The Value of Personification

Why should we use personification? Would not simply describing the object in question with physical traits give a more clear, precise, and distinct grasp of the concept? Will this literary tool give a distorted view of reality?

 No, if used correctly, personification will result in not a muddled idea, but a greater understanding of it. For attributing human qualities or actions to non-humans will increase our connection to the non-human, since the characteristics which we know best, of course, are our own. Using it, we become far more intimate with the object's deeper concepts than we possibly can using terms which are normally associated with it.

It's simply of looking at the matter from a different angle, and it can very well change the way we know that thing.

Les Miz

Very likely, you fit into one of two categories: Someone who loves Les Misérables, or someone who’s never heard of it. The chances you fall in between are slim to none. If you are the latter, then you have been missing out on one of the greatest works of the millennium.

What is Les Mis? It is a riveting tale of 19^th century France written by Victor Hugo. It is a chronicle of society. If there is one word I could use to outline it, it would be redemption. Without completely expounding upon the plot, it is the story of a wretched convict named Jean Valjean whose life is completely transformed by an act of pure mercy. 

The title, Misérables, is a French word that cannot be fully described in a single English term. Some example translations might be The Miserable, The Wretched, The Poor Ones, The Wretched Poor, or The Victims. It refers to, obviously, the downcast and low class that populate the story. The emphasis on the horrible condition of these people is a central topic throughout.

Now that the simplest possible form of the narrative has been laid, some more detail can be discussed. First off, there is a misconception that this work is about the French Revolution. It is not, but rather set around fifty years after, and it chronicles the June Rebellion, a relatively small but unsuccessful uprising comprised chiefly of students. 

Hugo’s themes are beautifully woven within the writing, such as Mercy, Justice, Injustice, Redemption, Love, Compassion, and of course it’s title, Misérables. Although the book is amazing, it is also incredibly dense. It requires a lot of effort to work through it, but in the end, as always in this echelon of novel, it is worth it.

The musical is truly astonishing. It perfectly manages to convey all of the book’s themes and the majority of the plot over into a form which may seem odd for this type of story. If you have not listened to it yet, then I strongly urge you to look into it. A movie of the musical is at the time of writing in production, and it is definitely going to be spectacular. 

Les Mis Trailer:

The movie based upon the book (not to be confused with the movie based on the musical) is also worth seeing, as it it portrays the main story arc between Valjean and Javert extremely well. It does a great job of condensing a 1400 page book into a 2 hour movie, as impossible as that seems. 

In the end, I can only hope this long-winded post will either turn interested ears towards a truly mind-blowing experience, or provide fans with a look back at it. Characters like Jean Valjean and all that they stand for shall go down in history as the individuals who we should take note of and look up to.

“Do you hear the people sing?

Singing a song of angry men?

It is the music of a people

Who will not be slaves again!

When the beating of your heart

Echoes the beating of the drums

There is a life about to start

When tomorrow comes!”

Harmony of a Hunter

I'm a wannabe Metroid Fan (only played Super Metroid so far, but it made my second-favorite game ever), and thanks to some recommendations I found an album chock full of music from all of the different games.

Link:

Harmony of a Hunter

This is a 2-CD album containing two and a half hours of some incredible music. It covers many different genres, from heavy metal (not exactly my thing, but still great) all the way to soft, beautiful piano solos, and electronic beats to orchestra sounds . The talented artists from Shinesparkers have made an amazing collection. And it's free.

  

The Great Gatsby

About a week ago I finished this thought-provoking novel and have had time to think it over. It is certainly a very... different sort of reading; not quite like any other book I have read. In this (not-so) short essay I’ll spill the beans on my thoughts, and also how to approach this work correctly.

First we’ll start out with a simple question: “What is The Great Gatsby?” To sum it up in a single sentence, it is a story of society; of the prosperous way of life in America during the 1920’s. To truly understand the background, however, you must know the context.


