Thursday, December 18, 2008

Roxanne (movie)

"Roxanne"
Pros:
  • It was quite a bit easier to follow because you had the visual aid of the characters instead of trying to keep them straight in your head. I find a play often hard to follow when being read.
  • It was nice that this rendition was portrayed in a more modern way. It really targeted a more general audience and the emotions were more clearly shown.
  • The comedy is more slapstick, which makes it easier to see the dramatic side of Charlie/ Cyrano.
  • The relationship between Charlie and Roxanne is easier to comprehend ( damsel in distress and firefighter) than two cousins.

Cons:

  • In the film, Roxanne is depicted as a really sweet and naive woman, whereas in the play she seems to be very artificial and shallow. I think the movie gives her way to much credit and innocence.
  • The movie shows Chris/Christian as being in the wrong for leaving Roxanne with the cocktail waitress. I think that he was simply following his heart after realizing that Roxanne wanted more than he could give her.
  • The ending is sort of cheesy in that Roxanne and Cyrano start a relationship immediately which is totally unrealistic. Even though the ending of the play is tragic, it's much more bound to happen in real life where the one you truly love cannot just wait around for you forever until you finally realize him.
  • Steve Martin is a terrific actor. I do however think it's unjust to the movie to depict Charlie/ Cyrano as not only unfortunate looking with his humongous nose, but also as older looking with white hair.

Monday, December 1, 2008

Mike's Cyrano post #2 - "To make myself in all things admirable"

Cyrano tells is best friend that his plan is "to make myself in all things admirable." Does he succeed?

The answer to this is... well, yes and no.

In the way that he lives his life, yes. He fights for what he believes in. He is an inspiration to those around him. Even De Guiche, who was always resentful of Cyrano, admits by the end that he "should be proud to shake [Cyrano's] hand." De Guiche says correctly that Cyrano "lives his life, his own life, his own way - thought word and deed free!" This is really at the heart of Cyrano's character: he is pround, independent, and always does what he himself believes to be right. His honesty and integrity make him some enemies, which is eventually the cause of his death, but at the end of his life he still has his panache, and the respect of many.

However, in one essential case, I don't believe that he makes himself admirable. The way he deals with his and Christian's love for Roxane may have been very well-intentioned, but it was in a sense based on falsehood, fear and shame, ideals for which Cyrano certainly did not want to stand. In order to make Roxane happy, he makes Christian into someone he is not, and he props up their relationship even though in reality it shows no signs of being real or functional. If Cyrano really loved Roxane, he would have told her so, and he would have acted with the integrity and honour on which he based everything else in his life. We forgive Cyrano because he really meant for the best, and because we feel sorry for him, but if Cyrano had only refused to feel shame for his appearance, we wouldn't need to feel that way.

In the end, Cyrano finally tells Roxane the truth. A noble gesture, certainly, but it comes very much too little and too late. He does everything to make Roxane happy, but in the end she has to mourn twice for the loss of her love. Breaking Roxane's heart for a second time is by no definition admirable.

In his life, Cyrano succeeds in making himself admirable in all things except that which is most important to him.

Because this blog is about parking spots

If you are rude enough to drive a giant gas-guzzling monstrosity of a truck, don't be rude enough to park in five parking spaces at once, too.

Jillian's Cyrano poem

The Ice Box - we're doing this method in chemistry and since Roxanne always seems to ice Cyrano out, this title just sort of came to me.



Cyrano, Cyrano why are you so blue

Look what she has done to you

A man of many words and theatrical drama

She has put your heart through inexplicable trauma

Her long dark lashes carelessly block you out

Only for him that she practices her pout

While it is your heart that she truly loves

This fresh young cadet seems to rise above

He lacks intelligence, your deep thought

But it is of these flaws Roxanne thinks not

If only you could escape from behind your large nose

Who knows the situation that would then impose

If she would truly listen for just two moments

You could live selfishly sans the guilt that torments

But instead you live through anothers skin

And in this battle you will never win

For you Cyrano, possess gentle humility and passion

And these traits are always swallowed in an orderly fashion.

Mike's Cyrano post #1

When reading Cyrano de Bergerac and watching the movie, one of the main things I noticed was that I felt sorry for basically all of the characters (except for the little boy in the movie - things went pretty well for him). This makes it hard for me to say whether I would prefer to be in Cyrano's situation or Christian's - they both have it pretty rough. However, I would much prefer to be in Cyrano's position than Christian's.

