Revised 600 Word Blog

The Liar's Club, by Mary Karr, is full of imagery and symbolism. She uses an almost obnoxious amount of description, perhaps to make the reader feel as though they are right there with her. One of the possible underlying themes in this book is suffering, because she refers to it many times throughout. Karr not only tells us of her family's suffering, but also shows us that each member kept their pain bottled up inside, hiding it from the others.

When Mary's mother has a complete and utter break down, things get pretty messy. She begins to burn all of Mary and Lecia's toys, right before their eyes. While this is occurring, the girls not only don't throw any sort of tantrum, like most kids their age would, they sit and watch it all happen. "I can't protest anymore, and I can see that Lecia has been scooped pretty empty too. We are in the grip of some big machine grinding us along. The force of it simplifies everything. A weird calm has settled over me from the inside out" (152). Watching their mother go crazy would be hard in itself, but when she is also burning all of their possessions, should have been unbearable. But the two young girls just stand by and watch, not saying a word or shedding a tear.

The girls were not the only ones who kept their feelings to themselves. Their parents were much the same, which may have been where they came to believe that was the right way to do things. When Mary's parents first announced that they were getting a divorce, it was much different than the usual, painful scene that usually comes with news of that sort. "On the other end of the couch, Mother stayed dry-eyed. That's no testament to how she felt, mind you. Maybe she held down a wellspring of ache, maybe not. She wasn't really there, or course. The enormous screwdriver had taken her Away, which was its purpose" (192). In this instance, just like the other one, its baffling that no one is as upset as they should be, at least on the outside. Just as Mary said, her mother may have been torn up about the divorce, but she never once showed it. Alcohol may have aided in covering up her feelings, but it left the girls somewhat wondering if she even cared at all.

These are just two examples of how Karr shows us that, in her home, emotions were kept within. These quotes not only paint that picture, but they are also full of the same type of imagery. The "grip of some big machine" and the "wellspring of ache" are both references to aspects of industry. This may indicate to the reader how much work it was for Mary to keep her feelings bottled up. To keep the pain of things this serious to yourself is hard for anyone to do, let alone an eight year old. Her use of these two images shows that she didn't enjoy keeping everything inside her, but she knew it was part of her "job" as her parent's child to do so. Through their actions, her parents conveyed this idea of silent suffering and Mary and her sister were inadvertently forced to be the same way. Pain and suffering were concepts of Mary's life from the very beginning, but even more obviously ones that she had to keep to herself.

Fathers, Sons and Brothers

I really enjoyed the first 32 pages of this book. Lott goes into a great amount of detail just like Mary Karr did, but he does it in a way that is easier to understand. It may the fact that he separates certain paragraphs. For some reason that really helps me stay on track with what he is talking about because it's usually when he is ending something, and about to being something else. Not only does he do this throughout the paragraphs, but he also has the book split up into different sections. Each one is about a different man in his family, and although it's hard to keep them straight at times, I think it adds a lot to the book. It's almost more of a collection of short stories, than one whole story, but I think that they all coorespond with each other and will all tie together before the book is over.

The home life he had growing up seems to be quite stable, but I think the amount of moving he had to do has affected him. Also, he talks a lot about the relationship he has with his brothers, which shows that he cares a lot about that, and about them. He hasn't said much about the sister though, sometimes I found myself forgetting there was a sister, and this makes me wonder how their relationship was. He also made it seem as though it was hard to have a relationship with his father, so I think there may be a lot more to come with that too.

I also think that Lott is going to do a lot of comparing of his life growing up, with the lives of his two boys. "What I believe is this: That pinch was entry into our childhood; my arm around him, our smiling, is the proof of us two surfacing, alive but not unscathed. And here are my own two boys, already embarked" (32). As I said, I think the relationship he has with his brothers is very important to Lott, therefore it seems as though he is hoping his boys have the same thing. Or, it wasn't until they were older that things became plesant between him and his brothers, so he is hoping his boys get along the way they couldn't. I'm not exactly sure which it will be, but so far I really like the tone of the book and I think it is very easy to understand what is going on and to stay engaged in it.

Memoir Ideas

- I have recently realized that I am somewhat relationship dependent. Although I know I would be fine on my own, I prefer to have a "significant other." I have had four serious relationships, and I have learned a lot about myself through each of them. I'm not sure how the memories of each of them make me think about my family, but for some reason they do. I have always looked up to my sister, which is another reason I think relationships are important to me. She was always in one, so I think that subconsciously maybe I felt as though I should be in them aswell. I know I made my own choices, but I think a large part of me looked at what she has done, and then decided. Not only that, but I also ask her, and my mom, for constant advice. Even though I do think they were right in just about all their opionions, a part of me wonders if I made the choices I did more for them, or for me. Everything has turned out to be exactly how it should be I think, but sometimes I do wonder if this is what I have always wanted.

