Roots Readalong Post 4: Finished!

Finally we have reached the end of the month, and with it, the end of the Roots readalong hosted by Christina at Reading Thru the Nite. This is the fourth and final post, but you can see my thoughts over the other 3 sections of the novel in the following places:

-Chapters 1-30
-Chapters 31-60
-Chapters 61-90

I'm both happy and sad to be talking about the end of the novel. On one hand, I'm very happy that I am finished with the book. It was a huge book (my edition was 899 pages), and my hands will be grateful not to hold it up anymore. It is a great sense of accomplishment to finish such a chunky book in four weeks. On the other hand, I'm sad to leave behind the rich history found in the novel. I'm going to explain a bit more about that in a moment.

The fourth chunk of the book continues the story of Kunta Kinte's family. Now, considering we were with Kunta for about 550 pages of the book, I was skeptical of how Haley was going to bring us from 1820 to the present day in 300 pages when he spent 550 pages on 55 years. I was right in feeling that it would be rushed. From the point of Kizzy (Kunta's daughter) on, I felt like I never really got to know any of the characters, with the exception of Tom and Irene. A lot of the family history felt rushed as Haley tried to bring the history of his family through the Civil War and into his own personal history. Babies were born, barely described, and a page later, the eighth child was born. Names got confusing and I wasn't sure who was who until the end of the novel when Haley finally brings himself into the narrative and focuses on the reverse lineage of his family.

In addition to feeling that the ending was rushed (funny to say that for a 900 page book), I was also a little irritated with the amount of attention spent on Chicken George and those cock-fights. Where I felt a lot of the other description of daily life was necessary to the progress of the novel, I always felt pulled away when the focus was on Chicken George. I think that the same message could have come across without so much detail (because let's be honest, aren't we all disgusted by the idea of animal cruelty?). Had Haley pulled back and focused more on the family, which is what readers were invested in, I think he could have packed an even stronger punch (and I say this from my perspective in reading this in 2012).

As for what I did enjoy, I was surprised to see that Haley confronted a question IN the novel that would pop up after it was published. Since Haley "traced" his lineage back to Kunta Kinte and the exact village he was from, many asked whether the novel was fact or fiction. Haley points out in the last few chapters that,

"To the best of my knowledge and of my effort, every lineage statement within Roots is from either my African or American families' carefully preserved oral history, much of which I have been able conventionally to corroborate with documents," (884).

Obviously, as a reader, we know that Haley didn't know what Kunta thought or felt, but I think his inferences in the novel are pretty remarkable. He captured the sense of horror and helplessness of many slaves, and Kunta's identity confusion upon being made a slave in America seemed very realistic. And while I still don't forgive Haley for downright plagiarizing certain passages, I still think that this is an incredibly powerful and moving novel.

I think that many assume that issues of race and racism are issues of the past. I hope that most of us know that isn't true. Racism and hatred are still so prevalent. And what bothers me is how many don't "get" what actually happened. I've heard some say, "Slavery was so long ago. Get over it." But I think that those people are wrong. Why do we need to forget something that forged this country? Let's face it, the system of slavery helped shape America into what it is, and to forget that it happened, to brush it under the rug, says that those who died on the ships coming from Africa, those who were beaten to death in the fields, or shot while escaping, died for nothing. It is an ugly past, but one we need to continue to teach-to say, "Look at what we were, where we are, and where we still need to go."

Whether or not Roots is that platform...I'm undecided. I think it is an important novel, certainly, as it brings to the forefront some extremely powerful images and emotions. And I certainly think that we should read it, talk about it, and learn from the message it delivers. And while it is not a perfect novel, no work ever is. It is the imperfections that mark a great work and give us something to talk about, don't you think?

So for those of you unsure of whether Roots is a novel you want to tackle, I think you should. Beyond learning more about the history of the United States, it is also well-written. You'll want to keep reading, and rooting, for the people in it. Because while it may be fiction, the slavery was real.


*Finishing Roots marks another book finished off my Chunkster Challenge list! That's 2 down in 1 month! Go me!*

Thoughts on Night by Elie Wiesel.

“To forget the dead would be akin to killing them a second time.”

I'm taking a short break from my other reading this week to read a couple of the books I'm going to be teaching starting on Monday. And while I won't be doing a lot with Night, I will be finishing up the discussion and having the kids write a paper about the book. Since it has been a few years since reading it, I knew it would be in my best interests to read it.

I sat down last night, rather late, to read a few pages before bed. And, like many other books, I was sucked into the story. Since the book is short, I managed to finish it before bed. Then I was up a little too late thinking about what I had read.