Christian has the unfortunate position of being in a relationship that is artificially propped up by someone else's words and Roxane's superficial attraction and self-love. His relationship is real, and personally I wouldn't be able to live a lie like that. Even though Roxane's feelings were genuine, Christian was aware that they were not directed at him, except for his looks. The sad part of his relationship is that even when he comes to terms with it, he dies having been told a lie about Roxane's true affections. Arguably, this means that he dies contented, but contentment is not the same thing as the happiness that can be reached by living an honest life. Also, in Christian's position it is a lose-lose situation: he either accepts Roxane's love towards the words of another or he can reject Roxane entirely. Either way, he doesn't get what he wants.

Cyrano, on the other hand, is mostly just frustrating because he could have had Roxane's complete and real love if he had just been a little more honest. It's easy to see how in many places throughout the story, Cyrano could have forced the truth to come out in a tactful way so that he, Christian and Roxane could all be honest with their affections. Roxane was really in love with Cyrano's words much more than Christian's looks, so it would have been relatively easy for Cyrano to come out and tell her the truth. But of course he believes he is doing the right thing and making Roxane happy, so he would never do that. I don't think he really was making her happy. In order to maintain her belief in her love for Christian, he lets her mourn for fifteen years, which is not very conducive to happiness. Instead, it results in Roxane losing the man she loves twice. In his place, I'd like to think I would not have supported her and Christian's false relationship, and I'd like to think that I wouldn't have been able to be so dishonest about my true feelings for Roxane.

Unfortunately, Edmond Rostand obviously wasn't thinking of me when he wrote Cyrano's character.

Sunday, November 30, 2008

Would I Rather Be Cyrano or Christian? - Jillian

Before I can answer that question I'd say it's necessary to recap the situation. Similar to politics, on the right hand side we have Christian. A young strapping lad, he is the traditional glossy print out advertisement we'd probably find flipping a catalogue. He is a young cadet who seems to be experiencing a severe case of spring fever, leaving his love towards Roxanne unsupported by any evidence of pure emotion or intellect. Roxanne however, is captivated by his charm and appearance. The beautiful letters she receives that she believes are from this fairy tale man, only polish him to be more irresistible.

On the left hand side there is Cyrano, a poet and musician, not to mentioned a distant cousin. On paper he seems like less traditional choice, more of a romantic. Unfortunately, the true essence of Cyrano seems to be sealed of from the world by a very "large and in charge" nose. He hides behind his nose, and in turn in, the nose masks his love for Roxanne. His words drift from his pen hooded with a different identity, in fear of recognition. Roxanne regards Cyrano as a big brother, confidant, but as far as romantics are concerned, there is not even a streak of passion.

I have been very "on- the- fence" throughout this novel, trying to make a decision. I'm still not a 100% sure, but I'm leaning towards Cyrano. I think this is because I really hate artificial relationships. There is just not an ounce of raw human emotion between Christian and Roxanne. This is so painfully obvious to readers during the scene where Christian catches Roxanne's eye strolling throughout the town and hides in the shadows. When put in an actual situation with her he has no direction in which to even begin a conversation because he simply does not know who Roxanne is. Christian is granted the graces that esthetics can provide which makes luring Roxanne incredibly easy. However, once alone with her as we can all recall stinging conversation they shared in which Christian simply "loved her". Although Cyrano possesses this unrequited desire towards Roxanne he is honest in his emotion. Not honest in portraying it and making in known, but he releases his love and lets it bleed into his letters uncontrollably and uncensored. The relationship he shares with Roxanne is much more genuine. When they are together at the bakery, Roxanne is guileless and completely comfortable in sharing her childish crush to Cyrano. This is proof that the bond between Roxanne and Cyrano has much more depth and significance than that of her and Christian. I would definitely trade up all the sexual tension and anxiousness for a rich and truthful conversation in which you actually learn something about the other person.

You win in my books Cyrano:)

The roads are clear, back to the normal speed limit!