- Sports have always been a top priority to the members of my family. My 2 sisters and I have all put countless hours of hard work into the sports we have chosen to play. Although this is true, things have not always turned out as we had hoped, for any of us. It's almost as if the harder we try, the worse things get. High school soccer was one of the greatest times in my life, but by far one of the hardest. I had my heart broken by a man who had known me for all of three months, and who could have cared less about me. He completely ripped my heart out, and stomped on dreams that I had had for years. It still hard for me to put into words how much pain he put me through. Even though I hated him and almost couldn't bear to look at a soccer ball again, I decided to fuel all of my emotions into something else. Instead of giving up, I took what he gave me, a spot on the JV team, and began my journey to prove him wrong. It wasn't half way through the season that he began to realize that he was wrong, and end of it all I had received the Varsity letter I knew I deserved, and had a starting spot for the following year. This was some of the worst emotional pain I had ever gone through, and I was hoping that I had paid my soccer suffering dues and my time was over. Well, I was wrong. Not even 5 weeks into my club season my senior year, I completely blew out my ACL. Most would think that this would be where the physical pain would come into play. Although the surgery was more painful than any other I have experienced, nothing compared to the realization that my high level soccer days were over. Not only was I now too scared to play at the level I was, my knee physically could not take it. I would trade this pain for the pain I felt in high school any day.
(all of this caused a lot of stress to all the members of my family, so I will tie that in as well)

- My second cousin, Isaiah, was born with Menkes disease. This is a very deadly disease that usually causes death in infancy. Isaiah only stayed with us for eight short months. From the day I went to greet him for the first time in the hospital, to the last time when I said goodbye to him in the very same hospital, I remember every minute I spent with him. We knew he'd only be with us for a short time, so I made sure to hold on to every memory I had of him. The day of his funeral was such a gloomy, cold day. I can still remember the preacher comparing his life to that of a daisy. Although Isaiah did brighten up all of our lives, on that day, under those circumstances, a daisy was far too hard for me to picture. It seemed to be something that was far to bright to be thinking about, but for some reason its an image that still sticks with me.

600 word blog

Imagery is usually just an aspect of a novel, but in the case of Mary Karr's The Liar's Club, it is almost a theme. She goes above and beyond to thoroughly explain and describe every aspect that makes up her story. By doing this she makes it very obvious that, as the writer, she wants the reader to feel as though you are right there with her, experiencing it all just as she did. There are endless examples of how she does this on each and every page, but there is one specific topic that she discusses many times that always catches my eye, and my heart. It's the topic of suffering, and although sympathy is probably the last thing she is looking for, each time she writes about it the reader begins to hurt for her more and more. With each story she tells, Karr paints a very vivid picture of what suffering can be, but also makes sure to explain that someday the suffering may be worth it.

"So just when I'd started to believe that the terse chronology of Grandma's cancer that I'd prattled off all my life held truth, some window shade in the experience flew up to show me what suffering really is. It's not the old man with arthritic fingers you glimpsed trying to open one of those little black, click-open purses for change at the Coke machine. It isn't even the toddler you once passed in a yard behind a chain-link fence, tethered to a clothesline like a dog in midday heat. Those are only rumors of suffering. Real suffering has a face and a smell. It lasts in its most intense form no matter what you drape over it. And it knows your name" (49). Thinking of suffering this way truly sends chills up and down my spine. Everyone knows what suffering is, and how it feels to suffer, but the thought of something causing this much suffering, at such a young age, is heartbreaking to me. Not only did they have to deal with their Grandmothers uncanny behavior while she was living, but also having to almost fend for themselves after her death, (because their mother was so distraught) is just a fraction of what Mary and Lecia went through. It seems as though every time they would get somewhat of a break, like a new move to Colorado, something even more devastating, like their parents splitting up, would follow. Life for these girls was an uphill battle from the start, and they learned a great number of lessons very early on, and what it means to suffer was definitely one of them.

"Il faut souffrir, one must suffer. For some reason, suffering got lined up in my head not with moral virtue or being good, as it had with the Baptist kids back home, but with being smart. Smart people suffered; dumb people didn't" (232). Although I don't know for sure what she means by this, I do have my own opinions of this very enlightening statement. I see it as, those who love and care about something may end up suffering, which can sometimes lead to pain in places we didn't even know we had, but at the end of it all we are smart for suffering. If we never took chances, just to avoid what suffering may come out of it, we would never truly live. It's those chances, the ones with the highest risk of getting hurt, that usually end up being the most worthwhile. Through her parents, somewhat backwards guidance, Karr seemed to learn this and I think it may end up having a huge impact on the person she will later become.

