The Caretaker

The Caretaker was by far my least favorite among the 4 plays we had to read during IB2. It was absurd enough to be considered absurdist nor was it realistic enough to be considered a problem play. Compared to The Bald Soprano, Ionesco's fun and inventive play, Beckett has chosen a dull approach to express his existantialist point of view. First of all, the stage instructions were frustrating and hard to follow which made it difficult for me to imagine the play in my mind. Whenever I read a play or a novel, I try to establish a personal connection with one of the characters. However, I found that I could not relate to the characters on any level. For example, I could not sympathize with Davies, the protagonist of the play. He may be old, homeless and unemployed but he acts like an arrogant prick with Aston and Mick, who on the other hand could not have been more welcoming towards a total stranger. In addition, the plot is stagnant and the dialogue between the characters often chunky and not very engaging. There were few times when I found the dialogue slightly comic, like when Davies complains about his shoes, but for the most part I thought it wasn't funny.

I am not sure that I understood the motifs scattered throughout the play. The Buddha appears several times but to no avail. Also, the idea that Aston wants to build a shack and that Davies wants to get his papers from the coffeehouse are so frustratingly redundant that it can be annoying to the reader. I know that repetition is a characteristic of absurdist plays but I do not think that Beckett integrated them very smoothly. I am trying to think of a single aspect that I enjoyed. Oh, yes! I did like the fact that it wasn't very wordy (e.g. Hamlet). Reading it did take me a very long time despite that, perhaps due to my lack of interest. I do not think that it deserves the recognition that it has received for the simple reason that it does not outsmart other plays and definitely isn't more entertaining than other plays that belong to the same genre. I feel bad for being so harsh but that's exactly how I feel about it.

IOP Reflection

I chose to discuss The Rock of Tanios during my IOP presentation as it was by far the best, in my opinion. I discussed the influence of political, religious and superstitious fear on the people of Kfaryabda in the novel The Rock of Tanios. It is evident that their lives are deeply affected and tormented by these fears. The Sheikh is a tyrant as he uses violence and intimidation to manipulate the masses. Religious fear was also a crucial fear factor therefore making the religious leaders' power supreme. "In those days, the sky hung so low no man ever dared to stretch to his full height (Maalouf, 1)." Finally, it is only normal for the people of Kfaryabda to be highly supersitious as it is a part of their traditional culture. This explains why the rock of Tanios is to be avoided at all costs even several decades after Tanios' disappearance. I used a powerpoint presentation to present my work. My hook consisted of a drawing of a nude, dishevelled-looking man sitting on a rock. Several wolves are attempting to attack him as he sits with his back turned away from them with obvious fear in his expression. Not only was it a captivating charcoal drawing but it also captured my topic exacly. It depicted how the people were left naked and for the wolves in the face of fear. After I'd presented my topic, I asked several students to relate the my presentation to the drawing before revealing the message.

Since I'd had the opportunity to present the IOP once before my final presentation, I found myself at ease with the entire idea. I flowed through the procedure because I'd learned so much from watching my first video. I found that choosing my topic was the most challenging because I wanted to present something original. I had limited myself to The Rock of Tanios since I knew the charcoal drawing would be the perfect hook, and more importantly because I believe the novel is sheer genius. I thought of fear as my topic simply because I'd just finished reading a book by Michael Moore that tackled the use of political fear on the people of the US and somehow had thought it very relevant to the novel. After having chosen my topic, I wrote down a list of ideas that could support the idea of fear. However, I found that fear was divided into political, religious, and superstitious fear so I decided to expand on each. I assigned the most pertinent quotes to each by looking through the novel. Creating a powerpoint presentation was not difficult yet finding interesting pictures was the challenge. I felt at ease during the presentation which was just as long as required. I was satisfied with the result but I wish I'd focused less on my notes. There should have been more eye contact and less note checking. I'd like to believe that I covered the main points, and appeared convincing as well as confident in my delivery.

Oracle Night--What do you think?

2. How did you like the multi-layered plot? Was the plot too complicated or did you find it engaging? Which plot did you like the best: Sid and Grace's story or Nick Bowen's?

I must begin by saying that as a first time reader of Auster's work, I was very impressed with his writing style and would definitely consider reading another one of his novels (probably Moon Palace). I became engrossed in Oracle Night due to the complexity of the plot surprisingly and not despite it. I do not usually particularly like multi-layered storylines (e.g. One Hundred Years of Solitude was impossible for me to follow), yet I did not find such difficulty in reading this novel. Auster knows exactly how to separate each one of the stories so that the reader can keep up with the flow of the book. I was engrossed in this book because it was not a banal story but one that required thought. Sid and Grace's story was not as complicated (until the last 15 pages of the novel) as Nick Bowen and Eva's. I was disappointed when Sidney had a creativity block and was even more disappointed when he finally ripped the unfinished story to shreds: "Roughly three years after Trause and I had that conversation, I tore up the blue notebook and threw it into a garbage can..." (pg. 222). I found myself thinking of prospective plot solutions to rescue Nick from the hydrogen bomb shelter. Although Nick's story was much more far-fatched than the other, I found his tale and the Flitcraft episode much more engaging than the main plot.

