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I had seen in the synapsis of the class that Dean Koontz was in it, well we didnt get to him sadly, so I am doing my presentation on Dean Koontz, the fantasy side of his books. He has a couple that reflect humanity back as itself, and one of them is called "Innocence". I will be going over a bit of it so I don't want to ruin it here. Just know that in this book he tries to start humanity over again, with two outcasts of the world.


UPDATE: I loved all the reader presentations! There were some I would have loved to touch base on also, like the dragons, and the exorcist and demonology! Over all there was some good presentations and very informative too, filled in the gaps nicely.

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Poe wants you to believe that this "disease" he has is a factual thing, he even goes as far as to describe what it is like to be in the state of comatose, how you can hear things and see things, but everything you see and hear are twisted and not of what you would normally see and hear. How you can't move which makes others believe you are dead, promoting the premature burial. The disease is actually called Cotard's delusion, its a metal disorder where the person has delusions believing they are no longer exist or are dead, first instance was in the 1700's.








This is like the old ghost tale around the campfire story. It is told that wishes come true and that the guy who "owned" it had bad things happen to him and the others don't care about the bad, they only care about the wishes, human greed. This is a supernatural story in the sense that it makes you believe that the wishes actually work, that the 200 lbs that was wished for was what caused the son's death, and then they wished him back, but you never find out if it was actually him at the door, though through a sixth sense the father believes the "thing" on the other side of the door is not his son. The end makes it seem like both the parents disappear. Very nicely put ghost story!


update: after talking about the common practice of being buried alive, I do believe I will be making it part of my will that whoever performs my autopsy makes sure I am dead before proceeding on, that is craziness! monkeys paw in theater form sucked, I really found it boring, I found more excitement by reading the story, at least it left things for the imagination.

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After reading this, twice, I feel as if this would be his wife, who also was his cousin, who also suffered a horrible death. Poe always has a way of making a simple thing like an illness seem demented and twisted, and how he felt about it the same way. The whole thing about the teeth though got me, maybe he had a fixation about her teeth from young and maybe his only way of remembering her was the teeth, that he had to have.





In every city of every state every room has a tale to tell. Some more grotesque then others, but still the same, like the story, people who take up residence in a room always leave a part of themselves there, whether it be a hair tie or a handkerchief, a part of them will always remain. The lovers in this story couldn't even be seperated by death because of a small piece that one left behind, her fragrance, one that he recognized and went to find. The possession of his mind by her at the end was such a twist! Just goes to show that ghosts are influential and can make the living do what they want.






This is one that I imagined was a story they would tell on late night radio back in the 50's, kind of like the Bradbury one of aliens taking over the planet. I do believe this story had a supernatural aspect in it. After preparing his wife's body and falling asleep, he awoke hours later to find himself trying to listen for something he didn't know what, after a brief encounter with the unknown, he takes out his gun and fires it and finds a panther trying to take his wife's body, after firing the round the panther dropped her by the window where it made its escape and in his wife's mouth was found the fur of the panther, like she was fighting the panther herself. Or maybe she was keeping the panther from attacking her husband who was asleep when it came through the window and was vulnerable prey. Things that make you go hmmmmmm........




Update: After looking at all the aspects of these stories, the madness element, the lost love element and the supernatural element, I would have to say Poe's short most definitely screams madness, as always, and O. Henry's is more definitely supernatural, and Bierce is definitely lost love. Each story had hints of all aspects, but I believe these stand out the most in each of the stories.

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The Fall of the House of Usher on page 44 explains the "haunted house" effect so well. "Its principal feature seemed to be that of an excessive antiquity. The discoloration of ages  had been great. Minute fungi overspread the whole exterior, hanging in a fine tangled web-work from the eaves. Yet all this was apart from any extraordinary dilapidation. No portion of the masonry had fallen; and there appeared to be a wild inconsistency between its still perfect adaptation of parts, and the crumbling condition of the individual stones. In this there was much that reminded me of the specious totality of old wood-work which has rotted for long years in some neglected vault, with no disturbance from the breath of the external air. Beyond this indication of extensive decay, however, the fabric gave little token of instability. Perhaps the eye of the scrutinizing observer might have discovered a barely perceptible fissure, which, extending from the roof of the building in front, made its way down the wall in a zigzag direction, until it became lost in the sullen waters of the tarn." So much detail in such a little paragraph, to me this is one of the best descriptions of a haunted house you can find. I mean there is more in the story but this leads you into the story and to how "haunted" the house looks. Love it!








