Translations

I really loved the play, Translations. I thought that it was going to be much less interesting that it actually was. When I finished reading it I was very disappointed with the fact that it didn't have an ending. The ending was not finished. I wanted to know what was going to happen to Yolland and Maire. Although the play is very good, I felt as though it was almost too easy of a read. There was a certain high school feel to the play. I felt like it was a bit below a college reading level. In order to prove my point I wanted to put up a youtube video of a group of high schoolers setting up the play. I started watching it and realized that it was too easy for a college student. Then it dawned on me that I really liked this play and that as a college student it shouldn't be that easy to find a college book fun to read.
Anyway, enjoy the video. I know that I did. It's interesting seeing somebody play the characters though. It actually makes the characters that you picutre in your head disappear, but I believe that it is good to see the movement.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nak3db9_NJY

Nature in Power

Nature is a big part of the novel. As I finished the novel I really found that I enjoyed all the of the nature that was in it. As spring is coming it really helped me get through my cabin fever of winter in South Bend, IN and I felt ready to get into spring, and of course, graduation.
The use of nature in Power is very profound. It is found throughout the novel. In the beginning it is used in a general way by Omishto and how much she loves the outdoors, but then it quickly shifts to an eventual way of life when she goes to live with the elders at the end of the novel. I thought the transition was fairly smooth after the incident with the panther and the court room and the additional events that led to her decision to live in the Taiga way. I appreciated her courage to leave behind all the things that she was accustomed to and live in the old ways.

Power in Power

When discussing what type of power is found in the novel Power it really helps pull the book together because we can see that the whole book is connected in an essential element.
One of the topics that I felt was important was the story about the Taiga Panther woman. The picture to the right was actually painted by an artist that is from Mumbai. It is unclear whether he painted this with the knowledge of the background story, but nonetheless I found it interesting.
The panther woman had a large power in the world. It was her responsibility to keep the world in balance. Specifically, her role expressed in Power by Ama was to "sing the sun up each morning" (110). This seems to be an important task. The sun would not come up without her. Ama claims that the world has become disheveled because the panther woman left this world to bring order to another world that was in chaos. I enjoyed this story because it was a good representation of what this novel is really about. It is about a belief in a story that Omishto has never hear of. It is unclear if she really believes in these stories, but it is clear that she believes in Ama. This is another kind of power that Ama has. She is a knowledgeable woman about the Taiga way and that gives her power. She holds on to the traditions and she gives them the power in the modern times that they had back in the old times. This is also an example of power.
Basically, the point is that there is power in this novel. It is literally riddled with it.

Lucy Follow Up

I just wanted to quickly follow up with Lucy. The book cover of Lucy is seriously depressing. I thought that the paintings by the man who abandons his family and ran away to some remote island to paint people...poorly was a seriously big mistake. Does anyone else think that he should have kept his day job? I guess when it is your passion that you have to follow it, but I definitely was not impressed by his work.
Lucy has to be the most depressing book that I have ever read. And I read The Life of a Cell. Now, that was an exciting book compared to this one. I found her provocation slightly appalling. These are of course my opinions on the novel, but I really felt that as we are coming to the close of the semester that this was definitely not the "spirit lifter" that the class needed. Or maybe, that I needed. Just look at her face and it almost makes you want to cry. She is definitely not a cheery girl who loves being a young adult.

The Tranquility of Nature

When I began reading Power the first thing I noticed was the attentive detail to nature. I began to imagine the surroundings as they were described. Obviously nature is beautiful even though some people might disagree, but how many times in a day do YOU stop and anjoy nature? Once? Twice? None? I really had to think about it. I stop to enjoy nature at least once every day. Mostly I do this on my daily walks. Some call it exercise, but I call it relaxation. Ok, I'll admit that there is not room EVERYDAY for a walk, but I at least attempt one everyday. Sometimes when the wind rushes through the campus (which it does all the time) you see the grass blow and you just realize how beautiful the waves of grass really are. I myself am an ocean person. I could sit and watch the ocean for days and never get tired of it. The video that I've posted is a very good one. Make this video your calming video of the day with nature. Nature is a beautiful thing. It's all around us. Even though we see it everyday we look right past it. Take a moment to breathe and make an effort to relax for the duration of this short clip.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPc8b3UvNwU

Lucy

When beginning Lucy I felt that it was a depressing book and actually couldn't relate to the novel until later when I started to realize that the book was not really depressing. It was just Lucy's way of expressing herself using emotions that are often seen as dark and ominous.
After talking in class I realized what time period that Lucy was writing in. This was the most important period in her life where changes were occurring. She didn't understand what was going on, but she knew that the things in her life were not going the way that she had hoped. She hated the Islands and her time there, but it is unclear whether it was the people or the weather or both.
Throughout the novel we see a young girl of 14 grow up to become an adult. Her adventures into womanhood are paramount because they give a version of what a young girl would go through at her age. Although this is not a template for every teenager, it may be a guide for others.

Metaphors of Writing

Everyone has their own version of what writing is. I recently heard about a certain metaphor that really should be shared with everyone.
Writing is like dancing.
She said to me, "Writing is like dancing because you take a few minutes to get warmed up, but when you do get warmed up the words just come flying out and you just float across the page like it were a dance floor" (Shanna Goffinet).
I had never thought about this before, but she has a fantastic point. She used an active metaphor to describe the writing style. Instead of a natural occurance like a river which I used earlier, she actually used a style that is not constant. It stops when the feet are tired, or in this case, when the hands are tired.