A Story's Triumph Over Time

I started reading Crime and Punishment today and was surprised to discover I love it. I know I'm a total book worm, but I'm still intimidated when I pick up something labeled classic literature. Older books have such a reputation for being difficult. Sometimes it seems like that archaic language is distracting from the story (Dickens), or if the language isn't ancient the vocabulary is difficult (Joyce), or the novel seems plotless (Hawthorne), but today when I was reading Crime and Punishment, I realized I had it all wrong. Wuthering Heights is full of words people don't use anymore but it doesn't take away from the story. Archaic language isn't that bad, not if you read it enough. It grows on you and it's definitely nothing to avoid. Difficult books (like Ulysses) are supposed to be complicated and confusing. It's part of the story telling. The Scarlet Letter is one of my favorite books ever and it's pretty much plotless. Those first six pages of Crime and Punishment really got me thinking because even though that book is old, I'm already in love with it. Who would have guessed I could appreciate a story created in 1866, a time so different from the one I'm in now? I guess it's sort of like art; Michelangelo may be dead, but his paintings are still as beautiful as ever.

The idea of a story triumphing over time is so fascinating to me. It's amazing how we still can enjoy books that were written over 150 years ago because things have changed so much. Just yesterday in English class, during a discussion of Daisy Miller (published 1878) by Henry James, it was pointed out that automobiles were not available in 1878 to the general public. By "cars" James meant carriages. Parents still read their kids still Lewis Carroll's Alice stories even though they were published over 100 years ago when children didn't have Mario, Crayola, Blues Clues, Twister, Play Dough, or air conditioning. My dad used to read to me a lot and one of my favorite books was The Little House on the Prairie (1935). It's a newer classic, but still, 1935 and 1995 are two completely different worlds to a five year old. I'll probably never encounter Indian territory or have to build my own log cabin, but I think that may have been one of the reasons the book was so much fun; it's almost like reading fantasy. Now that I'm older, one of my favorite books is Les Miserables (the abridged version) by Victor Hugo. That book was published in 1862, but that I love that story. Jane Austen's novels are continually popping up on the big screen. Even the 2000+ year old stuff can be good. When I took Great Books last year, we read a lot of ancient philosophy, which I loathed. I read Aristotle, Sophocles, and Plato kicking and screaming, but Socrates, who wrote the Oedipus books, I loved.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that if the book was written a long time ago, it's probably still being read for a reason. Stereotyping classic or old books as difficult is lame.

Banned Books Poll

Remember how I said I was going to post something everyday during banned books week? You may have noticed that it didn't really work out. I had a busy week. Sorry. Here's the results from the frequently challenged books poll. There weren't many votes, so I'm not sure if the data can be very valuable, or even interesting. I voted for Harry Potter.

Challenged Books

I expected to see some of the title that appeared on the list of the 100 most frequently challenged books (1990-2000), but not all of them. Here's some of the 'duhs' and the unexpected.

No Surprises Here:

1. Daddy's Roommate by Michael Willhoite
2. Sex by Madonna
3. The Color Purple by Alice Walker
4. Go Ask Alice by Anonymous
5. The Anarchist Cookbook by William Powell
6. Curses, Hexes and Spells by Daniel Cohen

Huh?! Why would anybody want to ban that book?:

1. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou [I still haven't figured out why anybody would want to ban such a staple of freedom.]
2. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain [Isn't that a classic?]
3. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain [ditto.]
4. Harry Potter (Series) by J.K. Rowling [I get really emotional when I hear about people burning or banning Harry Potter. I just can't believe anyone would want to deprive kids of all that magic. I love those books.]
5. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger [So what if Holden cusses like a seventeen year old boy?! What do you expect?! He's a seventeen year old boy! Would you rather him say "number two" or "darn"? Seriously, no normal teenager can relate to a saint. Euphamizing The Catcher in the Rye is just as bad as burning it.]
6. The Giver by Lois Lowry [Isn't that a kid's book? Didn't I read that in 5th grade?]
7. The Witches by Roald Dahl [This one makes me especially sad. Roald Dahl's work is always so inspiring to kids. I remember my dad reading me his books when I was little and they always the stories always left my mind in such a creative, curious, and just silly state.]
8. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee [Yeah, there's racism. Yeah, they talk about rape. Does anybody acually believe kids reading about evil characters doing evil things makes them want to be evil too? Right and wrong are pretty clear in this book. In fact, I'm pretty sure that's the whole point of To Kill a Mockingbird.]
9. Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes [Maybe they wanted to ban this book because it's too depressing. No, it probably had something to with the puberty flashbacks. It's funny, doesn't everybody experience puberty at some point? This book is written at a post-puberty level. I'm not aware of any 10 year olds who would enjoy this book. Who are they trying to protect?]
10. James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl [Ugh. Again, why would you ban Roald Dahl. If withholding James and the Giant Peach from kids isn't wrong, I'm not sure what is.]
11. The Face on the Milk Carton by Caroline Cooney [I got nothing.]
12. Where's Waldo? by Martin Hanford [?]

Banned Books Week

Banning books is wrong, not to mention unconstitutional. The First Amendment says:

CONGRESS SHALL MAKE NO LAW RESPECTING AN ESTABLISHMENT OF RELIGION, OR PROHIBITING THE FREE EXERCISE THEREOF; OR ABRIDGING THE FREEDOM OF SPEECH, OR OF THE PRESS; OR THE RIGHT OF THE PEOPLE PEACEABLY TO ASSEMBLE, AND TO PETITION THE GOVERNMENT FOR A REDRESS OF GRIEVANCES.