It is because of quotes like these two that I believe Karr is trying to tell us a lot about suffering. There may be a number of themes hidden in between each line of this book, but it is her lesson about suffering that sticks out in my mind. Although her and her sister did suffer in ways unimaginable to me, it's not that aspect that seems to affect me. It's the fact that despite all of her suffering, she seems to be more concerned with her readers understanding that she is almost thankful for all that she went through, because it is what molded her into the person she has become. It's this message that I will take with me when times get hard, when I feel suffrage staring me in the face. It's this message that made me look at Mary Karr as more of an inspiration, than just a little eight year old girl. Very few people go through all that she did and live to tell about it, but more importantly, choose to tell about it.

Imagery from The Liar's Club

1."She hawked up a boogery gollop from way back in her throat, pausing every now and then to tell me she was fixing to huck it at me" (101).


-This occurs when Lecia gets mad at Mary for something she said about their grandmother and is trying to torture her. This shows that even though Lecia is somewhat more level headed, she also has some fight in her.

2."She says that she wore her black Chanel suit with Grandma's beige-and-ivory cameo, which her great-grandmother had brought form Ireland. She also wore pearl earrings, and a white pillbox hat of the type Jackie Kennedy had on when her husband was shot" (101).

-This passage shows that, even though its been awhile, Mary's mom still cares a lot about what she wears and a part of her really misses New York and the way of life she had there.



3."... I figured out for myself that she wouldn't let anybody truss the old lady on top of the car like a deer, just so we'd all get to ride out too" (102).

-This sentence just painted a funny picture in my head. The fact that Mary would even think for a second that her mom would do this is very humerous and shows a lot about how she felt about her Grandmother.

4."These kids sitting around me with their heads crooked earnestly over their giant drawing papers seemed to have forgotten that the ocean had decided for no good reason to dislodge itself on top of hundreds of people across the river in Louisiana" (103).
-The quote shows how bitter Mary was becoming, even only at age 8. She was slowly realizing that life wasn't fair, but still didnt know how to make sense of that, and it was causing her a lot of stress.




5."There'd been some kind of hurricane back-tide or oil spill, so you could smell whole schools of dead fish stinking on the beach as soon as you got out of the car" (108).


-From this I felt as though I was there and could smell the fish that she was smelling.


6."That's where the memory freezes, that instant with Daddy and that monkey gazing down either side of that smoky road to each other like it's somewhere they both have to get to" (125).

-This is another example of how observant Mary was even as a child. It was as though she could read her father's thoughts before he even thought them.


7."The memory turns to smoke right there. It floats out the door over the cape jasmine" (131).

-This quote shows that Mary struggles with what she remembers and that sometimes she remembers only parts of memories.



8."They make a weird Oz-like glow that bleeds up the whole bottom part of the sky. It's a chemical-green light the color of bread mold, rising up the night sky like a bad water stain climbing wallpaper" (138).

-This passage stood out because it was full of descriptors and was a great image. Mary does such a good job of fully explaining how things look to her and comparing them to every day things.

Quiz

A. "When Grandma came back to our house she had ossified into something elemental and really scary" (60). This quote just begins to explain how Mary feels about her grandmother. It seems to me that she finds her almost repulsive, even at such a young age. This could be because her grandmother causes more trouble then she needs to, or because she is missing half of her leg, which would make any eight year old a little uneasy.

Marys grandmother seems to be out to get her and Lecia. "She had a habit of sneaking up on Lecia and me and shouting Aha! as if she'd discovered up shooting up heroin with a turkey baster or eviscerating some small animal"(61). From there she would always call in Mary's mother and tell her to whip them for whatever they were doing. Most of the time Mary's mother didnt understand what the big deal was, and would have never whipped them for it under anyother circumstance, but when Grandma was in the house, she felt as though she had to. "After a while, Mother gave in to Grandma's rantings and went through the motions of flailing at our legs with a fly swatter till we ran into our room and slammed the door" (61).

Mary's grandmother sufffered from cancer, that started in her leg (which is why is was cut off above the knee) but soon spread to her brain. Once this happened, it seemed as though their grandmother began coming down even harder on the two girls. "But Grandma just bore down on us harder. If anything, whatever pain she was in or ideas she had about dying seemed to jack up her resolve" (69). Although she had to be in serious pain, their grandmother never took any paing medicine. Instead, she filled up on beer, but never seemed to get drunk which always seemed weird to Mary. It was as though she was too stubborn to take the pills she was asked to, and even more, she was too stubborn to die.

