So it’s true. Disaster themes pop up everywhere. While discussing a disaster-related poetry chapbook that I hope to be finished with in January, a friend of mine sent me the following link: The Center for the Study of the End of Things Inaugural Symposium. Charlottesville, VA. February 5, 2010. Highlights (excerpts from the “Call for… Continue reading “An end can also be a beginning”
Category: Reflections
Thoughts on Final Paper and Walter Benjamin on History
The short but possibly pleasant comparison of two characters
In an attempt to come up with something more substantial for my last blog post than I’ve done with other blogposts I did a general search on the internet for The Brief Wondorous Life of Oscar Wao. Of course, one of the first links to pop up is a wikipedia article about the this novel… Continue reading The short but possibly pleasant comparison of two characters
The Brief and Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao
The structure that this book is written in reminds me of the numerous changing perspectives in Lucifer’s Hammer. It is very irritating to have the story be told out of order and it takes a while to figure out whose life we are suddenly thrown into. However, this kind of structure could be said to… Continue reading The Brief and Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao
We Are the Choosers of the Slain
Many of the books we have read this semester have concerned the subject of death and discovering one’s own mortality. Even more, the characters we have all come to know in these books have asked questions rarely voiced out loud in the real world: “How am I going to die?” “Why does no one love… Continue reading We Are the Choosers of the Slain
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
I really like what Diaz has done with this novel. The way it spans time and space without sacrificing perspective—in the sense that frequently when the narrator takes us to a different moment in time in the narrative, he places us directly in it more so than keeping us in the frame of a “present”… Continue reading The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
A Brief Life, A Very Long Narrative
Having already read The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, I must admit I was not wholeheartedly looking forward to rereading it again for this class. Reading it the first time left me with the feeling I had spent quite a few many hours (I am an incredibly slow reader) reading a book that was… Continue reading A Brief Life, A Very Long Narrative
Oscar Wao, You Need to Go Fuku-self!
Reading this novel made me feel nothing for Oscar when he faced his strife that the Fuku brings. Honestly, I don’t believe that Oscar was cursed by the Fuku at all. I think that instead, Oscar was a victim of what modern intellectuals call, self-manifested destiny. Throughout his life, Oscar was warned of the family… Continue reading Oscar Wao, You Need to Go Fuku-self!
Imagined Nation
At first I couldn’t really find much to say about Junot Diaz’s The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, much like we discussed how nothing can be said about Jonathan Safran Foer’s Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, until the narrator mentioned imaginary in one of his footnotes. This is number 27 which appears on pages… Continue reading Imagined Nation
reactionary blog to oscar wao
So, I’m not sure how much I like this book. Just as I get engrossed in the story, I have some obnoxiously long footnote to refer to. The footnotes are like another story. Half the time I skip over them, and come back, or the other half I try to read them simultaneously and then… Continue reading reactionary blog to oscar wao
Oskar Wao
Overall, I have mixed feelings about The Brief Wondrous Life of Oskar Wao. There were certain things, such as the footnotes and genres, that I really liked about the novel however there were some things that bothered me. First, Diaz’ use of footnotes and genres was really entertaining because it not only gave insight into the… Continue reading Oskar Wao
Oscar Wao
While reading “The Brief Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao”, I’m finding that, although I’m enjoying the storyline, I’m having a difficult time identifying with the cultural references and spanish language. In class we’ve discussed the possibility that students may not catch all of the anime, manga, video game, or comic book references, which is definitely… Continue reading Oscar Wao
Genre Allusions and the Desire for Moral Simplification
This is coming from having read up through 261. Still thinking about the use of genres as I read the novel, and as I write this, and was trying to come up with additional ways to look at the constant references. One of the most compelling reasons I came up with for them has to… Continue reading Genre Allusions and the Desire for Moral Simplification
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao: the reality of Spanglish
“Tell us what fuego means in English” (322) said Oscar’s killers. He was killed anyway after telling them the right answer. The heartbreaking ending of this novel forced me to think about something more uplifting within the story. On a personal note, I really loved the Spanglish presented throughout the story. Although, there were… Continue reading The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao: the reality of Spanglish
White Noise. . . the Pop-up?
I didn’t mean for this to be a normal blog post, but I saw this this morning and laughed so hard. It’s definitely not Don DeLillo. This is a pop-up book by David Carter . .. for children, and from the description I heard it may or may not emit some sort of white noise.… Continue reading White Noise. . . the Pop-up?