I am really excited for this school year for quite a number of reasons, one big one being that, finally finished with all basic math, science, etc. requirements, I am now free to take literature classes! I chose US Latino Literature, The Psychological Novel, and The American Crisis Poem. I also am taking a very awesome rhetoric class focused on Disney films, as well as philosophy/theory of knowledge class for my Honors college. The US Latino class, in my opinion, has the best reading assignment: The Brief Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao, by Junot Diaz. Though I've already read this novel in the past couple of years, I couldn't be more excited to read it again. Not be redundant when I start it again for class, I won't go into the great novel now-- suffice it to say I am pumped. The last thing I will say about this class is that I love the idea it's based on: words have no fixed meaning, and the existence of multiple languages and even dialects are proof of the narrow limits of words. Being a lover of language, of the ways authors and poets can manipulate words and craft sentences to play with meaning...I know this class is going to be good.
The Psychological Novel, contrary to the name, will focus more on novellas and short stories such as Conrad's Heart of Darkness. I am excited for this class not necessarily because of any specific readings, and not even because I love literature that focuses on the workings of the mind, but because my professor is basing the class on the teachings of Jung! I feel like I couldn't learn enough about Jung, and the prospect of properly learning how to apply a Jungian lens to a text is extremely exciting and fun. I was in my senior year in high school when, thanks to my wonderful AP Literature teacher, I started realizing how badly I wanted to study archetypes (then again, all the reading I do probably amounts to something like that). I don't know what it is about Jungian theory that the whenever I'm exposed to it, and as I better understand it, my brain screams "Yes! Yes! Yes!" So, I'm looking forward to that.
My favorite text of all the classes, though, is the one for Rhetoric of Disney class: The Gospel According to Disney: Faith, Trust and Pixie Dust, by Mark Pinsky. The book goes movie by movie (yes, all of our favorites are there!!) talking about the ways in which Walt Disney managed to so fully capture and shape the minds of children and parents alike. I will be writing about my experiences with my classes and their readings, along with my personal reads. It is only fair, considering this is a place of books...including school books!
Now, to my real favorite. Really loyal readers will remember my month-long expedition into Pynchon's Against the Day, (clicking there will take you to my first post on ATD, but not my only one) which I loved so much I quickly read V. next! This will be my third time starting Gravity's Rainbow, which to me seems his most difficult (though still accessible!) novel, at least of the three I've read. I'm only 50 pages in this time around, but I think I'll manage to get through it. It's just sobfrustrating to read, not because I can't understand, but because there's so much in ever page, paragraph, sentence that I worry I'll miss even a word...It's so grand. No setting I find myself reading in is good enough, because I am always so aware that I'm not in the book, in Pynchon's mind! I want to read everything over and over, delight in his writing, which I would be inclined to call extremely poetic prose.
There's an aspect in the writing of Gravity's Rainbow that I remember loving in V. and ATD. Pynchon is clearly very, very smart; the advanced mathematics and physics in Against the Day is just one proof of this. His complex writing style, the strange connections we as readers can feel but not always fully identify (that I'm sure Pynchon is more than aware of), and other evidences of his above-average intellegence can often make the reader feel...not distant or dumb (well, not completely), but just a little removed from the narrative. But then, all of a sudden, there can be such an overwhelming humanity that we're brought deathly close to the characters, to their fears or desires.
I've been reading it with my iPad always on hand. Defining things is of course a must for any reading, but I've also really enjoyed the benefits of using this wiki, created by the same people who made the wiki for Against the Day I used back in November. Though not "necessary" to the understanding of the novel, as it doesn't really clarify any plot lines, it identifies references that I sometimes wouldn't even pick up, defines terms that save me some googling time, and just makes for a little richer of a reading experience. What I am VERY excited for is a book I bought last night...
By Zac Smith, Pictures Showing What Happens on Each Page of Thomas Pynchon's Novel Gravity's Rainbow does exactly what the title says. I don't usually buy things like this, but I think the idea is too cool not to want to enjoy it along with my reading of the novel. It comes sometime next week, which means I'll have to do some catch-up with 50+ of the images. I can't wait! I also ordered The Guermantes Way, the third volume of Proust's novel, which wasn't in Barnes and Nobles yesterday. I don't know if it's next on my list, or right after East of Eden, but I know I don't want to give up In Search of Lost Time after throroughly loving the first two installments.
I'll be back soon!
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