Another thing I've been doing instead of studying in general is read "The Unbearable Lightness of Being." Sarah has been reading it as a part of her directed study and the little she said about it piqued my interest. Here are some selections from it that moved me in some way:
"Indeed, the only truly serious questions are ones that even a child can formulate. Only the most naive of questions are truly serious. They are the questions with no answers. A question with no answer is a barrier that cannot be breached. In other words, it is questions with no answers that set the limits of human possibilities, describe the boundaries of human existence."
"As I have pointed out before, characters are not born like people, of woman; they are born of a situation, a sentence, a metaphor containing in a nutshell a basic human possibility that the author thinks no one else has discovered or said something essential about. But isn't it true that an author can write only about himself? Staring impotently across a courtyard, at a loss for what to do; hearing the pertinacious rumbling of one's own somas during a moment of love; betraying, yet lacking the will to abandon the glamorous path of betrayal; raising one's fist with the crowds in the Grand March; displaying one's wit before hidden microphones - I have known all these situations, I have experienced them myself, yet none of them has given rise to the person my curriculum vitae and I represent. The characters in my novels are my own unrealized possibilities. That is why I am equally fond of them all and equally horrified by them. Each one has crossed a border that I myself have circumvented. It is that crossed border (the border beyond which my own "I" ends) which attracts me most. For beyond that border begins the secret the novel asks about. The novel is not the author's confession; it is an investigation of human life in the trap the world has become."
"Before we are forgotten, we will be turned into kitsch. Kitsch is the stopover between being and oblivion."
There are moments in this novel that I just had to stop because it was so beautiful. At first I had a hard time remembering that it is a contemporary novel because my mind was still with my last read, "Notes from Underground" by Dostoevsky, but after getting to know the characters it was easy to see this as contemporary. His treatment of the characters and situation is familiar and genuine. I love the self reflexivity of the characters, their ability to be contradictory and it be at the same time beautiful and real. Oh I wish I could discuss novels in more depth, it's harder for me to explain and communicate my love (or distaste) for a novel than say a song or film or travel destination. I have thirty pages or so left, so maybe after completing it I will have a more complete analysis.
So grad school, yeah, it's not so bad. The adjustment to life in Boston hasn't been that bad, either, but it hasn't been all cupcakes and sunshine, either. Mostly (and most ironic) I miss com, as in mass com studies, as in pop culture, haha. Despite being in the College of Communication, I spend my days in one corner of the basement in a windowless room, therefore I have no connection with the actually com peoples. I feel very disconnected from the world as well, and this may be because of living in the city as well. While waiting at the airport the other day I needed a water and ended up with three magazines as well because I haven't consumed any periodicals apart from New York Times online. It's as if a big part of me is missing, the part of me that longs to be connected to what's going on in the world and be a part of a dialogue, and to be informed, I miss being informed and feel like I'm already so far behind. Even in Australia I poured over the Australian (for better or for worse) every morning and talked some politics with Liz and Viv. I need to find that outlet, to find my Viv or my Sarah with whom I can discuss the world around me. But don't get me wrong, it's pretty damn amazing to be able to talk film with anyone and everyone at any given point, I'm definitely not taking this for granted.
"I am on a lonely road and I am traveling
Traveling, traveling, traveling
Looking for something, what can it be
Oh I hate you some, I hate you some
I love you some
Oh I love you when I forget about me
I want to be strong I want to laugh along
I want to belong to the living
Alive, alive, I want to get up and jive
I want to wreck my stockings in some juke box dive
Do you want - do you want - do you want
To dance with me baby
Do you want to take a chance
On maybe finding some sweet romance with me baby
Well, come on"
posted by Alison @ 10:34 PM
3 Comments:
I followed your lead and got one too, mon ami. And I totally agree with your thoughts on the book. That long quote, actually, about the creation of characters, is my favorite part and kind of what I'm focusing the paper on. How do you feel about the thought that the novel is less of a novel and more of a fictional essay? This is a term I made up and am going to attempt to defend. Essentially I think that Kundera is making philosophical and social theories the dominating factors in his work and using his characters and plot more as supporting evidence, or the probable "real world" examples, were people to actually live out the philosophical notions of eternal return, etc. What think you?
Wow, this took forever to load. And by forever, I mean hours. Anyway, your post reminded me that I, too, used to be fairly well informed of many things that I feel I've been neglecting of late. Thanks to you, much of my day was spent looking over various news sites (BBC, CNN, Slashdot, AlJazeera).
I don't know how much better informed I am today, but it certainly feels much better.
I stay pretty well informed....at least I like to think I do....but I find that most people dont enjoy discussing what is going on in the world and so I refrain....but feel free to bring it up anytime if you are so inclined.
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