Christina Rossetti: A Dirty Liar!

Not too long ago, I had the chance to read Christina Rossetti's poem Goblin Market. I'll get things started by saying that I think it's a great poem and I fell in love with it right away. The poem's rhyme scheme is inviting and easy to follow and it contains a story that has a discernible plot. While it's a breeze to understand, there is still enough elevated language to satisfy your desire to be challenged as a reader. If you haven't read it, please do so here. Trust me when I say you want to read this poem.

Now that I have introduced the poem, let's get to the juicy stuff! Goblin Market invites so many different interpretations and readings. While the poem is about two sisters, naughty Laura and her savior Lizzie, no one knows what's really going on. Rossetti herself has contributed to all the uncertainty surrounding this poem. Upon its original publication, Rossetti stated that it was a poem intended for adult audiences. However, later on, Rossetti claimed that it was a children's poem and that it had always been so. Unreliable author alert! In my mind, there is absolutely no question that this is a poem for adults. The following lines are enough to make me shift in my seat and turn bright red:

"Never mind my bruises,

Hug me, kiss me, suck my juices"

AND

"Eat me, drink me, love me;

Laura, make much of me"

Uhm, I'm sorry, Rossetti, but no one is convinced that this has always been a poem for kids. Now, most young children probably won't quite understand the sexual connotation of the poem, but those of us who have already hit puberty know what's going on here. Another reason I know the truth has to do with my ability to see. I have seen the original illustration printed on the cover of the book of poems from which Goblin Market comes. Take a look at this illustration, done by Rossetti's brother, and tell me what you think:

Well, look what we have here. Two women in a passionate embrace. Oh, what is that I see? Looks like some clothing pulled back to expose skin. Not only is the language of the poem sexually suggestive, the accompanying illustration is naughty, too! The evidence is completely stacked against you, Rossetti. You are a filthy liar!

I'm sorry to call you such a mean name, Rossetti, but you deserve it. You got sisters sucking juices and you expect me to believe you wrote this for a bunch of kids? Get real! Like wise Lizzie, I know better than to buy this lie that you are trying to feed me. 

Books That I Love

These eight books are my favorite books of all time. It's small list and I am definitely missing a bunch, but these are the books that kept me reading for hours and hours without paying any attention to reality. Read my summaries and see if you'd like to check them out yourself!

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov: If you have yet to read this book, then you are a fool. This is my favorite book of all time. I read it my senior year of high school for a project a instantly fell in love. Nabokov is such a fantastic author. It takes serious talent as a writer to make something so creepy and unpleasant sound so damn beautiful. Nabokov uses the most precise language in the most beautiful way to describe this haunting love affair. I am sure you know all about the disturbing relationship between Humbert Humbert and Lolita, so I will spare you on the plot summary. All you really need to know is that Lolita better be at the top of your reading list.

The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides: This is the most recent addition to my list of favorite books. Written in 2011, The Marriage Plot is fresh and new which is why I took to it so well. The story follows three Brown graduates as they head into life after graduation in 1982. Eugenides switches the point of view between the three, which I lovelovelove. This variation in point of view allows readers to understand the story from every angle. If you are or were an English major, I urge you to read this book. It appeals to the pretentious college smart ass within me. You will find yourself Googling every single obscure reference. The Marriage Plot challenged me in much the same way that my favorite teachers challenge me, and that is why I was able to connect with this book on such a deep level.

The Road by Cormac McCarthy: Wow. The Road is in its own league. It is a simple read. McCarthy doesn't waste any time on drawn out syntax or elevated language. Usually, I wouldn't pay any attention to such bland style. However, this style works so well for the depressing post-apocalyptic journey that you read about in this book. You follow a father and his young son as they journey for the sea in a gray and dismal world. Since there is an emptiness in the world, there is a matching sense of emptiness that the bland prose creates.You will read this and want to punch yourself in the face for not being thankful enough for the life that you are living. I wouldn't recommend this for just anyone because it can bore some readers and just make them sad, but it's worth a try!

Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut: Everyone should read Vonnegut at least once in their life. Vonnegut is out there, but he knows things and this is exemplified in Slaughterhouse-Five. The novel follows time-traveling  WWII soldier Billy Pilgrim. I will admit that I didn't always know what was going on, but non-linear time travel can do that to you. I was surprised to find a couple illustrations throughout the book. Weird, right? Like a present for sticking with the book, you get a nice picture of some boobs towards the end. Sure, it's not detailed at all, but it's boobs, nonetheless!  Slaughterhouse is goofy, sad and witty and it's such a great combination. Please, please, please read this book!

