More bridges skipped

A Feast for Crows to The Color Purple

Umm...

The Color Purple to Happy Birthday, Bad Kitty

Umm...

Happy Birthday, Bad Kitty to Fables: Vol. I

Umm...

Fables: Vol. I to A Second-hand Life

Umm...

A Second-hand Life to O Pioneers

Umm...

O Pioneers to Eats, Shoots & Leaves

Umm...

Eats, Shoots & Leaves to Dirty Secret

Umm...

Introductory notes with (GoodReads Buddy) Brianna on WICKED

So, sorry for the delayed response. I was running on three hours of sleep on Friday and crashed as soon as I got home from work. I also finished the book super early (Tuesday) so we'll have to ramp up the speed on the next part. The next section is a bit longer (64-178 in my copy) but I figure we could set Wednesday as the next check-in date. Let me know in your response.



A few thoughts:

I was very impressed by the prologue. It started the story off with the characters readers are most familiar with and chalked up all the bad things we've heard about the witch to gossip. Super effective.

Baby Elphaba's hijinx remind me of those of the Addams Family kids. I loved every crazy thing she did, especially at meal time (though maybe that's because I'm a bit hungry). I dare say she's got some pretty tolerant taste-buds. Ugh.

Nanny was also a favorite character, if just for her kleptomania (31) and dripping sarcasm. Case in point:

"The child is green" whispered Nanny confidentially. "You may not have noticed, being attracted by her charm and warmth." (49)

Now for a few discussion topics:

1) Examine the relationship between Frex and Melena.

Frex was initially attracted to Melena for her beauty and for her "efforts to overcome" her privileged background (7). Melena was drawn to Frex for his intensity (9) and sexual prowess (32). Seems like pretty weak reasons to get married...though I suppose it could have been an arranged marriage to link the houses (knowing little about Munchkinland society I couldn't say how those things work). What are your thoughts...and why do you think they stay together as their relationship deteriorates? Do you think Frex is blind to her adultery or just indifferent?

2) The day of Elphaba's birth, Melena hears "sound without melody--like dream music, remembered for its effect but not for its harmonic distresses and recoveries" (8). What do you think this signifies?

Melena's expectations for the future perhaps -- the musical equivalent of "words without action"? Or maybe it's Elphaba's legacy as given to us by other tellings of this story: moving the plot along without any real backstory? If the question marks weren't clear enough, I could use some help on deciphering this idea -- not to mention linking it to Nanny's words to the infant on page 25 ("You've been dancing in the womb, I see....I wonder to whose music?").

3) Nanny gives several theories for the atypical child (see page 31). Why do you think Elphaba is so different?

First off, can I just say [without any disrespect to rape victims] HOW THE HELL DO YOU SLEEP THROUGH ELF RAPE?!? While I find it hard to relate to Melena's "forgetfulness" regarding the whole situation (though I suppose one could refer to selective amnesia resulting from traumatic experiences), I'm going to go with the hypothesis of elf sperm. [Now THAT'S a fun quote to take out of context.] She's a pretty promiscuous chick and considering how big a role magic plays in the world of Oz, I choose a combination of "Miracle Elixir" and Mr. Wrong. I DO like Nanny's quasi-prophetic idea that Elphaba came out green and gnawing off fingers because she couldn't possibly compete with her parents' expectations.

4) Discuss the Clock of the Time Dragon and the role it plays.

It provides both a beginning -- of Elphaba's life, of the family's alienation -- and an end -- of the marriage, of Frex's religious authority, of happiness in Oz. I won't say too much, as I'm not sure how familiar you are with the series, but the conditions surrounding Elphaba's birth remind me of one in Game of Thrones. (I can elaborate if you would like.)

5) Compare the various religions represented and the followers of each.

So we have Frex's would-be-Calvinism, Nanny's mysticism, Little Turtle's glass blowing, Melena's Little Turtle worship, and whatever the Time Dragon is touting (secularism delivered as in drama's rebirth during the Middle Ages). As I've kinda overtaxed my brain with both the first version of this message and the one you're reading here, I'm going to let you kick off this discussion.

6) Think about the various responses to Elphaba throughout her infancy and how they create the witch she becomes.
I tacked on this question but won't go too deep into the extrapolation outside of a few things to guide you in your exploration of the topic. Think about the midwives who delivered the baby as well as the other characters' responses to her both initially and later on down the line. Consider the reactions to her first word (pages 54-5 in my copy).



In closing, I am more prone to understatement ("a few thoughts") than hyperbole...but I must say that I AM LOVING THIS BOOK.

WICKED - Prologue & Part 1

Wicked is my March "Buddy Read" on Goodreads.com. A few notes to aid discussion with my pal. :)

BEFORE THE READ
Consider other takes on the land of Oz. (See below for some accessible reference material.)

• L. Frank Baum's The [Wonderful] Wizard of Oz (1900)
• The Wizard of Oz film (1939)
• Tin Man (2007)
• Oz: The Great and Powerful film (2013)

How has the wicked witch been portrayed?

Consider the introductory quotations (Defoe, Tolstoy, Baum) and what light they shine on the story.

A FEW QUOTES

"Though Oz had given her a twisted life, hadn't it also made her capable?" (4)

"History crawls along on the peg legs of small individual lives," said Frex, "and at the same time larger eternal forces converge. You can't attend to both arenas at once" (9).

"...What a child, that sips blood even before its first suck of mother's milk!" (21)

[Regarding the wooden sparrow whittled for Elphaba] "Wet, it had greater life" (38) and "She is herself pleased at the half things...The little girl to play with the broken pieces better" (39)

"Typical male response to happiness...to predict its demise" (53)

"But when words  are to speak in the air, actions must to follow" (57).

Fables: Legends in Exile

First, the bridge from The Color Purple to Fables: Legends in Exile:

Ummm...

I suppose the characters in both books have to hide their true selves -- Celie hides inside herself like a tree; BBW hides a wolf inside a man suit -- but I suspect in both cases the fictions they live eventually give way to their realities.

All honkeys in Fables at this point, but there is a sort of race issue in that the creatures that can't live in the Mundy world are segregated (at the farm). I dost believe this issue will be covered in Fables: Animal Farm (Book 2).

Now for my review:

Mythology is something that we all seem to be drawn to in one way or another. I, for one, seek it out in all its forms -- television, movies, books, graphic novels...

Fables is a great concept and I enjoyed getting to know the characters. Not that you asked, but my favorites were the Big Bad Wolf and Prince Charming (who, we come to discover, is not an oft-repeated pet name, but rather an promiscuous individual scumbag). I am curious to see how the series develops -- will it continue to live as a detective story or travel to another genre?

