Span490 The Alchemist

I started reading the alchemist right after I bought it from the bookstore right before the course started, and I read up to almost the end of part one, but then I wanted to find out if the boy ever went back to marry the merchant’s daughter, so I skipped the middle and read the end. I read that he was in a relationship with somebody named Fatima, but I didn’t bother to read or skim the middle section to see if it was the merchant’s daughter. Other than this, I liked the story. I thought the boy seemed very smart, interesting, and I liked the philosophical comments, I loved the character’s life, because I love Spain and its unique fields, and I really liked all of the boy’s characteristics that I mentioned before, and how with all of that knowledge and optimism, his life was very simple and burden free. Because of this simplicity, and the simplicity of the ending, I didn’t think that the middle would be any different or that it really mattered that I didn’t read it. It turns out that I was wrong. I still liked the tone of style of writing, and it was still simple and pleasant to read (partly because of the large font size, and the very easy English,) but it got more complicated in the last part of part two, when the philosophy got deeper, and the author started naming everything. These titles were confusing, because I kept forgetting what they were referring to. Also, while I was reading, and noticing the constant philosophical ideas gradually getting more complex as the boy left Spain, and met the Englishman, I wondered if the Alchemist could speak any more complex and wise, and if so, how the author would find the words to write like that. I think that one of the reasons why the titles multiplied is because the author knew that he needed to make the Alchemist (and later the boy) sound more wise, and that was one of his ways of doing so. I liked the adventure of the middle section, as they traveled through the desert to the Pyramids, and it reminded me of C.S. Lewis’ fifth book of the Chronicles of Narnia, “The Voyage of the Dawn Treader”, where they travel by boat to the end of the world, or something like that. All in all, I liked the book because of its style, and story, but I thought his communication with nature was a bit much, and I wouldn’t consider it to be an inspiring book.
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Span490 Last part of Eva Luna

One of the principal contrasts (from the beggining, to the end of the novel) that I noticed with Eva Luna is her knowledge of sex. She starts out as an innocent virgin, not really knowing anything of sex, but gradually loses all innocence though experience at the whore house, through romance novels, through the experience with Kamal, and then towards the end, she is very open to speak about sex.

I mentioned in last week's blog that I thought that there was too much drama crammed into the five chapter plot of Eva Luna. I thought that Isabel Allende was going out of her way to make the story as detailed as possible. I have two responses to this now...1. Eva Luna is a character who lives her life off of stories. She loves reading them, creating them, hearing them, and writing them. Each character that is introduced in the novel has his or her own story, that can be very interesting depending on the reader’s taste. I also thought that the details of Allende’s own personal passion were revealed when she was describing Eva’s feelings about writing. 2. Opinion. I do not consider this book to be one that can be read quickly. When I actually took my time (and I’m a really slow reader), I enjoyed the many stories that were in each chapter. When I had to read faster because I had a time limit, I was annoyed with all the detail and the many characters who I had to remember from the first five chapters. This course is partly about who decides that literature is bad and why, and I think that the atmosphere in which the book is read in is a great aspect of this topic.

There is so much more about the book that should be mentioned, because it is such a detailed and complex book, but I would like to read this book again, but slower, to be able to really grasp the whole story, and have more of a chance with all of the vocabulary, because I truly believe that a book can’ t be judge by it’s first reading....(unless you really hate it and don't want to read it again.)

Added after...........

I liked the atmosphere of the book because it was positive, and I really enjoyed reading the stories of the characters, but I found the political portion of the book really boring...except that it was contrasting with the lighter characters like Eva and Mimi, and I liked how a man as busy with the war as Humberto could still have a love life.

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Isabel Allende Eva Luna: First Five Chapters

The first five chapters of Eva Luna were....quite overwhelming. There was so much to take in, especially since I had to re-read passage after passage to get a gist of what was going on. There were so many details, and there was so much vocabulary that I didn't understand. One of the things that I liked about the story was the way that Allende presented the story. She introduced an idea, and then either explained it completely from the beginning, (for example, the whole explanation of her mother’s life led to who her father was), or she mentioned and explained it a few chapters later (for example, the fact that Rolf’s dad was killed in the forest was mentioned after he came back from the war, but fully explained in chapter four).

I didn’t mind the story line, but I didn’t really like it either. There were far too many events, and many seemed to be illogical and exaggerated. I don’t know if it’s just how I feel after reading five chapters of a book this difficult language-wise, but I stopped believing that that much drama could happen in somebody’s life when Eva ended up in the streets the first time. The drama seemed non-stop, and Consuelo passed it on to Eva…They’ve lived in so many random places, and this is only the first five chapters. The homes, for the most part, weren’t the average orphanage or foster home. It was the people they met that made the story a bit strange as well. From the men at the mission to the head nun, to the Professor, to the dona, to living in the street, to the whorehouse, and then to Riad Halabi….and of course the Madrina….Is this normal? Is this believable? It’s a surprise that Consuelo and Eva didn’t end up crazy, although Eva is starting to look that way. Also, I’m looking forward to the moment when Rolf’s plot (which is also bizarre) shows some relevance to Eva’s plot.


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El peor libro literario que he leido

El libro peor que he leido es la novela 1984, escrito por George Orwell. Tenia que leerla para una clase en mi escuela secondaria, y fue tan negativa que no podia terminarla. No me recuerdo la mayoridad de las detallas, solamente algunas temas. Parecia que el autor pensaba en unas de las condiciones peores de vivir, y inventaban un gobierno en que estas condiciones fueran reales. El gobierno fue tan dominate que no habia nada como una vida privada, una vida con amor, o como la esperanza que la situacion cambiara. La libertad no existaba. En cada cuarto de cada casa, habia camaras para grobar cada movimiento y cada palabra. Solamente se permitian casarse y reproducir para el gobierno, para que mantener la populacion. Habia varios carceles para gente que no obedecian la ley, pero los carceles fueron los peores. Habia un carcel en particular que fue el peor de los peores que se llamaba El Ministerio de Amor. Ese carcel era para gente que trataba de tener amigos or una relacion amorosa verdad, y el castigo fue la tortura fisica constante. El personaje principal de la novela, Winston Smith, no creia en el los condiciones permanentes de su sociedad, o en un gobierno tan dominate. Sentia deprimido con su empleo con el gobierno, y trataba de mejorar su vida. Tenia los castigos del Misterio de Amor, y preferia morir. Para el, el muerte parecia como una revelacion que terminara la tortura fisica y finalmente mental. Al final, Winston tenia opinion diferente, lo del gobierno, porque los castigos del ministerio fueron constante y manipuladoros. Al huir del ministerio, si, era persona diferente, pero era persona ideal de los leyes del gobierno, y el contrario de como quieria mejorar. Lo admito, es una historia un poco interesante, pero el ambiante de la novela fue muy driprimido, y no queria leerla.

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