Just Like Everyone Else

Probably half of the class has chosen this site also, but my favorite site is StumbleUpon. Somehow, I just find it amusing to press the Stumble! button and learn something about the world or strange people that I would have never known without pressing that button. By choosing the topics of sites you would like to see, this site allows you to have some control over what you want to see, making it more enjoyable. This site gives me new interesting information to feed to my friends and make me seem even smarter and more socially aware. Recently, I learned apricots are the healthiest food on Earth. I'd definitely recommend this site to anyone looking for a new online hobby, or just looking to procrastinate!

Memoirs of a Geisha up to pg. 332

I made the assumption last night that nothing else significant could happen in Sayuri's life. Well, these last 30 pages proved me wrong. Chapter twenty- six begins by saying in a round a bout way that General Tottori has become Sayuri's danna. Sayuri realizes that Mother was right when she said "military men don't treat geisha the way aristocrats do." The two always meet at shabby inns, which is unlike the lavish surroundings Sayuri is accustomed to. One day, Sayuri meets a man named Yasuda Akira at a party. She becomes interested in him and he in her. He buys her a cheap kimono, which Mother sells because of its poor quality. Out of angst that evening, Sayuri "hooks up" with Yasuda in a room at the teahouse, promising the maid an indecent sum of money to make sure no one disturbs them. After this engagement, Yasuda is no longer mentioned. However, the book moves on to talk about how Nobu has not contacted Sayuri after she took a danna. She learns which teahouse he now goes to after a young geisha comes to her saying he has treated her badly. She tries to run into him for several weeks until she finally accomplishes her goal and stops him. They take a walk together and Nobu explains that he has lost respect for her because of who her danna is. She tries to tell him she has no control over who is chosen for her, but he doesn't believe her, claiming she must as the daughter of the okiya. After talking it out, there friendship is left in a somewhat awkward spot, since Nobu hasn't said whether or not he would like to be friends still. Anyways, in the past month, Sayuri has earned more than Pumpkin and Hatsumomo combined, so Mother says it is time for Sayuri to take the larger room upstairs and trade with Hatsumomo. While moving her stuff, though, Sayuri returns to her new room to find Hatsumomo at her mirror, reading her private diary. Hatsumomo is drunk and threatens to show Mother the diary if Sayuri tries to take it from her, which is bad because it tells about all the feelings Sayuri has toward all the men in her life, plus Mother. On Hatsumomo's way out of Sayuri's new room with her diary, Hatsumomo accidentally cuts her foot on broken glass and has to hop down to her new room to bandage herself. Sayuri comes down to her new room in hopes to catch her off guard and take back the diary. When she opens Hatsumomo's door, she sees the obi brooch she was accused of stealing from Hatsumomo years earlier. She decides to take it, and the diary from Hatsumomo, catching her off guard. She quickly hides the diary in a kimono room before Hatsumomo can see then rushes into her room and opens and closes her drawers, pretending to stash the diary in them. Hatsumomo comes out of her room and both girls go to Mother's room to tell on the other. Sayuri shows mother the brooch, proving she never stole it, and Hatsumomo tells Mother about the diary. This prompts Mother to make Hatsumomo show her the diary since Sayuri denies knowing anything about a diary. When Hatsumomo is unable to find the diary, Mother says she will pay back Sayuri for the brooch charges and pay for new tatami mats that her foot blood has stained. This pleases Sayuri, but she is not through with torturing her yet. Mameha and Sayuri follow her to a party thrown by a very close friend of her, Bajiru- san. There Mameha shows up Hatsumomo when Bajiru asks her to perform a dance, then playfully kisses her all over the face. This angers Hatsumomo very much since Mameha took away Bajiru's attention during almost all of the party. After seeing her anger, Mameha prompts Bajiru into kissing Hatsumomo the same way in front of everyone, and he cannot turn down her request. However, Hatsumomo makes a fool of herself when she bites Bajiru- san out of angst and makes him bleed. He calls her a monster and she is thrown out of the teahouse once she tries to beat Bajiru up. Mother kicks her out of the okiya, and Sayuri hasn't seen her since. She's heard of her becoming a prostitute, but she thinks she drank herself to death.

