The Blog Critic

Quite frankly, literary blogs aren't really my cup of tea. I don't see the point of reading other people's thoughts on various literary works. I mean, if I really wanted to find other people's opinions on a writing, that's what Google's for, right? Nonetheless, after perusing through the 15 blogs, I did find myself drawn towards a few of the listed blogs.

Time to sit back with a cup of tea.

I found myself reading more posts of the blogs that incorporated personal posts into their literary reviews. LiteraryMinded and The Elegant Variation both did a great job of varying their posts, however, I liked LiteraryMinded slightly more than The Elegant Variation. Personally, I liked the layout of the blog and the blogger's writing style better on LiteraryMinded. She included pictures in her posts to aide her writing, which was a great plus. Also, I personally related to her more than the blogger on The Elegant Variation, as she was a traveler and he was a professor. Dani Shapiro's blog also interested me, as she made each post personal, connecting various topics back to her life. I also liked Andrew Rickard's blog, as he set up his blog as a compilation of quotes and passages he found intriguing.

So, as you can see, I like personal blogs. I like going through posts and previewing a snippet of another person's life. But if I had to pick a favorite literary blog, I'd have to pick Andrew Rickard's blog.

According to his "About Me" page, Andrew Rickard is a McGill University alumni who graduated with language and literature honors. There, in Montreal, he studied French and German, which is something I hope to do (study multiple languages and expand my knowledge of languages). Post-undergraduate years, he went into the insurance and investment business, which, ironically enough, is something I'm hoping to do as well. He eventually gave up everything to pursue what he really wanted and become a translator.

What attracted me the most to his posts was the fact that he centered his blog in an unconventional manner. While most literary blogs consist of long, droning reviews and annoying advertisements (3 Quarks Daily, GalleyCat), Andrew Rickard's simply contained his favorite quotes. He made an effort include the citation, as well as a link to the literary work, of which he retrieved his quoted passages from. He was also careful to refrain from self-reflection and commentary on his blog posts, which, although sounds a little odd, works. His blog is concise and very straight to the point, which, along with the simplicity of his layout, makes it that much more readable. It's nice and doesn't appear intimidating or cluttered like other blogs (The Millions, Emerging Writers Network).

One thing I would possibly change is the appearance. Although simple, it isn't very appealing. It doesn't have many pictures; in fact, the entire blog is approximately 95% words. I'd also change the look of the blog. Personally, I like to read aesthetically designed blogs. If I'm going to be looking at something for a while, it might as well be appealing to the eyes. For example, Reluctant Habits has a very modern look to it and is abundant in pictures, but I just don't like how oversized the posts appear. I also don't like the fact that I have to click on each individual post to read more. Call me lazy, but it's true. Maybe that's why I didn't really find myself getting into blogs like The Mumpsimus or The Guardian Book Blog.

A picture's worth a thousand words.

Change is inevitable.

I don't know when I became so indiscreet.

Before college, I was often told that I resembled the girl who seemed to have it all. Good grades. Great friends. Impressive resume. I was the ambitious overachiever, the social butterfly everyone knew, the independent woman trapped in an adolescent's body. I was able to juggle AP/accelerated classes, community college courses, leadership positions in several extracurricular activities, three jobs, and a social life. I never really had to try too hard in school to get good grades--they sort of came naturally to me. I never had to study too much to do well on my exams. In fact, I rarely, if ever, studied for anything. If I did, I would simply reread the material the day prior to my exam. Call me crazy, but hey, if it works, it works. Halfway through high school, I thought I was already prepared to be a college student. But boy, was I wrong.

I never expected to struggle with keeping up with my schoolwork. Usually, when I fall behind, I pick myself back up and get right back on track, regardless of how much stuff is going on in my life outside of school and work. But I feel like it's as if I've dug myself too deep and there's no hope of digging myself out. Panhellenic rush handed me the shovel, but it was all of the extracurriculars I decided to partake in that got me to start digging. I've spread myself too thin--something I've done my entire life. Being a part of LHSP, UROP, SHEI, VSA, APO, DMUM, and BPA, on top of 16 credits, is fulfilling yet excessive and difficult to manage. It doesn't help that three of my four classes are reading based, assigning massive chunks of readings every night along with additional assignments. I know I should consider dropping a few clubs, but honestly, I just don't know how. It's simply in my nature to get involved with everything I'm interested in. And like they say, habits, good or bad, are hard to break and hard to form.