I appreciated the layout of frames within the novel and the artists' (Medina/Leialoha/Hamilton) visions of Willingham's story. The bulk of art within the book was less abstract than others I've seen but not bad by any means. This amateur art critic's interpretation would be that the "mundane" style (compared to its contemporaries and its own issue cover art within) served to cement the characters' position in the "Mundy" universe. (I'm sure later volumes of the series will prove or disprove this theory.)

The individual issues' cover art was delicious. While James Jean's anatomical accuracy is hit-or-miss, his coloring and visual foreshadowing make me want to pig out on so much more! Alex Maleev's single piece (Chapter One) was also noteworthy, presented in a gritty noir style with a special attention to contrast. While I realize the near-impossibility of putting that same time and effort into an entire graphic novel, I would have liked to see this same style employed in dream/memory sequences. (Again, later volumes will tell.)

In my eyes, the best part of the entire volume was the short story at the end ("A Wolf in the Fold"), detailing in prose the Big Bad Wolf's experiences leading up to his exile. I'm unversed in monograms of the art form, but the detailed art in this piece was astonishing -- a very good call to leave it uncolored. I will definitely be getting Volume 2.

My rating here would have been 3.5, had Goodreads allowed it. The premise is a good one, the issue cover art was fantastic, and I really enjoyed the male characters...BUT I am leaving stars for the future issues -- in which I expect to see a bigger world and a little more from the ladies. :)

 Now, for a few memorable passages:

"The only easy day was yesterday" (71).

"Once we were a thousand separate kingdoms, spread over a hundred magic worlds. We were kings and cobblers. Wizards or woodcarvers. We had our sinners, our saints, and our blatant social climbers. And from the grandest lord to the lowliest peasant girl, we were, for the most part, strangers one to another. It took an invasion to unite us" (79-80). 

 "beyond the farthest shores of never" (82)

"damned with faint praise"

"Even the highest office in service to another is too low a station for me."

"At best he was but an irritant in his unseen adversary's vast game of thrones."

 And a couple things to consider:

• Oz and Narnia...gone!
• Pinnochio's plight (à la Claudia Interview with the Vampire)
• How does anthropomorphism play out in the Mundy world? (BBW's gradient depending on the situation, pig, beast as fact rather than fiction)

The Color Purple, P1

(Letters 1-33) pp1-77 "I am fourteen years old." ... "First time made something and name it after me."









Names
Consider the men that do have names (Harpo -- who introduces himself nameless on the wedding day by cutting open her scalp with a rock and gets a name after Mr ---'s sister makes him help Celie with the household chores, Samuel -- who is first introduced as a Mr/Reverend --- on p14, Adam, etc.) and the two who don't (He/Pa and Mr. ---). For the unnamed, consider the reveal of their names (Alphonso pp250 & Albert pp49 and why Celie doesn't use them).

He or Pa/Alphonso
Mr. ---/Albert
Mr. ---/Samuel
"the oldest boy"/Harpo
Shug Avery/Shug
Pauline/Olivia
Adam/Adam Omatanga

Coping Mechanisms -- Become a tree & feel nothing (Celie)*VS* Lash out & feel nothing (Mr. --- & Harpo) *VS* React & feel nothing (Shug & Sofia)

Celie uses her body to protect her mother, then her sister, then even Mr ---'s kids ("I make myself wood. I say to myself, Celie you a tree. That's how come I know trees fear man" 23) -- and as a function of being a living human shield, she believes herself ugly and accepts others' affirmation of this fact. It is Shug who teaches her that pain is not the only option option to her body and mind.

"She look so stylish it like the trees all round the house draw themself up tall for a better look" (47).

"Everybody say how good I is to Mr. ---- Children. I be good to them. But I don't feel nothing for them. Patting Harbo back not even like patting a dog. It more like patting another piece of wood. Not a living tree, but a table, a chifferobe" (31). 

---

"Someone to run to. It seem too sweet to bear" (69).

 ---

"[Shug Avery]...more evil than my mama and that keep her alive" (49).
a different survival tactic than becoming a passive tree ... her first step is putting spit into father-in-law's drink when he insults Shug (56-7)
---

"I can't even remember the last time I felt mad, I say. I used to git mad at my mammy cause she put a lot of work on me. Then I see how sick she is. Couldn't stay mad at her. Couldn't be mad at my daddy cause he my daddy. Bible say, Honor father and mother no matter what. Then after while every time I got mad, or start to feel mad, I got sick [like she did when she was mad at herself for hurting Sophia]. Felt like throwing up [is that why she threw up while cleaning game earlier?]. Terrible feeling. Then I start to feel nothing at all" (43-4).

*

"My kids with they grandma, she say. She could stand the kids, I had to go.

You miss 'em? I ast.

Naw, she say. I don't miss nothing" (52).

>> Celie awakens everyone (including herself) from their years of numbness/nothingness! Albert stands up to his father & admits his vulnerability, Shug learns to feel again.

Mr --- doesn't stand up for Shug in the church (pp46) nor did he when his father forbid their marriage -- much like his own son did years later

God



"She ast me bout the first one Whose it is? I say God's. I don't know no other man or what else to say....Finally she ast Where it is? I say God took it" (3).
how true that is

"I don't even look at mens. That's the truth. I look at women, tho, cause I'm not scared of them" (6).
yet she's afraid of herself

"Long as I can spell G-o-d I got somebody along" (18).

"I wash her body, it feel like I'm praying" (51).

Reason for switching from "Dear God" to "Dear Nettie" and observe "Dearest" in some chapters

SHUG AVERY
"I ast our new mammy bout Shug Avery. What it is? i ast. She don't know but she say she gon fine out.

She do more than that. She git a picture. The first one of a real person I ever seen. She say Mr. ---- was taking something out his billfold to show Pa an it fell out an slid under the table. Shug Avery was a woman. The most beautiful woman I ever saw. She more pretty than my mama. She bout ten thousand times more prettier then me. i see her there in furs. Her face rouge. Her hair like something tail. She grinning with her foot up on somebody motocar. Her eyes serious tho. Sad some.

I ast her to give me the picture. An all night log I stare at it. An now when I dream, I dream of Shug Avery. She be dress to kill, whirling and laughing" (7).
 
(While men discussing her ugliness and barren state): "I take out the picture of Shug Avery. I look into her eyes. Her eyes say Yeah, it bees that way sometime" (9).

"I know what he doing to me he done to Shug Avery and maybe she like it. I put my arm around him" (13).

"I walk round all day with the announcement burning a hole in my pocket. It pink. The trees tween the turn off to our road and the store is lit up with them. He got about five dozen in his trunk.