This section makes me realize how much Sayuri has changed throughout the novel. She has become almost like Hatsumomo, playing her own evil tricks on those who have done her wrong. She has been led by Mameha in this, though, so I suppose I can't blame her. Mameha is trying to make Sayuri self-supportive, even though she is always there to give Sayuri advice and talk to her about her feelings. I think Sayuri's life will get more interesting now that the main part of World War II is coming. I'm very interested to find out how the atomic bomb impacted her life at the time, and how she has gotten to America, which she hints at saying she lives in New York now.

Memoirs of a Geisha up to pg. 303

Since last night, I've read twenty more pages of the novel. Similar to the last entry I made, I can't do much more than give a short summary of what happened. It's not because of how short this last section was, it's mainly because this last section had few big events to describe. The first event was Sayuri's mizuage. Sayuri and Doctor Crab are bound as mizuage partners. And they spend a night together at an inn...which is extremely awkward for Sayuri. There are basic reasons why you can guess it'd be awkward for her. But what makes it worse is that the Doctor says he will collect the blood from it...creeper? I think so. anyways, after it is over, they leave the inn in the morning, and the Doctor gives her herbs towill avoid pregnancy. Since her mizuage, Sayrui wears a new hairstyle, and notices other geisha who have the new hairstyle and thinks lower of the girls who have not yet had their mizuage. Also since her mizuage, Mother has put a stop to Hatsumomo's tormenting Sayuri. Another event that has occured is that Nobu has asked to be Sayuri's danna. Sayuri does not want this though since she does not share the feelings with Nobu and this would ruin her chances of being the Chairman's danna. She expresses these feelings to Mameha, who says she is in no place to be choosy with who her danna will be. Also, she hints she is not happy with the Baron. Sayrui becomes a full geisha and makes many observations about geisha during this section, and makes many realizations about life, especially when she entertains the men in the military. They talk about all the things at war, and after hoping these things will lessen her suffering after learning she will not be able to be with the Chairman, she realizes they just make her realize how selfish her suffering is. Later on, Mameha tries to collect her money from the bet she made with Mother about Sayuri paying off her debts before she is twenty, but Mother tries to get herself out of paying the full amount of money. Sayuri takes Mameha's side, though, instead of Mother's, which pays off because Mameha tries to convince Mother to make a man named General Tottori become Sayuri's danna, instead of Nobu, since she knows Sayuri does not want to be with Nobu.

This section was pretty meaningful to me, especially since I understood Sayuri's feelings even more. She exposes her thoughts even more in this section, which gives reasoning for her selfish actions. I can't help but think I would do the same thing in her situation, which makes me relate to her even more. Sayuri's life is almost fully developed now, even though she is only eighteen. From what she has explained about a geisha's life so far, I can't see anything exciting happening anytime after she finds out who her first danna will be. But I guess I'll have to keep reading to find out!

In the spirit of my Japanese story, I went to the Japanese restaurant, Sakura, last night. Well, it wasn't really in the spirit of my book. My best friend and I were just really in the mood for sushi. But I thought I'd post about it since it's related to my book. This is what I ordered: a California Roll, a Sake (Salmon) Roll, and one piece of uni sushi (the orange thing in the corner). Both rolls were great, but the uni was probably one of the weirdest and most disgusting things I've ever eaten! It tasted like sea water and had a gross texture :(

Memoirs of a Geisha up to pg. 280

I feel like a lot has happened in these past 80 pages, but that it would be near impossible to explain it all in one clear post as thoroughly as I could. So unlike the last few posts I've had, here's my attempt at a brief summary of chapters 18 through 24...or at least half of 24. I stopped half way, because it is right before Sayuri's mizuage. I know what you're probably asking right now...what's a mizuage? As awkward a this part of the novel may be, it's when the geisha loses her virginity. However, men bid thousands of Yen to be the first "eel to explore a cave" as Mameha explains to Sayuri. Mizuage is the most important part of this whole section because all the events that took place during this time had something to do with her mizuage. I learned Mameha's plan to take down Hatsumomo in this section; to get two men, Nobu and a Doctor, to take an interest in Sayuri, to the point where they would bid so extravagantly for her mizuage that Sayuri would bring in enough money to pay off her debts to the okiya, which would cause Mother to adopt her instead of Pumpkin, and which would put Sayuri in a higher authority than Hatsumomo in the okiya, since she is an actual family member. Mameha's plan worked, although there was a slight variable she had not suspected. Mameha's danna, the Baron, took an interest in Sayuri, after Mameha could not attend a party and he requested her presence instead. After all his guests had left, he asked Sayuri to stay. He gave her one of his most beautiful kimono from his collection, and then took her into his room and undressed her. This prompted him to bid on her mizuage, which rose the price even higher than Mameha's was. Mameha is a little disheartened at this, but still strives to make Sayuri successful.

