Eve's very cool blog

     Black Swan Green is a great coming-of-age novel, especially when it comes to a trope associated with the genre: role models. Throughout the book Jason gets helpful (but sometimes questionable in the case of the bus driver Norman Bates) advice from many different people. However, these people are not Jason's role models. That role, for lack of a better word, is reserved for a small group. I will examin the characters of Eva, Hugo, and Julia as role models for Jason. While learns from all of them in different ways, he does not become them, by the end of the book he realizes he must use what they say to become the truest version of himself.      Eva is the most obvious example of a role model for Jason, as she offers instructive lessons to Jason on a regular basis. Jason seeks her approval and is rocked by the observations she makes about him life. The ending of the book can be seen as a result of Eva's teaching, as Jason's actions show he no longer cares...

     In the first few chapters of Fun Home , Allison Bechdel painstakingly recreates her childhood home. The house is not only constructed on pen and paper, but also through numerous descriptions of its every detail, especially as they relate to her father, Bruce, in many ways the architect of the house. The reader gets a very strong sense of what it would have been like to live in that house, no detail is too small to evade either of the Bechdels in their craftsmanship. Through this close look at where she grew up, Bechdel also investigates her father, using the house as a stand in for him. However, after the beginning of the book, the time that corresponds most closely with Bechdel's really young childhood, this device recedes into the background. As the Allison of the book matures, she becomes able to view her father in more broad terms, and the reader follows the same path. Fun Home  is then able to reach outside of the actual house, and further into the life of ...

     The Bell Jar, though now a classic, is by no means a standard novel (this is probably one of the reasons it became a classic). Sylvia Plath crafted this work with great expertise, particularly when describing certain events of the story out of order. This unique sequencing adds greatly to the narrative and our understand of Ester. I would also add that Ester's (and, more importantly Plath's) memory is extremely important for understanding the novel. Most important of all is how these two things go together.      Starting with sequence, the book begins pretty straight forward. Everything is in order, much how Ester's life in New York is completely organized. For the most part, things happen in an understandable order. Towards the end of the trip, the timeline begins to unravel and eventually falls apart some time during Ester's stay in the suburbs. Events become disconnected and unclear. The whole story becomes murky and isolated. This is obviously...

     I'll be honest, most of The Catcher in the Rye failed to make me feel anything but angry (and not in the "righteous" way that Holden is). I had trouble empathizing with Holden and staying invested in what passes for plot in this book. However, the conclusion of the novel has really changed my perception of it as a whole. From chapter 25 to the end of the book, The Catcher in the Rye is everything it promised it would be: light on plot, heavy on character, and actually enjoyable to read.      It's clear throughout the book that Holden is at his best when he's with other people. Although his inner dialogue can be entertaining, the interacts he has with side characters like Ackley and Sally Hayes show the reader the most about our protagonist, as he becomes his most animated during conversations with them. The character who really stands out in this is Phoebe, who Holden both holds in high esteem and doesn't shy away from calling him out. When around Phoe...

     Oreo  by Fran Ross, first published in 1974, follows 16-year-old Christine Clark on her quest to find her estranged father in New York City. Christine isn't a normal teen, and throughout the story she uses superhuman and heroic means to get past all obstacles. This is not coincidence, as Oreo  employs the myth of Theseus for its plot, with Christine as the character of Theseus. This convention makes Oreo quite different from other coming of age novels, and more like the story of a Greek hero. When the novel begins, Christine is ready to take on the world. She is already, in many ways an adult. Rather than going from child to adult, Christine goes as an adult into the world looking for her father and therefore, her birth.      While having a main character who doesn't change during the book might seem boring, Ross creates a story that is utterly unforgettable. As Christine journeys to and within New York City, she leaves a clear mark on t...