Monday, November 22, 2010

[Pride and Prejudice] - The Pacific

The Pacific (HBO)
Have you watched a miniseries called The Pacific by HBO? It is one of the most epic World War II movies based on the perpective of US Marine Corps in the Pacific War. Unlike HBO's previous masterpiece Band of Brothers which focused on the catastrophic situation of the US Paratroopers in Europe, The Pacific switched its focus to lovelines between soldiers and women, and strong bonds between soldiers in jeopardy.

The loveline of this miniseries shares some similarities in terms of painful rejection, and impossible love. A private called Lacky fights in the Pacific, but is given a month worth of reservation in Australia. In Australia he enjoys sex, gambles, drinks with his platoon until he encounters a beautiful woman in a tram bus. He asks her out for a date, and she invites him to a dinner. After dinner, he is offered to live in the house until he goes back to the front line. Although he denies their hospitality, eventually he decides to live with her.

One day, Lacky comes home with a bundle of flower to surprise her. However, her reaction was cold, and she did not let him in the house. Lacky, dumbfounded, demands for an explanation and she goes on to say "your life style is not enough to 'tempt' (p.13) me." He loved her so dearly that he suddenly loses all motivation to live. He goes back to his camp, gets severely drunk and gets in a fight with a ranking officer. Due to this trouble, Lacky was on the verge of getting a court martial but his friend saves him from this potentially fatal trouble.

Although Mr. Collins did not lose his mind due to a severe rejection, I found the style of rejection to be somewhat similar. From Isabella Copello's blogpost, I realized that she has a different interpretation of the plot of Pride and Prejudice considering the fact that she connected its plot to a movie called The Women.  While I focused on the story's love relation, in fact I conclude Elizabeth's reason to rejection to be “ ... the difference in matrimonial affairs, between the mercenary and the prudent motive,” (p.142), Isabella focused on the characteristic of women in the past to the women in present. The fact that people connect the same story with a completely different idea is very interesting.

[Pride and Prejudice] - Eyes Reflect Characteristic


My expected impression of Lizzy
Jane Bennet in the moive was not as hot as I imagined. I guess that's the least I could have expected but I am still dissapointed.  In fact, all of the Bennet members physically looked naive - meaning the supposedly smartest girl, Elizabeth had a set of "innocent" eyes, Jane looked as if she is always spaced out, Mrs. Bennet appeared to be more generous looking than I thought, and Mr. Darcy tried to look so stern that it made him look like a complete idiot. In other words, most of the characters in the movie were depicted differently than the book version of Pride and Prejudice

The plot of the story was also paced fast just like any other movies that are modeled after books. The minor descriptions of settings, characters and behaviour were often ignored, although some lines were identical in both cases: "She is agreeable, but not handsome enough to tempt me (in a thick old British accent)" (Movie Pt.1).

About the plot, poor Mr. Collins! Elizabeth rejected his proposal in such a cold way that he started to stall during the conversation. I have to agree with Billy's opinion - "I think Austen's diction regarding the Bennets' feelings towards Collins is hilarious. Mrs. Bennet is in a "most pitiable state" (99). She finds it "inconvenient and exceedingly troublesome" that Collins is visiting her "while her health [is] so indifferent," although prior to his engagement with Charlotte, his visit was a "matter of pleasure" (98)." In fact I was looking for a perfect quote to describe the situation, and fortuantely Billy was able to get hold of it. Thanks to Coombs.

Lizzy's approximate appearance in the movie


Sunday, November 21, 2010

[Pride and Prejudice] - What is her true Color?

El Rancho
I am currently in a country club called El Rancho. For once, the sky is blue after constant days of raining, and there aren't many people in the club today. I see some people playing billiard a few meters away from my table - but I've gotta say they "suck." They look happy at least. People are staring at me while passing me by. Yeah I know, an Asian kid reading Pride and Prejudice in a beautiful Colombian country club - a little abnormal, I know. But I am used to it, so it's alright. So let's see...what next? As soon as I finish this bottle of coke, I am going to order another one to fuel myself to finish up this post. Then I am probably going to head into the sauna - wait, before going into the sauna, I am going to jog around a little. My right arm is a little sore from playing tennis which I haven't played since this summer.

Why am I saying this? I have no idea. That's just what I seem to be doing right now - HOMEWORK in a country club. Great way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

I am inspired by Billy Coomb's post. Therefore I want to make my own version of Pride and Prejudice's character analyze, but I am going to focus on Elizabeth only. I don't think I can describe her as accuratelely as Billy had done, but I am going to give a shot anyway.

