Deliver Us From Evie

NOTE: I am not the lead blogger, but no one posted anything, so I went ahead and wrote.

I have never read a book which addressed homosexuality. I was impressed with Kerr’s ability to address this topic with such sensitivity. Kerr was very careful not to stereotype people or concepts throughout this book. In my opinion, he dispelled stereotypes about lesbians and farmers. Even though it would have been easy to do he did not implicate Evie’s family as ignorant rednecks, just because they live in a rural farming town and do not fully understand or accept Evie. In fact, there seems to be this teeter-totter of denial and acceptance and criticism and support.

This book does come across as a very realistic situation that could occur in a rural town or even in a smaller urban town. I think growing up in California can give people a false perception of how the majority of Americans react to certain situations or to people who are different than them. To me it is shocking when I still hear of discrimination or hateful acts being projected on others because of their sexual orientation. Anywho, the ways in which the characters in this book react to Evie’s sexual orientation is believable and well written.

Overall message: Everyone is free to be themselves, but there will be consequences.

Coraline

The pictures throughout the book caught my eye. During the first week or so of this class Peter asked us to describe what children’s literature was to us and in my description I wrote about ink illustrations (black and white). When reading children’s literature I expect to either see exaggerated and colorful pictures or jagged ink drawings and this book meets those expectations. I really enjoy the ink illustrations because there is so much more to the pictures and it brings out the emotions better. (Sorry if that doesn’t make sense, it is hard to describe how I feel about what I see in those drawings.) I have the same option of black and white photos taken by people, there is just something special about the lack of “color”.

In the real world people overlook Coraline, mispronounce her name, do not listen to what she says, and are not very affectionate towards her, yet she is a strong individual, who believes in herself and has a strong sense of identity. I really enjoyed this aspect of the book. I like that she was an intelligent, brave, resourceful explorer, who didn’t get discouraged. When she realized that not only her parents and herself but the trapped ghosts were all in danger, she hardly flinched at the idea of saving everyone and stopping the “other mother” from harming the rest of the world. It was wonderful to read of a girl character that had her wits about her and was determined to defeat the horrible creature.

Skellig

This book has been extremely intriguing. I love how it is different than anything I have ever read. It is a complete mystery. I haven't finished it yet, but have gotten about half way through it. I cant wait to see what happens. I love the language they use and how easy it is to read. I also like that its not a fairytale that I know of.

Everything in the book ties together. For example, how Skellig and the baby are similar. They are both struggling to live. The baby is fightng for her life, but Skellig doesn't really seem to care about his life. He doesn't want help and he doesn't want to be healed. There are so many unanswered questions. Who is he? where did he come from? what is he doing there? is he an angel? Im excited to finish the book to hopefully find out the answers to these questions.

I like how they discuss shoulder blades being left over from having wings. I have never heard this before, but I like the mystery around it. So far, my guess would be that Skellig is some type of angel. For the baby girl, it's almost like she is a type of angel as well. As for Mina, I really like her. She reminds me of some type of hippie. I like how she looks at life and how she is taught by her mother. This book is definitely a page turner and I cant wait to see what happens!

Skellig

Reading at such a fast pace, didn’t give me enough time to truly understand all the elements and allusions in the book. I’m glad we will be discussing this book in class, so I can better understand the text of the book.

The book was marvelous, representing unity, faith, belief, education, and the development of relationships. Can you think of other issues or topics addressed in this book?
Examples:
· Skellig and Michael – Ireland
· Skellig – Angel (Earth and Heaven)
· Leakey and Coote – types of birds
· William Blake
· Mina’s education
· Michael’s guy friends vs. Mina’s friendship
· Michael’s relationship with his parents and how strained it is

I was trying to figure out what audience this book would fit best with and one of the groups that came to mind is BOYS. This book does a really good job of making Michael feel safe about his emotions in times of such uncertainty and emotional turmoil. For many males in our society discussing emotions is a challenge and this book may be of some help if read with an open and willing mind. Michael deals with fear, worry, frustration, hope, jealousy, popularity, loneliness, doubt, love, sadness, and confusion. Do you agree or disagree?

