Duke UP, 2002
159 pages
PGR 16
Pinochet’s brutal repression free from persecution. He was tormented by the
human rights violations being committed against his people and by his own
powerlessness. While he personally experienced the horrors of the dictatorship
through friends suffering in its midst, he also acted as a distant observer. Thus,
he both endured the losses of the Chilean people, whose voices speak in his
poetry, and experienced the position of the reader as a helpless witness. His
dual experience is abundantly clear in this collection of poems, as he attends
to both the reader’s emotions and to those of the victims. Dorfman’s personal
relationship to the tragedy in Chile enables him to authentically present diverse
personas affected by state-sponsored brutality – from grieving mothers to desperate husbands to forlorn children. Having been overwhelmed by the injustice
occurring before his eyes, Dorfman creates a similar sensation in the reader due
to the authenticity of the voices he employs in his poems. His experiences afford
him sensitivity to both parties – readers and victims – a necessity for the bond
he precipitates between them.
Replacing the typical pedantic tone of historical documentation with humility and personal voice, Dorfman minimizes the distance between the reader
and the Chilean victims. In the first poem “First Prologue: Simultaneous Translation” (3), Dorfman defines his role as a translator of individuals’ stories. He
compares himself to those who indifferently document human rights abuses as
an occupation: “I’m not so different from the interpreters / in their glass booths
/ at endless international conferences / translating what the peasant from Talca
/ tells about torture” (lines 1-5) he contends. Portraying himself as a mere translator, Dorfman attributes the power of his poetry to the victims’ stories. Quoted
in the Guardian newspaper, Dorfman underscored this sentiment. He explained,
“[…] I’ve never thought of myself as a ‘voice for the voiceless.’ People aren’t voiceless; we’re deaf - we don’t hear them” (Jaggi). Dorfman’s writing is driven by his
desire to give those who are silenced the opportunity to be heard. He does not
profess to be an authority or patronize the victims but rather hopes to amplify
their stories. It seems to me that he feels morally obligated to publicize the voices
of the repressed in order to overwhelm the readers’ ‘deafness.’
He further belittles his role in arousing the reader’s emotions, crediting instead the victims’ stories, writing, “in spite of my river of interpretations and
turns of phrase / something is communicated / a part of the howl / a thicket
of blood / some impossible tears / the human race has heard something / and
is moved” (31-37). This explanation serves to epitomize Dorfman’s entire collection of poems. Emphasizing his insignificance, Dorfman elucidates the impact of
personal testimony. He portrays himself almost as an impediment to the power
of the victims’ stories, as he slightly alters their authenticity. Instead, he asserts
that the horror and anguish of the human story disturb and move “the human
race,” including the reader. We are no longer ‘deaf,’ as we have witnessed the
pain and suffering that result from brutality. Dorfman’s role is merely to shine
light on the victims’ experiences. By diminishing his role and highlighting the
horrifying experiences themselves, Dorfman draws the reader closer to the victims. We are the audience to the individual speakers’ testimonies. There is no
intermediary between us and the victims as Dorfman appears to recede into the
background.
As Dorfman disappears, the voices in the poems spring forth to engage
PGR 17
and directly address the reader. The use of the 2nd person and the intimate communication we observe transplant us into the midst and aftermath of brutal
repression. The poem “Red Tape” (5) begins: “find out check information go to
the / police station then to regimental headquarters hire lawyers” (lines 1-2), immediately pulling the reader into the situation. The poem continues for an entire
stanza in this way, without punctuation, evoking panic. This direct, unpunctuated form of writing, conveying urgency and desperation, places firm demands
upon the reader to respond to the situation. As the first poem after the initial
prologue, “Red Tape” alerts the reader to the active voice of the poems to follow,
which similarly call upon the reader.
The majority of the poems in Dorfman’s collection reference “you.” Such direct language involves the reader in the victims’ circumstances, confirming the
link between the two. Being implicated in the situation, we, as readers, sense
the intimate connection between ourselves and the victims. By skillfully and
discreetly forcing the reader to see this shared humanity, Dorfman manages to
elicit not merely pity but sorrow and outrage from us as we observe the abuse
and misery of our fellow humans.
The use of grotesque imagery further contributes to the reader’s emotional responses. Dorfman’s vivid, brutal descriptions render the depiction of
events realistic, yet unfathomable. In “I Just Missed the Bus and I’ll be Late for
Work” (33), Dorfman provides us with a sense of the intolerable grief and tragedy that victims of repression endure. Presenting a collection of repulsive images, he writes, “I’d have to piss through my eyes to cry for you / […] I’d have
to die like crushed grapes / through my eyes, / cough up vultures spit green
silence / and shed a dried-up skin” (lines 1-8). The rage, anguish, and grief communicated through these lines render them almost unbearable to read. They
reveal excruciating pain and indignation. The speaker of the poem appears to be
seething with a desperate sense of injustice. Elements of surrealism allude to the
unbelievable nature of the atrocities occurring and the impossibility of just reparations for victims’ losses. In reading this poem, I was brought to tears repeatedly, manifesting its powerful effect on the reader. Once again, the use of “you”
thrusts the poem upon the reader, and we are forced to confront and swallow a
taste of the anguish we can only imagine from the safety of our home.
The repulsion Dorfman generates in the reader pervades many of the
poems. However, he injects an uplifting call to action into his conclusion as a
means of channeling the outrage of the reader and of the victims. Remaining
attentive to the reader’s responses and emphasizing the link between the reader and victims, Dorfman concludes with a glimmer of hope dependent upon
both parties. He opines the need for human solidarity in responding to and
preventing further atrocities. In the first epilogue entitled “Voices from Beyond
the Dark” (138-143), Dorfman offers that “A light is there” (line 14). Thus, he
indicates that in the midst of repression and brutality, hope is somewhere but
must be pursued. He follows by writing “The poor of the world are crying out”
(17), indicating that a promising future lies in the unity and resistance of the
oppressed. Echoing this sentiment, he explains, “Only another person can give
me hope” (27). Dorfman clarifies his position that human solidarity is the only
purveyor of social change.