Elizabeth - She may not be the prettiest, but surely the "smartest" (p.7). Elizabeth is the only person who can cope with any situations based on her logic, not relying on her emotion. However, I got an impression that she is very undecisive. I think it's her own intelligence that acts as a "hold up" when it comes to her decision making. During a conversation between Mr. Collins, she stalled a bit and requested him to "leave [me] to judge for myself [...] in making me the offer, you must have satisfied the delicacy of your feelings..." (p.82). What seemed like an undecisive personality to me was an attracting aspect for Mr. Collins, because he "attribute[s] [Elizabeth's rejection] to [her] wish of increasing love by suspense" (p.83) despite Elizabeth's "rejection" (p.83). What a werid relationship, I've gotta say.

Thursday, November 18, 2010

[Pride and Prejudice] - Tough Call

Is this novel simply illustrating complex love lines between a woman and a bunch of men? All I've noticed so far is the introduction of complete new characters, Mr. Collins and Mr. Wickham. Their emergence made the plot of the story far more complex, since Mr. Wickham is attracted to Elizabeth. It is narrated in the book that "Mr. Wickham was the happy man towards whom almost every female was turned (p.57)," whereas  Elizabeth thought him as a guy "[...] far beyond them all in person (p.57)."

I don't believe in love at first sight. I believe this type of love can only occur in movies or fictional stories - therefore Jane Austen's illustration of seemingly "forced love line" highlights its fictional aspect. How could a person like Elizabeth, (who is the "smartest (p.37)" girl in the Bennet's family) become attracted to a compelete stranger like Mr. Wickham? Although it is true that Mr. Wickham is a type of person whom most women in town "has an affair to (pg.50)," he does not differ much from Mr. Darcy in terms of his financial status. Then again, Elizabeth is a bit intrigued by what Mr. Wickham had told her, so it is really hard to predict whom she is going to end up with.

Here are 5 vocabulary words.

1. Parlour












2. Engross












3. Implacability












4. Parish











5. Abominable

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

[Pride and Prejudice] - Flaws of the Society

I realized that Mrs. Bennet is an extremely materialistic person. I would like to admit that Mrs. Bennet is not similar to most mothers, therefore my previous post is proven wrong. I sensed her greediness when she said "Dining out [with Bingley] is very lucky (p.22)." She is also very strategic because she "obliged [Jane] to go on horseback (p.22)," just to get her sick so she won't be able to come back. Fortunately, the smartest girl in the Bennet's family, Elizabeth, smelled her plan out and said "But if you have got them (horses) to-day, my mother's purpose will be answered (p.22)."

The plot of this novel got more complex after introducing Mr. Darcy's loveline with Elizabeth, only that she denied his attraction towards her. I can't help but say Mr. Darcy is an undecisive man and surely a guy who can't attract women. Apparently he is described as a guy "[who] has no defect. He owns it himself without disguise (p.43)." Sure, he is rich, and physically attractive, but he is arrogant and overly demanding.

Although this book was written a few hundred years ago, I am shocked by how Jane Austen pin pointed the flaws of the society in such an impressive way. It is undeniable that social status is still an imporant factor among capitalistic countries - arrogance continues to derive from one's social/financial background. Yet this time I want to highlight Mrs. Bennet's sick greediness, and her overly protective attitude among her daughters.

I know a friend of mine who is suffering from exceedingly demanding parents. She is the type of person whom we call "amiable." Her parents are wealthy, and they order her not to hang out with peole who are less wealthy. As a friend, I understand the situation and try my best not to expose my friendship to her parents. The problem occurs with people who doesn't know her much - they usually isolate her due to her self-restrainment. Things like this should not happen, and I believe that's what Mrs. Bennet is leading her daughters into.

[Pride and Prejudice] - What is going on?

Pride and Prejudice - the Ball Scene

"It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife."

I found this sentence quite puzzling for an opening sentence of a novel. I had to pause a few times while reading this short phrase, trying to understand what the author was trying to imply. After a few more attempts of re-reading I gave up on trying to comprehend and moved on.

However, by the time I finished Chapter 6 my question regarding the primary sentence was answered. Personally I had the feeling that the quote represents Mrs. Bennet's state of mind who seeks "a single man of large fortune (p.1)." It was also funny how an arrival of a wealthy stranger could shake up a family.

There were so many characters introuduced in the course of 20 pages that trying to remember everyone was virtually impossible. Therefore I found it hard to judge or describe even the main characters. For instance, I realized that most peers in our class described Ms. Bennet as an impetuous person, who is "quite disconcerted (p.6)" after revealing the fact that Mr. Bingley was "unable to accept the honour of their invitation (p.6)." She also "attacked him [Mr. Bennet] in various ways - with barefaced questions, ingenious suppositions, and distant surmises (g.5)." Yet, I do not think, well I'd rather say so far I do not think she is impulsive nor impetuous, because most moms in the world obsess over their children's future husband/wife. Her strong desire to get her 5 daughters married to a wealthy and stable man seems reasonable.

