A Clockwork Orange

Alex reminds me of a younger, more Russian-speaking Hannibal Lecter. A smooth talker and appreciative of music, with a bit of an IQ to boot, Alex is not your typical goon. He has quite an unorthodox hobby which he deeply enjoys: robbing, raping and just altogether abusing people. In the course of the story, he is arrested and subjected to this "Ludovico treatment" where his mind and body are trained to reject violence. It is inhumane and here I am conflicted with that question of choosing the lesser of two evils.

While Alex did do a lot of horrible things, did he really deserve the punishment he was subjected to? A part of me wants to scream yes at the same time thrusting my fist in the air for added emphasis. A part of me wants to *hesitantly* say, "Maybeee not....." 

The book was a bit disturbing, but held a lot of truths as well. 

Metamorphosis

To be honest, I did not like Metamorphosis all that much. Yes, I know it's some kind of literary masterpiece but I just hated the thought of waking up a giant bug or cockroach. Talk about hassle.

While I appreciate the fact that the story is rich in symbolism about acceptance and the individual, I wasn't a big fan of the plot itself. I got a bit irritated at Gregor by how he was trying to be this martyr, even when he was already a bug. I mean, he could have just up and jumped out the window and been all "Gregor: Bug in the City" instead of wallowing in his own goo of self-pity in his bodega-slash-room. His IQ seemed to drop a few points every day (Well, yes, he is a bug), like that time he insisted on going out of his room when his sister was playing the violin, even if there were lodgers outside.

I know, it was probably not his fault..But the whole thing just really bugged me. Pun intended.

P.S. This does not mean, however, that the family was right to treat him like dirt. They were such jerks!

Getting Better

One of the stories I liked most in our Lit selections (well, I am a girl), it is quick, engaging and entertaining. A pioneer in the Chick Lit category, Getting Better is written in the second person POV, something that is a bit difficult to sustain, as well as slightly less common. Sering does it however, in the clever form of a self-help book. While it follows the typical Chick Lit formula (we all know what that is), what I liked most about the story is the language and its style. It is very Pinoy and very modern--quirky, funny, sarcastic, and sometimes even all three. What is good about it is that it is about the Filipina and aside from being entertained, people can actually relate to it.
Also, as was mentioned in class, the story doesn't really dwell on the characters' physical traits. There is more focus on their lives than there is on their looks or on their Balenciaga/Prada fetishes. I feel this makes the story more real because honestly, it is just so hard to relate to a Western girl with sparkling hazel eyes, lush brown hair, a red heart-shaped mouth, a size 2 body and a Chanel bag draped over her arm.

The Bicycle Thief (Movie)

Revolving mainly around a man's wild-goose chase over the city in search of his bicycle, the first thought that entered my mind was: Does the end justify the means?
Antonio, a poor man, goes all over the city with his son to recover the bicycle vital for his job. In the process, he does a lot of things mainly out of instinct and impulse, things that he will most likely regret. He causes chaos and uproar, harasses a man, picks a fight with a whole community of people by falsely accusing one of them, steals a bicycle and worst, hits his son. He seems to be like an animal in a corner, no longer thinking but relying on instinct alone. I can't help but feel sorry for him, though. I see that he does those things because he is driven by desperation to find the thing that will provide him the opportunity to have a better life.

Bread of Salt

A coming of age, rite of passage, initiation, bar mitzvah story of a naive boy fiercely infatuated with a girl whose world he can never be part of. The harsh realities of the world is lost on the boy, who thinks that if he studies hard enough, or plays the violin well enough, he will prove himself to be as good as Aida, the girl he idolizes. His naivete borders on pathetic at times. In a world of indios and mestizos, he is disillusioned, thinking that he can actually be a part of her world when actually, the most he can be is hired help. It is quite frustrating to see him make a fool out of himself countless times, mostly due to the fact that he is too...deluded to perceive the chasm between him and Aida. The story is rich with symbolism which emphasize the sad plight of the boy. I do appreciate however, the very Pinoy touches with the pan de sal and the boy's family and background.

Cries of Children...

Light: pure and infinite as the future. The story revolves around flashforwards to the future of Ricky and some of the important women in his life. There was a sort of existentialist feel to the story, or at least in Ricky's case. Knowing the future makes you dread it for Ricky, somehow hoping he could know about what was to happen to him. But it also brings up all these questions about ethics and the future. Nothing is set in stone. Ricky's knowledge of his future might inadvertently compel him to make it happen. There is a beautiful danger about knowledge--too little or too much is enough to cause chaos for anyone. It also brings into awareness that we are mere pawns in the game of life and fate: we can never have full control over everything in our lives. No matter how hard we try, there will always be times when we will be a wee bit further behind.

Casablanca (Movie)

I honestly cannot remember another time when I was this touched by a movie. It has been a day since watching it, and I still can't get Rick and Ilsa's story out of my head. It surprised me to be so affected by an "old" movie. The beauty and timelessness of the film is quite surprising. Timeless in the sense that even until today, people (or at least me) can still relate to the story. It could be a typical jilted-lover-meets-ex-after-a-long-time-chaos-ensues type of story and yet the ending surprises us in the end. There's all this tension between Rick and Ilsa and even though you only see them together for only a few minutes, you can kind of feel that they really loved each other. (Not to mention those unforgettable lines, "Here's looking at you, kid" and "We'll always have Paris") I have this newfound appreciation for classics and it makes me realize that old movies sometimes have even more substance than the movies we have now. This is one of the very few romance movies I've watched where the story actually defies the romance Happy Ending formula and the lead characters don't end up together (another one being My Best Friend's Wedding). The great sacrifice Rick makes shows that he can go beyond himself and be a bigger person, putting the greater good above his own desires. I guess this is the "inevitable surprise" that we talked about in class--I was a bit surprised they didn't end up together but then, I also think that was the only way or the only right way for the story to end.