Consistent in his humility, Dorfman explains his motivation to act col
PGR 18
lectively stems from the desire for self-preservation. He admits in “Voices
from Beyond the Dark,” “I don’t want to pretend I was a hero / I did what I had
to do, that’s all / It’s really so simple / Anything else, anything else would have
tasted like ashes” (58-61). The reference to ashes, repeated throughout the poem,
alludes to death. The final phrase, then, indicates the importance of distancing
oneself from agony in order to survive. To continue living, Dorfman suggests
that he had to struggle and fight for justice so as not to be drowned in misery
and pain. Hope is necessary for perseverance. Thus, the need for collectivity
derives from individual necessity.
Dorfman, representative of all the speakers in his poems, seeks to alleviate his own suffering through united action. Similarly, the reader aches for
a promising conclusion after witnessing the atrocities revealed in the poems. I
personally felt a sense of relief in reading of solidarity as an instigator for social
justice. Though this unity benefits individuals, it serves the interest of the community as a whole. It demonstrates a consciousness and concern for the self and
others. Dorfman, thus, reinforces the connection between the reader and the
individual victims in his poems by exhibiting that both search for resolution
and justice. United resistance serves as a mechanism for personal and societal
survival.
Dorfman’s collection is not only eye-opening as a portrayal of the reality of Pinochet’s dictatorship but also as a demonstration of human emotional responses
and capabilities. Bombarded with startlingly personal voices and horrifying experiences the reader bears witness to the brutality that the speakers have in
fact experienced. Dorfman’s realistic exposure and amplification of the victims’
voices succeeds in provoking anger, rage, sadness, frustration, and disgust. His
ability to generate discomfort in the reader makes his collection successful. He
insinuates that as members of the human race, we share an innate capability for
compassion and sympathy for one another.
As crimes of torture and abuse continue worldwide, evidenced by the Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib scandals, In Case of Fire in a Foreign Land prompts
us to question how such brutality continues unabated; how humans with an
emotional capacity can perpetrate such heinous acts against fellow beings.
Similar to the way in which Dorfman’s work exposes the atrocities of Pinochet,
journalists and their photographs have provided indisputable proof of prisoner
torture in Cuba and Iraq. The public’s awareness has been raised. We can not
claim ignorance or ‘deafness’ as an excuse for inaction. The media attempt to
dehumanize these prisoners in hopes of preventing our recognition of them as
fellow beings and consequently precluding our compassion for them. We must
not succumb to this politically-motivated deception but instead recognize the
humanity we share with the prisoners. As witnesses, we are obligated to consider and institute Dorfman’s proposal of unity in defense of our fellow humans’
rights. As he hints, global solidarity for justice has the potential to overpower
ruthless repression. It is the only hope for the preservation of our individual and
collective humanity.
Murdered victims of Pinochet’s dictatorship(Victor Rojas/AFP/Getty Images pictured in
The Epoch Times)
Works Cited
PGR 19
“Chile: The Terrible Legacy of Augusto Pinochet.” Amnesty International. 9 Sept. 2004. 2 Apr. 2007 <http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGAMR220102004>.
Jaggi, Maya. “Speaking for the Dead.” Guardian 14 June 2003. 2 Apr 2007
<http://books.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,12084,975904,00.html>.
“Mapa Mundi del Exilio Chileno.” Memoria Viva. 1 Apr. 2007. Proyecto Internacional de Derechos Humanos. 2 Apr. 2007 <http://www.memoriaviva.com/
exilio/exilio.htm>.
“Pinochet Charged in Human Rights Case.” The Epoch Times 24 Nov. 2005.
12 Apr. 2007 <http://www.theepochtimes.com/news/5-11-24/34959.html>.
Rettig Report, vol.2, p. 899. as qtd. by “The Crimes: Pinochet’s Chile.” Remember-Chile. 29 Nov. 2001. 2 Apr. 2007 <http://www.rememberchile.org.uk/beginners/index.htm#crimes>.
“Transition at the Crossroads: Human Rights Violations under Pinochet Remain the Crux.” Amnesty International. 22 Jan. 1996. as qtd by “The Crimes:
Pinochet’s Chile.” Remember-Chile. 29 Nov. 2001. 2 Apr. 2007
<http://www.remember-chile.org.uk/beginners/index.htm#crimes>.
Winn, Peter. Americas: The Changing Face of Latin America and the Caribbean. 3rd ed. Berkeley, CA: University of California, 2006.
Cultural Identity
PGR 20
By Tegan Dixon
What happens when we find ourselves outside of our element? The graphic
novel Persepolis 2: The Story Of A Return written by Marjane Satrapi effectively
illustrates the shock people face when encountering a new and different culture.
The graphic novel also communicates a migrant’s assimilation into a new culture and loss of their old culture, creating internal conflict. Through the use of
simple language and illustrations, the graphic novel brings humor to the struggles migrant’s face when trapped between two cultures. In a world filled with
war and clashing cultures, society needs to become more tolerant of others ideas
and customs if we ever hope to live in peace.
Marjane, who attends school in Austria to escape the war in Iran, faces new
liberal ideas in Europe. One of the largest differences between the two cultures is what is considered to be socially acceptable behavior. When in Austria,
Marjane’s interaction with her friend Julie demonstrates just how different the
Iranian and Austrian cultures are. Julie openly discusses her sexuality with
Marjane saying, “I’ve already had sex with eighteen guys…Now I’m on the pill.
That’s why I have such a big butt,”(28).
Marjane, shocked by Julie’s behavior, thinks about how in Iran, “even when
you had sex before marriage, you hid it” (28). The cultural shock Marjane experiences is very common, for all foreign students, “regardless of maturity, disposition, previous experience abroad, or knowledge of the country in which they
will be living, experience some degree of culture shock” (Culture Shock). Although the views on sexuality in Austria are shocking and far different from
the views in Iran during 1984, the exposure to these new ideas help assimilate
Marjane into the western culture. This assimilation Marjane faces is similar to
that of other migrant’s around the world. When encountering new ideas, people
tend to change ever so slightly, and over time the impact of these ideas becomes
much greater.
