Archive for April 2008
“My Year of Meats” the end
I’ve just finished reading the last section of “My year of meats” and I have to say that I am really glad that I’ve read this novel. At first, I had some doubts about this book mainly caused by its strange title. I just couldn’t understand what’s so special about meat and why someone would want to write about it. However, after I read the first few chapters I realized that there was much more to this novel than just meat.
With that said, these are my thoughts about the final chapters.
First of all, it was heart breaking to read that Jane had lost a child due to a miscarriage. At first she thought that there is no way that she could get pregnant and finally when she did this horrible thing happened to her. Also, I felt that it was very unfair that Jane lost her baby while Akiko got pregnant. It seemed to me that Jane wanted to have a baby much more than Akiko did and for some reason I think that she would be a better mother.
Secondly, I felt very happy for Akiko because she finally found the strength and courage to leave her abusive husband and turn her life around. There is no doubt that John was a horrible person and most of the time I felt disgusted by his character. I just couldn’t stand him because of how he was treating poor Akiko and all of the bad things that he did to her during their marriage. I don’t understand why it took her so long to leave his sorry ass.
Add a comment April 16,2008
“My Year of Meats” part 2
Throughout reading the next section of “My year of meats” I’ve noticed that Jane, similarly to characters from other books that we’ve read so far, is dealing with the identity crisis. She is half American and half Japanese and because of that she feels lost and starts to reject her Japanese heritage. On page 89 she said: “…since I wasn’t Japanese, I used the boys as my barometer”. Her statement really bothers me because she is half Japanese and no matter how many times she says she’s not, it won’t change anything. I don’t understand why she cannot just simply accept it. Also, I found it strange that others question her Japanese heritage and tell her that she is not Japanese enough. I’m not sure why they make such a big deal out of this. Is it because of the way she feels about herself or is it because it just bothers them overall? Seriously, what the difference does it make if someone is more or less Japanese? I really cannot understand that. Even if she was “more Japanese” she would still be the same person; so what’s the point and why is this constantly being brought up?
Secondly I feel bad that Akiko got her period back. I am so afraid that now she is going to get pregnant and I would really hate to see this happen. John is such a horrible husband and makes her life a living hell. And there is no doubt in my mind that he would not be a good father. Furthermore, despite the abuse Akiko continues to be his wife and for that reason I don’t think that she would be a good parent either. If she cannot take a good care for herself how she is going to care and protect her baby.
Lastly, the entire scene of rape was just outrageous and I had a very difficult time reading it. Now I really hate John and I feel even more disgusted with his character.
Add a comment April 13,2008
“My Year of Meats”
The first thing that captured my attention even before I started to read this novel was its title “My year of Meats”. I couldn’t help to wonder why the author decided to give this book such a strange name. Personally, I think that this would be a great title for a cook book or show from a food channel but not a novel. Other than that I think that I am really going to enjoy reading this novel. It seems to be very funny and quite different from other books that we have read so far in this class. I also appreciate the way in which this piece is written. Oseki doesn’t keep any secrets from the readers. She is very straightforward and puts everything upfront. Since the beginning we get to know all of the characters, what they do and who they are. That makes this novel easy to read because we as readers don’t have to waste the time on wondering what is going on and instead we can just focus on the text and actually enjoy reading it.
1 comment April 8,2008
Native Speaker the end
Even though this book was interesting and I really enjoyed reading it, for some reason I feel happy that it’s finally over. But anyways, these are my final thoughts about the “Native Speaker”. First of all, I was surprised and a little bit disappointed with the ending part of this novel. I completely did not expect it to end like this. Usually when I read a book I can predict in some ways what is going to happened next and how it is going to end. However, in this case my predictions and anticipated ending were totally off. Since the beginning I thought that Henry and Lelia were a very strange and dysfunctional couple so once they separated I thought that their relationship was definitely over. Besides, after all of the bad things that they went on throughout their marriage I just couldn’t see how they could ever be back together. All well, I guess I was wrong.
Add a comment April 6,2008
Native Speaker part 3
I am enjoying reading this book so far and I think that it gets more interesting every time I read more of it. However, there is a one thing that really irritates me. I cannot figure out how I feel about the main character- Henry Park. On one hand I feel bad for him because of all of the bad things that had happened in his life. First, when he was a child his mother passed away from a liver cancer and the only person that he had left was his father, who did not seem to really care about his son. Then, when Henry was an adult his seven year old son died in a tragic “accident” and his marriage fell apart. However, on the other hand I dislike Henry as a person because of what he does for a living and his overall attitude of not carrying about anything or anyone.
1 comment April 3,2008