Not only Ms. Bennet, but Mr. Darcy is also underestimated. I found his "arrogant pride (p.13)" to be actually normal for a person who lives in the 1800's. Social status was the most significant factor in terms of assossiating with complete strangers, so his resisting behaviour among people of lower class is reasonable.

But for now, I think it's too early to judge any of the characters in the book.

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Hamlet : Last Scene

Hamlet and Laertes in a Dual
Death, and revenge. People call it a tragedy. But is it really? Just because most characters died at the end, does that mean it yields a tragic end? After finishing the book, I have come to realize that Hamlet is not a tragic play, nor Hamlet himself is not a scapegoat of a conflict that derived from a generation before him. Am I sounding as if I am going agaisnt the widely held perspective? I guess I could, but here are some points that could validate my opinions.
  • Death of Hamlet means the end of possible future revenge
  • Denmark was being too "Bossy" - a destruction of an evil empire is NOT  a tragedy
  • Horatio, the only one who seem to maintain a sense of sharp logic, survives the catastrophe
  • Fortinbras, who also endeavered to enhance his authority, eventually obtained power
Viewing this play just a few degrees off the publicly held perspective, I got a completely different outcome. The death of Hamlet - "If thou didst ever hold me in thy hear / Absent thee from felicity awhile / And in this harsh world draw thy breath in pain / To tell my story." ( V, ii, 381-383) means that the revenge has officially ended for eternity. Why? Because if Hamlet had survived the ordeal to live another day, there would have been another revenge for Claudius. Although Claudius was way off from being an ideal king, there must have been people who followed him, if none, his family. That would have yielded a more impactful tragedy. Consequently, without Hamlet's death, the cycle of revenge would have continued until everyone got eliminated.

Another equally significant character, Horatio, survives the catastrophe. In fact, his role was as big as that of Hamlet's, because he was a loyal mind-mentor, and also a very faithful friend. It just goes to show that logic wins over emotion in terms of dealing with situations. Even after the death of his good friend, Horatio remains logical and even shouts out, "Now cracks a noble heart. Good night, sweet prince, And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest." (V, ii, 397-399)

Due to these reasons, I think Hamlet is not a tragic story afterall.

Dying Hamlet


Directing of Hamlet

Directing is pure magic. Depending on who the director is, and how s/he directs a movie, the final product could vary heavily from one to another. Hamlet is not an exception - there are a several movies out there on Hamlet, and 3 of them which I watched had completely different interpretations. However, the ones I believe to be most respected are the actors. For one thing, I "suck" at acting. I cannot memorize more than 10 lines, therefore learning each line is a pain on my butt. Consequently, when I see people who have great acting skills (and this means anyone who could memorize a page of lines) I end up staring at them with awe. Talking about my acting skills, I was not exactly nervous during our own version of the play, but I ended up missing a line out of four. Plus, although I thought I had enough practices, I had to review these lines hard because I couldn't recite them without having to look at the book. I hope that doesn't mean I am stupid - I just hope I was born with zero acting talent. Anyhow, play is a beauty, and I respect everyone involved in play department. 

T.S Eliot

Due to my excessive ignorance toward poetry, the name T.S Eliot did not sound too familiar to me. In fact, I didn't even know he was a poet - oddly enough. I hope there are none out there who could possibly be as silly as I am but just in case, I would like to provide some background information on who Eliot was. Through this, I will be able to learn about this person also.

[Wikipedia]

Thomas Stearns Eliot OM (September 26, 1888 – January 4, 1965) was an American-born English poet, playwright, and literary critic, arguably the most important English-language poet of the 20th century......

Poetry
Just a general info. More info here There are more poetries he wrote, and I was amazed at the quantity.

Thomas Stearns Eliot
About the actual text - for one thing, I don't like this poet's seemingly arrogant attitude. He is too much of a critic, considering his vague validation phrases. Not direct from Eliot, the passage still starts out with, "Hamlet the play is the primary problem." Eliot goes on to criticize the play in general: "they knew less about psychology than more recent Hamlet critics, [...] in their old-fashioned way, to the secret of dramatic art in general." I can't agree to this statement as Hamlet is not SCIENCE. Although it's true that the major theme of this play copes with emotions of various of people, I still think it's only a PLAY, that could sometimes go against scientific theories. The only part I actaully like about this passage is the section where the poet agrees with the causes of Hamlet's madness - which I thought it was a feign to escape his thereabout's situation: " and that the "madness" of Hamlet was feigned in order to escape suspicion, and successfully."


Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Freud...?!

Sigmund Freud

Surprise, surprise! "Freud must be a total psycho!"