Upon returning to Iran after four years of living in Austria, Marjane’s behavior, thoughts, and ideas changed dramatically. The change can especially
be seen when viewing Marjane’s interaction with her old friends. Upon reconnecting with her childhood friends, they ask Marjane about her sex life since
they are all still virgins. After Marjane acknowledges that she has slept with a
few people, her friends react by saying, “so, what’s the difference between you a
whore???”(116). While Marjane’s idea’s about sex have changed, the traditionalist mindset still exists in her home country of Iran. These traditional views clash
with the more liberal ideas Marjane has after living in Austria. These conflicting views illustrate the changes migrants go through when encountering new
cultures and how their changing opinion can end up creating confusion and
internal conflicts.
Marjane’s internal battle between the traditional Iranian culture and the liberal western culture leads to her depression and attempted suicide. She states,
“I was a westerner in Iran, an Iranian in the west. I had no identity. I don’t even
know anymore why I was living. So I decided to die” (118 Satrapi). Marjane’s
attempt at suicide connects to other immigrants who feel lost between two cultures and may also be suffering from depression. Often “social change, assimilation and cultural identity may be significant factors in the relationship between migra-
PGR 21
tion and mental illness” (Bhugra). Although the Persepolis 2: The Story Of A Return
contains serious content for a more mature audience, the graphic novel is able to
make light of each intense situation through the use of humor.
The simple language and childlike illustrations in Persepolis 2: The Story Of A
Return provide comic relief when traumatic and serious situations occur. Marjane finds herself in many uncomfortable situations, one being after her friend
Julie’s party. Marjane thought Julie had gone to sleep with “Ernest”, but quickly
after hearing,
she realizes,
PGR 22
From the running mascara and droplets of sweat on Marjane’s face, to the naked people walking through the house, the illustrations make the awkward situation Marjane faces comical. On the following page Marjane makes the statement, “That night I really understood the meaning of ‘the sexual revolution’”(34),
ending the chapter with a final punch line. Comic relief in the graphic novel can
also be found in more serious matters such as Marjane’s attempted suicide.
Suicide is a very serious action, and yet in the graphic novel, due to the illustrations and use of language, the seriousness of the issue is coated with comedy.
The attempted suicide seems humorous as Marjane follows the examples set
forth by a movie she has seen. When waking up
Works Cited
Bhugra, Dinesh, and Matthew A. Becker. “Migration, Cultural Bereavement
and Cultural Identity.” World Phsychiatry. Feb. 2005. 16 Apr. 2007 <http://www.
pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1414713>.
“Culture Shock.” Sudent Services: Madison College of Engineering. 16 Apr.
2007 <http://studentservices.engr.wisc.edu/international/incoming/living/culture.html>.
PGR 23
(118-119) her
reaction of disappointment is comical due to the use of language, but he main
source of comic relief comes from the graphics. Her reaction to the drugs and
facial expressions make the suicide seem silly, especially when she hallucinates
a large group of rats flying through the window. With the humor brought to the
novel through the simple language and the illustrations, traumatic experiences
and serious actions that are addressed become less intense, making the book
suitable for a wider age range.
Through Marjane’s experiences Persepolis 2: The Story Of A Return effectively communicates the challenges migrants encounter upon contact with
a new and different culture. Marjane’s cultural shock, assimilation, confusion
with cultural identity, and depression are all issues other migrants face around
the world, giving the book universal truths that a wide range of people can connect to. Through reading Persepolis 2: The Story Of A Return, people will gain a
deeper understanding of how difficult being a migrant can be . Reader’s will
gain acceptance of changes family and friends undergo when living abroad and
will gain a greater tolerance for other cultures. In doing so, this will help bridge
the gaps between countries with different beliefs and ideas, assisting in the uniting of our world.
Tight Potential, Loose Ends
by Erik Chalhoub
PGR 24
Kafka on the Shore
Haruki Murakami
Alfred A. Knopf
We’ve all heard this plot before; a teenaged boy has run away from home
to escape his cruel father. The boy is also on a journey to find his long-lost
mother and sister. Haruki Murakami’s Kafka on the Shore is a prime example of
this clichéd storyline, although he takes it to a different level. It follows a boy
named Kafka Tamura, who runs away from home on his fifteenth birthday. To
switch up the plot, Murakami also tells the story of Satoru Nakata. Nakata is a
mentally-challenged older man; he never fully recovered his mind after he and
his fourth grade classmates mysteriously fell unconscious all at the same time.
While reading the book’s description inside the cover, I was thinking that I had
already read this book before, due to its common plot. But as I started to read it,
I noticed that Murakami’s unique style of writing employs every perspective in
prose: first, second, and third person. The many twists that are thrown in helps
expand the plot, making it seem fresh instead of unoriginal, but the potential it
builds up is never carried out, due to Murakami’s compulsive character development.
What struck me when I first started reading the book was how Murakami dove straight into the plot. He ignored all the small details that tend to drag
out in other books, such as setting the time and place, and introducing the main
character in the first chapter. Instead, the main character, Kafka, is introduced
throughout the whole book, as you find out something new about him in just
about every chapter. Murakami does this by telling the story in Kafka’s point of
view, who recalls his past through some parts of the book.
What bogged down the book was the fact that Murakami has the tendency to somewhat overdevelop his characters. For example, the librarian Oshima,
is referred to as a male throughout a portion of the book. It is then revealed that
Oshima is “biologically and legally” (165) female. This has no significance whatsoever throughout the book, which left me wondering why Murakami decided
to go that far. Derek Berry wrote a review about Kafka on the Shore for The Decatur Daily, “Murakami does such a wonderful job of building his characters and
settings that the reader inevitably is sucked into the book…” (www.decaturdaily.
com) Berry and I obviously have entirely different views of Murakami’s character development. By revealing too much information about a character, Murakami destroys that character’s persona. Every time Oshima was mentioned,
I recalled the horrific man/woman character, and therefore my concern for this
character diminished.
For a fifteen-year-old boy, Kafka is a very sophisticated person. What is
interesting is that he and Nakata are complete opposites of each other. Kafka is
a young boy who thinks like a wise old person, while Nakata is an old man who
has the mind of a child. Kafka’s personality was a little distracting for me; an average fifteen-year-old’s mind is not as complicated as his. He has a keen interest
PGR 25
in old novels, and has a vast amount of knowledge of Japanese folklore. Nakata
can’t read or write, but he can somehow talk to cats. I found myself liking Nakata more than Kafka; besides his strange ability to talk to cats, he seemed more
realistic than the know-it-all teenager.
