(pg. 27) Maybe me saying this isn't the greatest move of nationalism on my part, but when Valentino suggests that he should move to Canada I find myself wanting him to go. As soon as possible! I just hate having to read about his pain and suffering over and over- and I'm only 27
pages into the book. Out of 535 pages. Please go move to Canada! Enjoy the maple syrup and their cool national anthem! His buddies in Canada tell him to join them up there. "... there is less crime, more job options. They have guaranteed insurance there..." (Eggers 27) Go Valentino! Go! Be safe and happy! Go get an education and a good job, don't get robbed, or eaten by a grizzly bear! Am I betraying my country telling this fictional character to leave America and go to Canada? (Though I think this is a true story) Well, if it's for his own good I think not.
(pg. 27) I very much enjoy the way he talks to TV Boy in his mind. I suppose this is kudos for
Dave Eggers or Valentino, or both. "TV Boy, I miss her with a growing heat that surprises me and will likely engulf me." (Eggers 27)
(pg.27-28) I just love the ways of love, as corny as that is. How it can make a guy can miss a girl that much, remember what she was wearing last time he saw her, remember what she said. Then how she can make him feel a certain way. "I loved Tabitha in a way that made me feel like an adult, like I had finally become a man. With her I felt I could escape my childhood, its deprivation and calamity." (Eggers 28) See, when a girl can do that for a guy, thats just good.
(pg.29) It can be kind of therapeutic in a way. Telling these silent stories to people Valentino felt has wronged him. You can't just live the life he did and keep all those memories and feelings
inside. Though he says, "Written words are rare in small villages like mine..." (Eggers 29), writing
can be a good way to deal with your past. Vietnam soldiers often came home traumatized and emotionally scarred, and they never cope with those feelings in any way. TIm O'Brien, writer of The Things They Carried (see post 1), coped with his journey in Vietnam by writing multiple books, recounting his true tales. Doing that sort of thing can really help you move on and get rid of horrible memories stuck in your mind.
"It is my right and obligation to send my stories into the world, even if silently, even if utterly powerless." (Eggers 29)
You go Valentino.
(pg. 30) As Valentino talks about the wild of Sudan, the danger of being eaten or attacked, the sounds of the open forest, I can't help but think of Eliza Thornberry from that old Nickelodeon show. She was always out across the world with her pet chimp walking in deserts, rain forests, on mountains, in the ocean, looking for wildlife while her parents were out filming their ever so exciting nature show. She also had the power to talk to animals. So when Valentino and the hundreds of other boys were being attacked
by a lion, Eliza Thornberry could have had a nice conversation with it about gazelles or could have serenaded it to sleep.
(pg. 33) It's depressing just reading the anxiety these boys felt after the lion attack. That they have to result to remembering nice memories in order to fall asleep. It must be easy remembering that one great memory to help them when they compare it to their lives now. I can't think of one GREAT memory right now off the top of my head. Riding my bike for the first time, getting my first pet wouldn't suffice in helping me fall asleep after a traumatizing lion attack.
2 comments:
I love the connection you made to Eliza Thornberry. Now I don't feel alone in my watching of the television show.
But, seriously, I love how you mentioned that finding one, great memory is so easy for them because of the lives that they are leading at the point of the lion attacks. I was thinking something similar - I can't recall a single brilliant event in my life that stands out from the rest, and his was just so. . .simple. Just doing normal things that we would take for granted.
Great job, Raquel.
This is a reiteration, however, I also really enjoy your Eliza connection. I mean, that's something not a lot of people would think of. And to connect one literary character to another character is something that can be translated into counting on others, even if they can be weird, you can perhaps capatilize on their abilities. That sounds really bad.
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