I studied Achebe's Things Fall Apart at both secondary school and university; and, as expected, each time I learnt something new.
Which novel(s) from the LITS 1002 list are you most interested in reading, and why? If you've read any of them before, what were your impressions at the time? What do hope to learn from (re-)reading them for this introductory course?
I read 'The Picture of Dorian Gray' for aesthetic pleasure and I studied 'Things Fall Apart' at COSTAATT. Both took me on an amazing journey especially 'Things Fall Apart' because I felt the helplessness of the protagonist and his inability to stop the changes that was happening around him. I know that re-reading them will bring to light things that I may have missed before and a better understanding of each.
ReplyDeleteThe novel which I am most interested in reading and have already started is 'The Grapes of Wrath' by Steinbeck. I studied another of his novels at COSTAATT, 'Of Mice and Men' and it was very moving. Thus far, it is even more intense and touching than 'Of Mice and Men' and I am enjoying it immensely.
I'm most interested in reading " The Picture of Dorian Gray". I have always been fascinated by the supernatural/extraordinary and I love that the latter is found in this novel. I'm also excited about it because I love Oscar Wilde and I am extremely pleased to get the chance to read his best oeuvre in an academic setting.
ReplyDeleteNoted. Thanks for starting off the discussion, Trisha and Denise!
ReplyDeleteI admit that I have not had any exposure to the novels listed and as such my desire to learn and share in discussions on these books are at it's peak. I have started with "The Grapes of Wrath" and find his writing intriguing with reference to the Old and New testament very real and subtle, bringing to those reading at that time of it's publication a ray of hope in the midst of the changing declining times and to "live out the American dream". I am intrigued by this and see the reference to Isaiah 63 with the simple name of the book.
ReplyDeleteI know there is much to be covered and I am looking forward to healthy interactive tutorial sessions.
I have also had very little exposure to the prescribed novels for this course. As such i intend to become familiar with them immediately. I have finished reading Lovelace's The Dragon Can't Dance. I found it to be quite profound, though if I had a choice
ReplyDeleteI would limit such an extensive use of expletive vocabulary, nevertheless I suppose it does serve a useful purpose in sculpting a unique and intriguing setting of Calvary Hill and more importantly the various characters involved. On that note, I must also say that concerning this novel, I found that Lovelace seemed to be much more focused on characterization in comparison to other novels that I have studied in the past where much of the focus was geared towards a sequential narration of events. I also found Lovelace's descriptive skills in particular to be highly coherent and captivating. I can safely say that in some strange way I now feel a sense of connection to the villagers of Calvary Hill almost as if I knew them personally.
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DeleteI have not studied any of the novels for this course. I am most interested in reading things fall apart beacause of the many reviews on this particular title, and to examine how i feel about the book
DeleteI agree with you Sherine in that I also see the subtle referencing to the bible in 'The Grapes of Wrath' but more in the form of visual allusions to it such as the 'Garden of Eden' and Route 66 as a metaphor for life and its many trials and tribulations just to cite a couple.
ReplyDeleteI haven't studied formally any of the books mentioned for this course; needless to say I'm looking forward to reading them all and experiencing the different worlds that they present.
ReplyDeleteI've always wanted to read Grapes of Wrath, but somehow never got around to it, so I'm highly anticipating doing this particular one.
Looking forward to this course!
To me, all the books seem quite interesting. I haven't read any of these books before but i am very much interested in reading "The Picture of Dorian Gray". I have heard quite alot about this book from friends who have studied it in the past and it seems to be very interesting.
ReplyDeleteI am definitely excited about reading and critiquing this book.
Honestly, I haven't had much positive feedback on the selected reading material. Nevertheless, it has made me that more curious as to what each book entails. I guess over time, and the fact that I have to read each book a number of times to pass the course, I will grow to like them? or maybe despise them. Who knows?! lol :)
ReplyDeletei read Things Fall Apart and it was really sad....