The Lion the Witch and the Wardrob

This book has been really fun to read! I cant believe how similar it is to the movie. I saw the movie when it first came out, then bought it on DVD. Even right down to the same lines. I could picture all the characters in the book from the movie. On the other hand, sometimes I wish I read the book before the movie. I think I would enjoy the book more if I hadn't already seen the movie. That way your imagination can take over instead of scenes from the movie, but I am still enjoying it.

I would like to find out more about the author and his motivations for the book. There was a lot of controversies about Christians trying to make the book something it was not. They thought that it was the story of Christ, Asland being a Jesus like figure who died for his people in order to save them, and then rose again. I see the connection plain and clear and it was hard to hear people saying that Christians were just trying to make up the connection. Afterall, isn't C.S. Lewis a Christian writer? I thought the book was a fun and new way to bring to life through new characters the story of Christ, but that is just my take of the plot. Many people would probably disagree if they were not religious or just did not agree that a lion could represent Christ.

I've just enjoyed the way the book was put together and that I could relate it to Christianity and see a Christ like figure through the lion. I still would like to discuss more in class what others think of this issue and whether or not they agree or disagree, or what their take is on the topic.

Wizard of Oz

I’ve always been a big fan of the Wizard of Oz and reading this book made me like it even more. I’ve read the book several times before, and I’ve also had the book read to me when I was a child, so when we had to read the book for this class, it was a nice refresher for me.
One of the main reasons that I like this book so much is because it just allows your imagination to run free. I talked to my mother the other day and I mentioned that I was reading this book and she began telling me stories that I didn’t even remember about how much I loved the book as a child and how she would read it to me all the time. I guess its one of those books that everyone enjoys, whether you’re a child or not.
The characters in this book also make it very special because you’re following a bunch of different people (maybe not human, but I see then as human) as they embark on this trip to see the Wizard. You kind of grow close to them and feel what they are feeling and you just want to support them and cheer them on. I’ve always liked all of the characters in this book and I think that these characters make the book really special. I mean come on, who doesn’t like the cowardly lion?
Though the book is a little different from the movie (for example, Dorothy has silver slippers in the book, as to red ones in the movie, and how you need to wear goggles when you reach Emerald City, where in the movie you didn’t), I really like the book more then the movie because I grew up on the book and when someone mentions the Wizard of Oz, I think of the book first, and then the movie.
As I mentioned before, this book was amazing and it allowed my imagination to wonder with the colorful characters as they embarked on their journeys. I think this is a wonderful book and it’s a book that I have owned for many years and I would recommend it to anyone, both child and adult readers. I have a feeling that this book will be a book that I will one day read to my kids, and I’m sure they will love it as much as I have.

Alice in Wonderland

I don’t know about you guys, but when it comes to fairy tales, I’m not the best person to go to. Though fairy tales were a part of my childhood, they weren’t a big part. I would usually fall asleep to the sound of the television with cartoons on it, rather than the voice of my parents reading a book to me. It wasn’t my parents fault, they read to me, but I was more interested in watching t.v. then listening to them read, so this section of fairy tales is interesting for me.

Anyway, now with Alice in Wonderland. Well, I have seen the Disney movie several times; however, reading this version of Alice was also interesting for me. In this version of the text, Alice is once again curious. We see that when she drinks out of a bottle and all of a sudden she doesn’t know who she is. Now, like I said, I have seen the Disney version, but that was a long long time ago, so I really don’t remember much. None the less, when I read this, I found Alice’s curiosity very interesting. I mean she is a child, right? So, even though she is a child, that doesn’t stop her from being curious, she still wonders off and does things, that’s what made it interesting.

Alice goes on many different trips in her adventures. She talks to animals and just has a good old time on her adventures. However, later on in the story, she is woken up and she realizes that none of it was real, it was a dream. But that doesn’t seem to bother her, she still enjoyed her adventures and she still has a great imagination.

