American Gods and Idealism.

I have just finished American Gods which is seriously one of the best books I have ever read. He writes its with some awareness that he is an Englishman writing about the basis of American culture and its essential replacement of old gods with new. He creates a fantastic epic which is suddenly interjected with insightful pages of deviation in which you wonder how one man can possibly reason so eloquently and so painfully.

'Tonight, as you eat, reflect if you can: there are children starving in the world, starving in numbers larger than the mind can easily hold, up in the numbers where an error of a million here, a million there, can be forgiven. It may be uncomfortable for you to reflect upon this or it may not, but still you will eat.' (Gaiman: American Gods p346)

Later in that same chapter:

'Women, Men, the old and the young of them: there are so many of them, and so many of the stories are tragedies with grief too deep to be contained, but holding here and there tiny joys, snatched from the darkness like flowers picked by a fallen traveller from the side of cliff.'

'No Man, proclaimed Donne, is an Island, and he was wrong. If we were not islands, we would be lost, drowned in each others tragedies.

These are snippets eventually cumulating in a revelation which I believe is one of the most important revelations possible:

'We need individual stories. Without individuals we see only numbers: a thousand dead, a hundred thousand dead, "casualties may rise to a million". With individual stories, the statistics become people- but even that is a lie, for the people begin to suffer in numbers that themselves are swollen and meaningless'.

And contained in these words are the most important thing any human can ever learn, that listening to the cry of people in stories, song, art- anything will do more for recording the true scale of history than numbers ever will.

Numbers will not stop things from happening again. The amount lost in WW1, in the holocaust, in the wars being fought all over the world mean nothing without the stories.

This book has is off the scale in the number of layers it possesses. It contains a simple story of a man becoming whole after imprisonment and bereavement. It contains the psychoanalytic factor of fantasy.

But what I find very interesting is its experiments with idealism. The Gods that exists in the book travelled to America in the minds of their believers and maintain a external presence as well as an internal one. They exist because people created them. They can control people but they are ultimately bound by a need for belief. They are sustained by sacrifice in the same way Christianity is sustained by ritual sacrifices. Only these Gods were forgotten when they changed addresses as their believers moved on or moved back to their homeland leaving the Gods there to fight for existence.

Interestingly, the land which appears as a carnation of a buffalo man (who is resolutely not a god) is the moral compass within the book. Appearing to the protagonist Shadow in dreams he provides guidance on the right course of action. Because gods they might be, but squeaky clean they are not.

Anyway, the fact that the gods within the book are part of a shared system of belief but there are two types of existence.

1. The land exists because it is a shared idea of ALL. It exists in the same way that natural world and people exist in a coherent system of ideas.

2. The gods exist on a different plane. They are not a shared idea and exist in the minds of believers and at the same time can shift between the 'real' world (The world of America and technology) and into a different, almost incorporeal plane that exists simultaneously. The world created by the beliefs of individuals which they cannot access.

Shadow does at points shift through into the other section which seems at time almost mental, like they live in an external but separate world which is created in peoples head although not accessible by said people.

Finally, to end with the words Shadow spoke Mr Nancy, the spider God:

"Call no man happy until he is dead. Herodotus"

'Mr Nancy raised a white eyebrow and said "I'm not dead yet, and, mostly because I'm not dead yet, I am as happy as a clam boy"'.

" The Herodotus thing.It doesn't mean the dead are happy,' said Shadow. 'It means you cannot judge the shape of someone's life until it's over and done.'

So I would strongly urge people reading this (particularly people who like fantasyish stuff) to pick up a copy!! Its long, but well worth it!

xxx

-All quotes from American Gods by Neil Gaiman. Published by Headline Review.(2005)-

Culture shocks..

I am so terrible on writing on here and apologise to the very limited audience that reads this.

I have recently become more aware of the term 'culture' and it's definition. I think I was made aware of it by the 'culture society' at uni. I had a strong reaction in which I profusely swore never to go near it...It has nothing whatsoever to do with disliking their activities (theatre/wine/ballet)

In fact I absolutely love ballet and dedicate a lot of my time to it. But the thing that irked me about it was their sense of superiority of elitism. In fact the connotations that come with the word 'culture'; that you need an education to appreciate it at all! Or to access it.

I'm not for one second pretend that I value programmes such as 'Snog, Marry, Avoid' as much as I value the works of Shakespeare. But to dismiss the 'lower' form of culture as meaningless and not worthy of attention is to limit the knowledge that can be gained from the world.

I think there are so many important messages that could be contained in, for example, Dr Who (I chose Dr Who because of my avid fanaticism of it) which are not considered as important as those contained within Chekhov. Within Dr Who there are so many themes concerning imperialism, humanism and so on. And exactly the same can be said of Twilight or Sex and the City. It may not be culture in the stiff, priggish way of looking at it. But it still represents society and history and the changing contours of morality. So why must we condemn these so utterly as entertainment and nothing more.