Shug Avery standing upside a piano, elbow crook hand on her hip. She wearing a hat like Indian Chiefs. Her mouth open showing all her teef and don't nothing seem to be troubling her mind....Lord, I wants to go so bad. Not to dance. Not to drink. Not to play card. Not even to hear Shug Avery sing. I just be thankful to lay eyes on her" (26).

"I think my heart gon fly out my mouth when I see one of her foots come poking out.

She not lying down. She climbing down tween Harpo and Mr. ----. And she dress to kill. She got on a red wool dress and chestful of black beads. A shiny black hat with what look like chickinhawk feathers curve down side one cheek, and she carrying a little snakeskin bag, match her shoes.

She look so stylish it like the trees all round the house draw themself up tall for a better look. Now I see she stumble, tween the two men. She don't seem that well acquiainted with her feets.

Close up I see all this yellow powder caked up on her face. Red rouge. She look like she ain't long for this world but dressed well for thenext. But I know better.

Come on in, I want to cry. To shout. Come on in. With God help, Celie going to make you well. But I don't say nothing. It not my house. Also I ain't been told nothing" (47).

 ---

Reactions when learning of Celie's molestation: "I'm in the bed crying. Nettie she finally see the light of day, clear. Our new mammy she see it too. She in her room crying. Nettie tend to first one, then the other. She so scared she go out doors and vomit. But not out front where the two mens is" (8).

---

"He never look up from cleaning his gun. Pretty soon a bunch of white mens come walking cross the yard. They have guns too.

Pa git up and follow 'em. The rest of the week I vomit and dress wild game" (11). [What? Vomiting b/c of the pregnancy or b/c the "wild game" is human flesh?]

---

Fight

Nettie: "You got to fight. You got to fight.

But I don't know how to fight. All I know how to do is stay alive" (18).


"I like Sophia, but she don't act like me at all. If she talking when Harpo and Mr --- come in the room, she keep right on. If they ast her where something at, she say she don't know. Keep talking.

I thinka bout this when Harpo ast me what he ought to do to her to make her mind. I don't mention how happy he is now. How three years pass and he still whistle and sing. I think bout how every time I jump when Mr --- call me, she look surprise. And like she pity me.

Beat her. I say" (38).

jealousy


The mutual fighting between Harpo and Sophia. 

"Nobody fight for Shug, he say. And a little water come to his eyes" (50).

 ---
What Is Love?

When Celie insists that Nettie write, she says "Nothing but death can keep me from it" (19). When no letters come, Celie assumes her sister dead.

 p66-7: harpo upset b/c sofia doesn't behave like celie, who reasons that where there is love there is conflict and a balance that is nonexistent in her own marriage
---

PURPLE the color she thought Shug Avery would wear so she requested it when Mr ---'s sister buys her clothes (22).

---

"Harpo no better at fighting his daddy back than me....He strong in body but weak in will. He scared" (29). --- He doesn't even stand up to his father when he insults the woman he loves, the mother of his child (32-3) -- **BUT** the following chapter Harpo marries Sophia and then moves into his father's shed with his family, continuing to work for him (for wages) and even allowing him to goad him (with Celie's "help" borne out of ignorance) into hitting his wife so as to get her to obey.

---

FIRST time [molested]
FIRST time having a new dress (22)
FIRST time Mr --- asked for approval from Celie (for his appearance heading to see Shug)
FIRST time "somebody made something and name it after me" (77)

---

consider importance of sewing/fabrics/textiles to Celie (quilts/pants w/ Sophia, Shug, Albert; Nettie & Corinna)


---

Why does Harpo turn his house into a bar?

(Letters 34-69) pp78-189 "Pretty soon it be time for Shug to go." ... "Shug say, Us each other's peoples now, and kiss me."

(Letters 70-End) pp190- "I woke up this morning bound to tell Corrine and Samuel everything." ... "Matter of fact, I think this is the youngest us ever felt."

WoT to GoT

In mid-January, I read A Memory of Light (final installment of Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time fantasy series). Today, I just finished A Feast for Crows (George R. R. Martin's fourth book of the Game of Thrones saga). I thought it might be interesting to consider some similarities and differences centered on theme. Well, here goes.

Crows
In WoT, they are the spies for the Dark One. During the most dire times, flocks of these birds were known to attack living prey (oftentimes human prey) and strip them to the bone in a matter of minutes. Both of these facts led various factions to reward (if not require) the slaughter of the black birds.

In GoT, death and destruction is widespread. Crows do not go without sustenance and at some point I may dig out some pretty fantastic quotes philosophizing on the conditions surrounding the crows' feast. Crows are not the emissaries of evil necessarily, but the profiteers from its effects.

Family
In WoT, we come to find out that Rand was adopted. Consider the identity of his true parents and how their lives defined (and didn't) his own path. Consider the true meaning of "parent" and the extent to which genes dictate this relationship. Think about the various familial units -- Rand's, Mat's, Perrin's, Egwene's, Asha'man, Aes Sedai, Aiel, Seanchan -- and the "mothers" (Moiraine, Egwene, Nynaeve, Elayne, Aviendha, EVEN Berelain). Think about what happens when a family unit is destroyed and what is done to preserve the memory and move forward from the point of destruction.

In GoT, family means different things to different kingdoms. The Starks, Lannisters, Freys, and Greyjoys all have different responsibilities to and expectations for their blood (and bastards). Compare and contrast -- being sure to remember Arya's group of "orphans" and the Night's Watch. Examine the relationships between siblings in each group and [as in the WoT portion] think about the effects of death and destruction and the healing process in each case.

Identity
Examine Rand's journey to a definition of self and his experiences hiding (from) the truth. Nynaeve takes a long time to accept her connection to the One Power; Egwene, Siuan, and Gareth have trouble adjusting to their new roles as well; Lan struggles with his identity. Don't forget about the men who join the Black Tower, despite centuries of discrimination against men wielding the Power. Consider the experiences of the young Aes Sedai outside of the tower (both in the core books and the prequel), Thom Merrilin, and Jain Farstrider.

Consider Arya's many identities, Catelyn Stark's positions, Jon Snow's definition of self (self-imposed and socially-influenced), Sansa's, Varys', Jaime's, Theon's... and the functions/pros/cons of each. Examine the reasons for the conflict.

Gender Roles
Consider the limitations and traditional roles prescribed for each sex. What did each struggle against and what was the outcome? Consider Elayne and the benefits/detriments of holding the throne of a traditionally-female kingdom. Egwene and Nynaeve overcoming the limitations of their hometown.

Consider the limitations and traditional roles prescribed for each sex. What did each struggle against and what was the outcome? Cersei, Arya, Sansa, Brienne.


