Slam! Bam! I'm finally done... It was a tedious sail, just like the old man. It's very funny, because after his long journey, he sank into his bed, just like I am about to! I have several questions that I cannot answer myself (deeper questions about life) and some about the book. I thought I would be able to finish this book rather quickly, because I mean, there are only 120 some pages, but it took me longer than some of the other books! I think it was rather very detailed and since a lot of the same sentences and words repeated, I felt like I was going in circles rather than moving forward with the story. One think I found particularly interesting was the way Ernest Hemingway repeated several vocabulary and sentences. Of course, symbols! Some of the repeating symbols I found was "left hand", phosphorescence, purple stripes, baseball, and more...
Like the last post, I am not quite sure what these recurring symbols mean, but for the left hand, there were constant images of his cramps/cuts in his left hand and how he kept on dipping it in the ocean. At first, it was to cleanse the cut, but then it became almost like a habit. He put it in after he finished his thought, or talked to himself. On page 85, Hemingway wrote, "Why was I not born with two good hands? he thought,," (Hemingway, 85). I thought the hands symbolized the two types of personality human kinds have; kindness and evil. We all possess both sides, where on one hand, we are very sympathetic, kind people, but on the other hand, we all sin and have a slight hint of "bad" within us. Similar to the theme of "holy water" in various books that we have read in class, I thought the old man was rinsing his sins off to lessen the sin of killing the fish, or clear his minds from convoluted thoughts.
Another word that kept on popping up was phosphorescence. I could not think of why this word has such significance, but I think it may have to do with his persistence, where he is following his "light" and passion, and holding on to the hope. You can see the phosphorescent light clearly in the dark, and of course, hope is the brightest in the dark. So I thought that maybe the author was trying to depict this theme of hope throughout the story.
One thing I did not get was the mentioning of the lion. I've been trying to find out why the old man keeps on mentioning the lion; the book even ends with the word lions! He wrote, "The old man was dreaming about the lions," (Hemingway, 127). The only lion I can think of is Aslan... Lions usually symbolize bravery, and authority, but I don't see how that can fit into this story.
Some of the quotes that I really liked was "A man is never lost at sea..." and the whole section on page 105 where the old man wonders if he is sinning when he is killing the fish, as he is not sure if he does this because of necessity, or because of his pride that he is a fisherman. These two quotes have really struck me to think about my life. Yes, it is sometimes hard when you keep on doubting your real intentions, but like the quote that a man is never lost at sea, our life does not betray us wholly; it lets us find our own path eventually.
Despite the fact that it was a slow read, I think I'd recommend this book. But, I think reading it as a class, or with a group of friends would be much more effective, because I think this book has so many amazing quotes and symbols that could be taken in many ways.
Thursday, April 3, 2014
Questions...is he okay?
Now I get why people were telling me that it was a very slow
read, despite its short, deceptive appearances. It is basically about this old
man and his struggle with a giant marlin in the Gulf Stream. I think this whole
book is an analogy to life.
I have no idea if my analysis is going to be right, but here
is how I perceived the story. I took the big marlin that the old man is trying
to catch as the future, or the biggest fear one has in his or her life. The
reason why I thought that is because as Hemingway wrote, “I wish I could see
him only once to know what I have against me,” (Hemingway, 46). As soon as I
read this phrase, I knew immediately that Ernest Hemingway was referring to
that fear, or that apprehensive feeling towards the future, because I’ve heard
it from various people that they’d rather know what they were facing rather
than not knowing about it. When you don’t know what you are up to, or what you
are facing, it comes off as much more threatening and violent. Your imagination
builds on to create a monster that may not even be real. That way, I thought
that the fish was a reference to that fear, or the struggle that one has. Just
like the struggles that we are going to face in the future, the fish doesn’t
reveal its appearance and continues to swim without jumping up or pulling away.
That is what tugs at the old man’s heart, I think, because he is eager to catch
it, but more than catching it, I think he is more eager to know what he had
caught.
Another reason why I believed that the fish is a reference
to the fear is because the old man continues to say, “’I wish the boy was
here,’” (Hemingway, 50). Whenever we face our biggest fears, or we are unsure
about the future, we often turn to our family, friends, and others for support
and help, yet it is often the case that the situation cannot be fixed by anyone
but themselves. Only the person facing the darkness can find the light, and
that is how one learns lessons in their lives. The old man knows that it is
quite foolish to want the boy, but then he still wishes that he was not alone
when fighting a lonely battle.