That's about the shortest summary I can give. In case you are wondering, yes, I did leave out some small exciting events. But it's only to prompt you to read the novel yourself. My summaries don't do the book any justice. I love to read it, just because of how well I understand it. The imagery is so vivid, I feel like I am a fly on every wall in Sayuri's life. I feel as though I am well acquainted with all the different characters she brings into her story. And that's what I've decided I like most about the book. I'm kept so engaged I can hardly stop reading. Not many books are that powerful.

More Memoirs...up to pg 208

I'm still in love with the book. The past 50 pages or so, though, are pretty hard to summarize in a way that expresses how appealing they were to read. To sum up the chapters, Pumpkin has made her debut and became a novice geisha. Her name was changed to Hatsumiyo, but everyone still calls her Pumpkin. Pumpkin's debut makes Chiyo afraid that Pumpkin will become more successgul than her since she is starting earlier. Pumpkin can now attend parties and events with Hatsumomo, while Mameha only takes Chiyo on errands. After a while of waiting on making her debut though, Chiyo realizes that Mameha does this to make sure Chiyo becomes well known before her debut. Finally a date is chosen for her debut according to the almanac, which predicts favorable days for certain events. To prepare for her debut, Chiyo must get her hair styled, which she describes as an extremely painful experience. On the day of her debut, and when she and Mameha are bound as "sisters," and her name is changed to Sayuri. Sayuri feels exhausted that evening, but Mameha still takes her out to a party. At this party, Sayuri comes into contact with men whom she must entertain. She sits quietly and introduces herself as instructed and listens to the older geisha joke around. But then Hatsumomo comes in with Pumpkin, and Hatsumomo tries to embarrass Sayuri in front of the men to give her a bad name. However, Sayuri cleverly outsmarts her and makes a fool of Hatsumomo which delights the men. After this though, Hatsumomo sets out to sabotage her reputation by going to all the same parties as Mameha and Sayuri and spreading rumors about her. Mameha tries to avoid this by not going to parties. Finally, she chooses to take Sayuri to a Sumo fight. There, Sayuri comes into contact with the Chairman again...bringing up past emotions and memories. She tries very hard to impress him and an associate of his at the Sumo match. The associate is serious about Sumo and explains everything about it to Sayuri as they watch the event. Unforunately, Hatsumomo shows up at this event too, and Mameha tells Sayuri to make it look like she's interested in the associate, which might make Hatsumomo avoid embarrassing her. After the evening though, Mameha says she has come up with a brilliant plan to take down Hatsumomo, but she refuses to tell Sayuri what it is.

These chapters have been pretty eventful for Sayuri. She is even closer to her goal of becoming an accomplished geisha, even if Hatsumomo is jeopardizing her chances of being well- known. I felt like I could almost relate this section to my life. Sayuri is very concerned with associating with many men, which she knows will bring her great success later on if she has a good reputation. In a similar way, in school I find myself trying to associate with people, either to make connections that will help me out if I need to cut someone in the lunch line, or walk down the hall with someone, so I don't look so lonely. Or sometimes I even talk to people thinking that it will improve my "social status" if I'm seen with them. For whatever reason, I often find myself in a situation like ones Sayuri finds herself in where I need to be "fake" to improve my appearance. After reading this section, I've come to that realization, and I'm sure many other people can relate to this. Aside from that, I haven't learned many other things about life from the book, but I'm still really enjoying reading it.

