Responce "To After That" part 2

After reading Gladman's book I started wondering. Through out the whole book she talked about how she had so much trouble writing books and how she ran out of things to talk about. This really shocked me because how was it that she could write a whole novel talking about a another novel, but not write one? It seems to me that she could have easily cruised through a book. In addition, Gladman used so much detail just describing her previous attempts. This also made me wonder why she didn't just use that for her failed novel.

The details that Gladman uses are endless. I believe she could have wrote plenty of Novels or Novella's. I fell that all the stories she used in "To After That," she could have made a story out of it. For example when she talks about people using cell phones. She could have turned that into a whole novel. I think it would have been interesting coming from her because she had such a dislike of people with cell phones.

The last thing I wonder about Gladman's Novel was why none of her Novella were ever published, but a book about them was? That was really odd to me because I feel like her actual book would be more interesting then talking about the book. Even though "To After That" was informative and detailed, it was boring. There really wasn't any point to it, nor was there any rising action like a story would have to keep the reader interested. I feel like I was reading every page hoping for it to be the last.

Overall Gladman's novel was nice. I would be really interested in reading a novella of hers if one was to ever come out.

To After That

When I first start reading Gladman's book, she start off talking about her poems that she had written and how she wrote them. She begin talking about how she begin writing and how it was like an addition for her. She also talked about how it was hard for her to find titles to certain poems. That is why I think she titled this one "To After That." I sure it has some meaning though.

Gladman talked about how she always wrote no matter where she was at or what she was doing. She even explained about a time that she was writing her poems on a napkin and she combined it to what she already wrote and had about 25 pages. Later on in the book she talks about how she doesn't like cell phones. When I read this I was kind of shocked, because  was thinking who isn't in love with cellular phones. Personally i can't live without mines.

I really like Gladman's work ethic, because she loves to write. It seems as if writing keeps her moving in life just as a heart keeps people living. You can tell that Gladman is really dedicated and what she does and has a lot of drive.

Mystery Stories

My favorite poem in the fiction one packet was the mystery stories. I really enjoyed reading these because all the poems seemed to tell a short story of some sort. They were all three to four lines long, but they gave a vivid detail of the topic.

All of the poems were funny to me, and some of them were odd. My favorite one was "The Talking Cat." This one was funny to me because it seemed as if the cat was jealous of the women. I also thought it was funny how the author turned the cat into a human being. The one that was odd to me is "poetry." It seems as if it was pointless to write a poem about. It just seemed dead ended to me.

I think the author titled this poem "Mystery Stories," because every poem the author wrote is a mystery. Every person could interpret each poem a different way and also create their own story to it. I think the author wanted the reader to create/finish the story.

The stanza that really got me thinking the most is "The Red Coats." I was contemplating on how the jacket changed colors and why the person wore two coats to the party. It really doesn't make sense, and it seems as if there is no answer to it. It's almost as if you have to make up you're own story, which is why I think it's a mystery.

Blood Dazzler

The book Blood Dazzler, by Patricia Smith was very interesting. I never read of book of poems that all talks about previous events. So I really enjoyed reading the short poems. What I really liked about Smith's writing though, was the fact the she turned hurricane Katrina into an actual person. The gave the hurricane emotions and feelings and that's what really drew me in on this book.

I liked the way Smith referenced her poems to previous poems and told a story. She gave insight on different aspects of what was happening during the hurricane. She even went into lives of certain people. As I read the poems from a specific person, I wonder if they were made up people or if the author new them personally .

One of my favorite poems in the book was "Ethel's Sestina." This one caught my eye because of the variety of details. When I read this poem I felt as if I was there watching a lady in a wheelchair be left to die. I felt as if I could be in her skin and know deep down inside that no one was coming to rescue her.

Another poem that really caught my eye was "Their Savior was me." I like this one because the author turned "Katrina" into a person who was jealous of "God" in my perception.  The reason she caused all this destruction, destroyed all the home, took all them lives is because no one called her name and preyed to her. She was jealous at the fact they called God when they were in need. Overall, I just love the idea Smith used to put emotions to a hurricane. It was really clever.