Lovely Literature

"You are all a lost generation." -- Gertrude Stein

I had much less motivation to read this book than the Tim O'Brien novel. This novel has just been...well...boring. O'Brien has wonderful stories that are captivating [I mean, not everyone knows someone who died in a poop field...], and there is more depth to the plotline, while this novel follows the pattern of eat, drink, sleep, eat, drink, sleep with the occasional fight and bullfight in there.

I said this in a previous entry, but Hemingway is one heck of an articulate drunk. I feel like he was completely wasted while he was writing this novel, and yet he still makes it difficult to understand without truly paying attention to the words. I also noticed how they never have to use the restroom. Actually, I suppose I can't say that for a fact, but they never mention that they need to use the restroom. I mean, come on, that's bound to happen with how much they drink. They wake up every morning, find a pub, and drink. What a life they live. I guess that's what the starving artists of their time did as opposed to our starving artists today who sit around starbucks and drink coffee bemoaning their lives.

I absolutely love the quote at the beginning of the novel before the story even starts. The epigraph that Stein uses basically captures the essence of the "lost generation" stuck in a continuous cycle. Not one particular generation is "lost" so to speak, but they all are. Who actually knows what they want to do with their lives at every moment they live? It's difficult to figure out who you are let alone what you want to do for the rest of your life. You can ask anyone who is in this class actually...we're all doing just that right now. Woo cooolleeeggeee causes so much stressssss.

I love that O'Brien brings in his daughter to this story. Sometimes you need the innocent child perspective in life.

"The war was as remote to her as cavemen and dinosaurs.
One morning in Saigon she'd asked what it was all about. "This whole war," said said, "why was everybody so mad at everybody else?" [page 175]

The truth and innocence that comes out of a blunt child's mouth is astounding. Seriously, why was everybody so mad at everybody else? If only it was that easy to pinpoint the time that things began to go downhill.

It's impossible to make everyone happy. I think that's why wars begin. Someone is so unhappy with what is going on that they have to let the world know about it. Oh, that and world domination [good luck with that].

I wish adults could wake up and look at life through a child's eyes. They see everything as happy and beautiful, and who wouldn't want to see life like that? I think it would do people good to take a happier perspective on life. Then maybe they wouldn't be so regretful about their lives.

The ill-fated question that faces every hero: To jump or not to jump?

It can arise in any situation.
---Jack and Rose in the Titanic literally contemplating jumping off the boat.
---Princess Jasmine choosing whether or not to jump onto the magic carpet with Aladdin.
---Batman jumping multiple times to save the citizens of Gotham City.
---O'Brien choosing not to jump or run away from his fear.

Oh dear. The quote I chose for the beginning of this entry is exploding with rhetorical questions, as is the rest of the page. O'Brien literally goes through his entire life [past,present, and future] before he decides to stay on the boat.

When Berdahl takes O'Brien out fishing, he knows what he is doing. He is willingly giving O'Brien the chance to run away from everything he is afraid of. I believe that Berdahl knows what decision will be made. He knows that O'Brien is too strong to run away from the things that scare him. Most of all, he is afraid to disappoint.

There is no doubt in my mind that this is the biggest turning point, not only in this novel, but in Tim O'Brien's life. He had the obvious choice. He could have gotten out so easily, but he faced his fear and faked his courage until it was real. Once again, my hero Elroy Berdahl, saves the day :]

When I read the first chapter, I believed the protagonist to be Lieutenant Jimmy Cross. Much to my surprise as I read on, I realized that Tim O'Brien was the true main character. He is the "hero" of the story who has good times, bad times, weaknesses, strengths, and confused feelings in this novel. I believe that O'Brien wrote this character based on himself and his war background with more truth than exaggeration on the things character O'Brien goes through.

"Twenty-one years old, an ordinary kid with all the ordinary dreams and ambitions, and all I wanted was to live the life I was born to-- a mainstream life..." [page 48]

O'Brien recounts on how he didn't want to have to turn into an adult until he absolutely had to. He was forced into making difficult decisions before he felt like he was ready. He was simply searching for himself in a world that was requiring him to stand up and fight for his liberty. O'Brien's flaw, that I'm hoping will not be fatal, is that he is afraid of war. Basically, he's a human with feelings.

This post isn't really worth a full number because I just wanted to write something else on here. The current boring factor of my blog is making me depressed.

I have decided to finally begin reading my books that I have had sitting on my desk untouched for a few weeks. It's funny how I've already finished multiple books this summer, and yet required reading just makes me queasy. Just kidding. It won't be that bad--I'm actually looking forward to these books! :]

Okay so back to something relevant. I've chosen The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien to read first. Wish me luck!