This book has changed me sooo much

     Heart of Darkness is such a good book that it defers from the typical archetypal hero's journey.Wether I'm being sarcastic or not is to be decided by the reader.In the typical hero's journey there is a "call to adventure" and then the "refusal of that call".Marlow doesn't ever refuse the call and I wouldn't say that the call is one of adventure. However, there is the "crossing of the threshold" and the "belly of the whale".Before Marlow leaves or Africa,he gets a sense that he's going to the center of the Earth,and then when he is in Africa he's completely separated from his home,England.Next comes the "road of trials" which Marlow does experience.He doesn't enjoy the trip to Africa and to his horror,sees a bunch of Africans tied up and dying.Also he finds out the the steamer that he was supposed to use has sunk.In terms of women,the "meeting with a goddess" and "women as a temptress" doesn't happen to Marlow(Isn't that so sad,Jim?).But Marlow does start thinking that maybe the Africans aren't so savage after all and he does get caught in a fight between African cannibals and the Europeans,so I guess that falls under the "Temptress".The "atonement with the father" could be considered because Marlow keeps hearing about the all important Kurtz and then takes a trip to see him.Kurtz does impact him him a lot.Although Marlow gets sick after Kurtz dies,the "apotheosis" and "ultimate boon" doesn't happen because Marlow never feels at peace.The "refusal of return" doesn't happen because he doesn't want to stay in Africa and is ill most of the way back home.The "crossing of the return threshold" happens as Marlow returns to England and tries to make sense of everything.The biggest reason that I don't see Heart of Darkness as a typical hero's journey is that I don't consider Marlow to be a Hero.He didn't show bravery or growth(well the kind of growth we want to see).

Once again, a book that has been praised(pretty much just by white people) yet I don't like it.Oh well,what's new?

Ahhh...racism and misogyny.My two favorite things.

     So we start off in Heart of Darkness with a wonderful(ha!) evening boat ride that has five people,including the narrator,on board.The narrator is listening to Marlow telling how as a young lad,he traveled up the Congo River on a Belgian steamship. Like the story with the elephant(Dumbo!), Marlow dislikes imperialism because of what it does to the colonizer,not what it does to the colonized.To me this is kind of silly;it's like writing on how bad a cop feels about giving out a ticket rather than the receiver of the ticket.
     Anyway, a line that I really liked on page 10 where Marlow is describing his aunt,"It's queer how out of touch with truth women are.They live in a world of their own,and there had never been anything like it,and can never be". This line was interesting to me for two reasons.One,obviously, is that I'm a female and I did not appreciate this line.It's not my fault I'm out of touch,I can't work technology and I'm always too busy in the kitchen!It's great how although Marlow is against colonialism,he is still misogynistic.One step at a time I guess.Two was the fact that that line could be used on white imperialistic people in general.They are out of touch,whether it be not realizing the cruelty of their actions or failing to realize the good things that come out of different races and cultures.They live in a world of their own;they believe they are right,smart,civilized,great,basically are eurocentric.Although Marlow,or Conrad through Marlow, is trying to come off as a good person with a good lesson,he ends up looking like a pretentious loser.One who thinks they are better and kinder when in reality is just the same as every other misogynistic racist.

Important question:Who do you think would win in a fight between  a grilled cheese sandwich and a taco?

Love is in the air,but hate is in your heart

     We are now in the second section of the book and we are seeing things from Rochester's POV. This is good because we are now seeing Rochester,not Jane's Rochester and not Bertha's Rochester. Though really, we are seeing Rhys's Rochester. Sorry,I still can't get over how she's practically plagiarizing. I guess this book is about both of them.We see how both of them become who they are because of the other person.Anyway, they are now on their honeymoon and are doing many honeymoon things.By that I mean they are discussing literature and great works of art.At one point,they are having dinner and moths and beetles keep flying into the candles and burn to death.Oh how nice,a barbecue!I'm guessing this represents the evolution of their relationship;the nice candlelight represents their nice,fake marriage,but soon they will get burned.I'm not a big fan of this section because I know it will lead to worse things.I already don't like Rochester but this part is making me dislike him even more.I get it,your in a sticky situation but sheesh, could you act a little better?At least Bertha is trying.By the way,why does he start calling her that?I mean,who does that?"Hey,I'm just gonna call you another name from now on;I don't care if you mind."Jerk.