Should Cyrano have told Roxane earlier that the letters were his? - Iola's Cyrano post # 3

Well, let us consider why he didn't in the first place. He wanted to let her mourn Christian and he didn't want to falsify her experience of reading the letter, by springing something so drastic on her. She probably would have had a heart attack. It would have been unfair to Roxane to so confuse her feelings for Christian just as he was dying - and also, Cyrano had just told Christian Roxane loved him, and maybe he just wanted it to be true. It was good of him to wait, but it wasn't necessarily a good idea to wait forever. Christian was dead, and wouldn't care anymore who Roxane loved, so it could not have been out of respect for his dead friend that Cyrano didn't tell her. The reason could have been this: he was afraid that she would be disappointed on finding out the truth, that she would not love him, and that she would lose her respect for Christian as well. Cyrano was probably afraid it would break her heart too much to find out that what turned into such a perfect, Romeo-and-Juliet style love - pure and innocent because it had been cut off too short - was really all a farce. I still think he should have told her. If she didn't love him, and if she was disillusioned about the nature of the previous relationship - if she was disappointed, maybe she would have matured a little, grown up. I assume that Roxane must have been very young, probably in her teens. She had plenty of time to get over a disappointing first love and go seek greater things. So maybe it was not out of consideration for Roxane that Cyrano didn't tell her. Maybe his motivation was selfish. Cyrano was afraid that the truth would crush him, and he preferred to live in a state of ambiguity, always with the hope that maybe things would have gone his way. I think this is the most likely answer, and this is also why I think it was wrong of him not to tell Roxane. He was not only keeping himself in the dark, but the woman he loved, as well. He was preventing her from going out and living her life with another man, keeping her to himself instead, though in a less satisfying manner than he could have if he had only told her. Though Cyrano was courageous in all other matters, in love he was a coward. He was afraid of the rejection that could come with tearing Roxane's lovely illusion of love with Christian from her. Instead he hoped that maybe she would have answered yes, convincing himself that it was an honourable thing to do. It was neither honourable or smart - had he taken a risk, as he did with so many other things in his life, he would have found that she loved him too, and they both would have lived a much happier life together.

It was cruel to make her lose him twice.

Would I rather be Cyrano or Christian? - Iola's Cyrano blog post #2

It's hard to decide whether I'd rather be Christian or Cyrano, since one of them was gifted with a better situation and one of them was gifted with a better character. I would probably choose the better character, however, in some respects each one would have it easier than the other.

If I were one of the supporters of the "ignorance is bliss" theory, I would say I would rather have been Christian. His life was short and eventful; he died thinking he got the girl. However, I'm not even so sure that he was as ignorant as he appeared. It must have been awful for Christian to climb up to Roxane's window to "reap the rewards" of Cyrano's poetry. If Christian really was incredibly stupid, then maybe it would have been enough for him, but it was obvious throughout the book that he was becoming increasingly upset by the position he was in, and wanted to be honest with the woman he loved. I don't know if he really saw her affections as much of a reward, since they weren't really directed at him. Therefore I think I would rather have been Cyrano. He knew the defect he was born with would probably keep Roxane from loving him, but he made her love him anyway, knowing that Christian had no way of gaining her affections without him. I imagine it would have given him a lot of personal satisfaction to know that he was probably the only man in the world who she could have fallen in love with, even if he thought his nose was too much of an obstacle for it to ever happen. Christian never got this satisfaction, so I think that in love, Cyrano was the more fortunate of the two. Cyrano knew it was on his own merits Roxane's love was being won, while Christian was constantly afraid the only reason she liked him was because of something he was born with, his good looks, and the fact he had someone at his back, helping him woo her.

Did Roxane Deserve Their Love? - Iola's Cyrano post #1

Roxane didn't deserve Cyrano's love. Probably not Christian's, either, actually.

I don't know the nature of all of Cyrano's letters, but I imagine they were all quite alike. I cannot say I had much respect for Cyrano's love - and letter writing - either, but at least he has an excuse. She was the one "dress" who walked through his life. He didn't know how to approach women and she gave him the time of day, sort of. Roxane, however, had no excuse. Feeding such a vain, superficial "love" made it increasingly vain and superficial as it went on, rather than deepening it as she thought she had. Sure, she was really "loyal" (because she never moved on from some guy who wrote her pretty letters when she was sixteen or something, I bet) and she was really PASSIONATE, but it was not about HIM. When he died, the first thing she did was take out the letter he had written to her, and exclaim about the flattering and dramatic blood and tears sprayed over the letter. The first thing she did was see if he had left anything for her. Had Roxane had as much passion for Christian/Cyrano as she did for herself, she would have tried to discover who he was, rather than fawning over the dedication and ardour with which he serenaded her every day, and soon enough she would have discovered that Christian was not Cyrano and Cyrano was not Christian and that she had fallen in love with two very different men at the same time. It's not really possible to deeply care about another human being, to love them, and fail to see them so completely. She just liked the illusion of a 'perfect man' the Cyrano-infused Christian presented - beautiful, brave and poetic. Furthermore, she really liked the idea of this 'perfect man' being perfectly in love with her. It was not perfect love, though. It was the joint obsession of two men who both considered themselves unworthy of a woman's love, and who happily lapped up all the appreciation of a woman they both considered 'perfect' and out of their league. Their main link was that Christian and Cyrano were infatuated with Roxane, and she was too. I wouldn't even call it love. It is unsurprising, then, that they got along so well, but even though I don't think she DESERVED the love she was given, everyone seemed to think she did, so it all worked out.