Memoirs of a Geisha up to pg. 154

Since the last post on this novel, I've read about 50 more pages into the story. Chiyo has still been confined to the okiya and has been taken out of her lessons at the school. Two years have passed since her failed escape and the letter from Mr. Tanaka. Now, Chiyo is trusted to leave the okiya and go on errands. She is sent one day to the school to ask Hatsumomo about the mysterious hair ornaments she brought home the previous night. Auntie suspected they were another girl's, which is gross to her since geisha don't wash their hair often. Chiyo takes the hair ornaments to the school, finds Hatsumomo, who ends up insulting her, and realizes how badly she wants to be a geisha. On her way back, she sits up against a wall and cries after seeing so many geisha and men in suits with so much purpose to her life, realizing as a maid she will never have purpose. While she is crying, a man comes up to her and asks what is wrong. A geisha and two men accompany him, and the geisha jokes about how he, a Chairman, should not waste his time on a maid. He defends Chiyo, saying she is beautiful and has the geisha taken to the performance by the two men. This man turns out to be a chairman of some sort, and is very kind to Chiyo. He gives her a coin in his handkerchief and says to buy a shaved ice because he would have wanted one when he was younger. She buys herself a shaved ice and is left with much change, which she decides to throw into the offeratory box and prays that she will become a geisha somehow. Afterwards, Granny dies and the house is made up for almost all of Kyoto to come and pay their respects. One of the people that comes is Mameha, one of the most well- known geisha in Japan and also the woman who owned the kimono that Chiyo wrote on with ink. Upon leaving, Mameha notices how beautiful Chiyo is and compliments her for her eyes. Chiyo's prayers are answered when Mameha orders Chiyo to come to her apartment. Mameha hints that she wants to take Chiyo under her wing as her "younger sister," or apprentice geisha. Chiyo is very excited by this but Mameha says she must not tell anyone about it. Finally weeks later, Mameha comes to the okiya to talk to Mother about taking Chiyo as her younger sister. Mother is very surprised by this because of how great Chiyo's debts are. Nonetheless, the two make a bet and Chiyo restarts her training as Mameha's younger sister. This causes a greater rivalry though between Mameha and Hatsumomo, who were already rivals, as Hatsumomo tries to make her younger sister, Pumpkin (who is a friend of Chiyo's at the okiya), even better than Chiyo. Hatsumomo plays even more tricks on Chiyo but Mameha protects Chiyo. Chiyo is very determined to become a great geisha, and tries very hard at her studies, pushed along by the thought of someone like the Chairman admiring her someday as a successfu geisha.

This section really kept me reading with all the events that happen. I'm very pleased that Chiyo's prayers were answered and she can now become a geisha. That is, if she can keep up her determination to succeed. Meeting the Chairman was the sign and the push she needed to straighten out her life and turn it into the right direction. I feel bad for her, though, because through the rivalry she has lost her friend Pumpkin and is basically being used to settle a dispute with another geisha. Even so, this will lead her to success. She keeps mentioning the Chairman though, so I have to wonder if he may turn up again...

All the Pretty Horses beginning of part II to pg 132

This section started out pretty confusing to me. I understand that Rawlins and John Grady work on the ranch now, and were sent to inspect the horses and want to break them in before 4 days are up. However, I was pretty unclear about how the horses were "broken." There were many terms used that I was unclear on and Im sure other readers were too. I didn't understand why McCarthy chose to add these descriptions in this part when they'd be so confusing to the majority of readers. Because of my confusion it was a struggle to read this part because I had so much trouble interpreting what was happening. Afterwards though, I understood that the two had a conversation with Don Hector, the hacendado. During this talk, John Grady and the hacendado discuss different types of horses on the ranch, and John Grady impresses the hacendado with his vast knowledge of horses. At the end of the talk, the hacendado says "come, I will show you some horses." and the section breaks off. In the next section, Rawlins mentions an opportunity for John. The opportunity is never mentioned in this little section. But I guessed it was a promotion sort of thing. In the section after that it again talks about John Grady and horses which I found boring, but Alejandra is mentioned, the daughter of Don Hector. Rawlins talks to John Grady about her and how she goes to a prep school in Mexico City. Sunday afternoon, the two go to La Vega and, realizing they have a good deal of money, decide to buy some clothes and a black pair of boots for Rawlins, which he seems to disapprove of. The section that I read concludes with a little bit of excitement, when John Grady adn Alejandra dance together in La Vega. He seems to have a thing for her, calling her pretty and such. But after the dance, he goes back to talking about horses with Don Hector, which was boring again. After this though, he again talks to Alejandra, who convinces him to let her ride an unsaddled horse. He thinks he will get in trouble but she says he already is in trouble. The last time he sees her before she goes back to Mexico City she is riding out of the mountains on the horse, and he describes her as a real rider on a real horse, but says she is still just a dream to him.

