Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Finally, The Book Concludes
This has been a fun ride. The book caused me a ton of grief but it's done. I enjoyed the book, I found the movie version and I bought another book by le Carré. I think that's pretty successful for being just one book. The last line in the book really hit me, "Spying is waiting"(353). It made sense, but not just for spying, but with everything. I feel like it has a deeper meaning. It is cliché, but that's okay; not every meaning has to be obscure. Just like spying, finding what you truly want in your life takes time. You must wait for it to fall into place or else you might be depriving yourself of something greater. Basically, the entire book is one big message, with different messages for each reader. I took out that life isn't always what you expect it to be. Amazing things can happen in some of your darkest days. This may not be what the author wanted me to take out from it but that's how I feel. The book, looking a little dusty and hidden, popped out to me for a reason. I was brought along on a ride that made every little image and conversation something more meaningful than it had to be.
Almost Done!
Why hello there! I don't think iv'e said how much I absolutely love the book. There are little things as you read that make you say "wow". I found another "wow" moment early in chapter 13. Barley is meeting with Katya again for the Moscow book fair. He brought toys for her twins and a pipe for her brother; just for some background for the quote.
"'Not green, you chump,' he told her.'Who ever saw a green cow? Katya, for heaven's sake, your daughter thinks cows are green.'
'Oh Anna is completely impractical!' Katya cried laughing, and spoke quickly to Anna over her shoulder, who giggled up at Barley.
And all this had to be heard over Matvey's continued monologue and Anna's immense hilarity and Sergey's troubled interjections, not to mention the anguished thunder of the little engine, until nobody could hear anything except themselves." (270)
There is a feeling of joy and excitement without ever having to say it. I pictured myself sitting in the car listening and watching all of these events all happening at once. That to me is good writing and amazing imagery without making it all too technical. I want to try to aim for that in my next writing piece for class or even just in my own notebook. Imagery is hard to do (at least for me), but le Carré makes it seem so easy. "...the anguished thunder of the little engine..." I would never imagine in a million years to put those words together but they flow so well and I can hear the engine making a sound like that.
"'Not green, you chump,' he told her.'Who ever saw a green cow? Katya, for heaven's sake, your daughter thinks cows are green.'
'Oh Anna is completely impractical!' Katya cried laughing, and spoke quickly to Anna over her shoulder, who giggled up at Barley.
And all this had to be heard over Matvey's continued monologue and Anna's immense hilarity and Sergey's troubled interjections, not to mention the anguished thunder of the little engine, until nobody could hear anything except themselves." (270)
There is a feeling of joy and excitement without ever having to say it. I pictured myself sitting in the car listening and watching all of these events all happening at once. That to me is good writing and amazing imagery without making it all too technical. I want to try to aim for that in my next writing piece for class or even just in my own notebook. Imagery is hard to do (at least for me), but le Carré makes it seem so easy. "...the anguished thunder of the little engine..." I would never imagine in a million years to put those words together but they flow so well and I can hear the engine making a sound like that.
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Three Quarters In...The End is in Sight!
Words, that's what I wanted to focus on. What words express meaning in ways that entire sentences can? That's was my goal. So I took it upon me to find the best five words and give some information on it. Really annoying and boring, but I find it to help me think in a new way. It shows me what the author wants me to take out from the context. Without fancy words that we may never use in our daily dialogue, our minds cannot find fun ways to express itself.
1. Esoteric
"...then to hear me 'talk turkey' with Johnny on such esoteric matters as whether Barley could legally be styled an employee of our Service..."(218)
Definition: Requiring or exhibiting knowledge that is restricted to a small group.
2. Delphic
"I was Delphic, which annoyed them, but basically I said the answer was yes." (218)
Definition: Often not capitalised: Ambiguous, Obscure <Delphic Utterances>
3.Commiseration
"He lowered his voice in reverent commiseration." (233)
Definition: To feel or express sorrow or compassion for.
4. Goad
"...preferring to befriend him rather than to goad."(251)
Definition: To incite or rouse as if with a goad
5. Nadir
"The questions droned on and it was clear they would not stop until they had reached the nadir of their vulgarity."(262)
Definition: The lowest point.
All of these words are easily used in the text. As writers, we can do the same as long as we are able to have a relationship with the word. What I mean by that is, if you are trying to use the word and it doesn't feel comfortable saying it, it probably isn't a word that you should use.
1. Esoteric
"...then to hear me 'talk turkey' with Johnny on such esoteric matters as whether Barley could legally be styled an employee of our Service..."(218)
Definition: Requiring or exhibiting knowledge that is restricted to a small group.
2. Delphic
"I was Delphic, which annoyed them, but basically I said the answer was yes." (218)
Definition: Often not capitalised: Ambiguous, Obscure <Delphic Utterances>
3.Commiseration
"He lowered his voice in reverent commiseration." (233)
Definition: To feel or express sorrow or compassion for.
4. Goad
"...preferring to befriend him rather than to goad."(251)
Definition: To incite or rouse as if with a goad
5. Nadir
"The questions droned on and it was clear they would not stop until they had reached the nadir of their vulgarity."(262)
Definition: The lowest point.
All of these words are easily used in the text. As writers, we can do the same as long as we are able to have a relationship with the word. What I mean by that is, if you are trying to use the word and it doesn't feel comfortable saying it, it probably isn't a word that you should use.
Just About 5/8 Of The Way There
Welcome back, I hope you didn't forget about me. My book has gotten really intense, well more confusing somehow. One thing I noticed that le Carré did was when Ned went to play the tapes, the room got eerily quite. The narrator, Palfrey, actually mentions it to himself. "It's a séance, I thought as their first words reached us. Barley and Katya are addressing us from the great beyond" (176). With those two sentences, you could feel the room getting quiet, almost becoming dimmer. Those two sentences accomplished something an entire paragraph could have; it showed emotion an imagery. Those are very important in the way you can write. As long as there are very nice clean sentences that show imagery and/or emotion can help make your writing stronger.
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