Thursday, November 27, 2008

HELLO world!

CYR%ANO IS A FUN TIME!

  1. THJIS IS BECAUSE HE IS FUNNY BECAUSe HE HAS A BIG NOSE WHICH MAKE HIIM COMICAL

The final song for Jillian's Cyrano de Bergerac playlist

Alright guys,
I know that a playlist is usually a little longer than just three songs, but i have to move on to other topics unfortunately:( I find this last song just as powerful as the other two, but i think anyone who has ever been in love ( or "like" if it didn't get that far) will be able to relate to it. As we were reading Cyrano, this was actually the first song that came to mind, but I've saved the best for last. This song really describes raw human emotion in it's simplicity, which is exactly what's taking place in this piece. A huge theme that I see in Cyrano is humility.

Definition of humility: a disposition to be humble; a lack of false pride.

This is definitely a quality that Cyrano posesses. He is willing to be love Roxanne through Cyrano's body and live humbley without drawing attention to himself. Anyways, i'll explain more after... here's the song.

Complicated: Carolyn Dawn Johnson
I'm so scared that the way that I feel,
Is written all over my face.
When you walk into the room,
I wanna find a hiding place.
We used to laugh,
we used to hug,
the way that old friends do.
But now, a smile and a touch of your hand,
Just makes me come unglued.
Such a contridiction, do I lie or tell the truth.
Is it fact or fiction,
Oh the way I feel for you.
So complicated,
I'm so frustrated.
I wanna hold you close,
I wanna push you away,
I wanna make you go,
I wanna make you stay.
Should I say it?
Should I tell you how I feel?
Oh, I want you to know.
But then again, I don't.
It's so complicated.
Oh... just when I think I'm under control.
I think I finally got a grip.
Another friend tells me that,
My name is always on your lips.
They say I'm more than just a friend,
they say I must be blind.
Well, I admit that I've seen you watch me from the corner of your eye.
Oh, It's so confusing.
I wish you'd just confess.
But think of what I'd be losing, if your answer wasn't yes.

It think this song also shows a lot of humiltiy. Most people will read this and think, woah! Has Jillian gone mad? But, in truth it does. If you really soak up the song I think you'll realize that the artist is really having internal conflict. She is contemplating breaking up the humbleness she shares with this person, in order to advance their relationship. This creates a lot of turmoil for her. On one side, she feels that this person potentially feels the same way and wants to explore their relationship. On the other side, she fears that the person will not feel the same, and therefore it will wreck everything they have created together when she is rejected. The first verse, "I'm so scared that the way that I feel, is written all over my face..." is exactly what Cyrano must be thinking every time he see's Roxanne. He wonders to himself if she can see through his ploy. The song then goes on to decsribe the previous relationship that the artist shared with the indivdiual as friends. This is much like the relationship that Cyrano and Roxanne shared as children. He is indecisicive as to whether he's willing to jeopardize the precious memories they share in order to bring their relationship closer. It's hard to close this post off on a solid point because the song doesn't really bring her decision to a close either. Even in Cyrano, there is no true conclusion, just that there was this love that Cyrano had wasted for years and years. I guess we can take away a life lesson from both this piece and the song. You can either live your life humbly and safely or more riskily and truthfully. Either way, life is yours to live and it will always be these types of decisions that shape the direction in which life will take you.

Be sure to fill up on gas while the price is still low!
-Jillian

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Christian Cyrano Haiku

These Haiku are my take on Christian and Cyrano's strange situation - in condensed form.
Remember, don't forget to take off your emergency brake!
Rosy
Christian:

Really kind of dull
At least when it comes to girls
Thank god he’s got looks

Look at him, poor guy
His true love thinks he’s all that
But he’s not honest

He really can’t write
Nor speak in her mere presence
Ev’n to save his life

Yet he gets the girl
Dying, he’s wet with her tears
Thinking she loves him

Cyrano

Now there’s a great guy
Who knows his hyperbole
Kind of a jerk though

He likes Christian’s girl
Proof reads his love letters too
In fact he writes them

