Tuesday, 31 March 2009

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  My pile of shame...

  You know what I'm talking about...that steadily growing stack of books/movies/music/etc that you know you really should read....but you just can't seem to bring yourself to do it.
  
  Well, I'm trying to face that pile, head on.
  
  I first tried reading Crime and Punishment. That didn't go so well.
  
  So I thought I would ease into it by reading The Lord of the Flies by William Golding.
  
  Yikes.
  
  
  
  The reason I haven't already read this is quite simple. My Junior year of high school I took the senior level english (brit lit.) so that I could take college english the following year. This actually mad a lot of sense, and I enjoyed the accelerated program...but I missed out a little bit, I think.
  
  That being said, coming to Lord of the Flies with a newcomers perspective was a very interesting experience. Needles to say, it deserves every bit of the accolades it has received. Even on a first reading I was struck by how such a slim book, and one so somply written, could have such a depth of imagery and symbolism, not to mention such a truthful and honest depiction of the minds of children. Not once does Ralph, Jack, Piggy or any of the other on the island seem anything less than what they are; scared, hungry, desperate children. It really is a rather unrelentingly bleak novel, with very little light shining through the darkness.
  
  Speaking of darkness, Katie and I were talking about the main thrust of the novel. It would be easy to see it as an allegory of good vs. evil...but that seems a slight misreading. To me, the main conflict seems to be between order and chaos, personified not really between Jack (chaos) and Ralph, but between Jack and Piggy (order).
  
  __________________________________________________________________
  
  Having concluded the lecture portion of my blog post, I would like to point out a few of the more egregious offenders on my Pile of Shame, and invite you to submit your own.
  
  Books
  Crime and Punishment
  The Brothers Karamazov
  Pride and Predjudice
  (Most of the classics, come to think of it)
  The Orthodox Way
  No Country for Old Men
  Les Miserables (I know, I KNOW!)
  To Know as We are Known
  The Little Prince
  
  Movies (pulled at random from my Netflix que)
  Chinatown
  The French Connection
  North by Northwest
  All the Presidents Men
  Seven Samurai
  The Graduate
  High Noon
  The Dark Crystal
  
  Come on...don't be shy. This is a safe place...
  
  

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