Physical Weakness/Maiming
Consider the effects each condition had on the character and how it changed his/her trajectory and philosophy.

Rand,Galad, Mat

Varys, Jaime, Bran, Tyrion, Catelyn, Arya* (not to mention all the people Cersei had tortured to "confess")

Wolves
Perrin in WoT
Starks in GoT

Aes Sedai vs Night's Watch
dwindling numbers

[About a Boy] Ponderings

I love the page number format (check out the sample pages on Amazon).

Will and Marcus cross paths when they're both in their adolescence -- Marcus his actual adolescence, Will the adolescence afforded to him by his inheritance and lack of responsibilities. They speak with the same voice and have very similar reactions and thought processes -- much as Will tries to deny it. They both oscillate between passivity and aggression, standing up tallest when situations get the hardest to handle.

[I would like to write a bit about the idea that both Marcus and Will are the same person, effectively.]

C2's in media res with the cheesy men's survey introducing Will was a nice touch. The sudden shift from this to Will's own thoughts prove that the protagonist is much more charming than the glossy inanimate pages suggest.

Will's thoughts about children -- from silently condemning his friends' decision to "ruin" their lives by procreating, to recognizing the appeal of [essentially] babysitting and leaving with the sunset, to MARCUS & his strengths/weaknesses when compared to Ellie or Ravi

C3's segue-less narration of Marcus' unorganized thoughts / stream of consciousness style (much like Catcher in the Rye and other good coming-of-age stories) is very effective at setting the scene for his mental state.

It would be neat to be a textbook editor, choosing passages/events and explaining with the "proper" connotations / interpretations (creating ideology)

larder

Consider the idiom "going round the bend" (going crazy, context on p30 suggests). Explain "She'll be coming 'round the mountain..."

I like "on the debit side" in place of "on the down side" (38).

In C7, I like that Marcus can recognize that his father's girlfriend does stupid things but that she is not a stupid person.

I appreciate the threading of acting through Will's parts for a few chapters before meeting Marcus.

Des O'Connor
Crankies
Bing Crosby
David Bowie's duet with Zsa Zsa Gabor
Val Doonican
Cilla Black
Rod Hull and Emu
The Cunts

tetchy

egg-and-cress sandwich?
rounders

avuncular

Brent Cross
matily
barmy
Pet Shop Boys
Prisoner: Cell Block H
James Ellroy
J-cloths
daft (brush-daft?)

I like the phrase "spend the information" (106) since knowledge really is power.

Double Indemnity
The Big Sleep

EastEnders
The Bill
Joe Strummer
nip out
skive
Mr. Blobby
pillock
prat
pulled crackers
International Velvet
Laura Nyro
The Rockford Files
cypher
il ne sait quoi 

p199: nineteen ninety-three VS 1993
Paul Smith
Siouxsie of the Banshees and the Roadrunner
wangle
Drugstore Cowboy
Ryan Giggs
Marks and Spencer sandwiches
The Wasp Factory

p250: things left unfinished propel you forward

doolally
John Major
articulated
GLR
Tesco
Toyah Wilcox

About a Boy quotes

"Finally he spotted a piece of file paper pinned to a classroom door with the word SPAT! scrawled on it in felt-tip pen. The exclamation point put him off. It was trying too hard" (37)

"This wasn't right. He was only a kid. He'd been thinking that more and more recently, as he got older and older. He didn't know why. Maybe it was because, when he really was only a id, he wasn't capable of recognizing it--you had to be a certain age before you realized that you were actually quite young. Or maybe when he was little there was nothing to worry about--five or six years ago his mum never spent half the day shivering under a coat watching stupid cartoons, and even if she had he might not have thought it was anything out of the ordinary" (44).

"The thing was, he could still remember feeling genuinely hopeful, right up until the last minute: Maybe there will be something there, he had thought, maybe I won't lose face" (51).

Hope = Suspending disbelief

"When Will had conceived this fantasy and joined SPAT, he had imagined sweet little children, not children who would be able to track him down and come to his house. He had imagined entering their world, but he hadn't foreseen that they might be able to penetrate his. He was one of life's visitors; he didn't want to be visited" (105).

"Periods of blankness, when he seemed to disappear into his own head completely, were followed by periods when he seemed to be trying to compensate for these absences, and would ask question after question" (116).

"He used loud angry rock music as a replacement for real feelings, rather than as an expression of them, and he didn't even mind very much" (158).

"The boy somehow seemed to be asking for absolutely nothing and absolutely everything all at the same time" (159).

"He was good, Will could see that now. Not good as in obedient and uncomplaining; it was more of a mindset kind of good, where you looked at something like a pile of crap presents and recognized that they were given with love and chosen with care, and that was enough" (181).

"At midnight they sought each other out and kissed, a kiss that was somewhere between cheek and lip, the embarrassed ambiguity hopefully significant" (197).

"He'd rather be an idiot again. He'd had his whole life set up so that nobody's problem was his problem, and now everybody's problem was his problem, and he had no solutions for any of them. So how, precisely, was he, or anybody else he was involved with, better off?" (268)

"There was enough real trouble in the world without having to invent things" (277).

"Whether you felt something, or whether you felt nothing, it didn't matter: your responses were off either way" (284).

"'It doesn't matter how far you fall if it makes you think, does it?'" (298)

A few bridges I skipped over...

A Curious Incident... to ...New Spring: A Novel

blah blah blah

New Spring: A Novel... to ...A Memory of Light

blah blah blah

A Memory of Light... to ...About a Boy

blah blah blah

[The Curious Incident...]

apocryphal:
snooker:
invigilator:
Dune
Blake's 7
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
roisterer: 
The Masqueraders
plaster
The Strand

Occam's razor

Chaos How the Mind Works
saccades 
planisphere
The 11th Hour
skip
tesselate


"The word metaphor...is when you describe something by using a word for something that it isn't. This means that the word metaphor is a metaphor" (15).


What is life but a repetition, a recycled existence?
These footsteps in the sand I leave behind quickly disappear with the tide;
How quickly was yesterday's evidence washed away?

"Mrs. Alexander was doing what is called chatting, where people say things to each other which aren't questions and answers aren't connected" (40).


"People think that alien spaceships would be solid and made of metal and have lights all over them and move slowly through the sky because that is how we would build a spaceship if we were able to build one that big. But aliens, if they exist, would probably be very different from us. They might look like big slugs, or be flat like reflections. Or they might be bigger than planets. Or they might not have bodies at all. They might just be information, like in a computer. And their spaceships might look like clouds, or be made up of unconnected objects like dust or leaves" (69).


