Graceling

I love this book!! I am getting so much out of this story. In class we discussed how there was some gender and identity issues happening with Kasta. We also touched on the fact that she is so young and never really experienced anything other than being a killer. Now that she met Po I really believe we will see this book take a turn and Kasta's emotions will really start to blossom. I do see this happening already when Kasta and Po are eating lunch and the King comes to summon Kasta. She is automatically furious. Po sees this instantly and tries to calm her. Kasta in the end ends up hitting him so hard he falls off of his chair. This stike happens after Po says he will not fight her in anger. Po states you do not fight your friend in anger ever. Kasta has no idea what the hell he is talking about so she hits him anyway and when he does not defend himself Kasta automatically feels horrible for hurting him. Kasta now understands what he meant and swears she will never hit him in anger again. This to me is where their relationship is starting to form more than just combat and skills partners. I really think they are both attracted to one another but Kasta is experiencing all these emotions for the very first time in heer life so she has no idea what to do with all this new warm feeling stuff.

Mrs. Brown

I really learned alot in class Tuesday! I can honestly say that I had no idea there was high Lit and low Lit. It now makes sense to me why I don't enjoy reading Moby Dick!! It is totally character based. I really had an awakening as to why I had a hard time getting into Left Hand of Darkness until the end of the novel when it became more plot driven.

I thought it was really interesting how Le Guin explains about character and how in a way she was ripping on her own methods of writing in Science fiction. Using Mrs. Brown as an example of the fact that every story needs a rich character like her was really an interesting analogy.

I overall really had an enlightening experience in class Tuesday! It was pure pleasure to start Graceling! I enjoyed looking at the begining of the novel with the gender roles and questions it gave the novel more depth and a larger message looking at with more than one perspective.

Left Hand of Darkness

I typically am not a Science fiction reader. I enjoy a good Science Fiction movie every now and then and I was raised watching the original Star Trek. I would say that my understanding for this genre is very minimal. I really have been blown away by The Left Hand of Darkness. I will admit there are times when I am reading and thinking what the hell is going on. It has helped so much to discuss in class so as to verify that I am following the storyline appropriately!! Thanks for letting me get that off my chest, now back to the begining of my first blogging post ever!!

I would like to discuss a sentence on page 115 when Genly Ai is discribing Commensal structure in Orgoreyn. The statement: No child over a year old lives with its parent or parents; all are brought up in the Commensal Hearths. There is no rank by descent. Private wills are not legal a man leaves his fortune to the state. All start equal. But obviously they don't go on so.

This part really bothered me. Not in the fact that parents are not raising their own children. It doesn't bother me at all that the children are raised in hearths. That actually makes sense because of the kemmer thing going on. What was disturbing to me is that everyone leaves their estates to the government! The people of Orgoreyn really are totally controlled by the government. In the begining you get the feeling that this place is so much more grand than Karhide. To me there is post structuralism going on big time. They make Oregoreyn seem like a great progressive place to live when the reality is even though it doesn't come right out and say it it the text in implies that the people are very controlled and the only people who live well are the people in charge or the government officials. I for some reason underlined this part of the novel as I was reading it. Later when I went back and read that page over it dawned on me that there was more happening on this page than what I initially comprehended. The statement about everyone starting out equally sounds great at first. What's not mentioned is what happens to the individuals who do not do well. It makes you think of the old saying" all that glitters is not always gold"