On libraries and essays, and Oleanna: A Play
Its been another of days when nothing much of note has happened. I attended Quiz squad practice on Monday which was my first practice as squad captain. The usual suspects turned up and it pretty interesting. Tuesday was another typically unproductive day, though I did go and watch Oleanna at the Burton-Taylor which was a really interesting play, centering on the theme of power, and that of the role of education and the relationship between that of the teacher and the student.
It was interesting to see how the power shifted from the teacher to the student as the play progressed, in particular in each of the three acts. The charge of 'sexual harassment' also has a great deal of current relevance given the accusations made against Harold Bloom by Naomi Wolf, and the idea of censorship through political correctness has never been more blatant than with regards to the recent shaming of Larry Summers, the president of Harvard over his supposed sexist remarks about women having lesser abilities in some academic fields. Certainly, I found the dialogue to be crackling and the acting was superb. More than ever, Oleanna is a play of our time.
Other than that I have been working on an essay on the causes of the First World War which is really quite fascinating. Despite the fact that the topic is wonderfully interesting, I have had difficulty focusing and just getting down to writing the essay. I have been saying this for a long time but I am going to definitely try and start working in libraries more as there seems to be less distraction there. I managed some quite productive work when I was taking notes in the Middle Eastern Institute library the other day.
Currently reading: The Ascent of Rum Doodle in keeping with my mountaineering theme. Its a very British satire about a group of incompetents who are attempting to conquer the highest mountain in the world. The humour is very British and certainly quite dry, but it must be admitted that the author attempts to sustain a very thin conceit and parody for a long time. Lots of the jokes are repeated, such as that of champagne being used for 'medicinal purposes' and the expedition scout repeatedly getting lost and going round in circles, but this book certainly is very funny. It is the type of novel that is so unassumingly written, so completely off the boil, that one cannot help but succumb to its quirky humour. Though not "one of the funniest books ever" as Bill Bryson so charitably ascribes it in his introduction, it is definitely a book I enjoyed, and indeed anyone with any interest in mountaineering or expeditions will as well.
It was interesting to see how the power shifted from the teacher to the student as the play progressed, in particular in each of the three acts. The charge of 'sexual harassment' also has a great deal of current relevance given the accusations made against Harold Bloom by Naomi Wolf, and the idea of censorship through political correctness has never been more blatant than with regards to the recent shaming of Larry Summers, the president of Harvard over his supposed sexist remarks about women having lesser abilities in some academic fields. Certainly, I found the dialogue to be crackling and the acting was superb. More than ever, Oleanna is a play of our time.
Other than that I have been working on an essay on the causes of the First World War which is really quite fascinating. Despite the fact that the topic is wonderfully interesting, I have had difficulty focusing and just getting down to writing the essay. I have been saying this for a long time but I am going to definitely try and start working in libraries more as there seems to be less distraction there. I managed some quite productive work when I was taking notes in the Middle Eastern Institute library the other day.
Currently reading: The Ascent of Rum Doodle in keeping with my mountaineering theme. Its a very British satire about a group of incompetents who are attempting to conquer the highest mountain in the world. The humour is very British and certainly quite dry, but it must be admitted that the author attempts to sustain a very thin conceit and parody for a long time. Lots of the jokes are repeated, such as that of champagne being used for 'medicinal purposes' and the expedition scout repeatedly getting lost and going round in circles, but this book certainly is very funny. It is the type of novel that is so unassumingly written, so completely off the boil, that one cannot help but succumb to its quirky humour. Though not "one of the funniest books ever" as Bill Bryson so charitably ascribes it in his introduction, it is definitely a book I enjoyed, and indeed anyone with any interest in mountaineering or expeditions will as well.
posted by Caleb Liu | 3:48 PM
1 Comments:
This is in my reading packet for school.
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