What is Literature?

For this week’s assignment we had to read five stories and refer back to the discussion we had about what is literature. All these stories were very different, but all of them had something comical to them. But while being comical they brought out multiple feelings that made me see them all very differently. In the next few paragraphs, I will talk about my feelings toward the pieces, and why I believe they are literature.

I actually really enjoyed George Saunders’ “Sea Oak”. I like how Sanders was not afraid to be real and at the same time unreal and over exaggerated. It’s a good mix. It also brought a very satirical feel to the whole peace. I found the main character’s job humorous, and wondered if there was an actually place like that. If there is not, my mind my now believes there is. Though I really doubt I would ever want to go to a restaurant where the men were pretty much naked. The place reminded me of Hooters, and I really bloody hate Hooters. Though, I have heard they have good chicken wings. The dialect made me believe they were not from a fortunate family. That made them and the area they lived in seem more real, but at the same time it was extremely stereotypical and filled of hyperbole. And to me it was literature because I got more than just pleasure from this story. Though it was pleasurable. I liked how it changed the cliché story about the American Dream, because not everyone who works hard gets everything. After reading this story I felt more dedicated to my future. I did not want to end up like a zombie who came back to life because she never did anything.

I actually did not like Wells Towers’ “Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned”. I was lost through out it. The mix of modern language, dragons, and what I assume were Vikings was just not my cup of tea. I did like a lot of the dialogue and found it filled of irony and humor, but it only made me like it a bit. After the workshop, when I understood a little more into the detail of it, I began to appreciate it more. Since while I was reading it I did not realize that it was a satire. I feel extremely stupid that I did not. The point is that now that I understand that is a satire about the recent war in Iraq: I like it. I now understand how it is literature, because it is more than just a satire. It is about a guy doing something he does not like, because if he does not he will feel inferior and since he believes it is his duty.

I liked A.M. Homes’ “Do Not Disturb”, because it strays from the cliché cancer story. Since in most cancer stories, the person with cancer becomes a completely new person. She or he allows all the good to flow to top, and does some extreme acts of kindness. Since cancer has opened his or her eyes. But in this story the cancer patient, who was a complete bitch before, becomes only a bigger bitch. This is also changes the cliché role of the love interest in a cancer story. Since usually they are heart broken over the fact that the love of their life is going to die, but this guy is heartbroken that he has to stay. Yet at the same time there is part of him that would be shattered if he did actually leave. And he really does not want to be the douche bag that leaves her. Though in the end he attempts to leave, but he becomes paralyzed. It’s ironic, but they were not cliché relationship to begin with. She was the caregiver, the doctor, and he was the housewife, the patient. So when she gets cancer the roles are reversed, and they don’t how react to this. It’s probably why she becomes a bigger bitch, and why he just wants to get away. Since before their relationship worked, for them, and after it was not confortable. This story is literature because it changes the roles in what would usually be a cliché story. It makes you think and actually feel sorry for the husband.

Now Mark Richard’s “Gentlemen’s Agreement” touched my heart, sort of. Though, I will admit, that there were parts where I was completely lost. I liked how the author portrayed innocence in the story. Since when you’re a kid the simple little games and acts make you happy, but adults, who know best, always have to ruin the fun. Though they usually have a reason for it. Since in the end if you keep throwing rocks one might crack your head open. It’s kind of like those old tales that have a moral, but with a weird twist. I would classify it as literature because it had a moral, and you can relate to it.

Aimee Bender’s “The Girl in the Flammable Skirt” was my favorites from this week’s reading, because I could actually really relate to it. Since I always have those bizarre tragic thoughts of what could happen to me and my family in the future. This also connects with the part at the end about the girl that gave this story its title. Since whenever I hear about a disaster story like that I just wonder about what the person was thinking. I also loved the plot of it, because it jumped to scene to scene. It also jumped to some random bits that actually made the story more interesting. I liked her relationship with her parents, because my father also has disabilities, but his only makes him crazier and unapproachable. I liked how it seemed like her father was okay with joking around with his own disability, but when she joked about disabilities, in general, she would get in trouble. It makes her father more real, because I know my father gets angry when I even say one thing about his problems. I also enjoyed her relationship with her lover boy. Since in a way their households are complete opposites, but at the same time they are not normal and that makes them quite similar. Even how both houses are quiet, but in quite different ways: “I imagine in Paul’s house everybody is running around in their underwear, and the air is so thick with bourbon your skin tans from it. He says no; he says the truth is it’s more a pointy silence, he says. A lighter one with sharper prinks. He say’s in his house there are moisture rings making Olympian patterns on every possible wooden surface.” I can keep adding bullet points, because this story has so many attributes. It has to literature, because if it’s not I don’t know what is. It was more than just a pleasure for me. It was something I could relate to and understand. I guess it is one of those stories that takes you somewhere else, but at the same time brings you deeper into reality.