It is also important to note that some of these programmes unwillingly make statements about society which may help us reflect on what may need consideration in society.

For example, take Sex and the City 2 (which incidentally I loved!). SATC 2 got a huge slandering in the press and by the feminist soc for playing to gender stereotypes, racial stereotypes and class stereotypes. And yes it absolutely did. But it can also seek to expose the contentions and ignorance in east/west culture. Although it may also be used to reinforce these stereotypes we need to remember that we must always use any literature/art/film as a springboard into the multi facets of each.

In brief, the whole rich white women in the middle east could be seen as the embodiment of American Imperialist culture and there desire to dress the entire world in Jimmy Choos. But it can also be seen as just that: drawing awareness to this in the hyperbolic presentation of some of the themes. It satirises itself and the women in it (and makes you love them!)

Anyway, this is enough ridiculous rambling...sorry its disorganised and illogical but I spent all of my energies in The Independent: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/autism-and-genetics-a-breakthrough-that-sheds-light-on-a-medical-mystery-1996221.html 9 likes on my comment...makes me happy.

Xxx

Best Books Ever..

2 posts in one day..But boredom strikes so I thought I would put my favourite ever books!

1. Hamlet (Not even kidding. Greatest work of literature. I could read this forever.)

2. Beowulf (Seamus Heaney translation...Such a close contender to Hamlet. It is brilliant.)

3. Northanger Abbey (Austen)

4. The Castle of Otranto (Read below!)

5. Snippets of Beyond Good and Evil and Thus Spake Zarathustra. (Snippets as I have read all of Beyond G and E but not all of thus spake Zarathustra. But I love Nietzsche because he has the most intensely passionate writing style and in spite of the fact that he wants you to think and to challenge his rhetoric style just makes you want to proclaim it. Which is kinda the point.)

6. Jane Eyre. (Because it's brilliant.)

(Depressingly for an English student, I only have 6 favourite all time books..I can't quite make it to ten..but then that is because it takes A LOT to make it into my top 6 :-)

Its quality not quantity..

I'm aware I never write on here, mainly cos its what I do when I am hideously bored or outraged and I haven't really been either with the amount of work I've been doing. Though I have been outraged. But it's containable. :-)

Anyway, this happens to be one of those times where my outrage and enthusiasm outweighs my preoccupation with anything useful. (I already made brownies!)

Firstly, because I have gone from being completely apathetic on any gender issues to becoming (I swear) an angry feminist. This is a very odd experience. The last time I got this annoyed I was 14 and swore I was going to join the army and prove myself.

Anyway, my annoyance now stems largely from literature. But any kind of recording. It took me a long time to read the bias in literature. Any literature. But I think it was because I have become interested in very obscure topics such as Lilith and Polyxena.

I recently had to write an essay on Polyxena: who is one of the most fascinating topics of the literature of Troy. I won't spell it all out because I will end up rewriting my essay. But according to some accounts she was instrumental in the death of Achilles and completely involved in the fabric of the story. But no one knows who she is.

Similarly, Lilith, Adam's first wife has been completely written out of history to the extent that my spell checker doesn't recognise her name. However, she is mentioned in much of history: according to my sources she is in the dead sea scrolls and Gilgamesh and the bible. Texts that have shaped our lives. She is absolutely completely hidden in plain sight. Because we only see what we are conditioned to want to see.

Anyway, rant over with that bit...

Here are the books I have been reading recently:

1. Horace Walpole- The Castle of Otranto: Ok well I can't figure out how to move it so you will have to look up.

But seriously one of the greatest book I have ever read. You start of thinking it is a bit melodramatic and clichéd. And the first bit maybe is true. But then you remember that this is the first Gothic novel. This started an entire tradition. And it is an exceptionally thrilling book. The language and the secret winding passage ways and the gothic house and the hero/ heroine/ villain. It is one of those rare novels that so completely transports you into another world you almost drop pout of this one.

2. Ishmail Kadare- The File on H: Ok I pretty much love every book I have ever read but this one is brilliant. (It may sound boring) It is about two Irish American Harvard scholars who travel to Albania to study epic poetry and oral tradition. Particularly Homeric roots in Albanian poetry. But it is actually hilarious. It is part satire and the Albanian's think these crazy American's are spies. Part of what makes them suspicious is that the Albanian they speak is academic...so it would be like somebody wondering around talking in Shakespearian.

3. Eva Ibbotson- The Secret Countess: Guilty pleasure. I love Eva Ibbotson...even if her books are aimed at kids. :-) But they are just so fairytale-esque in a modern sense. Her heroines are captivating and modern.

4. Philip Roth- The Human Stain: An African-American man who was taught not to be who he is. So he concocts a lie which stays with him til death. I found this book had so many dimensions, from the ambiguity of language, the forming of intellectual minds and elitism, the question of race and the question of motherhood. I think one of the achievements of this book is its ability to get inside each persons head. He goes beyond 'He feels...' She feels..' and creates three dimensional characters even for the people who do not get full sympathy for the writer..

