FireGrader AS AS itibaren Boronadu, Kabupaten Nias Selatan, Sumatera Utara, 인도네시아
Decisionmaking. Tiny moment to moment things that can have big consequences. What do we say or do in the heat of passion, anger, fear, remorse? In our dying minutes will we be doomed to reliving these decisions again and again, torturing ourselves over their outcomes? These were the thoughts I had while reading this book. Perhaps not completely the author's intention, but the consequence nonetheless. This is a solid novel of historical fiction. The 1950s. The Korean War. A young, bright and yes, indignant, man at the crossroads of adulthood in a provincial midwestern college. There is a burning brightness under the surface of this story, emanating from the soul of the main character. I liked this kid. A lot. I was pulling for him the whole time, empathetic of his situation, his point of view, his angst. But. While I appreciated the clarity of detail Roth crafted in terms of setting and situation, I couldn't quite swallow the ending. It agitated me, bothers me still. I felt...indignant? "Are you kidding me?" I wanted to scream. "THIS is how it all ends?" Ha. Perhaps Roth's intention all along, making it nothing less than masterful.
This book hit uncomfortably close to home at times, as I read it during my first year of college/second year of university. Having since made it through the 'party' stage of life, pretty much, I can say that this should be required reading for all teenage girls, probably starting somewhere in Grade 7. Zailckas is blunt, honest and a bit heartbreaking, which is probably why it hurts a bit to empathize with her.
An easier read than some of Foucault's other works and brilliant in terms of understanding the way that punishment has moved from being a public spectacle of the body to a private spectacle of the soul. Docile Bodies section is particulary useful.