"But I don't feel sad about it. Becuase Mother is dead....So I would be feeling sad about something that isn't real and doesn't exist. And that would be stupid" (75).


CONSIDER HOW CHRISTOPHER'S VARIANT OF IMAGINATION RELATES THE THE "NORMAL" FACULTY (COMPARE WORDS IN C. 113 VS C. 127)
"Other people have pictures in their heads, too. But they are different because the pictures in my head are all pictures of things which really happened. But other people have pictures in their heads of things which aren't real and didn't happen" (78).

"I like imagining that I am there sometimes, in a spherical metal submersible with windows that are 30 cm thick to stop them from imploding under the pressure. And I imagine that I am the only person inside it, and that it is not connected to a ship at all but can operate under its own power and I can control the motors and move anywhere I want to on the seabed and I can never be found" (80).

[ALSO THE WORDS ABOUT THE "COMPUTER VIRUS" WIPING OUT PEOPLE]



"Loving someone is helping them when they get into trouble, and looking after them, and telling them the truth" (87).


CHRISTOPHER IS VERY CASUAL WITH THE WORD "STUPID" - WHY?

"White noise...is like silence but not empty" (103).

[policeman's] Uniform = purpose, order  

CONSIDER CHRISTOPHER'S LOVE OF THE SUBLIME (OUTER SPACE, DEEP OCEAN, SKY) DESPITE HIS INABILITY TO EXPRESS THE WONDER

TELEPATHY WOULD LEAD TO AUTISM IF NO COPING MECHANISM WAS CREATED TO SORT/DISREGARD/IGNORE SOME STIMULI. (ALSO CONSIDER NPR PROGRAM RE: INFANTS' PERSPECTIVE ON THE WORLD)

"Take time out to regret your career choice" (an advertisement in the Tube, mentioned on 175)

[The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time] ... before the book

I am not sure where I picked up this book -- a copy from Mom or perhaps something taken home from a book exchange then promptly forgotten. Either way, this book has been in my possession for some time and my motivation to read it is actually (should I feel guilty for this?) because I'm trying to clear off my bookshelves and this one fulfills one of the requirements for my Goodreads reading challenge ("Read a book by an author you've never read before"). Here goes...

Bridge from [Pi] to [Curious]

COLORS/FAITH/BELIEFS/NUMBERS -- LIFE OF PI *VS* CURIOUS INCIDENT

Colors:
Orange = Hindu,
Green = Islam,
White = Christianity

"The vestibule had clean, white walls; the table and benches were of dark wood; and the priest was dressed in a white cassock -- it was all neat, plain, simple. I was filled with a sense of peace. But more than the setting, what arrested me was my intuitive understanding that he was there -- open, patient -- in case someone, anyone, should want to talk to him; a problem of the soul, a heaviness of the heart, a darkness of the conscience, he would listen with love. He was a man whose profession it was to love, and he would offer comfort and guidance to the best of his ability" (Pi, 52)

Yellow BAD: custard, bananas, double yellow lines, yellow fever, yellow flowers, sweet corn
Brown BAD: dirt, gravy, poo, wood, Melissa Brown (Curious, 84)
Red GOOD

Faith/Religion/Beliefs

"Reason, that fool's gold for the bright" (Pi, 5) DISCUSS

"The individual soul touches upon the world soul like a well reaches for the water table. That which sustains the universe beyond thought and language, and that which is at the core of us and struggles for expression, is the same thing. The finite within the infinite, the infinite within the finite" (Pi, 48-9).

"I can well imagine an atheist's last words: "White, white! L-L-Love! My God!" -- and the deathbed leap of faith. Whereas the agnostic, if he stays true to his reasonable self, if he stays beholden to dry, yeastless factuality, might try to explain the warm light bathing him by saying, "Possibly a f-f-failing oxygenation of the b-b-brain," and to the very end, lack imagination and miss the better story" (Pi, 64).

"I am to suffer hell without any account of heaven? In that case, what is the purpose of reason, Richard Parker? Is it no more than to shine at practicalities -- the getting of food, clothing, and shelter? Why can't reason give greater answers? Why can we throw a question further than we can pull in an answer?" (Pi, 98)


"If you stumble at mere believability, what are you living for? Isn't love hard to believe?" (Pi, 297)

"Nothing beats reason for keeping tigers away. But be excessively reasonable and you risk throwing out the universe with the bathwater" (Pi, 298).

"I know what you want. You want a story that won't surprise you. That will confirm what you already know. That won't make you see higher or further or differently. You want a flat story. An immobile story. You want dry, yeastless factuality" (Pi, 302).

"What actually happens when you die is that your brain stops working and your body rots, like Rabbit did when he died and we buried him in the earth at the bottom of the garden. And all his molecules were broken down into other molecules and they went into the earth and were eaten by worms and went into the plants and if we go and dig in the same place in 10 years there will be nothing except his skeleton left. And in 1,000 years even his skeleton will be gone. But that is all right because he is a part of the flowers and the apple tree and the hawthorn bush now" (Curious, 33).

"People believe in God because the world is very complicated and they thing it is very unlikely that anything as complicated as a flying squirrel or the human eye or a brain could happen by chance... (Curious, 164)

"If everyone in the world was tossing coins eventually someone would get 5,698 heads in a row and they would think they were very special. But they wouldn't be because there would be millions of people who didn't get 5,698 heads... (Curious, 164)

"There is life on earth because of an accident. But it is a very special kind of accident" that requires replication, mutation, and heritability (Curious, 164-5).

"And people who believe in God think God has put human beings on the earth because they think human beings are the best animal, but human beings are just an animal and they will evolve into another animal, and that animal will be cleverer and it will put human beings into a disease" (Curious, 165).

Numbers

"In that elusive, irrational number with which scientists try to understand the universe, I found refuge" (Pi, 24) & "That's one thing I hate about my nickname, the way that number runs on forever. It's important in life to conclude things properly. Only then can you let go" (Pi, 285)

"I think prime numbers are like life. They are very logical but you could never work out the rules, even if you spent all your time thinking about them" (Curious, 12).

Beauty in the Everyday

"People go on holidays to see new things and relax, but...you can see new things by looking at earth under a microscope or drawing the shape of the solid made when 3 circular rods of equal thickness intersect at right angles....A thing is interesting because of thinking about it and not because of being new" (Curious, 178).

"Every morning before I was out the main gate I had one last impression that was both ordinary and unforgettable: a pyramid of turtles; the iridescent snout of a mandrill; the stately silence of a giraffe; the obese, yellow open mouth of a hippo; the beak-and-claw climbing of a macaw parrot up a wire fence; the greeting claps of a shoebill's bill; the senile, lecherous expression of a camel" (Pi, 14-5). FIND EXAMPLES IN YOUR OWN LIFE

 "You are as likely to see sea life from a ship as you are to see wildlife in a forest from a car on a highway" (Pi, 176). SLOW DOWN!

