"Persons attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted; persons attempting to find a moral in it will be banished; persons attempting to find a plot in it will be shot."
One of the best things about Huck Finn is that here we have Twain at his satirical best. Americans love satire, probably more than most other countries (England may have the edge, but it is a close race) and our sense of satire begins with Mark Twain. In the quote above (the prelude to the book) we get a sense of Twain's humor but it doesn't stop there. Most people are familiar with at least one Twain quote, but it is in Huck Finn that Twain uses humor to scold without getting too cynical about humanity.
I think a lot of my views about the world stem from this period in Twain's writing. It is optimistic about life, but generally cynical about humanity. Twain becomes darker and more bitter as time went on, but here Twain, through Huck, loves life and takes pleasure from it while sharing a negative view of humanity as a whole.
There were plenty of reasons for this as well. During this period in American history, Twain saw America divided over the civil war, slavery at its worst, emancipation, and the rise of the KKK and lynching. He saw the expansion west and the total annihlation of the south. Later during the Gilded Age, he became even more critical of the stripping away and homogenization of local cultures, and our obsession with materialism.
In Huck Finn, Twain makes appearances and speaks directly to the audience through Huck and other characters breaking down the wall to speak to us directly. In one of the most direct scenes, Twain, through the character Sherburn launches into a diatribe about mob violence and lynching in general. He calls a mob pitiful:
"The pitifulest thing out is a mob; that's what an army is--a mob; they don't fight with courage that's born in them, but with courage that's borrowed from their mass, and from their officers. But a mob without any MAN at the head of it is BENEATH pitifulness"
"Your newspapers call you a brave people so much that you think you are braver than any other people - whereas you're just as brave, and no braver. Why don't your juries hang murderers? Because they're afraid the man's friends will shoot them in the back, in the dark -- and it's just what they WOULD do."
As Huck shares his adventures with the King and the Duke, a couple of con men, he sees other terrible things about society. They con people out of money through religion, drama, and by pretending to be someone they're not to get an inheritance. Both the King and the Duke are evil people and will stoop at nothing to get ahead. They both however keep getting one-upped by others who are just as corrupt.
Chapter 31 is perhaps the greatest chapter and the most damning of society in general. In it, Jim has just been sold by th King and the Duke back into slavery and Huck doesn't know what to do. He panics and realizes that God is punishing him for helping free Jim. He realizes then that God is always watching and would get him in the end. As a reader who has followed Huck through all of his adventures it is heartbreaking to see a boy feel wicked for doing something we know to be right. He tries to pray and ask forgiveness, but he can't because "you can't pray a lie." So, he then writes a letter to Jim's owner Miss Watson and tells her that she can pick up her slave. But then, as soon as he was finished he begins to think about Jim and how they were friends.
"It was a close place. I took . . . up [the letter I’d written to Miss Watson], and held it in my hand. I was a-trembling, because I’d got to decide, forever, betwixt two things, and I knowed it. I studied a minute, sort of holding my breath, and then says to myself: “All right then, I’ll go to hell”—and tore it up. It was awful thoughts and awful words, but they was said. And I let them stay said; and never thought no more about reforming."
His decision to go to hell for helping out a friend and a father figure is Twain at his most critical in this book. I think he is reaching out to everyone in the south and holding a mirror up to them and saying "do you see what you have done? Do you see how rotten you are to make a boy feel this way?"
It gets even worse when Huck runs into Tom Sawyers aunt later and explains he was late because the engine blew in a boat "Good Gracious, anybody hurt?" Huck responds by saying "No'm killed a nigger" She says, "good because sometimes people do get hurt"
In the end, Huck realizes that whatever it means to be "Sivilized" in this society wasn't for him. He decides to go his own road to makes his own rules about his life without having to follow rules that are both hypocritical and wrong.
If you've never read Huck, do it sooner rather than later. I think you are missing one of the greatest books of all time. You won't be disappointed in the least.