It reminded me a bit of something Matt and I had watched on TV a couple weeks ago. There was a Band of Brothers marathon on, so we snuggled into the couch to watch (the series is about a group of soldiers during World War II). Matt had seen the whole series before, but I had only seen 1 or 2 episodes. Anyway, there is an episode where the soldiers discover a camp, and those images were hard to watch. While my brain knew that they were actors and that they were pretending to be in such misery, a very real part of myself only saw the people on screen as those who really suffered during World War II.

As someone who has taught U.S. history, and who hopes to teach a history course again in the future, I always struggle with how to approach talking about the Holocaust with students. One of the things that I always push for as a teacher is the complete understanding of what history means for us today-that we learn about history to prevent those same tragedies in the future. I always want my kids to feel that and to acknowledge that we do have a dark past.

But with the Holocaust, I just try and show them. I wish I would have known about that Band of Brothers episode last year. I think seeing it would have changed a lot of my students' minds about the death camps. And I also wish they had the opportunity to read an account as honest and as open as Wiesel's Night. I do believe that reading an account makes it come alive.

What is special about Wiesel's book is that it is not just about his experiences in the camps. It is also about being human in a time where he was treated like an animal. The narrative is simple in that it never bogs down in language. Instead, Wiesel simply explains what happened to his family, how he felt, and what it meant to lose hope in everything.

I think that this approach is what makes his book so powerful. It is about his family-how they are broken apart. He never has the chance to say goodbye to his mother and younger sister. Instead, they are sorted and taken away from each other without a chance to speak a word. Elie, a young teenager, has to face the horrors of this world alone, since his father seems to disappear into himself from the beginning.

One of the most disturbing scenes is near the beginning-when they arrive at the camp. They are walking and Wiesel describes pits of fire where soldiers are tossing children and babies. Worried that they will also be tossed into the flames, Wiesel writes,

"I told him that I did not believe that they could burn people in our age, that humanity would never tolerate it . . ."

That line says a lot about the horrors of the camps and the feelings of disbelief that those sent to be in the camps must have felt. When I tried to close my own eyes last night, I also tried to picture what that must have been like. Denial must have been one of the only ways to cope with that kind of image.

Night is definitely a book worth discussing. Being that it comes from Wiesel's memories, it's powerful. It doesn't gloss over what happened in the many camps in Nazi Germany, but it explains how those captured lost their sense of self. Under the shadow of the chimneys and crematoriums, it was just a fight until the next meal.

I think Wiesel says it best...

"Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, which has turned my life into one long night, seven times cursed and seven times sealed....Never shall I forget those moments which murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to dust. Never shall I forget these things, even if I am condemned to live as long as God Himself. Never."

Anne of Green Gables Giveaway Winner!

My mom has been hounding me to pull a winner for the Anne of Green Gables giveaway I posted a couple weeks ago. And since the giveaway was sponsored by my mom, it almost makes sense that she was harassing me, right? ;) I jest.

I really enjoyed reading about all of your memories. They were really touching. I know my mom enjoyed reading the entries as well. We all have some awesome females in our lives!

The winner is receiving a pretty copy of the new Puffin edition of Anne of Green Gables, seen below:

I went to random.org and it spit out a number...

Congratulations to:

Diana of Autobiography of an Anglophile!

I am going to e-mail Diana to get her information. If I don't hear back from her in a couple of days, I'll pull another winner. :)

Thank you all for entering!

Book 138: Initial Impressions.

“Dreams are the bright creatures of poem and legend, who sport on earth in the night season, and melt away in the first beam of the sun, which lights grim care and stern reality on their daily pilgrimage through the world," (150).

I am just around 200 pages into Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens. I'm surprised at how quickly this one is going, considering it took me awhile to hit the same page number in David Copperfield, and this one is longer! But, there seems a be a drastic different in style between the two. This one appears "lighter" in tone, so perhaps that is why the pages seem to be flying by.

I'm going to be honest and say that in comparison to the other Dickens novels on my list, I know relatively nothing about this one beyond the fact that it was Dickens' third novel and that it is supposed to be funny. I rather like not knowing what's going to happen, or what his purpose is. Instead, I can "sit back" and enjoy the language and story.

The novel begins with two brothers. One, Ralph, gambles with his inheritance money and makes a fortune. His brother, the older Nicholas, marries, has two kids, and settles on his farm. When he passes, he leaves his wife and kids poor with no where to turn. In desperation, they turn to Ralph for help.

Ralph is a funny...and rather bitter old man. He agrees to help his relatives by pushing them off into the first situations he finds for them. For the son, Nicholas, they go to answer an advertisement in the paper for a teacher's assistant. They arrive to find a lovely fellow named Wackford Squeers. Now, just judging by that name you know that Nicholas is in for a treat, right? HA.