September 29th to October 6th is Banned Books Week. I'm going to try and post something everyday to celebrate. I did a project about banned books sophomore year, and ever since it's been something I've been really interested in.

Quick Facts:

• Banned Books Week has been recognized annually since 1982. It's a time to celebrate our freedom to read.
• Typically books are challenged (this means somebody attempted to remove materials from curriculum or library), not banned (books actually are removed). Only a small percentage have actually been restricted thanks to the commitment of librarians, teachers, and booksellers.
• Books usually are challenged with the intentions to protect others, especially children, from difficult ideas. "Inappropriate" sexual content or offensive language tends to serve as a target for overprotective parents everywhere.
• Book burnings have been practiced since before 213 BC, when all Confusion books were burned except for one copy.

I found all this information on the banned books page of the American Library Association's website. It's a pretty cool site. I'm expecting to refer to it quite a bit over the next week.

September Poll

I closed the poll a little early this month because I wanted to put up the banned books poll to kick off the week. As for September's poll, no surprises there. Lord of the Rings is the best.

Abreviations 101

This photo was taken a while ago at the Page versus Centenial game. I'm pretty sure "Page'en" doesn't make any sense. What it should be is a slang version of paging, which is PAGIN'.
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Doesn't this make you feel all warm and fuzzy about high school education? Erm... not so much.

Math=Laughs?

I'm not a big fan of math class. I wouldn't say I hate it or anything, I'd just rather be doing something else. Moving numbers around seems so meaningless to me, which is why (along with Mr. Warfle being so hilarious) I think I like my statistics class. In statistics the numbers always stand for something real. It's a cool concept. Too bad the class is kicking my butt right now. Anyway, I was working on some homework a while ago and I came across this problem that made me laugh.

"Maria's science teacher is furious to discover that she has measured the cockroach lengths in inches rather than centimeters. (There are 2.54 cm in 1 inch.) She gives Maria two minutes to report the mean and standard deviation of the 5 cockroaches in centimeters. Maria succeeded. Will you?"

Maybe was only funny to me because I was in the middle of stressing out over my test and anything mildly amusing could have made me laugh, but I thought I'd share nonetheless. What planet is Maria's school on? My favorite part is the motivational "Will you?" at the end. It really makes me want to do solve the problem. ;) Yeah right.

Some more math humor:

The Names

We read this poem called "The Names" by Billy Collins in English class today. I really like it.

"The Names"

Yesterday, I lay awake in the palm of the night.
A soft rain stole in, unhelped by any breeze,
And when I saw the silver glaze on the windows,
I started with A, with Ackerman, as it happened,
Then Baxter and Calabro,
Davis and Eberling, names falling into place
As droplets fell through the dark.
Names printed on the ceiling of the night.
Names slipping around a watery bend.
Twenty-six willows on the banks of a stream.
In the morning, I walked out barefoot
Among thousands of flowers
Heavy with dew like the eyes of tears,
And each had a name --
Fiori inscribed on a yellow petal
Then Gonzalez and Han, Ishikawa and Jenkins.
Names written in the air
And stitched into the cloth of the day.
A name under a photograph taped to a mailbox.
Monogram on a torn shirt,
I see you spelled out on storefront windows
And on the bright unfurled awnings
of this city.
I say the syllables as I turn a corner --
Kelly and Lee,
Medina, Nardella, and O'Connor.
When I peer into the woods,
I see a thick tangle where letters are hidden
As in a puzzle concocted for children.
Parker and Quigley in the twigs of an ash,
Rizzo, Schubert, Torres, and
Upton, Secrets in the boughs of an ancient maple.
Names written in the pale sky.
Names rising in the updraft amid buildings.
Names silent in stone
Or cried out behind a door.
Names blown over the earth and out to sea.
In the evening -- weakening light, the last swallows.
A boy on a lake lifts his oars.
A woman by a window puts a match to a candle,
And the names are outlined on the rose clouds --
Vanacore and Wallace,
(let X stand, if it can, for the ones unfound)
Then Young and Ziminsky, the final jolt of Z.
Names etched on the head of a pin.
One name spanning a bridge, another undergoing a tunnel.
A blue name needled into the skin.
Names of citizens, workers, mothers and fathers,
The bright-eyed daughter, the quick son.
Alphabet of names in a green field.
Names in the small tracks of birds.
Names lifted from a hat
Or balanced on the tip of the tongue.
Names wheeled into the dim warehouse of memory.
So many names, there is barely room on the walls of the heart.

Billy Collins read "The Names" at a special joint session of the United States Congress on September 6, 2002, held to remember the victims of the 9/11 attacks.

Harry Potter the Musical?

"Boy wizard Harry Potter is taking to the stage in a musical based on the smash-hit books."

The article was published in The Sunday Mirror, a tabloid. More than likely it's a rumor, but it's fun to think about nonetheless.

My initial reaction: shock. I've let it sort of sink in now, but I'm still caught off guard. How does a hard core Harry Potter fan react to the idea of live theatre? First a theme park, now a musical? Harry Potter is taking over the world! I'm not sure how they're going to manage to get all seven books in one show. It seems like they should stick to one novel. Daniel Radcliff (the guy that plays Harry in the movies) is quoted as saying, "The plan is for spectacular flying scenes [like Wicked! (see photo)], live Quidditch and big showdowns with Voldemort." There are no current plans for the show to come to America, but when it does I'll be first in line. Robin and I joked that we should study abroad in London when for a semester. I can imagine the application now: "What's you're motivation for applying for our highly competitive study abroad program?" "Harry Potter the Musical!"

Click Harry Potter... the Musical to read the article yourself.

Senior Portraits

I got my portraits done by McCaffrey Photography.