Lastly, the bird that later accompanies the old man for a
brief time symbolizes, in my opinion, the goodness in life, or opportunities in
life that we often neglect. When the bird was there, the old man felt a sudden
attachment, because he was too lonely. However, at that moment, the fish had
pulled on the string, and distracted the old man from the bird. The bird flies
away and the old man doesn’t even realize this until later. I thought again
that this was an analogy to life, because sometimes if we are too caught up
with our “work” and what we “must” do, that we often forget or simply misses
the goodness in life and what is actually important (usually what you need).
That was my brief take on from this book, halfway through. Now, I may be
completely off track, but I think it was interesting to see the parallel.
One thing though that I’m confused about is that this old
man is talking too his own hand… He got a cut and he is saying things like, “Is
this fish good for you?” and offering to eat fish for his cut hand. I just
found that mind-blowing and wondered if that had any deeper meaning to it…Well, we'll see!
Sailing with the Old Man and the Sea
I am kind of hesitant in reading this book, because I'm afraid I'll like it too much. I just love old men and women (not in the creepy way), because the things that they say and do just makes me cry. My sister told me that this book is very dull and boring if you just read word for word. Her advice was, "Try to think more about what the author is trying to say about life, and dig a little deeper." I mean, it's easier to say than do, but still, I think I'm going to take advantage of this short book and analyze it in depth. Allison also told me that she read the book (well, half of it anyway) and she said that she liked it, because the old man is very interesting.
I hope it is a deep book like everyone claims it is, because I feel like I'm actually doing reading and learning when the book is more than just an interesting story plot with likeable characters. I want to read something that would shape the way I think and help me view the world through a different light. I think this will be similar to Life of Pi, which is more surreal than the Old Man and the Sea, i guess, but still they deal with the same concept of "meaning of life". I want to test myself if I can actually gain something from this book, and since it's a well-known classic, I'm glad I chose this book. Wish me luck in my sail with the old man!
I hope it is a deep book like everyone claims it is, because I feel like I'm actually doing reading and learning when the book is more than just an interesting story plot with likeable characters. I want to read something that would shape the way I think and help me view the world through a different light. I think this will be similar to Life of Pi, which is more surreal than the Old Man and the Sea, i guess, but still they deal with the same concept of "meaning of life". I want to test myself if I can actually gain something from this book, and since it's a well-known classic, I'm glad I chose this book. Wish me luck in my sail with the old man!
The Last Story Told
Wow. Until I have read the first page, I had forgotten that this entire book was about an "illustrated" man, who has tattoos that tells a story of its own. The whole time I was reading it, it just felt like a collection of science fiction books rather than the story of the man. I think it would have been much better if Ray Bradbury had the main character talk about how he was affected or his horrors of the stories in between the each story. I needed space in between the stories, because each of them had mind-blowing (as in horrifying and scary and creepy) endings that I needed time to sink them in my brain. I guess for me, it was so powerful that it was hard to handle. Other than that, I think all stories had different messages and they were all powerful in their own ways. Like the last post, I want to share a story that I found particularly striking.
What I want to share the most is the "Zero Hour". It is about the Martians trying to take over the Earth, but not the way they have done in other books or stories. (Because, of course, we always crush them and send them back to their planet.) In their smart ways, the Martians have abducted the children's mind and every child in America are talking about a game they are playing with their friend, Drill. The main character, who is a mother of a girl, noticed that little kids her age are taking knives and other weapons, saying that Drill has created a game to take over the Earth. None of the adults believe what the little kids are saying.
"Mom?" A hesitation. "Dad?" A waiting, a silence. Humming. Footsteps toward the attic. Mink's first. They trembled together in silence in the attic, Mr. and Mrs. Morris...the queer cold light suddenly visible under the door crack, the strange odor and the alien sound of eagerness in Mink's voice finally got through to Henry Morris too. He stood, shivering, in the dark silence, his wife beside him. "Mom! Dad!" ... The attic lock melted. The door opened. Mink peered inside, tall blue shadows behind her. "Peekaboo," said Mink. (Bradbury, 266)
Ray Bradbury's sentence structures are so highly effective, where he does everything Mr. Perlman said about creating the intense mood, or emphasizing on a certain situation. Like the silence in the whole house, the sentence fragments almost depict the atmosphere of the house. It builds the tension. As I was reading it, I was crawling inside the blankets, knowing that something bad is going to happen. The innocent children no longer seemed innocent and they reminded me of "Where are you... I'm gonna get'cha!" And I read the word "peekaboo", I screamed. It was more horrifying than any other scary stories, because I could almost visualize the face expression of this little child, waiting to kill her own parents.
