Different Ways of Reading

I just started using an eReader this summer. I had always preferred a physical book in my hand; I like the way the pages feel and smell, especially old books. I very quickly fell in love with my eReader, though. I can read anywhere at anytime. Its nice to sit in bed and flip through the pages with just a touch and not have to get up to turn the light off when I go to sleep. I have the app on my phone, also, so even when I don't have my iPad on me, I can pull out my phone and read. As far as convenience goes, I love my eReader, and I don't feel like it takes away from the text at all. As I read I paint pictures in my head of the setting and the characters. Because I studied theatre, I picture just how the set may look or the scenery. I see the characters acting and reacting and listen to the different inflections in their voices. Creating the scene and characters from what the author gives me is one of my favorite  parts of reading. I like making the story my own, to an extent. This being said, I do not like audiobooks. Even if the author is reading the text, I like to be able to interpret the text in the way that gives it the most meaning to me. Changing a character's voice or how he or she speaks, from what I hear in my head, changes the entire character for me. For example, the Katniss Everdeen I saw in my head was not the same Katniss that the film portrayed. I enjoy listening to poetry, but generally only if the poet is reading his or her own work. I like to hear the inflection and the passion in the poet's voice; that is what brings the poem to life for me. When I read a poem I interpret it myself, without the help of anyone else. Sometimes I do need to hear a poem read aloud to get a more clear image of what the poet is trying to say. This alters my interpretation of the poem, though. It really aggravates me when people try to interpret poetry and put words in the poet's mouth that aren't there. Because this is such a big pet peeve of mine, I only like to listen to the poet reading his or her work. Shane Koyczan is one of my favorite poets. I don't think anyone can come close to matching his emotion and intensity in reading his poetry. In order to  understand Koyczan's poetry I have to listen to him recite it; just reading his poetry does not excite me as much as listening to him.

Daytripper

The most prominent theme is Daytripper is love: familial, romantic, and platonic love. Moon and Ba open the story with the obituaries of an artist who had been in love 274 times, a retired soccer player who told his wife, "I think I'm going to sleep in late, dear," and a foreign ambassador. The artist never actually found his love, Lola, but was a "devoted father--never putting a thing before the adoration and care of his children." The soccer player loved his game, his family and his wife, Adelaide; he, too, was a "dedicated family man, never missed a family occasion because of a match." The ambassador loved his country, the people, and his family; "he never forgot his son's---[birthday]." The introduction of these characters and their strong familial love emphasizes the relationship, or lack-thereof, between Bras and his father, who always forgot Bras' birthday. Bras' father, the great writer Benedito de Oliva Domingos, instilled in his son his own romantic heart. He told Bras the love story of he and Bras' mother:
Son...I love your mother very much, but you know how she can drive me crazy...but you know what I think of every time I look at her? I remember when we first met. I told her I wanted to be a writer and that I knew a great romance was waiting for me to write it. She smiled and said that she hoped a great romance was waiting for me to live it. Life is made of these moments, son. Relationships are based on such moments, such choices, such actions...and thats the one momemnt I will carry with me after all others fade--the one which makes all the others worthwhile. You should look for such moments in life, son. Moments you'll never forget.
This theme of love, even dysfunctional love between Bras and his father, is carried throughout the text. Though everything else changes throughout the different stages of his life Bras' dog, Dante, his best friend, Jorge, his wife, Ana, and his parents are present and active in Bras' life. These relationships are the ones that mean the most to Bras and who help mold him into the man he will become by the final chapter. Each chapter ends with Bras' love for those people in his life. Bras' life was committed to his love for those people.