Well no, it's not that of a surprise. How many times have I heard this phrase in Psychology class? As far as I remember, even the teacher agreed to the clichetic statement. I, myself, who consider to be a very open-minded person couldn't stop but assume Freud was a pervert. Just to validate my opinion, I would like to introduce some of his "funny" theories.
  • Penis Envy - it's when a young girl (around 5 ~ 6 year old) "secretely" starts envying her father's penis
  • Anul Stage - an infant feels orgasm while pushing out "stuff" out of its bottom
  • The Phallic Stage - when sexual conflict maximizes: eg) Oedipus/Electra Complex (a child's unconcious desire to possess opposite-sexed parent and to eliminate the same-sexed one)
Whoa, what a creative guy! I will not make any affirmation on the fact that all these theories are false, yet according to some other wacky theories Freud had it is certainly hard to believe what this guy was trying to imply.

The text seem to refer to Hamlet's Oedipus Complex - in summary, Hamlet "unconciously" desired to get rid of his own father, and in fact admired Claudius' murder. Everything I have said in summary can be put as,
"All these circumstances are obvious to everyone, but they do not help us to explain dreams of the death of their parents in persons for whom filial piety has long since come to be unquestionable. We are, however, prepared by the foregoing discussion to look for the origin of a death-wish in the earliest years of childhood." Not only this, Freud also says that we are secretely jealous of our own brothers and sisters: "Feelings of hostility towards brothers and sisters must occur far more frequently in children than is observed by their obtuse elders."

Hamlet, in my opinion, has got nothing to do with Oedipus's Complex. If I try to apply Freud's theory to Hamlet, the only answer I can get is hiss extreme rage was shown as a back-reaction to his secret full-filled satisfaction; which doesn't seem to be plausible.

*****

Here are 5 words.

a) Misdeeds - immoral
b) Filial - pertaining to
c) Piety - dutiful respect or regard for parents, homeland, etc
d) Pedagogue - a school teacher
e) Wrath - strong

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Revenge

Time for revenge! Hamlet sets his goal finally after finding out the cause of his father’s death – kill Claudius at all costs. Good thing I already read Hamlet three years ago, so I know how his revenge ends. Although the death of Hamlet makes the play very tragic, I have learned that “evils” do not last long, as can be seen from Claudius’ pathetic death.
Hamlet’s anger was emitted at a different person after he lost the opportunity to kill Claudius. The scapegoat of the conflict turned out to be Polonius, Ophelia's dad. Hamlet even goes on to say, "The death I gave him. So, again, good night. I must be cruel only to be kind." (III, iv, 198-199) Polonius, who was eavesdropping conversation between Hamlet and the Queen behind a curtain, was brutally stabbed by Hamlet with a sword. Although Hamlet tells the Queen as if the murder was a mistake, according to the level of intelligence Hamlet has I assume he intended to do so. In other words, by killing his lover's dad he could prove to other people around him that he is fully mad (check previous blogs for such reasons).

Guiltiness

King Claudius
A famous aphorism in Korea : A thief feels guilty throughout his life. Bam! Yes, I am trying to relate this to Claudius. Just from watching a murder scene, he pops up from his throne and stops the play out of his own guiltness. Therefore, I want to give a huge credit to Hamlet for his intelligence - the King's reaction converted Hamlet's assumption to assurance. Anyhow, in this post I want to focus on the King's emotional state.

Here's a fact - he killed his own brother. Not only that, he "stole" his brother's wife. Still unsatisfied, he goes on to create a plan to get rid of Hamlet. Claudius recites, "King: I like him not, nor stands if safe with us, to let his madness range/ Therefore prepare you/ I your commision will forthwith dispatch/ and he to England shall along with you. The terms of our estate may not endure/ hazard so near's as doth/ hourly grow out of his brows." (III, iii, 1-7) Can you see his diabolic conscience? Not only he is not afraid of directly stating his hatred upon Hamlet, but he even orders his followers to kill him at the very moment he reaches England. Having ordered that, Claudius tells Hamlet he is going to be sent to England for education. From these facts, I think Claudius is either stupid, or very brave. He knows that Hamlet doesn't like him much - so if I were him (not that I would kill my brother to take over throne) I would try my best to buy Hamlet's love as much as possible. For instance, instead of sending him to England, I would hire a doctor to check if he was faking madness; if yes, I would try to cure his madness so he doesn't have to worry about getting a dagger stabbed in the back of his neck. As far as stupidness, I would say his actions prove his intelligence level. On the other hand, if we approach him from braveness, he might think Hamlet is not much of a threat to his reign, therefore he might have thought sending him away will remove small potential risk. Whatever the reason behind the cause is, Claudius is diabolic, and personally I think Hamlet should have killed him when he had a chance, despite the fact Claudius was praying.

Hamlet's Madness

Mr. Tangen threw me a good question - "Jay, do you think Hamlet's genuinely crazy or is he faking his own madness?" Without any moment of hesitance I answered, "He is OBVIOUSLY faking his craziness, sir." Well, he didn't seem to like my answer. He made his typical 'not-satisfied-with-your-answer' face and asked me back sarcastically to provide him with logical reasons for why I hold my belief that way. That's when I got stuck. There was nowhere in the book, or in at least ACT III that stated "Hamlet is a genius, but he is faking his own behaviour to elude the King's suspicion." So, I decided to be sincere and answered him back - "I don't know sir. I was just assuming." Then he seemed to be happy. Walking past me, he said "Good luck Jay, and tell me when you get the answer to my question."

