The Purpose We Share

I came across A Dog's Purpose while browsing the Kindle store, and found the synopsis to be quite intriguing. I had no idea what I should expect, just wanted a good enjoyment read. What ended up in my hands was a powerfully, emotionally charged story that made me want to read it the minute I closed the last page.

We are introduced to a dog's perspective on the world. Seems like a strange concept, but the plot thickens. Beautiful language flows right off every page, giving the reader the feeling of being there with the dog. As time wanes on, the dog realizes that his/her purpose has been served and is ready to pass on....that is, until he is reborn again! The story is very emotionally driven, and we feel the dog's connection to its master throughout the story, which makes the emotional scenes that much more meaningful. I cannot stress enough that this is a must read, simply for its lighthearted humor and powerful storytelling. To tell about the entire story would be to rob any prospective readers of an amazing story. This is one that, while sounding like a simply silly concept, turns out being a story that makes you wonder. It makes you think about what your purpose as a human being is. It makes you appreciate all those times your dog has come running back to you after you have yelled at him/her for unknown reasons. Read it, and I guarantee you will love it. 

Oroonoko....An Adventure Story to be Reckoned With

Aphra Behn was a woman. A woman, that wrote in a time where women had very little credibility in written form. I must say, however, Oroonoko is about as exciting a story as you get. Ups and downs, ins and outs, adventure upon adventure, the story reads like an exciting 1940's newsreel. It kept me reading, wanting more, caring for the characters, hoping the best for star-crossed lovers. The imagery is absolutely breathtaking, and I suspect that Behn's female intuition moved the story right along. Most adventure stories in the history of literature were written by males, and contained a whole lot of killing and masculine glory. Behn rivals male composition when she places beautiful themes into the midst of the action. She creates a socially blind environment for the reader. No longer does one need to view either gender as the lesser, we are given the opportunity to see the beauty in all of mankind. Because Adam and Eve wasn't just about a woman temptress, it was about man and woman alike being imperfect. This is what we get in Oroonoko, two lovers, equally yoked, unconditionally passionate for one another. It almost brings a tear to my eye (But hey I don't cry, I'm a man!....right?). Nonetheless, I was amazed by this piece. It is a fresh alternative to all of the masculine oriented stories. My thoughts? Read the story of Oroonoko and be amazed, just as I am. TaTa for now!

The Thief Who Steals Books

I just got done reading an amazing book. Amazing how, you ask? Well, let me say it bluntly: It has the most beautiful imagery I have ever read. Never before have I read an author so honest, not afraid to tell it like it is. Zusak has created a world of hellish intent, that we willingly walk right into. At least, I did (yes, I am brave, ie) I just went to Knott's Scary Farm a couple weeks ago). It is a world of beautiful, awe inspiring color. I had to restrain myself from tears at a couple of points, for sake of ruining the pages. I never thought the "conversation of bullets" would ring so truly in my ear, all the way to the end of the book. It left me feeling as if I were with the character in the end. I was part of the book at one point (my nose was buried in it). My favorite line ever has now become, "Her voice was like suicide." As sadistic as this may sound, it really isn't. Markus Zusak takes what we feel is dark and dreary and makes it poetic. I can't help thinking about it still (after a week of having finished it gone by). I remember looking at the cover, where it said something to the effect of "it has the potential to be LIFE CHANGING", and scoffing. But now, a week later, my jaw is still well acquainted with the floor. 

It is a story about the beauty of the written word. It is a story about Nazi Germany. It is a story about a foster-father's love for his foster-child. It is a story about youthful passion. 

And to tell you the truth, I miss it right now.

  *Photo here is my own work.

Chaucer...What the Hell Are You Talking About?

More of a self reflection on the world around me than anything for this one, so pardon me if any of my beliefs feel a bit restrictive:

The other day, when I got out of class, it was raining. Not the kind of rain where you are running to your car soaked (my car was parked about 3 miles from the school....school parking, what a joke). It was the kind of rain that hits your cheek and traces the fine lines of your skin. I could feel the thin drops hitting my face. I could feel the cold air move through my lungs. I could only help but think, "This is beauty. This is creation, what we live for." As I stepped into my car, I could hear the patter of the fine drops of rain on the roof of my car. As I closed the door, I could hear the world around me grow dim. I was in the confines of my car, with nature knocking on the roof. It was a sweet symphony of sound, provided by nature.

Then my mind began to wander to the work of Geoffrey Chaucer.