I personally think that whichever version you read (whether it was this one or another one), Alice in Wonderland is the pinnacle of fairy tales because it just allows your imagination to run free and it’s just so magical. Like I said, fairy tales weren’t a big part of my childhood, however, I always enjoyed a couple of them, one would be Little Red Ridding Hood, and the other would be Alice in Wonderland. I really enjoyed reading Alice in Wonderland.

*I didn’t know who was supposed to post first this week. I guess it was Gabriela Sosa, but it looks like she’s either not in our group anymore, or she dropped the class. Either way, I went ahead and did the lead post. *

Briar Rose

I have enjoyed reading Briar Rose. Over the weekend I watched Disney's version of Sleeping Beauty to try and refresh my memory of the fairy tale. In the fairy tale the three fairies renamed princess Aurora, Briar Rose so the evil witch would not find her. I found a number of similarities and of course, differences between the fairy tale and the book.

The "contamination" as Zipes would call it, was definitely prevelant in the book. Personally, I think its interesting when an author decides to put a different spin on a classic fairy tale and that is exactly what Jane Yolen did. From Zipes perspective, he would most likely say that Yolen contaminated the fairy tale. She took a classic fairy tale and made many changes. She has stolen the essence of the fairy tale and made it her own. I would say, great job Yolen! In this book, there is an underlying Jewish history portryaing one woman's travels to try and make it during World War II. On the back of the book, there is a quote from the Library Journal that said, "Showcasing Yolen's skill at transforming the real world into a realm of fantasy." I think that is the perfect quote. Yolen took a part of history that a number of people experienced and was able to turn it into a fairy tale experience. I wouldn't mind reading more "contaminated" fairy tales like these.

Most people will always know and love the original fairy tales and I don't think that we'll ever lose them. In saying that, I don't necessarily think that when authors, like Yolen, write a book based on a classic fairy tale and change the plot are actually "contaminating" the fairy tale as Zipes would probably say. They are taking a magical story and bringing it to life, they are putting their own personal life into a fairy tale and I think people enjoy that. Maybe it's just me, but I find the real stories with a fairy tale realm to be exciting and make for an awesome read!

Hansel, Gretel, and Zipes

As I read the Hansel and Gretel variants I realized there is an overwhelming theme throughout them; although, they were written by different people. The theme is that the wives/mothers die, and it does not matter if they are nice or evil. My question is, why?

Another theme is those whom are nice or genuine will prosper and those whom are evil will die. This is evident when the children kill the witch, find the jewels, go home, the step mother has died, and they are reunited with their father and live happily ever after. This theme also shows through when the child is killed by the stepmother and the bird collects “gifts” by singing the story of the boy’s death. In the end the father and other child are rewarded, while the stepmother is smashed to death by a stone.

I also realized that there were two distinct versions of Hansel and Gretel. The first is the Grimms version, which is of a poor father and evil stepmother who is over powering and doesn’t like the father’s children. The children are smart and when they are thrust into a horrible situation their wits are what save them (ex. Marking the trail with white pebbles in order to find their way home, giving the witch the bone to feel instead of his finger and Gretel acting “dumb” and tricking the witch into the oven then baking her to death) The moral of the story is children should be able to think on their feet and fend for themselves. The second version involved a magical bush, the pure love of a mother, an evil stepmother who dislikes the child of the previous wife, a bird who represents the dead child, and in the end the two kind people are rewarded while the evil stepmother is smashed to death.

Each of the following quotes are from different authors and each supports Zipes’ opinion that children’s literature does not exist and that adults do not write for children but rather about themselves as children and how they see childhood. I’m glad to read these quotes, because now there is proof that Zipes is not the only author out there that believes what he writes about.