There’s one small problem
His love thinks he’s someone else
And his nose is huge

He should just come clean
Too bad his self-esteem sucks
Cause he’d get the girl

Jillian's Playslist Cyrano de Bergerac

Insnesitive: Jann Arden

Oh, you probably won’t remember me

It’s probably ancient history

I’m one of the chosen few

Who went ahead and fell for you

I’m out of hope, I’m out of touch

I fell too fast, I feel too much

I thought that you might have

Some advice to give on how to be Insensitive

I really should have known

By the time you drove me home

By the vagueness in your eyes

Your casual good-byes

By the chill in your embrace

The expression on your face

That told me

Maybe You might have some advice to give

On how to be Insensitive



This song is bittersweet like a piece of dark chocolate. I like that analogy because I find that's the best way to describe Cyrano's feelings towards Roxanne. He loves her in the same way you love a painting. You can stare at it all day, admiring it's beauty and delicateness. However, by the end of the day, when the museum closes, the painting will not love you back. It will continue to shine it's glossy colors just the same to the next visitor as it did you. This is how Roxanne returns Cyrano's feelings. She sits and listens to him speak. She lets him decorate her with compliments and smiles back at him with shallow eyes. But whereas Cyrano leaves her with butterflies and sweaty palms, Roxanne continues about her day much unchanged.

The verse highlighted in red shows what I am imagining Cyrano feels. The lyrics speak in a way as though to bring themselves down. To make their relationship less important. "Oh you probably don't remember me, I'm probably ancient history." This is an attempt to hide the vulnerabilty the artist feels, much like Cyrano does as he denies his love for Roxanne. " I fell too fast I feel to much." The artisits attempt yet agin at reversing the situation to put themselves at fault. Again, this is much like Cyrano's conscience reassuring him that it is his own fault that Roxanne is using him for Christian, that he is just too susceptible to her allure.

The verse highlighted in green is the artist scolding herself for not seeing through the masquerade that had been endlessly stringing her along. " I really should have known by the time you drove me home, by the vagueness in your eyes..." She feels naive and pathetic. I think this relates well to Cyrano's letters to Roxanne. He knows how pathetic it is of him to entertain his unrequited love to her in letters, only to be signed by Christian. However, no matter how pathetic his ploy is, he is unable to escape the high that he gets from delivering them. And thus, like Jann Arden he wishes for the same insensitivity to heal his broken heart.

Monday, November 24, 2008

Playlist for Cyrano de Bergerac by:Jillian

Iris: The GOO GOO Dolls
Verse 1
And I'd give up forever to touch you 'cause I know that you feel me somehow
You're the closest to heaven that I'll ever be
And I don't want to go home right now
Verse 2
And all I can taste is this moment
And all I can breathe is your life
Cause sooner or later it's over
I just don't want to miss you tonight
Chorus
And I don't want the world to see me
Cause I don't think that they'd understand
When everything's made to be broken
I just want you to know who I am
Verse 3
And you can't fight the tears that ain't coming
Or the moment of truth in your lies
When everything seems like the movies
Yeah you bleed just to know your alive
I think that this song works really well to describe Cyrano's feelings toward Roxanne.
First verse
Describes his constant longing for her, the unrequited thirst he will always have for her. There is undeniable link in this verse between heaven and the image that Cyrano give's us of Roxanne. This brings truth in how he puts her on a pedestal.
Second verse
I think if we could all isolate ourselves in the moments when Roxanne speaks to Cyrano, these lyrics would be playing in the background. He knows that their precious conversation will be over momentarily, but he just wants to hold on to it as long as he can.
Chorus
This verse is so riveting! My goodness, i'm getting misty eyed just thinkning about it! This verse is like a last desperate cry to be heard. I picture the closing scene when Roxanna realizes all along that it has been Cyrano's soul reflected through the letters. It is in this last scene, when everything falls to shambles that Cyrano throws himself on the line in kind of a take it or leave kind of way.
Third verse
This verse shows my imagined reaction that Roxanne would have in response to the new identity of the letters. The lyric, "the moment of truth in your lies," is so poignant! It shows a true change in heart for Roxanne. I keep thinking holy cow, what the heck would I do if I suddenly found out that my best friend had been in love with me for over a decade, and I haven't found out until he's dying. "... You bleed just to know you're alive..." is probably her pinching herself.

Saturday, November 22, 2008

THIS IS: Mr. Cyrano de Bergerac

Dear All,

A poem! I hope everyone enjoys it.