I'm kind of hesitant in recommending this book. I would recommend if to people who like sci-fi or horror stories, but for people who don't usually get sci-fi, I would recommend reading only some of the stories. There are many stories that won't confuse you with like "aliens" and such, but still, if you don't like futuristic stories, I wouldn't suggest reading it.
What I want to share the most is the "Zero Hour". It is about the Martians trying to take over the Earth, but not the way they have done in other books or stories. (Because, of course, we always crush them and send them back to their planet.) In their smart ways, the Martians have abducted the children's mind and every child in America are talking about a game they are playing with their friend, Drill. The main character, who is a mother of a girl, noticed that little kids her age are taking knives and other weapons, saying that Drill has created a game to take over the Earth. None of the adults believe what the little kids are saying.
"Mom?" A hesitation. "Dad?" A waiting, a silence. Humming. Footsteps toward the attic. Mink's first. They trembled together in silence in the attic, Mr. and Mrs. Morris...the queer cold light suddenly visible under the door crack, the strange odor and the alien sound of eagerness in Mink's voice finally got through to Henry Morris too. He stood, shivering, in the dark silence, his wife beside him. "Mom! Dad!" ... The attic lock melted. The door opened. Mink peered inside, tall blue shadows behind her. "Peekaboo," said Mink. (Bradbury, 266)
Ray Bradbury's sentence structures are so highly effective, where he does everything Mr. Perlman said about creating the intense mood, or emphasizing on a certain situation. Like the silence in the whole house, the sentence fragments almost depict the atmosphere of the house. It builds the tension. As I was reading it, I was crawling inside the blankets, knowing that something bad is going to happen. The innocent children no longer seemed innocent and they reminded me of "Where are you... I'm gonna get'cha!" And I read the word "peekaboo", I screamed. It was more horrifying than any other scary stories, because I could almost visualize the face expression of this little child, waiting to kill her own parents.
I'm kind of hesitant in recommending this book. I would recommend if to people who like sci-fi or horror stories, but for people who don't usually get sci-fi, I would recommend reading only some of the stories. There are many stories that won't confuse you with like "aliens" and such, but still, if you don't like futuristic stories, I wouldn't suggest reading it.
Wednesday, April 2, 2014
Just keep reading just keep reading (Dori)
I'll be honest--- I'm not quite sure of how I am going to present this book to you guys without major spoilers... It is hard to comment on the characters, as these are collections of short stories, and of course, they are not related to each other. SOOO I'm just going to share some of the stories that I found particularly interesting or mind-blowing
Stories that affected be the most was The Veldt, The Sun Dome, Fire Balloons, and The Last Night of the World. I think I'm going to share The Veldt and The Last Night of the World. I think The Veldis story is the most well-known. The reason why I think this is because I've read it in 8th grade during an English lesson; it shocked me then, I read it again and it shocked me again. The Veldt is about a house in the future, where children's bedrooms (more like the wall papers) changes and accommodates to what the children wants and need. Just on that note, I was thinking, "Oh my gosh, I wish I could have a bedroom like that! Then I could be in Cancun, with the clear emerald water in front of me with soft winds blowing... OR I could be up in the sky, and pretend that I am flying!" However, this dream was crushed. The story's setting is at a house with two children. At first they seem so innocent, with their innocent minds, but the parents keep on locking them out of the rooms saying that they are thinking of cruel things. From this, I could already sense the growing distance between the children and the parents (FORESHADOW!). It was really surprising to see how the children could grow so attached to their rooms that are not even alive! I'll keep the ending for those who actually want to read it, but let me just tell you that it was very scary and creepy at the same time! I mean, those are the very things that scare me about raising children. I'm afraid they would be evil like me and cause me to worry about every little things.
The Last Night of the World was more of a question posed to the people rather than a flowing story. The setting was set as the last day of school, and it's actually really interesting as the day is set like an every day life. That made me wonder... if I know when I'm going to die, and die together with the whole world, would I be sad? Would I want to do something that I've always wanted to do my whole life? Or just tell everyone that I loved them...
I'll look out for more stories!! Keep in touch!
