What is the best book of the three we read? (Don't be embarrassed if you say Godfather, although you should be.)
And what about the best film?
COMMENTS and REPLIES with more furious disagreements.
Sunday, May 14, 2017
Discussion n. 33: "Godfather"
Agree / disagree?
Who is the most annoying, least enjoyable character IN THE NOVEL?
And IN THE FILM?
COMMENTS and REPLIES with furious disagreements, please.
Who is the most annoying, least enjoyable character IN THE NOVEL?
And IN THE FILM?
COMMENTS and REPLIES with furious disagreements, please.
Discussion. n. 32: "Godfather"
I was personally disturbed by Puzo's attention to graphic sexual descriptions (I think he must have had problem.)
It bothered me because it had nothing to do with the storyline: it seemed a distorted need to address one of his personal hidden obsessions.
You may disagree with my take: I am interested in your opinions and reflections on this aspect of the novel (I am referring mostly to what I call the "Las Vegas" chapters but not only.)
COMMENT
It bothered me because it had nothing to do with the storyline: it seemed a distorted need to address one of his personal hidden obsessions.
You may disagree with my take: I am interested in your opinions and reflections on this aspect of the novel (I am referring mostly to what I call the "Las Vegas" chapters but not only.)
COMMENT
Discussion n. 31: "Godfather"
The guilty pleasure of rooting for the bad guy.
The Don is a thug, a criminal, a murderer (he killed Fanucci, didn't he?), but he coats his true identity under a veneer of respectability and moralistic principles.
And we fall all for it.
COMMENT: two separate paragraphs.
REPLY: choose a comment from a classmate that posted AFTER your comment. Choose something that YOU ALSO liked but didn't comment about?
The Don is a thug, a criminal, a murderer (he killed Fanucci, didn't he?), but he coats his true identity under a veneer of respectability and moralistic principles.
And we fall all for it.
COMMENT: two separate paragraphs.
- Was he your hero while you were READING THE BOOK?
- WHICH of his many immoral acts received your most enthusiastic approval?
REPLY: choose a comment from a classmate that posted AFTER your comment. Choose something that YOU ALSO liked but didn't comment about?
Wednesday, May 3, 2017
"Christ": your work, my choices
Here is the pick of the week, in no particular order
.
Other samples were just as good, but in this case I followed "my" reactions and responded to the directness of the content and the ability of these students to reach inside and reveal the raw emotional impact of the text.
COMMENT: Which one, in your personal opinion, feels more like a "real letter?"
NINA:
Dear Christ In Concrete,
I read 226 pages of you and am still
left confused and on the edge of my seat. What happened to Paul and what
exactly happened to Annunziata? Is she alive or is she really dead? Did Paul
ever find his faith again or after what happened with his mother, has he lost
all faith in God? What I enjoyed most about my experience with you is that you
told a story within a story. While telling your audience about the struggles
that Geremio’s family went
through after his death, you also were telling us how Paul was loosing faith in
the most important aspect of his family life…which is God. I was shocked after
reading how Louis felt about God. It was devastating reading about Paul’s
reaction. All he knew, what he grew up on, was this belief of God. After
hearing the words “There is no God”, must have been awful. How could you do
that to him? Paul is a 13 year old boy trying to help support his family after
his father dies and know you are throwing at him that God may not be real?
Don't you think he is confused and stressed out enough?
I enjoyed your company during the
time that we spent together. You were confusing to read at first and hard to
understand but after a few times of getting to know you it was easier to
understand you. I have a question though. Why were you written like that? Did
you want your readers to come up with their own version of you? Did you want to
leave us with many questions and confusion? Why weren't you clear with when
things were taking place and why did you continue to jump back and forth from
present to past without informing your readers? I guess this is just something
that makes you unique!
My favorite part about you was
everything about the Cripple. I loved that she had a small roll but made a huge
impact on everybody who she met with. She came across as crazy but she allowed
the people around her to feel safe and comfortable while speaking to those who
have passed. My least favorite part about getting to know you was how difficult
it was to read and understand why nothing was working out for Paul. When he
went to speak to the priest and he did not care for what he had to say, or when
he went to the police station and they did not care to help this young boy find
his father. Did they act this way because he was Italian or because he was a young
boy who they thought was just playing around?
Although
you were not my favorite book to read and understand, I did enjoy getting to
know you.
