Hypocrisy at its finest

I did not read my book for class last night.  Seriously, I didn't read it.  And it wasn't because I didn't have time -- we had spring break last week -- and it wasn't because I had too much to do.  I mean, I was busy.  I've been lucky enough to sub every day for three straight weeks -- taking off today was a choice (Anthony and I have special plans today) -- and I started my second job last week, so I did have a lot going on.  But it was simply because reading that book would have been a ridiculous waste of my time.  I hate to say that, because in general I enjoy school and reading and discussion, but I refused to waste my time on this assignment.

The assignment at hand was to read Tarr, a novel by Wyndham Lewis I bitched about in my last entry.  In all fairness I tried to read the first chapter, but by the end of it I still had NO idea what the eff was going on.  Online summaries (there are about 2, and both stink, by the way) were not overly helpful, so I decided to do something I rarely ever do and neglect to read the book.  I openly admitted that to anyone who asked that I hadn't read it, but really, we spent half of class discussing the novel, and now we're done with it.  That's it.  Less than 2 hours of my life.  Am I glad I didn't read it?  You bet.  And I wasn't the only one.  Thank goodness for Ben, a fellow graduate student that I met in class last semester.  Of the 4 people (myself included) from last semester's class who sit in the very back row, he was the only one who read the book.  Danielle and I skipped it, and Beth wasn't even in class.  What a great use of my money.

Don't get me wrong; I enjoy grad school, I like the other students in my program, and I like both professors I've had so far.  What I do not enjoy is being mixed in with undergraduate students who are pretentious and not that smart.  I know I was one of them just a few years ago, but it's frustrating to be in a class and not get to discuss certain aspects of novels/poetry because they aren't at that level.

Anyway, I didn't read the book.  And I still participated in the discussion and got positive feedback from my professor.  I may not have directly commented on the novel itself, but I added to class.  Ahhh, the art of bullshitting.

I learned how to bullshit my way through a discussion in high school when I didn't read Babbitt (which I think I mentioned last entry).  I still got an A on the final paper and pulled out some solid comments during a discussion, but I never actually read the book.  As a teacher, it drives me crazy when students don't read for class.  Hypocrisy?  I don't want to go that far.  Even when I've refused to read something -- or honestly just didn't have the time -- I still prepare myself for class.  I'll read summaries and author bios, even read critical analysis to make sure I at least can follow the conversation and lecture.  Does that make me a bad student?  Or does that simply make me the best kind of student?  (Obviously I like to think of myself as a pretty fantastic student, but really, can I be both in this situation?)

I don't like to think about how much money I pay for these classes when I'm refusing to read something for class, but maybe that's why I act this way.  I'm paying a decent amount of money for this class, and I'm not going to waste my time on something pointless.  As long as it doesn't come back to haunt me, anyway.

Tarr and Jane Slayre: An Easy Decision

I read a book for fun last week.  No, seriously, I did.  This is an exciting moment!  This week La Salle is on Spring break, so my class tonight is cancelled.  Well, I guess it's not cancelled, but it's more non-existent, since it was never scheduled in the first place.  Watching my words!  Anyway, since class is cancelled (thank goodness) I decided that I could take a breather from working on my paper and spend some time reading a book I picked up on the bargain shelf at Barnes and Nobel -- Jane Slayre.  Now, before you jump to conclusions, although the author is clearly using the popularity of books like Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, she's not part of those publications.  I haven't read any of the Jane Austen style books (even though I love zombies) because I can't stand Jane Austen (see early posting Jane-Austen-Phobia from September of 2010 for more information).  Jane Eyre, though, is one of my favorite books, so a Jane who stakes vampyres?  PARTY.

Strangely enough, although I really did love the book -- if you're a Bronte fan, and enjoy a good parody, I'd suggest it-- it reminded me of the one Austen book I didn't hate.  Actually, it was the only Austen book I ever finished, but really, Jane Slayre reminded me a little of Northhanger Abbey because of all the supernatural elements.  Interesting!  And although it was a fun, quick read (really, 2 days and I was finished.  If anyone wants to borrow, let me know) I started thinking about literary merit.  Grad school is warping my brain.

But really -- how much credit should I give the author?  It was Charlotte Bronte's story, and some sections are essentially word-for-word.  Should she even be given the title of author?  The plot of the story was mostly intact, but it was lacking all of the symbolism from the original. It wasn't literature anymore, but fluff.  Yes, if you really wanted to enjoy the book, reading the original was necessary, but there was nothing to analyze, nothing to discuss, no deeper meaning.  It really just made me want to read Jane Eyre.

You know, with all the free time I have. 

I did originally toy with a paper topic that would allow me to use Jane, but instead I'm sticking with just James Joyce, which brings me to topic two of this post.  Has anyone read Tarr?  In case you are wondering what Tarr is all about, here's a link to the Wikipedia paragraph about the novel.  It's a modernist novel by a guy I know only through his mention in A Moveable Feast.  Hemingway hated him.  And since I love Hemingway, I wasn't thrilled to see Wyndham Lewis on my grad class syllabus.  There is only one other novel I refused to read, but I might have to add another book to the list.  I couldn't even get through two pages today without wanting to throw the book across the room.  It's not that it's confusing, I just have no desire to waste my time on a book that even our professor said wouldn't make any sense.

Over it.

I enjoy challenging literature.  I like to think analytically and critically about my reading.  I do not like to feel  patronized, or like the literature I read isn't on a level high enough.  I don't enjoy pretentious literature.  We had to look at an excerpt from Finnegan's Wake in class the other day.  Pretentious. No one can honestly say they enjoy that.

Although, I have a blog about literature.  Maybe I'm the pretentious one.

And, in case it was bothering you, the other book I refused to read was Babbitt in 10th grade Humanities. And in my defense, almost the entire class was in the library sparknote-ing the book before class for about 3 straight weeks.  I don't think anyone read the book...