He's Just Doing it Because He Can- My Response to Dr. Futterman

           My favorite blog, is Annie Futterman's "Evenings With Dr. Futterman". What I get from the title of her blog, is a therapy session. This is exactly what her blog gives me. Her use of vocabulary is astounding. Her discussion on pop-culture and art and actors blows my mind. Her blog is a therapy session from all the other blog out there. Annie Futterman writes with something I like to call Soul.
          She does not merely read a book and write. She analyzes . She throws her self into the post. The post I wanted to talk about was her post "I Fought the Law and the Law Won", and it is about a book called "A Fraction of the Whole". Annie is very good at reading these captivating books that are far more complex then I could ever have the patients for. However I did give this book a try and really did enjoy the first 5 pages.
         She explores the reason behind getting into trouble. The psychological reasons behind authority and challenging it. However, as always, she spins it by zoning in on this characters specific reasons. This just helps to prove my case that she truly cares for her books, art, and characters.
          She makes this really interesting point, (which is the title of this blog post), about why he breaks the law. I think he finds some solitude in knowing he was better then this seemingly all powerful force (the law). He is basking in the sheer fact that he can.
         Annie has this way of talking about culture as if its the simplest concept, but at the same time, she understands what makes culture, culture. In this post she marks society culture in a dark way. The passion or desire to break it. To punish it.
        That my friends, is what a true blogger should be trying to encase, trying to write about. By choosing these subjects, she sets herself up to have a wonderful blog.

http://eveningswithdrfutterman.blogspot.com/2010/12/i-fought-law-and-law-won.html      

This was About Something Short

Where I am in my book, This Boys Life, there is this long section about this family that Toby meets, and he describes each and every person with deep detail. I wonder, as this is a memoir of his entire life, why was this family so important. And then I got it.

It isn't the how important events are, it's what they mean to you as a person. This family that Toby meets is just something that he must have felt, and stuck to him. Probably the wish that this was his family.

You know what that reminds me of? Dreams. Sometimes I dont remember big ones, but I remember the ones that dont make sense. I guess it's so I can figure them out? Maybe because I wish I could have that dream


Also the family is simple and nice. I also think that Toby just wanted to remember something as simple as a nice family.

Thats what the world needs sometimes, just something sweet and simple. The mind is so complex and fascinating . That has to be a very intersting prosses, when you write a full life memior, and to discover what is important, that you may have forgoten. I wonder how Toby chose what to write about, and I wonder what he left out?

I guess when it comes to showing your memories, its a game of pick and choose, because some fit and others done, and its up to you to dicide what goes where.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Mind Blowing

          In the book Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer, Oskar, a nine year old child, losses his father in the 9/11 attack. He certainly changes. However his trauma is not what I want to talk about. 
         Filling this book, among the collection of utterly amazing and extremely disturbing photographs, are Oskar's ideas. His theories and inventions. One particular paragraph that I knew I had to write about, was a invention. The paragraph basically goes like this "In bed I invented a drain that would be under everyones pillow, and when people cried it would all go to the same place. That way, in the morning, the weather man could tell if New York was particularly sad that night".
         There is something very comforting about the knowledge that other people, are in the same place as you. The conformation that you are not doing anything out of the ordinary. There is safety in numbers no? And going on a completely emotional and metaphorical sense, that is saying, that the knowledge that you are not alone is what keeps you stable.
         I dont think Oskar feels that he has anyone, and that no one knows him.
         All this kid desires is that knowledge. And it's mind blowing, because the thing is is that there are 100's, THOUSANDS of New Yorkers who knows how he feels. He is currently going through every person in New York with the last name Black. I have a prediction that he will find someone along the way of this hunt, that knows exactly what he is going through, and when he does, he will finally be able to let go. At least understand.
          I cannot wait until I finish this book. Falling apart and coming together. It's most definitely the theme. I just need some proof. For once, this might be fun

I Swear, This is the Fourth Book in a Row I Have Read That is About Mental Challenges and Grammatical Errors That Enhance the Story