ReplyDeletei think the moral of the story and the actual plot was captivating and interesting!
it made me want to read more and more.... pity it was only a short book.. :(
I never had the privilege of reading any of the books given for this course but i am looking forward to reading all of them, especially 'The Dragon Can't Dance' by Earl Lovelace. I have heard so much about this book and how it focuses on the racial tension and colonial legacies that plagues the society of Trinidad and being a Trinidadian i feel highly motivated to read this book especially as i can corelate with such issues myself within the same setting...Cant wait !!!! :)
ReplyDeleteI am usually a person who does not like reading, but seeing that i am a year two student of ELLE i have grown used to the work load and reading tonnes of materials at a time. I did hear though that this course is an interesting one that i would like doing, so I am definitely looking forward to getting into its contents. I am also especially excited to read Things Fall Apart since i have heard it to be a very interesting novel. Ah well i shall see... :)
ReplyDeleteI have not read any of the books that were on the list but I appreciate the fact that the books are taken from different authors from all over the world. It really opens our minds to different cultures and styles which I think is important in literature, being exposed to these differences . The book I am most interested in reading is 'The Dragon Can't Dance,' by Earl Lovelace because I always enjoy books written by our local authors since we can relate to what they write and also it really focuses on the Trinidadian society and the one thing that seems to always plague our society racial divisions. Can't wait!!!!!
ReplyDeleteWith reference to the novels designated for this course; I haven't studied any of them before in my years at secondary school. However, I look forward to studying these novels this semester.I highly anticipate that they would capture my imagination and expose me to different styles of writing. Thus far, "The Dragon Can't Dance" has captured my attention because of it's connection to our society.
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to explore the other novels! :)
As I muse and read "things fall apart", there is a definite spurge of 'thinking' and what I've always liked about literature that it provokes you to think, challenges the concept of 'what you know', and has the ability to transport you to an unknown place, yet as you dig deeper into the pages, you are there...
ReplyDeleteas a substitute English teacher, my students always complain that they don't understand Literature, but once the time is taken to break things down into bite sizes, they grasp the basic concepts and I love when they have that "ah ha" moment which translate - 'dats what he talkin bout'.
I'm hoping to have those same 'ah ha' moments also...
(this blog is addictive)
Each of the novels selected for LITS 1002 represents different cultures and serves to give readers insight to their worlds. I look forward to the reading of each of these novels because literature is my passion but the two novels that have captured my attention are The Dragon Can’t Dance by Earl Lovelace and The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck. The Dragon Can’t Dance is reflective of the society in which I live and I am excited to explore this book. The Grapes of Wrath is written by an author who wrote The Pearl amongst others. I took pleasure in reading The Pearl and look forward to more of John Steinbeck’s work.
ReplyDeleteI must say that all of these novels are new to me, and thus I am very anxious to explore what each novel has in store. However, the book that most catches my interest is The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck since it highlights the obstacles associated with western migration during the depression. Hence, I am excited about this novel as similar issues raised are issues that exist in today's society.I am likewise excited to read Earl Lovelace's The Dragon Can't Dance as, being a Trinidadian myself, I expect to be able to relate to the various themes portrayed throughout as they would be reflective of the society that we live in. I am indeed excited to explore each of these interesting and unique novels!
ReplyDeleteAnd that's why I selected Steinbeck's novel, Charlene. In 2008 the world teetered on the brink of a second Great Depression (we still have to be careful in 2012, what with the present situation in Europe) and I thought students would be able to relate to what happened in the 1930s by reading that novel. As we know, if America experiences financial collapse, there are global repercussions.
ReplyDeleteIt's been interesting reading all the blog entries so far on the topic and to see that all of you are enthusiastic and curious about reading the various novels. Literature is timeless, revealing a shared humanity in spite of the linguistic, ideological, racial, cultural and other differences among us no matter the time period or country in which we live.