PS, Why is the book named Oracle Night when only 2 pages are mentionned about the novel in the book?

The Rock of Tanios

1. In what way or ways do you "connect" with the book The Rock of Tanios by Amin Maalouf? In what way is it accessible or familiar to you?

Amin Maalfouf who is the author of this book is Lebanese. One element that I'm sure many Lebanese readers can agree with is that the cultural allusions scattered throughout the plot make it much more familiar. I found myself smiling when I came across the words "kishk" and "meghli", two types of Lebanese cuisine. Names of different areas in Lebanon are also included. Even our culture is well-portrayed, such as male dominance, and hypocrisy. Although I disagreed with many choices made by the characters, I could understand their decisions because I felt a certain connection with them. For example, I understood Roukouz's betrayal, Gerios' crime, and Asma's submissiveness, on a certain level. Maalouf describes their actions in a way that allows the reader to see both sides of a story.

Byron & His Poetry

1. The mock epic poem Don Juan is considered by many scholars to be Lord Byron's greatest work. What are your thoughts as to the literary worth of the first two cantos that we have read? Are they good poetry?

It was well before I'd read the first two cantos of Don Juan that I'd heard of it being commonly used figuratively, as a synonym for womaniser. However, Lord Byron takes this popular character to daringly reverses his role into a man easily seduced by women. Upon reading the first few stanzas, it is already clear that the writer relies heavily on satire to get his message of disapproval across. Often criticized to contain "immoral content", Gordon stops at nothing when mocking famous political, religious and philosophical personalities. The humorous tone, although obvious, must be researched to be fully understood as Byron makes several allusions to figures that had been famous in his time. Funniest of all was how he poked fun at his former lover Lady Caroline Lamb, his lover-turned-stalker. I personally admire his ability to retain the comic touch while keeping the plot moving, hence keeping the reader engaged. Byron comments on many interesting topics, such as war, love, sexuality, and hypocrisy. His sneering yet humorous comments are mostly what make have kept his mock-epic poem in the annals of literature - and deservingly so.

Proximity Bomb

A letter, I write, to my dear soul
Who must have gone insane
Slipping inside a hole of
Memories of shame
I can sense you
Yes, you
Like the twilight on a mirror
My eyes are catching your beams
The plaguing loss that steered you
The sweat and stench of bones
The albatross that guided you
That brought you sticks and stones

Eternally in torment
Why don't you try to give your hand?
But as much as you try to help
You fall to the wicked command

Disgrace: A General Overview

What is your reaction to the novel? What did you like about it and what did you dislike about it? Does it deserve the international acclaim it has received? Would you recommend it to others?

If there's one thing I've learned about books, through personal experience and not because of some lame cliché, is never to judge a book by its cover. According to the cover of my edition of Disgrace, a novel written by Nobel-prize winning author J.M. Coetzee (interestingly pronounced cut-ZEE-uh), the twisted tale of a man's thorny relationship with his daughter won him the Booker prize of 1999. The title also captured my interest as it promised a juicy storyline, the one thing the novel actually did deliver during the first few chapters.

One aspect of the novel I really appreciated was the way Coetzee gave all of his characters such depth. Whether it's David's unorthodox sexual cravings or his daughter Lucy's hardheaded temperament, the author keeps the reader engrossed in his novel through these 3-dimensional descriptions. I couldn't bear or understand Lucy's submissive behavior. David's revolting thoughts make the reader feel sympathetic towards him at times and disgusted at others. The plot of the novel starts off brilliantly: David's hush-hush relationship with Melanie, the scandal and the rape. After those interesting happenings, the plot becomes somewhat frustrating and slow-moving. I found myself dragging my feet through the last 100 pages, dreading every minute of it. Coetzee's writing style isn't demanding and its simple structure makes it an enjoyable read.

The Booker Prize is awarded each year to the best original full-length novel. I'm not really one to judge if this novel deserves it or not since I don't think I've really grasped the messages hidden by the author. All I know is that Coetzee must have done something quite special to be the only author to have won the Booker Prize twice! Would I recommend it to somebody else? Personally, I didn't think it was a bundle of fun to read and I probably wouldn't recommend it to anyone looking for a fun read. This is strictly academic reading material and should stay so.

I included this picture since it looks like Lucie's house as I'd imagined it. Its deserted and tranquil atmosphere very much fits the description.