Nicholas travels with Squeers to his home and school 250 miles from London. The boys in the school are thin, wearing patched and ragged clothing, and freezing from lack of proper bedding and warmth. It is clear to Nicholas that they are mistreated and Squeers is a tyrant, but what can a guy in his situation really do? His descriptions of the boys were pretty heart-wrenching;

"There were little faces which should have been handsome, darkened with the scowl of sullen dogged suffering; there was childhood with the light of its eye quenched, its beauty gone, and its helplessness alone remaining; there were vicious-faced boys brooding, with leaden eyes, like malefactors in a jail; and there were young creatures on whom the sins of their frail parents had descended, weeping even for the mercenary nurses they had known, and lonesome even in their loneliness," (97).

The other descriptions of the beatings and meal times were equally as painful (the boys lined up for breakfast to have a wooden spoonful of food shoved in their mouths before getting a measly bowl of porridge). At first I wasn't sure what Nicholas was going to do to combat that pain, but after befriending an orphan named Smike, it seems obvious that he will eventually fight back. Which he did in heroic fashion, beating the crap out of Squeers and running away.

As for Nicholas' sister, Ralph Nickleby found her a place in a milliner's shop, but the narrative switched before I could see what happened to her.

Already 200 pages in, I know that I am going to enjoy this one. While it may not have the same depth or complexity as David Copperfield, it does seem to be touching on some similar themes-self-preservation, reliance, and making a path in a world set against your own success. There are also quite a few characters, just as in David Copperfield. The characters are all unique and crazy, with their own individual quirks. I'm looking forward to seeing where this one leads, and whether I will rank it as highly as David Copperfield.

Tagged.

I've had this post sitting in draft form ever since Trisha tagged me back on the 10th. I was hoping it would write itself, but I decided to play along, finish it, and make the rest of you suffer. :)

The idea is that Trisha made up eleven (hard) questions that I have to answer. When I'm finished, I create 11 more and tag a bunch of you to do this. So, here are the questions she gave me and my answers. 

QUESTIONS
1. What is your favorite piece of art? 
Well, if I have to go with a well-known piece, I'll choose the following by Van Gogh:

Obviously it is Starry Night. LOVE this painting!

I also really love the sculptures my boss at the park does. He got into marble sculpting a few years ago, and every summer he journeys out to Colorado to sculpt for a few weeks. Waiting for him to come back to see what he comes up with each year is amazing. He also works with bronze-casting pieces. I think he's amazing. Here are two of my favorite pieces he's done:

 
















2. What literary character do you think would make an awesome world leader?
Uhhhhh...this question is super hard! I have no idea...someone with more a clue than I have. :)
 
3. What color do you think should be outlawed from clothing?
Magenta. I just don't think it's flattering on anyone. At all. WAY TOO BRIGHT and just...ugh.
 
4. Hats. Yes or no?
My husband wears a hat almost non-stop. And not anything awesome like a fedora or top hat...he wears baseball hats. When we tackled his closet the other day, we counted and he has 30+ hats. Ridiculous.

I don't mind hats though. I would love to traipse around in a bonnet. :)
 
5. What contemporary novel should be added to the high school curriculum?
I would give anything to teach The Book Thief. I think it is a wonderful book that addresses a lot of issues that come up in curriculum. And it is a great cross-curricular piece.

(I also would have said The Hunger Games, but hey! I'm teaching it this spring!)
 
6. What book featuring real people do you think could work if the characters were switched to animals?

Let's turn The Odyssey into animal characters for kicks. :) OHHH! Or Macbeth! I would read that, for sure. 

I don't mind books with animal characters, but I don't think I would really want to change any of my favorites. 
 
7. Genetically designed humans. Hell yes or absolutely not?
Well...no. I think that's a horrible idea. I get pictures from Anderson's book Feed in my head-where the grotesque becomes something to be desired because being genetically modified is okay. And it isn't.

8. What book would you like to see get parodied a la Pride and Prejudice and Zombies?

None because it makes me sad.

But I would love to see those writers tackle Mrs. Dalloway and add zombies. THAT I would read. :)
 
9. What book would you absolutely hate to see get parodied?
Anything that I love? I think that if they went after Eliot or Wharton I would have a fit. Or anything that's a little more serious in tone. Just don't even go there!

That being said, I haven't read any of the parodies. Maybe they're funny?
 
10. TV. Awesome source of entertainment or horrifying time suck?
Definitely a time suck, but also entertaining. I'm trying to reduce how much I watch TV because, well, it's cutting into my reading time. There are certain shows I will never abandon though!

11. What literary character should immediately jump off the page and into your bed?
Snape. I LOVE me some Snape. But only if it is Alan Rickman playing Snape. 

:D

Okay, now I am supposed to come up with my own 11 and tag a bunch of you, but because I am party pooper, I'm tagging everyone who hasn't done this and YOU HAVE TO answer the same questions I did. HAHA!