Borges

                                                Jorge Borges Reader Response

            Jorge Borges wrote many very interesting stories that many times included parallel universes.  He wrote “The Garden of Forking Paths”, and “Emma Zunz”. Jorge Borges’s stories and the meaning behind the stories were interesting, but at the same time they could get very confusing.

            In “The Garden of Forking Paths” Borges a spy is being chased by a man name Madden. The spy kills a man with the same name as the city that had to be bombed. At the same time the Borges writes about how the spy and Madden take turns each lifetime killing each other. This story includes a parallel universe. The main point of the story is to show that someone has a choice and whatever they choose will later affect them. It’s kind of like karma. This story got confusing because of the idea of the parallel universe and the hypertext. It was an interesting story because it relates to me. I believe that you have many choices in life and these choices later affect you. I could have chosen to stay in high school instead of going to college for my junior and senior year. However, I chose to go to college. If I would have chosen to go to stay in high school my life would be so different. I think about that a lot. What would have happened if I would have gone down the other path? I don’t think that there are many lives though. Borges did believe in the Buddhist idea that if you mess up in life, you’ll have to make up for your mistake in the next life. I don’t believe in this.

Borges’s story critiques the idea of ignorance. The spy killed a wonderful artist because he wanted to impress his superiors. In the end the spy killed the artist and was killed himself. He got nothing out of what he did and he took the life of someone who could be useful in this world. He did something selfish and he ended up ending the life of some great person.

            In the story Emma Zunz the main character’s dad committed suicide because he was ashamed of being falsely convicted of embezzlement that Loewenthal had actually done. Emma Zunz wanted revenge so she concocted a plan. She first had an exam to prove she was still a person. Then she protested herself so it looked like Loewenthal had raped her.  Then she went to Loewenthal’s office, killed him, set up a rape scene, then called the police and told them he raped her so she killed him. This story was very interesting. I liked it a lot because at the end she created this new reality that I think she kind of ended up believing in the end. I think that she believed that even though another man paid her for sex, he was still raping her. I also think that she thought that since she was doing this because of Loewenthal, in a way Loewenthal was the one who raped her.  I relate to this story because sometimes I really just don’t want to believe something, so I’ll almost create this new reality so I can forget what happened.  

Borges’s story critiques the idea of revenge. In the story Emma’s life turns bad, her dad is dead, and she killed a man. In reality she doesn’t win even after she avenges her father’s death. In a way, even though Loewenthal is dead, he still won. He never got in trouble for the embezzlement and he ruined Emma and Emma’s father’s lives.

I would tell anyone who is interested in sci-fi to read these stories.  They were very interesting and I would read more stories from Borges. They were really confusing and the meaning was a little unclear sometimes, but I really enjoyed reading his stories.

           

Reader Response

Gabriel Garcia Marquez

            Gabriel Marquez wrote many short stories, two of which are “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” and “The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World”. They are both very interesting stories, but my favorite was “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings.”

            Marquez does critique the Catholic Church in his short story “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings”. When the priest in town has to go to the pope about the angel it represents hierarchy.  When the pope keeps asking the priest questions about the angel it represents judgment. I agree with Marquez’s critique on the Catholic Church. It is a pretty accurate representation of how the Catholic Church is set up. This made the story very interesting and I ended up liking this story the most.

            “The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World” was kind of a boring story to me. A handsome dead man ends up washing ashore. No one knows who the man is, but he is treated like a celebrity. They wonder what he did in his previous life. They act like they know this handsome man. They almost worship him. This is the critique in the story. We worship these beautiful celebrities that we don’t even know and we act like we know them. It was interesting, but I liked “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” more.

            “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” relates to me because I know the Catholic religion and what Marquez is saying is exactly true. There is a hierarchy and there is a lot of judgment. “The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World” relates to me because I do like to know what celebrities are doing. I do fallow gossip magazines and I wouldn’t say I worship them, but it’s just interesting to watch them and see who they really are. These stories really didn’t change my opinion or views on anything.

            Religion is important in my life so “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” interested me the most. I just really liked this story.

            I would defiantly suggest these stories to anyone. Really anyone could read these stories and relate to them in some way.  I enjoyed reading these stories very much.

Julio Cortazar

                                                          Julio Cortazar Reader Response

            Julio Cortazar wrote many short stories.  These stories include “Community of Parks”, “Axolotl”, and “Our Demeanor at Wakes”. In all of these stories Cortazar uses magical realism to trick the reader at the end of the story. Magical realism can be hard to read, but it can also be very enjoyable.  His stories can relate to my life personally.

            I have to admit that I was confused at the end of every story.  I had to read the story a few times before I realized what had actually happened.  Julio Cortazar’s stories were very interesting to read and I enjoyed them very much.

            Julio Cortazar’s stories relate to me personally because I am a huge syfi fan.  A lot of the movies I watch include magical realism in them. Sometimes I end up getting confused at the end of the movies just like I get confused at the end of Cortazar’s books. I am also interested in philosophy and his stories make me think a lot about what is real, what could be real, and what is fake in this world.

