For All the Times You Want to....

...strangle the character in the book.

While reading fences, I'm having some difficulties with how the main character, Troy, behaves. There are aspects in his personality--the domination, dictatorship--that bother me. SO MUCH!

Troy does what he thinks is best. Period. He doesn't follow democratic aspects like listening to other possibilities. He treat Cory like crap by enforcing how Cory should live his life. Cory WANTS to do football, and has worked things out with his employer. Why the H*** should Cory not pursue what he wants? Every time you do something your heart says, "This isn't what I want," you die a little. Troy is killing Cory's soul that way.

Another annoying trait Troy carries is his hypocrisy. He told Cory that he acts upon responsibility, not upon his interests. He explains how he takes care of Cory for basic necessities (food, shelter, clothes) because Cory is his son and it's his duty. Then, he goes and betrays Rose, his wife, with adultery. Ummm, excuse me Troy, but a husband's duty is to be loyal and faithful towards his wife. He clearly went against his duty. Oh, you had the desire for another girl? Bleh! Everyone at one point or another wants some guy or gal they cannot have. But the good people in life don't chasing people when their duty is to love the one you already have!

Narrative Perspectives

There are so many times that when I read books, I am unaware of what tense the author is using. Whether it's I, you, he/she or we, I never notice it. Then, half way through the small-group reading, I realized it was spoken in 2nd person. All the "you's" kept throwing me off when I had moments of awareness to the text instead of the story. But it got me thinking: why would an author chose different tenses? Let alone, the 2nd tense?

Part of me thinks is how the author thinks. Some people naturally write in one tense or another. Like when I provide feedback on friend's papers, I tend to notice some friends falling a lot into the infamous "you's" and others falling into the "I's", or the more subtle present vs. past tense. When I write stories, I naturally begin typing in past tense first person. If I try to write in any different tense, I tend to make multiple slip-ups.

I'm believing that the author in "Leftovers" purposely wrote it in that weird 2nd person tense for a reason. I don't feel comfortable giving spoils to a great story, but it's mysterious connection to the ending was done very creatively. It added more voice and feeling of "you're there" in the beginning and ending, although I lost it and the sense of what tense I'm reading in the middle with intermittent pockets of "OH, YEAH! that's the tense!"

Hi!

I'm Skkai. I've never blogged before, but I guess there is a first time for everything!

I enjoy doing arts. Not just the common style with paintbrushes and paper--I enjoy working with metal and clay. I'm currently working on "knitting" a chainmail shirt, but I also do jewelry designs and necklaces between bursts of shirt "knitting." I admit that I do work well with color pencils (give me 2 color pencils and i can give you all the colors inbetween!)

I also enjoy music. My passion lies in piano. I've gone 3 hours strait in a day practicing, though most days are about 1.5 hours. Most songs I listen to are wordless--classical piano and orchestra are by far my favorite because of their dynamic feelings and emotions accompanied by their melodies.

Being active is another important aspect to me--I doubt I could last a week idle without going insane. In the fall, I run cross country, and in the spring, I pole vault. Summer: run, garden, run some more, and probably take a HUGE nap (lol).

After highschool, I plan to go to college. My dream choice would be UW Madison, especially since they have a renouned medical school. I hope to reach medical school and become a doctor, but if I cannot, I'll go into any science field. Anything science-y by default fascinates me.

I don't really have a favorite book, but I'd probably say Dragon Keeper by Carole Wilkinson is one of my favorites. During the Han Dynesty in Ancient China, a slave girl forcibly cares for the last imperial dragons. Upon several devistating events, she and the last dragon, Danzi, escape and begin a quest to the magical place, Ocean. It may be an easier read than most books, but the story is amazing!

I never watch movies, but the kind I enjoy are the animated kind (both computer and celluloid style). I'm currently planning to watch all the disney movies in cronological order (since I've forgotten most of them D: )

My favorite dead musician would probably be Chopin. I LOVE his songs, both playing and listening. If that's obsolete, my favorite living musician is Muse. Lots of their songs have a dramatic shift from one emotion to another, creating an interesting song to repetively listen to.