Modern Romance - Aziz Ansari

Read February on 6th, 2016.

It's interesting to get this kind of perspective on such a complex issue. This book is more of a collection of sociological observations than anything else. It definitely has plenty of comedic elements since it was written by a famous comedian, but there are so many interesting findings about the people that we share this moment in time with.

The book is more informational than anything I've read for funsies. I usually write about insights that come to me as I read, but I can't reproduce the same response after reading Modern Romance. And it is not that it isn't a wonderful book; it's well-written, very intriguing, and quite educational. 

I guess the thing that interested me most is how our search for "the best" has affected our society in general. We are on the hunt for better music, better TV and movies, better phones, better computers, better everything. Even, as is shown in the book, better partners. We live in a very accessible age were resources are within reach. Technology is advancing rapidly and we are always ogling over the newest phones. We are never satisfied with what we have because there is something better out there. Our application of this attitude to our romantic lives can be alarming. Sure, we all want the perfect person to be with. But the result it that often people feel unsatisfied when problems arise. "This can't be right," you might think. "There must be something better for me." While we all have the right to look for happiness, there is a flaw in this throwing away something that is good for the pursuit of better. In other generations, when people didn't have the chance to meet so many people in such a short amount of time, it sounds like they must have just settled for what was available to them. But how can argue with so many people who make those marriages work? Couples who have been married for decades remain happy with their choices, even though they didn't have much choices to begin with.

So it seems that I do have an insight to share. Often enough we waste energy searching for the best in life instead of making the best out of what we are given. 

Station Eleven - Emily St. John Mandel

Read on December 30th, 2015.

In today's world, there are so many books and shows and movies that originality is scarce. Most fiction that we consume can be likened to another work we have experienced in the past. Authors write books with stereotypes, typical banalities, and trite literary figures. Thus, when there finally is an original book, it is imperative to commend it on its mere uniqueness. Station Eleven is one such book.

The poetic force that accompanies this book was not apparent when I initially began reading. I rolled my eyes and lamented the recently overused post-apocalyptic setting. To my delight, I was wrong. In other books I can see this setting as a plot device to illustrate the concept of survival. However, in Station Eleven, the world, deplete of electricity, transportation, and communication that we as a society depend so heavily on, offers a perspective on how to cope in life without those advantages. Void of those distractions, these people are left only with their passions. It was amazing to see how different people were able to accept the new world and move on from the past. A traveling symphony, carting around barren Michigan performing music and Shakespeare, with Survival is Insufficient written on its caravan. A man starting a new life as a doctor, finding purpose in helping others and raising his new family. Another finding comfort and peace in curating the Museum of Civilization, established in the ruins of an airport. We also see a vastly different and inhumane approach to coping: a prophet, roaming the land with his followers, taking advantage of those around him, murdering, raping, tyrannizing. 

The singular message that rings within my head is that I choose who I am. The depressed and thrice-divorced actor chose his life of pursuing fame and fortune. The young Shakespearean actor chose her life of pursuing meaning and purpose. The prophet, having seen so many horrors of the lawless world, chose to embrace the darkness and search for power. Many others, having seen so many of the same things, chose to rebuild in communities, however minutely they could. I have the choice to choose what I want out of my life. What do you choose?

The Bassoon King - Rainn Wilson

Read on December 20th, 2015.

Rainn Wilson, congratulations on writing the first nonfiction book to grace my blog. You should be very honored. 

I don't usually read biographies, or really any kind of nonfiction. I think that my past experiences have been laced with boredom and uninterest. But I love Dwight Schrute, I played the bassoon, and The Bassoon King was a free audiobook, so why not? It turns out that Rainn Wilson has a lot to say about this hellhole (a.k.a. life) that was very inspiring to me. Not only did I bond over our similar adeptness at playing the bassoon, I've found that I can connect to some of his experiences as a human being.

I tend to view celebrities as self-centered and egotistical and narcissistic. But I was truly touched by his struggle in acting school to find his "voice" in a career that he was passionate about. After years of trying to be someone else while acting, and doing a mediocre job at it, it wasn't until he gained self-confidence as a person and as a professional actor that he blossomed in his role as Dwight Schrute. He encourages the reader to go through a similar journey: a journey of self-discovering, of building confidence, of finding "voice". While listening to his story, I realized in myself that I want to write. I told myself and others previously that I wanted to be an editor because "I'm not creative enough to write anything." Well, I just don't believe that anymore. I want to share my ideas and create art. Listening to Rainn's story of becoming an individual (and conveniently becoming a celebrity) was inspiring and formative in my decision to follow my own creative path.

Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption - Stephen King

Read in September, 2015.

I debated writing a post about this novella for a couple reasons: (1) I only read it because I think the movie is one of the best of all time, and for some reason I thought that my reasoning discounted the possibility of a new blog post, (2) I really like the movie better than the novella, (3) it's a novella, which means I have pathetic excuses to not write, and (4) I really got tired of trying to find a decent title for this blog and it wasn't until four years after making it that I found one that I like. And I stole it from Emily Dickinson. I'm a true 21st Centurion, stealing creativity and branding it as my own.

