"The Crying of Lot 49: Chapters Two & Three"~Thomas Pynchon

Chapter Two of "The Crying of Lot 49" was not nearly as difficult to follow as Chapter One, however, I became lost again in Chapter Three.  I could definitely piece together parts of the chapters that made sense to me and consequently figure out what was going on.  Also, the satire of "The Crying of Lot 49" was more evident in Chapter Two than it was in Chapter One.

On page 22, Pynchon uses an excessive amount of repetition, "...impersonating a lawyer, who in front of a jury becomes an actor.  Me, I'm a former actor who became a lawyer... a one-time lawyer who quit his firm to become an actor.  Who in this pilot plays me, an actor become a lawyer reverting periodically to being an actor."  This paragraph created what felt like a revolving door and it almost felt as though Pynchon was beating a dead horse, yet simultaneously this repetition was actually entertaining.  It took me a minute to untangle what Pynchon was truly trying to say by going back and forth, confusing the reader.

The second passage that stood out to me, was probably one that would stand out to anyone reading this story.  On page 24, "...quickly undressed and began putting on as much as she could of the clothing she'd brought with her: six pairs of panties in assorted colors, girdle, three pairs of nylons, three brassieres, two pairs stretch slacks..." and the list continues on.  I was actually picturing Oedipa doing this, which made me giggle.  It seemed as if she was going a little overboard to try and prepare herself for not ending up naked at the end of their "Strip Botticelli" because she could have saved herself from that situation by having not agreed to such an absurd bet in the first place.  By the end of that scene, I was confused as to why she even wanted to cover up so much, when in the end she planned on being "laid" by Metzger anyway--maybe she was just putting on a show to act like a tease.

There was one last excerpt that reminded me of something I had read in the past--everything else in Chapter Three I was very confused by.  On page 50, "...Being in thick with the Duke of Squamuglia, Pasquale plots to do away with young Niccolo by suggesting a game of hide-and-seek and the finessing him into crawling inside of an enormous cannon, which a henchman is then to set off, hopefully blowing the child, as Pasquale recalls ruefully, later on in the third act..." Oedipa is reflecting on a play in which the older half-brother is plotting against his younger half-brother in order to succeed him.  This reminded me of the play "Hamlet," in which I vaguely recall a half-sibling plotting against his half-sibling.  It seems as though many "older" plays have family members deceiving each other.

Vocabulary I was not familiar with:
Nexus: a connection; a link
Convolution: rolled up; coiled
Penal: prescribing punishment
Proselytizing: to convert someone/something
Ogive: a pointed arch

"Fences: Act One"~August Wilson

The beginning of Act One, during Scene One, I found myself a little lost.  The story was a bit slow and I was having trouble finding the meaning of the plot because the introduction sort of throws the reader right into the story.  Because it was filled with mostly general information and small, unsubstantial dialogue between the characters, I wasn't very interested in what I was reading.

However, upon Scene Two and Three of Act One, my opinion turned around. By the end of Act One, I had a solid knowledge of the personalities of the different characters--Troy is an extremely frugal, hard working and grounded father; Rose is a domestic mother and wife, yet has a strong backbone and a lot of spunk; Lyons is a young man learning his responsibilities but still not too far from the nest; Cory wants to be like his father with his passion for a sport, but just as many adolescents, he doesn't always understand his parents' reasoning; Bono and Gabriel are two characters that I still need to read further about to truly have a grasp on their personalities.

Scene Three was definitely my favorite of Act One;  I was actually laughing out loud at some parts and could relate to others.  On page 33, Cory and his father, Troy, are talking about buying a TV because Cory is in desperate desire for one.  Troy is frugal and would rather spend his money on something more practical, like repairing the roof, but he tells Cory, "I'll tell you what... you get a hundred dollars and I'll put the other hundred with it."  I related to this because even though the story is set in the 1950s, mine and many of my friends' parents have made this compromise; mainly this compromise is heard of with helping one buy their first car.

Page 55 holds a discussion between Bono, Rose, and Troy, whom is telling his life story and about how he met Rose. Troy says, "She asked me when I met her if I had gotten all that foolishness out of my system.  And I told her, 'Baby, it's you and baseball all what count with me.' You hear me, Bono? I meant it too.  She say, 'Which one comes first?' I told her, 'Baby, ain't no doubt it's baseball... but you stick and get old with me and we'll outlive this baseball.' Am I right, Rose? And it's true."  Rose responds with, "Man hush your mouth.  You ain't said no such thing.  Talking about, 'Baby you know you'll always be number one with me/' That's what you was talking."  I enjoyed reading this passage because I love that Rose is not afraid to stick up for herself and be completely and brutally honest with Troy.  This is in extreme contrast with other stories of this era because most women are too domestic to be this headstrong, but I appreciate Rose's honesty.  Troy does also.

