Kitty Jackson. She’s kinda like the Gigi Hadid of A Visit from the Goon Squad. She’s young, gorgeous, wealthy, and everyone in the media wants to know more about her. Well except Gigi is an extremely successful model, but I’m sure Kitty could be too. 

In Jenifer Egan’s novel A Visit from the Goon Squad. (Which I highly recommend ) Kitty has an interview with Jules Jones. As you can expect it is a normal interview over lunch with a pleasant conversation because Kitty is a nice celebrity, according to Jones. The interview goes pleasantly well until Jones schemes more time with the nineteen year old. The two head to Central park close by where Jackson is assaulted by her interviewer. 

And the nice celebrity forgives her attacker and actually becomes an advocate for the reporter in court. Which is  extremely  good for Kitty’s public image. But when the media is away, is she a nice celebrity?

In my opinion, she is not. (I just want to clear up that I think Gigi is nothing like Kitty in this aspect.) When Kitty travels with Dolly and her daughter Lulu to meet the General, Jackson’s true colors are shown. From her ease to shifting her persona to a rude and arrogant woman to a kind and generous celebrity. Then to her adversarial accusation of genocide toward the General. 

So is Kitty Jackson a nice celebrity?

On that note, I just wanted to praise this novel. Due to my hectic schedule I fell behind on the reading for school, but I sat down on a Friday morning and restarted the novel and then completed it. I definitely can say I enjoyed it so much more than any other book I have read this school year, whether it be the content or my complete attention to the novel, this has become one of my favorite novels. Egan kept me completely engaged and entertained, which for me is rare when it comes to books  that are assigned. Anyway like I’ve already said, I think this is a novel everyone should check out. 

I think the love that Heathcliff and Catherine has is complete bullshit. I have never been genuinely mad at a relationship unless it was the generic Hallmark movie that I occasionally enjoy. But don’t get me wrong this novel is one that I would recommend. I just don’t like the relationship between Heathcliff and Catherine.

I would honestly classify Heathcliff’s love for Catherine as more of an obsession. So much to the fact that she becomes the reason he wants to live. His obsession with Catherine seems to give him the strength to endure Hindley’s maltreatment after Mr. Earnshaw’s death. But when he overhears Catherine admitting that she could not marry him, Heathcliff just leaves. Like an immature boy who can’t have his way. 

The readers don’t know what happens to Heathcliff away from Catherine, only that he returns with money, which can be seen as Heathcliff’s attempt to join the society to which Catherine is drawn to. But even after all of Heathcliff’s trifles, Catherine still chooses Edgar over him. Her choice leads him to almost stalking her by lurking around Thrushcross Grange, visiting after hours, and after her passing (which was sort of Heathcliff’s fault) his desire to be buried in a connected grave with her so their bodies would disintegrate into one. Which if you would ask me, his desire is just downright creepy. 

But what disturbs me the most is Heathcliff’s “love” for Catherine seems to be the motive behind everything he does, even his malintent towards others–including Catherine’s daughter

 I’m going to start this blog by admitting that I’m behind on the reading I know today is the second and we’re supposed to be through chapter 32 tonight I’m on chapter 27. Anyway I find myself getting annoyed with the reading. I don’t understand why violence is everybody’s  go to response for every little thing. As a reader it’s getting old, like there are lots of other ways to sort out your differences rather than just flying off the handle hitting or hurting someone in some way whether it be emotional or physical. 

Chapter 24 for example is filled with emotional and physical hurt. I read this chapter late one night after work and I thought I was having a fever dream. But the first thing that really annoyed me was Hareton trying to impress Catherine with his ability to read his own name, but in turn she laughs at him because he can’t read numbers. In all honesty I don’t understand why he would try to impress her because she’s a bitch to everyone. Why couldn’t she have just been a civil human being and compliment his reading ability?

But then the story escalates  when hurt Hareton decides to shove Linton and Catherine onto the kitchen floor which leads Linton to claim “I’ll kill you for this”. And then proceeds to violently choke on blood. Even after the disturbing scene Hareton follows her into the moors and tries to apologize for what happened, and like one does Catherine whips him out of rage. 

In all honesty I just don’t see the need for the amount of violence in the novel, but that just could be me.  

Okay I just finished chapter 17 of Wuthering Heights, and I have found it to be an enjoyable read. My preconceived notions were that this novel was going to be a difficult and unpleasant read, but all I can say is I’m shocked that I find myself looking forward to reading it in the morning. Annyway, I was not expecting the behavior of Heathcliff in Chapter 17.

We all have seen Heathcliff grow up, and it’s apparent that he has not had the easiest life. While he was a child and Mr. Earnshaw brought him back to Wuthering Heights, he quickly became the favorite. The favoritism  that was demonstrated quickly became a social set back for Heathcliff because after the passing of Mr. Earnshaw, he was made a servant by Mr. Earnshaw’s jealous son Hindley. This treatment of Heathcliff led him to become bitter and full of hate toward everyone but Catherine. 