"I sang that tree's glory, its solid, unhurried purity, its slow beauty. Oh, that I could be like it, rooted to the ground but with my every hand raised up to God in praise!" (Pi, 260)


Time

 "If you don't have a timetable time is not there....because time is only the relationship between the way different things change, like the earth going round the sun and atoms vibrating and clocks ticking and day and night and waking up and going to sleep, and it is like west or nor-nor-east, which won't exist when the earth stops existing and falls into the sun because it is only a relationship between the North Pole and the South Pole and everywhere else" (Curious, 156-7).

"If you get lost in time it is like being lost in a desert, except that you can't see the desert because it is not a thing" (Curious, 158) CONSIDER THE INTANGIBILITY OF TIME (MADE MANIFEST IN WATCHES, SUNDIALS -- HUMANITY ACHES TO CAPTURE IT/CHAIN IT TO THE EARTH)

[Life of Pi], pt. 3

"If you stumble at mere believability, what are you living for? Isn't love hard to believe?" (297)

"Nothing beats reason for keeping tigers away. But be excessively reasonable and you risk throwing out the universe with the bathwater" (298).

"In understanding something, we bring something to it, no? Doesn't that make life a story?" (302)

"I know what you want. You want a story that won't surprise you. That will confirm what you already know. That won't make you see higher or further or differently. You want a flat story. An immobile story. You want dry, yeastless factuality" (302).

[Life of Pi], pt2 -- discussion of themes and quotations

"The hyena, with only its jaws, will overcome the ape because it knows what it wants and how to get it" (130). PERSONAL MOTIVATION FROM NATURE

CHAPTER 48 tells of how Richard Parker got his name. It's these silly anecdotes that really draw me to stories; I need to include "inconsequential" details in my own writing.

"Only fear can defeat life" (161). DISCUSS

NOTE HOW ZOOLOGY INFUSES HIS METAPHORS (JUST AS MINE WOULD LIKELY BE PEPPERED BY THD/HOME IMPROVEMENT THEMES).

 "You are as likely to see sea life from a ship as you are to see wildlife in a forest from a car on a highway" (176). SLOW DOWN!


 

[Life of Pi], pt2 -- clarification of terms

tarpaulin
cataleptic
catholicity
durian
fistula
insouciant
chandler
masala dosai
coconut chutney
oothappam
idli
rufous
Kathakali dancer
oestrous
sextant
gaff
ambit
tilak
barnacle
lassi
poriyal
kootu
cardamom payasam
dhal soup
thali
bailing cup
gulab jamun
curmudgeonly
tubercle
gregarious
masked booby
Wilson's petrel
sambar (spicy tamarind / small onion)
black gram dhal rice
curd rice
mixed vegetable sagu
vegetable korma
potato masala
cabbage vadai
masala dosai
spicy lentil rasam
stuffed eggplant poriyal
coconut yam kootu
rice idli
curd vadai
vegetable bajji
mint chutney
green chilli pickle
gooseberry pickle
nan
popadom
paratha
puri
mango curd salad
okra curd salad
plain fresh cucumber salad
almond payasam
milk payasam
jaggery pancake
coconut burfi
green as the color of Islam
orange as the color of Hindi
mangrove
mango tree
lote tree
commensal
lee

[Life of Pi], pt2 -- memorable quotes

"I am to suffer hell without any account of heaven? In that case, what is the purpose of reason, Richard Parker? Is it no more than to shine at practicalities -- the getting of food, clothing, and shelter? Why can't reason give greater answers? Why can we throw a question further than we can pull in an answer?" (98)

"Come aboard if your destination is oblivion -- it should be our next stop" (99).

"When your own life is threatened, your sense of empathy is blunted by a terrible, selfish hunger for survival" (120).

"I have so many bad nights to choose from that I've made none the champion" (123).

"Oncoming death is terrible enough, but worse still is oncoming death with time to spare, time in which all the happiness that was yours and all the happiness that might have been yours becomes clear to you" (147).



"If your fear becomes a wordless darkness that you avoid, perhaps even manage to forget, you open yourself to further attacks of fear because you never truly fought the opponent who defeated you" (162).

"Despair, a foe even more formidable than a tiger" (164).

"If you have the will to live, you will" (167).

"To look out with idle hope is tantamount to dreaming one's life away" (169).


WRITE OF A PAST WORLD 50-100 YEARS AFTER A PARADIGM SHIFT.


"Faith in God is an opening up, a letting go, a deep trust, a free act of love" (208).

"At moments of wonder, it is easy to avoid small thinking, to entertain thoughts that span the universe, that capture both thunder and tinkle, thick and thin, the near and the far" (233).

"I sang that tree's glory, its solid, unhurried purity, its slow beauty. Oh, that I could be like it, rooted to the ground but with my every hand raised up to God in praise!" (260)

"The lower you are, the higher your mind will want to soar" (283).

"Where we can, we must give things a meaningful shape....It's important in life to conclude things properly. Only then can you let go. Otherwise you are left with words you should have said but never did, and your heart is heavy with remorse" (285).

[Life of Pi], pt1 -- discussion of themes and quotations

Pi's names: Piscine Molitor VS Pissing VS Pi

"Reason, that fool's gold for the bright" (5) DISCUSS

"Every morning before I was out the main gate I had one last impression that was both ordinary and unforgettable: a pyramid of turtles; the iridescent snout of a mandrill; the stately silence of a giraffe; the obese, yellow open mouth of a hippo; the beak-and-claw climbing of a macaw parrot up a wire fence; the greeting claps of a shoebill's bill; the senile, lecherous expression of a camel" (14-5). FIND EXAMPLES IN YOUR OWN LIFE

 "It was my luck to have a few good teachers in my youth, men and women who came into my dark head and lit a match" (25). WHO WERE THESE TEACHERS FOR YOU?

