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zawan u

zawan u

I'm a 13 year old from Sudan. I like to read and play tennis. I'm interested in literary criticism, so I'd like to be a critic. My favorite authors include Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Orhan Pamuk.

visit my blog: http://zawan.wordpress.com
- to read my book reviews and movie reviews. more »
  • Ithaca, NY, USA
  • member since January 26 2009

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Public Notes

  • James

    James says

    I don't think overseas applicants have to do interviews though.

    posted 6 hours ago. ( send a note )
  • James

    James says

    Yeah, Cambridge and Oxford require interviews (I also have a 1hr test before the exam), I think they are the only two universities (and some specific courses, such as Medicine) that hold them.

    I went to Mock Interviews a couple of weeks ago and they went alright, the only problem being is they also give you an extract to talk about along with things mentioned in your personal statement...the extract is usually poetry or Shakespeare - which means I have to get the right poetical terms right!

    posted 6 hours ago. ( send a note )
  • James

    James says

    At the moment I'm planning it - I'm going to focus mainly on The Trial, Rhinoceros and Othello...but may weave in other readings (if I'm allowed to! Because it is school I am the ideas I want to bring in are fettered somewhat.)

    I also want to write an essay for fun, which would be much more thought out and extensive . At the moment it is in its first stage of detailing what I want. So far I am planning to write about four authors and how each has had an effect on the authors who came afterwards who came afterwords - I was going to call it "Joyce...Beckett...Burroughs...Ellis" the title be a steal from a Beckett essay about Joyce's Finnegans Wake. I'm looking forward to it, but it may have to wait until winter holidays.

    Currently preparing for my Cambridge Interview so reading the books I mentioned in my personal statement - hence Breton's "Nadja." Been writing anything lately?

    posted 15 hours ago. ( send a note )
  • James

    James says

    Thanks for the link, looks very interesting, I'll probably send it to a couple of friends...yes, it's for A-Level, but one of my English Lit teachers isn't very up on their literature so I feel a bit constrained and think they want everyone to do the same-ish sort of essays to make it easy...very depressing to have such a teacher.

    Hunger seems like a book you'll enjoy, I'm enjoying it very much...good translation.

    posted 6 days ago. ( send a note )
  • James

    James says

    I've heard of it, but not that well - I think I saw it on the Foyles website - it will be a long time before I pick up another Nabokov (and that will probably be Pale Fire.) The Theban Plays are good, Oedipus Rex is just brilliant!

    I'm reading Hunger at the moment, I expected a difficult read, but is very easy, very flowing, and very enjoyable thus far. I might reread The Trial for English coursework, we are "allowed" to write 3,000 words on Othello, a novel and another play. I can pick my own coursework title so I was thinking of doing the different treatments of outsiders in society - Othello (Othello being the outsider), The Trial (Joseph K) and...I haven't decided on another play yet (was thinking maybe The Rhinoceros.) What do you think?

    posted 7 days ago. ( send a note )
  • Bibliophile!

    Bibliophile! says

    Here's an introduction to Borges that may be helpful :

    http://classiclit.about.com/od/borgesjorgeluis/a/aa_borges_lab.htm

    posted 8 days ago. ( send a note )
  • Bibliophile!

    Bibliophile! says

    On my last visit to the library I picked up *Autumn of the patriarch*. Looking forward to reading it. In the meantime I am grappling with Faulkner's *Sound and the Fury*. Initially I found it quite tough going. But now I think I am beginning to get the hang of it!

    Yes, Borges' work is much concerned with Labyrinths. I didn't know that *House Of Leaves* is influences by Borges. I couldn't find the book in any of the bookshops in my city. In the end I had to download it. Will read it later.

