Looking ahead

I didn't go to the play, so I am not in much of a position to make a lengthy post about it. Therefore, I will post about the next book that we are reading, The God of Small Things. I am looking forward to reading this book a lot. It is about the caste system in India, which is very interesting to me. I know the very basics of it from world history, but I do not know as much about it as I wish I did. I think that reading a book from the point of view of somebody subjected to the caste system will provide a different and more meaningful view of it than what was covered in world history, which is probably the only education that many of us have had on the caste system. I am also looking forward to it because I think that it will be a good book, and I sincerely did not think that about Heart of Darkness, which seemed to provide endless discussions about the same worn out topics and drew the same conclusions about the book time and time again.

Comments

[Aidan F.]

I must say- I am really appreciating all of the literature on international topics we are reading. To be honest, I have been getting kind of sick of stories about London and 19th century America. I feel like I am learning something new, outside of Western culture. I wish I was taking Asian Studies or something.

[Hannah C.]

Aidan I have felt the same exact way lately, especially about Asian studies. It's sad that it has taken me 4 years of high school to really want to read more of the books for english class. I wouldn't really say that I enjoyed reading Heart of Darkness, but I would say that I found it interesting and it has definitely taught me more and given me a new respect for other types of writing. As for Asian studies, I'm in philosophy right now with Goldberg and that's a really great class, but I've heard even better things about Asian studies. If anyone is ever interested Goldberg plays movies once a month from his collection of Asian films and they are all suppose to be really good.

[Peter R!]

Hey, it'll be like Heart of Darkness but in reverse! Instead of Marlow's point of view, it'll be like the savage's point of view. It'll be really fun to see the other side of oppression.

[Mark S!]

Why do we all need exclamation points in our names??!!!

[Colin F.]

As somebody who decided to save Euro for senior year and instead take both of Mr. Goldberg's electives last year (still not sure if that was the best idea) I have to say that I wholeheartedly endorse both of them, especially Asian Studies. The class goes into the culture and political history of several fascinating societies with an increadible amount of depth considering its short semester length. You'll read some great literature as well, like Cracking India, which is a novel about the Partition of India from a young girl's perspective, and Judge Dee, a detective story set in Tang Dynasty China. I know we're all seniors and we have our second semester planned already, but if any of you can get out something boring, I strongly suggest that you take one of Goldberg's electives.

[Sean M.]

I agree with Hannah and Aidan when they say that they want more stories set in places other than Europe. Although I did not particuarly enjoy Conrad's writing style, his story gave me a clear view into the imperialization of the past. I am definatly looking foward to our next book, especially because it has a bottom-up view, instead of the usual top to bottom view of society.

[Loren P.]

History from the bottom up is always interesting. It is said that History is written by winners, so a different perspective will be nice.

[Zhu Xiao Di]

Hi,

Glad to find another fan of Judge Dee here. I have recently published a new book of Judge Dee stories. You can check it in amazon.com. Trust you will enjoy reading it.

Sincerely yours,

Zhu Xiao Di
Author of Tales of Judge Dee