"Mr. Kumar was the first avowed atheist I ever met. I discovered this not in the classroom but at the zoo. He was a regular visitor who read the labels and descriptive notices in their entirety and approved of every animal he saw. Each to him was a triumph of logic and mechanics, and nature as a whole was an exceptionally fine illustration of science. To his ears, when an animal felt the urge to mate, it said "Gregor Mendel", recalling the father of genetics, and when it was time to show its mettle, "Charles Darwin", the father of natural selection, and what we took to be bleating, grunting, hissing, snorting, roaring, growling, howling, chirping and screeching were but the thick accents of foreigners. When Mr. Kumar visited the zoo, it was to take the pulse of the universe, and his stethoscopic mind always confirmed to him that everything was in order, that everything was order. He left the zoo feeling scientifically refreshed" (25-6). ATTEMPT TO REPRODUCE THIS TECHNIQUE, WHERE A PERSON'S PERSPECTIVE AFFECTS OBSERVATIONS

 "That is God as God should be. With shine and power and might. Such as can rescue and save and put down evil" (55). SUPERHEROES VS HINDUISM V JUNGIAN ARCHETYPES

"Mr. and Mr. Kumar were the prophets of my Indian youth" (61). WHO WERE THE PROPHETS OF MY YOUTH?

"The [baptism] water trickled down my face and down my neck; though just a beaker's worth, it had the refreshing effect of a monsoon rain" (77). A STRANGE JUXTAPOSITION, WHAT WITH A MONSOON BEING A HEAVY, TORRENTIAL DOWNPOUR WITH STRONG WINDS THAT LASTS FOR A LONG TIME -- THESE CONDITIONS BEING DESTRUCTIVE AND FREQUENTLY FATAL. IS THIS TO SAY YOU MUST OPEN YOURSELF TO RELIGION, WITH ALL ITS BENEFITS AND DETRIMENTS; YOU CANNOT PICK & CHOOSE WHICH PARTS OF IT TO ACCEPT BUT MUST ACCEPT IT ALL?

"People move in the hope of a better life" (77). CONSIDER YOUR MOVES.

"Strange in a familiar way, familiar in a strange way" (82) USED TO DESCRIBE MEETING THE FIRST MR. PATEL IN THE ZOO AFTER A LONG STRETCH OF TIME (MUCH OF WHICH WAS SPENT WITH THE SECOND MR. PATEL)

[Life of Pi], pt1 -- clarification of terms

A few ideas/terms I wanted clarified.

People


Isaac Luria's cosmogony theory

• Isaac Luria (1534-1572) was a renowned Kabbalist whose OT/Zohar-based theories were "literally validated" by the Big Bang theory four centuries later.

Kapil Dev: famous cricket player in India during the 1970s and '80s

Mrs. (Indira) Gandhi was the third Prime Minister of India, serving several terms between 1966-1984!

maharaja: Sanskrit for "great king"

muezzin: A man who calls Muslims to prayer from the minaret of a mosque

Places


Tamil Nadu: southernmost state in India

Kerala: A state on the southwestern coast of India; capital, Trivandrum

Tata tea factory: Tata group has been around since 1868 and ventured into the tea world in 1962

Religious (and Philosophic) ideas

mori painting

•  A genre of artwork created to remind people of their mortality

samskara: A purificatory ceremony or rite marking a major event in one's life (examples below)

• Garbhadhana: before conception
• Pumsavana: in third (or so) month of pregnancy
• Simanatonnayana: in fourth or fifth month of a woman's first pregnancy
• Jatakarman: shortly after birth
• Namakarana: naming ceremony performed the 12th day after birth
• Nishkramana: baby's first outing from the house (usually fourth month or later)
• Annaprashan: baby's first solid food (six months old) 
• Chudakarana: baby's first haircut
• Karnavedha: ear-piercing cermony
• Vidyarambha: commencement of studies (three or five years old) 
• Upanayana: attainment of sacred thread (eight years old)
• Praisharth: learning of Vedas and Upanishads
• Keshanta: first shave (16)
• Ritusuddhi: first menstruation
• Samavartana: graduation
• Vivaha: marriage 
• Antyeshti: last rites

bhajans: an Indian devotional song

prasad: food offered to a deity in both Hinduism and Sikhism which is consumed by worshippers

Aarti: "a Hindu religious ritual of worship, a part of puja, in which light from wicks soaked in ghee (purified butter) or camphor is offered to one or more deities. Aartis also refer to the songs sung in praise of the deity, when lamps are being offered"

cassock: full-length garment of a single color worn by certain Christian clergy, members of church choirs, and acolytes

Diwali: A Hindu festival of lights, held in the period October to November.

The Imitation of Christ: Christian devotional text. "The approach taken in the Imitation is characterized by its emphasis on the interior life and withdrawal from the world, as opposed to an active imitation of Christ by other friars. The book places a high level of emphasis on the devotion to the Eucharist as key element of spiritual life."

Flora and Fauna

sambar : A dark brown woodland deer with branched antlers (Cervus unicolor)
            : a South Indian or Sri Lankan Tamil dish made of pigeon peas

Nilgiri tahr: an ungulate endemic to southern India; state animal of Tamil Nadu

mynah: Asian and Australasian starling with dark plumage, gregarious behavior, and a loud call

Moluccan cockatoo: a bird endemic to south Moluccas in eastern Indonesia

one-wattled cassowary: a large, stocky flightless bird

silver diamond dove: a particular color (mutation) of a dove

Cape glossy starling: A blue bird found in several African countries

peach-faced lovebird: a social and affectionate small parrot

Nanday conures: a

orange-fronted parakeets: a

macaques: a

mangabeys: a

gibbons: a

tapirs: a

mongooses: a

mandrills: a

shoebills: a

the "lecherous expression of a camel": a

ungulates: a

peepuls: a

gulmohurs: a

flames of the forest: a

red silk cottons: a

jacarandas: a

mangoes: a

jackfruits: a

stoat: a


Miscellany

nadaswaram: "one of the most popular classical musical instruments in the Tamil Nadu and the world's loudest non-brass acoustic instrument" (listen here)

chapatti: flat pancake-like bread cooked on a griddle


bullock cart: two-wheeled or four-wheeled vehicle pulled by oxen

ineluctably: Inescapably; by necessity

apoplectic: Overcome with anger; extremely indignant

raiments: clothing

[Life of Pi], p1 -- memorable quotes

"The reason death sticks so closely to life isn't biological necessity -- it's envy. Life is so beautiful that death has fallen in love with it, a jealous, possessive love that grabs at what it can. But life leaps over oblivion lightly, losing only a thing or two of no importance, and gloom is but the passing shadow of a cloud" (6).

"...a tie is a noose, and inverted though it is, it will hang a man nonetheless if he's not careful" (6).

"But language founders in such seas. Better to picture it in your head if you want to feel it" (15).

"...in that elusive, irrational number with which scientists try to understand the universe, I found refuge" (24).

 "Life will defend itself no matter how small it is" (38).

"Memory is an ocean and he bobs on its surface" (42).

"Progress is unstoppable. It is a drumbeat to which we all must march" (74).

 
On (animal) behavior

 "In a zoo, when an animal is not in its normal place in its regular posture at the usual hour, it means something" (17).

