Last Blog!

At Last! The last blog I have to write for the year wahoo! I would like to use this opportunity to thank my fri- just kidding it wasn’t that bad. I did this blog on Stephen King’s Dolores Claiborne. I had to choose which of the last three books to do my last blog on and I chose this one because despite the boring explanations of Dolores’ life it sucked me in the entire time. I will attempt to properly introduce this quotation but if anything is unclear refer to my previous blog Dolores Claiborne. For the first 80 pages of the book, Dolores describes her life as a maid for a woman named Vera. She does this so that she can clear her name of Vera’s murder. Despite her explanation of Vera and her life as her maid it is still unclear as to why she is innocent of her murder other than she put the idea across that if she wanted to murder her, she would have done it years ago. After her story telling in regards to her life with Vera, she begins to talk about her life with Joe. This time she is trying to explain why she murdered him but again, she does not actually say why she did murdered him instead she just talks about her life with him. She describes how she got Joe to stop abusing her; she did this by hitting him over the head with a cream-pitcher and then threatening him with an axe. After she is done with that he says to her that he will have to kill her at that she gives him the axe and tells him to do it but he doesn’t. This quotation tells about how this conflict was the fine line between abuse for years to come and no more abuse for the rest of her life;

“He looked at me for a long, long time, Andy, and I looked back at him. The hatchet was out of his hand and under the chair, but that didn’t matter; I knew that if I dropped my eyes before he did, the punches in the neck and the hits on the back would never end. But as long as he looked down at his newspaper again and kinda muttered, ‘Make yourself useful, woman. Bring me a towel for my head I’m bleedin all over my beepbeep shirt.’” (I covered the poor choice of words with a beep. That is not what the book actually says.)

The words in this quotation evoke the feelings of fear and intensity within me. Not only is fear and intensity present within my soul as I read this, but the feelings of triumph and expectancy also exist with the space of my soul. This is due to the words the author uses. He does this so we understand the text on a deeper level than just knowing the story. He displays the weight of the situation by illustrating a stare down that had huge consequences. He then quickly refers to the axe and makes the reader aware that the staring competition was not due to a weapon that would give the illusion of the possibility of death. These first two lines bring out the intensity of the situation as well as a certain expectancy that retaliation may quickly ensue. The next part, referring to the implications, makes the feeling of fear wash over the reader, fear for her safety at that particular time, as well as fear for her future. And the last part despite the fact she is being told what do evokes a feeling of triumph and joy due to the fact she won the battle and would not be abused again.

In conclusion, the words the author uses are intended to bring out emotions within you in regards to the situation at hand. This clearly demonstrates the skill of Stephen King as an author. Despite the fact that this woman did indeed murder her husband, and the fact that the entire book is about her life struggles and petty triumph’s, the author is still able to instil within the reader a feeling of empathy for the narrator as well as enough interest to continue reading despite the pure simplicity and the seemingly boring text.

Dolores Claiborne

This blog is on the book Dolores Claiborne by Stephen King. This is the first time that I have ever read a Stephen King novel and I must say despite his ability to suck you into a book, he spends a lot of time on what appears to be useless information. The book begins with a few people in a sheriff’s office, or so it seems, this woman named Dolores Claiborne, is a housemaid that is being accused of killing her employer. The reason she is being accused of this is because she worked as her maid for over 40 years. Another reason she is suspected to have committed this crime is because she is believed to have murdered her husband Joe though no one could prove anything. In order for her to save herself from being jailed she tells the local sheriff that she did not kill her employer but she did kill Joe. For many pages all that Dolores does is talk about what her employer was like and what she did for her. She says nothing about why she did not kill her boss directly but she does explain that if she was to kill her it would have been a lot sooner. Dolores also talks about this continual game she plays with her master, her goal is to get to her master and put the pan under her before she poops on the bed just to spite her. She is the narrator of the entire book so far.   Here is an example of how she talks,

“I was still crying when I fell off to sleep, because the idear of quitten-of her getting the best of me-made me feel worse’n ever, but then I woke up, I felt good.”