          In the book the only alien on the planet by Kristen D. Randle (which by the way, very distinctly had a lower-cased title, and yet again I would love to discuss the symbolism and meaning behind that, but again, moving on), fear is a clearly defined theme that surges through the chapters of the story.
          The plot is, to say the least, co plicated. Ginny starts her senior year and its all fun until she meets the lurking, lonesome boy in her class. His name is Smitty Tibbs (sort of), and he is a genius. He has never spoken one word in his life. Ginny crosses lines that really, shouldn't have been crossed and ends up tip-toeing through the unknown.
          Ginny is afraid when she first sees Michael. Michael is terrified of his brother. Ginny is scared of what could happen to Michael. Caulder is sort of terrified of everything. I start to think about all the levels of fear, and if you can truly compare them because, with all honestly, everyone has their own fears for their own reasons. Some fear make sense to us like the dark or ghosts (both of which scare me). Others are, well... like I said, Everyone has their own reasons.
          But then there is the actually question of what is fear. I define fear as the unknown. Simple and plain. The dictionary definition: Fear is a distressing emotion aroused by a perceived threat. Close enough. They both deal with uncertainty.
          Ginny is uncertain about everything. College, school, life, her brothers, her friends. Then there is her math. Oh her math, the one thing that she could handle. She took her last problem to Michael because she knew he could show her how simple it was to fix. She knew he could settle at least some of the concerns she always had. She was quite selfish really.
          Everyone is able to deal with fear in their own way. They have techniques they use to trick them selves that its OK. They understand their fear.
          If you want to here something interesting, when I hear the word 'fear' I sort of picture a fluffy mass beside each person. This Fluffy mass varies from people, and is sort of like a pet. It stays close to you, but you are unaware of it until it jumps in your lap. I guess its hard to follow, but emotions can be like that sometimes.

Transformation Always Requires Huge Amounts of Effort - Mockingjay

          Now I am not going to pretend that I am writing about some book I haven't read, and write about prediction or whatever, because the truth is, I have read Mockingjay 30 times, along with the rest of The Hunger Games series. I would love to write about how the paragraphs are shaped and about what that means. However, I talked about writing structure in my last post. Moving on.

         Actually, there is one thing that bothers me: how intensely the characters change. I hadn't really come to terms with that. One of my favorite characters, Finnick, goes from to seductive, brave, and witty, to paranoid, frustrated, and unhinged. 

         Yet, I have to remind myself that the only Finnick that the readers know, is the one for the cameras. This is the first time we encounter him when his personality is not being spread around the country. Maybe Finnick is only able to pull himself together for small amounts of time. He puts all his energy into being calm for the camera. Maybe this unreasonable person, is the way he is. 

          As a matter of fact, my cousin works on a lot of movie sets, and she has quite a few "Oh that actress is crazy" stories, which I would never get from camera. There is this world, behind the camera where these people, these icons we see on television, and read about, are just that. People.

          We think we know what these people are like, and who they are. When I started this post, I was intending to talk about how people change so drastically because of trauma. I never considered that just because this was the way I had first seen the character, that it wasn't their true personality. Particularly due to that fact that these people are supposed to be perceived a certain way.

         As a matter of fact, I think the personality Finnick shows in the last book, makes a lot more sense then in the second book. Factor in all the slightly horrifying things he has been through, and his brave witty self, scares me more then his unhinged self. 

England Trends

          I'm reading The Dead Fathers Club, and I haven't gotten very far. However, I have noticed a trend going through my reading material. In this book, and the one I read before it, there hasn't been traditional punctuation. When people speak, There aren't "" marks. The dialog looks more like: She said Do you want to go home?
          It made me think about why both books did that. There are two similar things in each story: one, they are both set in England and two, the main characters are mentally challenged. Ruling out England just has bad grammar, I figured that there was a theme running through each book. The theme of reality.
          It is impossible to understand or know what is happening inside the heads of people who have autism, or some other disability. Both authors seem to agree that what happens to these children is very real. What I mean by that, is despite the lack of communication and understanding, they are still humans, and they still have emotions and feeling that all of us have.
         Portraying a mentally challenged person, is a very hard undertaking. You have to learn to be respectful, but to be truthful. We learned that in drama class. We don't even know how many people have autism. That is how much people scurry away from mental diseases.
          The lack of "" makes what your read, something you can almost hear in your own head. When you are having a conversation, you might not process what someone has said immediately, and sometimes you have to go back. That's the way this book works, sometimes I do have to reread to try and understand what has been said. This is even more amplified for the two main characters, because they are autistic. There is the lack of defining where someone speaks and where the rest of the world comes into play. That doesn't even make sense to me.

You Are No Hero

          There is, of course, Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief. Then there is the movie adaptation. I have heard so much about how terrible the movie is compared to the book. I am not doubting this. However, there are different concepts behind each one.
          In the book, there is this overall theme of growing up. The kids start out young, and grow not only in age but awareness of the world. The book is more of a coming of age, and justice story. The movie is more about living in a modern world and how to adapt.
          I guess what both the movie and the book have in common is that there is the struggle and pull of old and new. Traditional and modern have this really dangerous balance and anything can tip that scale. The whole issue in the plot, is that some people want to destroy the old and start from scratch and some want to build on top of the old. 
         I guess what you have to try and figure out, is if the history and lessons of the past would help the future, or if the mistakes and damage would hold the future back. I personally think that the knowledge of the past is much more valuable. 
         We have to learn from our mistakes and gather information for the future. If you just wipe the slate clean, live to forget, what do you learn? Nothing. Each generation holds the power to continue, or eliminate. That is why I think the name of the book is Lightning Thief. Lightning stands for strength and power. This generation, this new age of heros, is stealing the power from the last.