I tend to really enjoy prison stories. The Longest Yard and Orange is the New Black and Shawshank Redemption are specific movies/shows that I really find fascinating. I've narrowed my interest down to the fact that these movies humanize the group of people that society has deemed "the worst". They did horrible things, therefore they are horrible people. They deserve to be locked up for the benefit of society. I am not going to debate the prison system, but I will say that prisoners are people with feelings and emotions just like we are. In these stories, the consumer starts to sympathize with criminals. It makes me second-guess my attitude towards that fatally annoying girl in my Spanish class. Everyone's life matters.

The message of Stephen King's novella is that hope is a sustaining force. Even if you were falsely indicted and spent the next twenty years in prison, you, like Andy Dufresne, can survive. The novella explores the dangers of losing hope in a better world in the form of prisoners "institutionalizing" to their cell. They spend so long in one place that moving forward is not only uncomfortable, but unreasonably difficult and eventually leads to a certain recently-released prisoner to suicide. It also explores the crushing defeat that hope can have on a soul when it takes so long to come to fruition.

I feel like I need to clarify the purpose in writing in this blog. I realize that I have given no critique on Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption or on Stephen Kind or his writing. My intent on writing has changed since I started so long ago. I'm interested to see how the transformation in my blog reflects the transformation in my own life in the past four years. I began by critiquing these books and offering my opinions on their literary qualities. This was at a time when I was critical of everything around me, mainly people. Having just taken a college course on literary theory, my perspective on "good" literature has changed. There has been a lot of debate on where meaning comes from in literature. I think that it comes from a mixture of several sources: the aestheticism of the text, authorial intent, and of course my own interpretation. Reading is a way for my own beliefs to surface. I vicariously struggle with a character's experiences which elicits an emotional response, which I can solidify as I write.  Writing in this blog is a way for me to explore my emotions and beliefs, allowing me to shift the analysis from the book to my own life. Reading becomes an introspective and a spiritual experience for me as I search for strength to persist and room for improvement.

Go Set a Watchman - Harper Lee

Read July 22nd, 2015.

Of course I had to pre-order this book as soon as I knew the address of my new college apartment. It's only the long-lost sequel to my favorite book of all time. And it sure didn't disappoint.

The similarities between Go Set a Watchman and its predecessor To Kill a Mockingbird are refreshing, yet their differences I found to be much more enriching. It's not the same story retold fifteen years later; it's a continuation of the maturation process in the life of Jean Louise Finch. 

The first time we read about Jean Louise, she goes by the name of Scout. Being very young and impressionable, her father, Atticus, struggles to teach her and her brother about the difference between right and wrong. As a very wise man, well beyond the society in which he lives pertaining to integrity and morals, he stands in contrast to the ignorant and prejudiced South. The antagonist in To Kill a Mockingbird is no single person or group of people or community. It is an abstract struggle in which we all participate. It is deciding for ourselves what kind of person we want to be. Scout had two major influences in her life: her town and her father. She had to choose who she was going to follow. I don't think it is much of a spoiler to say that she follows her father's influence, who is and will be for a long time her idol and beacon of righteousness. In a way, as said in the sequel, she worshiped Atticus Finch.

Fast forward fifteen years. Jean Louise has moved past childhood, past her nickname, and away from Maycomb, Alabama to New York City. Upon an annual visit back home, she finds that things around her hometown have changed. The town reacts contrarily to the introduction of the NAACP, supporting and demanding segregation. Jean Louise holds onto the lessons she learned from her father many years ago and cherishes her father's perfection; that is, until she learns of him advocating the very thing she protests. The lessons she learns here are similar, yet quite different to the lessons she learned long ago. Instead of leaning on another man's views and standing on someone else's platform, she must come to a heartbreaking conclusion: Atticus Finch is not her God anymore. She, upon her father's encouragement and guidance, has to form her own opinions, to have her own conscience, to go set her own watchman. 

I am shocked at how relevant these lessons are for today's problems. Although Atticus encourages Jean Louise to be her own person, she responds harshly to her father's views. She has yet to learn that every person has their own reasons for doing things, for acting the way they do. Upon that realization, she has to accept that it is possible to coexist with other opinions. I doubt there has ever been a time in the history of the world where there has been so many opinions to consider and so many different topics and events. We often react the way Jean Louise does: bitterly, aggressively, and with hostility. Although she never does come into an agreement with her father, his example teaches the key to end bigotry: that coexistence is not only possible, but the ideal of society. While disagreements are formed and arguments are made, peaceable living can still be achieved. What a great message for the global society. The war in this book is a mess of politics that was difficult for me to understand. Harper Lee never implies a definitive right answer for the political problem. That's not the real issue. The real issue is how we react to the event when the people closest to us don't agree with us. The answer may never be found to settle our disagreements. But what can be done is to be mature citizens, having our own thoughts and being individuals while also adopting an atmosphere of love and understanding. The world has a long way to go before it measures up to Atticus Finch.

The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald

Read Twenty-Sixth on June 21st.