Despite being written by a Japanese author, this book seems to be influenced
by American literature. I was expecting to read a novel that would delve into
Japanese culture, and religion. Besides the Japanese names and cities, you would
never know that this book wasn’t written in America. Murakami’s writing influences come from American writers, such as Kurt Vonnegut, and Richard
Brautigan (www.harukimurakami.com). The most noticeable sign of Americanism in Murakami’s writing is slang. Slang is common in American writing, and
Murakami implements it to his writing. For example, the character Hoshino refers to Nakata as “Gramps.” Here is a good example of the dialogue Murakami
applies throughout the book:
“Wait a sec-you can’t fall asleep here,” Hoshino said, flustered. “Tell you
what, I’ll find a place where you can sack out, okay? Just hang in there for a
while.” (213)
The use of slang gives the reader a nice break from the serious storyline, and
makes it more enjoyable to read.
Murakami’s use of first, second, and third person works surprisingly
well. It flows seamlessly; I think this story would not have been as interesting
had it used only one perspective. The perspectives enliven the story, showing
you different opinions on the same subject. Kafka’s story is told in first person
and Nakata’s in third. The “boy named Crow” segments are written in second person. The use of these perspectives helps separate this book from others
with the same plot. In the chapters with Kafka, you can read his feelings and
thoughts, but in the chapters with Nakata, you can only see his actions, due to
the third person perspective.
Once I finished the book, I was frustrated with it because there were
many events that Murakami left hanging, and there was never a conclusion to
them. You feel unsatisfied, because there were many interesting sequences that
Murakami could have gone further with, but they were disregarded. When
I first started reading the story, I was instantly hooked; the first question that
came to my mind was what happened to Nakata’s fourth grade class? This was
an original storyline, and I was expecting to find out the answer by the time I finished the book. I was really disappointed when Murakami completely dropped
this idea halfway through the book. What I think Murakami was trying to accomplish by doing so was to make the reader think, and draw conclusions in
their own mind.
Theo Tait, editor of the Daily Telegraph, said this about Kafka on the Shore
in his review: “It has kookiness to burn…but it lacks depth and originality”
(www.telegraph.co.uk). I disagree with part of this statement. What it lacks
in originality, it makes up for with depth. I felt that the characters had depth,
albeit too much, especially Kafka, with his deep thoughts. It does have “kookiness;” for example, a pimp that poses as Colonel Sanders from Kentucky Fried
Chicken. These factors keep this book from becoming another run-of-the-mill
story that fills bookstore shelves.
Haruki Murakami has some great ideas in his book Kafka on the Shore,
but they are never really fleshed out. The potential for this book is overwhelming,
but it remains just that, potential. I believe this book could’ve been something really
special. Sure, it’s an enjoyable read, but it’s not something you will be remembering
for more than a few days after you read it. On his website, Murakami states, “What
I’d like to be is a unique writer who’s different from everybody else. I want to be a
writer who tells stories unlike other writers’” (www.harukimurakami.com). Instead
of trying to be unique, what he should do is focus more on the plot, rather than make
complicated characters that no one will care about.
Works Cited
Berry, Derek. Surreal fantasy in “Kafka on the Shore.” <http://www.decaturdaily.
com/decaturdaily/books/050116/book1.shtml>.
Haruki Murakami: The Official Website. <http://www.harukimurakami.com>.
Murakami, Haruki. Kafka on the Shore. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2005.
PGR 26
Tait, Theo. Dreams of cats. 16 January 2005. <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/
main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2005/01/16/bomur16.xml>.
The Rhythmic Understructure of Poetry
Scott Pozzi
With a picture of Louis Armstrong on the cover—head back, smiling,
a trumpet in hand, with a trombone player to his right and a clarinet player to
his left— it’s hard not to pick up the book of poems by Sebastian Matthews and
crease the binding of We Generous. Although this is the first book by Sebastian
Matthews he does a great job giving a diverse selection of poems that don’t just
give you a taste of who he is but a five star main course of poems that speak
of nature, love, loss, places he has gone, and people who have influenced him.
Scared that he would always be known as his father’s son Matthews doesn’t hold
back, he has put together a poetic masterpiece that will forever bring him out of
his fathers shadow and let him be known for the wonderful writer he is.
Sebastian Matthews got started writing early in his life, as he was a son
to a mother and father whom both wrote poetry. But, Sebastian didn’t want to
always be known as his father’s son, who was a successful writer of poetry as
he ended up writing 11 books in his lifetime, and decided that he would get
his MFA in creative writing instead. He did so at the University of Michigan,
although halfway through the program he realized that he wasn’t a very good
short story writer nor was he very interested in it, but figured that since he had
started it and got halfway through the program that he might as well finish it.
After graduating Sebastian grew as a poetry writer and describes the transition in his life as he writes, “ It wasn’t until after my father’s sudden death four
years later that I could actually see myself as a working poet. The shift came
suddenly and unexpectedly, as if my father’s death were a tree falling. No longer
was I standing in its shadow” (Poets and Writers). Here Sebastian is relating his
father’s death to a falling tree which gives an image of something big, strong,
tall, and permanent— just as most people think of their parents— and it is with
comparisons like this that Sebastian’s wonderful sense of imagery can really be
recognized.
Some of the poems that display Sebastian’s wonderful sense of imagery are
“Fall” and “Mortal.” In the poem “Fall,” one of my favorite images is when Sebastian
describes a spot on his shelf. He writes, “… Even/ now, up at my desk, the sun/ shines
a spot on the bookshelf// turning my dog-eared paperbacks/ into illuminated manuscripts,/ and a trapdoor opens in my head” (Fall 16-21). The first thing Sebastian
does here is gives us an image of books that are very used and have started to age
with their corners turned back as he describes them to be dog-eared. The next thing
he does is calls them illuminated manuscripts, which makes you think of books with
great importance because they are, something almost in relation to Jesus and the
way that many depictions of him show him illuminated as the lighted way is the path
that we must follow. Then he ends it with a trapdoor opening and makes me think of
falling into these ideas in these books that are illuminated, that an abundant amount
of information hits you all of a sudden and unexpectedly. The other poem that was
one of my favorites was the poem “Mortal.” Some of my favorite lines in this poem
were “paved with snow, sidewalk a minefield of black ice,” (Mortal 5) “… Sleep/ clings
like cigarette smoke…,” (Mortal 8-9) and “a man tips like a bookshelf falling into you.”
