The fifth story and another blog

Another blog response

            So I figured it’d be in my best interest to write another blog response considering I accidentally missed one. There are plenty of things that I could write about, but I think I’m going to focus on The Fifth Story by Clarice Lispector.

            First thing I have to say about this story is that it has a weird writing style. While there is sort of a story, there really isn’t much of one, this story is special not because of it’s unique plot, but just the obscure way it is written. For example, the story starts “This story could be called “The Statues”. Another possible title would be the “Killing””.  This actually got my a little intrigued, as the question of statues and killing would somehow have to be linked. These are linked (cockroaches turning to stone, it made sense in the story but for some reason I just can’t describe it) and in a very strange way.

            This story seemed to be just about an obsession with cockroaches in a building (no underlying meaning, stories can just be stories, they don’t have to always symbolize modern sexuality or political overtones), and just wanting the cockroaches in their building gone. Obsession is something that is very easy to get, and I think  it something that everyone goes through. I got obsessed over the dishes in the sink and how they never seem to be clean, despite my constant attempts to clean them.  I could get obsessed like the character in this story and do the same things as they do. Cockroaches crawling through drainpipes, that’s fricken creepy.

            So here is my own little story that I think I can relate to this. A few years ago, my dogs chased a groundhog into a tree. This freaked me out, because after being suspicious about why there was a groundhog in my neighborhood, I found out online that their was a rabies outbreak involving groundhogs in my area. So there I was, with a rabid groundhog, in my yard, in a tree, with my dogs barking at it. I swiftly got the dogs inside, and tried to figure out what to do with the groundhog. I imagined it would come to the door, foaming at the mouth, and ready to attack. I thought about it coming in underneath the house, and then it coming in from the floor. It was a dumb obsession , but it was similar to the obsession with the character in the blog.

            Well anyways, here’s how my fifth story starts. It starts with me complaining about groundhogs J

maps to anywhere

Maps to anywhere blog

            Maps to anywhere is a collection of memoirs in an almost poetic form. One of the first little memoirs stood out to me, and I’m going to tell you why.

            The memoir “The Heralds” I found quite amusing, as it was a very relatable memoir. The idea of religion seeming a little bit suspicious is something that I have always done. There is a passage in the memoir mocking how the book of mormon was made from someone reading through the nipples of Roman armor, which of course doesn't make sense unless your eyes are far apart. I found this quite an amusing thing to read in an assignment.

 I've always had some issues in religion, and it is kind of amusing to read a memoir which has the same point of view. When pointed out "Religion meant people in shrouded heads mumbling in gaudy, I found this really relatable. I have always kind of thought that, and it is nice to hear it out loud.

Maps to Anywhere isn't terrible. It has a few interesting points, although it is a memoir. If there is any memoir I think that should have been read it is "Running with Scissors" which is a very interesting (and  true story). I think that could have been a good read in this class. The stories in this aren't as strange as in that book, but they have good meaning. I kind of feel like I should write my life stories in memoir forms. I think I should do that at one point. 

I had a good time in this class. I guess this will be my last blog.