I've always been a busy bee; I absolutely hate being unproductive. That's why I never really cared for television shows or movies--I always had places to go and people to see. But being in college, constantly being surrounded by your peers is the difference between high school and college. In high school, I lived with my family, as the rest of us did. I drove everywhere, and I saw my friends when it was convenient for both parties. But here, we all live with one another. We walk everywhere, and we see each other 24/7, whether we like it or not. It's no wonder that I'm having such a difficult time keeping up with course materials.

To be frank, because of my time spent here at the University of Michigan, I feel like I've developed ADHD and learned to love dawdling. Okay, maybe not love, but learned to accept procrastinating far more often than I once did.

Am I where I would like to be in my life right now? Not quite. But I don't necessarily regret the way things turned out. It all happened for a reason. Maybe that reason is a reality check. A wake-up call to show me how, with just one decision, my life could either turn out to be really great or really awful. For now, I'm going to do the best I can to end the semester strong. I'm going to try to divert my attention away from the external influences and keep my eye on the prize. Next semester, I'm going to do all it takes to stay on track and narrow my interests to what truly matters.

As a friend once told me:

"Life changes every minute of every day. You lose and you gain friends. You realize your friend wasn't ever really your friend and that person you used to hate can make a really good friend. You look for love. You find and you lose love. You realize all along that you've been loved. You laugh, you cry. You laugh so hard that you cry. You do this, you do that. You really wish you hadn't done that. Your learn from that and are glad you did it. You have your ups and your downs. You see good movies. You see bad movies. You wonder if your life is just one big movie. You look at others and wish you were them. You then realize who they are and are glad that you're you. You love life. You hate life. In the end, you just find yourself happy to be living life, no matter what's thrown at you."

'Til Death Do Us Part

Someone you haven't even met yet is wondering what it'd be like to know someone like you.

The other day, I was talking to one of my best friends about the future. We wondered basic thoughts, such as where all of our friends would end up, what they'd be doing with their lives, and who they'd commit themselves to. With the real world slowly creeping along, getting ready to strike at any moment, we couldn't help but think of what will happen when everyone stops having time to see each other.

Being two young, hopelessly romantic girls, we mainly thought about who we'd spend the rest of our lives with. A few of our friends have already gotten engaged (most of my friends are several years older than me), and the thought of the moment when all of us are either engaged and married makes us anxious. We're young, we're reckless, we're alive. We don't completely know what we want for ourselves, and we don't want to make any disastrous mistakes, such as declaring the wrong major or marrying the one who isn't the one.

All of this talk about marriage got me thinking. Love comes from investment.

There is no such thing as "love at first sight." Sure, something about another person might effortlessly entice you to a level that "can't compare to the rest." But that's not love, that's infatuation. You don't know who their closest friends are or who their worst enemies are. You don't know their inner fears, their hidden desires, their favorite memories. Hell, you probably don't even know their name. You only know their physical attributes, and you're infatuated with whatever lured you in to "plunge so deep."

True love doesn't occur instantly.

It takes time.

Falling in love is a process--one that you have total control over. You meet someone you have a mutual interest in, you start talking, you begin seeing each other, you get to know one another, and so on and so forth. You didn't have to invest all of that time into that one person; you had the option to spend your time as you pleased. The time you invest in a particular person is what sets them apart from the rest.

Look at it this way: a day is a day until it becomes an anniversary. A flower is a flower until a special admirer sends one your way. A song is a song until it is attached to a newfound memory. A ring is a ring until a lover slides one on your finger. Sentiment transforms even the most simple things into something extraordinary.

Investing yourself in another person is what makes that person, and everything associated with them, that more special.

I guess what I'm getting at is I'm afraid of making the wrong decision. Afraid of devoting myself to the wrong guy. Afraid of letting the right one slip away. After all, time is something you can never get back, no matter how hard you try.