Very soon I will post another topic. In the meantime others are still invited to blog about this first one.
Like others, prior to this course, I have not previously read any of the novels selected. I was extremely excited to read ‘Things fall Apart’. Having read it, though I did not know what a kola nut looked like or didn’t know what days were the market days, and I’m sure I pronounced most of the characters names wrong, I enjoyed reading this book. I must admit I was disappointed with how the book ended. As I get over my disappointment, I’m bubbling with excitement to read ‘Fire on the Mountain’ .These books spark my interest, because I have not been exposed to novelist from either country (Africa or India), so I was curious to see how these writers express their culture through their respective novels.
ReplyDeleteThe only novel that I can safely say that I have read prior to now is The Dragon Can 't Dance. All the others are new to me although I have heard about Achebe's Things Fall Apart. I am excited to read them and explore the variety of lessons and styles. I enjoyed Lovelace's novel as I found that I could identify with the events being a Trinidadian. However, I saw the movie ' The Picture of Dorian Gray' and found it quite captivating and relevant, seeing the fanaticism with beauty and immortality and the desire to maintain youth and beauty.
ReplyDeleteGrapes of Wrath. I'm hearing so much about this text. I really hope its what i think it is.
ReplyDeleteI have not previously read any of the books. I am however very excited to begin "Things fall apart" and "the dragon can't dance". Personally, I write poetry and I often admire authors of Prose Fiction. It seems to me that one needs to be fully committed, dedicated, talented and experienced in order to create, craft and form something as expansive as a novel. Hopefully, one day I'll get there. I can't wait to explore the different techniques incorporated by these authors in their craft. Prose Fiction is beautiful; it tells stories in the most precise ways possible. I love how a novel creates a whole new dimension or world... (it really does suspend disbelief) .. so looking forward to LITS 1002...
ReplyDeleteReading provides me with an opportunity to escape from the harsh realities of life and delve into the intricacies that an author employs to bring his literary piece to life.Unfortunately I have never read any of the texts for this course therefore my perspective on each will be curtailed until I acquaint myself with them.I can say however, that the beauty of this course is that we can explore the cultures of the various continents without having to step foot there, here in lies the essence of literature.The text I am most eager to read is Achebe's 'Things Fall Apart'.This desire stems from the euphoric expression that is prominent on the faces of those who have read it, when the text is mentioned. The weeks have turned into days and the days into hours..hours into minutes.The literary journey has begun!
ReplyDeleteThese books are all new to me..sad to say.lol but i do appreciate the Literatures in English simply because i enjoy reading in my spear time. as an only child, reading was like a sibling to me as it was my source of company. I however have heard great things about "Things Fall Apart" and "The Dragon Can't Dance" so i am looking forward to those two books. :)
ReplyDeleteI have never read any of the required books for this course. I have read some of Chinua Achebe's Poem e.g 'Refugee Mother and Child' which make me almost cry so i am looking forward to reading 'Things Fall Apart', which i have started recently and loving it thus far. The names are difficult to pronounce but I'll work through it. I am not a lover of reading and i dont know much about writers or their works but i am willing to learn and i hope this course makes it easy and fun. From my brief research on the novels i have realized that they are all from different time periods and different cultures so it would be interesting to see the way in which the writing of prose fiction vary between time and cultures.
ReplyDeleteHi can relate to Ornette with regards the difficulty in pronunciation of the names, in 'Things fall apart'. Hoping there will be clarification at the tutorials. thus far the book has really shown the male dominance of the society and I'm now onto part 2, hoping to complete it by the end of the day.