Reading this book I felt that I came to conclusions about the person speaking without any descriptions that pertained to what or who she actually was. These prejudices were very stereotypical and slightly racist I felt bad about the thoughts I had about the individual. This is an evidence again of how language can be used to create a certain impression of someone even though there are no descriptive words. Look at the grammatical structure of her sentences and the way she speaks. Despite the fact that the author is literate he chooses to write in a grammatically dysfunctional way to display how this individual talks in order to place a prejudicial image in your head as to who this person is. Look at the slurred words like idear, quitten, and worse’n,  he uses words like this to show where the character is from, the amount of education she has, and at times even her age can be seen. The fact that throughout the book she interrupts herself and changes the topic suggests some physiological issues or old age or perhaps outside of prejudices, it’s just the way she talks, either way the author gives you an idea as to who she is without actually describing her.

In conclusion, the author is very good at using grammatical structure to create an image of character’s and things within his book. He also paints a very clear yet mysterious picture of how things went in this particular setting. I find it entertaining how he can use plain gibberish that is not relevant to the story to truly make the reader understand the story better.

Keeper Of the Keys

This blog is on the book keeper of the keys by Perri O’Shaughnessy. The book starts off with two sisters meeting at a cafe in L.A. One sister is married and pregnant and her name is Jacki and the other is single and lonely and her name is Kat. At some point the conversation turns from Kat’s loneliness to their dead brother and his ex-girlfriend who was friends with Kat when they were in their youth. The ex girlfriend’s name is Leigh and Jacki saw her at her brother’s grave site and decided to tell Kat about it because Kat was very close to Leigh until her brother died because she blamed her for his death. The story then shifts and Ray, Leigh’s husband, is at his mother’s house because Leigh left him without warning. Ray begins to reminisce about all his previous homes and friends so he decides to go visit his mother. When Ray visits his mother he always comments on the disrepair of the house and suggests that he could fix it or a build a new one due to his wealth. This quote indicates what his old house looks like.

“He always said that. Although he wished she would move on, he took comfort from what didn’t change, just like she did: the pink and green bathroom tile, the chequered curtains above the kitchen sink, the linoleum on the floor of the den. This was the place where they stopped moving and Ray had finally made some friends.”

This quote demonstrates the author’s ability to make the reader identify with a feeling called home. Though home is considered to be a thing and not a feeling, many in the past have had a feeling that they attribute to their home that is indescribable. Perhaps you can identify with this feeling, the place where you belong, where you develop healthy or unhealthy relationships with family and friends, the place where aesthetics do not matter because the place is a part of you. The author begins by suggesting that despite the fact Ray continuously suggests improvement or refurbishment of the home, he enjoys it. The author does this by explaining why he enjoys it by using a word like comfort, and he also describes what he takes comfort in, like the fact that things didn’t change. The author really gives you an idea of what home is to this individual by describing in detail what the house looks like while giving you the sense that the things mentioned give Ray a feeling of comfort which of course is crucial in his situation. The author presents the idea of home in great detail, notice how he describes everyday things that likely most homes have? And yet it is home for this individual. Despite the fact that these words can’t actually describe the feeling attributed to home, they do give you an idea as to what the feeling of home is for Ray. The author also creates an image of home by suggesting in the last line that this is the first place where Ray finally made some friends.

Clearly, the author has the ability to display the feeling of home by describing it in a manner that makes you understand why the individual considers it his home despite all the homes he has been to in the past. The author can do this without describing the feeling but the home.

Rising Sun

  This blog is on Michael Crichton’s Rising Sun. The book starts off with a single parent known as Peter who works with the LAPD as a special service agent. A special service agent is a liaison as well as an interpreter. After putting his child to bed Peter began doing his Japanese speaking lessons. In the middle of his lesson he gets called by a police detective named Tom Graham who sounds completely alarmed about a situation that involves Japanese businessmen. Over the phone, Tom requests Peter’s assistance in communicating with the Japanese. Then Peter arrives at this huge state of the art Japanese building he goes to the floor where the dispute is and finds English-speaking Japanese people and a dead body. Peter finds out that the reason the Japanese are not being cooperative is because the floor below the murder is having a party involving many celebrities and government officials and the Japanese did not want to interrupt the party. After a few moments of discussion and demands a conclusion is reached and very little information is given to the police by the Japanese. Because the Japanese refused to divulge any information, the identity of the dead woman is yet to be discovered. Part way through the investigation, a woman who works for the mayor leaves the party and goes to the crime scene to tell Peter to be kind to the Japanese, but when she sees the body she acts very strange and leaves quickly this is her reaction,

  “‘Come on, Pete,’ she said, ‘Nobody’s trying to tell you how to do your job. All I’m saying is you have to take into     account the special-                        

She stopped.