PGR 27
We Generous, by Sebastian Matthews
PGR 28
(Mortal 22) Each of these lines gives a vivid image of what Sebastian is describing. A
minefield of black ice is something that makes you think of something you can’t see
but is very much there and has the potential for blowing up on you. The next one
that compares sleep to smoke is something that makes you think of a smell that won’t
go away even though you want it to it lingers with you and the longer it stays with
you the less you pay attention to it; just as with sleep. Just like with students, sleep is
something that we get more of when out of school but as we get back to school and
the semester goes forward we get less and less sleep and although it bothers us at
first it slowly becomes less and less recognizable. The last one where he compares
a man to a bookshelf gives an image of someone big and solid but who easily falls
apart, just as books easily fall off of the shelves of a falling bookcase. The way that Sebastian uses analogies to create imagery speaks to the reader just as the comparisons
to jazz speak to the reader in a similar but different way.
The use of jazz relations in Sebastian’s writings is a unique style that I haven’t
seen before but works very well and has also made me realize how much poetry is
like jazz. The American Heritage Dictionary (AHD) defines jazz as “… having a strong
but flexible rhythmic understructure with solo and ensemble improvisations on basic
tunes and chord patterns…” (AHD jazz) and Dictionary.com defines poetry as “the
art of rhythmical composition, written or spoken, for exciting pleasure by beautiful,
imaginative, or elevated thoughts.” (Dictionary.com) Although the two definitions,
jazz and poetry, don’t relate to each other through specific meaning they both are a
form of expression that comes from a deep feeling. Sebastian gives a good example
of this in his poem ‘like a girl saying yes.’ It is a short poem but he does a lot with it. “is
the way Condon/ put it// hearing Bix’s coronet/ for the first time// a mellow tone/ lofted gently from the bell// of the horn// like a girl saying yes// or as Louis said/ followed
(no doubt)/ by his cackle laugh// I’m tellin’ you/ those pretty notes/ went right thru
me.” (We Generous 46) In this poem Sebastian is comparing the way that the horn or
instrument of a jazz musician can give you the same feelings as a girl saying yes. It is
a description of an emotional build up that is begins inside of you and whether you
perfect it through an instrument or the positive response of girl it really is a feeling
that fills your heart with a feeling that is indescribable, except to say that it “went right
through me.” (like a girl saying yes 14) Meaning that he did nothing to stop it: he just
sat back, took it in, and let it feel him up with a heart-warming feeling that you have
to experience to know just how it feels.
On the back of the book there are quotes that describe what the book means
to different people and I would say that the one that best describes the book is by
Billy Collins. He says, “Music and musicians run through most of these poems—Louis
Armstrong to the Beach Boys and many in between—but Sebastian Matthews has
his own poetic music, which is poised, tuneful and able to shift from major to minor
so nice you hardly notice. We Generous is a terrific collection, an assembly of smart
evocative moments.” I like this one the most because I think that it is the one that
describes the book in its entirety. There is a sense of music that runs throughout the
poems as Sebastian compares certain situations to certain jazz musicians. Sebastian
really does switch from major to minor in the sense that he has deep poems that
must be read close and then he has those that just describe a day in his life in a simple
manner, but does so in a descriptive manner. He is able to accomplish this with a
wonderful sense of imagery and the pertinent influence of jazz in his writing through
a diverse selection of topics. So go out and get yourself a copy, it will look like an “il-
luminated manuscript” up on your shelf ever time you look at it after you’ve read it.
Works Cited
PGR 29
Dictionary.com. Copyright © 2007, Lexico Publishing Group, LLC
http://dictionary.reference.com/
Matthews, Sebastian. We Generous. Los Angeles, CA. Red Hen Press, 2007
Poets and Writers INC Copyright © 2007, New York
http://www.pw.org/mag/0403/matthews.htm
Maureen Quinn
PGR 30
Kelly Woods, Jaimie Uymatsu
Obstacles to a Better Education
Everyone deserves a good education. In today’s society most blue-collar jobs require a certain amount of education. Without an education past high
school it will only lead you to those low skill level jobs that take you nowhere.
With a good education you’ll be able to survive most obstacles that you face in
an everyday life. People should have a choice in what they’re going to do with
their lives, and how they’re going to do it. Once you arrive at a college you’re
eager to start your education, but there’s always those stereotypes that might
bring you down. More likely if you’re white then you most likely have your future already set up for you, but as for the rest of us it’s really hard to get into a
college we want to attend. In the book, Failing the Future by Annette Kolodny,
it talks about improvements and changes that should happen in private and
public colleges and universities.
As a former Dean of the College of Humanities at the University of Arizona,
but also taught at Yale University, the University of British Columbia, the University
of New Hampshire, the University of Maryland, and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute,
Kolodny knows how colleges work. As a dean she was able to see how the different
decisions where made and how it affected the faculty and the students. One of the
things she focused on was the professors and how most of them are men. As a strong
feminist she believes that women have the same right and knowledge to become
professors.
Women are just as smart as men, but it seems that most men are the ones
who are taking most of the jobs. One of the reasons why women don’t get jobs is the
fact that later in life they’ll get pregnant and have to take time off for child bearing.
Companies, schools, corporations, government, etc. want someone who will be committed to their jobs. They want to be secure that they have an employee so the job
will get done. Women are seen as the caretaker in a family household. When a bad
situation happens, the mother will most likely have to go and take care of it. In general
most men usually don’t deal with most of the household problems because they feel
like the mother should handle the situation. So the man doesn’t have to take time off
of work, because their job or responsibility is to bring home ends meat.
