Category Archives: LITERATURE

REALITY? and LITERATURE: Motivation (Confessions)

Posted on July 21, 2007 by susan

One thing I think I can take pride in is that I worried many thoughts about what makes certain people think and behave as they do, but more: I always questioned my own motivations.  It’s one thing to tell yourself … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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LITERATURE & REALITY?: Confessions – Learning Methods

Posted on July 21, 2007 by susan

Having set Augustine aside to deal with pressing issues, I pick him up again at a point where he questions both parenting and formal means of education.  He claims, I think, that as a boy what he was forced to … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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LITERATURE: Henderson The Rain King – Metaphorically Speaking

Posted on July 21, 2007 by susan

As a rule I never read the critical analyses of a novel before I’ve finished it myself, although I have sought help on Faulkner until I got used to him, and always check them out afterwards.  And on a book … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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LITERATURE: Henderson The Rain King – Character Change

Posted on July 20, 2007 by susan

While Henderson grits his teeth and plays with the king’s lioness in order to learn something about himself, we’re not sure if he’s really gotten it yet.  The entire premise of this book is based on character change–one of the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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LITERATURE: Confessions – Return to Faith

Posted on July 19, 2007 by susan

Picking up Confessions once again, hopeful of going onward with a mind at peace and open to understanding.  I find that place again where I had hovered, halted.  It wasn’t clear and yet the thoughts of Augustine’s words were close … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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LITERATURE: Henderson The Rain King – Leitmotif

Posted on July 19, 2007 by susan

Certainly there is an object that serves as leitmotif throughout this book, as it becomes nearly an annoyance to read again and again and yet be unable to ferret out it’s symbolism. He said, "Why are you blustering at me … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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REALITY? & LITERATURE: Predators, Prey, and the Quixote Complex

Posted on July 19, 2007 by Susan

In a glorious morning after a grey day of battle, I sit and see the world again.  The red fox trots along the sideline of the yard, oblivious to me but hearing just as I the calling of the hawk.  … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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LITERATURE: Henderson The Rain King – Plot

Posted on July 16, 2007 by susan

We’ve gotten a good buildup of conflict with Henderson’s adventures, and I’ve just breezed through some more.  With the beginning fifty or so pages giving us a good feel for Henderson’s past, present, his character and his worries for the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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LITERATURE: Henderson The Rain King – Foreshadowing and Tension

Posted on July 14, 2007 by susan

Bellow does this so smoothly and efficiently that I’m appreciating his writing style more and more.  It is impossible to pick out and lay them all out here, but there are little events, little worries voiced by Henderson in reminding … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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LITERATURE: Henderson The Rain King – Language, Simile and Wisdom

Posted on July 14, 2007 by susan

Bellow uses very out-of-place similes in this adventure in the remotest parts of Africa: Through my depths as in a tunnel went a shock like the ones big buildings get from trains which pass beneath.  (p. 164) All the noise … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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LITERATURE: Confessions – On Learning Methods

Posted on July 13, 2007 by susan

I’m at a point of being stuck for a wee bit as Augustine appears to deride formal education for the more natural method of observation.  But there are a few things that seem necessary to take into account, such as … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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LITERATURE: Henderson The Rain King – Quirks & Motifs

Posted on July 12, 2007 by Susan

Now something like this would be ripped apart by online critique groups for its obvious point of view faux pas; I smiled, but I am certain my smile looked like a grievance.  The hairs about my mouth were twisted by … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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LITERATURE: Reading Genre

Posted on July 11, 2007 by Susan

Perhaps a silly thought, or just me being me, or the strange scratching sounds in the dark garage as I sat and pondered life and literature, but I recalled a particular reading feeling from the past, much as you can … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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LITERATURE: Confessions – Translation

Posted on July 11, 2007 by susan

Being aware of the language use as I read, I’m also aware that unless there’s a copy of the original around to read in the language written by Augustine, the text is subject to the choice of the translator, and … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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LITERATURE: Confessions – On the Nature of Man

Posted on July 11, 2007 by susan

There has evidently always been the question of whether the egg or the chicken came first, and Augustine, in this epistle of faith includes science in the form of empirical consideration of infants–thereby acknowledging ignorance of his own infancy and … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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