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Contents contributed and discussions participated by aieshah_t

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aieshah_t

Martin Amis's "The Zone of Interest" - 24 views

www.newyorker.com/...death-factory

shared by aieshah_t on 03 Oct 14 - No Cached
  • recent novels by Susanna Moore and Ayelet Waldman achieve their emotional power by focussing upon characters peripheral to the terrible European history that has nonetheless altered their lives.
    • aieshah_t
      aieshah_t on 05 Oct 14
       
      Their writing proves that even if someone wasn't directly apart of or in the middle of an event like this doesn't mean they weren't changed by it. -AIeshah Thomas
  • risky Nazi novel
    • aieshah_t
      aieshah_t on 05 Oct 14
       
      I think this is a funny choice of words since Nazis are pretty much terrorists, how risky can the novel be? -Aieshah Thomas
  • “the man who controls the appointment book of the Deliverer.” (For some reason, no one in “The Zone of Interest” calls Adolf Hitler by his name; elevated circumlocutions are used.)
    • aieshah_t
      aieshah_t on 05 Oct 14
       
      This really reminds me of Harry Potter. Not many wizards called Voldemort by his name out of fear. Always 'He Who Must not be Named' or 'You Know Who'. Nazis called Hitler 'Deliverer' or 'Wolf' but I think this is out of respect as well as fear . -Aieshah Thomas
  • ...4 more annotations...
  • He sits through Nazi concerts calculating “how long it would take . . . to gas the audience.”
    • aieshah_t
      aieshah_t on 05 Oct 14
       
      This is like a scene out of Inglorious Bastards when the rebels plan a way to assassinate all of Nazi leadership at once. They end up starting a fire in a movie theater during a show and they all die. -Aieshah Thomas
  • One could argue, just as plausibly, that Hitler and his henchmen were not at all “exceptional” in a human history that has always included warfare, unspeakable cruelty, and attempted genocide; what set the Nazis apart from less efficient predecessors was their twentieth-century access to the instruments of industrialized warfare and annihilation, and a propaganda machine that excluded all other avenues of information for an essentially captive German population.
    • aieshah_t
      aieshah_t on 05 Oct 14
       
      I think this is extremely significant because the Hitler people and followers were very well organized and horrifyingly thorough which is why the writer quotes earlier "the exceptionalism of the Third Reich". They got their message across through their infamous propaganda, murdered millions of people (not just Jews but the disabled, blacks, and some religious groups), and seriously utilized the technology of the time. -Aieshah Thomas
  • “The Sonders have suffered Seelenmord—death of the soul,” as if a German-speaking character would translate his thoughts in this way. The author of the novel, not the narrator of the chapter, wants to highlight certain phrases for the benefit of the reader, but the mannerism is as distracting as a nudge in the ribs.
    • aieshah_t
      aieshah_t on 05 Oct 14
       
      In the novel the character's thinking that survivors will suffer death of the soul. The author thinks this is important for the reader to understand so he makes the character think and explain in English. -Aieshah Thomas
  • “I used to be numb; now I’m raw.”
    • aieshah_t
      aieshah_t on 05 Oct 14
       
      I really like this quote. It makes me want to read Zone of Interest and find out more about this character. -Aieshah Thomas
aieshah_t

'The Giving Tree': Tender Story of Unconditional Love or Disturbing Tale of Selfishness... - 4 views

www.nytimes.com/...rbing-tale-of-selfishness.html

shared by aieshah_t on 03 Oct 14 - No Cached
  • (I’m not even going to get into the biblical implications of Silverstein’s decision to make the tree of the book’s title apple-bearing.)
    • aieshah_t
      aieshah_t on 05 Oct 14
       
      I think it would have been interesting. Kids could compare this to the bible and learn: better to give than receive or not to give into temptation like the Adam and Eve story. -Aieshah Thomas
  • repeated by Silverstein so many times that it sends some, like me, into paroxysms of reflexive indignation
    • aieshah_t
      aieshah_t on 05 Oct 14
       
      I think this writer has had some kind of lapse in memory. There's repetition because the book was meant (as far as I know) for children and that's how kids learn. So of course an adult would be kind of annoyed. -Aieshah Thomas
  • As for the argument that “The Giving Tree” is somehow a commentary on the ways humans ravage the environment, I mean, maybe?
    • aieshah_t
      aieshah_t on 05 Oct 14
       
      I think this environmental message is more likely than the male privilege commentary. Even though the former makes sense: men have an inborn power to take whatever they want until the resource has shriveled up but this is true for all of humankind as well (deforestation, pollution etc.) -Aieshah Thomas
  • ...2 more annotations...
  • “I don’t want to hold the tree accountable,” she continued, but she thinks there could have been a happier ending: “If only she’d set limits, she wouldn’t be a stump today!”
    • aieshah_t
      aieshah_t on 05 Oct 14
       
      But I don't think we should hold the tree responsible. I think the tree would be the victim (since this is so in depth) and even if she wanted to she can't control the boy's actions, which made him cut her down, because she loves him too much. -Aieshah Thomas
  • The boy and the tree are both “flawed,” and in the most old-fashioned way, their flaws, which are also their characters, determine their fates.
    • aieshah_t
      aieshah_t on 05 Oct 14
       
      Being that the child constantly takes while the tree always gives. -Aieshah Thomas
aieshah_t

W.E.B. DuBois Critiques Booker T. Washington - 47 views

historymatters.gmu.edu/40

shared by aieshah_t on 29 Sep 14 - Cached
  • Mr. Washington’s cult has gained unquestioning followers
    • aieshah_t
      aieshah_t on 03 Oct 14
       
      DuBois' wording reinforces that he does not support Washington's ideas. The speech seems negative: instead of 'movement' he uses cult and instead of 'devoted' he says unquestioning. -Aieshah Thomas
  • Discriminating and broad-minded criticism is what the South needs, — needs it for the sake of her own white sons and daughters, and for the insurance of robust, healthy mental and moral development
    • aieshah_t
      aieshah_t on 03 Oct 14
       
      In this entire paragraph W.E.B. DuBois explains that we shouldn't fault the current generation for the past, but the rest of the nation needs to judge the South to insure we move forward for their children so they don't grow up in hate. -Aieshah Thomas
  • Mr. Washington apologizes for injustice, North or South, does not rightly value the privilege and duty of voting, belittles the emasculating effects of caste distinctions, and opposes the higher training and ambition of our brighter minds
    • aieshah_t
      aieshah_t on 03 Oct 14
       
      I think DuBois respects Washington for trying to be proactive and receive help from the whites, but DuBois thinks there will be no change (higher education and economic partcipation) by black men being idle. -Aieshah Thomas
  • ...1 more annotation...
  • rich and dominating North, however, was not only weary of the race problem, hut was investing largely in Southern enterprises, and welcomed any method of peaceful cooperation
    • aieshah_t
      aieshah_t on 03 Oct 14
       
      We know that the North was always more lenient when it came to 'the race problem' but did they actually care about Douglas message? -Aieshah Thomas 
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