Currently reading: Sophomore research papers
Currently listening to: R.E.M. on Austin City Limits
Monday, May 26, 2008
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
The Greatest Story Ever Told pt. 1
Hemingway once said "All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn."
This will be a two part series because I can write for a year and not finish what I have to say about this book
Difficulty: 3/5 While Tom Sawyer was a children's book, this sequel was meant for adults. It covers adult themes and ideas and the language is very difficult. I recommend reading it out loud for the first few chapters until you get the hang of the various accents. Especially when it comes to Jim's accent which is thick and difficult to read even for experienced accent readers. The book is also very long, but worth the trouble.
Enjoyment: 5/5 It isn't my favorite book of all time (that will come later, I think I will reread it over summer) but it ranks right up there. First things first, don't watch the movie. There are quite a few books that have had awesome movie adaptations. Huck Finn, possibly because of its large scale, has never been done correctly. I really can't recommend any of the Huck Finn movies (and I think I have seen them all.)
For the first part, I think I will discuss the plot a little and some of the major ideas in the book. Huck Finn is about life in the Pre-civil War South. Huck was raised on the river and is frankly ignorant about just about everything. This is a sequel, but you really don't have to read the first book to understand the second. The characters are there, but they don't take real substance until Huck Finn.
Twain's first goal in the book is seemingly to paint as accurate a portrayal as he can of what it was like to live back then. He even tells us in the beginning that there are four seperate accents in the book and he spent time getting them just right. His major goal however is to take an innocent boy and use him to hold up a mirror to his society and the hypocrisy within.
In the book, Huck is being raised by two women in town who are trying to "sivilise" him. They teach him about religion, manners, and help to make him literate. Huck's deadbeat father who takes no interest in his son's life, hears that Huck (from Tom Sawyer) has stumbled on to quite a bit of money. Huck's father decides to use Huck to get ahold of the money and use it for himself. He takes Huck back to the river and abuses him both mentally and physically. Fearing for his life, Huck fakes his death and heads down the river with an escaped slave, Jim.
From then on, Jim and Huck have a series of adventures including hooking up with a couple of con-men, taking part in a Redneck Romeo and Juliet, and ultimately Jim gets sold into slavery.
As the book starts the first thing that stands out is Huck's ability to reason. As an innocent child he neither accepts nor denies anything at face value. Instead, we see him weigh all moral decisions, facts, and myths on a scale. When he learns that through prayer you can get anything you want, he prays for weeks for some hooks to fish with. When he doesn't recieve them, he decides prayer doesn't work. When he learns about hell, he asks if Tom Sawyer was going there. Upon hearing an affirmative answer, he decides if Tom is going to be there, then that's where I want to be.
It is this sense of innocence that allows him to understand the hypocrisy within the world he lives. He sees a judge that allows Huck's father (a man who is terrible in every way) to reclaim Huck because it is better for sons to be with their fathers. He sees people scam each other one day and backstab each other the next. He sees a world in which all of the so-called civilized people mistreat and enslave others, kill each other, and come by night with hoods on to serve the "common good"
Next time: Lynching, Jim and Huck, Chapter 31!
Currently reading: A Thousand Splendid Suns, Prince Caspian
Currently listening to: Mother Hips Chico 2005 show
New Activity: supervising water polo strength conditioning after school in the weight room.
This will be a two part series because I can write for a year and not finish what I have to say about this book
Difficulty: 3/5 While Tom Sawyer was a children's book, this sequel was meant for adults. It covers adult themes and ideas and the language is very difficult. I recommend reading it out loud for the first few chapters until you get the hang of the various accents. Especially when it comes to Jim's accent which is thick and difficult to read even for experienced accent readers. The book is also very long, but worth the trouble.
Enjoyment: 5/5 It isn't my favorite book of all time (that will come later, I think I will reread it over summer) but it ranks right up there. First things first, don't watch the movie. There are quite a few books that have had awesome movie adaptations. Huck Finn, possibly because of its large scale, has never been done correctly. I really can't recommend any of the Huck Finn movies (and I think I have seen them all.)