Traditional ghost story with a twist, usually its a family that gets a home thats haunted and the family moves out because they do NOT want the ghost to be there. This couple actually is looking for a house WITH a ghost! Wicked sweet! This is a psychological ghost story, its made to give you things to think about, where as the ones now are not.


update: was not in class for discussion for this blog set, was in Texas.

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To me there are numerous emotions in this poem, it starts out somber, with just a tapping and it works up to curiosity of who could be knocking, then it goes to into marvelling at the creature that came in through the window and who sits there, to accusations, saying the bird is the devil, such an array of emotions and so wonderfully put. Only Poe can do that.







Annabel Lee is a true love story, from start to finish, from life to death. It goes to show that no matter what others may say, the love of ones heart is what will direct and keep them. There was no going astray from Annabel Lee, she was in his heart forever. Such smooth lines and graceful words, just like that of a beautiful lady whom he had fell in love with.




UPDATE:

Got to meet the author of "The Culling" and pick his brain, I think it was way cool to meet an author, as this was my first, felt like a little kid getting that special christmas gift! After the question answer session, there was a better understanding on how he came up with the idea for the book and the characters of the book. I am a picky reader and not much grabs my attention, but his book did, and I can't wait to get the second and third book!

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"Ever After" was a great redo of Cinderella, with a slight twist on it. The Brothers Grimm, have a wonderful way of making a childs fairy tale one to remember. They were the inspiration for the book "Cloaked", which was very well written!! Cinderella is a fairy tale written about a childs fear of losing a parent and having to live without them, and the challenges that they will have to face alone in the world. As in "Hansel and Gretel" where their parents abandon them in the forest, it is a childs worst nightmare to have no parent to turn to for guidance.






"Lord of the Rings" series is off the chain! Had to get that off my chest....The three functions of a fairy tale...recovery- the shire is a small town full of giving people, well Hobbits, but it shows what we once knew back in the renaissance era, everyone knew they had to have each others help, there was no gang wars, there was no senseless killings, just harmony and cooperation from one another...escapism- the film gives everyone a brief view of what one persons fantasy world is, knights, dragons, mammoths, elves, dwarves and the like, its nice to have a fantasy world that you can go to, it helps keep the imagination alive, and the possiblity of dreams, so that you are not constantly facing the fears of the real world....consolation- elements of the film that made me feel joy, to see all the races getting along, to know that once upon a time out there people did get along no matter what the color of their skin or the race of their origin, and to wipe out the evil in the world, to bring world peace so to say, makes one think it may be possible....

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Wow! This story had me all types of upside down and sideways. There is no "love story" here, to me its just some guys twisted thinking that he/she decided to put on paper. None of what he/she put in that story made any type of sense. How can you be a boy but not a boy but a girl....and how can you be a man but not a man?! Then this whole business of the marriage thing....girl/boy/it shoots out of a tube and lands in your arms and all of a sudden you are in heaven and need to marry this being, and this being says"Wednesday" and you go about your day like nothing ever happened...WHAT! That is some craziness there, I know I have heard and I know all to well about love at first sight but thats taking it a little extreme, even with love at first sight you still wait a few days of getting to really know one another before you offer marriage. Craziness is what this story is.

1. Parthenogenesis is a type of asexual reproduction in which the offspring develops from unfertilized eggs. It is particularly common amongst arthropods and rotifers, can also be found in some species of fish, amphibians, birds, and reptiles, but not in mammals, which means in our species a male is needed in order to reproduce. Unless these women are not mammals, which the author really doesn't state, then yes they would need the men that show up to keep their kind alive. But according to them, they had found a way to reproduce without men, so in their society they may not need men to keep themselves going. 

