My Vote for Next Year's Class

I would have to say my non-bias vote would have to go to The Road by Cormic McCarthy. I was entertained by the group that presented the book. I personally enjoyed the book my group read, No Country For Old Men, which was also written by McCarthy. I think that The Road would show the bond between a man and his son, and it sounds like it would stir up great conversations, which Cormic McCarthy books generally seem to do. When listening to the group present this novel, I was listening to every word and examining the book myself to see if I would like to read the novel for fun. With the other books presented, I honestly was not that interested because they sounded like books that we had read this year. Not that the books we've read or that were being presented weren't interesting, but it seems like I had heard it before.

Of the six books that were presented last week, I would say that the two Cormic McCarthy books would create the most discussion and would be the best books for the 2009 version of Readin Now.

No Country for Old Men Campaign

No Country for Old Men by Cormic McCarthy was easily one of the best books that I've ever read. I loved reading the book because it was interesting after every page. Like My Year of Meats, there were three main characters that the book followed. Moss, Chigurh, and Sheriff Bell, all had interesting points of view.

The one that was most hard to follow was Sheriff Bell. At the beginning of every chapter, Sheriff Bell would give a 2-3 page talk that normally didn't have much to do with the story so I wouldn't really pay attention. After I finished the book, I went back and read a couple of excerpts and it all made more sense. I looked on the internet and checked on some deeper themes as well.

It turns out that Sheriff Bell and Chigurh are just like the opposite sides of a coin. The two sides of the coin never see each other. At one point in the book, Chigurh and Sheriff Bell are standing on opposite sides of a door in a very intense scene. Throughout the book, the two men that are polar opposites never see each other. This raises the question, are they the same person? Probably not, but it's interesting. It's not easy to figure out what exactly the answer is, but its a little difficult to comprehend.

I saw the movie in theatres, and I had no idea what the ending meant. It's definitely true that even though there are great similarities between the movie and the book, the book is much more entertaining. This would be a great book for this class next year because it is a very fun read, then a movie, and the discussions would be great.

Graphic Novel

The graphic novel In the Shadow of No Towers was not a book that I enjoyed reading. It took a couple times reading each comic strip, but in the end it was a little radical. I have always thought that 9/11 was a really big deal, and I think Art Spiegelman does too, but he makes it seem that Americans don't care about it really care.

In his very first comic, there is a picture of a bird dressed in red, white, and blue, tied around his neck. This gives the impression that America is forced on all people. Now maybe some people believe this, but I don't think that its the correct description of September 11th. Another comic was where Osama Bin Ladin (with a mouse nose) and George W. Bush are staring at each other as if they were going to fight. The two are standing over Spiegelman sleeping. The graphic novel was made in 2004, so there wasn't as much hate for George W. as there is now, but a couple years after the attacks, I thought that patriotism was at its peak. Personally at least.

What is the point of The Best American Nonrequired Reading?

In class, we have discussed why this book is called "Nonrequired." After reading the Conan O'Brien's graduation speech, Part 1 which is a list of various and random things that identify 2007, and a section of part 2 which includes a comic strip. I think that it is considered nonrequired because it isn't a stereotypical novel given to high school or college students. Unlike books like The Giver, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and The Great Gatsby, this nonrequired reading doesn't attempt to teach kids... on purpose.

What the novel does do, is make a point about today's society, as well as reading a little more interesting. Fifty years ago, it was a totally different society. Band names for example in 1958 were the Diamonds, the Platters, and the Coasters. Today, band names include Viva L'American Death Ray, Pornopop, and Lesbians on Ecstasy. I would think that people would be seen as communists with names like this, if McCarthyism was in 1958... But this book is more fun for kids to read because of the humor. I would imagine that reading Conan O'Brien as opposed to Shakespear, would be a little more interesting for students. Personally, I enjoy reading short stories more than novels, so I really enjoy reading this collection.

