Candide

So I have finished reading Candide for history last night. Strange book. One of the characters, Pangloss, says that"Everthing is for the best in this best of all possible worlds" meaning basically that whatever bad stuff happens to you it is always for a good reason. So the death of millions is actually a good thing because those people were put there to die...or some-such idea. The premise of the book is that Voltaire is satirizing this theory, which was created by a guy named Leibniz. In the book Voltaire puts his protagonist Candide through terrible hardships, and has the philosipher Pangloss always reason, "It is for the best". Murder, theft, rape, torture, earthquakes, partial cannibalism...many terrible things happen to the characters in this book. Pangloss sticks to his guns about it being for the best because that is what was meant to happen...I think....but Candide luckily smartens up a bit. Although a more satisfying ending would have had Candide punch Pangloss in the face.

I don't quite get the book yet... I have to read the essays in the back and try to think of soemthing intelligant to put in my 2000 words essay.

Oh Gosh...

Prehaps I should be doing that now instead of later...
Research here I come!

So we had to read this book for Anthropology last semester called A Complicated Kindness by Miriam Toews, and besides its depressive-ness, it was a really good book. So I was excited when I saw that she had a new book out called The Flying Troutmans.
I was even more excited when my sister got the book for christmas! So while taking a break from reading Candide I snuck into my sister room and borrowed it.


So the really cliche summary is that its about a family and how they cope with there struggles and heartbreaks. Hattie's sister is having another mental breakdown, and so Hattie takes her neice, a hyper-active, arts and crafts doing, purpled haired 11 year old named Thebes, and Logan, her trouble-making angsty, basketball playing, sweety-at-heart nephew on a road trip to find their father. It deals with some tough stuff but does it in such a light hearted tone, it makes the book hard to put down. I found it really easy to get into, and the characters were really fun to get to know.
I also readlly like the cover. The colour scheme and general design matches with that of A Complicated Kindness. And looking at the cover now, I get why there is a bird eating a fish on the cover and having read the story its full of symbolism and stuff. Its like the bird symbolises how life seems to be "eating up" the Troutmans (thats the family...and the bird in my symbolism:P) but ALSO once you read the book you see that the seagull could also represnt Min (the sister with the breakdown) because in one point of the book the reader is told a story about how Min pretends to be a seagull in order to befriend one, and she gets Hattie to pretend to be a dead fish in order to aid her impersonation. And what with Min's constant breakdown's and odd behaviour she could be the seagull that is eating up her families life.
Hmmm.
Deep.

Ambivalence

I have a love/hate relationship with my belt. You see, I love it because it has owls on it, and I adore owls. I hate it because it's buckle is cheap metal and my skin doesn't like cheap metal. I love it because it keep my jeans up 'stead of round my ankles, which is nice.

(here is a picture of the belt in question)

As well, I am a procrastinator. I leave everything till the last minute. I even procrastinate to pee.*(I am not alone in this, check out the facebook group) Sooo, when it can no longer be put off, your belt becomes your worst enemy, as mere seconds can be crucial to your future happiness.

This brings to mind what I learned about Voltaire** on Tuesday in History class, about how he was a very ambivalent person, and had many love/hate relationships with people. His father, his (girlfriend? lover? friend?) Madame Du Chatalet, even when he was imprisoned, he was in jail, but he dined with the Warden often. Why do those two thoughts coincide in my mind?
Leave it to stressful, looming essays to do weird things to your brain.



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*I just realised there is a button to put in hyperlink in the blog writing program thing! I figured this out AFTER going to all the trouble of figuring out how to do it manually. :( *sigh* at least i am a tad bit smarter now :).
**Talking about Voltaire and peeing in the same post?! Outrageous! But actually Voltaire loved to shock and offend, so I think he would be proud to be referenced in this post. :P

Hello World of Blogging!

So this is my blog! It's not much yet, but this is how it shall look until we have gotten to HTML in Comp Sci class because it has been a while and I don't want to mess anything up. :)

I am going to try and post about books I've read, maybe movies or anime that I have watched, and I guess whatever I feel about writing (if I ever do - oh dear, it shall be interesting to see how this works out.)

To start off I will review the book i just finished reading last night, "Bliss" by Lauren Myracle.


Bliss is about a girl (named Bliss) who was raised by her hippie parents, until her parents decided to escape to Canada in order to avoid the draft. Bliss goes to live with her strict Grandmother and is enrolled in Crestveiw Academy.
However it may sound so far, it is not your typical YA "coming-to-terms-with-your-differences" "everybody-is-friends-in-the-end" kinda novel.
No.
When Bliss gets to the school she hears the voice of a girl who had thrown herself out of one of the windows, back when the school was still a home to nuns.
The between every few chapters the reader is treated to a mysterious journal entry that fills you in on the darker happenings of the novel as Bliss just tries to get through her first year of high school.
The book is spooky, and suspenseful, and very well written. It captured my attention till the very end. The only problem I had with it was there, at the end. The book doesn't feel finished, and I don't want to spoil anything, but I can not believe that it can end like that. I am hoping for a sequel.
I would recommend this book to anyone who likes magic, or the supernatural.

(Untill I figure how to make pictures links, I got the jacket photo of Bliss from here ->http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/Bliss-Lauren-Myracle/9780810970717-item.html?ref=Search+Books%3a+%2527lauren+myracle%2527 . Ugly, I know, but I will get it figured out soon!)