Smithy...

Smithy sure has come a long way hasn’t he?

I mean at the beginning of the book he was a 279-pound drunkard and chain smoker, had horrible social skills, and now look at him! He’s lost weight, is no longer drinking or smoking, and now has found Norma, along with many other friends he’s made along his journey. He’s helped many, in varying different ways, which would definitely hold reason for one thinking that this is a hero’s story.

But there seems to be more than enough information for an argument for this to be a coming-of-age novel as well, for the same reasons as stated above.

So which one is it? Coming-of-age or a Hero’s Journey? Or is it both? Does one rule out the other? What do you guys think? At this point, I’m not sure anymore...

WTF Hospital?! (SPOILERS FOR OCT 31 READING)

Okay. I hope I’m not the only one that got ridiculously mad at the hospital for not even really glancing at Smithy when he brought Carl in. I mean, I understand that Carl was a regular patient that needed medical help badly, but it’s their job to pay attention to everything that’s going on. Seriously, did they NOT notice that Smithy wasn’t even driving the car? Plus, all the doctors treat him like shit, and then yell at him about Carl and then send them on their way. Then we get another scene where the doctor calls the house and threatens Smithy if he hadn’t taken proper care of Carl by the time she got there the next day.

She also brings an officer with her that beats Smithy up, with the intention of only scaring him, and he ends up even worse before they realize, and by realize I mean Carl has to TELL THEM, that he’d hit him with his truck and that he wasn’t the bad guy.

What the hell? There is such thing as having bad luck, but there is a point. I just couldn’t believe how badly this doctor’s first impression turned out for Smithy. Poor Smithy’s had his bike taken away from him, been hit by a truck, been threatened by a doctor, and then beat up by the police officer brought by that same doctor, all in less than 24 hours.

There was just a limit set on how much the world can bear down on Smithy, and the book has pushed past it. It also really just goes to show how detrimental conclusions made about people can really be.

Thoughts?

RIP Raleigh

To be honest, I really didn’t see Smithy getting hit coming. I don’t understand how his bike getting destroyed could further progress the story, considering it’s from his childhood. I thought he was going to go all the way to California on that bike, and now it’s gone. How exactly does this work with the story at hand?!

Then again, I guess this book is more about telling a realistic story than about shaping the plot-line and the events occurring within around the story the author wants to tell. So, no matter how much I don’t like it/don’t understand it, Smithy got hit and that’s that.

For those that haven’t done the reading yet, or have done the reading and have a different suggestion, what do you think Raleigh getting destroyed does to progress the plot of the story?

Darl Nooooooo

Darl was the biggest shock of all. Of everything that happened in this book, him getting carted off to the looney bin was mind-blowing. The entire novel, I felt like Darl was just smarter than everyone there, and that people just misunderstood him because he was different. He even knew that they would eventually come for him.

Yet, in the end, I feel like I probably should’ve expected this, considering Faulkner hadn’t really set any of us up for a happy ending.

The Old Mrs. Bundren

I might be a little late in saying this, but Faulkner really tripped me up with his portrayal of Addie. My first instinctive thought was to hold her up to such a high standard, projecting the idea of a woman from the city leaving her beloved home to go live with the man she loves and raise kids with him. Instead, I received a woman that enjoyed reprimanding the children she taught while a teacher. And even though I don’t want to believe it, the more I think about it, we could have expected this. The fact that Addie doesn’t even look at Anse on her deathbed, the fact that Cora talks about how she didn’t even like Anse (even though we’re led to not trust Cora in general). It’s just really upsetting, and while I wish it wasn’t this way, it’s how it happened, and at least she got buried where she “wanted” to be.

I just wonder what made her like this...

An Idea I Briefly Thought About

What would happen if someone wrote about Sherlock Holmes from BBC’s Sherlock for this research paper. It’d definitely be an interesting topic to write about, considering Sherlock isn’t what people would call a “hero,” based on the definition of a hero. I mean sure, he solves cases, but he doesn’t really do it for justice or for getting the bad guy in jail. He does it because it’s challenging and interesting. Considering that Sherlock isn’t the world’s most “heroic” hero, what would that do for the content of the paper?

Spoilers on Tonight's Reading

Okay, spoiler alert if you haven’t read tonight’s reading yet.

I really just want to talk about Penelope. We finally get to see Odysseus and Penelope reunited (even though she doesn’t quite know who he is yet). But in this scene, I can’t help but be frustrated with her. Odysseus comes up, disguised, and says that he’s Odysseus in the flesh, and heard that he was alive and well and on his way home. Penelope just says, “nah, that’s not true, but I’ll cry about it some more anyway.” Seriously?? I really understand that she’s “lost” her husband to war, and has no idea if he’s dead or alive. But come on, this is the one guy that’s come to the house since Odysseus left that wasn’t a complete jerk, and he’s telling her that Odysseus is alive and on his way home. Why doesn’t she believe him?

Before you think it mighty cruel of me to judge her this way, remember that I’m thinking in the context of this society. Gods dressed up like people and declared fate ALL THE TIME, and she couldn’t believe this man. Now, she might have had some false hopes over the years, but compared to the amount of people who tell lies like this (and by that number I mean practically nobody) his credibility is through the roof.

Modern reading and Greek mythology

Like many of us, I had my own “Greek Mythology Phase” when I was younger. But, my phase was a lot different than that of my peers.
I did not read Percy Jackson. (I’ll let you take a moment to let that sink in…) It’s true. I never read the books, probably never will. But, I did read the Cronus Chronicles, a series by the author Anne Ursu. It was probably the first “hero” series I ever read. She uses greek mythology in a way that’s really entertaining, and is actually a little educational. She also gives descriptions of the various gods/goddesses, beasts, etc., in  the back of the book. After reading the first book, I pretty much grabbed anything I could find on greek mythology (not including PJ), and began reading. Needless to say, I was pretty excited when I found out that we’d be reading The Odyssey for school later that year.
With Greek Mythology you’re pretty much guaranteed a hero story, and even though the logic might not always make sense, it’s still pretty cool to see these characters interacting with the gods in this way.
But, I still don't understand why books like Percy Jackson get so popular,
while books like the Cronus Chronicles don't.

Journeys in the life of a "heroic" novel reader

There are a lot of different books that should be classified as "hero" books, but usually, I read more books about an everyday person. I mean, I've read some of the Harry Potter books, and I've read many dystopian novels where the protagonist is the hero. But now that I think about it, I really don't read many books about heroes. I’m the type of person that can identify plot clues, and am able to foresee what happens at the end of a book. It’s frustrating for me, because I’d rather have more books where I can’t tell what’s going to happen next. Then again, I seem to like books that purposefully give you the ending in a handbasket at the beginning, and then do something cool and/or interesting with that, which is probably why I loved TFIOS. Anyway, for me, it’s not as easy to find a really good book that does something like that for me. That’s why when I read really good books, I harp on and on about them, because it truly means something to me to have a book that does the unpredictable. I guess this is why you won’t usually catch me reading “heroic” novels.