She was looking at the body.

‘Ellen?’ I said. ‘Do you know her?’

‘No.’ She turned away.

‘You sure?’

I could see she was rattled.

Graham said, ‘You saw her downstairs earlier?’

I don’t-maybe. I think so. Listen, fellas, I’ve got to get back.’” (Rising Sun, 39)

The language and style Michael uses is very interesting. Notice how I wrote the quotation; I used the exact style seen in the book. The character named Ellen turns from being an authoritative person to a scared confused person. Near the end of the first line of the quotation, the author displays her uncertainty by using a dash which suggests that Ellen was shocked or she lost her train of thought because her thought was completely cut off. Right after her sentence is cut off, the author writes “She stopped.” And in quick succession to that sentence the author writes on the line below “She was looking at the body.” Notice how the author uses short sentences and jumps down after the sentence and starts a new line? The author is attempting to create an air of intensity in this particular situation by isolating every line and using short sentences so that you read the sentence quickly but with a lot of scrutiny. The next line says “Ellen?” I said. “Do you know her?” This line indicates the confusion of Peter in regards to Ellen’s actions. The author attempts to indicate the actual affect her actions have on the people around her, which illustrates just how interesting her actions are.  The next line shows Ellen’s denial by describing her actions, it says “‘No.’ She turned away.” Again, the author displays the oddity and abnormality of her actions.  Then Peter displays his uncertainty again and asks “you sure?” I believe the author intends to indicate, through Peter’s distrust of Ellen, that Ellen is lying. The next line which says, “I could see she was rattled.” openly voices Peter’s uncertainty in regards to Ellen’s actions. The next line brings a new character into this interesting display of confusion. The fact that Graham is introduced in this quotation foreshadows his actions in regards to her later on in the book. In the lines to follow, Graham points an accusing finger on Ellen implicating her as a suspect in the case because he believes she withheld information. This clearly displays his distrust of her due to her actions that are so clearly displayed to be suspicious by the author. Due to Graham’s direct and concise question, Ellen reacts in an uncontrolled manner implicating that she has something to hide. This idea is clearly displayed by the author because again he uses a dash or hyphen to display her uncertainty.  And again, he uses short sentences to display her rushed behaviour and the intensity of the situation.

In conclusion, this author understands and uses tools of literature to create a specific mood. In this case he uses short sentences, dashes, and many questions in short succession to display the intensity of the situation as well as implicate a person to a certain act. He also displays aspects of each individual’s character and position. He paints an incriminating picture of Ellen, as well as the distrusting nature of Peter, and he outlines Graham’s job as a detective. He does all of this without using descriptive words.

Night soldiers #2

Once again I will be doing my blog the book Night Soldiers by Allan Furst. Unlike my previous blog, the setting of the book is in Moscow Russia. Khristo Stoianev a Bulgarian boy lived in a small town called Vidin. After his brother was beaten by soldiers, he chooses to hang about in a bar with a Russian visitor named Antipin. While in the bar, socialist soldiers (mentioned in my previous blog) block the door to the bar and through flammable material in through the window and then proceed to light the place on fire. Antipin saves the people in the bar by escaping through a tiny hole in the cellar and opening the door. After the attempt on their lives, Antipin says to Khristo that he will always be hunted by the socialists because of his affiliation with his dead brother and he requests that Khristo come with him to communist Russia. After some indecision Khristo decided to go with Antipin. Antipin enrolls Khristo in a Russian spy school. This school is under the control of a man named Ozunov.  Though Khristo is found to struggle with the learning of languages and political ideas, he demonstrates superior skill in the crafts of espionage. It is this ability that earns him a meeting with Ozunov, where he plays a game of chess. Ozunov says this to Khristo after defeating Khristo at chess by cheating and wiping out his queen while Khristo is distracted. Ozunov  tells Khristo what he heard from an Englishman;