DeleteI have read "Things Fall Apart" and there are some concepts that I am trying to grasp such as the exact order in which the book has been written in. As far as I understand the book is written in an oratory way in which stories in Africa are usually told. It also helped me to understand the African family structure in comparison to a Trinidadian family structure. To be quite honest, I am looking forward to reading all the given books for LITS 1002. This is so because I like learning about other cultures, societies and periods in which the authors lived in and how it has helped the author to write his or her novel. Their writing in some way or another has impacted the world today as a result of the influence that their novels have had on society on a whole. I hope to hear everyone's point of view on each of the novels and especially my lecturer and tutor since they usually bring out facts in the novel that I would not have thought of.
ReplyDeleteI have not read any of the novels required for this course up to the present moment but I do look forward to reading all of them. I understand that all the selected novels were taken from different eras and because of this readers are exposed to not just our culture but other cultures. In doing a little research I realized that Earl Lovelace’s, ‘The Dragon Can’t Dance’ seemed to have caught my attention. It explores one of racial divisions, something which seem to always be a part of our society and something which bothers me. So I look forward to observe how Lovelace portrays this. Looking forward to LITS 1002!!!
ReplyDeleteWhile in class I started jotting down some of the books Dr. Skeete referred to besides the prescribed five for this course-this to add to my ever growing list of books I need to read when time permits, so many books so little time..."more to read than can ever be read"..Aahhh so little time.
ReplyDeleteI'm working on getting the five in hand and while I've never read any before I look forward to getting into them all. I've heard varying accounts on the interest and value of each novel and so far the consensus of those I spoke with seem to be that "Things fall apart" & " The Picture of Dorian Gray" are the best of the lot while "Grapes of wrath" is the most difficult reading and a bore. Strangely enough the name of this novel entices me the most and I can't wait to get into it...will let you know how it goes.
I have never read any of the prescribes texts for the course but I do look forward to reading them. As far as i can see they all come from different time periods which would be of great significance to us.
ReplyDeleteI have not had the opportunity to study any of the novels but I don't consider that do be a disadvantage since I'm beginning with a clean slate and can build my own views and perspectives. I have at hand "Things Fall Apart" which I do look forward to starting in a few minutes. I look forward to what the book has to offer as well as the lecture and tutorial sessions.
ReplyDeleteI have no prior experience with literature, but The Picture of Dorian Gray and The Dragon Can't Dance are both widely publicized and famous books, both locally and internationally, and so I look forward to reading both of them within this semester.
ReplyDeleteI just completed the first chapter and an interesting beginning indeed, I'm having a little difficulty keeping up with the African names though, but I like the use of the special plot technique of "foreshadowing" at the end of the chapter with the introduction of the character "Ikemefuna".
ReplyDelete'The Dragon Can't Dance' has me suspended on the hill in the middle of all the action. I have a particular interest in Trinidadian literature hence the reason I jumped at this book first. The other novels have peaked my interest as well and I cannot wait to get into them.
ReplyDeleteGiven that I have not been exposed to reading in an academic environment for quiet a number of years I expect to experience an overhaul of my prior knowledge and gain several perspective through out this course. I also hope that can share as much as I receive.
I must say that I am being exposed to all of these novels for the first time. I am not in Humanities but I chose this course because of the fact that I love to read ans also I heard that all the books are indeed interesting. As a result I am anxious to start and I know my enthusiasm will stretch till the end of the semester.It excites me as I am being exposed to an entire new arena and one in which I look forward too.
ReplyDeleteHi everyone, I hope all get to see this.
ReplyDeleteJust sharing that I got 'Fire on the Mountain' at Nigel R. Khan in Price Plaza Chaguanas. There were a few left on the shelf so I hope everyone has the opportunity to see this and go get one.
Just finished reading " Things Fall Apart" I think I loved it because it was written from the point of view of a real African and the technique in presenting the white/ black colonization issue in a realistic light. I found it quite sad at the end and it reminded me a lot of the fall of Oedipus in some strange way. I loved the proverbs and the life lessons that the characters learnt. I was wondering if in some way Okonkwo's tragic flaw was the contributing factor that he helped kill the boy that he fathered for three years? Additionally, it presented a view of how the Africans perceived the introduction of Christianity and the reversal of the roles was quite interesting. Many times we see things through one scope but I appreciated the view of how the Africans saw the church.
