"Hell is other people."I think that this statement, for me at least, is true. This is not to say that I dislike people- I think I'm a relatively social person. Rather, I think that Sartre's intended message rings true for me. It is hell to depend on other people for self-worth or to define yourself by other people.
Throughout the play, the different characters are forced to rely on each other in order to decide how they feel about themselves. Ines acts as a mirror for Estelle and Garcin seeks validation from the other two that he is a good man. I too, in my life, seek validation far too frequently. I have a friend who likes to joke that I equate grades with love, that I equate the judgement of others in the form of letters and number with my own self-worth. My friend is correct. If I get a bad grade, it ruins my day, and occasionally, my week. I depend on praise from teachers to know that I am a decent person and have a difficult time being proud of what I accomplish at times. I make my own hell for myself, by allowing people to become my hell.
I really liked this play, and the themes it touched on. I thought that it was slightly shocking at times, but also extremely realistic. Also, I feel that some of Sartre's work can just be "Mehmehmeh, I'm an existentialist," but this wasn't that way at all. It was subtle, yet clear.
The Girl With the Flammable Skirt by Aimee Bender. My sister, you is a total freaking hipster (who I love), gave it to me for Christmas because
A. It has "skirt" in the title, and I only wear skirts.
B. It's her favorite author.
Extremely postmodernist in style, the book was certainly different from what I typically read. It was a collection of short stories, many of which were sexual, made little sense, or ended really abruptly. I enjoyed the different pacing and style. Usually, I can't read collections of short stories straight through, but I actually read this in one day (partially because I had to in order to hit 100, yes). The book was weird though. Weird as hell.
There was a story about a girl watching her boyfriend go un-evolve, going from man, to ape, and eventually to guppy. There was a story about a man with a physical hole in his stomach. There was a story about a mermaid and an imp, which ended extremely abruptly with the mermaid telling the imp that she knew what he was, but saying nothing else.
Then there were the stories about sex. The girl in the fancy dress, who followed a man home and made him cut it off of her only to find that he wouldn't have sex with her. Or of a librarian who, following the death of her father, had sex with nearly every man who walked into the library, letting them play out their librarian fantasy. Bender's sex stories were the least weird, because sex is far more natural and realistic than a boy turning into a guppy.
Recommended.
The Master Builder is a play by Henrik Ibsen, one of my favorite playwrights. It is centered Harvard Soleness, a builder who is fighting against the incoming youth and attempting to get ahead. He carries on a sort of affair with a woman, Hilda, from his younger days after she tells him that he once kissed her and promised to build her a castle. Also, his wife and a doctor think he's mad. And he refuses to let his assistant, Ragnar Brovik, move forward with career even as his father, Knut Brovik, is dying. When he finally lets Ragnar get ahead, he decides to climb the tower of his newest building to hang the wreath, even though he is terrified of heights. He falls and dies, which I think sort of symbolizes the ultimate failure that he met by letting youth get ahead.
Like all of Ibsen's plays, it's extremely well written, but it is less thematically straight-forward then, say, A Doll's House. It's fairly symbolic in a way, with Hilda acting as both a source of inspiration for Soleness and a temptress.
It reminds me a bit of Hamlet, as the other characters think Soleness is crazy, and of The Fountainhead, as Hilda is Dominique-like and it's about architecture.
I intend to do my research paper for my English class on it. Should be fun.
BUT- OH MA GAWD IBSEN USES "THAT" INSTEAD OF "WHO"
Seriously my biggest grammar pet peeve. That is a thing. Who is a person. You should never use the phrase "She is a girl that..."
No. She is a girl who. Because she is a girl. Damn it. I blame the translator. Ibsen could not make such a grave error.
This is mad choppy. But I am tired. Way to go out with an anti-bang, right?
Total Books: 100
NonFic: 27 (27%)
Summation post soon!
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