========================
KATHARINA
You were
everything I did not expect. You are rooted by many elements that make you,
you. Your history, your place in society, and your knowledge on struggle
couldn’t be more real. We as people hear things, and think we understand
struggle such as poverty because we have seen it on television, or read about
it in textbooks, but you never really sympathize, or grasp it until you’ve
envisioned it through the irrefutable compilation and detail of poverty, an
immigrant in a foreign country, injustice, low end of the socioeconomic latter
etc. that you have provided me with.
“Fifty cents the hour,
nine hours the day, brings four dollars and fifty cents. With six days the week
brings- six by four brings twenty-four…” I cannot describe the sorrow that is
felt to know that this is an actual conversation of an individual to himself,
experienced by many. Imagine leaving your hometown where that is all you have
ever known, and although you have experienced hardship you find comfort in the
little things that you call home, to come live in a foreign country that
promises things you never imagined to have where you come from, and that paints
a perfect picture full of endless possibilities but come to find out it is not
that way. You are an alien in a country where its citizens will more than
likely always have leverage over you, a country where you work like dogs for
people who are making more money than you while you are barely making ends
meet, and have to figure out how you’re going nourish yourself and family to
survive, amongst other things. “But I tell you that all my kids must be boys so
that they someday will be big American builders…” the mentality of any
immigrant who migrates to America in search for better opportunities, but that
really means putting their children’s lives and future before their own and
settle for dead-end jobs in hopes that one day they will be able to support
their kids through any chances and opportunities they have that will land them
a different lifestyle than their own.
This is just one version of an immigrant’s life out of many out there.
Thank you for your cold truth of
an eye-opener you have provided. You have unleased through your detailed
storytelling the misfortunes one can deal with while facing all odds, and
experiencing loss that can break someone on the inside, “There is no God”. You
have taught me that there are bigger things out there, it can be worse, and
this is something I will remember when I think about complaining about the
little things that other may not even have a chance at.
==================
SYDNEY
Dear Christ in Concrete,
First of all, let me
start by saying that you are unlike any other book I have ever encountered, and
you challenged me! When I first began, I felt scared and confused. I had to
listen to videos by my professor in order to fully grasp the style of your
writing and how to understand you. I had to re-read you out loud (in the
comfort of my bedroom so people didn’t think I was crazy) over and over. Once I
understood your style I became hooked. I felt as if I were watching a movie
play out in my own mind while getting lost in your pages. I brought you on
journeys with me to work and school and I even spoke of you to my family and
friends. I suffered a loss of a dear friend, and I turned your pages hearing
the story of Paul and Annunziata and how they coped with their loss, and it
really helped me with a tough time in my life.
That is the biggest “thank you” I could give, you are a book I will hold
close to my heart because of this experience. You were filled with amazing
quotes, some of my favorites were “Shadows were once again personalities. Laughter added
warmth”, “They prayed to god. They
forgot themselves and their troubles”, and “Mother
my life is now your shield. Nothing, nothing in the world can now harm
you”. The love of Geremio and Annunziata
is one that I will remember and although they are not “real” their love was
anything but fake. So again, once more I thank you Christ in Concrete for helping
me through a tough time and I thoroughly enjoyed you. I am sure we will meet
again and again!
==========
SHAKHNOZA
Hello my new friend. I am really
glad that I met you in my life. Honestly, you are the first friend that I had
really hard time to get used to, in the beginning. Your character was very
different and unique for me, I never had to meet people like you before. At the
beginning I could not connect with you. Your way of presenting yourself was
different that I use to meet before. I start to analyze you over and over until
I found out that you are very interesting person and that you have a lot of
good stories in you that I enjoyed.
Sometimes I found that your
explanation about some story is very long than it could be. For example, you
telling about tragedy that happened in construction with all the workers and
Geremio. There was so much to read, and I would read them over and over so I
could imagine that scene. After I got that image in my head the rest was easy
to read.
That was not only thing that I felt
during our friendship. I also had some confusion. For example, at the end of our friendship I
could not understand what happened to Annunizata and how Paulie changed. Again
I thinks this is because of my poor reading skills.
I like parts
when you were talking about Italian traditions, customs, their food. As an
immigrant it was very interesting get to know about other cultures that also
immigrated to America. Their lifestyle as an immigrant.
As I said before I am very glad
that I met you, because you gave that emotions that I never had and also you
showed me different side of the world. After I became friend with you I can see
how much my thinking has improved. My analysis about life and people changed.
Now I know that not everyone is same, there are very different people and each
have their own story and place in life.
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