Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Culture Through Pictures- DeathNote (Post 1)

Ever heard of Manga or Anime? That's like half my reading life, between all my favorite authors and the very long lists of literature I hope, but probably wont, ever complete; I always leave some time aside for my daily dose of Asian culture submitted to me by Manga and Anime.

Though most of them are made up stories of other worldly lands and beings, they actually represent the distinct type of Asian culture it gives of. With different supernatural beings and forms of  ruling like with emperors with nobles instead of kings and lords. Everything besides the translated English is immersing you in their world from their epic battle scene and weapons to the single (or many) bowl(s) of Ramen in Naruto's hand(s).

Though DeathNote is different, set in a real city in Japan around the Kanto region and actual company names it feels so much closer to us here in this world. Though with "The Other Side" evident with the use of the Japanese culture of the Shinigamis otherwise known as the "Spirits of Death" it makes it more of a story than a fairy tale.




Submerged in Asian culture, mostly Japanese, is when I feel I am traveling there myself while intertwined with the unique characters that tie me into the story, while the entire time my head is swimming with the culture. Making me a part of it. Which makes me proud to be apart of another culture, cause these books, and people, are amazing.

 
 




http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_Note
The Wikipedia page fore DeathNote with TONS of information.

http://www.viz.com/death-note
The VIZ media page with a short summary, pictures, and even streaming episodes of the Anime.

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Realism: Hidden in the Pages of Books- The Fault in Our Stars (Post 6)

Re·al·ism [ree-uh-liz-uhm]
Noun

1. Interest in or concern for the actual or real, as distinguished from the abstract, speculative, etc.

2. The tendency to view or represent things as they really are.

3. Literature.
    a. a manner of treating subject matter that presents a careful description of everyday life, usually of the lower and middle classes.

    b. a theory of writing in which the ordinary, familiar, or mundane aspects of life are represented in a straightforward or matter-of-fact manner that is presumed to reflect life as it actually is. Compare naturalism.


It's there; the sense of things being real. Everything I have blogged about on The Fault in Our Stars is in the general idea of making it feel more "real". Real could be, you seeing happen, you have seen if happen, you could even imagine it happening. Or on your own playing field you relate to the topic or the character or situation. Even in fantasy or sci-fy novels its true, like you could relate to Tinkerbell for her sas and how just darn cute she is. Or you could relate to The Doctor because of his wits or good looks perhaps?

Though with the last page of The Fault in Our Stars turned and the cover shut, I just knew it was real, to me. With not just how the story was told in a real place with normal people characters, but how the story was written. With all the aspects of: dialogue, humor, character traits, diction, imagery and figurative language, format and reliability. Yet, these are just the points that I touched on through my blog posts not to mention: pace, syntax, chapter lengths, secondary characters, plot twists, an basically everything down to the period.

This was an amazing, existential crisis causing, book, that i enjoyed every moment reading. Every tear, every laugh, every flip of the page, every breath i took while reading this book was worth it. Do you know those books have have a personal affect on how you live your life? For me, this was the book, that changed me, without me realizing it til I reached the end.

For a shout out to the author, John Green, if he every find this small blog of mine; Thank you, for writing.



















https://www.google.com/search?q=the+fault+in+our+stars&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=jMlvU5riKoaTyATVioCIBA&sqi=2&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAQ&biw=1280&bih=880
The Google images search page for The Fault in Our Stars with the book cover, movie shots, and fan-based art work.

http://music-mix.ew.com/2014/05/09/ed-sheeran-fault-in-our-stars-all-of-the-stars-video/
Ed Sheeran's new song and music video for The Fault in Our Stars soundtrack coming out May 19th.

Sunday, May 4, 2014

The Cry of Thunder? -Fault in Our Stars (Post 5)

Crying.
Simple just maybe some tears down someones cheeks or a ruffled intake of breath, with the help of a slight sob.

Sobbing.
Tears have been passed down the face of the person and unable to breath a choked noise emits with wails of pain or sadness.

Breaking down.
Cheeks drenched with salty tears, past a series of chokes and gasps. The sobs becoming wails and wails to yells. intensity of the pain  increased.

Though breaking down in a sense can be entirely different to how different people experience it. Wit a book you dont her or see whats happening, only words on a page to describe to you whats the occurrence. With the use of comparisons and figurative language we can "experience" more "correctly" or closely to what the author was aiming for. In a part of The Fault in Our Stars it states, "... he broke down, just for one moment, his sob roaring impotent like a clap of thunder unaccompanied by lightening, the terrible ferocity that amateurs in the field of suffering might mistake for weakness..." (Green 215).

This is more than crying, more than sobbing and breaking down to a very high degree. With the comparison of a storm and some one crying, it just shows how rattling and intense it is for the person experiencing it. With figurative language the book or scene becomes more than words in a page, it becomes more real. Like we are there or ca reach out and touch the characters. Or even more connecting, we are the character and feeling that pain.



https://www.google.com/search?q=the+fault+in+our+stars&source=lnms&sa=X&ei=PsNmU_a0NcOVyATJp4GADg&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAA&biw=1280&bih=880&dpr=1#q=the+fault+in+our+stars&tbm=shop
The shopping page for book on this book, with clothing, images, the book and more.