A Sea of Wide Grass

Dear readers,
I am so sorry I have been gone away for so long.I know, I know, what could be worse than a blogger who stops blogging?Nothing!I am here to discuss Wide Sargasso Sea by Lady who couldn't make up her own characters and had to take them from othe- I mean  Jean Ryths.From reading, we get a sense of who Bertha is. She is poor, like Jane, but is also not very educated,just by the way the narrative sounds. Considering how many times she mentions "the black people", one can tell that she lives in a world where race is an issue.Like Jane, she is also ostracized for being poor, but also for being white which is something you don't hear everyday. Unlike Jane,she has a mother, but a mother that no one would like to have.The narrative is not at all like Jane Eyre. It doesn't feel like a memoir,but more like a girl writing in her diary.Bertha seems like a confused kid dealing with things that no one should deal with.In a way,her life was harder than Jane's life. The whole thing just depressed me,probably because I know Bertha's future. But even her present sucks! Father-less,friend-less and most importantly, Nutella-less!

I found this interesting.On page 17 she states that they have a garden in their home that was just like the garden in the Bible but soon it grew wild.Funny enough,it sounds just like how someone would describe Bertha. Oh snap guys look, I'm being deep!

The End Is Here!But in a good way....

     So a whole bunch of stuff happens in the later chapters.R-cubed talks with Svid to try to stop him from talking about the crime.The conversation pretty much goes nowhere except we see how truly evil Svid is(really,engaged to a teenage girl?).Then he kills himself but not before giving money to Sonya and asking a soldier to tell everyone he went to America.Through his final acts you come to realize that Svid is really messed up.He's not just horrible like Luzhin and he's not just nice like Sonya.He fluctuates and makes weird choices.After all the pain you've caused, why give money to Sonya?Why do you want everyone to think you went to America?He's not just a bad person,he really is just mental.

      Through all of this Sonya and Dunya have become really good friends(not much in common except..well..knowing a murderer and stuff).R-cubed goes to them to get some strength to admit his act.Through his way to confessing he backs out twice and kisses the ground-eww.In the epilogue we find out that he is now in prison is Siberia.Sonya stays with him(seriously this girl has no life) and they finally realize that R-cubed loves her.They vow to get married but I have a feeling that that will never happen.R-cubed will fo sho die in prison with his attitude.Oh and Dunya and Raz get married.Aww! I'm sure they're going to have a great time telling their children about their uncle.....

     Now to the fun part:The praise and critique. I definitely like the IDEA of the story;it's not too often that we read about the point of view of a murderer.I like how the author made us(at times)like and sympathize with R-cubed which is a hard thing to do.Another thing that I like is how realistic the people and setting is.R-cubed never admitting that his actions were wrong is seen all the time in real life.Sonya and Raz are kind even though they're living in terrible conditions, like many in real life who go through difficult times and come out strong.Lizaveta represents those who are in the wrong place at the wrong time.And Dunya and Raz's marriage shows that after all is said and done,life moves on and there can be a (slightly) happy ending.