Stand-up Comedy... In writing

I really enjoy NBC's late night comedians. I will stay up past 1 am to watch the Tonight Show and Conan. Conan has created his identity as a crazy guy with ADHD who never seems to stop talking. Also, I like to watch the stand-up guys on Comedy Central and other acts. But, I have never read comedy written by a comedian. The story in The Best American Nonrequired Reading, that is simply Conan is giving a graduation speech, made me laugh out loud a lot. At first, I was surprised that I like this because it wasn't necessarily him sitting down and writing jokes, but a speech he gave. It would be like writing his monologue to his show on paper. Especially with regards to Conan, most of his jokes are funny because of his hand motion and body language, so I was doubtful going in to the reading.

I am not going to say that the speech would not have been more funny if it was on TV or if I were at the graduation ceremony, because I think it would. I think stand-up comedians that use body language to their advantage like Conan are extremely funny. When I was reading the book, I felt like I could see Conan dressed in the Harvard colors, with his hat off and hair flopping around, really getting into the speech. When I read the ending about him saying he has no plans and giving out his number, I definitely pictured him saying that so in some sense I wasn't reading, but visualizing.

I would like to find other stand-up comedian that have written some of their material, or who have given a speech that was copied onto a piece of paper. Any suggestions?

Water for Elephants vs. The Notebook

When we were discussing the movie roles for Water for Elephants, we joked about creating the Notebook II. But the more I think about it, the two works are very, very similar. Not only would Rachel McAdams make a great Marlene, but the plot isn't too different either.

Obviously, the old man telling a story is a parallel between both. When Sara Gruen went back and forth between the 1930's and the present day, I kept thinking of the old man from the Notebook. Both present day situations, the storyteller was at a retirement home.

The main storyline in both Water for Elephants and the Notebook is the main woman falls for the main male character. The woman dumps the man who she is very serious for a more deep love that she ultimately wants. August is a more successful man than Jacob, in the circus that is. And in the Notebook, I can't recall the names, but the man who Rachel McAdams is engaged to is a very successful and wealthy man as opposed to Noah who is not nearly as wealthy.

I think there are many similarities between both the movie and the book, and also Water for Elephants will make a great movie.

Most Interesting Short Story

Of the short stories that we were to read in class, the one that from first to last page I was interested in was "Toga Party." It was not very exciting or clear at the beginning. To me, it just seemed like a couple of old baby boomers that wanted to relive college and Animal House. The story never really started to kick up when they would meet new people and discuss death and all of the "fill-in" conversations that did not have much, if anything, to do with the story.

It was an interesting type of story, because in other short stories, I felt like I had a grasp on what was going on. I felt like I was part of the story, but in this short story I did not. Maybe that is why I enjoyed it, because it was different.

There is no way to guess what was going to happen at the end of the story. It took me two or three times of simply reading the last couple of paragraphs to understand that they killed themselves. Looking back on the conversations they had throughout the night and with that guy stabbing himself with the machete, it makes it obvious that the theme of the entire story was death. So, in the end, it is fitting that the story ends with death.

Balto: Should There Be Any Sympathy For The Dad?

In class today, it was obvious that everyone had sympathy for Angelle. But when the question was asked if anybody felt bad for the dad, nobody raised their hand. Whenever I hear about kids being taken away from a parent, I automatically think about Mrs. Doubtfire for some reason. In that movie, Robin Williams plays an irresponsible actor who through divorce loses his right to see his kids, and when he does he has to be accompanied by a court official. In a short story, you don't get a complete tale so we don't know what actually happened, but we can all speculate that he lost all rights to his kids.

I am not taking the dad's side at all by saying that he was right driving under the influence, cheating on his wife, and taking it to the extreme by letting his 12 year old daughter drive an automobile, but you have to feel even the slightest bit of sympathy to a man who can't see his kids. There was no ending but I think a good solution would be to have him not see his kids for a couple of months; just long enough to let the pain set in. Maybe then he would realize how much of his life he is missing without his kids.