Since that day, I read through ACT III very thoroughly, but still found no phrases that clearly answered his question. However, at the very moment I closed the book, I was 100% sure that Hamlet was faking his own madness. There were so many clues in the book that insinuated his intelligence, and acting like a retard was only a part of his plan to escape the King's suspicion towards him. Ophelia even says, "O, help him, you sweet heavens!" (III, i, 145-152) Hamelt answers back, " If thou dost marry, I'll give thee this plague for thy dowry: be thou as chaste as ice, as pure as snow, thou shalt not escape calumny, Get thee to a nunnery, farewell. [...] Farewell." (III, i, 145-152)
Sherlock Holmes
This is the part where Hamlet's precise planning shows off. He tries to act crazy to everyone he knows - even towards his love Ophelia, so that absolutely no one is skeptical about his possible faking. Although Ophelia is terribly hurt, I assume Hamlet had a strong assurance that he could buy her love back later once his revenge has taken place. I could relate his thought to a fictional detective "Sherlock Holmes," because Holmes had done a similar acting to his friend and co-worker, Watson. In order to get a suspect into his trap, Holmes faked his own fatal illness to everyone, including Watson. He purposely provoked Watson so that he would recognize the severeness of his illness, and his plan worked out perfectly. Considering the fact that Holmes was a genius, it is not too exaggerated to assume Hamlet is a genius also.

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Contrast to the Society


A Scene From Hamlet

Those were way too long. 57 minutes - I wouldn't say it was wasted down the drain, yet my attention span was brutally destroyed by the time I finished listening to them. The truth is, I did not get the drift of the audio at some parts, so I got some help from a friend's blog (Billy Coombs). For the most part I agree with his opinion - as a matter of fact I was going to start out my blog exactly how he wrote before I got hold of his post. Therefore, regardless of what he scribbled, I am going to write how I initially intended to write.

I have never killed anyone. I have killed many bugs, but I've never considered it a cruel murder. The good news is that I have stopped killing bugs since the day I learned the presence of big black moths in Colombia. My point is, it was hard for me to relate my personal experiences to these prisoners. Plus, I have never confronted such a huge dilemma like Hamlet - I have never jumped up and down around my house screaming "To be or not to be." Today's dilemma for me was to choose my lunch menu from Ceasar Salad to Taco, which is light compared to Hamlet's. In conclusion, Jay Park and Hamlet has almost no similarities. In other words, if I were to act the murder scenes from Hamlet, I would not get emotional as the prisoners who have prior experiences of committing a crime.

Who knows if I could have been a good friend of these prisoners if I hadn't know the fact that they were criminals? I want to approach this topic in a different method.

In spite of the fact that I could not relate the criminals reflections to my experiences, I was able to relate them to a scene in Hamlet. Hamlet orders his actors to act out a muder scene in front of Claudius to check his reaction, and surprisingly it works out perfectly as he intended (III, iii). Claudius, seeing the scene that evoked his memory, stops the play - and Hamlet is assured that the King had killed his father. As a criminal reflects "relate experience with Hamlet to that of the Missouri East Correctional Institution.", it is clear that their experiences have proven to affect their emotion significantly. I am glad I haven't gone through such disastrous activities so far, and I hope I get none in the future.


Hamlet vs Hamlet

I don't know how Shapeskpeare would react to the modern version of his work if he was still alive. Well, that doesn't really matter, because I really enjoyed it. It's a bit of a pity that I do not have much time to continue watching the movie, but yet I think I've watched enough to compare both movies.

In terms of similarities, both actors were good. Words fail me a little because it is hard to depict the energy emitted by both actors in one word, but anyhow they were talking in perfect old English, their body gestures revealed their overwhelming emotions directly, and most significantly they adjusted their voice tones at different emotional periods. Both actors raised their voices when the level of anger reached their peaks, lowered them down when both Hamlets regained calmness. Also, despite the fact that these two movies had completely different themes, both lines were very similar.


David Tennant

On the other hand, the amount of differences heavily outnumbers that of the similarities. First off, the actors were dressed differently. While David Tennant was dressed up as a very modern person - with a t-shirt and a pair of pants -  Kenneth Branagh was dressed formelry with a tuxedo. Personally, David Tennant (first link) gave me an impression of a famous comedian actor Jim Carrey so the overal mood of the clip was somewhat funny, especially when he closes up on the camera and rhetorically asks "Am I a coward?". Plus, he goes wilder than Kenneth Branagh, as proven by the facts that he thrashes the CCTV, jumps around the room, screams in anger and waves his hands harder. The fact that he added some modern phrases in between the lines also made the scene unique. Notwithstanding, Kenneth Branagh kept his dignity as publically renowned Hamlet, and was less wild than Tennant. At first, he remains calm and goes through his current situation logically although he loses his temper as he starts to get enraged. True, the setting was also modern, but the movie itself seemed less progressive and stern in comparison to the prior clip.