Bras de Oliva Dominguez

What struck me most about Bras' character is how passionate he is. Each scene of his life ends with a passionate endeavor on Bras' part. As the story continues Bras' passion seems to grow. At the end of 28, Bras meets the girl at the coffee shop and runs in front of a truck on his way back to the coffee shop to profess his undying love. Ba and Moon end section 28 by summing up Bras in just a few sentences:
 Bras de Oliva Domingas...was always there when his friends needed him, was close to his family, and he, like everyone else, was trying to find his way in the desert looking for that oasis we like to call...love.
Chapters 6 and 7, ages 33 and 39, both end in Bras' pursuit to find his best friend, Jorge. Chapter 7 ends with:
Tere are a lot of things in this life that are difficult to understand, and even greater is the challenge of putting them into words. Friendship is one of them...He traveled halfway across the country, only to be brutally murdered at the hands of his best friend, who took his own life next. Bras de Oliva Dominagos only did what he felt was right. He was 38 and died because he believed in friendship.
Ba and Moon make a point in chapter 6 to say that, "...success was not in Bras de Oliva Domingos' destiny...[he was] widely unknown as a writer." The most remarkable trait of the character of Bras is that he tried to so hard to become a writer, but what he was more passionate about was Jorge and his family, even though those who were closest to him wound up killing him in each stage of his life. Bras was passionate about life, which is what Ba and Moon were trying to convey in this novel:
We wanted the feeling that life was happening right there, in front of every one of us, and we were living it. And we did live it. And sometimes we die to prove that we lived. 

Catching Fire

The most prominent theme in Catching Fire, and all of The Hunger Games Trilogy, is familial love. The family that Collins portrays, however, is one that is almost foreign to modern society. The entire story of the trilogy revolves around Katniss' love for Prim, her mother, Gale and his family, and eventually Haymitch and Peeta. Katniss and Gale are willing to do anything and everything to protect their families. For years, they broke Panem's poaching law to kill game to sell and feed their families. In Catching Fire Gale was caught poaching and publicly whipped. Katniss' love for Gale, a love that is defined as more familial than romantic, was so strong that she stood in the way of Gale's whipping to save his life; a move that could have cost her not only her life, but her family's life, as well. Prior to the whipping President Snow threatened the lives of Gale, his family, Prim, and Katniss' mother is Katniss did not subdue the coming rebellion. Her love for her family and Gale's was so strong that she played into President Snow's threat and put her personal feelings, wants, and desires, out of the way to "convince" President Snow that she was truly in love with Peeta. Though Katniss struggled with her relationships with Gale and Peeta, she put aside everything expect what it took to save her family. Katniss makes it very clear in Catching Fire that she doesn't want to marry Peeta and even considers running away with Gale to save their families from President Snow. Katniss' love for those closest to her proves to be her biggest struggle throughout the trilogy. Though many readers admire Katniss, I'm not sure if they would be willing to go to the length's Katniss went to protect those who were precious to her.

Katniss Everdeen

I haven't read "The Hunger Games," so I started from the beginning to really get a good grasp on the characters and the story.  I am absolutely in love with Katniss! Collins has me hooked. I am making connections to Katniss on so many levels, and sometimes I have to remind myself that she is only 16. The way Collins has written her characters makes them very believable even though the story is set in a dimension that is entirely unknown to readers. Katniss is very human. She makes mistakes; she's torn; she can barely handle the stress of taking care of her mother and Prim, much less the stress placed on  her by the Hunger Games and President Snow. The first book paints Katniss as a very brave heroine. She cares for nothing and no one but her family, Gale, and eventually Peeta. She comes across as a very hard person, which is completely understandable based on her life. Katniss is the kind of character that readers love to root for. Several times I thought, "Man, I wish I was as cool as Katniss!" The thing that really caught me about "Catching Fire," though, was how Collins brought a whole other level of character to Katniss. We begin to see her weaknesses and her misgivings. She's just a teenage girl, and now she has the weight of the fate of the entire nation on her shoulders. As much as loved warrior Katniss in the first book, I fell even more in love with the "real" Katniss who worries and feels like she can't do anything right. When my friend was reading "The Hunger Games" last year, she told me how much I would love the books and that Katniss reminded her of me. My little sister is like Prim to me. As I was reading the first book I kept thinking about how much I admired Katniss and how I was nothing like her. Now, as I read "Catching Fire," as Katniss struggles with the decisions she has to make, with Peeta and Gale and her family, I feel very connected to her. Yeah, Katniss, I know exactly what it feels like to not be able to do anything right. I will have to say that so far Katniss is one of my favorite literary characters, and I can't wait to see how everything unfolds.