For the first part, I think I will discuss the plot a little and some of the major ideas in the book. Huck Finn is about life in the Pre-civil War South. Huck was raised on the river and is frankly ignorant about just about everything. This is a sequel, but you really don't have to read the first book to understand the second. The characters are there, but they don't take real substance until Huck Finn.
Twain's first goal in the book is seemingly to paint as accurate a portrayal as he can of what it was like to live back then. He even tells us in the beginning that there are four seperate accents in the book and he spent time getting them just right. His major goal however is to take an innocent boy and use him to hold up a mirror to his society and the hypocrisy within.
In the book, Huck is being raised by two women in town who are trying to "sivilise" him. They teach him about religion, manners, and help to make him literate. Huck's deadbeat father who takes no interest in his son's life, hears that Huck (from Tom Sawyer) has stumbled on to quite a bit of money. Huck's father decides to use Huck to get ahold of the money and use it for himself. He takes Huck back to the river and abuses him both mentally and physically. Fearing for his life, Huck fakes his death and heads down the river with an escaped slave, Jim.
From then on, Jim and Huck have a series of adventures including hooking up with a couple of con-men, taking part in a Redneck Romeo and Juliet, and ultimately Jim gets sold into slavery.
As the book starts the first thing that stands out is Huck's ability to reason. As an innocent child he neither accepts nor denies anything at face value. Instead, we see him weigh all moral decisions, facts, and myths on a scale. When he learns that through prayer you can get anything you want, he prays for weeks for some hooks to fish with. When he doesn't recieve them, he decides prayer doesn't work. When he learns about hell, he asks if Tom Sawyer was going there. Upon hearing an affirmative answer, he decides if Tom is going to be there, then that's where I want to be.
It is this sense of innocence that allows him to understand the hypocrisy within the world he lives. He sees a judge that allows Huck's father (a man who is terrible in every way) to reclaim Huck because it is better for sons to be with their fathers. He sees people scam each other one day and backstab each other the next. He sees a world in which all of the so-called civilized people mistreat and enslave others, kill each other, and come by night with hoods on to serve the "common good"
Next time: Lynching, Jim and Huck, Chapter 31!
Currently reading: A Thousand Splendid Suns, Prince Caspian
Currently listening to: Mother Hips Chico 2005 show
New Activity: supervising water polo strength conditioning after school in the weight room.
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Burn Baby Burn!
Nazi Book Burning
"We must all be alike. Not everyone born free and equal, as the constitution says, but everyone made equal . . . A book is a loaded gun in the house next door. Burn it. Take the shot from the weapon. Breach man’s mind."
"Do you know why books such as this are so important? Because they have quality. And what does the word quality mean? To me it means texture. This book has pores."
Tonight I thought I would review one of my top ten books of all time: Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury.
Difficulty: 3/5 Bradbury lays the satire and social commentary on a little think here, but in between we get rich metaphor and imagery. Sometimes people get a little confused, but ultimately, he wants us to get it and even if the plot seems convoluted at times, the message never is. Like all of the best books, every time I read it, I pick up something new though.
Enjoyment: 5/5 This book never fails to get me excited and worked up. Perhaps it is because the message is something that I believe in wholeheartedly, perhaps because every time I read it, the message gets that much more applicable to our own society.
I think in order to fully appreciate Fahrenheit, you need to understand the inner workings of the dystopian novel. For the most part, a dystopian novel contains a few parts: A small group of people controling the larger portion of people, an adherence to some sort of ideal or else some attempt at creating a perfect society, and an innocent discovering the truth. Often, dystopian societies take some ideal within our own society and turn it on its head or look at the direction of our society and project the end result. As an example, look at the movie "The Truman Show" in it, we see the end result of our television obsessed society in which a person is born and raised on a television set and the entire world watches his life. Every aspect of his life is controlled and censored and the only person in the entire show who doesn't understand this is Truman himself.
