Tuesday, April 3, 2007

Galatecia 2.2

I found this book to be very dry and confusing. The way the names are sometimes spelled out while others are just a letter with a period, is very unusual and I don't see why the author would do this. I also feel that this is a very forced text, such as the author is trying to hard to get his point across. I do wonder if it is because this book is an altera ego of the author and he wishes to distance himself from the book so he does not make it more about his life than what he wishes to put in the book.
I know this is very vague, but that is mostly because I really don't know what is going on, although the main character has a new girlfreind and is back where he first lived.

2 comments:

Chloe said...

When one’s life is within the depths of chaos, everything becomes somewhat surreal, reality mixes with fantasy and carrying on the charade of daily existence becomes cynical at best. I’m sure Powers didn’t call C. by C. when they were together and the same goes for the other abbreviations, but as he is looking back and sorting out his experiences to understand his humanity in order to duplicate humanity for the implications, memories are painful and one cannot blame one for using a harmless coping mechanism as such. This may be semiautobiographical, yet it’s irrelevant, the past is still painful regardless of the circumstances or be it fact or fiction.

Adam said...

I agree with what you've said, Anthony. The past can often be a painful topic, and finding ways to indirectly talk about it are often used in such a situation. Particular names often carry with them a sentimental value to which a simple abbreviation can take away, or vice versa. Speaking from personal experience, my biological father is a part of my past I try to ignore. When I speak about him, I tend not to use that words "dad" or "father" to refer to him. Instead, I refer to him by his given first name or a nickname fitting of him, such as "the @$$hole" or similar connotations.

Fantasy also makes for a good method of separation. Sometimes we wish certain events didn't occur, so we make up something in our minds to make it seem as though it never happened, or that something else happened in its place that lead to the same outcome. Oddly enough, this sometimes leads to problems though. When fantasy becomes reality, there's a serious issue at hand. Then again, when fantasy is the goal (as it is in this novel) then there's no harm done.