Allegory of the Cave

      Truth is beauty and beauty truth...unless of course you're sitting chained in a cave facing the wall. In this allegory, the shadows viewed on a daily basis by the prisoners is their life and therefor their reality, and truth. But when one is freed, he enters the light and sees the direct causes of the reality in which he and his fellow captives have been subject to. His true reality now becomes a false reality, as he views reality unmasked. Truth is only perceived and can differ person to person. Truth is not a tangible reliable fact because truth is never definite and real. Reality is real and reality masks truth and falsehood equally. To state everything clearly, as this is a complicated matter, reality is true, but the truth is not the reality.
      For example, I go to a restaurant and order the Chef Surprise Special. I rave about my delicious meal and ask what it was. The chef says its a tender cut of lamb sauteed in something etc. The next day I hear my friend talk about how he saw a TV show where they ate rats. "Gross", I say. "I never would eat rat, I only eat tender lamb sauteed in something." Well, little do I know that the chef ran out of lamb yesterday and in a panic, put some rat traps by the dumpster and called the dish of the day the Chef Surprise Special. Here, the reality is I DO eat rat, but the truth in my mind is I DO NOT. My truth is not my reality, but my reality is true. The same goes for the cave prisoners, and the same goes for the world. Truth is perception. Reality is, of course, real and the two react off each other.

In Between Books

I am in between books and was talking to my mom when she mentioned that C. S. Lewis was known as a christian writer. My first reaction was to say "Nope" but then I thought this might have some validity so I went to the best source...Narnia. Skimming through The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe last night, I certainly did see how people could think this. Most obviously, the lion reminds me of Rastafarianism, the lion representing power, a symbol of H. I. M., known as Jesus. The white witch enchanting Edmund rings of Jesus' tempting in the desert. Then BOOM. Adam and Eve enter the book. By now I'm convinced and skimming on I come to more hints. The book ends with Aslan breathing life into the world after giving his life for the cause. Well, I guess C. S. Lewis was a christian writer, you just never see it as a child.

Hunger Games

The Hunger Games have been talked about for so long and the movies coming out soon so I figured I needed to keep up with the trend. And it was definately a page turner but  at the very end I felt it lacked a reaction on my part. After such a dramatic book, where you had to step into their world to understand the action and the means for doing it, I came away empty handed. Maybe the ending was too predictable, but throughout the book I never thought ahead, I stayed in the moment. Whatever pizazz the Hunger Games lacked in an ending though it made up for it in the rest of the book. Slightly chick flicky, but all in all a good idea.

Hmmmm A Draught of Sunshine

I began typing thinking I would write about a book I bought on iTunes because it was free....well I know why its free. So Anyways I think I'll explicate a poem because I found and interesting one and need to work on poetry studies.
A Draught of Sunshine by Keats
"My bowl is the sky,
And I drink at my eye,
Till I feel in the brain
A Delphian pain -
Then follow, my Caius! then follow:
On the green of the hill
We will drink our fill
Of golden sunshine,
Till our brains intertwine
With the glory and grace of Apollo!"
This poem is filled with Greek references which I find appealing because I went to Greece and went to Delphi, to the temple where the famous oracle was. Apparently there is a methane gas leak underneath the temple which might have contributed to the vague predictions, leading to Keats's "Delphian pain". Keats spends the first six lines of the poem disowning drink, saying happiness does not need to arise from that. He transitions into "drinking" from his eye and other descriptions which bring stark images into ones mind. This poem seems to reflect the Ode To A Grecian Urn. It speaks of the beauty of the culture and what Keats wants himself and the world to remember.

Lamb The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal

I picked up this book expecting to find another hilarious read from Christopher Moore, and it was to a certain extent, but then I felt his need to not offend and his desire to please all audiences hindered this. Comedians can't please everyone, somebody has got to be insulted. This book did that, and in those times when our standard characters, like angels, start screaming at a TV while watching wrestling....yes, it was funny. But when the book began to take a serious side towards the end of Jesus' life, I felt that the author felt he couldn't entertain further and the book began to feel like deja vu (yes I know the gospel stories, I don't need to hear them again). The scene where a guard is stabbed is very Monty Python-esc. Allusions like this appear throughout the book, and although mostly lighthearted and enjoyable, I felt the serious sides did not pander to the comedy I expected. I'd end with a quote but the closest funny one is a bit inappropriate.

Aha The Davinci Code. I had heard all the hype about the book but had never read it so decided to take a peek over the christmas break. And it was interesting and enjoyable until the ending. Although a highly unrealistic book it did have intriguing ideas, of treasures which must exist because of lore hidden within our midst. The journey to find the grail was far from an epic but was very entertaining until the finale of the book. The ending seemed to be written in haste, wrapped up not in sync with the novels flow, and was a large disappointment. I found the grail being in the location where the hunt began to be a childish notion, and the reuniting of the family was similarly so. First half of the book gets five stars. Ill ignore the ending.

Fool

My most recent book choice is an enjoyable light read. Fool is a satirical take on Shakespeare's King Lear.  I was feeling like a deserved a break from the mind boggling passages of Hamlet, and these light, bantering soliloquys make this book a page turner. At the same time as reading this, I have reread as I Lay Dying, which makes me appreciate Fool even more.