Anyway I thought Heathcliff was just an absolute dick up until chapter 17. Now I’m not saying that his violent actions of throwing knives and almost beating someone to death is acceptable and good behavior but a little bit of humanity was shown when he bandaged Hidley’s wound after beating him to a pulp. 

But as I went about my day I kept wondering why Heathcliff bandaged Hidley’s wound? I’m hoping that it’s foreshadowing a possible change in his behavior, but I’m not going to keep my hopes up because of the narration and the beginning of the novel. 

Nadia is a badass. Let’s be honest, the way she carries herself at the beginning of the novel is in my opinion respectable. She wears a black robe to conceal herself from men and says the purpose of the robes is so “men don’t fuck with me”. But she falls for Saeed which reveals a softer side of her. Nadia moves in with Saeed after his mother passes, and this was only the beginning of their time together.   

Throughout the war the couple stuck together. But the war was hard on them, Nadia publicly displayed affection toward Saeed which made their relationship tense for the rest of the journey they were on. While trekking Nadia becomes injured and perseveres until she needs medical attention. The interactions from the hospital leads Nadia to join a Nigerian council even though she is not Nigerian. This council allows them to take refuge from the war. 

As the war rages on Nadia and Saeed’s love dwindles and Nadia recommends they go their own ways which Saeed agrees to. And you could say they became like most couples who slowly lose contact and don’t reconnect until many years later–fifty to be exact. Long after the war subsided the pair fell back into the familiar connection they shared and they long to be around each other again, but in the end reality hits. They go separate ways once again not knowing if they would ever fulfill those empty words. 

Oftentimes I understand, at least some of what I read, but that wasn’t the case when I read “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf”. The only thing I could tell you about the play was the stupidly annoying song to the tune of Big Bad Wolf was stuck in my head all Thursday night while I was closing the donut shop. But that’s not important.

    The more I thought about the play I found myself thinking more about George and Martha’s relationship. At first, I thought the relationship was one that most would deem a “broken marriage”, but in all honesty, I don’t think so.  From the beginning and throughout, Martha and George seem to constantly bicker–well more like brawl, and at one point the couple actually did according to Martha when they were younger. But as the play progresses we learn that George sacrifices almost everything for Martha including a major promotion at work–even though his father-in-law runs the College.  George not only sacrifices a promotion, he also sacrifices his image and relationship with his father-in-law. 

But no matter how troublesome and difficult Martha is George still loves her.  It was the kind of unconditional love that never faltered, and the kind that most people pine after. Even when she broke the rules of their game, George still loved her. And in the end, his choices toward her fracture of the rules was ultimately a decision not out of spite but of the betterment for Martha. 

I’m going to start by saying I definitely recommend this book. The novel kept me wanting to read rather than reading for an assignment, and I found myself so engrossed that when I checked the time it was 2 am. Whether it be the difficult topics or the relatability of it all, Celeste Ng wrote an amazing novel that demanded my attention.

The topic I’m planning on writing about might offend or upset people and I’m sorry if it does, but I’m speaking from my personal experience. 

Lexie Richardson and Pearl’s relationship is definitely one that wasn’t expected. I can say the same for myself and my friend, let’s call her Jane. So similar to the way Lexie reached out to Pearl when she had nobody else to turn to, I received a similar call from Jane around 1 am when she had her plan figured out. 

If you haven’t read Little Fires Everywhere yet I’m about to spoil it for you. Lexie and Brian had been having sex anytime they could since Halloween. And I’m sure that was the case for Jane and her Brian as well seeing that she only spent time with him. But as we all know how it goes, “accidents” happen and both Lexie and Jane found themselves taking a drug store pregnancy test. Granted Lexie bought her own and I bought Jane’s, I could relate to that feeling of dread as I walked up to the counter with the tests, luckily there wasn’t a cashier who was interested in what I was purchasing. And for Lexie and Jane, the tests were positive. And after some fantasizing, reality checks, and careful deliberation the two girls made the decision which they thought was best–abortion. 

I personally found myself relating to Pearl the most in this situation. I couldn’t tell you the countless times I asked Jane if she was sure this is what she wanted, and if she wanted to go through with this, similar to Pearl questioning Lexie on the way to the clinic. While at the clinic Lexie fills Pearl’s information in instead of her own so her snoopy mother didn’t find out. Luckily Jane and I weren’t in that predicament. Jane and I sat in the small sterile waiting room for about 20 minutes before she was called back. And the rush of emotions that I felt seemed to be mirrored in the text in the way Pearl felt when Lexie was called.