"In a zoo, we do for animals what we have done for ourselves with houses: we bring together in a small space what in the wild is spread out....A house is a compressed territory where our basic needs can be fulfilled close by and safely" (17-8).

 "Repetition is important in the training not only of animals but also of humans" (23).

 "I know zoos are no longer in people's good graces. Religion faces the same problem. Certain illusions about freedom plague them both" (19).

 "Much hostile and aggressive behaviour among animals is the expression of social insecurity. The animal in front of you must know where it stands, whether above you or below you. Social rank is central to how it leads its life. Rank determines whom it can associate with and how; where and when it can eat; where it can rest; where it can drink; and so on. Until it knows its rank for certain, the animal lives a life of unbearable anarchy" (43-4).

"Hediger (1950) says, 'When two creatures meet, the one that is able to intimidate its opponent is recognized as socially superior, so that a social decision does not always depend on a fight; an encounter in some circumstances may be enough'" (44).

"Socially inferior animals are the ones that make the most strenuous, resourceful efforts to get to know their keepers. They prove to be the ones most faithful to them, most in need of their company, least likely to challenge them or be difficult" (45).

"All living things contain a measure of madness that moves them in strange, sometimes inexplicable ways. This madness can be saving; it is part and parcel of the ability to adapt. Without it, no species would survive" (41).

"Animals that escape go from the known into the unknown -- and if there is one thing an animal hates above all else, it is the unknown" (41).

"It is true that those we meet can change us, sometimes so profoundly that we are not the same afterwards, even unto our names" (20).

On faith

"I said nothing. It wasn't for fear of angering Mr. Kumar. I was more afraid that in a few words thrown out he might destroy something that I loved. What if his words had the effect of polio on me? What a terrible disease that must be if it could kill God in a man" (28).

"Atheists are my brothers and sisters of a different faith, and every word they speak speaks of faith. Like me, they go as far as the legs of reason will carry them - and then they leap" (28).

"We all must pass through the garden of Gethsemane. If Christ played with doubt, so must we. If Christ spent an anguished night in prayer, if He burst out from the Cross, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" then surely we are also permitted doubt. But we must move on. To choose doubt as a philosophy of life is akin to choosing immobility as a means of transportation" (28).

 "We are all born like Catholics, aren't we -- in limbo, without religion, until some figure introduces us to God? After that meeting the matter ends for most of us. If there is a change, it is usually for the lesser rather than the greater; many people seem to lose God along life's way" (47).

"Brahman saguna is Brahman made manifest to our limited senses, Brahman expressed not only in gods but in humans, animals, trees, in a handful of earth, for everything has a trace of the divine in it. The truth of life is that Brahman is no different from atman, the spiritual force within us, what you might call the soul. The individual soul touches upon the world soul like a well reaches for the water table. That which sustains the universe beyond thought and language, and that which is at the core of us and struggles for expression, is the same thing. The finite within the infinite, the infinite within the finite" (48-9). .

"I am reminded of a story of Lord Krishna when he was a cowherd. Every night he invites the milkmaids to dance with him in the forest. They come and they dance. The night is dark, the fire in their midst roars and crackles, the beat of the music gets ever faster -- the girls dance and dance and dance with their sweet lord, who has made himself so abundant as to be in the arms of each and every girl. But the moment the girls become possessive, the moment each one imagines that Krishna is her partner alone, he vanishes. So it is that we should not be jealous with God" (49).

"...Hindus, in their capacity for love, are indeed hairless Christians, just as Muslims, in the way they see God in everything, are bearded Hindus, and Christians, in their devotion to God, are hat-wearing Muslims" (50).

"If Hinduism flows placidly like the Ganges, then Christianity bustles like Toronto at rush hour. It is a religion as swift as a swallow, as urgent as an ambulance. It turns on a dime, expresses itself in the instant. In a moment you are lost or saved. Christianity stretches back through the ages, but in essence it exists only at one time: right now" (57).

"'If you take two steps toward God,' he used to tell me, 'God runs to you!'" (61)

"I can well imagine an atheist's last words: "White, white! L-L-Love! My God!" -- and the deathbed leap of faith. Whereas the agnostic, if he stays true to his reasonable self, if he stays beholden to dry, yeastless factuality, might try to explain the warm light bathing him by saying, "Possibly a f-f-failing oxygenation of the b-b-brain," and to the very end, lack imagination and miss the better story" (64).

"There are always those who take it upon themselves to defend God, as if Ultimate Reality, as if the sustaining frame of existence, were something weak and helpless....These people fail to realize that it is on the inside that God must be defended, not on the outside. They should direct their anger at themselves. For evil in the open is but evil from within that has been let out. The main battlefield for good is not the open ground of the public arena but the small clearing of each heart. Meanwhile, the lot of widows and homeless children is very hard, and it is to their defence, not God's that the self-righteous should rush" (70-1).

Goodreads' Neverending Quiz, Day 1

GoodReads' neverending quiz tells me:

1. I need to reread The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (and other Coleridge just to be safe).
2. I know nothing about Nancy Drew books.
3. I should read The Time Traveler's Wife.
4. Perhaps I should take a look at All the King's Men as well.
5. I want to read some Ian Fleming and watch Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang.
6. It's past time to read Rebecca.
7. I need to read Mrs. Dalloway.
8. It's time to check out stuff by Anais Nin and Henry Miller.
9. I need to read A Tale of Two Cities and Schindler's List.
10. Catch-22 looks like a good read.
11. Anna Karenina (and Les Miserables and War and Peace if we're going with that tone) needs to be read.

[Life of Pi] ... before the read

I'd like to share a few thoughts about the book before I open the front cover.

I chose this book because...

I grabbed this book at Goodwill several months ago and the recent movie (which I have still not seen) reminded me that it still sits on the bookshelf collecting dust. I have loved every bit of Indian culture I've encountered -- from writings on Eastern philosophy ([Tao of Pooh]) to Bollywood movies to saris to [The God of Small Things] -- and am excited to travel back to the country! (I also suspect I can finish this one up in time to read [A Memory of Light] when it releases on January 8.)

The title brings to mind...

...the mathematical principle of π, an idea which has caused centuries of confuzzlement throughout the world. Its seemingly random digits have formed the basis of many nerdy memorization contests (the nerdy equivalent of the staring contest -- itself too difficult to execute from behind Coke-bottle glasses), though no one has been able to harness its true essence. The "life" of pi is a long one without an end in sight.

The author seems...

...like a pretty cool dude, whose mundane "career path" and "useless" degree tempered his writing style and led to this distinguished book. Here's hoping my digestion of fiction and rut of a job lead me down a similar path.

And off we go!