Stories that affected be the most was The Veldt, The Sun Dome, Fire Balloons, and The Last Night of the World. I think I'm going to share The Veldt and The Last Night of the World. I think The Veldis story is the most well-known. The reason why I think this is because I've read it in 8th grade during an English lesson; it shocked me then, I read it again and it shocked me again. The Veldt is about a house in the future, where children's bedrooms (more like the wall papers) changes and accommodates to what the children wants and need. Just on that note, I was thinking, "Oh my gosh, I wish I could have a bedroom like that! Then I could be in Cancun, with the clear emerald water in front of me with soft winds blowing... OR I could be up in the sky, and pretend that I am flying!" However, this dream was crushed. The story's setting is at a house with two children. At first they seem so innocent, with their innocent minds, but the parents keep on locking them out of the rooms saying that they are thinking of cruel things. From this, I could already sense the growing distance between the children and the parents (FORESHADOW!). It was really surprising to see how the children could grow so attached to their rooms that are not even alive! I'll keep the ending for those who actually want to read it, but let me just tell you that it was very scary and creepy at the same time! I mean, those are the very things that scare me about raising children. I'm afraid they would be evil like me and cause me to worry about every little things.
The Last Night of the World was more of a question posed to the people rather than a flowing story. The setting was set as the last day of school, and it's actually really interesting as the day is set like an every day life. That made me wonder... if I know when I'm going to die, and die together with the whole world, would I be sad? Would I want to do something that I've always wanted to do my whole life? Or just tell everyone that I loved them...
I'll look out for more stories!! Keep in touch!
Tuesday, April 1, 2014
The Illustrated Man
Oh, isn't he the sweetest thing or what. Look at his glasses. Look at his cat! Just to prove his incredible character, he once said, "Don't think. Thinking is the enemy of creativity. It's self-conscious and anything self-conscious is lousy. You can't try to do things. You simply must do things." This awesome awesome guy's name is Ray Bradbury. I read one of his books called Fahrenheit 351, which was a very intriguing book that made you think the whole time and truly appreciate the books' values and how it shapes the society's minds. I didn't know until today that he was a sci-fi writer... Interesting. I should've figured that out, as the two of the books that I've read (or going to read) are all sci-fi. Anyways, he apparently passed away two years ago at the age of 91. Considering that most brilliant people die when they're like in their 20s or 30s, he has lived a very long life. May you rest in peace... So about the book. From what I understand, I think it's a collection of many many short stories about the future. Though I am not a HUGE sci-fi fan, I can trust Ray Bradbury to keep me hooked until the end. I'm interested to see if there are going to be big thoughtful questions throughout the book. Wish me luck!
From HeLa to the Great Woman
Okay. So, before I read this book, I noticed that there were about 8 pages of pictures right in the middle of the book (which, by the way, is like oasis in the desert) so I was like, "Cool! That can be my halfway mark!" It turns out, about a hundred of the back pages are full of acknowledgements, index, and afterwords... You get the point. Anyways, I am really glad I read this book. Other than the fact that I now know about HeLa cells, which I should know if I want to be a doctor (as it is very very well-known and appreciated in the medical field), I feel as though I got to know the family. I studied the picture to make sure I had the right person with the right name, and made sure I knew their characters. I don't know why, but I became so attached to all of the characters. I sympathized with them, and could understand their frustration. The author, Rebecca Skloot, really depicted the characters really well and made them likeable, even though there were many things in the book that would not be likeable in the real life.
One passage I found particularly striking was this:
"The dead woman's arms had been pulled up and back so that the pathologist could get at her chest...split down the middle and opened wide...greyish white tumor globules...filled the corpse...Strings of them ran over the surfaces of the liver, diaphragm, intestine, appendix, rectum, and heart..." (230)
This is in the scene where Deborah, daughter of Henrietta, finally gets to learn about the cause of her mother's death and actually hold the medical records. The author wrote how she couldn't breathe and control the streaming tears. I felt the same way and I visualized Henrietta's dead body with her famous red painted toe nails, and can't erase the picture of smiling researchers scraping her cells, thirsty for more. It truly illustrates how she wasn't respected as a dead human with care, but like those rats in the labs where humans are extracting information from them and tossing them out. I know that those scientists only meant good will, but I could finally see this horrifying scene through the eyes of Deborah. I think this was when I was truly able to comprehend her robust denial to Rebecca from asking any more questions about her mom. First of all, she didn't know a thing, and secondly, everything about her mom and other white people constantly pounding her with questions must have caused an immense stress. Just as the author realized in the beginning, it tore my heart to think that these are real people who have been abused by bunch of researchers, journalists, scientists, and doctors who have repeatedly ripped off of them and made their lives miserable by constantly lying. They have caused the family to worry about their own health, and not truly know about their dead mother. If it happened to me, I'm sure I would have reacted the same way. Why don't they just leave me alone? I don't think I could handle that much of an emotional outbreak.