Umm...so thats mostly it. Apart from to say that I watched Prince Caspian last night. Which I loved. I shouldn't because it just reiterates the whole good versus evil absolutism. And by extension the use of costume, weaponry and tradition gives the film/book a heroic, chivalrous (and underlying British) feel. It may be attacking colonialism in so far as they are helping to defend Narnia from those who wish to conquer it but it still feels like they are telling it from a very anglo-centric point of view. (But I do absolutely love these type of books/films!)

Also just look how beautiful Prince Caspian is!! (Once again I posted it twice by accident and can't delete them!!!!)

Have you noticed how within our society there is a need to prioritize the good over the workers, to quote Marx, 'The worker sinks to the level of commodity and becomes indeed the most wretched of commodities. And how true? With the development of the Capitalist attitude which has become very nearly inherent in our society, and which we need to unlearn, the need to own everything is dehumanising us and elevating the commodities we produce.

Humans ARE not machines, but the work ethic our society demands suggests so.

Our society is centred towards the production of goods to trade within the economy. That has become the fundamental base of our society. Our economy. Screw morals and emotion and the things which as humans, should drive us fully towards a way of living that reflects our intellect, but everything we are is reduced to a commodity.

Our education system is a system which reproduces the expectations of us in a work place, that of production, and a production which we feel alienated from.

The origins of Capitalism are arguably Calvinist (according to Weber), it is concerned with hard work and the idea of living a 'good' life. (Not getting tied up in their beliefs of predestination.) Yet this idea has mutated, from the key to Calvinist beliefs of a moral life or in this case a human life, to what has become modern day society. In which people are not valued unless they can produce commodity in the form of labour or in the form of production of commodity.

For example, we see a person living on benefits, specifically those who do not deserve them, as a drain on the economy, and they are, of course they shouldn't be living off of other people's hard work if they CAN work, however, no one sees the person behind it, who is desperate to feed their family, or cares for the community, because many do not value the individual, they only see the heard.

Or someone, who works hard cleaning, making pittance, and is not well regarded by her 'superiors' , but this person could be the one person who could make a difference, to her work place or to the world because of who they are, but they are ignored because they are judged purely by what they contribute to their society.

And consider the person who always has his ideas heard because he is top dog, he earns £150,000 a year, wears the suit and presents himself in a way as to suggest success within the finiancial sector, a contriibutor to the economy, but he is a horrific person, he lies and cheats, evades his tax (which costs the government a ridiculous amount more than benefit fraud) and stamps on other people to get what he wants. But no one cares because he is doing good for the economy.

What I want to contest isn't so much the place of Capitalism, but the desire of it to remove the people, to undervalue humanity because of money. Surely, financial gain shouldn't be the driving force. And I realise as I write this, that I have too been conditioned, I will leave uni and go into the 'market place', I will be bought, sold and sell myself (in a non prostitute way) because that is the driving force behind our society.

(Ok yes I sound like a crazy Marxist (but im not, honest!!)

Xxx

Exam time in the rest of the world...

Having read 15 pages of The Iliad, I felt it was time for a congratualtory study break, and so I came on here to release my boredom..
I am listening to the Bangles Manic Monday, Bonnie Tyler Total Eclipse of the heart and researching things to do in London, when I go for the second time this week, on Wednesday.
I am meeting my mum on Thursday, so I think we are going on the London eye and a couple of museums, maybe V and A and National Gallery.
On the Wednesday I'm thinking Imperial War Museum and St. Paul's Cathedral...I would go shopping but have absolutely no money at all other than what has gone into train fare and hostels...


I am curretly reading' White Tiger', which actually a really good book, it won the Man booker prize. It's also narrates the life of a man born into poverty in India, in what he refers to as the 'Darkness', and his climb up the social ladder. It is all done through his letters to a chinese statesman, he narrates the real effect of India's economic position, the role and development of the entrepeuner, and the real side of Indian democracy, all through the narrative of the letter. I think he starts killing people quite soon though...I think he becomes a psychopath..we shall see.
It is such an accessible book to read, it is one of those books, in which the narrator is supposed to be of low social standing and poor education, but his observant nature elevates the narrative style. It's awesome!
Also reading the Iliad, that's just a lot of greek men in skirts, not particularly interesting, all that has happened so far is that they steal each others women and have a fight about it...
Also, just looked at my ticket for London, 9.30am, here's hoping I'm not going to be standing all day!
I haven't really done much else...
Ergo Bibamus
Xx

LOL!

I am being suitably lazy considering my lack of work AND exams...so have been searching random stuff on here for a while...here is a pick of the best! WAYYY to much time on my hands...

Watch this..I dare you not to cry! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGODurRfVv4.

And Http://epicwinftw.com/page/4/?ref=chzb4

And!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-G60UCeXFp0&feature=player_embedded# Its like charlie and the choclate factories squirrels!