Court
Found this by surprise while working in an elementary school. I had read Love That Dog when I was a kid and recall feeling lukewarm about it, but it was surprisingly enjoyable. Not sure if it was because this topic was not the mourning of a pet but of opening up oneself to a new pet or if now reading it as an adult who works with kids Jack seemed so authentic. I also was very interested in the mentioning of Jack's mother's deafness and his uncle who is snooty about poetry.
I am often picky about poetry so I appreciated that this was a story told through poems rather than separate poems in a book.
Vampires, Jerry Bad Day, Battle Rickale, Rick Air, and bonus shorts: Rick Salon, extra Jerry, MortyCast, Jerry's right, Morty Court,
Vampires were okay, I think Morty would have been better as a werewolf, haha.
Jerry Bad Day was good. Rather liked Battle Rickale, battle royal with silly transformations (made me think of Hunger Games). Loved how Rick shared the wafers with Morty in Rick Air as well as the characters Party Dog and Smash bot.
Extra Jerry made me laugh and appreciated the connection to Jerry's Right. Also liked that Rick Salon and Morty Court connected, and that Rick kept the coat.
I'm not sure how to feel about this one. It discusses concepts (without using the terms) such as rigid thinking and sensory overload.
I did like the ‘what about you?' questions that popped up as I feel that they can foster empathy and understanding, but wished it had also addressed the concept of rigid thinking for the reader.
Did not appreciate the ‘different planet' comment; did appreciate ‘don't expect him or her to “grow out of it”.
I had been warned that this was not [a:Madeline Miller 176372 Madeline Miller https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1322861610p2/176372.jpg], but I read it anyway because I love Greek mythology. I thought I would love to hear Ariadne's character and story fleshed out. Ariadne, the character of Greek myth has all these interesting relations: a princess of Crete, granddaughter of the sun AND Zeus, brother to the Minotaur, her mother is cursed with madness and some legends say her father was cursed by Pasiphae, knows Daedalus (the brilliant mind behind the labyrinth and the wax wings for Icarus, his son), leads Theseus to slay the Minotaur, and wife of Dionysus. Other relations of interest but not sure if they crossed paths: cousin to Medea, niece of Circe. Also she is associated with dance. This seems like a fantastic character one could build on and have fantastic ties into other myths, but I felt that Saint's characterization of Ariadne was ...bland? Phaedra, whom I did not expect to be sharing a large part of the story, was ...annoying? Annoying does not balance out bland. It's sad that the most interesting thing about Saint's Ariadne is that she's related to all these fascinating other myths and people. In the beginning Daedalus gives Ariadne a gold necklace of a bee. This could have been an interesting tie in with her brother Glaucus who has a myth about drowning in honey and later being brought back to life, but no.I did think that the story of the constellation was done well. Pasiphae's madness is well done, and her curse on Minos is sort of alluded to.I was sad that Phaedra's ending was rushed, I had read Euripides' play Hippolytus and enjoyed it, but without the mention or presence of Aphrodite it pissed me off. Especially since I recall Ariadne being mad at how the gods curse women with inappropriate attraction LIKE WHAT HAPPENED TO HER MOTHER. Also the only god in the story it Dionysus, why? He's decently written at times, but it does seem a little odd that he's the only immortal in the entire book where Greek gods are known for showing up whenever and however they want.
The drawings are fantastic. However it is a pet peeve of mine to further the idea of feeding carrots to rabbits. I understand that they like them, but it's easy to overdo and the sugar content isn't good for them without other things in their diet. I disliked Miss Tilly's poetry and how she let Marshmallows chew on everything, even a lamp cord apparently. Sigh she also says that rabbits are silent, rabbits can scream and it's disturbing.
I liked this one, probably because I love Futurama's Godfellas episode and appreciate a little surrealism/absurdism. Donald Barthelme lists Kafka as an influence of his writings.
"I learned something—don't play God. A lot of other people already knew that, but I have never doubted for a minute that a lot of other people are smarter than me, and figure things out quicker, and have grace and statistical norms on their side."
read at: https://wheaties3030.tripod.com/emerald.html
I'll admit that I don't fully understand this short story, but I there aspects that I like.
Such as the group of oddly named characters that seem like they're about to go on a heist and then the reader finds out that the Emerald is sentient
"The noble, noble oboe! Of course it's not to every taste. Not everyone swings with the oboe. Whoops! Goddamn oboe let me take that again. Not perhaps the premier instrument of the present age. What would that be? The bullhorn, no doubt."Perhaps a comment on the loud, brash commentary that is sometimes passed off as "news".