“From this man I learned a particular thing. Fair play, he called it. Not such a simple notion, perhaps, when you probe to find its heart. A kind of code, which each gentleman must honour individually in order for all to benefit. In time I came to understand that it was a good system for those who had more than they needed, for those who could afford to give something away. But I also realized that I had never known anybody like that. Nobody I ever knew could say, ‘Here, you take it, I do not deserve it. I do not need it so badly that I will cheat and lie to get it.’ Perhaps someday we may indulge ourselves in that fashion, we have so much that we can afford that we can give some of it away, but not now.” (Night Soldiers, 48)

Once again this book is able to produce a very intriguing quotation. In order to understand this quotation one must understand the context in which these individuals live. This is a country that has experienced civil unrest. A new thought process has just come to be due to Karl Marx and the Bolsheviks. However, despite all this hope many have died or starved due to peasant oppression. Stalin has been in power since 1922 and during this time oppression has not lessened on the people of Russia. So to them, the idea of giving things away or suggesting that they don’t deserve something is entirely foreign. The fact that an Englishman suggests this idea implicates the context in which the English were living at the time. The English were at the pinnacle of their recovery from World War 1. The beginning of the quotation brings up a very interesting point; it identifies the only way that this idea could work by suggesting each gentleman must follow it in order for it to work. Interestingly enough, a communist is saying this. The second point he brings up is the fact that he has never met anyone who would just give things away or say the other individual needs it more. If this is true of the people he came across, perhaps many people, no matter what they have done, feel they deserve anything positive that comes their way. This is counterintuitive to the mindset of Christians we feel we don’t deserve the grace of God, and realizing the fact that most of the western world at this time was Christian makes this a jaw dropping observation. It implies that Christianity did not have much of a place within Russian communist society. However it must be understood that the people of Russia where very poor and their mindset was not likely that they deserved what they got, but that they needed what they got to survive. The quotation goes further and implies that most men and women will lie or cheat in order to get what they want or need. This is a slightly depressing but a bit understandable to a western Christian. Because we are so richly blessed, we quickly come to the conclusion that lying and cheating to get what is wanted or required is sinful yet we barely have been in a place like that ourselves. Perhaps sometimes lying and stealing is required to survive for the people of that time and if we lived in that time we may have had to do the same thing. The last line foreshadows what they hope will come to pass, that perhaps the Russian people will be so wealthy that they can give stuff away. Clearly this implies the hope these people have. I believe however that the author would like to point an accusing finger on us; we are people who are so wealthy we can afford to give some of our belongings away.

I think the author is trying to get us to not be so judgemental of the sins committed by people less fortunate than ourselves. He is also challenging us to give something we have to others even though we may think we deserve it. Despite the fact I personally believe this to be immoral; the author may be getting us to realize that sometimes deceit is required for the greater good, for our own self-preservation.

Night Soldiers

This blog is on the book Night Soldiers by Alan Furst. The setting of this book, to this point, is in a small river town in Bulgaria called Vidin. This town is a very small secluded town that is very isolated from the outside world. At this point in the book, Germany is already involved in the Second World War, or it has just elected the Nazi party. The details are not specific because most of the story is told from the perspective of one of the boys in the village named Khristo Stoianev. Like previously stated this town was secluded so Khristo would not have much information pertaining to the outside world. The town has visitors every so often, and a German visitor comes to the town with film. The film he brings shows scenes of the Nazi regime’s propaganda. This includes soldiers marching in uniform and flags with swastikas blowing in the wind. The community becomes completely enthralled by these video clips and seeks to imitate it to some degree. A prominent man within the town named Omar Veiko who was a landlord, seizes this opportunity and quickly promotes himself to Colonel, orders the making of uniforms, and establishes a group of militia soldiers that march about Vidin frequently. In this quotation Khristo’s brother has just been beaten to death by these military soldiers.

