Following Clifton Fadiman's book, The Lifetime Reading Plan, I picked up Anna Karenina off my shelf (it's been sitting there for a long time). Why? Just because I have heard many people say that this is the best novel of all time (of course, some might say it's War and Peace - also by Tolstoy. Imagine that! Two books that you written are on the greatest of all time list)
So, I vowed to not only finish Anna, but to read every single word of it. And not just read, but understand every sentences. If it is unclear, I'd read it again and again until I feel I have understood the meaning of it. So, all in all, I've read ever word that makes up 790 odd pages of this novel (my patience ran out for the last 30 pages of the book). For two weeks, it's Anna by my side - I read the book during lunch time, traffic, before going to bed, in the bathroom, etc. In short, Anna occupied every single moment of my free time.
Overall, I like the book up until when Anna commits suicide. I could care less about Levin and his religious angst that makes up the last 30 pages of the novel. But, for all the life of me, I really don't feel emotionally connected to any of the characters.
I find Anna to be shallow, stupid and self centered. Levin and his angst towards everything annoys me. Kitty I find to be a goodie two shoe that she makes me nauseous. Vronsky, I feel sorry for him at the end because he really came to love Anna. The only character that I like is Stiva and his flirtatious, noncommittal attitude.
What I like most about this novel is the beautiful Tolstoyian sentences. I read somewhere that Tolstoy is like a painter. First, he sketches the painting then he fills in the details. As a result, reading this novel, we get a sweeping scenes of 19th century Russian society, the lives they lead, the activities, the customs...
So, on to the next book on Fadiman's list: Bleak House by Dickens...it's winter, it's depressing, daylights are short, nights are long.
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
A Nation of Elitists
As I was reading an article in NY Times today I was struck by the growing concern of our dire education system (by our I mean American). Apparently, even Bill Gates is appalled at our public education, especially in the math & science department, when compared to the likes of other Western European nations.
Well, I knew our public education is in a sorry ass state when the ability to speak clearly and intelligently or think critically is being viewed as elitist. How did we get to this stage? My guess would be around 2004 when Bush pointed to Kerry and labeled him an elitist. Or was it in 2000, when he pointed to Gore and called him an elitist.
When I was in high school, those qualities were the most prized. I remembered spent countless hours reading books after books trying to come up with well supported evidence for my essays. I spent days organizing and perfecting my thoughts/arguments before I wrote them down on papers for assignments. My English classes were either about parsing sentences or discussing classics such as Dickens, Austen, or Camus.
I remembered spending days learning how to break down the molecular structure of key elements (like that will come in handy in my everyday life) or trying to keep up with whatever my math teachers were trying to teach.
I didn't enjoy high school because of the rigorous curricula, but I wouldn't have traded them for anything easier. Because, in the end, I truly believe that learning is supposed to be difficult...it takes hard work and dedication to learn things that are worth knowing.
In today's education, teachers/parents/kids have this mentality that too much hard work prevents learning. They want everything to be easy for kids - no homework more play time, replace Shakespeare with Dan Brown (ARGH!!!), if it can't be googled, then let's skip the research process (what about going to the library and searching the catalogue?).
And we wonder why American kids lag behind other developed countries.
So, I say, let's bring back the 'elitist' mentality and forget about the 'average American' mumbled jumbled crap. After all, haven't we suffered enough during the eight years of Bush administration? I wouldn't mind having an elitist president for a change - at least he speaks good, understandable English (even if I had to look up some words in the dictionary).
I'd rather be viewed as a nation of elitists rather than a nation of fools.
Well, I knew our public education is in a sorry ass state when the ability to speak clearly and intelligently or think critically is being viewed as elitist. How did we get to this stage? My guess would be around 2004 when Bush pointed to Kerry and labeled him an elitist. Or was it in 2000, when he pointed to Gore and called him an elitist.
When I was in high school, those qualities were the most prized. I remembered spent countless hours reading books after books trying to come up with well supported evidence for my essays. I spent days organizing and perfecting my thoughts/arguments before I wrote them down on papers for assignments. My English classes were either about parsing sentences or discussing classics such as Dickens, Austen, or Camus.
I remembered spending days learning how to break down the molecular structure of key elements (like that will come in handy in my everyday life) or trying to keep up with whatever my math teachers were trying to teach.
I didn't enjoy high school because of the rigorous curricula, but I wouldn't have traded them for anything easier. Because, in the end, I truly believe that learning is supposed to be difficult...it takes hard work and dedication to learn things that are worth knowing.
In today's education, teachers/parents/kids have this mentality that too much hard work prevents learning. They want everything to be easy for kids - no homework more play time, replace Shakespeare with Dan Brown (ARGH!!!), if it can't be googled, then let's skip the research process (what about going to the library and searching the catalogue?).
And we wonder why American kids lag behind other developed countries.
So, I say, let's bring back the 'elitist' mentality and forget about the 'average American' mumbled jumbled crap. After all, haven't we suffered enough during the eight years of Bush administration? I wouldn't mind having an elitist president for a change - at least he speaks good, understandable English (even if I had to look up some words in the dictionary).
I'd rather be viewed as a nation of elitists rather than a nation of fools.
Monday, November 3, 2008
Thoughts on life
When things enter your life, you have to be prepared when they depart...
oh, but it is so so hard. The dead do not mourn - it's the people that are left behind - it's them that have to pick up the pieces and move on.
And don't they know...don't they know that once their miseries are over...the others have just begun theirs...
Was it Homer who once said that human beings are the most unfortunate creatures in the world? We were created to love, to feel, to become attached and when we are most at our happiest, Fate looked down upon us and snatched it all away leaving only grief and sorrow...
Maybe the ancient Greeks had it right...one shouldn't become too attached to things; the Gods do have wicked sense of humor.
รัก...รักเธอจนหมดของหัวใจ ซึ่งเรานั้นเก็บไว้ข้างใน เธอได้ยินมั้ยคนดี...
oh, but it is so so hard. The dead do not mourn - it's the people that are left behind - it's them that have to pick up the pieces and move on.
And don't they know...don't they know that once their miseries are over...the others have just begun theirs...
Was it Homer who once said that human beings are the most unfortunate creatures in the world? We were created to love, to feel, to become attached and when we are most at our happiest, Fate looked down upon us and snatched it all away leaving only grief and sorrow...
Maybe the ancient Greeks had it right...one shouldn't become too attached to things; the Gods do have wicked sense of humor.
รัก...รักเธอจนหมดของหัวใจ ซึ่งเรานั้นเก็บไว้ข้างใน เธอได้ยินมั้ยคนดี...
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