You're lying,' Deborah yelled, flipping off my tape recorder and clenching her fists. 'I'm not, I swear, look, I'll say it on tape and you can sue me if I use it.' I clicked the recorder on, said into the mic that I wouldn't put that word in the book, then turned it off. 'You're lying!' she yelled again. She jumped off the bed... She started frantically stuffing papers into her canvas bag as I tried to explain myself and talk her down... 'Who you working for?' she snapped. 'John Hopkin?'" (283)
Without truly knowing the burden that Deborah has to carry as the daughter of Henrietta, this may come across as a little psychotic and questionable. However, I was surprised that I just felt bad for her to go through what she is going through. Personally, I was upset at the author, even though she was also a victim of Deborah's outbursts and anger, because of the way she presented the facts in her book. Though I know that the author is now very good friends with the family and that Deborah loved her (according to the book), I still feel as though some of the content could be taken out. Other than the previous story, I don't think it was very necessary to write about family crime history, when they are just cousins, or relatives of the cousins of Henrietta. It just gives a bad light to the family, who are just simply lost.
I think what made my emotions heighten even more is that in fiction, when a loveable character dies, it creates sorrow and I sometimes cry, but after a while, I am okay because the character is not real. However, after reminding myself again that this is non-fiction, I can't quite rid of the sorrow that Deborah passed away from her second stroke and the cruel death of Elsie Lacks (the oldest daughter who went to the mental hospital) and Henrietta. The ending wasn't quite satisfactory, but it was nice to have the author write an epilogue of everyone's situation.
Henrietta, thank you for all you've done, and Rebecca, good job with the amount of patience and research that you've had to go through. T=
One passage I found particularly striking was this:
"The dead woman's arms had been pulled up and back so that the pathologist could get at her chest...split down the middle and opened wide...greyish white tumor globules...filled the corpse...Strings of them ran over the surfaces of the liver, diaphragm, intestine, appendix, rectum, and heart..." (230)
This is in the scene where Deborah, daughter of Henrietta, finally gets to learn about the cause of her mother's death and actually hold the medical records. The author wrote how she couldn't breathe and control the streaming tears. I felt the same way and I visualized Henrietta's dead body with her famous red painted toe nails, and can't erase the picture of smiling researchers scraping her cells, thirsty for more. It truly illustrates how she wasn't respected as a dead human with care, but like those rats in the labs where humans are extracting information from them and tossing them out. I know that those scientists only meant good will, but I could finally see this horrifying scene through the eyes of Deborah. I think this was when I was truly able to comprehend her robust denial to Rebecca from asking any more questions about her mom. First of all, she didn't know a thing, and secondly, everything about her mom and other white people constantly pounding her with questions must have caused an immense stress. Just as the author realized in the beginning, it tore my heart to think that these are real people who have been abused by bunch of researchers, journalists, scientists, and doctors who have repeatedly ripped off of them and made their lives miserable by constantly lying. They have caused the family to worry about their own health, and not truly know about their dead mother. If it happened to me, I'm sure I would have reacted the same way. Why don't they just leave me alone? I don't think I could handle that much of an emotional outbreak.
You're lying,' Deborah yelled, flipping off my tape recorder and clenching her fists. 'I'm not, I swear, look, I'll say it on tape and you can sue me if I use it.' I clicked the recorder on, said into the mic that I wouldn't put that word in the book, then turned it off. 'You're lying!' she yelled again. She jumped off the bed... She started frantically stuffing papers into her canvas bag as I tried to explain myself and talk her down... 'Who you working for?' she snapped. 'John Hopkin?'" (283)
Without truly knowing the burden that Deborah has to carry as the daughter of Henrietta, this may come across as a little psychotic and questionable. However, I was surprised that I just felt bad for her to go through what she is going through. Personally, I was upset at the author, even though she was also a victim of Deborah's outbursts and anger, because of the way she presented the facts in her book. Though I know that the author is now very good friends with the family and that Deborah loved her (according to the book), I still feel as though some of the content could be taken out. Other than the previous story, I don't think it was very necessary to write about family crime history, when they are just cousins, or relatives of the cousins of Henrietta. It just gives a bad light to the family, who are just simply lost.
I think what made my emotions heighten even more is that in fiction, when a loveable character dies, it creates sorrow and I sometimes cry, but after a while, I am okay because the character is not real. However, after reminding myself again that this is non-fiction, I can't quite rid of the sorrow that Deborah passed away from her second stroke and the cruel death of Elsie Lacks (the oldest daughter who went to the mental hospital) and Henrietta. The ending wasn't quite satisfactory, but it was nice to have the author write an epilogue of everyone's situation.
Henrietta, thank you for all you've done, and Rebecca, good job with the amount of patience and research that you've had to go through. T=
Henrietta's Burial
In memory of Henrietta...
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