The same Geoffrey Chaucer that confused the living hell out of me as I read him. I was sitting in my car, my hair matted against my forehead, thinking about a medieval writer. But there is so much more. I believe that at times, we as humans get lost in complexity. What if what Chaucer is saying is simple. What if he is commenting on humanity? Or certainly a social standpoint on what the world is like. I began to think of his words like the rain, trickling down from the top of my head and tickling my ear, never quite making it all the way in. Now, here in my car, lecture ideas and simple peace of mind made things so crystal clear. Chaucer's commentary was through ordinary humans. People who had a diverse outlook on life, but all shared one collective identity....being human (No duh!). For those who don't know me, I believe in God. I believe that He has a profound word in the world that is not always shrouded in complexity. He uses normal, everyday people to reach people. He is in LOVE with us as a human race. Let's try for a moment to release our conceptions of an extremely complex god who wants nothing to do with us. Let's look at the rain. Something that is so simple, yet I sat in my car for around a half hour listening to an orchestra of wind and water. God is indeed complex, but He shows us little simpletons in the most simple and beautiful way that He is present. I believe that anything may be related to this. Chaucer's words may have at first been extremely difficult to understand, but it was when I looked at them from the simplest perspective that I received them in their full richness. His words struck a chord in my heart that day. The rain became my haven. It became a place for me to connect my thoughts in blissful harmony. I finally got it, and I will ALWAYS love literature for that reason. It has a profound impact on my heart. It teaches me to love everyone around me, to think in unison. To live in simplicity, because life without simplicity is but a poor poet whose tongue is tied on his own words. This, to me, is the beauty of Chaucer's work, and all of literature at that.

I am sorry for digressing at any point.
There is so much I love about literature that my tongue becomes tied on my own words.
Thank you for reading. This was an emotional one for me. There will be more soon.

*Photo above taken by me.

Life

Though I do not consider my poetry skills to be awe-inspiring, this is a little piece I wrote a while ago when I was going through something very tough. I feel I should share these feelings with you, because expression is emotional release:

O, Life,

We watch it pass us by,

On steel tipped wings above.

Our hope is in one another, and nothing else,

We hold tight to our memories,

Because they are all we have left.

It is our hope in the darkest hour,

That binds us together,

For we are nothing without one another.

O, blissful life,

What are we without the ones we trust,

Stranded somewhere out at sea,

With wounds that will not heal.

O, desolate darkness,

Where has your sting gone?

The light you fight has you far outweighed,

Even when all seems faint,

The pillar of life shall be replaced.

O, Daunting Death,

When this land threatens to fade to gray,

We shall swim for the chapel,

Against the current of our dismay.






I thank you with everything I am for sharing in this moment with me, it means very much to me.
-Cory

Photo above was shot by me.

Zombies, Zombies, Everywhere! (The Concise Version)

I have been on and off in reading a particualr piece of fiction lately. World War Z. It is not a simple bloody/gory mess, it is a commentary on the reaction of the populous when faced with possible extinction. There are many points where I ask myself, "Is this how we would really deal with this kind of problem?" The answer: I truly don't know. If a Zombie were to come knocking down my door, however, you better believe I would have my baseball bat handy (But Cory, you can only kill a "Zed Head" by destroying the brain!). This piece isn't simple minded stuff, either. We as readers of the piece are faced with themes of family destruction and the death of a society (Zombies fulfilling that metaphor). Would our government know how to deal with such an event? This is the scariest part about reading this political thriller. Our own system becomes more horrifying than the Zombie War. In essence, we are the problem in the story. We are the walking dead, waiting for some way to be rescued from the living hell on earth. The walking afterlife are everywhere, and World War Z takes you right into the heat of the battle. Pick this one up, if you enjoy political insight and a great horror story. I know you'll love it. That's it for the Zombies, time to go to bed (Mommy, please tuck me in, I'm so scared of the monsters roaming the streets!).

Lions and Tigers and....Gawain?

Here's a little music:

The hunter treks stealthily through the brush, in pursuit of his prey. All around him are the noises of the forest: birds chirping the soundtrack of life, the wind slowly flowing between mixed greens and more importantly, the footsteps of his prey. And all of the sudden, the forest is alive in the glory of the chase.

Of course, Gawain is human prey. His hunter? A lady fair. Which is quite ironic, considering we last left Gawain in a kingdom where women were depicted as frail, static characters. We are now faced with an ongoing pursuit. Gawain: the deer, the boar and the fox, faced with the task of evading his female predator.

