Handmaid's Tail... Depressing

Although the plot of this novel, and the idea of a civilization collapsing under the weight of war and transforming into a controlled system is unique and creative, the tone and pace that this book reads with is unbearable. I understand that this piece is supposed to have a slightly depressing undertone to emphasize the monotony of the situation that plays out everyday in these handmaid's lives, but at the same time I don't think it is neccessary to pinpoint every detail and continue to talk about until it is nothing more than another meaningless object. Because the author does this it makes the reading go very slow and sluggish, there are definitely sections of the novel that keep you reading more than others, but the majority of this book is dull and I find myself tired after reading a chapter. Part of me wants to read on to see if anything more interesting will be residing in the next chapter but after a couple pages in you realize it is just the same, somewhat repetitive, depressing descriptions and guidelines (by guidelines I mean the fact that whenever Offred thinks of something she always contradricts herself and decides the smart and boring option that never leads the book anywhere). Towards the end of the reading for today, Wednesday, she did start to step out of her boundaries a little bit and the novel became a little more interesting, with her deal with the Commander and the idea of a secret society of nonbelievers, but for the most part I find it slow and not entertaining to read, not because of the story line but because of the continuous depressing mindset.
The quote on page 165 where Offred says, "A rat in a maze is free to go anywhere, as long as it stays in the maze," explains how the Commanders give these handmaid's a somewhat false scense of freedom, the freedom to wander around and get the food, but at the same time they must stay within the confines of the walls and travel with others so there can always be someone watching. This also applies to the minds of the handmaids. They are free to think as the wish as long as they stay in the boundaries, Offred knows exactyl what is acceptable and what isn't, such as no showing of emotion or connection to others and the inability to read or converse. This shows that the Commander has not only placed boundaries around their physical precence but their mental precence as well. Overall I think that the plot and idea for this book are unique but the repetitive dullness is this novel's downfall.

Handmaid's tail

To me, this book is niether good nor bad. It's not really anything. Just reading to go through the steps and then write an essay so I can get a decent grade and then erase this portion of my life from my mind. I guess more than anything this book annoys me. Atwood tries to be deep and metephorical with her writing, ending paragraphs with a "meaningful" statement almost every page, for instance when Atwood's talking about Dolores when she "wet the floor", "what did they do to her? we whipsered, from bed to bed. I don't know. not knowing makes it worse." This sounds like Atwood is trying to make this eerie and deep when it's about something like peeing on the floor... Another scene is where offred is going to watch the birth, Atwood makes it sound again, deep and serious. Then she comes along with stuff like the "birthmobile" and I can't take it seriously.

Something else that annoys me is how not straight forward this book is. We learn about how the war/take-over happens over half way through the book. I just don't like inferring stuff, I like straight forward, no bullshit, answers.

"a rat in a maze is free to go anywhere, as long as it stays inside the maze" yea, makes sense.


I can't wait till we're done with this book and move on to fight club

So this descriptive essay thing....

When the assignment was first told to us, I immediately thought of this spot in my kitchen that I love to be/sit in. Then I started the essay and it just sucks. I tried it again and it's better now, but after reading all of these posts, I'm wondering if I should change my topic...maybe instead do something about my travels such as walking through the tibetan sector of New Delhi w/o an adult/ only with a friend, one of my best friends from France, or a close guy friend.

what do ya think?

Essay's and such

So, I wrote my first essay about the process of making flan and how all the different ingredients mirror aspects of my life. For this one I want to do either,

-An essay about people watching on the Ramblas in Barcelona. I have a really specific moment in mind with lot's of interesting characters to describe, this one could be fun

-An Ethiopia essay- I have a lot of different moments to talk about but I'm thinking of either a crazy market place scene or talking about the first time I took my class around the busy town and set them free with digital cameras.

I'm pretty positive I want to do a travel essay for this one, but I have so many different moments!

OR I could write about the peaceful protest in India, or the Dia de San Juan Fire Festival, maybe a scuba diving essay? Just give me your thoughts!

time warp.

The idea that a person could take the event of a moth burning, and turn it into something vivid and brilliant, inspired me, so therefore the general idea for my essay will be to take something so miniscule and plain that most people would overlook it; and then transform this something, (through description) into something vivid and breathtaking. I am not really sure what to write on, maybe an event or an object, or just some abstract fictional rendering of either. No matter what it turns out to be, I hope to play to all of the reader’s senses in a way that they do not blatantly see what I am trying to do. I like the idea of stretching out each second and making the reader think of something happening in slow motion, it gives him/her the option of slowing down and absorbing each detail in its fullest.

Ideas on Description...

1. Describe my best friend. How she changed over time. What I think it means. (Even this sounds lame to me)
2. Someone on the street. I think it would be interesting because I wouldn't know them so it wouldn't be biased.

Not really sure what else. I can't think of a place or event to describe at the moment. Ideas??

River Essay

I am looking to transform a past essay from Lit, the "transcendentalist essay". I wrote about an experience i had river rafting and my relationship to nature through water. I am going to focus more on the actually journey of the trip and traveling through the water. I hope to explain my adaptation and connection to nature, that lacked before this significant trip i went on. I don't have the copy on file at the moment so i can't post the draft directly, but maybe i could get some input or opinions? Could this work?