I finished reading Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro last weekend. I was excited to read it because I'd heard it was good, and supposedly it is the "best novel of the decade" says TIME. I don't know about that. . . Maybe I can't take heartbreaking endings, but after I read it I felt pretty hopeless. It reminded me of Atonement, which I didn't read I just saw the movie, and Keira Knightley is conveniently in both movies. His writing style was odd, sometimes he would describe one obscure thing really well, and then another thing he'd say one sentence about, while I wanted him to describe it in detail. I still want to see the movie even though it will just depress me. It's partially about running out of time, which makes me wish I wasn't away from John for so long. I miss him. When I see it I will be sure to take tissues and chocolate, and hopefully John, too.
Now I am reading Notre Dame de Paris, or the horrible English title it has retained since it was published, The Hunchback of Notre Dame. I've made a lot of progress already since I read it while Elise was in class today. Hugo describes for the reader the differences between his modern Paris (1831) and the Paris the novel takes place in (1482). Buildings have been changed or torn down, and of course I can compare his descriptions to the city today, as even more things have changed. In case you didn't know, Hugo wrote the novel in part to invoke a concern for the conservation of old buildings, particularly Notre Dame de Paris as it was going to be torn down. Prior to the 19th century, the idea of preserving historical places did not exist. Now I only saw the Disney adaptation once as a small child, but I can still remember the things that Disney got wrong from the book. . . which is basically everything. Bad bad Disney.
So today I woke up early to catch the 7:40 bus to AUC (The American University in Cairo)with Elise. Later I find out that she tricked me into getting up early, she didn't have class until 11:30! So sneaky. But it's really okay Elise! :P The shiny new campus is out in the desert, so the bus ride is approximately an hour or more one way. Elise takes this bus to school four days a week! I didn't want to fall asleep on the bus, but I did. I snuck into the university and went to Elise's classes. The AUC campus is very pretty, but it is only a few years old. I ate koshary for lunch, which was yummy, and for dinner I ate food from the dorms. I woke up in the middle of night sick from something I ate, which was not fun. So the next day I was weak and didn't feel well, but now I'm feeling much better. Now I need to blog about today and yesterday!
A bientot!
Sarah
Sarah:
ReplyDeleteThe adventurous spirit you exhibit is inherited from u know who. The need to explore, expand knowledge and enhance our understanding of others and their cultures is what separates us from lower primates and tea party members.
Now that the election is over, some of the absurd comments made by candidates during the recent campaign are making it into the "liberal" press. One comment went something like this: "Einstein's theory of relativity is an idea promoted by liberals." Another from the local election "Muslims and liberal Americans favor sharia law." This type of ignorance is one of the reasons Oklahoma is again the laughing stock of educated Americans and the world. Instead of singling out Muslims, the proposition could have prohibited Islamic Sharia law, Judeo-Christian law (the two are remarkably similar-check out Leviticus), Hindi law and all other religious law from being promulgated in the civil and criminal courts, an idea that our founding fathers embraced.
Enjoy Egypt, it is on my bucket list. I like Ramses II because his ego and need to be remembered mirrored his years of rule. His tomb must have contained splendor beyond imaginations. However, I do wonder if Tutankhamun's tomb was filled with treasure out of respect by the priests for Tut's rejection of the worship of Aten and return to worship of Amun. I suppose there was record somewhere of what should have been in Ramses the Great's tomb. Unfortunately Ramses' tomb was pilfered by the same workers who built it. If a liberal like Obama had been in charge and a social network in place to care for the workers who labored in the Valley of the Kings, the Ramesid tombs might have survived.
Enjoyed your blog and Elise's. Keep up the good work. Daddy
I finally posted Daddy's comments but of course posted on the first entry in error. Just learning, you know. It is nice to live vicariously and you provide such adventure for us. We did watch the National Geographic special to get a sense of what you were experiencing. We so appreciate Elise for being a wonderful host. We look forward to meeting her and your other UCSB friends soon! Love you, Momma
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