Kenneth Branagh

Monday, October 18, 2010

Krapp's Last Tape [Watch]

YouTube only demonstrated a section of video at a time on the side-bar relative links which got me a bit "vexed" after finding out there were 4 more divided parts. Yet, the video was far more interesting than the script due to the fact that now I had a visual aid to help me interpret. The video showed Krapp's madness very well, and I think the actor is truely awesome. The scene where he "passionately" ate the bananas left me with a huge laughter, but as I was pulled deeper into his acting my laughter was gone. Although I thought he was insane, it was at the same time very probable that this could happen to just about anyone. This post, I want to analyze the actor.

I want to give the actor a lot of credits for his great acting skills. I agreed with most comments in YouTube - the majority of them were compliments towards the actor. The part where he madly cleared out his desk was realistic that I flinched a bit. Well not really, but you get my point.

At Part 2, as he listens to his tapes, I saw his eyes trembling as if he was vividly recalling the memories. Soon, he was completely dazed out and was living in the past along the voices from the recording machine, because his eyes were out of focus. I did not know why he was sweating profusely until I heard his sick coughing and learned a small walk to his room meant excessive amount of exercise to him.

The part I liked the most about his acting was when he was desperately rewinding the tape to hear about his long lost love. He squeeked like a mad man when his first few attempts failed, but when he heard "so I put my face on her breasts", he was close to passing out from the pleasure he had felt.

Krapp's Last Tape [Read]

I am going to start this blog out differently.
A small confession: I took a glance at the "Read Section", realized it was a bit too long, and watched the "Clip Section" first. Meaning, I was able to picture the scene in my mind as I reluctantly read through the script - while the vice versa process could have resulted in a completely different approach. However I was able to pick up some lines from the script which some of them sounded like a bunch of mumbles in the video. Also, I came to realize at the end that both the reading and video dealt with an exactly same topic, except the fact that each gave me slightly different impressions. I am going to analyze this in the next post.

I would like to focus this post on Krapp's potential mental disease. In fact, I am sure Krapp is suffering from a chronic depression or hallucination. His behaviours were outrageously queer, according to: "He stoops, unlocks first drawer, peers into it, feels about inside it, takes out a reel of tape, peers at it, puts it back, locks drawer, unlocks second drawer peers into it, feels about inside it, takes out a large banana, peers at it, locks drawer, puts keys back in his pocket." This repeated a couple more times, so I concluded he enjoys things which most people find them very common.

When he was setting up the recording machine, he also repeatedly screams "Spools, spools, spools!" as if the tapes were everything to his life. I am assuming he was trying to recall a specific memory from the past which has pleasured him before, but as he listens to it, he seems to acknowledge the fact that he was as lonely as he is in his current situation. He stops and rewinds a few times when Krapp from 30 years ago was revealing his first love -
"Pause.
Past midnight. Never knew such silence. The earth might be uninhabited.
Pause.
Here I end--
Krapp switches off, winds tabe back, switches on again."
Even so, his actions were so inordinary that I thought at some points, he had been hallucinating as if he were back in the past. His final hope from recalling the past memories has failed, since he collapses on the desk only to realize his life was nothing but futile.

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Passive Voice Practice

The statue is being visited by hundreds of tourists every year.
Hundreds of tourists visit the statue every year.
My books were stolen by someone yesterday.
Someone stole my books yesterday.
These books had been left in the classroom by a careless student.
A careless student left these books in the classroom.
Coffee is raised in many parts of Hawaii by plantation workers.
Plantation workers raise coffee in many parts of Hawaii.
The house had been broken into by someone while the owners were on vacation.
Someone had broken into the house while the owners were on vacation.
A woman was being carried downstairs by a very strong firefighter.
A very strong firefighter carried the woman downstairs.
The streets around the fire had been blocked off by the police.
The police blocked off the streets around the fire.
Have you seen the new movie that was directed by Ron Howard?
Have you seen Ron Howard’s new movie?
My car is in the garage being fixed by a dubious mechanic.
A dubious mechanic is fixing my car.

A great deal of our oil will have been exported to other countries by our government.
Our government will export a great deal of our oil.
 

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Fitzgerald <--> McCarthy

The Great Gatsby

Original Text

It eluded us then, but that's no matter--to-morrow we will fun faster, strech out our arms farther....And one fine morning-
So we beat on, boats against the current, borned back ceaselessly into the past.