In Fahrenheit, we see Guy Montag a futuristic fireman who starts fires instead of putting them out. In fact, his job is to burn books because they are evil and make people sad. He is married to an unfeeling woman who is obsessed with television and entertainment and can't hold a serious thought in her head for any length of time. None of this seems to phase Montag until he meets a young girl named Clarisse who asks him questions such as "are you happy?" and tells him "I'm not afraid of you." All of this gets Montag to reevaluate the life he is living.
The plot in this book is secondary to the internal message and Bradbury's diatribe against our own society. One of the most amazing things about this book is that despite its warnings, we are closer to Bradbury's future than ever before (keep in mind, Bradbury wrote this book in the early 1950's) He predicted that people would have wall-sized televisions and watch them constantly, more interested in the pretty lights, game shows, and mindless soap operas than actually thinking. When not watching television, or sometimes while watching television, people have little ear radios to entertain them as well. The society is sped up and no one is allowed to think or ponder serious questions about life. It is all go,go,go all the time.
When Montag realizes the silliness of it all, he begins to inquire about books and what makes them so evil. The answer is that books make people think, books make people realize bad things about their world that makes them sad. Books can be offensive to people as well. It's easier to read summaries of books or watch movies, or better yet, ignore them all together.
Interestingly enough, we see the same thing today. Movies of books in which the plot and the best parts of the book are left out or altered (The movie Troy comes to mind when King Priam's scene asking Achilles for his son back comes off as just a throwaway line instead of the focal point of the book.) We see from the left and the right people who want to censor or ban stuff because of its message or content because in one way or another it offends them. Reasons include but are not limited to cussing, it has a racist message (Huck Finn), it offends a religious group (Harry Potter), it has too much sex in it or too much violence, it doesn't have enough women in it, it stereotypes gays, and the list goes on and on.
The problem of course it that this kind of censorship eliminates our ability to think and choose freely. There are plenty of images that offend me. Two in particular are rape and blasphemy. That being said, I can choose not to watch, read about, support, or participate in those activities. Watching a movie that challenges my belief in God is often more of a positive thing for my belief in God than a negative. I was watching a seminar discussing Dan Brown's awful book The DaVinci Code in which the professor said something to the effect of "faith is not the absence of doubt, otherwise it wouldn't be faith, it would be proof. Proof is the opposite of faith" She used it to show that we shouldn't be afraid to read books or materials that challenge our faith as they are often an impetus to renew and rediscover why we have faith in the first place. Rape is very hard for me to stomach, but I can't ignore it completely or I may forget why it is that it is so despicable. I will be posting soon about the book the Kite Runner in which there is a horrific rape scene. I could have put the book down right there, and I almost did, but instead I kept reading and got further insight into the effects rape can have on a person physically, mentally, and emotionally.
If Fahrenheit has taught me anything, it is to be careful of people who want to control your mind, thoughts, and actions. I am capable enough to do that myself.
Currently reading: A Thousand Splendid Suns
Currently listening to: My Morning Jacket ruled on Saturday Night Live last night.
Random note of interest: My JV Boys took third place in the 200 free relay and 2nd in the 400 free relay at sections this year in swimming. There were just over 100 teams represented and we beat some big private schools with loads of students, money, and recruiters so it was a pretty big deal. They swam the 400 in 3:26.33 which is a 51.5 second average 100 for each of them.
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Columbus was wrong
For today's entry I thought I would review a book I read in October.
The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman
Difficulty: 5/5 The book is huge and has some fairly complex economical and business ideas. There are parts that a lot of people will probably find totally uninteresting, but to me the book was a page-turner
Enjoyment: 5/5 Thomas Friedman is probably the smartest person in America right now and I try and read everything he says. This book, was what really turned me on to him and I think it has revolutionized the way I teach and the way I think about the world.
