I am a little slow with posting, but I got a new puppy, who is just as adorable as my first puppy, and have been taking care of him. His name is Atilla, and he is an English Mastiff.
So, I have an English Mastiff (named after the leader of the Huns from the area near the Volga River), a Siberian Husky (obviously Russian), and I happen to be German. There are a lot of different cultures living in my house. My college career focused solely on culture, and the impact it has on literature. This got me thinking about my favorite works I encountered over the years. So I thought I'd share a few with you.
First, let's start with American culture. Yes, America does happen to have a culture of it's own, at least in my opinion. My favorite piece is As I Lay Dying, by William Faulkner. This book is narrated by 15 different characters over 59 chapters on their journey to bury the matriarch of the Bundren family. All the characters speak with a thick 1930's, Mississippi accent. Faulkner is excellent at writing in the vernacular in which his story is set, so all the words are spelled exactly as the characters speak them. This can make the book very hard to read, but it is an amazing story about the different motivations, and desires of the family members, friends, and even the deceased! Culturally, this book shows you what it was like in the 1930's in a very poor part of Mississippi, and how death, and the rituals of death affect people differently.
First, let's start with American culture. Yes, America does happen to have a culture of it's own, at least in my opinion. My favorite piece is As I Lay Dying, by William Faulkner. This book is narrated by 15 different characters over 59 chapters on their journey to bury the matriarch of the Bundren family. All the characters speak with a thick 1930's, Mississippi accent. Faulkner is excellent at writing in the vernacular in which his story is set, so all the words are spelled exactly as the characters speak them. This can make the book very hard to read, but it is an amazing story about the different motivations, and desires of the family members, friends, and even the deceased! Culturally, this book shows you what it was like in the 1930's in a very poor part of Mississippi, and how death, and the rituals of death affect people differently.
Second, is German. This was very hard for me to pick a favorite, since I have so many favorite German works. The one I've chosen, and still think about most, is an opera by Gottfried Von Einem and Friedrich Durrenmatt, titled: Der Besuch der alten Dame. Or, the visit of the old lady. A billionaire named Claire returns to her small home town of Güllen (which means to manure) and finds it in severe economic despair. She offers to give the town the exact amount of money they need to get out of a depression, and back to the thriving town they once were. The catch is, they must kill the man she was once in love with. Once his body is in the coffin she brought with, she will give up the money. German literature is notorious for being dark, and twisted at times. There are very few happy endings, so don't expect one from this opera. The town struggles with what to do, and the possibility of money causes many people show their dark side. While the plot seems pretty disturbing, there are a lot of little cultural Easter eggs in this play. The town dynamic is much different than what you would find anywhere else. You also get the cultural outlook on death, celebration, and pride. It's definitely not a happy opera, but there is a lot of dark humor in it as well.
Last (for today), is English. My favorite part of English literature is their poetry. Poetry was only held in high esteem if you were good at it and was not a very profitable profession, but it was also a very risky genre. The hidden messages were very important to the author, and very dangerous if interpreted. My favorite poem is Paradise Lost, by John Milton. In college I wrote a 25 page paper on 2 pages of this poem. There is a lot to be said, but I'll keep it brief. Milton wrote this poem after he became blind. He had to speak his poem while someone wrote it for him. The poem outlines Satan's fall, and the temptation of Adam and Eve. There was however, a much deeper meaning. He was commenting on England's official religion. They went from Protestantism back to Catholicism. Milton considered the switch a loss of paradise, or a Protestant paradise. There is a lot of hidden attacks on the English monarchy, which at the time was the Stuart monarchy. Many famous writers, such as CS Lewis and William Blake, have commented on this poem. There is just no denying that it is a brilliant work and has given John Milton much deserved fame.