When starting your life at a college or university it will be very hard
adapting to new surroundings, to new teachers, to everything new. I personally
could have had the chance to attend a university. I had the grades, the extracurricular activities, community service-everything a college looked for in an
individual. But all the tuition fees, money for food, money for living conditions
was going to be too hard for my single mother and me. I decided to start at a
community college, because I wasn’t ready mentally and financially to attend a
university. I know there are many ways to get money, but either way I wasn’t
ready. One of my greatest fears in life is not succeeding. This books title really
caught my attention. I thought maybe this book could help me with my problem.
Failing can be very hard for someone, when you’re trying to reach for a
goal. This book showed you strategies and ways colleges’ work. For being such
PGR 31
Daisy Flores
PGR 32
a thorough book, I was able to get a lot of new ways of how to handle school.
Being a full time student can bring great results to you, and you’ll be able to
manage your time much better. Kolodny writes how more schools should be
able to accept students from other schools and their credits earned. I believe
International students should have the opportunity to come to the United States
with their credits earned from their previous college from their home country.
If a college student from a community college or any other college has the opportunity to transfer to their earned credits to a university why can’t an international student do the same? Yes, some say that the education from the US and
a foreign country are different, and that’s why they should start fresh because
the requirements are different. But some colleges in foreign countries are more
prestigious than those in the US so they should be allowed to keep their credits.
Giving minorities the opportunity to attend colleges and universities will widen
the diversity of cultures making a good society to be in. This would be an intellectual society in which students are goal oriented. Their focus would be on
school and not on other things. For example inner-city kids would only think
as school as an after thought, consequently leading to bigger problems with the
law. Kolodny suggest that, “Faculty and students in the next century will thus
enjoy a far richer, because more diverse, intellectual community” (Kolodny 43).
With more students, and thus more minorities, being able to further their education past high school with what ever means it may be, its creating diversity in
our nations college communities. Students bring along with them their culture
and rituals and integrate them with the dominating culture.
The goals of the feminist movement have been achieved, and those who
claim we’re living in a post feminist era are either sadly mistaken or tired of
thinking about the whole subject. --Margaret Atwood, Second Words (Kolodny
131). Kolodny as a strong feminist adds this quote about another feminist; telling
us that when women can’t achieve their goals, then they just quit leaving everything to the men. However, Kolodny believes women have the power, strength
and knowledge to be just as equal as a man. I believe every woman should strive
to get an education, but when you have a family and you’re a single mother
it’s really hard to achieve goals. Most schools have funding for childcare, but
some schools believe it’s not necessary. As Kolodny experiences as a dean, she
saw many cases where mothers had trouble trying to find babysitters for their
children. Having a family is such a wonderful thing, but they’re some situations
where you wished you never had a child. Women should have the opportunity
to do anything, with or without a family. Even staff members and faculty should
have access to these resources, because without them then we wouldn’t have
teachers or someone to run the office.
During my years as dean, when local business and community leaders asked
whether universities should be training students to work effectively in an increasingly competitive international economy; or whether we needed to train
more socially responsible participants for national and global citizenships; or
whether we should concentrate on graduating individuals equipped for success
in ours nations complexly multicultural workplace, my answer was always the
same: we need to be doing all three at once. (Kolodny 37)
Colleges focus more on given students an education rather than just
teaching them enough to pass the class. One of my friends has experienced a
situation like this at Cabrillo College. He has had a similar occurrence where his
math teacher would only teach them enough to pass the class. He only cared
that they knew the material enough to pass the class. He wouldn’t even challenge them; he would let them use notes, previous quizzes and exams and calculators in their quizzes and exams. Even though this was good for his grade
point average he felt like he didn’t fully receive knowledge of the material. He
felt like he was cheated out of his education. Colleges should weed out these
professors and give an opportunity to other professors that will effectively teach
us all 3 missions that Kolodny mentions.
Getting a good education can be difficult when you have obstacles that get in your
way. Women often suffer when they have a family and it’s harder for them to attend
college when they can’t afford or find anyone to take care of their kids. International
students should also give an equal opportunity to get an education without having
to start all over. College professors should focus more on teaching their students the
3 missions that Kolodny talked about. All these situations Kolodny was able to see
while being a dean at a university; she believes that there shouldn’t be any obstacles
in receiving an education. Anyone, no matter what race/ethnicity or gender, should
be given an equal opportunity.
Works Cited
Estrada, Samuel. Interview. 13 April 2007
PGR 33
Kolodny, Annette. Failing the Future. Durham and London: Duke University
Press, 1998.
Practical Dreamsmith: A Review of Neil Gaiman’s “Fragile
Things”
Ilya Baykin
PGR 34
“To absent friends, lost loves, old gods, and the season of mists; and may each and
every one of us always give the Devil his due.”
Hob Gadling, Sandman Vol IV: The Season of Mists
The best advice I’ve ever heard came from an Englishman who had recently
reached the New York Times Bestseller list. In early 2004, standing at a lecturer’s podium in a room packed full of devotees, far shorter and stockier and less mysterious
than in the vanity photos in his books, he was asked what advice he had for aspiring
writers. Without the slightest hint of irony but with that characteristic British detachment of explaining the self-evident, he answered: “Write.”
When not dishing out helpful advice, Neil Gaiman is the most significant practitioner of what I call “serious fantasy.” Modern fairy tales that hide bright shards of
glamour in subway windows and the dreams of ordinary people. His work tends
away from wizards, dragons, enchanted swords, elves, and everything else Tolkienesque. He doesn’t write war epics, nor does he create worlds modeled after the more
exotic cultures of this one. Rather, he plays with the belief-forms of our own Earth to
build his stories, and the full spectrum of human emotion to color them. An ethic of
narrative honor informs the outcomes of his stories, giving all attendant what they
came for, good or bad. Because he neither judges his protagonists nor gives them
happy endings, his work carries a certain weight, an echo of the true complexity of
humanity in all its hope and folly. Gaiman’s latest, the short story/poetry/miscellany
collection “Fragile Things”, is true to bittersweet form.
Comprisedofthirty-oneunrelatedtalesandbitsofverse,“FragileThings”issomewhat scattershot. Subtle ghost stories like “The Flints of Memory Lane” and “Closing
Time” share space with “Goliath”, a heartbreaker set in the “Matrix” universe. I was
pleasantly surprised to find one, “Forbidden Brides of the Faceless Slaves in the Secret
House on the Night of Dread Desire,” that was a favorite at Gaiman’s public readings.