This section was pretty boring to me overall. I hope the book will get more exciting from here, maybe even adding in what happened to Blevins. I'm still curious to know what happened to him, if he was caught and killed or not, so I hope we learn eventually. As for Rawlins, I hope he doesn't get too jealous of John Grady's new obsession with Alejandra and the promotion thing I'm assuming he took. I also wonder how Don Hector will feel if he ever finds out John has a thing for his daughter. I guess I'll have to keep reading to find out!

Memoirs of a Geisha up to pg. 104

I've read through chapter 8 of this book now, and this last chapter almost made me cry. Since my last post where Chiyo-chan was told where her sister is staying, Chiyo-chan was told to take an instrument called a shamisen to Hatsumomo at a teahouse late at night. Chiyo-chan decides this is the perfect opportunity to find her sister since she is already out of the okiya. After bringing Hatsumomo the shamisen, she asks a maid how to get to the place Hatsumomo said her sister was at and follows the maid's directions. While walking around the town where she hopes her sister may be, Chiyo sees young women outside, who she thinks to be geisha because of their kimono and hair ornaments, but finds out are prostitutes because their obi (something that ties around their waist) are tied in the front instead of the back. She finds the place Hatsumomo named and asks two old women at the door if her sister, Satsu, is living there. They say no at first, and after much persistance on Chiyo's part, they give in, saying Chiyo must be a liar because if Satsu was as pretty as her, they'd have many more customers. I assumed at this point Satsu has become a prostitute. Chiyo finally gets the women to call down Satsu, but the women say she is busy with a customer so Chiyo must wait. Satsu comes down and the two reunite tearfully. Satsu says she is going to escape in a week and the two plan to meet at a certain spot. Chiyo leaves and returns to the okiya where she accidentally spies on Hatsumomo and her boyfriend. Hatsumomo's boyfriend is very angered and leaves, making Hatsumomo mad at Chiyo. Hatsumomo once again tries to ruin Chiyo's life by giving her money to escape (since she knows she met with her sister) but then brings her up to Mother's room claiming that Chiyo stole a brooch from her and sold it to a mysterious man. Chiyo says it wasn't true and that Hatsumomo had her boyfriend at the okiya. For this, Chiyo is in trouble for "stealing the brooch," Hatsumomo is punished for bringing a boyfriend, her boyfriend never sees her again because he is not allowed at the okiya anymore and has a wife, the maids do not receive their dried fish for allowing Hatsumomo to have her boyfriend at the okiya and the front door of the okiya is now locked at all times. This makes Chiyo's plan to escape much more difficult. Now, she decides to escape through the roof. In doing this, she falls into the courtyard of another okiya and women there bring her to her house after knocking on neighboring houses to find where she belongs. For trying to escape and breaking her arm, Chiyo is again beat, along with the other young girl at the okiya who was watching over the doorway but did not see her escape. Everyone at the okiya ignores Chiyo now. One day a package comes for her from Mr. Tanaka. He sends her the tiny mortuary tablets that were once at the alter in her home, plus two newer ones she does not recognize. In the letter, Mr. Tanaka explains that 6 weeks after Chiyo left, her mother passed away and weeks after her father did too. He also says that her sister came through the village and left with a young boy in the village. Mr. Tanaka says the boy's father misses his son and says to contact him if she ever finds her sister. Chiyo is very upset after having the letter read to her, and has lost all hope of being reunited with her family. Auntie, who read her the letter, says she must keep the tablets with her, for they are all that's left of her childhood.

After this section, I feel even worse for Chiyo. I know I would not have been able to survive in this situaiton. I hope that someday she will reunite with her sister, but now I feel like it will be impossible. I think from now on Chiyo will give up on rebelling and accept becoming a geisha. This seems like the only logical thing for her to do since she has no way out of the okiya. The book keeps getting better as more excitement is added to Chiyo's life.