     Now what do i not like about the novel?Nothing, it was great!Just kidding....The number one thing I didn't like was the unnecessary details and dialogue.If Dostoevsky was trying to get the story published now,the editor would say to cut out 25% of the book.Now there are some who say that you should grit through it,that the story is worth it.If a book is really good,I shouldn't have to deal with it.I should want to read it and want to pay attention to the details.If there is a movie with a really good plot but with horrible actors would we like it?No,so the same applies to the book.Yes,the plot is interesting, but all the unnecessary stuff deterred from it and made it a chore to read(I think everyone will agree with me on this one).Another thing that is interesting  that is not really the book's fault but the praise surrounding it.When something has a lot of praise and we don't like it then it becomes a bad thing.Why am I not getting it?Am I not as smart as others or as deep?I should keep going and maybe I will start to like it. These are thoughts that run through our heads.Many people,in my opinion,say they like something just because its been "proved" to be good-i.e awards and  forced high school reading.Now, what if we got this book with no background on it?Or if we got it with the knowledge that a lot of people hated it?What would we think then?Would we try so hard to like and understand it?No,because then we would rely on our own opinions.But because this book,or anything really,is claimed to be great then we try to make ourselves either like it or "get it".Mr B., you said that this book was the first to examine criminals in this way.Now being the first to do something is great.What's even greater?Not being the first,but being the best.I'm sure there are better books that examine the mind of a criminal but because they're not the first,they won't be considered "time-less" and "classic".Let's find those books!Let's stop relying on classic and move to the innovating,the new take and most importantly the actually good.

Wait.So I'm not that great of a person?

     After the whole dinner fiasco, R-cubed goes over to Sonya.What a wonderful conversation they had! "Oh hey,you're getting kicked out of your home and the person you've been getting closer to is a murderer!".Throughout the novel R-cubed has thought of himself as an ubermensch.The conversation was very important because for the first time,he is admitting that he isn't one.Of course, he still thinks he's better than everyone else,but hey,one problem at a time.I wonder what Sonya must feel.We can all,to a certain extent,excuse the actions of others if it was a last resort or if they didn't know any better.For example: most of us in class put the person stealing bread because he was hungry as the most excusable from the list.But now if that person stole just to steal,to see if he could get away from it,then we wouldn't be so understanding.R-cubed just admitted that he didn't murder because of poverty, but he because he was trying to be "great".In my opinion, she wasn't harsh enough;she actually squeezed his hands and then gave him a hug!Who does that to a murderer?
     Moving on.....Katerina dies.Shocker.What was interesting was the way she died.There was no seeing the light or any such change;she died still in belief of her so-called nobility.She even said that God could find no fault in her!To me,the family should have had their own book.Their story is much sadder(though slightly cliche) than R-cubed's story.

PS I loved Porfiry's closing remarks to R-cubed. "Oh hey,in case you decide to kill yourself,can you tell us where the missing items are?Thanks."

We're still not done with this novel?!Oh how...nice

     The more I read this book, the more I get depressed.When you first start reading the book,you think that the evil person is R-cubed and that the novel would center on his crime.These past couple of chapters showcases someone even more evil:Paris Hilton.Just kidding...not really.Luzhin really is the biggest jerk I've ever met..er..read.First off,he thinks that Dunya rejected him based on material reasons which is just ridiculous.I mean, what women rejects a guy because of money?Oh...wait. Then he tries to sabotage Sonya and ruin her reputation.Sorry honey, but I think prostitution did it first.What's sad is that yes, R-cubed killed two people and that's horrible, but this guy has and will spend his whole life hurting people.Not that that I'm condoning R-cubed's actions, but how many people does one have to seriously hurt for it to equal a murder?If there is a higher being, who will he sentence to a harsher punishment?I'm glad Luzhin's plan didn't work.It  felt very sitcom-y;a bad person tries to do something,almost gets away with it,then a Russian comes in and defeats him.Good riddance!
     Now to the other horrible person of the moment:Katerina.She spends so much of R-cubed's gift on the memorial service.I mean,what woman spends so much money on a single event?Oh...wait.We tend think of pride as a good thing but in Katerina's case,it caused her to make foolish decisions.I have a feeling she's going to die.Remember what happened the last time we read about someone coughing a lot?
     Anyway,I liked these chapters because they were interesting and at times funny.It was nice to get away from R-cubed and focus on the other people in the novel.Dostoevsky shows us that no matter how bad someone is in a certain context, there is always someone worse in another way.Katerina and Luzhin give us a better sense of the world that R-cubed lives in,one that is filled with pride,poverty,and unnecessary cruelty.HA!JUST KIDDING!No, I liked these chapters because it means we are one step closer to finishing the novel.Praise da lord!