His first editors panned it as “facetious garbage,” so it spent twenty years in an attic
before its value was realized. The introduction explains the genesis and publication
histories of the included material. It also contains some of the writer’s most personal
prose when he explains his motivations for writing and his love of stories.
Most of “Fragile Things” shows the writer in characteristic, fluent form, commented on as such by most reviewers. Dave Itzkoff of the New York Times heaped praise,
calling it “a prodigiously imaginative collection of stories from an author who loves to
remind you how difficult inspiration is to come by.” Publisher’s Weekly complained
that “most of these stories rely too heavily on the stock-in-trade of horror, sci-fi and
fantasy.” Longtime Gaiman readers already know this. Gaiman is a prodigiously
imaginative author who in his previous work relied heavily on the stock-in-trade of
pulp genres. It’s why we read his work.
Every piece in “Fragile Things” is well-written and mines a little territory
of the Collective Unconscious. Gaiman uses a lot of tricks to convey the sense
of a tale being told. Stories within stories, storytellers used as framing devices
(“October in the Chair”, “Feeders and Eaters”), re-examinations of the classics
PGR 35
(Conan Doyle and Lovecraft in “A Study in Emerald”, C.S. Lewis in “The Problem
of Susan”). A lone protagonist running from his past gets intimately involved
with representatives of obscure immigrant folklore in two of the more seriously
dark tales, “Bitter Grounds” and “Monarch of the Glen”. Gaiman playing in
other authors’ worlds and other cultures’ myths is by now a familiar phenomenon, so I was more interested in stories where he tried to break his usual mold.
“Sunbird” was his attempt to write a story in the style of “the best short story
writer in the world” as a birthday gift to his daughter. R.A. Lafferty was completely unknown to me before last week. Having now blazed through five or so
of his stories available online, I feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface. What’s
clear to me though is that the two authors’ styles are compatible yet hardly comparable. Lafferty’s work constantly lays with language and ideas, without putting much of a human touch on the characters. His narratives are more noted
for their cleverness than for their grip on a reader’s emotions. Gaiman’s narrative imprint clearly marks “Sunbird”. It is apparent in the way he shapes this
story and in the way he treats his characters.
Conventional wisdom via Wikipedia holds Lafferty to have prioritized style over
plot. “Slow Tuesday Night” is a clever, full-throttle tale about the night shift in a world
of mentally enhanced humans:
“When the Abebaios block had been removed from human minds, people began
to make decisions faster, and often better. It had been the mental stutter. When it was
understood what it was, and that it had no useful function, it was removed by simple
childhood metasurgery.
Transportation and manufacturing had then become practically instantaneous.
Things that had once taken months and years now took only minutes and hours. A
person could have one or several pretty intricate careers within an eight-hour period.”
Multiple fits of urban renewal, fashion fads, and sprints through marriage and divorce happen on a single night. The people who inhabit this world are caricatures.
They are written about, but one doesn’t get the sense of them.
“The Transcendent Tigers” is an Armageddon tale. In “The Land of Great Horses”,
the Roma (Gypsies) homeland reappears and Los Angeles disappears in its place.
Both tales are clever, but neither is all that haunting.
Gaiman’s stories tend to linger on the reader for days afterwards. A lot of that
was due to simplicity and characterization. His writing style tended toward
utilitarian intimacy, if only to propel the story along and allow the structure of
narrative to show while keeping future plot developments a surprise. One is
usually privy to his characters’ thoughts, hopes and fears. Even in settings and
situations that are quirky/trippy/heavy, Gaiman doesn’t put an arch distance
between the reader and the protagonists. Keeping to Lafferty’s style, Gaiman
uses witty characterizations to establish distance. “Sunbird” plays with language like a Lafferty story would, but narrative logic takes precedence. Gaiman
imbues the text with gastronomical and taxonomical quirks, but he still allows
its circuitous bones to show. The story begins and ends the same way. The Epicureans grow restless. “They are saying that they have eaten everything” (295).
The ending is suggested and foreshadowed shamelessly. Augustus Two-Feathers McKoy makes pronouncements of uncertain doom before, during and after
the journey. Between his pronouncements, the Professor’s premonitions, and
PGR 36
Crusty’s immortal asides, the future is there for all to see… yet the Epicureans
are bound to their roles as such, and make no effort beyond talk to alter their
course.
Gaiman humanizes the five members of the Epicurean Club in their act of
terminal fulfillment. Having eaten everything that can be eaten by their middle
age, from bower bird to Man to unicorn, they are convinced by their eldest member to set out in pursuit of the ultimate meal. “They took a small plane and then
a larger plane, then a smaller plane, a blimp, a gondola, a train, a hot-air balloon,
and a rented Jeep.” They cook and eat an elderly Phoenix. In its flames the years
burn away from them. “When the years burn, the memories of those years come
back.” (294) In remembering the Epicureans grow young and rapturous and
themselves burn away. Realization dawns and they admit to themselves that
they have known all along that this would be their last meal, perfectly worth
the eating. Dying tears off the weight of years, allowing the Professor to smile,
Augustus to remember why he prophesized doom, and Casanova’s jaded descendant to proclaim “Truth!” The fifth among them is an inscrutable legacy
member of the club who keeps both his age and experience in eating the Phoenix
out in the open. Playing with the others’ disbelief throughout the story, he eats
lighting bugs and embers to prepare his gut for the flame. He keeps his mystery
even as he explains to the Epicureans that which has been there for them to see
all along. The logic-defying bum’s rite of renewal makes him relatable as well.
No one could be so carefree unless one had a few millennia of living under one’s
belt.
Narrative logic can often be heartbreaking, as it was in two career-defining epics, the 75-issue graphic novel “The Sandman” and the novel “American Gods”. The
conflicts between who one is and what one’s mythical functions demand drive much
of the tragedy. Morpheus the Dream King, imprisoned for most of the 20th century,
would rather die than change as humanity has. After preventing divine civil war, Baldur “Shadow”Odinssonhas toput toresthis magically resurrected late wife, “because
the dead should stay dead”. Dream is reborn in a different personification, young and
forgiving and far less arrogant and judgmental than his predecessor. Baldur leaves
America to wander the world. Nonetheless, the faithful reader (me) feels real loss
reading through Morpheus’ sumptuously illustrated wake and final longboat ride.