Poetry Analysis

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/archive/poem.html?id=171619

The poem "'Hope' is the thing with feathers" by Emily Dickinson was my favorite poem recited in class last week. Dickinson personifies hope, giving it the qualities of a bird. This "bird" is found in a person's soul, and never goes away. Dickinson's second stanza says:

And sweetest - in the Gale - is heard -
And sore must be the storm -
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm -

which states that hope is sweetest when it is heard in the heavy winds, or when times are rough. The next line says that a powerful event only can shame the hope which nurtures so many people. In the last stanze, Dickinson concludes that even though hope has been there for her through thick and thin, it has never asked anything from her; the bird has never asked a crumb of her.

Memoirs of a Geisha up to pg. 78

Since yesterday's post on Memoirs of a Geisha, I've read two more chapters of the novel. Chiyo-chan has been sent to school and was registered by Hatsumomo as a student. Her teachers can see that she will be a very beautiful and smart student because of how much "water is in her personality." I also learned more about the way geisha live, the competition between geisha, and their expensive kimono. Unfortunately, Hatsumomo is still tormenting Chiyo-chan, and plays a horrible prank on her that gets her in a lot of trouble. Hatsumomo deviously gets a kimono from one of the best geisha, comes home drunk with a friend, and makes Chiyo-chan write on the precious silk with ink and return the kimono to the okiya (house where the geisha live) that Mameha (the one who the kimono belongs to) lives in. Chiyo-chan must obey Hatsumomo in order to learn more about her sister's whereabouts and also she must please the geisha of the house. Granny and Mother have learned of the prank, and punish Chiyo-chan for it because the ink was put on the kimono with her hand. Auntie sees this as unfair and says she will beat Chiyo-chan herself. Before doing so, she warns Chiyo-chan against trusting Hatsumomo. After her beating, Hatsumomo finally tells Chiyo-chan where her sister is. But to avoid spoiling the book for future potential readers, I'll leave out the location.

I still love the book. Chiyo-chan's adventures become more and more interesting the longer she stays at the okiya and gets more training on becoming a geisha. I'd still love to know if Chiyo-chan will go look for her sister so that they can run away together, but I guess I'll have to keep reading to find out!

Memoirs of a Geisha up to pg. 51

Since Everything is Illuminated wasn't really my type of book, I decided to start reading a different novel, Memoirs of a Geisha, by Arthur Golden. This book is really interesting to me so far, especially because I love to read autobiographies. I like this one more, though, because it is told by a Japanese woman, who starts off her story with how she became a geisha. She wasn't born and raised to be one. Her mother is dying of bone cancer and her father is very old. A rich man in their small village, Mr. Tanaka, who owns the Japan Coastal Seafood Company, helps Chiyo-chan (the geisha to be) after she has fallen on her face in the village. He notices her peculiar eyes, as they are not brown like everyone else's, but grayish blue, like her mother's. He talks to her about how her mother is becoming very ill and her father very old. He also compliments her for how beautiful she is. Chiyo-chan has her mind set on Mr. Tanaka adopting her and her sister since her parents will die soon, and she is content with this. However, Mr. Tanaka does not plan on adopting them and has an old woman come and examine them. Then one day Chiyo-chan and her sister are called to the village to see Mr. Tanaka, who sends them away with a mean man. This man takes them to Kyoto, a large city Chiyo-chan has never even dreamed of. In the city, Chiyo-chan and her sister are separated, and Chiyo-chan soon learns she is at an okiya, where geisha live. No one at the okiya tells her about what has become of her sister. Mother and Granny, the two women who primarily run the okiya are older and ugly, as Chiyo-chan describes them. Granny is a mean lady, but Mother is nice to Chiyo-chan. Auntie, the first woman Chiyo-chan meets at the okiya cares for Chiyo-chan, offering her secrets on how to succeed and become a geisha. The only geisha in the house, Hatsumomo, is mean to Chiyo-chan, and where I stopped reading for now has recenetly slapped her for not leaving her room. Chiyo-chan tries hard to behave and do what the women say so that she may start her training and hopefully reunite with her sister.

