An Angry sidenote

GE has made 28 billion dollars since 2005 yet has not paid any taxes on their income because they have hired ex-IRS employees and government officers to make sure they don't owe anything. So, how does this make the 10% of those of us who are unemployed feel, or the reportedly one in six Americans who suffer from hunger? What about the fact that those who were responsible for not properly monitoring banks and predatory lenders have walked away scott free and sometimes with billions of dollars in booty. I don't want to say anymore because I feel too upset right now.

The Odyssey

I have never read the Iliad or the Odyssey, so I figured it was about time. It is structured in different frames; sometimes we are focused on Odysseus, sometimes on his son. I was surprised at how much the story takes place at his home. I thought the majority of the Odyssey was an adventurous journey, but it is instead a revenge tale. I was also interested in the strange role of Pallas Athene. She takes on various roles of men and women in Odysseus' journey and at his home. It not entirely clear if she is just inspiring these people or actually possessing their bodies. The ending is quite violent but I was not surprised when I recalled ancient was customs I remebered from history courses. 

Major Pettigrew's Last Stand

I was not just pleased with this book because its protagonist shares my surname, though that is why I picked it up in the first place. It is a romance in the tradition of Austen, but in modern England populated by people of different races, religious beliefs, and traditions. It is funny, insightful and never cheap in its sentiment. Highly recommended.

The Sound and the Fury

I wasn't sure I was going to last for the duration of this work. It starts off from the viewpoint of a handicapped man; most of his insights are based on sensation. I wasn't sure I wanted to stick with that for 300 some odd pages. But three other perspectives are also offered all written in different styles. This is my first Faulkner besides a short story we read of his in my American lit course at BYU. It seems that those who are labeled postmodernist aren't really doing anything new when you encounter these types of works.

American's sense of self worth

This idea was certainly informed by my readings of Benjamin Franklin and Fredrick Douglass in American Lit classes at BYU, and surely almost every American film or book I have read since, but Americans tend to have a high regard for the Horatio Alger myth and they hold any one who is assisted in a lower esteem. I think this is also reinforced by a feeling of superiority this gives to those who feel like they have achieved everything by themselves. Finally it remains unchallenged because we live so far apart from one another in anywhere outside of the major urban areas. I know these seem like simplistic readings, but they are all true. While I lived in England and Italy, people maintained much healthier social lives, often leading to a greater sense of community. This sense leads to the belief that community is fundamental to everyone's success. I may feel more self-concious now about this at this moment, but as I am a PhD student I have needed to rely on the help of my family and friends to assist me at times. This wasn't something I planned, but none of us really know how our lives will turn out even if we are successful chasing after our goals. At times I feel this has led certain individuals to feel like I am not responsible because I don't have a real job. I tried to get a crap job. It didn't work. It was easier for me to get into a PhD program than to get a Christmas job at Toys R us.  I am also too sensitive. 

Nietzsche's The Antichrist

This is the first book I have read on my kindle. And it was free! So this is the first work of Nietzsche's that I have ever read and I find him to be an interesting though self-loathing cat. His dislike of Christianity seems to spring from a need to self-deprecate. Every chance he gets he takes a swipe at the Germans and of course Christianity, and most of his reason seem rather emotional to me instead of well-reasoned. He praises every other major world religion in comparison with Christianity. He also says some interesting things from my perspective. Nietzsche seems interested in the priority of experience as a defining characteristic. He seems however to dislike Christianity so much, that he can't believe that Christians can have religious experience as well. 

A Christmas Tale

A Christmas Tale feels like a Truffaut film, but with a lighter view of the tragedies involved in relationships. Its been about a wekk since I watched this so the film is not fresh in my mind. It seems quite at home with the awkwardness of families getting together when their members have antagonistic feelings towards one another.