    I have read *My name is red*. A long time back. Before Pamuk won the Nobel. It's one of my fav books. What are you reading now?

    posted 8 days ago. ( send a note )
  • James

    James says

    Hi, just thought I'd give my thoughts on Ionesco:

    The Rhinoceros was a good, thought provoking play, I'm still trying to form an opinion of Ionesco's, but after reading "The Chairs" I can definitely understand why they call his plays "Anti-plays" and top of the avant garde scene - they are probably more appreciated on stage rather than on page...recommended! (although, not above No Exit and Waiting for Godot.)

    posted 9 days ago. ( send a note )
  • James

    James says

    Not deep into the play yet, but The Rhinoceros is about a franch town where all the inhabitants (except one, I think) turn into Rhinos - Yes, it is absurd, Ionesco is one of the authors in the Essin Theatre of the Absurd book I'm reading, so I want a basic grounding in some of his plays before I read interpretation and context.

    Readings is going okay, picked up the first book of "In Search of Lost Time" - it is slow going and I'm not convinced of its "greatness" yet.

    I've never heard of The Pursuit of Signs, what be it about?

    posted 12 days ago. ( send a note )
  • Bibliophile!

    Bibliophile! says

    Hi,

    Good to hear from you so soon. To be honest I haven't read the principal works of Marquez (yet) - 100 years ..., General in his Labyrinth, Autumn of the Patriarch etc. But I have read a few of his novellas most recently *Melancholy whores* which was sort of disappointing considering the expectations I had of it. But still worth a read. I enjoyed his autobiography immensely.

    I am very fond of Latin American writers in general and Borges in particular. Read Borges. I am sure you'll love him. Or even better, purchase his *Complete Fictions*! It's a little on the expensive side but worth every Cent. Other Latin American authors that I love are Fuentes, Llosa, Carpentier and Rulfo. Have you read any Latin American fiction other than Marquez?

    I was going through your shelf. Excellent I must say. I see that you are reading the new Marquez biography. It's a door stopper of a book is it not? That's why I have been putting off reading it. I am told it's quite good. How do you like it so far? And Nadine Gordimer's short story collection *Beethoven is ...*. You have got excellent taste :)

    I did not find Pamuk's memoirs Istanbul on your shelf. It's one of my fav books. Even better than his novels I feel. Much recommended.

    posted 12 days ago. ( send a note )
  • Bibliophile!

    Bibliophile! says

    Thanks for the friendship request. But I'd like to chat a little bit before I accept your request. I hope you don't mind. How did you find me? And what is it about my shelf that you liked? You have a great shelf. Are you sure you are a 13 year old? :O I haven't come across a 13 year old who has heard of Marquez or Pamuk, much less read them! Haha ... Haven't seen your blog. But plan to check it out soon.

    posted 13 days ago. ( send a note )
  • James

    James says

    Thanks for the link.

    I try to focus my reading around those two movements, although I feel Modernism is the best movement and what they were trying to get as excedes anything that came before it and after...

    posted 3 weeks ago. ( send a note )
  • James

    James says

    The Beckett Bio is good, very good, but also very big, about 600 pages of small print so it will take me sometime - I'm about 10% of the way through it. I always find it insightful to chart the development of an writer/artist from youth to fame. It also helps in understanding his works, which I have become obsessed with - him and Joyce and probably the two writers I want to study in-depth about ad nauseam... their works are so different from anyone elses, Beckett's novels (I've read two of his famous collection - Molloy, Malon Dies and The Unnamable) are the strangest things I have ever read, I always thought of him as a playwright when ever someone mentioned him in converstaion, that is until I read him - his prose is unique to say the least.

    I definitely will tell you more about The Theatre of the Absurd - before you read it you might want to read Waiting for Godot or Endgame (or both) because the writer goes into detail about the two works and I always prefer to read a work, interpret it how I want and then read other interpretations to support my knowledge and understading. What do you think?

    posted 3 weeks ago. ( send a note )
  • James

    James says

    And what be your thoughts of Giovanni's Room after finishing?

    Also, I picked up The Theatre of the Absurd, it is very easy to follow and digestible - his writing is so clear and understandable, unlike many who attempt to write about theory and end up fawning over their intellectual language (which I hate!)

    posted 3 weeks ago. ( send a note )
  • James

    James says

    I try not to take the recommendations from my favourite authors, I only take recommendations if I find out a book/writer has influenced an author whose body of work interests me. In alot of books you will find reviews from the same names, e.g. J G Ballard, Martin Amis, Norman Mailer, they always seem to appear at the back of books.