Reading

I've always preferred having a hard copy of a book in my hands. I like the way books smell, the way the feel. My old soul has struggled with this new and ever-popular invention of eBooks. I finally gave in, though, mostly because eBooks are cheaper and more convenient. "I'll read the eBook," I told myself, "and if I really like it, I'll buy a hard copy." 
I love my eReader. I like that I can take it anywhere, I can highlight and make notes, and I just have to tap the little 'search' button instead of shuffling through a bunch of papers to find my notes. I can read outside and don't have to worry about the wind blowing my pages, and I never lose my place on my eReader. However, I do find a certain magic in reading an old text in an old book. I feel more connected to the author and the time period when the pages are yellowed and almost falling out. I feel like I've been transported back in time and maybe I'm sitting with the author in his/her studio listening to them tell the story the way they intended it. 

I haven't tried audiobooks yet. I'm afraid to, actually, because I can't pay attention just by listening. I like to have something in my hand. I like to imagine how the characters sound, instead of someone else interpreting their voices for me. For me, listening to a book would changed the entire meaning based on how the narrator reads the story. I like to find my own interpretation of the text. I like making my own connection with the characters and the author without a medium. I put inflections on certain words or phrases that make them more impactful to me. If someone else changes where I think those pauses or inflections should be, the entire meaning of the phrase can change. 

written texts > eBooks > audiobooks

Poor Clara

Roberto Bolano's short story "Clara" is written as an almost bitter memory the narrator has of this woman named Clara. The narrator's struggle with his relationship with Clara has a more 'real' element than most short stories. The reader understands his deep love for her, though he comes across as bitter and standoffish throughout the text. Because Bolano's story is more of the retelling of a memory than a well-thought out story, it seems to lack some story elements. In the 'real world' it is difficult to identify whether a person grows and changes because of the circumstances in his/her life or he/she chooses exactly how his/her story is going to be told. While a writer can control the outcome of his/her story by deciding whether the story will be character driven or plot driven, we don't entirely have that luxury in real life. This is reflected in "Clara." To  say that this story is almost entirely driven a character or a plot would take away from the point Bolano's is trying to make in this story.

It can certainly be argued that "Clara" is character driven, because Clara's instability, insecurity, and indecisiveness are a result of the decisions she made. She quit high school and tried "all those one year diploma courses supposedly leading to job opportunities that desperate young people keep jumping at or falling for." Her first marriage ended quickly, and her first husband was abusive. Her second marriage didn't last, because she slept with a guy from the office and her husband began seeing another woman, also. Her insecurities and mental instability seem to be direct results of her choices, which would make it seem that the story is character driven. After all, this story  is about Clara and without Clara, there wouldn't be a story.

On the flip side of the token, it can also be argued that the story is plot/theme driven. Had Clara finished high school she could have gotten a 'real' job. Had she won the beauty contest, she wouldn't have faced such deep depression so early on. Perhaps if Clara's first husband wasn't abusive, they would have stayed together and lived happily ever after. Perhaps he could have helped her through her depression and mental illness; after all, he got rid of the rats she was afraid of. 

Though it is hard to distinguish whether this story is distinctly plot driven or character driven, I think that adds to the story. Life cannot be broken down like that, and that is what makes this story more real. Clara could not handle the things life threw at her, and though the narrator seems frustrated with who she was and had become he still loved her deeply. Bolano wrote the story in a way that it could not be broken down as either plot or character driven; the plot and the character enhanced each other and kept the story moving.