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First off, "I'll be back" (in my best Arnold voice). I was and never have been a big Arnold fan, his acting stinks and he over does alot of stuff in the movie that really puts it out of character. I did find though that the stuff that got changed, for me made the movie worse. I will name a couple, first off the wife, she was in no way the sleazy woman they show in the movie. She was more of a withdrawn housewife, who did her duties and that was it, not like the one in the movie, who was all types of kissey face with Doug. Then to make her the secret agent to live with him?! Really? Wasn't a good twist, the fight scene there really sucked! All the cuts that she gave to Doug and after it's all said and done with he sits down and acts like nothing happened. The other thing I really didn't like was that they removed the implant from his head. They used a tracking box, instead of the implant that was in his head. I liked the idea of the implant in his head, as it gave you another perspective, its his thoughts and then the thoughts of the other person, but yet he never went anywhere. The part of the movie where Arnold (Doug) overacts the whole scene of getting put under and then his "awakening", really made me want to punch the screen. In the book, Doug simply wakes up and talks to everyone about his undercover information, ohhh but not Arnold, he has to show off his mighty muscles and go stupid on everyone in the room, not a good add on. I liked the book version way better.

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 I found this to be a bit of a slow read, but I did find a few areas of it funny. The biggest was his wife, she seemed to be so plain and uncaring. She never really says much to show that she truly loves her husband. She's very fast to accuse him and to leave him! This paragraph, page 396, Kirsten appeared at the doorway to the room, an armload of pale brown groceries gripped. "Why are you home in the middle of the day?" Her voice, in an eternity of sameness, was accusing. "Did I go to Mars" he asked her. "You would know.".....then after a small conversation she says, "Dous, if you don't pull yourself together, we're through. I'm going to leave you." After he explains that hes in trouble, she puts down the groceries and leaves!!!! WHAT!!!! Who in their right mind does that!!!! It's like she had no connection with him at all!!!

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"Burning Chrome" is a love story that turns out like most love stories, the man walks away broken hearted, because he fell for a woman who was untouchable. In this case it was two men that fell head over heels for that woman, and she had ideas of her own, which didn't include either of them.

"Computer Friendly" seems to me that its all about how creation is really created. Think about it, there is one central processing unit (God) and we are all linked into his network, one way or another, yes even the atheist, I mean come on, someone had to create us, we just didn't appear one day and go, "I am man/woman hear me roar", no it didn't happen that way. Someone took the time to make us who we are today. Our CPU and all of its networks, our daily trials and tests, all rest on how we execute our problem solving.


update: I found the class discussion very informative. Picking out the sentence put alot of both stories into a different perspective. How everyone viewed that particular sentence vs, what I thought of it, made the story more interesting. You can go back and look at the story in each persons perspective.

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  This isnt a robot based movie, but it is a war movie, that to me kinda spreads the limits of what one tank can do. It is based in Hitlers time and how this one tank chased him from Africa all the way back to Germany, where the film takes place. This tank is the sole survivor from the previous conflicts, makes it seem like its an indestructable tank. Well, it loses a team member and another replaces it, its a young boy that had only been in the military 8 weeks, who gets his first look at the war up close and personal being the assistant driver. This tank gets shot at with all types of stuff and still manages to go through and take out more enemy. It is again the lone survivor at the end, its track being taken out, it is disabled and the crew take on the Germans head on. Wow, I would have loved to be a super tank and the crew that went with it, imagine the awards and medals you would be wearing.

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"Reason" reminds me alot of human society, on how we have to have a creator of everything and how that creator has to be supreme being and what that creator says is law. If your belief is different then someone elses belief in that creator then you are wrong. It's amazing how society wants you to have your own opinions and beliefs, but will control everything you think, own and otherwise by putting in ideas into advertising and the such.


"Super-Toys last all summer long" life from a childs eyes, though its not a child. Wanting to figure out what is real and what is not, sounds like everyday to all of us. What in our world is real and what is not, What you consider real may not be what I consider real. Making a robot to think, feel and react to situations like we do, is near impossible, they dont have the spontinallity that we do. We spontaneously do things or react to things, where unless it is programmed to a robot will not do such.

update: really didn't get much more then what I put here from the in class discussion

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The short "The Star" held no interest for me, it started out like some science magazine, talking about a planet and a star coming in day by day, I have not really been a real big fan of Wells. To me its to plain and no real excitement in the story.