    A levels haven't taken much time for me, I'm a bit more relaxed about them than most people in my class - I find they revise/study too much which doesn't hand them any extra benefits during tests.

    I think I'll buy House of Leaves soon, probably in the weekend if I get any money from my saturday job.

    What I focuson during university is dependent on what university I get in - Cambridge does a detailed look at the history of literature and different movements, Nottingham gives a wider range of choices which includes a lot of theatre courses I'm interested in and Warwick allows more room for creative writing - those are the three unis I would like to get accepted into...

    posted 3 weeks ago. ( send a note )
  • James

    James says

    Dracula was excellent, it was my second time at attempting it - the last time being about five years back (I think.) The only problem was the first thirty pages, which reads like a travelogue from Johnathan Harker's point of view...very boring, but after that hurdle it is a rollercoaster ride and is one of those books you just don't want to put down. Very modern, unlike other Victorian works.

    Giovanni's Room was o...kay, but not my type of writing style - plus there was too much dialogue, although I did get a lot out of it for my "Love Through the Ages" coure...you'll have to tell me what you thought of it afterwards.

    posted 3 weeks ago. ( send a note )
  • James

    James says

    For me, a change in layout wouldn't spark off a new movement in literature. I think it is more to do with the progress in the way humans think and the different styles that this evolution in the thinking of man creates. It will probably take a while to happen as we are stuck in our ways, thinking postmodernism is the end.

    Experimental fiction is too gimmicky, once somebody does it nobody else is likely to copy it. I'm not a fan of critics, most (but not all) do not look properly at books, preferring the message (political, religious, etc) rather than content of the book. If something looks pretentious enough critics will say it is good experimental fiction.

    I've been trying to experiment with writing (fiction and plays) recently, but curretnly it hasn't been very successful. I've finished a thirty minute play where the characters are fighting over lines and attention of the audience, but haven't read through/timed it yet...not sure if it would work on stage though....

    When are your exams?

    posted 3 weeks ago. ( send a note )
  • James

    James says

    Saw you added House of Leaves on your wishlist, I've seen it about and it looks interesting, but I think it maybe one of those books that has mugged the critics into believing it is good due to the layout and not the content.

    posted 4 weeks ago. ( send a note )
  • James

    James says

    The problem with new iterary movements is that they shouldn't be announced or named in their early stages; it can't work like that, they must be spontaneous and shaped in how the world around the writers is going...hence, something like post-postmodernism where they are deliberately looking for the next big thing can't work. There are a lot of people who think literature is dead and there is nowhere else to go after postmodernism, I use to agree, but now I'm not sure.

    Yeah, I know Kerouac, I brought On the Road a while back but have heard mixed reviews about it. William Burroughs makes is an odd writer - he seems to be one of those writers who writes for the sake of writing, and not for the sake of selling books and making money, which I like - although his books can be a struggle sometimes and a bit crude, to say the least. (Exterminator! was fanatastic though.)

    Ken Kesey is often considered a Beat Generation writer, One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest is either my first or second favourite book of all time- I highly recommend it.

    posted 4 weeks ago. ( send a note )
  • James

    James says

    In English Lit we are currently learning Othello (which I am actually enjoying unlike the other Shakespeare's) and Enduring Love (which is terrible, I read about 3/4 of it but it was so boring, plus I don't like McEwan.) I think we going to be taught "The Great Gatsby" and another play which has slipped my memory - all of this covers the "Love through the Ages" course I've told you about - it is quite a broad subject, which is a good thing.

    I'm not a big fan of poetry (I enjoyed Poe though.) I'm going to buy a collection of Pinter plays soon, I want to read/watch three or four plays before I get to the chapter in "The Theatre of the Absurd" that talks about Pinter.

    I've heard of post-postmodernism before but don't know anything about it. I've always questioned whether there is a next stage in literature after postmodernism, I don't think post-postmodernism is it though.

    posted 4 weeks ago. ( send a note )


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