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Sunday, January 21, 2007

Hey White noisers!

So we're nearing the end of our book so what do you think of the ending or of the book as a whole? Comments comments comments!

posted by Sandyface! @ 5:58 PM 

3 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Jeez Louise, the ending is not what I had expected. I don't know if anyone has finished the book yet- but I suppose I should have picked up on the foreshadowing that led to the outcome, considering there was alot, especially coming from Babette. Anyways, all the talk of death became really overwhelming, all of the theories... I had never thought so much about death and its components.

Another thing I noticed that has been recurrent throughout the novel was America's fascination with death and tragedy. Jack again mentioned how a "fire" in the neighborhood brought together fathers and sons, and I found myself actually seeing truth in this statement, something I would not have noticed before. And also, when Jack said he tried not to feel disappointed when the media couldn't find any more dead bodies in the mans yard.... What is it that makes people feel a little disappointed in these sorts of things- it's really disturbing and sick of us if you really think about it....

But thats one thing I really liked and noticed about this book- Delillo mentions so many things that people don't normally talk about, or admit. For example, everything the professors talked about when the met, from spitting to imagining yourself dead. But one thing I didn't understand was Murrays explanation of innocence in things such as "Car crashes," what do you guys make of this, if you noticed it too?

Also, I wanted to bring up what Winnie said about death, that it is important not to lose one's sense of death, because death is the boundary we need, it's what gives the "precious texture to life" a "Sense of definition." I thought these lines were brilliant and very true, without a fear of death and end, life would not seem so precious and important.

One last thing- I just wanted to see what you all had to say about Babette's fathers speech, right before he departed. I thought that every line that defended some bad thing, such as smoking, was so brilliant and very true. "Forget cigarettes. Let the Mormons quit smoking. They'll die of something just as bad." It is funny how this man, close to death with poor health and a wild life style, is so care free and optimistic abouth death. I feel like his voice of reason and his wise, old-age knowledge is something more to live by for Babette than Dylar pills. He makes life seem not so bad, temporarily. I liked his character. Anyways, I'm interested in all of your comments, so if you want to answer any of the questions ^ feel free to do so!

10:16 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

One thing I found extremely interesting towards the end of the novel was the nun, and her conversation with Jack. The nun says that without the "believers," the human race would die. Here, she is basically saying that the human race needs hope in something, whether it is the "after life," or hope in life in general that things can improve, that not everything is doomed. The nun is explaining that people need hope, even if it is false; that this is the only thing that keeps the world running. Even though according to the nun it is all false. What do you guys think about these statements? I love how ironic it is that a NUN is talkng about this.........

8:24 AM  
Blogger Sandyface! said...

That ending was quite the shocker and I did not see that coming. In response to Erica, I agree people need that sense of hope and something to believe in. The world needs something to look forward to or have the security of knowing there is a possibility of greatness in the future. I honestly think that everyone needs that sense of false hope to get them through life. We all go through life hoping for things we want but know we cant have, yet we would like that false belief that there is a possiblity.

This book is not what I expected it to be. It has engaged me at moments and opened my eyes to the little things that I never realized about the human race. Our fascination of destruction and our love of drama in the world. We thrive on the tragedies of others and the natural disasters that we see on the news. It is sick, like Erica said, the way we get somewhat of a sinful pleasure out of seeing fires or bombings.

Also, i just want to point out how paranoid Jack was about Vernon being outside his house, it was hilarious how he thought it was death sitting outside his lawn. Then when Vernon gave him the hand gun he saw him as "Death's dark messenger" It's really sad how he is letting his fear of death take over his life and keep him from living it the way he is supposed to, embracing every moment.

7:51 PM  

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