The First Encounter:
Like a frail deer, Gawain is put into a submissive position. The lady fair (or lady persistent, whichever way you choose to perceive her character), plants the final kiss upon our helpless knight (how ironic, but pleasantly chivalrous). The prey's method of evasion here is blissful submission ("I don't care, I'll look as feminine as can be as long as I'm maintaining my chivalry!"). The predator's response to such behavior: She takes the bait (If we are Gawain, this is the moment we say, "Phew!"). He's escaped the clutches of the crafty seductress...for now.
Meanwhile, kingy has his own prey to catch (and bludgeon and decapitate and chop up). His prey, like Gawain, is submissive, goes down without a fight. Easy squeazy. Bye bye Bambi. Gawain, congratulations, you've done what many other men would fail at: resist the temptation of a beautiful maiden fair.
The Second Encounter:
Tusks, muscle, brawn and snout: the boar. A mighty adversary, worthy of careful strategic planning. This time, m'lady's aggressive Gawain. She's not going to go down easily this time, and neither is Gawain. Our hero is now being tempted further, and must use his mind's muscle to resist his, ahem, male urges. The lady is persistent, and the conversation goes back and forth ("You know what I want!", "Yes, but as I am of a gentlemanly stature, I cannot oblige your needs, ma'am."). Gawain must be like the boar: strong, poised and physically prepared to take damage (the second kiss being the damage).
Here comes the cavalry! The king and his men are hard at work (just like the lady fair) attempting to bring down their prey. We get this image of the men scrambling through bushes after their prey (It is safe to say that the seductress would chase Gawain through a thicket of thorns). The pig is leading the men on a wild GOOSE chase, a back and forth battle. There is finally an end to the chase (but poor piggy must suffer death, not a kiss on his snout). Good battle, Mr. boar, you've done well and stayed true to your cause (you too Gawain, but you got a kiss out of it).
The Third Encounter:
The fox: the cunning bandit. Gawain: the cunning liar. Ultimately, Gawain must now step out of his chivalric manner and lie his way out of dishonor (ironically to maintain his chivalry). Will he stand up to the challenge of keeping away from temptation? Short answer: yes. He ultimately will take the girdle and leave (to face his ultimate task). Gawain here uses his sense of cunning speech to evade the crafty seductress. His gift in return for the lady's kisses? The king receives a few knightly smooches (come on, it's only the decent thing to do after hanging out with your wife....talking).
The king is obviously on the hunt again. The fox is ever-evasive, but in the end, it is the fox's sly intent that works to his demise. Good job Gawain, you've out-done the clever fox!

On a more serious note, we have a much deeper inner struggle here for our hero. He is faced with the task of resisting nature by way of.....well nature. He uses tools akin to those of a wild animal. It is what he must do to maintain his knightly chivalry! He had to submit in order to escape. He had to fight in order to survive. He had to lie to uphold truth. In the end, it was all an illusion, a clever test (and ultimately, a testament to just how much of a gentleman Gawain truly is). He girded himself with the armor of faith, and ultimately he prevailed over temptation (though he had to stoop to some levels to make it happen).
I don't know about you, but I find this inspiring. Even the most meek of us can evade those things that harm our spirit. We may have to jump through some hoops in order to do so, but we all have a natural inner power to be reckoned with.

*The photo here is my own work of photography.

Heroes: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

Check this!:

We all have heroes. Caped crusaders clad in colored spandex. But the story of Sir Gawain is a story of a hero clad in chivalry. His entire journey is, in essence, a battle to maintain his courteous nature. Yes Batman, a knight can be a gentleman and a badass at the same time. Gawain is a man who isn't simply interested in killing monsters and accepting the glory that accompanies it (I'm nodding at you, Beowulf), he is a man who is constantly fighting an inner battle. His gentleman-like quality makes him a hero to any male who understands the power of the temptress. A lady fair at his side (one that is married to a king), and he resists her advances, save a couple kisses. This, to me, is heroic. To face the very natural urges we have as human beings and maintain composure is a task to be reckoned with. His battle with natural urges is, in my opinion, represented clearly in the Green Knight. The very idea that this figure is green suggests his relation to nature. And what does Gawain do? He lops his head off. He stares nature right in the eye and says, "You will not be in control." Of course, this is a stretch, but I still find a great amount of respect for someone who can be in control of natural urges. We are reminded that he is human, however. He has limits (ie. the cold weather, the long journey ahead of him to track down the Green Knight.). Gawain is very clearly fighting the battle between the human identity and the alter ego. In essence, Gawain is a true hero.