Thursday, April 29, 2010
hating hatterr
Alright, so the title is a little harsh, but I think that on some level everyone can agree. Trying to read this book is painful, and as I stated in class the other day, I am not finding content, which is hard to get past since everything we learn as English majors is about content and finding the underlying meaning. Although, this book does have a lot of underlying meaning, it's hard to grasp unless you know exactly what Desani is poking fun at. While I do find this book difficult to read, and hard to understand, after going through some passages in class, I am finding the book to be a little more beautiful and humorous. I think that Desani was a very smart man and that his book gets overlooked because it is so difficult.
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Yes, this book is definitely difficult to read through let alone when you have to stop and figure out what the heck just happened, especially since content is not the primary objective in Desani’s novel. Also, since most education does not put such a strain on knowing ALL the classics it is much harder for those of us in class who may not have been exposed to some of the passages reflecting ‘essential’ works. Like we said on Wednesday, while some pieces may be canonized in literature it doesn’t necessarily indicate I’m going to go enjoy reading it for an assignment or leisure. While it may be time-consuming, flipping back to certain paragraphs and discussing what Desani was poking fun at helps me to see how he undermines certain institutions in this novel. This is one of the more difficult novels that I’ve read in a long time, so be forewarned about putting on your thinking caps and by thinking caps, I mean looking up stuff on Google. Otherwise, you’ll go as mad as a hatterr.
ReplyDeleteI do agree with both views that Desani is not the poster child for content but I do believe he is the poster child for making you critically think of what he is trying to make the reader find hilarious. He does a wonderful job with playing with the words and it's almost like you have to have the mind of someone is mad in order to completely understand. When we read it in class, I feel like you can engage more because you get the understanding of how someone else sees the book. I find myself constantly rereading things so that I may figure out another way to think of the passages before I end up doing research of what he could have met. If he were living today, it would be neat to see how he thought of even writing the book. And I like to the think that H. Hatterr is his alter ego.
ReplyDeleteSnehal had it right; this is a book we, as modern readers should embrace with a heavy hand on the search button. Google’s servers might overload though if we all search at once… I completely agree that Desani seems to flaunt in our faces how ‘stupid-smart’ he is which makes the book extremely hard to get through. I feel like I’m being tested with those color blot pictures when I read… you know there is an answer for the examiner, but finding the right one, the right picture from those inanimate random blots, is the problem. In this respect, I’ve composed myself and realized that Desani is smart, that I’ll accept not knowing what he’s talking about, live in my bounded reality, and go further into Google’s data depths and retrieve what intrigues me with what he says.
ReplyDeleteI agree that it is overlooked and I'm guilty of overlooking it. I find myself reading and going off into some crazy far off day dream and then being snapped back into the book by some hilarious comment. I think the humor keeps us in check and grabs our attention. I think this may be the only redeeming quality for the book. After I see something funny, I think, wait, let me reread that. I try to reread it and understand and it makes me want to look up what I don't understand so that I can laugh along with him. But it is undeniable that H. Hatterr has personality which shines throughout this humor as well as his beautiful imagery.
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