Author Archives: susan

NEW MEDIA: Breaking Through The Fourth Wall

Technology has given us social networking and social networking has given the audience (of any medium: newspapers, internet, television, telephone, etc.) a voice. That voice of the reader/viewer has just broken through the literary fourth wall. Normally the fourth wall … Continue reading

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CURRENT AFFAIRS: Blame and Benefits

As a retail shop owner in a small town, and as a resident of Connecticut, I can sympathize with the storekeepers in Sandy Hook who lost some good holiday business because of the horrendous tragedy that occurred at the Sandy … Continue reading

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CURRENT AFFAIRS: Social Networking

The devastation and pain caused by Hurricane Sandy in October was not about you and your activism on the cause of global warming. The horror of the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School was also not about you and your … Continue reading

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LITERATURE: Running With Scissors – Finale

This book is a memoir, written by Augusten Burroughs, of a period of time in his youth (age 9 through 17) where a rough home situation of a mother and father constantly yelling at each and giving little attention to … Continue reading

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LITERATURE: Running With Scissors – Handling Sex Scenes

The chapter is named, “The Joy of Sex (Preteen Edition).” It presents Augusten’s telling of his first sexual experience which involves his giving oral sex to Neil Bookman, a Finch in his thirties who is gay. It’s a very graphic … Continue reading

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LITERATURE: Running With Scissors – Truth in Memoir

It’s very rare that I check reviews on a book as I’m reading it, preferring to establish my own take on it and not be influenced by others. I’ve done it before, usually when I’m reading something that’s been hailed … Continue reading

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LITERATURE: Running With Scissors – More on Veracity

I question little in fiction. I have a hard time, however, accepting as fact in a memoir or non-fiction narrative, even allowing for perception, something like this: At first I thought it was weird that Natalie had a legal guardian, … Continue reading

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LITERATURE: Running With Scissors – Voice and Reliable Narrator

Not reading this as quickly as I’d expected–now that I’ve semi-gotten over my inability to concentrate on anything longer than flash fiction. I suspect that while it’s an easy, enjoyable read, it’s also presenting two problems for me. First, the … Continue reading

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REALITY?: Donations

Sadly, I will no longer be supporting any local school fund-raising functions as my property tax dollars are allocated at 75% to education. Redistribution of wealth would dictate that I should instead donate to “Welfare and Assistance” which is allotted … Continue reading

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LITERATURE: Up Next – Running With Scissors by Augusten Burroughs

Something a bit lighter than the last few books I’ve read, and I chose it also because it’s running just over 300 pages with medium-larger typeface. This was a serious consideration as I’ve spent the last two or three years … Continue reading

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LITERATURE: Lord Of The Flies – Finale

Truly a fascinating book and while written in 1954, certainly to be considered a classic. I approached this book from my own standpoint of theory on the tendency of human nature to begin with an instinct for survival and self-preservation. … Continue reading

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LITERATURE: Lord Of The Flies – Action

As the reader would come to expect, the division of the boys into two “tribes,” one an obedient group of savage hunters under Frank, who rules by fear and promise of celebration, and the other, down to four members led … Continue reading

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LITERATURE: Lord Of The Flies – Variations of Forming Society

Very interesting: A boy has been killed. The tribe, now split into two groups, still resorts to avoidance of responsibility in the face of the horror. Ralph’s small group, each boy tries to convince himself and the others that they … Continue reading

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LITERATURE: Lord Of The Flies – Conflict

It is especially interesting to be reading this book in this political atmosphere of an election year, where people are divided in their views, in their choices, and particularly, in their priorities of what is most valuable to them in … Continue reading

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LITERATURE: Lord of The Flies – Some Nice Anthropomorphism

William Golding’s use of language is eloquent yet precise. This, as Ralph and the others are on a hunt to find a “beast” that two of the older boys claim to have seen, confirming the nightmares and fears of the … Continue reading

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