Chloe's Blog

Octavia Butler's Kindred  is set apart from the other books we've read in class, Mumbo Jumbo and Ragtime,  through its use of history.   Mumbo Jumbo and Ragtime  use real historical events and people but abstract them, creating an alternate version of history that says something about our own. Kindred  uses a more realistic representation of history, and creates a story through that which reflects real issues. True to postmodernism, Mumbo Jumbo and Ragtime blur the line between history and fiction, and often make little distinction between what's based on fact or fiction. For example, Ragtime's cast features both real and fictional characters that interact with each other, which questions how real history is. Similarly, in Mumbo Jumbo Ishmael Reed breaks literary conventions and frequently references and retells history. Kindred , on the other hand, has an element of realism that the other two lack.  Even though there are fictional and fantasy elements, lik...

     Mumbo Jumbo  by Ishmael Reed not only stands out for its imaginative and unique story, with it's incorporation of music, culture, and religion, but also how it constantly subverts literary conventions. The formatting of the book feels almost abstract: the first chapter is before the credits, the fonts constantly change, chapters repeat, and photos are scattered throughout. The novel takes the rules that you can usually rely on a book to follow and turns them on its head.     The breaking of literary conventions not only adds to the experience of reading the novel, but it also reflects themes of postmodernism. Mumbo Jumbo , like Ragtime , takes a period in history, and through a great amount of creative liberties, uses it to not only tell the story of that era, but also one that appears throughout history. Despite its fictional elements, such as made-up characters, breaking of the fourth wall, events and dialogue that is almost cartoonish, conspiracies,...

        Ragtime's unique and ironic blend of history and fiction distinguishes it from others of that genre, notably through how Doctorow uses historical figures to send a message. Doctorow assumes an omniscent-like position while narrating, describing often baseless fictional events with the same conviction as a history book, but not without including jabs at different figures or situations. While any piece of history or fictional can never be fully immune to bias or the author's agenda, Doctorow seems to embrace it, and doesn't shy away from sending a message through his interpertation or editing of history.      Doctorow's depiction of J.P. Morgan doubles down on the irony and dramatics, successfully using one of the richest historic figures to dismantle what he stood for and what the world associates him with. This can be seen with Doctorow's depiction of J.P. Morgans internal dialouge, where he's characterized by his extreme ego, wealth, and views...

       As not only a coming of age novel but one based on the author's own childhood, Sag Harbor excells at portraying the different aspects of what summer is like growing up. From the excitment and desire to reinvent yourself that comes with the start of the summer, to the bittersweetness of the end, Sag Harbor  uses these universal parts of the summer experience as a teenager to make the novel even more compelling. Regardless of whether you stay in the same place all summer, or don't do nearly as many things as Benji and his friends did, there will likely be an aspect of the novel that's relatable.      For me, one of the aspects of summer that Colson Whitehead did the best at portraying was the bittersweet feeling that comes with the end of it. T he final chapter of Sag Harbor, called "The Black National Anthem", represents the culmination of the events of the summer, and includes an outlook on the schoolyear to come. It also features Benji co...

  Black Swan Green is a novel that centers on the coming of age story of the protaginist, Jason, while also drawing on the experience of the author, David Mitchell, growing up in 1980s England. Like the other novels we've read this semester, such as The Bell Jar  and Fun Home , it's heavily based on the author's own life, which provides the reader with an original and personal story. One way that the use of the author's own life experience stands out in the story for me is with the character of Hangman.     Hangman is the personification of Jason's stutter, and is treated in the story as an actual character that is seen talking in Jason's head. It acts as an ever looming presence in Jason's life, and the threat of stuttering in front of his peers causes Jason to became anxious and hyper-aware of the things he says, to the point that he'll meticously plan out his sentences to avoid trigger words. While I've never had a stutter that I've personifie...

  The story of  Fun Home  centers around the relationship between Alison Bechdel and her father, Bruce Bechdel, as it contrasts and overlaps with both of their coming of age stories. Alison sees herself and her life as a parallel to her father's, a different version of his life where he was able to live the type of life he wanted. She wonders throughout the book not only if her life is a better version of her fathers, but if she would've ended up like her father if she was put in the same situation as him. Her complicated relationship with her father, a mixture of resentment and wanting to connect with him, is an overarching theme in the novel.  Alison and Bruce's is explored throughout the book, but one of the scenes that best encapsulates their relationship and has always stood out to me is when they're in the car together on page 118. It's one of the few scenes in the story that shows an entire scene without breaking it up, using a unique format for its panels. T...