I promise you, this is definitely worth your time.

Great Stories

Greatness. How do we define such an ambiguous term? Oxford defines it as the quality of being great, distinguished, or eminent. Webster defines it as exceptionally high quality. Dictionary.com defines it as the quality of being unusual or considerable in degree, power, or intensity. In terms of screenplays and literature, I define it as having the ability to evoke emotions, to arouse passion--to move people.

I think about movies the same way I might think of the difference between a good book and a great book. After all, movies and books carry the same content: a story. Oftentimes, movies are inspired by the stories within books. Some examples include: The Great Gatsby, Harry Potter, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Twilight, The Hunger Games, and sappy love stories by Nicholas Sparks.

The difference between a good story and a great one is simple: good implies entertaining and/or favorable, but great implies all of good and a little more. Great story lines aren't necessarily original; rather, they merely stimulate strong emotions within their audience. For instance, many of my favorite movies are comedies (including Bridesmaids, Anchorman, Step Brothers, The Hangover, Ted, and 21 Jump Street) and romantic comedies (She's the Man, Friends With Benefits, 50 First Dates, The Proposal, just to name a few). Yes, I would watch them again and again, however, that doesn't automatically mean I consider them "great" movies. The one movie genre I typically find great stories in are dramas (i.e. The Help, Slumdog Millionaire, and A Beautiful Mind). They contain some realistic situation, entailing the joys and the struggles strung along on the adversity inside.

As recited by Duke Orsino in "She's the Man," William Shakespeare once said, "Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them."

As We Lay Dying

It was senior year of high school and many of things we've waited our entire secondary education for seemed to be quickly approaching. Senior spring break. Prom. Graduation. College. With spring break arriving in less than two weeks, the last thing any of us wanted to do was read, what initially seemed to be, a bland novel by the American author William Faulkner. When my AP English Literature teacher told us we were going to read As I Lay Dying, we all groaned as senioritis had already gotten the best of most, if not all, of us.

When we first began the book, I absolutely despised Faulkner's writing. I hated everything about it: the style, the tone, the setting--everything. He wrote the book in alternating perspectives. So, instead of just one consistent narrator, he voiced the story from fifteen different viewpoints. Mind you, I didn't start reading the novel with a narrow perspective, one with hatred and disgust; I actually kept an open mind. However, it was more so the tone that sparked my disinterest--these Southern narrators were extremely ungrammatical, to the point where it became difficult for me to learn to appreciate his new writing tactic. I've been told, more than often, that I can be a bit of a Grammar Nazi, so you could only imagine how long it took me to correct every page. I would mentally correct it to the point where it wasn't perfectly grammatical, but to the point where it was, at least, understandable to the modern reader.

As we delved further in the book, however, I slowly began to appreciate the novel, bit by bit. I began to admire the differing standpoints, as they added complexity to the novel. Having more than one narrator was something atypical in the world of writing: it broke the stream of consciousness, and instead, dived into multiple streams. The Southern grammar slowly, but surely, grew on me, as I realized, someone, somewhere, actually spoke the way in which he wrote. Next thing you know, I stopped trying to correct the writing and took it the way it was presented. Even though some of the characters' stupidity really did piss me off, I ended up somewhat liking the book. It aroused strong senses of emotion, which, in my opinion, is what every great story does.

The Purple Hibiscus: What Now?

When I finished reading The Purple Hibiscus, I was plopped on one of the cushioned armchairs, with my feet kicked up on the small black table in front of me, in the first floor of the UGLi. Closing the book, I sat up, placing my feet on the ground, feeling a bit disappointed. Even with all of the chatter of other students surrounding my head, it was one of those moments where my thoughts grew loud and my heart grew quiet. I thought to myself, Wow. That's all?

Although it was expected from her, I wasn't too thrilled to discover that Beatrice grew distant from everyone, becoming apathetic to her physical appearance and towards those once close to her. I was disappointed to find a stoic Jaja, one who let his jail time alter the defiant, lighthearted teenager he once was. I guess it's a part of growing up. Gone are the days where you had not a single care in the world. The days in which you were curious about everything. The days where you could run freely and truly live in the moment. Three years in the slammer and your happiness slowly slips away from the teeny cell you're locked up in, finding another, more enjoyable, environment to occupy.

