these might be some good books

 Holden Caulfield dislikes a lot of people, and deeply likes a select few. But how does he choose which people make it into which group? I believe he judges people based on their perceived innocence. For example, he dislikes Stradlater because he knows that guy sucks, he's a real piece of work, and believes he can do anything he wants to any woman he wants. He doesn't like that at all, especially when it involves Jane. He perceives her as one of the more innocent people he knows, even though he hasn't actually interacted with her in a while. He wants her to be like how she was back in Maine at their vacation homes, but he doesn't even know if that is what she's actually like now. He is preserving the memory of her innocence, the little things about her that make him actually like her, like keeping her kings in the back row in checkers. The same can be said about the kids he meets after leaving Pencey. The kid singing that he sees is an example of innocence he sees a...

     While reading Albert Camus' The Stranger , I began to think about the interpretation of the court vs. Meursault, how the court was biased not necessarily towards Meursault for killing the Arab man, but how they were biased to not focus on the actual crime, but why Meursault is the way he is. It seems a bit strange to be in a court, on a jury, be prosecuting someone, and barely mention the crime whatsoever. I just thought it seemed a bit off. The fact the prosecution focused on who Meursault is in his own head is fascinating, as a man was murdered on the beach, in a cold-blooded manner if I do say, yet the prosecution seems to not care at all. While yes, he is sentenced to death, during the trial it just seems like the main focus is on Meursault's brain, not his actions.  Some of this though, I feel is not real. A real court in a real country would still focus on the crime taking place, and while I understand at this time and in this location the crime may have b...

  The Sun Also Rises , by Ernest Hemingway, details the affairs of a number of characters in post-war France and pre-war Spain, but it also looks into themes such as masculinity. I want to focus on how Jake defines masculinity after his injury, through the different settings we see. In France, I believe Jake's idea of masculinity is tarnished by the war. Everything is hardened to him; France has undergone a number of changes in its society post-war, such as many veterans living there now, and bringing their ideas of what the world should be to France. We see this with Jake's judgement of Cohn, about how he isn't manly enough by just being the middleweight boxing champion of Princeton University, or he isn't masculine enough  to Jake's standards. This also brings to question, does Jake see anyone who has not fought in a war or battle masculine at all? Count Mippipopolous, a man who has seen many battles and wars is someone Jake deems perfectly fine masculinity wise; ...

     While reading Virginia Woolf's novel Mrs. Dalloway , I couldn't help but think about the mental health aspect of the story, and it led me to think about other stories involving such topics. First and foremost, the representation of mental health in Mrs. Dalloway  is one of the better ones I have seen, quite possibly because it was written by someone who knows what it's like to endure these feelings. If we take a look at another book that doesn't do it any justice, we can clearly see the difference between experience and wanting to make something young people will eat up and pay for. Thirteen Reasons Why , by Jay Asher is a good example of a bad thing. Jay Asher wrote about Hannah Baker, a high school freshman girl and why she commits suicide. Jay Asher has no experience with any of this, and if you read the book it's very obvious how much he doesn't know what he's talking about. Comparatively, Virginia Woolf has these experiences of mental health strugg...

      First and foremost, The Mezzanine by Nicholson Baker is a weird book. With its interesting way of describing mundane life in an office and excessively long footnotes, it takes a dive into the world of our main character, Howie. Howie is a sometimes relatable character, who we see delve into the most lengthy stories about the most boring things anyone could imagine. The first chapter with his shoelaces, no one would necessarily think about their shoelaces that much, heck I don't even know if I've ever had a pair of shoelaces break on my shoes in my lifetime.       I would have said Howie is completely relatable if it weren't for the footnotes. On pages 108 and 128 we see Howie's darker side, where in the first footnote on page 108, we find out Howie stabbed his best friend at the time in the neck with a pair of scissors. Why did he stab him you ask? He stabbed him over the 64 pack of crayons his friend had gotten, and wouldn't show Howie how the p...

 All posts will be from the 20th Century Novel class. Enjoy!