Topic-of-the-day: Week 1 The Library Lounge
Who of you out there has ever thought about studying on your own, researching a subject of their own choosing? Maybe even come up with a class syllabus? Are you in school already and struggling with study skills, navigating the red tape inherent in the system? How about applying to college? Are you trying to get back to school or hoping to avoid taking time off between high school and college? My blog will address these various topics and provide advice and direction.
Literature and education is my game. Not education limited to college courses, but learning for learning’s sake. Higher education is important in its own rite. It is not, however, the only way to learn. Libraries are amazing…and sometimes intimidating. The Library Lounge is a space that will someday manifest into a physical “store” front providing, like it sounds, a comfortable, approachable atmosphere with research capabilities. Until that day comes, this is its home.
Here at The Library Lounge, I will discuss a broad range of titles, genres, and authors—Peter Pan, His Dark Materials, MAUS, Fables, Breakfast of Champions, Wildwood, The Book of Lost Things, Shakespeare, Brian Fraud, William Gibson…etc.—and offer close reading style overviews. I realize “close reading” and “overview” sound contradictory. The reality of close reading is that there should always be far too much juicy info in the text to include even in a single paper let alone a blog.
Think of me as your resource to resources AND your very own literary critic for all the books they either don’t, won’t, or can’t delve into. Well, at least, cool in my opinion. The “Reading List” link gives a list of titles I have covered in more detail. There are other fun and useful buttons too (try the “Ask me” button to tell me what you need that I haven’t provided yet).
This blog, this project, this Library Lounge, may get seemingly off topic at some point (in fact, I hope so), but that will only lead us to new and interesting subjects, questions, and possible answers. If you haven’t noticed yet, I’m a nerd. I am very proud of this fact. If anything being a nerd has served me best in my extreme—irritating—attention to detail. I love language. Unfortunately, language is imprecise. I love applying my nerd-ness to find the most precise and productive way to make language do what I want it to. It can get you A’s. It can win arguments. It can make you money. I have written my way to $35,000 worth of scholarships. I recently earned my BA in English Literature from UMASS Boston graduating with honors, summa cum laude. All this means is I wrote and read well. I cannot say it was all enjoyable. The pitfalls of institutionalized education were at times enough to send me straight to the bar pulling my hair out along the way. That is the nature of red-tape (bureaucracy) that is part of all institutions. I can help with some of that too, meaning that I can direct you to the right person to poke. Fret not. Your champion is here.
May nerd-dom abound and may there always be queries!
Katrina Pavlovich
Quote-of-the-day
“Cries for help are frequently inaudible.” —Tom Robbins, Even Cowgirls Get the Blues
Overview: Clockwork by Philip Pullman
Perfect for Halloween, Clockwork is a classic German fairy tale. Two craftsman in a small town sell their souls for success. The clockmaker’s apprentice takes up with the manifested devil to complete his apprenticeship. But a deal with the devil can only end in the claiming of your soul. The cold mechanism of the clockwork knight and his maker are two of the eeriest characters I have read.
The maker, Dr. Kalmenius, has a “savage curiosity” (26) that leads him to pursue all the questions of the universe. Like Dr. Frankenstein, Kalmenius learns a certain level of the miracle of creating life. With one illustration caption, however, the failure of his endeavors is revealed. “It’s almost as if they had…died” (25). The mechanism he creates can only sustain life so long, yet his machines are so lifelike that they seemingly suffer the same fate as us endowed with real life. The mechanical knight embodies Kalmenius’s version of savagery and both life and death. The concise perfection of the clockwork can leave only a sense of being haunted.
Though clearly written for a youthful audience, Pullman proves how sophisticated child readers are. Clockwork could easily replace the traditional reads of Sleepy Hollow, Frankenstein, and Poe for Halloween entertainment. It’s the perfect length and tone for coffeehouse readings.