I have been getting into non-fiction a lot lately. In particular, non-fiction that discusses cultural trends. Upcoming reviews will include Fast Food Nation, Born to Buy, Everything Bad is Good for You, and a book on war that I can't remember the title of but I am going to steal it from the person who teaches next door to me.
Anyway, the book centers around the giant leaps forward the world has taken in both technology and business and how we can prepare for it. If you want an idea of what I am talking about watch the Youtube video below:
In his book, Friedman discusses the ten important events that got us to where we are, what we as a country are doing to prepare for the future, and how parents, teachers, and anyone in or entering the workforce can prepare to enter an increasingly competitive and global market.
Some things that in particular stand out to me is that when Bill Gates was talking about how things have changed he said that if you asked someone 20 years ago whether they would rather be the smartest in India or an idiot in Indiana, anyone would respond an idiot in Indiana. If you asked the same questions today, he said the answer would be India for sure. In fact, he said, it doesn't really matter where you live as long as you're smart and willing to work cheap. He also mentioned that he keeps his American employees on, but increasingly has turned to the Chinese for most of his improvements in product and anything else that needs to get done. He said essentially that if you are an American going into any type of business that involves computers, you have to realize that the Chinese will work for a third of the pay, 12 hours a day, 365 days a year. Which means you have to bring something to the table that makes an employer want to hire someone who works 8 hours a day for three times the pay and only five days a week. You have to make yourself indispensible to the company.
Another interesting point he brings up is the failure of the Clinton and Bush administration to address these problems. His indictment of Bush is particularly scathing and I can't say that I disagree. He points out that during the Cold War, Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon asked parents, children, and schools to focus on science, math and technology. Since the end of the Cold War, the focus is to recruit scientists from other countries and lure the best and brightest students to America with the promise of a better life. As many 3rd world countries have made giant leaps forward (India in particular is not only seeing an economic boom, but they are in many ways lightyears ahead of us in technology) luring scientists and inventors has been increasingly difficult. When 9/11 hit, Bush should have responded by making the sciences and technology a priority to face a new global threat. Instead, he said that we should buy stuff.
I can't tell you how much I loved this book and I think it is essential reading for any parent or anyone who plans on spending time in the workforce. As a teacher, it has revolutionized my way of teaching as I now teach my students to prepare to live in a global economy. I reccomended the book to my brother-in-law who works for a consulting firm and from talking to him about his work, everything in this book is unfolding on a daily basis at his work.
Reading: A Thousand Splendid Suns
Listening: Cake "Going the Distance" (I am in the midst of section championships and find myself listening to it to pump myself up)
The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman
Difficulty: 5/5 The book is huge and has some fairly complex economical and business ideas. There are parts that a lot of people will probably find totally uninteresting, but to me the book was a page-turner
Enjoyment: 5/5 Thomas Friedman is probably the smartest person in America right now and I try and read everything he says. This book, was what really turned me on to him and I think it has revolutionized the way I teach and the way I think about the world.
I have been getting into non-fiction a lot lately. In particular, non-fiction that discusses cultural trends. Upcoming reviews will include Fast Food Nation, Born to Buy, Everything Bad is Good for You, and a book on war that I can't remember the title of but I am going to steal it from the person who teaches next door to me.
Anyway, the book centers around the giant leaps forward the world has taken in both technology and business and how we can prepare for it. If you want an idea of what I am talking about watch the Youtube video below:
In his book, Friedman discusses the ten important events that got us to where we are, what we as a country are doing to prepare for the future, and how parents, teachers, and anyone in or entering the workforce can prepare to enter an increasingly competitive and global market.
Some things that in particular stand out to me is that when Bill Gates was talking about how things have changed he said that if you asked someone 20 years ago whether they would rather be the smartest in India or an idiot in Indiana, anyone would respond an idiot in Indiana. If you asked the same questions today, he said the answer would be India for sure. In fact, he said, it doesn't really matter where you live as long as you're smart and willing to work cheap. He also mentioned that he keeps his American employees on, but increasingly has turned to the Chinese for most of his improvements in product and anything else that needs to get done. He said essentially that if you are an American going into any type of business that involves computers, you have to realize that the Chinese will work for a third of the pay, 12 hours a day, 365 days a year. Which means you have to bring something to the table that makes an employer want to hire someone who works 8 hours a day for three times the pay and only five days a week. You have to make yourself indispensible to the company.