I was, however, pleased with Kambili's final state. As I reached the end, I noticed how even though she matured into the girl she could only dream of being, she still stayed true to herself. She stayed true to herself in the sense that she still possessed qualities of an introvert. She still wonders, she still hopes, she still observes the world through a microscopic viewpoint. She notices the little things, often noting the scenery around her during every event, particularly the nature and the type of silence that dwells. Although I would've liked to see Kambili with Father Amadi, I'm accepting of the fact that the two could never get married and start a family. That's the thing with first loves. They show you that you're capable of doing things you never imagined possible, proving to you you're more than you think you're worth. They show you how to look at things in a whole new light. They teach you how to accept yourself for your flaws and your traits and to accept others for the individuals they are. They teach you how to love. You'll always carry a part of them wherever you go, but you know in your heart, you two simply just can't be.

Adichie concludes the novel with, "Above, clouds like dyed cotton wool hang low, so low I feel I can reach out and squeeze the moisture from them. The new rains will come down soon." Despite the fact that I was a little let down, I think she ended the novel perfectly. Kambili finally realizes that although she has no control of what happens in life, she can, in fact, control her attitude and how she reacts. The last sentence embodies what Kambili had waited all her life for: a metamorphosis.

*Side note: I'm not gonna lie, when I read the last sentence, I immediately thought of the Hilary Duff song, "Come Clean." Yes, I was a big Hilary Duff fan back in the day. Judge me.

Potential Second Essay Topics

1. Safe: Comparing the two different families would be the safest option I'm considering. Although they are siblings from the same family, Eugene and Aunty Ifeoma lead polar opposite lives. The Achikes live an affluent lifestyle, never having to worry about having food on the table. They have their own personal driver, Kevin, as well as their own maid, Sisi. They are so wealthy that Eugene often shares the wealth with the Abba community, giving away nairas to those less fortunate. Aunty Ifeoma's family, on the other hand, comes from a rather impoverished life. They struggle to find food to put on their table, and they also struggle to cook the food with a lack of kerosene. Every meal, Aunty Ifeoma's entire family combined typically eats about one-third the size of an Achike's plate. They aren't able to drive around whenever, as fuel is far too costly for them to afford on the daily, and the entire family must contribute in the house chores. What interests me most about this topic is the differences in family happiness. Although Eugene and his family are basically set for life, none of them, if not only Eugene, are truly happy, where, on the contrary, Aunty Ifeoma and her children are the happiest people Kambili has ever encountered.
   
2. Likely: The topic I would most likely write about is Kambili's development. I would compare the person she is in the beginning of the novel to who she matures to at the end. In the beginning, Kambili is perceived as this reserved "backyard snob" who has everything in life handed to her. Deep down, she actually leads a tormented life, constantly living in fear. Afraid of slipping up, she is hyperaware of her father's reactions to every event she witnesses. As the story progresses, and as Kambili develops, she learns to question authority when necessary through Aunty Ifeoma's liberal outlook. Although many of the characters and many of the relationships in The Purple Hibiscus develop throughout the novel, Kambili's growth struck me most. She made a complete 180, becoming the girl she could only dream of ever becoming.
   
3. Risky: This may be a bit of a stretch, but a risky topic I have been considering is comparing Kambili from Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's novel, The Purple Hibiscus, to Oliver Harris from Charles Baxter's short story, "A Relative Stranger." Though they do so in different manners, both characters possess reserved dispositions, constantly wondering and worrying about the world around them. Kambili views the world from a bystander's perspective, often beating herself up mentally about her inactions. She compares herself to others, comparing their qualities to her flaws. In addition, she secretly desires a close relationship, and her desire isn't blatantly revealed until she begins to have feelings for Father Amadi. Harris views the world in a similar standpoint, however, he is more aggressive--aggressive in the sense that he has his guard up. In essence, he longs for the world, yet bottles it up. Put up for adoption, he seeks a meaningful relationship, as he felt he lacked that intimate connection with another individual.