The short "Speech Sounds" was very interesting, in the sense that this was something that our government would do to us, use us as guinea pigs for experiments for their own sick jokes. But it also makes you look at the world of deaf people, how they talk and sign to get what they need in life. These people who had suffered "the stroke" effect, were adapting to their environment like a deaf person would adapt, they use gestures and facial expressions. The hero in the story put a whole new turn on it, and him being there a whole three seconds even a bigger one. I mean I've heard of the knight in shining armor effect, but this takes it to a whole new level. Made love to the woman, stood up for the woman and died for the woman all within minutes. For Rye to find children that spoke shocked me, considering the whole time, I thought Rye couldn't speak, only to find she could. Amazing how when you lose one part of your brain how another will adapt for it.

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I will have to say that these two shorts were completely different from each other. I know it's supposed to be about war and conflict, but in That only a Mother there really wasn't much war. Now in We see things differently it is based during a war time situation.

I really couldn't get into We see things differently, it seemed to drag on and on and honestly was quite boring. I did find it funny that the author was trying to bring back the pilgrim days, with the stagecoach circle of buses that the pop singer had his buses form. Along with all the battle gear to go with it. It seems the author was trying to give his own reality to Operation Desert Shield/Storm, alot of the references remind alot of that time.

Now the short, That only a Mother, really hit home with me. I am a mother, and I am a mother to a special needs child. It is so true that us mothers don't see the faults with our children as others do. To us, they are precious and blessings. I don't see a special needs child, I see a young man who is gifted in so many other ways. He has a very high IQ, he is blessed with the ability of recall, he has a heart of gold and most of all he is my child. Society always sees faults in everyone, they tend to stare and point, they ask the questions, they can't seem to wrap it around their heads that it's a child, and it's a gift, no matter what shape, size or special need. I loved how this mother, loved her baby girl, no matter what her body looked like. I think the author hit it on the head, with this story and how society looks at those that are different.

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Passengers by Robert Silverberg, was quite interesting. The terms he uses for the alien species, makes you think of a person riding a horse or a fly catching a ride on a car. The ability of the aliens to take your memory and only leave you with what they choose, sounds like the human condition of alzheimers. A brain disease that takes all you memories and leaves you with pieces and not all the time the same pieces. How the main character, Charles, attempts to make a relationship work with a woman that he supposedly remembers while he was "ridden" and how she fights it. Makes you think they are teen-agers in lust with one another. The world they live in is driven by computers, so much like the world we live in now. So many of our jobs are computer driven, our cars have computers in them, our phones have become pocket sized computers. There are homes that can talk to you, and turn things on and off. The ability for these aliens to take your body and noone will watch you being taken over or when the "ride" is done, is so like the human condition. We ignore people who act strange on the streets, giving them a wide gearth so as not to get what they have, as people lay in the streets coming down from their highs, we ignore them but talk about them as we walk past. Our society is so based on the self-preservation thing. Even the aliens have tendencies that we as a society today think are unacceptable. If aliens have no problem with it why should we?



Out of All Them Bright Stars by Nancy Kress was way to short. So much more could have been added in for detail. This short really reminds me of how our society can't accept something that is not "normal", if you are a different color, a different race, a different religion, everyone has something negative to say about it. Enough negative things that are said can be influential on others, and the pressure  to "fit" in starts to hit. John is different, and Charlie has so much negativity to say, he can't stand him, doesn't want him around his place of buisness, afraid he will run off the customers. The old saying, "don't judge a book by its cover" comes to mind for this short. Our society is so quick to judge every book it sees, and so much hatred exists today because of it.

Not much of a blogger on books, I hope to improve with each blog :)


Updates:
After discussing both of these shorts, there really isn't much to add. There were some really interesting points of view brought up, for Passengers, I really didn't think about it in the mental illness perspective, which is pretty interesting.

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Hi, my name is Tanya, I took this class because of my interest in horror and fantasy, well, more horror then fantasy....My favorite author is Dean Koontz, at one time, as a young kid I was obsessed with Stephen King, but alot of his works are identical and it became boring and very predictable. I found Dragon Eyes by Dean Koontz and was hooked. My love for horror has wore off on my youngest son, who shares my passion and who will sit and pick apart a horror movie with me. Our favorite horror movies are Halloween, Friday the 13th, Nightmare on Elm Street and Saw.

I am hoping to get some good reading from this class, better then the old Shakespeare English class stuff, and to learn a bit about where alot of these genres originate from.

Hope this semester is fun-filled with new material and new friends! Adios!