The final conversation between Shadow and Laura is a tearjerker. In the course of
the novel, they both die and come back, but because Shadow is a by-the-book resurrected demigod, only he gets to keep living. His journey ends up in Scotland in
a novella at the end of “Fragile Things”, where several seemingly unrelated legends
come together.
This is part of what makes reading a Gaiman story so satisfying. He is far too honest
of a fantasist to allow a “happily ever after”. As he writes in the introduction, “I think…
that I would rather recollect a life mis-spent on fragile things than spent avoiding
moral debt.” In the same introduction, he also points out that seemingly fragile
things, like eggs (“tiny load-bearing marble halls”) and dreams and stories, “can prove
remarkablydifficulttokill.” Evenwithanunsentimentalviewtowardsconsequences,
one can have faith in the human capacity for renewal and resilience.
Working classic myth into modern life with a good ear for pathos, Neil Gaiman
has been conducting a dialogue between the human and the fantastic for twenty
years. In the process, he has developed an internally consistent science of telling
stories about
stories.
He writing
is both seamless
and revealing of its structure
Once
Again
Women
Detectives
Kick ASS!
*WARNING THE FIRST 100+ PAGES OF THIS BOOK REQUIRE’S A VERY
TENACIOUS READER* But if you get past that hurdle the rest The Sunday Philosophy Club is an exciting read. The Sunday Philosophy Club which takes place
in Edinburgh, Scotland, features an exciting female character who turn Super
detective, Smith delivers again with his new female detective Isabel Dalhousie.
Isabel Dalhousie, is a quiet woman of independent means, this makes her an unlikely dectective. As the editor of The Review of Applied Ethics, Isabel makes for an
unlikely character to be dealing with an investigation of murder; but we, as Isabel
would certainly agree, do not always choose our circumstances; at times they choose
us.
While exiting the symphony Isabel witnesses a young man’s fall from a symphony hall balcony. “Her first thought, curiously, was of Auden’s poem on the
fall of Icarus. Such events, said Auden, occur against a background of people
going about their ordinary business. They do not look up and see the boy falling from the sky. I was talking to a friend, she thought. I was talking to a friend
and the boy fell out of the sky.” Isabel immediately thinks that the man may not
have committed suicide, Isabel then decides she has a moral duty to investigate
the of the young man’s death, being as she believes she would have been the last
person he saw before his death.
Her investigation winds her through the worlds of Scottish art and high finance
before she reaches a conclusion. Along the way Isabel is confounded by moral dilemmas. Does she have a duty to speak truthfully to a reporter who is bent on exploiting
the grief of the victim’s family? Should she expose an unfaithful boyfriend to a family
member? And ultimately, once she discovers the truth of the situation, what should
she do with that knowledge?
Isabel’s progress can be ponderous at times. Deciding whether or not she should
even act at all takes up nearly the first 100 pages of Isabel’s story, and since the book
weighs in at only 247 pages, that’s a high percentage of inaction. Reading the first 100
pages to me was like being forced to eat vegetables as a child, you don’t want to eat
the vegetable’s however the vegetables continuously get shoved back in your face.
However, once Isabel finally does decide to get involved, the story rapidly picks up
and Smith provides more than enough questionable characters to keep the reader
guessing until the very end. The questionable characters include: Grace, Isabel’s opinionated housekeeper, Isabel’s romantically confused niece, Cat; and Jamie, Cat’s once
and (possibly) future boyfriend, to whom Isabel finds her self attracted. Other memorable characters come and go throughout the book with strong and sometimes funny
lines.
I have done my research on woman detective and all I found were reference’s to
fictionalcharacters.CharacterssuchasIsabelDalhousieandcharacterslikeIsabelthat
were at the wrong place at the wrong time and found themselves involved in an investigation. I believe Authors use females as their detectives because it creates the
idea that women can do male dominated jobs such as being a part of the police force.
Women make up only 13 percent of police officers (media) in the United States, in
2002 increased 8% in Canada (media), British Columbia had the highest proportion of
PGR 37
at
same
time.
bythe
Jared
Carlsen
(media). The police uniform is generally a sign of respect, but, women who wear
the uniform rarely get treated with the respect that they deserve. The assumption
that woman cannot handle the physical aspects of the police force leads them to rarely deal with cases that may involve physicality. But with the males dealing with these
cases it sometimes leads to violence and police crimes.
Allegation
# Male
Officer(s)
# Female
Officer(s)
Male
Female
Total
Involved
Involved
Payout
Payout
Payout
Assault/battery
100
11
$10,792,843
$334,945
$11,127,788
Shooting
Killing
Other excessive
38
56
53
6
4
6
$24,856,333
$9,045,544
$8,323,287
$2,232,667
$210,714
$23,077
$27,089,000
$9,256,258
$8,346,364
0
$8,281,000
$0
$8,281,000
0
$2,150,000
$0
$2,150,000
27
$63,449,007
$2,801,403
$66,250,410
force/
misconduct
Sexual assault
7
andmolestation
Officer involved 1
Total
255
These statistics show that male police account for the high percentage of police
brutality. This is just a thought but maybe if more women handled the physical aspect
policing then maybe there wouldn’t be so much police brutality.
If you can make it through the first 100 pages of The Sunday Philosophy Club I
recommend it. Once you get through the first 100 pages the story will escalate
and send the reader on a rollercoaster ride of mystery. Smith also provides a variety character’s all with memorable parts of the story. Even though The Sunday
Philosophy Club began as a sluggish and boring read, once the story picked up I
couldn’t keep my eye’s off of it.
Work Cited
PGR 38
“National Center For Women And Policing.” MEN, WOMEN, ANDPOLICE
EXCESSIVE FORCE:A Tale of Two Genders. 4/16/07 <http://www.
womenandpolicing.org/PDF/2002_Excessive_Force.pdf>
“Media Matters For America.” Limbaugh warned, with “new female police
chiefs ... we can watch out for some naked pyramids”; called military
officers “orificers”. 4 May.2004. 16 April. 2007 <http://mediamatters.org/
items/200405280004>
KOAK
PGR 39