Converted Text

It will escape us. But it doesn't matter. We are going to head into future. With hope. So we move on, letting ourselves flow as it wants.

*****

The Road

Original text

In the deep glens where they lived all things were older than man and they hummed of mystery.

Converted Text

Most of the nature is definately more archaic than its parasites, the humans. Now that it is all destroyed by them, the mystery still remains in veil.

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

The Tale of Road

A man in a filthy gloomy jumper
Walks with his son who is getting weaker
On a barren field of ash with no food
In hope to one day finding a canned good.
The world has perished from a comet strike
And the streets have become a lawless dike.
The only weapon for their protection
Is a pistol, with short ammunition;
A round was used to kill an assailant
Who tried to threat them with an evil comment.
Like this, they are always under a threat
But they find ways to get away; no fret.
One time they were withering and dying
When they find in the grass a hatch lying.
It was full of food and supplies that fed
Both people, and it even had a bed.
They start out on the road in a few days
To reach a beach side with islands and bays.
Yet the man finds out that he is really sick;
Sick in the lungs that makes him cough in shriek.
He tells his beloved son that he is fine
But he knows that he will soon do his last dine.
At last they get to shore, but it is dead
Just like the road that is on fire and red.
However the man finds an abandoned boat;
Strips all the goods and even finds a nice coat.
They go on to celebrate the dark night
With a new flare gun that makes the sky bright.
The kid gets a fever rear that event
And suffers for days on the ground that's dent.
With the help of sugar water he lives
Along with the asprins his good dad gives.
After he betters they go for a walk
And they have a good time with a nice talk.
When they get back, they find the cart is gone,
The cart with food; the man thinks he's a moron
They quickly look for the trail on the ash road
And soon they find a man with the cart erode.
The man points the pistol at the dirty thief
To shoot his brain out with a very strong motif.
The thief pulls out his keen-edged butcher knife
But soon drops it to save his precious life.
The man retrieves the old cart and comes back
To his little tent and sleeps, packs back-packs
And starts heading to the road once again.
Yet, they meet another threat; a bowman!
The thief starts shooting arrows towards them
And an arrow hits the man - he shouts "damn."
Hence he finds the station of the demon
And even bears to pull out the flare gun.
He shoots the gun which knocks the attacker
But his lag was deeply wounded, no wonder.
They keep at the road, but he stops suddenly
Because his whole body becomes more achy.
That night he sleeps, to be found dead next day;
His kid cries and cries all day in dismay.
Fortunately, a man finds the poor boy
And takes him to his family to convoy.
The Tale of Road finishes at this point;
The whearabout of them's hard to pinpoint.

The Road Review

I almost never feel moved, become sentimental or overwhelmed while reading a book. People have been throwing me books to read attemtping to fill my eyes with tears, but usually they failed to do so. Yes, I am not much of an emotional person; plus I literally hated reading until the start of my senior year. Once I held a book in my hands I usually ended up dozing off in a few minutes--in other words, books acted as a sleeping pill for me. AP Literature class, whether I like reading or not, keeps me awake while I read, surprsingly.

This book was different though. I tried my best not to tear up. Well, yes, I might be exaggerating a little in terms of being sad--but it was that close. "He slept close to his father that night and held him but when he woke in the morning his father was cold and stiff." (pg. 281) Not only this sentence came to me as a sudden shock, but it approached me as if my own relative died. That's the style I like about McCarthy. The change of scenes are so abrupt, that not only do I have to be alert for what is to come next but it also removes the dramatic aspects away from the book just like our reality. For instance, when the man and his son confronted a man who stole their cart, the transition from a happy walk along the beach to an urgent atmosphere was drastic: "The tarp was gone. Their blankets" (pg. 253).  On the other hand, most fictional books had so many dramatic features in them that eventually I started avoiding them.


Asteroid Strike
 The cause for the disasterous perishment of the country still remains in veil. The author never explained the cause to the catastrophe, except depicting burned corpses and properties. Some of my friends told me that the reason to such demolishment was due to resource depletion, therefore people became lawless in order to survive. However, I think it is more probable that the cause to such destruction was from a natural disaster--in this case, a comet strike. Pretty much the whole world had been combusted, and some corpses even remained on their beds proving that the disaster came as a sudden. Then again the man seemed to know something was to come because: "He dropped to one knee and raised the lever to stop the tub and then turned on both taps as far as they would go" (pg. 52~53). I guess it's an open end. Actually the book itself ended in an open end, because the kid was picked up by an unknown man and his family, not letting the readers know the result.

The book contained so many themes including: survival, love, evil, justice, dooms-day and death. I really want to rewatch to movie properly, so I can see the difference between the book and the movie. It is one of the best books I have read so far, and certainly the kind of book I would like to keep.

