Please do email it. I will look forward to seeing it. Is this novel you wish to read a contemporary novel? American, British, or other? Oh I always recommend to young people a novel callled The Baron In The Trees by Italo Calvino. He's an Italian writer. It's a hilariously funny and and the same time sad story. It's really kooky and off beat but very lovable. It's not very long. Let me go through my list and see what I've got. I was going to read Jane Austen's Persuasion at some point. Let me go see.
Yeah I can't wait to finish. I mean I really enjoyed college, but it's thrilling to think of what I can do after I finish. I have lots of stuff in my mind that I'm gonna sort out after I'm done with the exams. And you know, I'm actually thinking of changing my MA major. I always thought I'd do novel, but now I'm thinking of modern American theatre...I love Tennessee Williams! lol About the book, I was thinking of something written by an author whom I might not know about. The only problem is that I'm not sure I'll find it here, but I'll look for it if you recommended it. I have a couple of recommendations from one of the professors I respect the most in college. They are both by Egyptian female writers who are living in the States and England. I'll be looking for those as well. I hope we get to read something together this summer, do you have a certain list in mind, or a certain book? I need to check the book club to see what they're reading for summer. Sorry for my long posts...lol Btw, I wrote something yesterday, a little poem, is it ok if I email it to you, I highly appreciate your comments
Hi Nossa. It's so nice to see you back. Study hard for your finals. It will be great to finish. I've never read Les Mis. I know it's long. But people think highly of it, so I'm sure you will enjoy it. What kind of books are you interested in? Let me think about it. I'll get back to you. Nice to hear from you.
Hello, Virgil I know it's been long since I came online, and I'm so sorry about that (I'm a terrible friend!) But I'm in the middle of my finals, and I'm swamped with studying, this is my last semester and hopefully I'll be graduating in August Wish me luck! How have you been?! Hope everything is going well. I'll finish exams on June 13th, I'm already thinking of a summer reading list for me. I'll be reading more Arabic books this summer hopefully, but I was hoping maybe you can recommend a book for me, something that you think I might not know of. I got a couple of books for my birthday, but they're both not quite...literary, enough said that one of them is Twilight..lol I was thinking, if I got enough courage in me I might actually start reading Les Miserables..lol...I got the book in two volumes, and I've put it on the shelf, too afraid to even look inside..lol...what do you think? Anyways, I was just dropping by to say hello...
I read the poem over and over Nossa, and while my first reaction was to agree with your prof, I've come to conclude that the prof is reading into the poem. When one deals with a mirror one can be led into a double persona type of theme (which is akin if I remember to Jung's ideas) but everything in the poem is looking at the outside surface. I don't see the woman's double self, but a woman transformed. To me this is emphasized by this line: "Most of the time I meditate on the opposite wall." That sounds like an inocuous line but it establishes the mirror as a passive taker of events, not one that looks into the psyche. I assume your prof is resting his/her argument on the last two lines. I would be curious to know what the argument excatly is. Anyway, I do agree with you. It's quite possible that Plath intended to write along the lines of what your prof says and he finds proof of it in her biography. But the poem as it stands on its own does articulate it in my opinion. It's things like this that make some critics not like Plath. She's not accurate.
Thank you, Virgil for the link The thing about Plath, or mainly about this poem, is that I understood the main idea. Someone who's feeling old on the inside, and who's hiding from her own self image (as reflected on the lake), and is seeking the ideal and 'exact' image from people around her(as reflected on the mirror). But when I first read it, I didn't see it as Sylvia Plath talking (like in the first stanza, my prof believes that it's Plath expressing herself as the mirror then the lake) I simply saw it as merely talking about a mirror and a lake, and from that moving to a larger theme which is what I mentioned above. My prof insists on the autobiographical element in the poem. She also insists on applying Carl Jung's theory of shadow/persona to the poem. I just don't see it. I mean, how can the mirror of the first stanza be the poet's apparent self? Isn't it more likely that the mirror only stands for the hope and 'dream' if I may put it this way, of being seen and perceived as who I am, with no preconceptions? Isn't this what a simple mirror does? And if the poet is so loathful of herself, how can she see herself as perfect, as she's reflected in the mirror, then turn around and cry when she sees her real self in the lake? isn't it true that our emotions reflect themselves on the way we see things? then how come to she sees herself as exact and perfect at the beginning?! Sorry for the long comment, but my prof wouldn't have it my way. I just need if to know I'm overanalyzing it or that i'm seeing it in a wrong way.
Oh I found it. It's a nice poem, but it does feel like someone not fully a professional. It coould almost be written by someone on lit net. That said, that doesn't mean there aren't important themes in there, themes of womanhood. In looking for it I found some discussion on the poem that might help you in class: http://www.sylviaplathforum.com/mirror.html
There are some people that are wild about Plath and some that hate her work. I think she's a good poet who died before she really matured, somewhere in the middle of the opinions. I don't recall reading "Mirror." Let me see if I find it on line and read it and if I do I'll let you know what I think.
That's great to hear. The more the merrier..lol Just a random question, do you like Sylvia Plath? My professor just gave us "Mirror" and, while I thought I finally could understand Sylvia Plath, I felt like a stupid person while listening to the interpretation she said. Is that normal with Plath, or is it me?! lol
I guess the usuall. I can't think of anything specific. We have gotten a few new regulars. I think most if not all are quite nice.