Another interesting point he brings up is the failure of the Clinton and Bush administration to address these problems. His indictment of Bush is particularly scathing and I can't say that I disagree. He points out that during the Cold War, Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon asked parents, children, and schools to focus on science, math and technology. Since the end of the Cold War, the focus is to recruit scientists from other countries and lure the best and brightest students to America with the promise of a better life. As many 3rd world countries have made giant leaps forward (India in particular is not only seeing an economic boom, but they are in many ways lightyears ahead of us in technology) luring scientists and inventors has been increasingly difficult. When 9/11 hit, Bush should have responded by making the sciences and technology a priority to face a new global threat. Instead, he said that we should buy stuff.
I can't tell you how much I loved this book and I think it is essential reading for any parent or anyone who plans on spending time in the workforce. As a teacher, it has revolutionized my way of teaching as I now teach my students to prepare to live in a global economy. I reccomended the book to my brother-in-law who works for a consulting firm and from talking to him about his work, everything in this book is unfolding on a daily basis at his work.
Reading: A Thousand Splendid Suns
Listening: Cake "Going the Distance" (I am in the midst of section championships and find myself listening to it to pump myself up)
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Success through murder
I guess for my first book, I will review the latest book I have read.
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky.
Difficult of read: 5/5 This book is a beast. The translation I had was a cheap Barnes and Noble copy, but with most Russian books, or any non-American book for that matter, getting through some of the cultural stuff and the names in particular can be a challenge. As an example, imagine not speaking English and reading a book in which the main character's name is Jonathon Macpherson. The nicknames used "johnny, John" are easy enough but if he is married and the wife calls him "sweety" or "buns" or he has friends that call him by a shortened version of his last name "J-mac" it would be difficult to sort out who is who. When you complicate things further because in other countries, such as Latin America (and maybe Russia) they have four names, it becomes very difficult. The content, however, was easy enough to follow.
Enjoyment: 4/5 This is considered by many to be Dostoevsky's masterpiece. It is my third Dostoevsky book, and I liked it well enough, but there was a lot to grasp here and perhaps reading it over the course of a month dimmed my enjoyment a bit.
The setting of St. Petersburg as Russia transistions from the upper-class dominated serf-system and into a more traditional middle-class environment creates a lot of tension and a lot of parallels to Russia today. You have people pining for the old days, people trying to get ahead, and others who want to transition into socialism.
In the midst of it all, the main character, Raskolikov, is a young student who is content to live in squallid conditions for most of the book, and yet has a scheme to put him up with the likes of Napolean. The basic question of the novel is two-fold: First, is individual success the highest achievement of life on earth? And second, why do we cherish many individuals who commit heinous crimes to get to the top once they are there?
Raskolikov's plan to murder an old woman for her money is nothing more than a stepping stone to greater things for him. He views the murder as less of a crime as he does a gift to humanity. Certainly the woman he killed was not a contributor to society, at least in his mind, so by killing her he is able to take her money and use it for the common good.
One of the interesting points about this book is Roskolnikov's love for his family and for a poor family in town. He is a genuinely good guy who makes a monumental mistake. At what point does society forgive him for his actions?
The more I write about this book, the better it gets upon reflection. I think my favorite parts of the book are his interaction with Sofia Semyonovna. She is a young girl who prostitutes herself to help her family. While most see her as a common street urchin, Roskolnikov falls in love immediately. Perhaps bound by their common desire to do good for those they love.