I really like the novel so far, and would read more tonight if I didn't have to go to bed early since I am taking the SAT tomorrow. The story intrigues me as I wonder what will happen next to the poor nine-year-old. I think it would be a pretty tragic experience to have both your parents be dying, then be taken from your home, have your hopes shattered and be separated from your only sister. Even though Chiyo-chan's story is completely invented, I still feel bad for this poor girl I feel close to after knowing what she's feeling and experiencing. Since the story is told as a memoir, the narrator adds commentary hinting at how certain events impacted her later on in life. This is a really good novel so far that I'd recommend to anyone who likes autobiographies.

What did you do on your cancellation?

I watched spongebob and made brownies with my bff :)

All the Pretty Horses Questions (chronological order)

Character 1. What is the strangest thing Blevins has ever eaten?
Character 2. Where is Blevins from?
Character 3. How old is Rawlins?
Character 4. What happened to Blevins the first time he ran away that made him go back home?
Character 5. What happened to Blevins's father?
Action 6. Why does Blevins fall off his horse?
Character 7. What makes Blevins so afraid of thunderstorms?
Action 8. How does Blevins try to escape the upcoming thunderstorm?
Action 9. What happens to Blevins's horse during the storm?
Idea 10. What do the workers that the three run into want to do with Blevins?
Action 11. Where do the guys find/see Blevins's pistol?
Character 12. What is John Grady's reason behind not leaving Blevins?
Action 13. Who gets Blevins's horse back?
Action 14. What happens when Blevins's horse is taken from the house where the three found it?
Character 15. What does Blevins telling Rawlins and John Grady to get off the road so that they wont be hunted by the men after Blevins say about Blevins's feelings toward Rawlins and John Grady?
Setting 16. What does Rawlins think about the people in the part of Mexico they are in?
Idea 17. What does Rawlins compare a good looking horse to?
Action 18. What animal does Rawlins shoot and kill for him and John Grady to eat?
Character 19. What do we learn about Rawlins when he says "I dont want to see nothin bad happen to him"?
Setting 20. Where do Rawlins and John Grady end up at the end of part I?

Finishing Up the Illumination...168 pages

From my last post, I've read much more of the novel. The book has gotten really good, as a mysterious reference was made to Grandfather's past. It made me feel the need to read on until I knew exactly what Grandfather had been hiding. As Alex, Grandfather, Jonathan and the dog are travelling Ukraine, which is the main story of the book, I learned more and more about each character and their past. The story Jonathan is writing is also continued, however, the story combines realistic events with events that make me question whether or not he is really recounting his past through his first known ancestor. For those of you who would rather read the book and find out what happens, stop reading here. The three men finally find the woman in the photograph, Augustine, while looking for the city Trachimbrod which everyone they encounter claims to have never heard of. The woman is confusing and claims she is actually not Augustine, then takes out photographs and upsets Grandfather. The whole scene is pretty confusing, but the woman agrees to take them to the city, Trachimbrod, that they're searching for but that she insists does not exist. The novel then switches back to the perspective of the story Jonathan is writing. Previously in the story, I read about Jonathan's grandfather who is about to be married, but is in love with another woman. The woman is mysterious until I learned she is the younger sister of his new wife, who he sleeps with DURING his wedding reception...What a jerk. Anyways, the last chapter I read I found very strange and somewhat confusing. The chapter continues with Safran, Jonathan's grandfather, not being ashamed of cheating on his new wife with her sister. It also talks about how he was malnourished as a child, which lead him to have one arm shorter than the other. This deformity made him lucky, in that he avoided being drafted for the army, boarding a ship of immigrants that is later sent to a death camp and many other unfortunate situations. I stopped here because I felt like the story was only getting more strange, and I did not desire to read on. However, if this is the kind of book you think you would be interested in, go for it and enjoy the well written novel!

More Illumination

I've been reading more of the book Everything is Illuminated, and as you may have noticed by the time I am posting this, I haven't been able to put it down. I'll admit it was a little confusing at first because I wasn't sure why the story kept seperating into different parts. It started with Alex's biography, as I stated in the last post, and switches between letters to Jonathan from Alex and a story about a Jewish town and its people back in the 1700s. After I realized what was going on, I understood how everything fit together. Now that I can understand the story better it's become way more interesting, as I need to keep reading on to find out the bits of the story I don't quite understand. I really like the way Foer has arranged the story, because it intrigues me to keep reading and keeps me guessing on what vital information I'll learn in each chapter. Speaking of chapters, each chapter is so cleverly named I feel myself saying "ohh I get it now" after I finish each chapter. It hints as to what will happen in each chapter. But the titles don't make sense until after you read the chapter since they use, for lack of a better word, synonyms to tell the reader what event will take place. That's all I've got to say about the book for now!