My Year of Meats: The Movie

As we went over possible settings, actors, and various ideas for the possible movie of My Year of Meats, all I could think about is how unappealing it is. I don't mind the book, in fact, I actually like reading the book. But even picking out an interesting scene to be seen on the big screen was difficult. Maybe it is because we don't know of many Japanesse actors or actresses, but there has been nothing, so far, that has struck me as being a great movie. In Happiness, it was fun coming up with ideas and joking around with possible actors for the movie. I don't know what it is, but there isn't much appealing about two Japanesse women; one getting beaten by her husband, and the other sleeping with the most boring man on Earth.

Edwin's non-Transformation

Normally in novels, the main character changes in some way. Not in Happiness. At the beginning of the book, Edwin was a cold man that only looked out for one person. He couldn't care less if he lost his job, and clearly didn't care what other people thought about him based on his work ethic. I thought that his transformation was about to start when he promised he had a book ready for Mr. Mead at a meeting, then went back to his desk and it was gone. He looked for the book constantly and it was the first time, in the book at least, that he actually cared about anything.

He almost went completely back to the careless Edwin when the alcohol and tobacco mob was after him. He had the week to change Mr. Mead's mind and get What I Learned on the Mountain off the shelves. He never put forth a valiant effort towards Mr. Mead and with one or two days left he really didn't care that he was going to die. But then the men spared his life and he slowly went back to giving a crap about what he did. But of coarse, at the end of the book Edwin showed that he doesn't care. I think if he would have transformed at all in the novel, he would have shown it twice when May walked away and he did nothing.

New Ending for "Happiness"

For me, the way Happiness would end would be quite different than the way the actual book ended:

Edwin would be contacted by "Tupak Soiree" via fax, and be told to meet at a park near Panderic. When they both scheduled a time that works for both of them, they met and Edwin walked up to a man with glasses and a casual hat drinking a water. Nigel turns to look at Edwin and says something to the extent of 'guess who' or something that implies that Edwin was shocked; which he was. They sit down on a park bench for several hours and Nigel explains to him what all happened and how he pulled it off. He said that the man who answered the phone calls at Paradise Flats was a cousin of his that happened to be crazy so he really thought there was a man named Tupak Soiree. He convinced him that a man came in and out of the desert and meditated for 18 hours a day.

Nigel also explained that the man who was on Oprah was a random man from the Philipeens. He said that he didn't even know his real name, he just saw him walking down the street and asked if he wanted to make easy money. He had him read the book and study it over and over. Nigel laughed and said that every slip up that the random man made, like saying he loves watching Oprah even though he was meditating, Nigel fined him a thousand dollars.

Towards the end of the conversation, Nigel gets a phone call and he says to the person on the other line, "yes, now is a good time. Come here." No more than two seconds later, May steps out from behing a big oak tree and gives Nigel a big kiss on the lips. She is wearing her lipstick again and it is becasue she says that now she feels wanted and loved by Nigel, something she never got from Edwin. She says that they have been seeing each other for a couple monthes now and shows him a big diamond that must have cost a couple of slots on Oprah's show. She says that they are so in love, but Edwin thinks that their love is as real as the Crayola lipstick she is wearing right now.

Other topics that were discussed on that park bench were Jenni, Rory the Janitor/Millionaire, and money. It turns out that because Nigel never like Edwin, he clearly didn't like Jenni even though he had never met her. They did talk via fax, and Nigel sent her off to somewhere in Montana. They don't know, or care frankly, what she is doing now. Nigel said that Rory was completely random and not planned. He knew that once Rory turned into a multi-millionaire and quit his job that the book would be a hit. So Nigel was happy that it happened and it was very reassuring for him. Lastly, Edwin pleaded his case for why he needed and deserved some money out of the deal. He said that Jenni stole all of it and he had nothing to do. He quit his job at Panderic and had no plans for the future.

Nigel's solution to this was for Edwin to publish one last book written by Tupak Soiree. It will be called "What Really Happened on the Mountain." The book would explain to the world that all this was not real and they all fell for it. Tupak (the Philipino character) would be murdered by hitman that Nigel and Edwin would hire, and everything would slowly, but surely, get back to normal. The books ends with Edwin and Nigel being friends and successful business partners.