Blog 4: Little Bee Free Write

Little Bee was able to capture my attention from the very beginning of the book. The introduction was just so bizarre that I couldn’t help but not become intrigued. The narrator explaining to the audience that she would rather be a British pound coin than an African girl was such a strange image. The main character is able to convey that her diminished value is due to globalization. She explains how the pound is free to travel wherever and has power, more power and authority than an immigrant African girl. This sentiment expressed that the main character had severe inner turmoil that I was dying to excavate. Then the main character explained how she was a refugee from Nigeria being held in a detention center for nearly two years. I was shocked by this depiction, because I was unaware that refugees were imprisoned after reaching “freedom”. Little Bee was only fourteen when she reached London and she was still held in a detention center, as if a young child clearly traumatized by her forced emigration could be associated with the terrorists activities of her hometown. For some reason, after getting attached to Little Bee, I assumed the main character was the author of the novel so I took a break from my reading and read the back cover of the book to learn more about the author. To my surprise, the author is a white male. I wondered why a white male was writing from the perspective of an African refugee, therefore I searched into Chris Cleave’s background. I found out that Cleave often writes about loss in relation to terrorist activity (like in his first novel Incendiary). The author was personally invested in this second novel and based a lot of the information from the book on his childhood in West Africa.  

I declare the ending to Sunset Park the most abrupt ending I have ever come across!!! I finally understand what all the critics were raving about in their reviews. I guess I found this ending especially jarring, because I have always been a stickler for the Disney famed “Happy Ever After…” ending. Although there isn’t a happy ending there isn’t a sad ending either, the conclusion is just very ambivalent. The concluding chapters don’t resolve the housing situations or the emotional / mental problems of the main characters. The end just leaves the reader with more questions than before, or in my case this catatonic state where you ponder what could have happened. The first thing in the conclusion that grabbed my attention was the change in narrative style during Miles Heller’s father’s chapter. This chapter takes on the tone of a personal journal and is written in the second person. This transition, in my opinion, gave the impression that Miles’ father may have been the narrator of the novel the whole time.  But this theory can’t explain how Morris Heller knew such intimate facts about the main characters. In the last third of the book, the characters started to show some progression and the book hinted towards a resolution but ends shortly afterwards. Bing Nathan was able to come to terms with his feelings toward Miles and even discovered that the feelings were not of a sexual nature. However, Bing was never able to define the nature of his feelings or tell Miles. Alice was able to end her relationship with her boyfriend and come close to finishing her dissertation. However, because of the forced eviction, she was placed in the hospital and the reader is unsure what happened to the work saved on her computer. Alice is able to find love, but will the love last; is Alice still dominated by her sexual cravings? The story of Miles leaves the reader with the most questions. Miles is able to rekindle his relationship with his parents and Pilar and starts to allow himself to be ambitious again. The story ends with Miles serving jail time, so the reader is unaware of his future. 

Analyzing Sunset Park with the deconstructive school of literary criticism allowed me to divulge the real meaning of the book. Most readers become blindsided by the keywords of the book like economic ruin or housing crisis and fail to see the true meaning. An interesting review for Sunset Park that I found was published by The Independenet. This review led me to consider the true unifying theme presented in the story. The review was conducted by David Mattin, and he argues that Auster tries to create a more realistic tone for the book, but fails to do so. Mattin states that the foundation for the story (the death of Bobby and the economic crisis during that period) is "really never more than a cardboard backdrop". I tend to agree with Mattin on this point. In my opinion, the book doesn't really reflect the economic crisis in a most realistic manner. This book and the character's situations could have been set in many time periods that reflect economic hardships. Instead, the use of the housing crisis was a marketing ploy to attract more readers and attempt to make the book more relatable. The true unifying theme of the novel is homelessness of the mind. All of the main characters do not feel at home in their own bodies or minds. For example, Miles Heller isn’t able to process the death of his brother, so he becomes a recluse in some sort of retribution and ends all ties with his friends, family, and the Miles he was before his brother’s death. Another possible connection between the characters is the reoccurring use of “The Best Years of Our Lives” film. The mention of the movie expresses this idea that the characters wasted the best years of their lives succumbing to their tragic flaws and trying to salvage their lives.

Blog 2: Literary Criticism

After reading the opening chapters in Texts and Contexts, I feel like I'm even more confused now about literary criticism. Maybe confused isn't the best way to describe my sense of overwhelmed. I never questioned how I process literature before. The different schools of thought on literary criticism make sense in the literal definition, its just difficult for me to classify such a cerebral process. This difficulty possibly arises from me critiquing literature with multiple schools of thought. Additionally, it seems to me like one wouldn't get the whole picture or a complete concept of a literary work without analyzing it using all the schools of thought.

Despite which school of thought is applied, the function of writing about literature is to attain this greater understanding of the observed piece of literature. To perform a literary criticism, a person will carefully analyze the piece of literature and find the areas that "speak to them" through self reflection.A literary work can be dissected into subjects that may attract different people. If someone is more attuned to cultural relativism, then they might be able to grasp this deeper concept pertaining to culture. Another person reading the same literature could explore the historical context of the book due to their love of the source's time period. While the function of writing about literature is to expound the reviewers outlook on the literature, the literary criticism's primary goal is to broaden the perspective of others. 

We have already discussed how hard it is to define a work as popular fiction or a literary work. This difficulty is also translated into the function of literature since there is a broad range of  literature. The only goal of literature that satisfies such a diverse range is to engage a targeted audience.

Blog 1: Summary & Response

An interesting review for Sunset Park that I found was published by The Independenet. The review was conducted by David Mattin, and provided interesting background information on Auster's writting career. Mattin discusses how throughout Auster's 28 year career, his literary works have constantly returned to the same themes. He describes how Auster's use of damaged protagonists, violent life-altering events, and baseball and Americana anecdotes can be seen as common narrative devices.

Mattin titled the review, "But where are the tricks in this all too-realist tale?"and he argues that Auster tries to create a more realistic tone for the book, but fails to do so. Mattin states that the foundation for the story, the death of Bobby and the economic crisis during that period, are "really never more than a cardboard backdrop". I tend to agree with Mattin on this point. In my opinion, the book doesn't really reflect the economic crisis in a most realistic manner. This book and the character's situations could have been set in many time periods. The book reflects more on The Best Years of Our Lives than a depression.

The link to the review can be found here: http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/sunset-park-by-paul-auster-2130474.html