All the Pretty Horses pg.30- 59

Since my last post on this book, I've read the next passage, which was unusually longer than the last passages in the book. This segment of the book covered Rawlins and Cole's journey away from San Angelo. I learned the two are on their way to Mexico and have picked up a teenage boy. This boy, Blevins, possesses a magnificent horse that Rawlins doubts he owns. Rawlins and Cole found the boy following them and decided to learn more about him, in case he was dangerous. Rawlins is harsh toward the boy, doubting everything Blevins tells him. Blevins tries to prove himself to the men, showing them his pistol and that he can use it correctly. When the three come upon a home owned by a Mexican family, they are invited in by the hospitable people, who offer them dinner and a place to stay the night. During dinner, Blevins falls backwards and leaves the house from embarrassment. The next morning when Rawlins and Cole look outside for the boy, they can't find him. They move on anyways and after riding for a while they find Blevins again. The three keep riding reunited and the passage ends with them resting by a fire. Rawlins is telling Blevins that Cole is the best rider in the world. Blevins thinks Rawlins is only pulling his leg, which he is. Cole tries to defend Blevins, because he feels bad for the defenseless boy. This scene portrays all of their personalities and the relationships between each of them.

I'm still confused with the profuse use of pronouns and the lack of quotation marks, but I like the story so far. McCarthy describes every scene of the book so completely that I feel as though I too am with the men traveling through Mexico. That's probably my favorite part of the book and McCarthy's writing style, because unlike most novels, the reader is involved in the story and not just reading a plot. I'm excited to keep reading!

Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer

I’ve just started the book Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer. The first chapter of the novel impressed me with the realistic language of the assumed storyteller. However, after reading on to the next two chapters, I was a little confused as the story shifted to two centuries earlier; the beginning of the storyteller’s family history. In the first chapter, the story teller, Alexander Perchov, explains to the reader his family, the nicknames he is given and the nicknames he gives his family, his Ukrainian background, and about his lifestyle. After doing this, though, his father briefly mentions a planned event for Alex to take part in because he can speak English well, and leaving the reader questioning what is about to happen, Foer skips on to the next chapter. In this chapter and the one following, Perchov’s strange family history is explained, as his great- great- great- great... great grandmother was found in a river after her parents’ carriage mysteriously crashed into the river and the parents were never found. The baby girl was taken into the home of the rabbi, who later gave the baby to a man who had been present when she was found. The chapter ends here and it looks as though the next chapter starts with a letter to a new character. This interesting start to the novel makes me excited to keep reading on to find out what other exciting events will take place!

All the Pretty Horses up to pg.30

I found myself lost in the first ten pages or so of the novel All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy. The author chose to develop a scene with a mysterious character who we know little about, as he is only referred to with pronouns after his name, John Grady Cole, is briefly mentioned. A funeral and a meeting at a restaurant are described, although we are not told who has died. Before turning to sparknotes to get a better understanding of these events, I decided to read on, intrigued by the author's arrangement of the story. The next twenty paged indirectly filled me in on the key parts of the story I was missing. I grew closer to John Grady Cole as I learned more about his life. Please correct me if I am wrong, but this is how I have interpreted the first thirty pages of the novel:

His mother has divorced his father, although netiher parent informed him of their legal seperation. Cole's grandfather was the man buried at the somber funeral. His mother has gone off to San Antonio to fulfill her dreams of acting in a play in the big city, and is with another man. The ranch John lives in is owned by his mother since his grandfather, the previous owner, has passed away. Although he loves the ranch, his mother is selling the old place so she can move on with her life. John feels the need to escape this miserable setting, seeing as San Angelo cannot offer him much, so he takes off to an unknown destination with his friend, Rawlins.

Although McCarthy's writing style is rough, eliminating quotation marks for dialogue, the author includes beautiful imagery to set the scene for a touching story. Any reader, cowboy or not, can understand and relate to Cole's desire to escape his troubesome situation and start over somewhere new, where he can be free.