                “You see, the wise men told each other, to call a landlord a dog prick was to risk a slap in the face for humiliation, a few cold words to chill the blood, and a kick on the backside to send you on your way. That much was tradition. It had happened before. It would happen again. But to say such things to a colonel well, that was another matter altogether, was it not.” (Night Soldiers, 8)

When I began reading this book, there were many thought-provoking lines that just jumped out at me. This line popped out at me and I thought to myself I will read further and find a better thing to do my blog on. To my surprise, this quote entwined itself within the webs of my brain and it would not vacate. This quotation makes a very interesting point as to how an elevation of social status makes criminal activity more acceptable, even if the elevation in status is self-proclaimed and the individual received no training in order to obtain his rank. The quotation begins by pointing out that the wise men of the town were discussing this event. This implies that these men were considered by the town to be a group of a similar calibre to the Pharisees talked about in the bible, outside of the religious implications, which in turn suggests that their opinion is respected and well thought out. The common way of dealing with a loud mouthed boy as outlined by the quotation suggests a slap in the face to humiliate, a few cold words to chill the blood, and a kick on the backside to send him on his way. In that time this form of discipline was common, but in our time this form of discipline is considered outrageous. If any man disciplined a boy for saying something like that to him the parents would likely call it assault and bring it to court. This form of discipline is nothing in comparison to what the man does to the boy only due to a self-proclaimed elevation in status. I find it interesting how the author makes light of the fact that small changes like an upgrade from landlord to colonel can make a man believe he is above the law or that he has more rights than an average human being. It suggests that perhaps we as human beings believe that because we are better off financially or higher up on the ladder in our capitalistic society that we can do things that people who have less power or money could not do in regards to the law. It could also imply that because the antagonist has a militaristic mindset he feels it not too farfetched to kill, considering that is what he will have to do when war comes. Either way the idea is thought provoking.

Cleary, the author is trying to invoke thought on the idea that elevation in social status can make people think and act differently than they would in their previous position. Perhaps we as North Americans can glean understanding in regard to this quotation and reflect on what social status does within our own society.

Bart’s Next Blog!

I read the book The Darkness That Comes Before and I thought to myself, I read 622 pages for one blog? Heck no Techno! I am milking this book for all it’s worth. I will introduce this quotation with sufficient information for you to understand it but if you wish to obtain further background see my other blog at http://barteisen.wordpress.com.  According to the Mandate (a school of sorcerers), an heir of Anasurimbor Celmomas will bring about the apocalypse. They know this because unlike all other schools of sorcerers, the Mandate is connected by dreams of the past. Every night all of the Mandate members dream about their king Anasurimbor Celmomas dying in a major battle against the Consult also known as Scranc. The king’s last words speak of an heir with the last name Anasurimbor and how when the Mandate finds him the apocalypse will come. Well a man named Anasurimbor Kellhus has come on the scene in the land of Momemn, and he has the special ability to read people and manipulate people on a supernatural level, this is due to the fact that Anasurimbor Kellhus believes he has gotten rid of the darkness that comes before, which is a form of human nature that is primarily selfish. In this quotation Anasurimbor Kellhus is speaking to Achamian

                “And yet, Anasurimbor Kellhus was a man who moved the souls of those around him. Speaking with him, Achamian found himself arriving at insights he would scarcely have had otherwise, finding answers to curiosities he’d never before dared to admit-as though his very soul had been at once quickened and opened. According to the commentaries, the philosopher Ajencis had been such a man. And how could a man like Ajencis lie? It was as though Kellhus were himself a living revelation, an exemplar of truth. Achamian found himself trusting him-trusting despite a thousand years of suspicion.”(The Darkness That Comes Before, 507)

What is so interesting about this quote is the fact that Achamian is completely unaware of Anusrimbor Kellhus’ treachery. Through the thoughts of the protagonist, the author has an interesting way of making the reader aware of how horribly deceived Achamian is, due to previous revelation of course. The author begins by showing how the antagonist gains the trust and respect of the protagonist. He does this by saying things like, “Ansurimbor Kellhus was a man who moved the souls of those around him.” In this context souls are of extreme value so it is quite forceful to suggest that this man drove mans’ very depths.  The author illustrates how the protagonist is stretched due to this man’s intellect. Note what he says, “ Achamian found himself arriving at insights he would scarcely have had otherwise, finding answers to curiosities he’d never before dared to admit”   he uses words like insights, and curiosities, as if to bring about this aura of intelligence and mystery within the antagonist, which ultimately sucks Achamian in further. Achamian makes reference to a famous philosopher within the context of the story; this is a way for the author to illustrate the scale as to what the antagonist is being compared. The fact that Achamian is comparing Ansurimbor to a philosopher suggests he is elevating him to a level of superior understanding within their culture. Again, the author demonstrates another example of how Achamian is led to believe that this man is much more than he is, calling Kellhus a living revelation, an exemplar of truth. The author makes the antagonist appear god-like, using interesting language to show how deceived Achamain truly is. Achamian despite his constant fear of anyone under the sun being a member of the consult trusts Anusrimbor. This is seen when the author writes, “Achamian found himself trusting him-trusting despite a thousand years of suspicion.”