“The Roaring Twenties were the period of that Great American Prosperity which was built on shaky foundations.” ~Paul Getty

America had just returned triumphantly from the field of battle; an age of good fortune and well-being had begun, and the great machine of modernization was bolting at full speed. However, it was bolting right towards the end of the track, for just as Mr. Getty’s quote explains, the success of the decade was built on unsteady beginnings, and the figurative tower was about to tip. The Second World War and the Great Depression were just around the corner.

(Apparently it was the age of metaphors, too, because I’m pretty sure I used WAY to many in that last paragraph)

One great factor in this novel is the Prohibition, or the banning of all sale, manufacture, and transportation of alcohol from 1919 - 1933. At the time it seemed a good idea; after all, the illegal distribution caused a major amount of crime, so why not ban ALL of it? Unfortunately, what it DID do is increase the amount of bootlegging and smuggling, organized gangs, and it brought Al Capone.

So now that you have an idea of the setting, you may be asking “What happens within these pages?”

Well, not a lot.

While there is a plot, I don’t believe the author intended this to be a great story. This book is really more focused on capturing the theme of the decade, of the prosperity, and of the hardships. Not that it makes it any less of a interesting book, but it certainly makes it a lot different of a novel than most.

Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald wrote this book in a way that keeps you glued to the book. While it is not a thrilling page-turner, it does make you want to keep reading until the end. The writing style is description-heavy, of course, but not in a way that bores. You really have to read the book to see what I mean.

Now for my final thoughts, which Lucy might describe as ‘wishy-washy’. I truly believe this is a novel which changes how people think of this decade, which I will dub “The Age between the Wars”.  I love the writing style, and it really does capture the feeling of the time. However, what I did NOT fully enjoy were the plot and characters. The book really isn’t long enough to have a full story, and the characters seem a bit shallow. Perhaps I need to read it through again, and I might discover a bit more.

Now, should you read it? I would say certainly; if you have any interest in American history during the early 20^th century or the pre-WWII era, this is the novel to read. I doubt you will find anything which will give you a better sense of the age.

And finally, how should you read it? I would highly recommend you put away your notebooks and pens, sit back, and simply read, not thoroughly analyzing every chapter, but letting the words wash around you. Imagine you are in a 1922 Ford Model T driving down Broadway (maybe play some Jazz music), and watch as Mr. Fitzgerald eloquently paints a picture of America during the Roaring Twenties. 

The Booket List

Okay, so I and a couple of friends have been adding to our 'To Read Eventually Lists" for quite some time. These were beginning to look more like whole libraries of (mostly classic) book titles. Then a somewhat-genius idea hit one of us (I have yet to remember who it was): To make it into a game!  Everyone knows that if you want to get something done more easily, you have to make it fun! (Mary Poppins inspiration) And so I devised a scoring method and a title for this game:

The Booket List

Witty name, eh? Anyway, the way it goes is something like this: Each person creates a list of five books and makes each book on his list worth a certain amount of points. So for an example I will assign 'Bob' my 'Booket List':

1. Great Expectations - worth 5 points
2. Pride and Prejudice - worth 4 points
3. Silas Marner - worth 3 points
4. Steve Jobs - worth 2 points
5. The Wizard of Oz - worth 1 point

As you can see, the points for each five-book list should add up to 15 points. Rate the books that you want the receiver of the list to read most with the highest points. You don't HAVE to rate them like this, of course; you could just make them all worth 3 points. And if you assign books longer than, say 500 pages, you can make them worth more points. For example, I assigned one of my friends only two books:

1. The Count of Monte Cristo - worth 8 points
2. The Lord of the Rings - worth 7 points

So for our lists we have four people playing, which makes a total of 20 possible books, or 60 possible points to accumulate before the end of the year. Then sometime in December we'll make a movie night and the person with the most points gets the ultimate honor of choosing the movie.

Hopefully it will turn out okay, I'll keep the blog updated on any changes made to the project. Feel free to make your own lists and have fun!

Trent

Three Introductory Sentences

Hey, all. This will (hopefully) be a blog concerning a number of topics; namely those pertaining to my interests, which would just so happen to include Astronomy, Mathematics, Literature, Media, Technology, and other stuff. I hope others find my writings (or ramblings, just as likely) entertaining and/or informative.

Trent