Prezzzzziiii

Man, I only now learned about this, so decided to step back on doing the layout and presentation, but there is definitely some cool stuff you can do with this...

Alrighty, here ya go :)

Prezzziii

There Will Be Blood

So, finally, after 15 chapters, the praised, fearless, passionate, calculating Bakayoko makes his return, into the midst of the conflict.
Overall, I think he is my favorite character. He is imperfectly good, and able to bring progress, in conflict, while showing no emotional attachment at all. In total, he just seems to be extremely necessary. It was interesting to see the calm, quiet beginning to his appearance, leading into a display of the power and the passion fueling his ideas and actions, during the negotiations. Displayed too, are some of his flaws of character, principally his arrogance and his lack of self control.
In short, Bakayoko is portrayed as both savior and trigger, in simple terms someone able and determined to make things better but, because of his passion and his temper, unable to help making things worse.
Hero, anti-hero, and neutral force to be reckoned with. 

The march of the women seemed to be a sort of temporary climax to the influence that the women are holding in the story, yet filled with tragedy.There are the deaths of Penda and Samba, both of which are viewed by those on the march as martyrdoms. Yet, they are the latest in a series of deaths that begins in chapter two with the accidental death of Maimouna's unnamed second twin and that continues with the deaths of Hiakoro, Houdia M'Baye and even Sounkare. The thematic and narrative suggestion here is that there is no price too high to pay for freedom, and as such I can't help but think of the futility of the entire situation.

It appears as if death will be the victor, regardless of any outcome.

Quick shameless plug

Just another quick link to my soundcloud. Have 2 new tracks up: a remix of Turbulence (by Steve Aoki) and a new original. Check it out! Thanks :)

Running Wild

Still, I am surprised by the book, in a positive way. Here is to hoping that there are no more let-downs.
The entire episode of the apprentices was of high note to me. While this was also a large part of the discussion in class, the importance of the destruction of modern inventions/man made things stood out to me while reading. Since we covered this to a large extent, I won't repeat the arguments, but I do believe that the main intent here was to display the fragility of modern rule, and especially the french rule in africa. (I would not necessary think this was supposed to be applied universally.) 

The next chapter I found equally as interesting, mainly because it displayed what can be considered one of the pivotal aspects of cultural interaction. Especially in this context, when reality was brutal domination, it is fairly interesting to see attempts, or at least thoughts, of peaceful interaction. The specific part of the narration that interested me here was the reaction that ensued after Pierrot expresses his wishes. The extreme disdain towards so much as the idea of this, that is expressed from the guests is one thing, but the reaction that caught my attention more was that of Leblanc. While we are not given much detail of his interactions, only the rejection he received, it still displays an interesting aspect to the brutal nature of colonization, which is explored so often in this novel. It raises a question of whether or not the brutal domination is necessary to accomplish this process of cultural merging. However, this is a much larger question.

Overall, still looking forward to the development of the story, interested to see which arc they continue next.

Chapters 11 and 12, still diggin it

Still no change in my enjoyment of this book. Although these chapters are much calmer, at least in comparison to the giant outburst of emotions and flames in the last few, the story continues to keep me captivated. What I did not expect to capture me as much was the tale of Penda. While it seemed to be a rather uninteresting story of a return into a different life. Yet, her aggressiveness, which she pertains while remaining fairly insensitive captivated me to great pleasure. The entirety of her conflict adds a next level of discourse into the society (as if there weren't enough). As such, she appears to interact with most of the groups. Her hatred for men (which I found interesting since she herself cannot answer the question why she hates them so much, at least not directly), her taking control of the women, and her aiding in the distribution of the food; all this serves to create an interesting character, and I look forward to the continuation of her story.

Chapter 12, I found to be of small importance, as I did not see too much depth in the conflict/interaction present. It was (to me) a fairly base interaction between a union leader and a french official, pertaining to the integrity of the union leadership, and the strength (or lack thereof) of the french government (due to them having to reach out to the union workers, in order to achieve anything.)
While this story did not capture my interest as much as the one of chapter 11, it still did not avert my interest and liking for the book.

Also, new track up on soundcloud:
http://soundcloud.com/necr0step/turbulencenecr0/s-u3CiN

Remixxxxxx :D

Wow.. I stand SO corrected.

Wow... All this time, I've been complaining. I've been whining. I've been a pretentious, argumentative .....
Well....
I must say, I am just about over the verge of change. I am now genuinely enjoying the novel. (And that is not just because you did not appreciate my blog posts of the last quarter, Mr. Brammer....)
Honestly, the story, especially in these last two chapters (which I suppose I read more carefully since I had to present them) just takes a turn for awesome, exciting, intriguing. Put it how you like. The entire situation during the conflict in the streets, the fires, the aftermath, the reactions... In the beginning of this blog, I started going off on how the novel focused too much on what I believed to be superficial, and extraneous (the strike, the lives of the women in the community). I now realize the foolishness of this point. The strike, the lives of the women, all this is the most vital, most paramount part to life, at this specific time. The entire outburst of emotion, from someone as reserved as N'Deye Touti, who embraced the French culture, and who appeared to be a link, holding on to what she held dear, yet open to change, she is absolutely enraged, infuriated even, by the disappointment she feels at the remarks of some petty soldiers. It is (as said in class) a sort of brutality, which pulls her into the madness that is the realization of human base, and vile nature. This alone could make for pages, upon pages of argument.
Then, the story of the lone, and proud watchman. Holy hell... I would make that into a movie in an instant. Well, maybe not... very little movies with dying protagonists do well. But I mean come on?!?! The struggle between grace and death, honor and basic instincts, along with the tragedy of ending up as food? Man, that scene was just awesomely interesting.
So yeah, I suppose no more criticizing attitude, and sassy comments... Mostly shock and awe. Let's hope this continues in the fashion...
Also, I might start promoting my music through this blog... Will see if can't finish another track by next week. I feel as if my life consists of school, FL studio, and sleep.
Alrighty, time to make some beats flow.

beepboopBOOOM
Much more appropriate, don't ya think? :)