I loved the section that talked about each city and person having one word that represents it completely. I thought that it went perfectly with what the book is all about. The author writes, "I suppose that's what this year of journeying is all about. Finding my word" (103). I hope that we find out what her word is by the end of the memoir.
Also, in class, we debated whether or not we like the author. I find her cocky and presumptuous at times, but something in this section changed my mind. She writes about how much Sicily has suffered and she recognizes that her suffering is nothing compared to that. This made me reconsider how I felt about her. Did it change anyone else's opinion/ make their opinion more definite?
When I started reading the section on India, I didn't find it as interesting as reading about Italy. Maybe I'm missing the food descriptions, but I felt like the writing on India was not as clear or relatable. When I was reading about Italy, I was invested in the book, but with India I'm not. What about you? The one thing that I did enjoy reading about was the meditation section. I've tried meditation and found it impossible. I don't have the patience. I was able to connect with the author in this section, because I remember how frustrating it was to just sit there for a verrryyyy long time doing nothing. Her experience with the blue light was interesting to me because she backed it up with factual information. For instance, she writes about the Tibetian monk and the "cool, blue pearl of light" (145) seen on his brain scan. What do you think about this light?
You took the words out of my mouth! As I read her discussion about Sicily I realized that she's more down to Earth than I thought. I felt like she was reading my mind and responding to my momentary dislike for her when she said "I don't want to insult anyone by drawing too much of a comparison between myself and the long-suffering Sicilian people. The tragedies in my life have been of a personal and largely self-created nature, not epically oppressive" (115). It made me regain a lot of respect for her and her feelings towards her situation. I realize that we're all dramatic and all draw comparisons to greater problems to our own. We do this in search of answers. Gilbert is aware that her issues are of a much lesser scale than that of the Sicilian people, but she is comforted by being able to find connections between her life and the lives of others. Perhaps the greater the scale of others' problems, the more comforting it is. And not in a 'phewf, thank God someone else is more miserable than me!' way, but because the greater others' issues are the smaller yours feel, but because it makes the feeling a less unique thus making you feel less lonely in that pain.
ReplyDeleteAlso, by seeing other, more massive conflicts, one's own problems are put in perspective, which can also be therapeutic. When I had a "rough" week in October my mom would always point out tragedies both local and worldwide, and I can honestly say that it helped me a lot. Perhaps Gilbert isn't as dramatic as I originally thought.
Personally, I did not regain any respect for her. I think I was starting to as I read through the Sicily section, but there was one line that really irked(I think that's how you spell it) me. When comparing herself to the Sicilians she said she "still had the resources (financial, artistic, and emotional). That to me still sounds like her cocky self. Right when I read financial I still see her as trying to convey to the reader that she has a lot of money and can do things. And I think this is a false premise. She says that she is writing this from the attic of her sister's house, so she could not have had enough money on return to atleast rent an apartment or house. Then artistic. I do not even get what this means. Is she saying that she is artisticly better than everyone? That since she is a writer she expirences things completley different than other humans so she suffers differently? And finally there was emotional. I just laughed at this statement. There is no way she is emotionaly stable. This was the same woman who laid on the floor of her bathroom every night for months crying about her awful life. I can not see how she can turn around and tell the reader that she was more emotionally stable than Sicilians.
ReplyDeleteI am still despising her.