If you haven't read Dostoevsky before, I really can't reccomend it. I think there is a lot here that would turn off the average reader. But if you are intrigued, I reccomend first picking up a copy of Notes from Underground first to get a taste of the awesomeness that is Dostoevsky at his best. Then, settle in with this book. I can say this, after Notes from Underground, The Idiot, and now Crime and Punishment, Dostoevsky puts himself way up on my list of favorite authors.
On another note:
Reading: A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
Listening to: Stardust by Willie Nelson
Random Site I love at the moment: Joshreads.com It is an awesome site if you like daily comics such as Garfield (which I don't) or if you completely dislike them but want snarky comments about them (which I do)
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky.
Difficult of read: 5/5 This book is a beast. The translation I had was a cheap Barnes and Noble copy, but with most Russian books, or any non-American book for that matter, getting through some of the cultural stuff and the names in particular can be a challenge. As an example, imagine not speaking English and reading a book in which the main character's name is Jonathon Macpherson. The nicknames used "johnny, John" are easy enough but if he is married and the wife calls him "sweety" or "buns" or he has friends that call him by a shortened version of his last name "J-mac" it would be difficult to sort out who is who. When you complicate things further because in other countries, such as Latin America (and maybe Russia) they have four names, it becomes very difficult. The content, however, was easy enough to follow.
Enjoyment: 4/5 This is considered by many to be Dostoevsky's masterpiece. It is my third Dostoevsky book, and I liked it well enough, but there was a lot to grasp here and perhaps reading it over the course of a month dimmed my enjoyment a bit.
The setting of St. Petersburg as Russia transistions from the upper-class dominated serf-system and into a more traditional middle-class environment creates a lot of tension and a lot of parallels to Russia today. You have people pining for the old days, people trying to get ahead, and others who want to transition into socialism.
In the midst of it all, the main character, Raskolikov, is a young student who is content to live in squallid conditions for most of the book, and yet has a scheme to put him up with the likes of Napolean. The basic question of the novel is two-fold: First, is individual success the highest achievement of life on earth? And second, why do we cherish many individuals who commit heinous crimes to get to the top once they are there?
Raskolikov's plan to murder an old woman for her money is nothing more than a stepping stone to greater things for him. He views the murder as less of a crime as he does a gift to humanity. Certainly the woman he killed was not a contributor to society, at least in his mind, so by killing her he is able to take her money and use it for the common good.
One of the interesting points about this book is Roskolnikov's love for his family and for a poor family in town. He is a genuinely good guy who makes a monumental mistake. At what point does society forgive him for his actions?
The more I write about this book, the better it gets upon reflection. I think my favorite parts of the book are his interaction with Sofia Semyonovna. She is a young girl who prostitutes herself to help her family. While most see her as a common street urchin, Roskolnikov falls in love immediately. Perhaps bound by their common desire to do good for those they love.
If you haven't read Dostoevsky before, I really can't reccomend it. I think there is a lot here that would turn off the average reader. But if you are intrigued, I reccomend first picking up a copy of Notes from Underground first to get a taste of the awesomeness that is Dostoevsky at his best. Then, settle in with this book. I can say this, after Notes from Underground, The Idiot, and now Crime and Punishment, Dostoevsky puts himself way up on my list of favorite authors.
On another note:
Reading: A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
Listening to: Stardust by Willie Nelson
Random Site I love at the moment: Joshreads.com It is an awesome site if you like daily comics such as Garfield (which I don't) or if you completely dislike them but want snarky comments about them (which I do)
Sense and Sensibility-Meta Post
About a week ago, my sister asked me for a good book to read and we started talking about Othello and she said it was boring. I told her all the reasons why it was the third greatest Shakespeare play and she told me, "you should start a blog and post stuff like this." So I did.
Basically I read a lot of books and thought I would share my thoughts about them with you. From time to time, I will be bringing in some other influences of mine such as music, video games, television, and movies, but mostly, books are my deal. Enjoy...
Basically I read a lot of books and thought I would share my thoughts about them with you. From time to time, I will be bringing in some other influences of mine such as music, video games, television, and movies, but mostly, books are my deal. Enjoy...
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