Watch for patches of black ice!
Rosy

THIS IS: Mr. Cyrano de Bergerac!
Born to be with many knacks,
of which include his words and wit,
the English lit,
a vice to quit
and a tendency towards the most violent fits.

Ah Mr. de Bergerac,
What a pity it is to see you lack,
self esteem
and the smallest of respects
for those inferior to your intellect.

Now Mr. de Bergerac...
You really have a mouth that yaks
To your millions of fans
plus the one with the pan
And a certain girl
of whose name is Roxanne.

But then again, Mr. de Bergerac -
You feel you have no choice but to act
as someone else who has caught her eye.
So you dish out the lies
and swallow your "why"s
for a chance just to write: goodbye!

Poor, poor Mr. de Bergerac.
How ever did things get such out of wack?
For long it may be
Till she will see he
as anything but the mere thought of a "we".

Dear Mr. de Bergerac
You really know just how to hack
at every single opportunity!
You must come clean and step up to tee,
Pray stop, and see your lunacy!

Alas! Mr. de Bergerac...
We finally come to see the facts:
Number one, you cannot always win,
Number two, it's okay to confess all your sins,
Number three, women come in packages more than a dozen,
And never, ever fall in love with your cousin.

Saturday, November 15, 2008

Night Themes by: Rosy

1. "Interplay between fear and foresight when individuals make life altering choices"
- Eliezer's father makes the decision to move on with the camp instead of staying at the hospital where Elie was being treated for his foot
- man who dies stealing soup during the air raid
- lying, saying that he is a farmer when the man asks for his occupation
2. "Personal resourcefulness"
- drinking a spoonful of snow
- lying that he is sick when the doctor wants his gold crown
- moving about so that they will not freeze when they are too cold even to stand up in the cattle wagons
3. "The impact of significant experience on the individual"
- being angry at his father for not knowing how to avoid punishment
- questioning God's existence after the boy is hanged
- when the youth says, "long live liberty. Curse upon Germany" before he is hanged
4. "Responses to circumstances beyond familiar experience."
- Elie considers suicide instead of the crematory as he enters the camp.
- laughing when he discovers Idek sleeping with the Polish woman
- when Juliek plays his violin during the night
5. "The role that self-preservation plays when individuals respond to competing demands."
- a man killing his father for a crust of bread
- running for 42 miles through snow and exhaustion
- when the Rabbi's son abandons his father during the travel to Gleiwitz

Thursday, October 23, 2008

A little more leg room to live

The thing with Night, by Elie Wiesel, is that the story is almost completely unrelatable.

While this concept might not be alien in a book, it is a tad strange to know that Wiesel's words are 100% true - and it's even more strange to look at those words and realize that they are, in fact, exactly that: the truth. Nevertheless, when a person picks up this book, one of the hardest things to do is to desensitize themselves to what is happening in those pages, and so we see that it is still one of the strongest elements that any story can have. In actuality, however, the truth is still the hardest part for me to wrap my head around.

Today in class we talked about acclimatizing. How the SS soldiers acclimatized to the brutality in their jobs, and how the jews acclimatized to life in the midst of death. I can't imagine how it was possible to acclimatize to starvation and exhaustion, yet thousands died trying. I can't imagine a place where one would willingly kill for another crust of bread; a place where one would sigh in relief to realise that your neighbour had died - just because it meant you had a little more leg room.

While it is nearly impossible to discern any underlying themes in a book so shadowed by its story, there is no denying the objects that Elie clings to for survival. His father and their relationship. Every break that the sun makes. There is nowhere for his thoughts to be but towards hope and survival - and what better motif is there than a way of living day to day? Because in a place like that, your soup becomes your lifeline. A piece of bread your only thoughts. Survival literally becomes your only instinct.

But on a lighter note, I'll save you from too much thought-fodder in that I'm likely changing my independant novel. I don't think I'm a fan of talking about hermaphroditism to the masses.

Have a good night and avoid those handicap spaces!
Rosy

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Hello all,

Welcome to Parker's Parking Spot! Mike, Iola, Jill, and Rosy here:) We are the people of the mix matched book club that have finally found eachother. Take a look at the books we're into right now:

Mike: Persuasion
Iola: TBA
Jillian: The Bean Trees
Rosy: Middlesex

We'll take turns chatting about our books since none of us are reading the same one- except "Night," which we will discuss together.
Until next time :)

Practice safe parking!
Jill, Rosy, Iola and Mike.