The Road by Cormac McCarthy

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Response: [The Great Gatsby Revisited]

Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
I do have certain books I reread on a monthly basis. However, unlike Sonya, I only reread my favorite books. In other words, if I read a complex book, the chances are I would never try to reread it again. One of the books I reread is a book called Hatchet. Not only it's a simple read, but it's also action-packed as I like it. It's about a kid who is trapped in a no-man's island from an unexpected plane crash, who survived a whole 2 months on his own. Now that I think of it, I think I like books that contain vivid descriptions of the plot.

On the other hand, The Great Gatsby was not the kind of book I enjoyed. It was okay I guess, but to be honest, the sole reason I finished the book was to not to fall behind my class, and to do well on the essay. Plus, I thought the book was pretty straightforward, therefore I didn't see the need to reread it for a more precise understanding of the author's intention.

Howbeit, after reading the blog post, I have come to realize that I have missed many points regarding the allusion of the plot. I have only reached the thought to where The Great Gatsby was representing the futility of American Dream, whereas Sonya noticed that the lives of the characters in the book were acting as a mirror for ourselves.

Moreover, Sonya pointed out that Fitzgerald composed some excellent sentences throught the story. Honestly, I don't know if it is my ignorance that overlooked his apparent talent, or my reluctant attitude towards the reading, but I did not see anything special about his writing style. It's undeniably well written, but in fact, his sentences seemed only as good as any other authors I know. Here are the examples of some good sentences Sonya noticed.

Reserving judgments is a matter of infinite hope.
Two o’clock and the whole corner of the peninsula was blazing with light, which fell unreal on the shrubbery and made thin elongating glints upon the roadside wires.

He came alive to me, delivered suddenly from the womb of his purposeless splendor.

All the lights were going on in West Egg now; the electric trains, men-carrying, were plunging home through the rain from New York.  It was the hour of a profound human change.

No amount of fire or freshness can challenge what a man will store up in his ghostly heart.

Again, yes, they are well written, but I still have trouble recognizing what's so excellent about these sentences.

Finishing the blog post, I felt a bit ashamed of my ignorant attitude for overlooking the significance of rereading. The rest of the points Sonya tried to make did not appeal to me strongly, not because she was being unreasonable, but because I wasn't able to recognize the catches. Consequently, I should start doing so. 

The Road [pg.101~150]

The Pianist



This book reminded me more and more of a movie called The Pianist as I continued reading the book, because the characters of both pieces were put in an amazingly similar situation.

The Pianist is about a Jewish pianist in the Nazi era who was forced to stay in the ghetto. He had seen so many people opressed in the ghetto including some of his family members and friends that he decided to escape. He survived in an empty compartment, but kept moving around so that the Nazis would not realize his existence. He is almost always deprived of food and proper clothings for bitter winter. Eventually he is found by a Nazi general who is amazed at the pianist's piano skill and is safely hidden by him.

When the characters of The Road confronts another group of "bad guys" who passes just over them, the man tells his son "Shh. No crying. Do you hear me? You know how to do it. You put it in your mouth and point it up. Do it quck and hard..." (pg. 113), I found it pretty syncronizing to a scene from The Pianist. As far as I remember, there was a scene where the pianist had to pretend to be dead among the dead bodies on the street when the Nazis patroled the area.

Another scene from The Pianist was when the pianist finally found a can of peach in a demolished, ruined house. He lacked so much energy from food deprivation that he couldn't even open the can--so he had to use a metallic bar to crush it open. In The Road, on the other hand, the two charcters find a temporary underground shelter full of food, clothings and water just before dying from starvation. Through the author's descriptions I was able to vividly illustrate the scene in my mind. "What is all this stuff, Papa?//It's food. Can you read it?//Pears. That says pears.//Yes. Yes it does." (pg. 139) When I read this line, I, myself was also excited that they found an abundant amount of supplies. It was just like the scene from The Pianist.

Reading this book, it tempted me to rewatch the movie--I remember watching it back in my 6th grade year, which is now mostly forgotten in my memories.

The Road [pg. 51~100]

The emergence of the assumed threat. The killing of one of the threats. The end of the man's wife. These topics emerged so abruptly that at first I couldn't realize what was happening. Apparently, the man and his kid were survivors of some kind of a huge assualt from "bad guys", who eat other human beings. One of the bad guys who tried to kidnap the kid was killed by the man, therefore to disguise the presence of themselves they ran away for days.

"He dropped to one knee and raised the lever to stop the tub and then turned on both taps as far as they would go" (pg. 52~53). From this line depicting a peculiar action, I was able to assume the man's prior knowledge to the potential disaster that was to come. Informing the fact to his wife, the wife leaves them. However, I was frustrated because the author never really explained what was the reason to the cause. I read on, but I still couldn't find an explanation.

*****

Here is a list of interesting/difficult vocabulary.


Bureau drawer

















Skatebed




 

Gravelbar




 
Lanyards

















Scrawny