4 Down...5 to go

Finally, I have finished the first volume in my quest to read the earliest 9 Faulkner books. I know I think I said I was going to do that this summer, but at least I am only 2 months behind. It could be much worse, I am so bad at these book challenges. The ones I read were Soldiers' Pay, Mosquitoes, Flags in the Dust, and The Sound and The Fury. Out of the four the best was The Sound and The Fury. The worst by far was Mosquitoes. It was absolutely the most pointless book ever. Next up is As I Lay Dying, which I read last year, and Sanctuary - the beginning of this last one is amazing, so hopefully it will not disappoint.

Soldiers' Pay

I started the book several months ago, and couldn't really get into it due to time constraints rather than lack of interest. Once I had a chunk of time to really engage with it, I found the book utterly captivating. I am rather impressed that this novel was Faulkner's first, but at the same time I felt it was very different - less sophisticated perhaps? - than his other works that I am familiar with. The plot at least is pretty generic. Sections are definitely slow, but other scenes blew me away - I was totally amazed by Faulkner's skill at writing. Granted that might be obvious, he did win a Nobel Prize, but it is nice to experience an author's ability for oneself. As part of a reading challenge, I decided to read Faulkner's first 9 books - this one is definitely a good start.

Mosquitoes

Took me a really long time and to be honest I skimmed most of the second half. One of the most utterly pointless books I have ever read in the sense that there wasn't too much of a plot and nothing really happened throughout most of the book. Gets 2 1/2 b/c some minor sections were interesting and b/c I found W.F's descriptions of the landscape (esp the swamp) and some of the characters' emotional states to be well-written and realistically portrayed. Otherwise, honestly I would say it is not even worth the time to read it.

Flags in the Dust

A bit more developed in terms of characters and plot than his first two books, but had the potential to be so much better. The biggest problem is that some of the most interesting scenes - that create tension and drama in the novel - are never resolved. There is an entire secondary plot that seems, at the beginning, like it will be the focus of the action as the story unfolds, but Faulkner never really follows up on this aspect of the book. It is also a bit confusing in parts because so many people have the same names, and it isn't always clear who is being referred to. I do realize that Faulkner had a specific reason for doing this; he is trying to show the Sartoris legacy and tradition is bound up in the names of the family members as if they develop a particular set of characteristics or a certain personality type simply because of their name. I think that point is made very clear at the end of the book when the new Sartoris is named. 3/5 stars.

The Sound and the Fury

I am so happy I finally read this book. I think I started it in 8th grade, but never could get through the beginning. Trying to follow the flow of the story through the perspective of Benjy amidst numerous flashbacks through time, characters, and space was, I think, a bit too much. However, this time around, I didn't find it that confusing - except for maybe the first 5 or so pages. Really Faulkner does a good job of leaving clues in the text as to when certain events occur whether early in the story when the characters are young, or later when the whole family has nearly disintegrated. The Compson Appendix definitely helps clarify some issues that Faulkner was not completely clear about in the novel itself. The ending was a bit random, but maybe considering the "stream of consciousness" style of the work that was to be expected. My absolute favorite part was with Dilsey at the end when she goes to church. The passages during the revival with the out of town preacher are amazing. Try reading them out loud (I did, it was great). Faulkner nailed this section. 4/5 Stars

Toronto

Went to the annual Ukrainian festival in Toronto last weekend. Super fun, had an amazing time. The festival itself was ok. We were there a lot, but really were only paying attention to one band - which was Ludy Dobri. They are from Ukraine, from Lviv actually and play traditional Ukrainian folk music with a modern twist. We met them last year and hung out a bit. It was kind of strange to see them in Canada, but not as weird as I thought it would be. I did see a few of the other performers. A couple of dance groups who were apparently not very good - I have no standard to judge them by b/c I know next to nothing about Ukrainian dancing. The best part really was that I got to see a lot of people that I met this summer and several people that I met last summer. This is the largest Ukie festival in North America so "everyone" tends to be there - at least everyone who is important :) Ok, that isn't exactly true, but my basic point is that I was excited to hang out with people that I otherwise would probably never have seen again. Pictures and video and all that fun stuff to be posted on Facebook at some point in time - possibly tonight. I might write a more extended version on the other blog seeing as how I was actually supposed to be doing fieldwork while there for my folklore class. I think it was all participation with zero observation this time around.

