The Book Thief

Hi guys! I know we already discussed this on Thursday, but just wanted to see how you guys feel about The Book Thief so far. I'm around page 150 but i'll probably be finishing it up tomorrow after school. Too bad there isn't a movie based on this book! We still need to set a date to watch the Memoirs of a Geisha movie. We'll figure it out tomorrow at school tomorrow (ew. school... ).  :(

Movie Night?

Now that we've all finished the book I think we should definitely see the movie. So as long as we're all interested, let's find a day/location! I'm not going anywhere so any time should work for me. Let me know!

Oh, and we should probably come up with another book to read ;)

Thoughts on the Ending (Note:Don't read if you haven't finished!)

I don't know about you guys, but I was not expecting Sayuri to end up with the Chairman. I thought as soon as she made those devious plans to upset Nobu (which i thought was terribly rude to begin with) that she would lose the respect of the Chairman. Surprisngly, he didn't think it was disrespectful at all that Sayuri set herself up to make Nobu jealous. I was happy for the two of them that they were able to be together, even if it was a little weird that the Chairman still had a wife. I think his intentions were good, and it was probably more acceptable at that time to have a wife while also being in love with someone else. It  was also heartwarming to hear that the Chairman continued to be a good danna to Sayuri and helped her establish a teahouse in New York City.

What do you guys think about Sayuri's "relationship" with Nobu? I actually liked Nobu as a character. At times i thought he could be a little rash, but he treated Sayuri really well. I think Sayuri only judged Nobu based on his appearances. If the Chairman had treated Sayuri the way that Nobu had, she would only like him more. Nobu's "lizard skin" and one arm dettered Sayuri from making him her danna. At the end of the book, i felt bad for him.

I'm also a little disappointed that Mameha didn't play a bigger role in Sayuri's life after the Chairman became her danna. I feel like up until that point, Mameha was an integral part of her life. I don' think the author developed their relationship that well at the end of the book. What do you guys think?

Irritating Characters

Whenever I read a book, there are always those characters that I just want to punch in the face, and I'm sure you do too. I decided that this blog would be a great place to keep track of those characters. Fun, right?

I promise I'm not a violent person, this is just how I deal with irritating fictional characters.

So here is a preliminary list of characters from Memoirs of a Geisha that I (or we, if you choose to add to it) want to punch in the face:

Mother--She is greedy and selfish and just plain annoying.

Pumpkin (well, maybe just slap)--She used to be nice and friends with Sayuri, but now she isn't. Even though it isn't her fault, since Hatsumomo is her older sister, I still think she could be nicer. Instead she just avoids Sayrui and doesn't talk to her.

The Baron--he is a slimy creep. period.

Dr. Crab--he is even creepier than the Baron.

Hatsumomo--do I really need to explain this one?

A few things I've noticed

(They aren't really related so I couldn't think of a good title)

There was one scene at the end of chapter 21 that confused me. They were at the baron's house the first time and there was an awkward moment between Mameha and the Baron regarding a doctors appointment. Everything got even more awkward when someone mentioned an abortion. I couldn't exactly tell what was going on. It seemed as though she did need an abortion, especially since a chapter or two later it mentions that Mameha had "recovered." The baron also mentioned something about not having "little barons running around." But that was about the extent of it. The reader is left about as confused as the rest of the guests at the party. All in all, I didn't quite understand what was going on. I'm hoping maybe this is clarified later, or maybe it is supposed to be clear and I just didn't get it ;). Anyway, thoughts?

Another thing that I noticed about the writing style: Often in a 1st person narration, like this book, the reader learns along with the main character. As the character's story progresses and as they tell it, then the reader learns what the main character has learned at that point in time. In this book it is a bit different. It seems that we often learn ahead of Sayuri (that's what I've decided I'm calling her now). Sayuri is telling this story when she is much older, so she knows more than her younger self. Because of this she adds information that she thinks will be helpful for the reader to know, even if Sayuri doesn't know it herself at that point in time. The narrator does this quite frequently and I've noticed it more in this book than in other 1st person books that I've read. Do you think it is just a style, or that the author did it to make her seem even more realistic (like translator's note and everything)? Or any other ideas?

Finally, are either of you going anywhere over break? Because if you're not, maybe we could try to watch the movie sometime during that week. We will likely be finished with the book or at least close to finishing it by then.

Chiyo's "Water" Personality

I know we touched on this subject during class today, but i was wondering if you guys had any thoughts about Chiyo's water personality. Early in chapter one the author describes the difference between water and wood.

"Water flows from place to place quickly and always finds a crack to spill through. Wood, on the other hand, hold fast to the earth."

I have noticed that throughout the book, the author uses metaphors and smilies that have to do with the sea. I think this could either represent Chiyo's water personality, or her childhood since her hometown of Yoroido was located on the ocean. Do you think that Chiyo's actions in book fit the description of a water personality, and do her sister's actions hold true to that of someone with a wood personality?

Translator's Note

I'm not entirely sure how this is supposed to work but I came across something when I started reading that I found interesting so I figured here was a good place to mention it.

(Oh, and I am loving this book so far! I hope you are too!)

The first thing you see after the title page is something called "translator's note." I read through it and it made it seem as though the book was a true story, although according to the cover it was a novel. Needless to say, it confused me (and not only because I had just finished a physics test when I found this). The note is signed by someone who is not the author (further confusing me), but then when I finally looked in the back of the book to the author's note it said that the character Sayuri was fictional, and therefore the translator's note would be as well.

Once I had finally solved this little mystery, I started wondering why the author might have included this (aside from to confuse a student who had spent the greater part of the last hour and a half doing physics problems). After thinking about it for a while and reading further, I think that he may have included it to stress the fact that this story came from somewhere real and events like what happens in the story also happened in real life, even if the book itself is a work of fiction. It also introduces the narrator and suggests that her voice and story is captivating, something I have found to be the complete truth.

Any thoughts? If not that's ok, there isn't that much to discuss about it, but I thought I'd bring it up.

And if you skipped the translators note because you thought it wasn't part of the book, you may want to go back and read it ;)