1984 by George Orwell: If you haven't read this book by now, then I am sure you dropped out of school in the eighth grade or something. Teachers assign this book like crazy and for a good reason. It is a dystopian novel that will freak you the fuck out. If you didn't fear for the future after reading this, then I have no idea what's wrong with you. I'll spare you the plot summary on this one because I'm sure we all know it well. Nevertheless, I read this book early on in high school and my thinking was drastically altered after doing so. 1984 is important in both a political and literary sense. Read this and read it right now! Big Brother says so!

The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton: I read this in seventh grade and I became obsessed with it. I knew the characters well and I considered them friends of my own. I had a gigantic crush on Johnny and I found myself very angry with the world that he didn't exist. I'm serious. It was creepy of me for sure. I wouldn't call this a literary masterpiece by any means, but that is not why it is so dear to me. After all, S.E. Hinton wrote the book when she was only sixteen out of frustration for the lack of worth-while reads for girls her age in the  60's. That in itself is pretty awesome to me. If you haven't, please read The Outsiders. You'll feel pretty damn tuff after doing so.

Snuff by Chuck Palahniuk: Snuff has got to be the most raunchy novel ever publish and I love that. This is one for the perverts! The book follows a group of characters as they all participate in the effort to make Cassie Wright the record holder for most fornication in one porn movie. The book is absolutely hilarious but absolutely troubling. Palahniuk is a crazy guy, but he knows how to tell a story that holds a readers' attention.   If you read this, which you should, you will find yourself surprised. As the story unfolds, the character relationships will blow your mind. It's a little something like finding out that your best friend's cousin sat next to you in kindergarten, but it is a whole lot more interesting because you have sex and depression thrown into the mix. If you are modest and innocent, please don't touch this book. However, if you aren't squeaky clean, please read this! Your friends will ask you what you are reading, and it will be both fun and awkward to explain that you are reading a book about one porn star's journey to have sex with 600 guys in one movie. A weird moment for sure, but it will be worth it!

Youth in Revolt by C.D. Payne: You may have seen the movie, but I promise that it hardly does the novel any justice. Youth in Revolt is a picaresque novel written in epistolary style following Nick Twisp, a smart ass on the verge of puberty and a world of impending trouble. His world is shaken up when he meets Sheeni Saunders, a gem of intelligence, beauty of sexuality. Throughout the course of the book's 499 pages, Nick gets himself in more trouble than any one individual ever could and it's all so that he can lose his virginity. Nick is such a great character, full of wit teenage angst. C.D. Payne writes with personality and pizazz that makes the 499 pages fly by like the years of your youth. Reading this will make you feel like that awkward tween that you once were. I urge you to read this because Nick Twisp is a character worth loving and his adventures are worth going on!


Well, there you have it, folks! I hope you found at least one new book to read!

Well, here it goes..

Fuck, I wish that I could muster up a better title to the first post of my fancy-pants new blog. This post is special, after all. It marks the beginning of my identity as a more serious blogger and writer. Sure, I have maintained a Tumblr since 2009, but that isn't blogging in its most serious form. Even though I spend plenty of time wishing I was a blogger, I never found it within myself to maintain a real blog. I always had one that sat untouched all by itself within the vast and lonely expanse of internet.

So, here I am, Blogger.com. I am offering myself to you. From this day forward, I'd like to take this much more seriously. Here is a platform for my improvement as a writer. The only time that I ever sit down to really write something is when I am assigned to in class. Other than that, the laureate within me only comes out when I feel like journaling or when I feel like writing a little something on Tumblr. That hardly cuts the mustard! All the time, people ask me if I write. I say that I do, but in all honesty, I really don't. I'd like to put a stop to that lie. That is why I came to you, Blogger.com. You can help me become the writer that I have been pretending to be.

While the title of my first post is lame as all hell, the title of my blog is anything but. I gathered the inspiration from learning about Transcendentalism in my American Literature class. I have been thinking a lot about what it means to transcend. How can one transcend and what does it mean to be transcendent? My reliable pal Merriam Webster told me and I think it's important to cite:

tran·scen·dent

adjective \-dənt\

1

a : exceeding usual limits 

b : extending or lying beyond the limits of ordinary experience

c in Kantian philosophy : being beyond the limits of all possible experience and knowledge

2

: being beyond comprehension

3

: transcending the universe or material existence 

With this blog, I hope to transcend. I want to exceed ordinary limits to levels that are beyond comprehension. For me, there it no better way to be transcendent than to write. The written word is beautiful and powerful. It has done more for me than any material object or fabricated belief ever has. This is not to say that my writing is transcendent itself and superior. As an individual looking to improve herself, I feel that the best way to transcend is to write.

And with this, I wrap up my first blog post. It's a bit rough thus far, I know. Becoming a successful and transcendent blogger will take time, so please be patient and enjoy my blog.