Somehow I eluded the opportunity to read this classic novel in high school. Rather unfortunate. There's a reason why it's a classic!

Oftentimes when I read a book quickly, such as this, it's hard for me to sort through my thoughts and form an opinion. So I must admit that my thoughts and impressions may be unsteady.

I find it so interesting that this books was written and takes place in the Roaring Twenties. The theme regarding the past, present, and future plays intriguingly into the history of America. The subject of the book, a man named Jay Gatsby, was born without privilege; those deficiencies were filled with dreams of grandeur and pomp. He, like the young America, rose above his lacking circumstances and found himself the center of attention. He was rich; he had everything that was vain and extravagant. Everyone said he had a bright future, that he was meant for bigger things. His life mirrors the history of America, starting from poor circumstances and somehow, supposedly fueled by the Dream that anyone can transcend poor circumstances and turn his/her life into the idealistic, perfect version. Optimism reigned in the Roaring Twenties. It seemed, to America herself and to her neighbors, that the sky was the limit and that nothing was stopping the country's ascent. Then, in a haunting foreshadowing, Gatsby's life took a dark turn, just years before the Great Depression starting in 1929. 

This American Dream can motivate one to greatness. It is the reason for Gatsby's greatness. His wealth was conceived by a dream borne of discontent of present poverty; poverty of finances, poverty of love, poverty of fulfillment. This Dream seems to be a flawless success when possessed by a great mind. However, it can be taken to an extreme. Gatsby, and I can only imagine others well-endowed with charismatic and gaudy qualities, have fooled themselves into thinking that literally no obstacle can stop them, even to the point of foolish attempts of obtaining the impossible. Despite the sentiment that many motivational and inspirational quotes may imply, the impression that I am receiving from the narrator and vicariously from the author is that there is a limit to dreams. There are things that one cannot be taken for oneself. That thing is labeled by the narrator; that thing is the past. No matter what we do in this life, no ambition can obtain the past. The American Dream is about the future; it's about reversing our position in life to be able to perform our abilities and talents without obstacle or interference. The Dream of advancement and ambition is foolishly mistaken for a dream of immortality and invulnerability; the dream of omnipotence; the dream of Godhood. In the man Gatsby, this was the sole reason for his demise. It was the catalyst that ruined all that he had sought to obtain. He wanted something that he had before, but presently could not re-obtain. His overzealous desire was his only vice; the great irony of the Great Gatsby is that he assumed he could move forward while incessantly focusing on the past.

However, Jay Gatsby is not the bad guy of the story. He was the result of his own failure, yes, but he also shows qualities that are too often found lacking in most people. His quest of obtaining what he once had but no longer does may be foolish, but must have haunted him forever after had he not pursued. What he sought for was love, the companionship of a woman who had caused in him surpassing awe and wonder. Unfortunately for Gatsby, the obstacles facing him were insurmountable: the vanity of others. While he did indeed have his own massive wealth, he flaunted it for the fancies of a proud woman. For, in the past that he could not reverse, it was his lack of wealth that drove her away in the first place. 

Is there a lesson that we can learn from Gatsby? We cannot obtain everything we want. It is improbable and foolish. However, we do have capacity to achieve greatness, and that force that drives us to greatness should be focused on the meaningful, not the simply ostentatious. We should exert our energies to achieve those things that we cannot be happy without, those things that fulfill us and make our lives complete. Instead, we throw ourselves completely into those things that thrill us for a moment, but will soon, almost imperceptibly, fleet away and leave us wistfully yearning for more.

Paper Towns - John Green

Read on June 17th, 2015.

One day I'm going to stop apologizing for reading books that aren't on the list. This is whole blog is mainly for my benefit and not anyone else's. I like reading modern books. That's not a bad thing.

What I love about John Green's writing style is that he shows very clearly what he wants the reader to gain from reading his book. Good literature goes deeper than just an entertaining story, but sometimes the reader has to go fishing for the deeper meaning. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but sometimes I wonder whether I'm reading into the right insight. I suppose some authors would like the reader to come to his/her own conclusion regardless of the purpose instead of being spoon-fed the answers to life. It's good to be an independent thinker and be able to make my own decisions about what is important to me. I'm not saying that John Green does the spoon-feeding method. He just clearly explains the characters' deep insights. I don't have to wonder what the main character is thinking or learning or how he is changing because the thought processes and the dialogue are so well written that it resonated with me easily and without speculation at his intended purposes. And not only were those expected outcomes clear and easy to understand, they were deep, fulfilling, and very truthful (at least to me).

The story is about getting to know another person. Not superficially, but on a deeply personal level. A brief yet life-changing history with the girl living across the street motivates Q to search relentlessly for her once she goes missing. Through a series of clues she left, Q learns about this girl whom he thought he knew. He has to transcend the outward appearance and explore her inner thoughts in order to find her. In the process of following these clues, and ultimately coming to know a girl that no one seemed to understand, he discovers more about himself than he had known before. In a creative and original story, John Green uses beautiful metaphors to explain our relationships with others and what it takes to really know someone.