“I want to show just what Marchen meant to me as a child” p.86

“You do not chop off a section of your imaginative substance and make a book for children….you have, in fact, no idea where childhood ends and maturity begins.”p.86

“I write for the child I am myself. “, “Not tales for children but projections of her childhood.” P.86-87


On page 87 Zipes questions Gag’s life and why she wrote the way she did, in particularly how she had a theme of “overcoming of obstacles to become successful and the reward of the persistent and diligent heroes.” I don’t see this as true because this was also a theme in the Grimms brothers version of the fairy tale Hansel and Gretel. Maybe she was attracted to these tales because of that theme, and not because she created that theme herself. Does this make sense? Do you have a different take?

Over and over again Zipes explains how Gag was imagining herself in the story and was not writing a true translation of the Grimms brothers’ fairy tales. He says the same for Disney, that he was “projecting himself into the story and projected visions of childhood” (p.93). Zipes book really does seem to go in circles and I find it very difficult to pay close attention, because I get annoyed with the repetition and constant preoccupation with the same theme. I get it “children’s literature” is written for both the child and the adult. Both audiences are going to enjoy the same piece of work and that is okay by me. If anything, the creation of children’s literature is brilliant, in that it captives a wide audience, and is all the more successful and profitable. If Zipes knew I wrote that last sentence he would surly scorn me. THE END.

Zipes and Fairy Tales

Reading Sticks and Stones by Jack Zipes was certainly very interesting. To see what Zipes had to say about children’s literature and the publishing field in general was especially interesting. After reading a bit of Zipes’ work, I must say I have a lot more respect for children’s literature. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not like I didn’t respect the works before, but after reading what Zipes had to say, I now know that writing for a child can be difficult. I always figured all you had to do was write a little, and include a lot of colorful pictures and bam; you have a work of art. Well, Zipes brought up a good point, it’s a lot harder then just including words and pictures because you are not only writing for the child, you’re also writing for the parent. You have to be careful of what you say or even draw because a parent might analyze the book before reading it to a child and you don’t want a parent to be upset.

This brings me to my next point. Zipes mentions that the wider audience who reads children’s books aren’t children; they are parents, and college students. I don’t know how accurate that is, but I think it’s a very good point. Look at this class right now, we’re all college students in this class and we’re reading children’s books. Obviously children read children’s books, but I just never really thought that they weren’t the main audience that these books targeted.

The other thing that I found very interesting in Zipes’ book was when he talked about the publishing industry. I never really thought about the publishers of these books, I just figured they were companies and that’s all. But from what I heard in class, something that Professor Kittle mentioned, these publishers are linked to other things. I believe that the example that Professor Kittle used was that a publishing company was linked to a bigger company and that company sold weapons of mass destruction. Again, before reading Zipes’ book and talking about it in class, I never really thought about publishers and publishing companies, they were irrelevant to me. But now, it’s a big deal, its linked to politics. I mean a company who publishes children’s books may also be selling bombs and guns. If that’s not politics then I don’t know what is.

One thing that got me a little puzzled was when Zipes talked about “junk food” as literature. I mean what does he define as junk food? I mean are comic books “junk food”? Zipes might think so but I think comics are wonderful because they capture the imagination of a children (and adults) and a lot of children see comics as something fun and entertaining. So, if something captures the child’s mind, then what’s so wrong about that? What is “junk food” and what isn’t? I personally believe that if something captures a child and allows them to think and wonder, then it’s not “junk food”.

As for the articles that we read about Little Red Riding Hood, well, those were a little disturbing to me. I mean I’ve read different versions of fairy tales, but I never read one of Little Red Riding Hood with so much emphasis on sex. I mean in one of the stories, the wolf asks Red to take off her clothes and go lay next to him. This made me think, are stories now at days being censored a bit? I mean censorship isn’t a bad idea at times. I don’t want my son or daughter reading books with sex and sexual images in it. I don’t know, all this did was made me think about the industry a little more in depth.

Reading Zipes’ book and the different versions of the fairy tales online made me think a lot about how many different interpretations might exist on one thing. Reading Zipes’ book made me think a lot about the publishing field and got me a little paranoid because now I think that these publishers are really all about money and profits, rather then putting out a good piece of work for the children.

Class Blog

This one of the class blogs for ENGL 342, Spring 07.