Disclaimer - I had no idea what to write about since I don't really have many strong feelings about Libra, so instead this is a response to a certain Paul D'Angelo's bold claim about the rankings of the books we read this semester. Here's mine:
5th place: Course Packet Readings
I'd have to agree here and say that the packet readings were probably the least enjoyable. I did appreciate them because of the context that they gave for the rest of the semester, but they were also just super dense and hard to read, and they had no plot to make me actively want to understand them.
Tied for 4th place: Libra and Slaughterhouse 5
I know this is kind of cheating, but I genuinely can't decide between the two. I'm not sure that I would use the word indifferent, because even though it's meant to be neutral I feel like it has some negative connotations to it, but I definitely didn't have very strong opinions on either of the books. I found both interesting (even though we aren't finished with Libra yet) but more so in terms of the conversations that they brought up about the ways we think of history. I've really liked the discussion that we've had during Libra about the narrativity of history and what happens when we're faced with more facts than we can make sense of (peep my last blog post if you wanna read my thoughts on that). I also found the Tralfamadorian concept of time and history pretty interesting, and the essay I wrote on Slaughterhouse was probably my favorite essay so far this year. But! I just didn't find the books themselves very engaging - they were interesting enough, but nothing really stood out to me in the way that some of the other books did.
3rd place: Ragtime
I actually really enjoyed Ragtime - it was super fun, and I loved how much Doctoroow just did whatever he wanted. I like the idea of authors just screwing with the readers. I also loved the tone of the book which was detached and sarcastic, and it got really important points across through humor and irony. I thought this mixed with some of the absurdity of Doctorow just pulling any and all strings that he wanted, worked super well.
2nd place: Kindred
Kindred was definitely the book that I found myself most interested in throughout. I found myself wishing I could read ahead because I just wanted to know what was going to happen. I also think that doing my panel presentation on it helped me a lot to look at it on a deeper level than just its function as a novel, and even deeper than our discussions in class. It was definitely a much needed break from books like Mumbo Jumbo and Ragtime because it was so straightforward and easy to understand, while still having great significance.
Kindred was definitely the book that I found myself most interested in throughout. I found myself wishing I could read ahead because I just wanted to know what was going to happen. I also think that doing my panel presentation on it helped me a lot to look at it on a deeper level than just its function as a novel, and even deeper than our discussions in class. It was definitely a much needed break from books like Mumbo Jumbo and Ragtime because it was so straightforward and easy to understand, while still having great significance.
1st place: Mumbo Jumbo
I debated putting Mumbo Jumbo as second and Kindred as first, but then I thought about the impact that both books had on me. I honestly think that 5 years from now I will have forgotten about Kindred - it was good for sure (and much easier to understand), but it didn't blow me away. 5 years from now though, I think that I will remember Mumbo Jumbo as a book that completely changed my perspective on the forms that fiction can take and the significance that it can have. I was really just repeatedly blown away by the things that Reed was able to do, and the total freedom he took to accomplish these things in whatever way he wanted. It really felt like every single detail was significant, and even if it made no sense, and took Mr. Mitchell to explain it, I thought that was so cool. It was just so ridiculous, but also so so important in terms of what Reed was saying and how he was saying it. Ultimately, I think I put Mumbo Jumbo first instead of Kindred because even though so much of Mumbo Jumbo made absolutely no sense, it was so intellectually interesting in a way that Kindred was not. That is not to say Kindred was not intellectual, because it was, but they were presented in different ways, and I preferred Reed's way, where new messages can be found in every aspect of the book, and where these messages aren't clear cut or pointed out for us - like Paul said, Kindred is blunt, and I guess personally I'm not so into the bluntness, which is why I liked Mumbo Jumbo so much
I debated putting Mumbo Jumbo as second and Kindred as first, but then I thought about the impact that both books had on me. I honestly think that 5 years from now I will have forgotten about Kindred - it was good for sure (and much easier to understand), but it didn't blow me away. 5 years from now though, I think that I will remember Mumbo Jumbo as a book that completely changed my perspective on the forms that fiction can take and the significance that it can have. I was really just repeatedly blown away by the things that Reed was able to do, and the total freedom he took to accomplish these things in whatever way he wanted. It really felt like every single detail was significant, and even if it made no sense, and took Mr. Mitchell to explain it, I thought that was so cool. It was just so ridiculous, but also so so important in terms of what Reed was saying and how he was saying it. Ultimately, I think I put Mumbo Jumbo first instead of Kindred because even though so much of Mumbo Jumbo made absolutely no sense, it was so intellectually interesting in a way that Kindred was not. That is not to say Kindred was not intellectual, because it was, but they were presented in different ways, and I preferred Reed's way, where new messages can be found in every aspect of the book, and where these messages aren't clear cut or pointed out for us - like Paul said, Kindred is blunt, and I guess personally I'm not so into the bluntness, which is why I liked Mumbo Jumbo so much
This is really interesting, especially since I just read Paul's post. I think it is eye-opening to rate these books not by the current effect, for example Kindred's emotional effect, but the long-term effect, how they have affected the views we will have of the world. I agree that Mumbo Jumbo is, despite being difficult to understand, full of meaning and messages about the world we live in. Great Job!
ReplyDeleteThis is great I love this. I have no issue with you placing Mumbo Jumbo so high. Mumbo Jumbo really was a hit or miss, and for me I just don't think I got it. It's really my fault for not absorbing myself in every reading, but still, I reserve the right to complain about the difficulties of understanding the text. Kindred was very blunt, so it was good. I do think it will stick with me for a while though. Libra will stick with me the most though, as I knew so little about the assassination previous to this, and I'm just generally interested in conspiracies. Thanks for responding to my stupid blog post lol. Have a good summer :)
ReplyDeleteI love these ranking posts! I definitely agree with you about Mumbo Jumbo and Kindred. Kindred was a very interesting and intriguing read that pulled you in. To me, Mumbo Jumbo, like you said, was like a whole different league because of the complexity of the novel. It was just so well written and involved so many different things and I can't imagine anyone but a genius being able to write it!
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