...Of Cats and Corsets and Chocolate Ice Cream

I used to have two other cats. I had them when I was an undergraduate, but left them with my parents b/c I couldn't have cats in my apt where I live now (i.e. Kishka is a secret, so don't tell my landlord). Their names are Nikolai Ivanovich and Ivan Nikolaiovich - and no I didn't make those names up to be mean. It is from a book. What I noticed was that they would always sit on the things that I needed. Like if I were reading a book, or if there were some papers on the floor. Apparently Kishka has this problem too, except that he gets mad when you try to move him. Like today. I moved him off of my makeup, he sat on my purse, I moved him from there (all the while he is making these fussy not quite growling not quite meowing sounds), he tries to sit on my glasses, and I have to intercept. Finally he storms off to sit on the corner of my bed after swatting at me a few times with his paws. B/c I found the entire incident amusing I took a little video - well, and also b/c I kinda like playing with my new phone.




The other stuff referred to in the title here is that I went to a mini food festival type thing today. I went a few years ago - both times it was fun. Of course it was though b/c what could be better than all the restaurants in your town gathering in one place, and offering samples of their food? I had some squash curry, buttermilk hush puppies, eggplant fries...oh, and some dark chocolate ice cream. All really really delicious.
However, today was a game day. So all the crazies were out (and all wearing red). Got asked a few weird questions. The first I won't type out here b/c I have no clue what the girl was talking about, and my luck it is some sexual position that I do not want to know about.
The second question was "could you buckle my shoe?" Strange enough having someone ask you that who is waiting for a bus at 10pm at night. Even stranger was that she was wearing a tiny plaid school-girl style skirt and a white corset. I am thinking she couldn't buckle her shoe b/c the corset was too tight, but I mean really if you are wearing something that prevents you from getting properly dressed - i.e. buckling your red 4 inch heels - then you probably shouldn't be wearing it. But maybe I'm just too conservative...

Kishka Adventures: Day 3

I think we are sort of friends now. Except when he does something that I don't like, and I yell at him. Then he growls and hisses. Which is actually still all of the time. He is out of the "hiding under couch phase" and into the "lets explore everything" phase. Essentially this means that he tries to drink out of my glass, eat my food, climb on my computer, sleep on my clothes, turn over the garbage can, and sit on the book I am reading. So, I redirect him in a nice way like "hey kishka stop that!" and then he turns his head and makes a vicious demonic sort of noise.
Funny moment that I heard, but unfortunately missed... he had some sort of run in with my desk chair. I think he tried to jump on it, not realizing that it was going to move. I found him looking a bit shocked lying underneath the chair. Where is a camera when you need one!

And in the midst of such cat induced mayhem I almost forgot to mention that today was the very first day of the semester. I taught three classes. In each one I managed to forget something super important, but I think they will survive. My two morning classes are 99% Freshman. In fact, in one of them, I have all freshmen and then one lone senior. He looked a bit overwhelmed to hear that. I of course redirected all campus, UW questions to him. He laughed thinking I was joking, but actually... Anyway, my second section is also all freshmen. They all seem friendly and talkative though, which will be good. What else, oh I was mistaken for a student today. That was funny "are you in our class too?" "nope, I am your TA."

Wednesdays are such long days, as are Thursdays. I am on campus from like 9:30am to roughly 7:30pm. I know it is like having a real job. I shouldn't be complaining, but my response is to say I just think I will go to bed early tonight. By the way, I did read like 4 or 5 articles for my own research ( I know!!). And started reading this really interesting book on Ukraine. And by "interesting" I mean full of useful sources and very recent (2008?). So, I am actually rather proud of how productive I was. If only I could be like that every day....oh, wait I wouldn't still be in graduate school - I would be out, doing someting useful, like fieldwork. (cue manaical laughter in the background).

Cat-Sitting: Day One

I agreed to watch my friend's cat for like 2 weeks. I thought this would be great b/c I love cats. Kishka ("cat" in Ukrainian) has been here about 2 hours. First he hid underneath the couch. His owner tried to get him to come out so that she could say goodbye to him, but he just hissed at her. I will try to keep that in mind when he starts hissing at me...oh, I mean I should keep that in mind while he is hissing at me now. Yeah, he finally came out from under the couch and ended up in my closet. I saw him and started talking to him (in English though apparently he speaks Ukrainian) and he started making some odd noises. Sort of like sounds of discomfort. So I got up and walked in his general direction - he started hissing. Full out, fangs bared.

I guess I could say then that so far the experience has been great! :) Hopefully he will come around, and also hopefully not break anything while I am gone all day tomorrow.