The last relation I found in this chapter was taking care of Jane after the procedure like Pearl did for Lexie. The main difference from this is Jane and I went to the clinic on a Friday and had the entire weekend to recuperate after because her parents were on a cruise. Unlike myself, Pearl called on her mother, Mia, for help in taking care of Lexie, which now that I reflect on this, I wish I would have called on my mother for help and advice for Jane during the whole situation. 

I thought about what I was going to write for the post for quite some time. In all honesty, I haven’t had this much difficulty with a post. But as I contemplated what I was going to write I found myself revisiting Mr. Wasowski’s question, “What is Song of Solomon about…what’s the purpose of it the Bible?” So I poured a cup of coffee and decided to read the Song of Solomon. 

Growing up I read through the Bible with my youth group, but my youth pastor was adamant about not reading Song of Songs because it was “not appropriate”. But against her wishes, I read it. The Book is an incantation that celebrates young lovers.  Not only is it a book that most theologians avoid due to it’s context being different from most other books, but it is also written differently from others. Song of Songs (Solomon) is comprised of lyrical poems, that translates from Hebrew as the greatest song of all songs. 

The poems mainly focuses on love and sexual desire which is also throughout Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon. The main character Macon Dead III aka. Milkman is surrounded by sexual tension/ desire. Whether it be his mother Ruth and her abnormal impulses or his off putting relationship with his cousin Hagar. The odd sexual nature of the characters  spiral about in Morrison’s novel, similar to the way the author of song of songs includes the theme in the poetry  

The last similarity I found was the theme of seeking and finding. Throughout the poetry in the Bible, the couple longs to find each other time and time again. This longing for someone reminded me of Milkman’s longing to find the story of his roots. Macon longs to know his family history which leads him to begin a long and tedious journey. Other characters that are searching for something are Macon Dead II and Pilate, the pair search for gold out for greed, which contrasts Milkman’s journey for his identity.

So to answer Mr. Wasowski’s question, Song of Songs is about love and desire. The poetic book of the Bible is extremely important when relating to Toni Morrison’s novel. I found that the two are similar in many ways. From reading the Song of Songs I now have a better understanding of what the poetic book in the Bible is about, and it has provided me with a new and clearer perspective on Morrison’s novel.

I recently watched the film “Little Women” directed by Greta Gerwig, and the main character Jo Marth reminded me of Briony Tallis in Ian McEwan’s “Atonement”. Both girls have a wild and blinding passion for writing. 

The film “Little Women” follows the young girl Josephine Marth and her poverty-stricken family throughout the plot. While the film depicts the entire Marth family the main focus is on Jo who is extremely passionate about writing and goes out of her way to prove herself as a writer in order to provide for her family. 

I found a similarity between the two girls in their passion for writing. Briony began the novel by writing her play The Trials of Arabella and continued to write and explore the world for topics to write about, which lead to her trial. Briony’s inquisitive nature and overactive imagination led her to accuse her sister Cecilia’s lover, Robbie, of rape. Robbie has to serve a sentence for a crime he never committed. These events lead Briony to steer away from her passion and take up nursing. While all of her time was occupied by her job, in her spare time she wrote and submitted a novel to a magazine, which was rejected–similar to Josephine’s first writing attempt, and due to the harsh realities both gave up their passion. 

While both girls shared a passion for writing, they choose different reasons to revisit writing. For Jo Marth, she was determined to write again for her late sister Beth and wrote about the Marth family and all the trials they faced. On the other hand, Briony finds herself writing again after Cecilia rejects her forgiveness and Briony’s only hope of atoning is telling the truth behind the events that occurred, which is why McEwan reveals to the audience that the novel is actually written in Briony’s perspective in hopes to achieve forgiveness.

Approval is something every child wants from their parent–I for one can say that I do. Khaled Hosseini depicts the pining nature of a child in his novel The Kite Runner. From the very beginning of the novel, Hosseini portrays a young boy named Amir who throughout his childhood only wants to prove himself to his father. Similar to most children in today’s society the main things they desire from their parents are love, affection, and approval. 

Amir is portrayed as a weak character due to his love for writing–To demonstrate his disapproval in his son Baba says “If I hadn’t seen the doctor pull him out of my wife with my own eyes, I’d never believe he’s my son” (23) Throughout the novel Amir does everything in hopes to earn his father’s approval. This includes driving away Baba’s childhood friend and Amir’s own friend Hassan by lying and convincing Baba that Hassan committed the greatest sin–theft. 

After driving off his loved ones Amir spends the rest of his novel trying to make amends with Hassan. But this task became difficult when Amir and Baba move to America. While in America a distinct change in Baba is noticed due to him weakening from cancer.  But like most parents, Baba has a form of unconditional love for his son. His love is not shown in affection–rather nice and expensive material items. For birthdays and graduation, Baba showers his son in fine, extravagant gifts. 

Although Amir and Baba’s relationship is not perfect and oftentimes rocky, it resembles many child-parent relationships today.