Clearly the Achamian is completely sucked in by the manipulative nature of Anusrimbor Kellhus. And the author illustrates this clearly by using language to show the measure of just how deceived Achamian is. The author shows how man can be manipulated and how first hand perception is not everything one must really learn a lot about a person before you should trust them.

Bart’s Blog At last!

 

 

The Darkness That Comes Before is a fantasy book so you will have to bear with the odd names and interesting groups. Hopefully the information given will be sufficient. The entire theme in the book is that a war is coming and certain events occur to suggest an apocalypse to some and a great triumph to others. Basically there are many different groups of people and there is a religion that the general population of many nations agree upon. A certain man named Maithanet becomes the leader of this religion and is called the shirah (which is kind of like a pope in our society) and he calls on all the people of the tusk (which is a holy scriptural artefact that the general population believe is their connection to the gods) and declares a holy war on the people of the No-God. The supposed reason for this call to war was to claim back a holy city for the people of the tusk. And this is where other groups come into play, throughout this fantasy world there are groups of sorcerers called schools that live among the people of the tusk as well as the people of the No-God. The reason these sorcerers can live amongst the common people is because generally the adversary of each school lives amongst the adversary of the common people. The reason the schools are important is because each side needs the schools to defeat each other. But one school sticks out, this school is called the mandate and they are important to learn about because it basically gives way to the underlying reality of the entire book. Sorcerers live much longer than the common people do, so they are aware of how many of the previous civilizations faded away and came to be. The mandate is aware of a group of sorcerers that is not affected by the common peoples charms used to kill the normal sorcerer. Because they were not affected by the charms this group of sorcerers called the consult assimilate into to society and basically control it to its own ends causing the war. Because the consult assimilated so well into society none of the common people or sorcerers believe the consult exist except the mandate. Sometimes, even the mandate doubts the existence of the consult. This is a mandate schoolman named Achamain who is being asked by another mandate schoolman named Nautzera to acquire the use of one who used to belong to the mandate but defected. But Achamain is having trouble deciding between faith and friendship because he has his doubts about the consult because he has never seen any.

“‘Ah, yes. I’d forgotten that you numbered yourself among the sceptics. What is it you say? That we pursue ghosts.’ He held the word in his mouth, as though it were a morsel of questionable food. “I guess, then, you would say that a possibility, that we’re witnessing the No-God’s return, is outweighed by an actuality, the life of a defector- that rolling the dice of apocalypse is worth the pulse of a fool

I love the interesting way Nautzera, in this quotation, describes what a person who has a lack of faith is like. He uses words like “sceptics” and “fool.” Through the character Nautzera the author describes what the sceptics must think of faith by suggesting that it appears that people of faith chase ghosts. He then goes further to suggest a person who abandones the faith is a fool and suggests his life is hardly worth it if this belief that the No-God will return becomes reality. The way the author talks about faith suggests he was in the presence of those who believe as well as those who don’t believe or he knows about faith in his personal life because he clearly reflects knowledge on the subject.  Another interesting implication that is brought forth is the idea that murder is not a big deal in the eyes of this particular believer. The believer implies the possibility of the apocalypse is worth a murder or two. As is seen when he says “that rolling the dice of apocalypse is worth the pulse of a fool.” This idea makes an interesting reference to events that have occurred in the past, and continue to occur in the present. Many have killed and or died for their faith. Some still do kill and die for what they believe. I think it is a possibility that the author is trying to evoke thought as to where the line is as to be drawn for the sake of one’s faith.

I think ultimately the author is trying to get us to think about how faith is perceived by the agnostic as well as the believer by presenting what each group thinks of the other. The author I believe is also trying to get us to reflect upon what lines have and are to be crossed in regards to one’s faith. The idea of faith and consideration of others as far as what we believe is something that we must reflect upon.

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