Beginning a new Book

Black Swan Green has definitely been the book I was excited to read all semester since I have been getting amazing reviews of it since the list of books needed for this course went out. While I enjoyed Catcher in the Rye, and can easily say it was my favorite of the books in this class yet, I think it has met its match with this novel.

I think the main reason I love this book is that dialogue is extremely well crafted and that the plot line itself is something I find pretty interesting. I like that in the first few chapters we are not told right away what hangman or maggot or other personalities of Jason actually are. You have to catch on by yourself. I like this because it makes me feel less like Jason is telling us a story and more like he is living it for himself. Speaking of Jason, as soon as I started reading, I loved his narrative voice. He reminds me of Holden, like we stated in class, but also just a bit like Stephen in the way that he likes to watch and observe.

Another reason why I liked this book is that I feel like this book is going to discuss more on changing and "coming of age" for yourself vs changing and "coming of age" to fit in with someone else. In the first couple of chapters we see several characters alter themselves so someone else will like them better and I wonder if this will become a theme throughout the book. I had never really thought that coming of age was not for yourself, so I am excited to see where this book takes it.

Lastly, in terms of humor, I absolutely love Julia as a character. She knows exactly what to say at the right time and has a massive skill at throwing shade that can be easily overlooked. I think she is a sharp contrast to who Jason is. She is confident and knows who she is and what she wants, while Jason is still figuring it out. This might be because of age difference, but I think Jason could learn something from his sister. So far, I am finding this book to be one I am enjoying and I am excited to see where it goes.

Sylvie's Impact

Throughout discussion, many people have said (or possibly thought) that Sylvie was a good guardian in the way that she allowed Ruth to be free and to develop into whoever she wanted to be, which, coincidentally, was basically who Sylvie was. But I don't think that this happened because that's what Ruth always wanted. Even though in the book it is shown that Lucille is that one that wants the structure and to follow the rules, I think that Ruth wants a bit of that too. As much as she developed without outside pressure on Sylvie's part, I think that she wanted a parental figure as much as Lucille did, and so she chose to copy Sylvie and become like her. She found structure in being able to emulate someone close to her, even if that wasn't consciously, Sylvie was a big part of Ruth's life and so obviously as a result she was a large influence. I am not saying this is a bad thing (even though I probably could not live like this) I am just saying that the reason Ruth and Sylvie are so alike is because Ruth wanted it to be that way. In her early childhood she didn't have an adult she could rely on, so as soon as she met Sylvie, I think she attached herself to her. However, her personality is differently different than Lucille's and I think that she probably would have had a kind of go with the flow attitude no matter what, I just think that it was brought to the extreme with Sylvie in her life.

On the other hand, I don't think that Lucille would have grown up to be as prissy and lonely or whatever as she is at the end the novel without the influence of Sylvie. She took it to the opposite extreme as Ruth did, and while she probably would have grown up to be one of those people that enjoyed order and rules, I think she would have been a bit more free spirited had she grown up in a conventional household. She might have even enjoyed breaking the rules and being a rebel once in a while, but I guess we'll never know. So anyway I think my point is that while Sylvie may have allowed Ruth and Lucille to be free and grow up mostly on their own, they were definitely shaped and affected by her presence.