Lastly, I thought the baseball analogy on page 58 was very clever.  "I'm gonna tell you what your mistake was.  See... you swung at the ball and didn't hit it.  That's strike one.  See, you in the batter's box now.  You swung and you missed.  That's strike one.  Don't you strike out!"  I am a huge baseball fan, so this element of the play I can relate to, and I like that August Wilson went to the depth of tying Troy's baseball/sport experience into his wisdom of life.

Vocabulary I wasn't familiar with:
Guile: sly or cunning intelligence

"The Glass Menagerie"~Tennessee Williams

Before beginning "The Glass Menagerie," I was not aware that it was a play.  It started out slow and I could not submerge myself in the story.  However, the second half was more of something I could relate to.  The younger female character, Laura, has been set up to have a gentleman caller over for dinner with her family.  She is a very nervous girl, as am I, so I could relate to her apprehension of having the man over.   The conversation between Laura and her mother, Amanda, on page 55 reminded me very much of my mother and me.  We have gone through her old yearbooks countless times, reflecting on her old boyfriends and how she thought they were so cool back then.

Another part of the second half of the play that stood out to me was Tom's quote on page 61, "...People go to the movies instead of moving! Hollywood characters are supposed to have all the adventures for everybody in America, while everybody in America sits in a dark room and watches them have them!"  I had never thought about this concept before and it struck me as so true, that our lives have been consumed by the media and its outright display of fame and the importance in celebrities lives.  I actually find it quite ridiculous that we have illuminated celebrity life so much, when they are truly human beings just as we are.

Lastly, the final scene, during which Laura finds out her gentleman caller, Jim, has a fiance struck me all too familiarly.  It seems as though many boys will never learn the lesson of honesty or faithfulness.  Too many times I have given advice to friends whose boyfriends have cheated on them, or lied about something in their relationship, and this scene seems to display a similar situation.  Jim may not have been unfaithful, but he was sneaky enough to lead Laura to believe that he was there at that dinner because he was interested in her.  Unfortunately, he ends up telling her that he is going steady with another woman and Laura is crushed.

Vocabulary I was not familiar with:

Jonquils: a narcissus flower with long leaves, and usually white or yellow petals.

Tumult: a noisy commotion, outbreak, riot.

Jalopy: an old, worn out automobile

"In Dreams Begin Responsibilities" ~Delmore Schwartz

Delmore Schwartz's "In Dreams Begin Responsibilities," portrayed many pictures in my head and I found the story line to be intriguing in the fact that it involved romance.  No surprise there, considering most girls enjoy reading love stories. 

The descriptions of of town as the young man who walks to his girlfriend's house on Sunday brought vivid imagery to my head.  "It is obviously Sunday, for everyone is wearing Sunday clothes and the street-car's noises emphasize the quite of the holiday," lead me to picture families in pastels walking the streets, with horse-and-carriage transportation running around them.  Knowing that the story is set in 1909 helps to picture the old-fashion feel portrayed in the description of the setting.

Later in the story, as the young man and his girlfriend are speaking about the book she is reading, it states that, "This is a habit which he very much enjoys, for he feels the utmost superiority and confidence when he is approving or condemning the behavior of other people."  I immediately thought of my father and many other boys I know that ironically act the same way.  I found it funny that even though the story is set 102 years ago, men still have the same stubborn attributes and feel most manly when they are putting others down, or at least in control of the situation.

The imagery used in describing the ocean and crashing waves was so clear that I could literally picture myself standing on the pier, watching it with the couple.  "The moment before they somersault, the moment when they arch their backs so beautifully, showing while veins in the green and black, that moment is intolerable. They finally crack, dashing fiercely upon the sand, actually driving, full force downward, against it, bouncing upward and forward, and at last petering out into a small stream of bubbles which slides up the beach and then is recalled."  I have seen this crashing of waves so many times now, but I don't think it would be possible for me to describe the series of events in such a nature.  It is amazing how a reader can know and picture exactly what the author is writing about purely through his detailed description.

Overall I found this short story very different.  I was expecting it to be uplifting with the way it started, but once the narrator begins crying at the scenes being described, I, as a reader, knew that there was deeper meaning to the couple that just a cute romance.  Then, toward the end when the narrator yells for the couple to not follow through with their engagement, it is very clear that later in their life, their marriage falls apart, which in turn took a hard toll on their child (the narrator).

Vocabulary I was not familiar with:

Exaltation (page 473, paragraph 4): a feeling or state of extreme happiness

Mirth (page 474, paragraph 2): amusement, especially as expressed in laughter