            The text made me think.  I did learn a lot about magical realism by reading his stories. I also learned what an Axolotl is.  Other than that I didn’t learn a whole lot from the stories to be honest.

            The text was very enjoyable to read.  After I read each story a few times to really understand what happened, I ended up wanting to read more! Cortazar’s stories were never boring.  They kept me on edge because I didn’t know what was going to happen in the end.  I liked how he plays tricks on you so that you really have to think, and take a closer look at the text.

            I would defiantly read another one of Cortazar’s stories. They never got boring and they always made me wonder. I would recommend this text to anyone who likes syfi or to anyone who just wants to read an interesting story.  The stories were very enjoyable.

Response to Popol Vuh

                                            Reader Response on Popol Vuh

            The Popol Vuh is a book that the Mayans had written about their gods.  It is just like the Bible to Christians.  The Popol Vuh relates to me personally and was very interesting for me to read even though I don’t agree with it personally.

The Popol Vuh relates to me personally because I’m a religious person and I read the Bible. The Popol Vuh actually reminds me of the Bible.  There is a section where the Popol Vuh talks about a great flood just like the one in the Bible.  It was interesting for me to get another take on why the great flood happened.   It also talked about how the gods created the world and the people. The Bible talks about how God created the world and people.  So, that was interesting to me once again to get another take on how the world was made.

            The Popol Vuh addresses religion which is something that is very important in my life. I don’t consider the Popol Vuh to be correct.  I believe in one God not many.  I believe that God made the world and the humans.  I believe that God made the humans perfectly the first time.  I don’t believe that he messed up a bunch of times before he got it right.  I don’t believe that he only made the humans to worship him.  Finally, I don’t believe that there is more than one god.  The Popol Vuh  clashes with my views on religion.

             My view on religion was strengthened because reading this made me realize that what I thought before was right. I defiantly don’t believe gods made stick people and that people were made just to love, talk to, and worship the gods.  My view was that people were made to out of love and they were made out of the image of god.  I don’t think that god ever messed up and had to try a bunch of different things before he made the perfect human.

            I did enjoy the text and I thought it was interesting.  I don’t believe in what  the Popol Vuh says but it was fun to read.  I liked reading about how the gods made different humans and I thought it was kind of funny.  I thought it was kind of disturbing that there was so much death in the story. However, I became really interested in the Mayan culture after reading this book.

Magical Realism

                                                         Magical Realism

Magical realism is a type of fiction where the setting is in the real world, but extraordinary events that never could actually happen, happen.  “The Continuity of Parks” by Julio Cortazar is a classic example of magical realism.

In the story a man is sitting in his favorite green velvet armchair reading a book that he had set aside before to attend to urgent business.  He read about two lovers who met up in a cabin so they could plot to kill a man. When they are finished the woman leaves the cabin and her lover goes to kill the man.  He gets to the man’s house and finds the man sitting in his favorite green velvet armchair reading a book.

This story is set in the real world. It describes the man just sitting in an ordinary green velvet armchair reading an ordinary book. The man has an ordinary cigarette and he is having an ordinary day at first.  The setting isn’t in a mystical world or anything like that.  It is set in the ordinary real world. The extraordinary event is, what happens in the book is happening in real life and the guy that the lover is trying to kill is the man in the chair. This could never actually happen in real life. The man in the chair is “anchored in his while partially dangling himself in the other world, where he is not in control.”(Palmer) This quote shows exactly what magical realism is all about. He is anchored in the real world, but uncontrollable, extraordinary events are

happening in his real world.   Since the setting happens in the real world and there is an extraordinary event this proves that it is magical realism.

            Some people may argue that the story is not magical realism because the event happened in the real world, and maybe the man in the chair was dreaming or something.  However, the author clearly shows that the man is awake and he is reading the story.  It is impossible for anyone to read a story about what is happening at that exact moment.  It is also impossible for anyone to read a story that tells how they are going to die right as the killer is coming in the room to kill them.  Since the events are so extraordinary and the events took place in the real world the story is clearly an example of magical realism.  It fits all the criteria for magical realism.

            People may argue that “The Continuity of Parks” is not an example of magical realism.  However, there is clear proof that “The Continuity of Parks” does demonstrate the main criteria for magical realism and therefore there is proof that it is an example of magical realism.

                                                    Work Cited 

Cortazar, Julio. "The Continuity of Parks".  5 Jan 2011. <http://www.continuityofparks.com/storage/continuity.pdf>.

Palmer, Julia. "Vers, Voyeurism, and the Stalker Narrative in Cortazar's 'Continuidad de los Parques'." Romance Quarterly (2009). Web. 5 Jan 2011. <http://go.galegroup.com.proxy.libraries.uc.edu/ps/retrieve.do?sgHitCountType=None&sort=RELEVANCE&inPS=true&prodId=LitRC&userGroupName=ucinc_main&tabID=T003&searchId=R1&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&contentSegment=&searchType=AdvancedSearchForm&currentPosition=1&contentSet=GALE|A201031523&&docId=GALE|A201031523&docType=GALE&role=LitRC>.