ReplyDeleteI too have not had the chance to read these, but I look forward to it. I used some of the suggested links and was intrigued. I want to read "Things fall apart" the most. Marilyse intimated most of my sentiments. But deeper than that I remember Dr. Kooblalsingh challenging us to look deeper into the motive/ message the author is voicing through his piece. We emphathize with nations/people when we read these accounts but then we go back to treating others in almost the same manner. Literature should bring about a change in us and also develop tolerance and understanding.
ReplyDeleteLike most others, I haven't read any of the books for this course and unlike Shenel, I do feel that I'm at a bit of a disadvantage. I am looking forward to reading them all, though.
ReplyDeleteI am happy to say that I am enjoying the books that we've done thus far with no preference - they are both quite interesting in their own way. The messages within both books are quite relevant to life as we know it and I also enjoyed the way in which Ms. Bharath personalized the content.
DeleteFinished reading Fire on the Mountain and I was wondering what was the link between the fire and the death of Ila. Was it an attempt by Raka to cry for help seeing that a critic postulated that it came somewhat from Lord of the Flies and it was a way for the children to signal for help. What exactly is the issue here? I mean besides the obvious ones of culture, isolation and the like.
ReplyDeleteDorian Gray to me is one of the most captivating books. I love the others as well, like Things Fall Apart. However, i saw the movie for Dorian Gray and was very excited to read the book and its soooo much better than the movie. the way you can see everything through the words, its just magnificent.
ReplyDeleteI have never read any of the books on the course listing before, though I'm very much interested in reading them all. In fact prior to this course, I have never read a novel, and since reading was always something I wanted to encourage for myself I thought this was a great place to start. I am however a fan of Oscar Wilde and some of his writings so if I had to choose, then getting into his book (The Picture of Dorian Gray) is the one I'm thrilled at for the most.
ReplyDeleteWhat I loved about the choice of these novels was how they were selected; from vastly different genres and coming from differing cultures it is probably the reason that I can't wait to experience all that they each have to offer.
I guess I would like to read Things Fall apart first because I have heard many students speak of the issues in the novel and I am one interested in history and culture so this novel will be great to learn about the culture of African people. I intend to read all but I think I will be reading Things Fall Apart and Dragon can't dance first.
ReplyDeletei was really looking forward to reading the dragon cant dance, and after reading it, i think it is an amazing book. earl has alot of talent and is a great write. this book hits reality veryyyy hard and i think alot the language of the book may not be appealing to everyone it shows the true way of people in trinidad and how they use to live and even still live in some parts of the country and although times have changed there is still that traditional way of life that has stayed with trinidadians. the book put the spotlight on what makes us Trinidadians and what are the culture of our people and what we are known for and explains how we got here, it shows the relationship and mind set between the two main races which is africans and indians and uses out festivals as metaphors to bring fort certain points.
ReplyDeleteBLOGGER'S NAME: MELINA WISKY
ReplyDeleteI never did Literature in secondary school for either CSEC or CAPE, not counting Form 3 and those petty stuff. I never saw these books in my life. I read things fall apart and fire on the mountain and those books were interesting. I had hated Literature because of all the reading but now I like reading and the books in this course all have something special about them that I appreciate. Fair enough?
Reading has always been a favorite past time of mine. West Indian novels in particular have captured my interest, so by far, The Dragon Can't Dance was definitely something to look forward to! Upon receiving the titles of the novels that were to be studied, I did some enquiry of my own. The feedback on Fire on the Mountain and Grapes of Wrath was very discouraging. This may have influenced my own opinion and even now, Grapes of Wrath is the most boring novel that i encountered. I must admit that The Picture of Dorian Grey and Things Fall Apart competed vigorously for the position of being my favourite.
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