Although some of it may have been because of the pain, the way their grandmother treated them really was not necessary. I felt like she wanted to scare them, and wanted them to know she didnt like them, and did everything she could to prove it. "...I started believing that Grandma watched me through the wall when i slept" (69). Grandparents are important to have throughout life, but especially in childhood, so I think this may cause some problems for the daughters in the long run. Also, it becomes very aparent how having a mother like Grandma, really affeceted Mary's mother. With Grandma living in the house, its almost like Mary's mother's opinions dont even matter. She does whatever her mother tells her to, as soon as she tells her to do it, whether she agrees with it or not. It's as though she is controlled by her, which I think will also really affect Mary and Lecia.

Overall, having Grandma in the house didnt really help things. She seemed to make everything worse. She even went as far as to just about kick out Mary's father. Although it is sad that she was sick and dying, I cant blame Mary for thinking of her as a mean, scary, old woman.

B. Mary and her family had to leave Leechfield because Hurricane Carla was coming. It had turned into a huge storm and was expected to hit them head on. Because Mary's father couldnt leave his job, it was up to the four of them to pack in the car and make it to Aunt Iris's house in Kirbyville. On their way there they had to cross a rather large bridge, and while doing so something inside Mary's mother snapped. It was as though she was pushing the gas pedel flat to the floor the whole way up, which caused Mary to scream, and eventually throw up into her own shirt. Before they had fully cleared the bridge, the car went into a three hundred and sixty degree spin, and eventuall went airborne. It is still not known if this was accidental or dileberate, but there is a good chance Mary's mother went a little crazy, just like so many others on the Orange Bridge. "Mother said, 'Everybody alright!' but in a cheery voice, like a camp counselor after a long hike. She didnt even turn around when she said it. In the mirror her teeth were showing in a scary smile" (92).

Holden Beach

It was around noon when we finally pulled up to our beach house in North Carolina. The sun is at it's highest point, and the sky is the bluest of all blues. There are fifteen of us, ranging in ages from 4-60. As we all pile out of our vans, we don't even think twice about unloading yet. First things first. We slide off our sandals and head straight for the beach. We all walk out together, stopping only for a second on our big wooden patio, just so we can soak it all in. Then all at once, we head down the steps and race for the water's edge. The sand is hot beneath our feet, but we know once we reach the cool, blue water it'll be worth it. This instance relates a lot to how our family is. Its like as soon as times get too hard to handle, like the scorching sand beneath our feet, we find each other and everything cools off, just like when we reach to ocean. It's at this moment- along with many others, but this one in particular- I realize how lucky I really am. I have a wonderful, happy, healthy, close family, with whom I know I can get through anything. It's here, every year at Holden Beach, that we all unite on a level that most may never experience. It's here that everything comes together, and everything begins to make sense once again. This is the place I will carry with me for the rest of my life. It's the place where the surf meets the sand, and the place where I'm reminded that family really is forever.

The Liars' Club

"So just when I'd started to believe that the terse chronology of Grandma's cancer that I'd prattled off all my life held all the truth, some window shade in the experience flew up to show me what suffering really is. It's not that old man with the arthritic fingers you glimpsed trying to open on of those little black, click-open purses for soda change at the Coke machine. It isn't even the toddler you once passed in a yard behind a chain-link fence, tethered to a clothesline like a dog in midday heat. Those are only rumors of suffering. Real suffering has a face and a smell. It lasts in its most intense form no matter what you drape over it. And it knows your name."

We've all suffered in some way before, but no case is exactly the same as another. Everyone goes through different things, and responds differently at each time, but we all know what it's like to suffer, which is why I think this passage really affected me. Suffering is like all those other emotions that cant really be described. Even when you've felt it, even in its harshest state, its impossible to fully explain to someone else. With this quote, Karr does a good job of describing how intense real suffering can be, and how its something that sticks with you forever.

Mary went through a lot of suffering, just in the beginning years of her life, and I think that's another reason this quote stood out to me so much. From all the grief her grandmother gave her, to being raped by a teenage boy, Mary grew up a lot faster then most children. I still cant figure out what the exact tone of the book is, but regardless I keep finding myself feeling more and more sorry for her. Now with her dad coming around less, and her mom shutting out the world, it's almost like her and Lecia are alone.

I cant even imagine going through half of what she has gone through just in her seven short years of life. Although I do feel so bad for Mary and her sister, I have a feeling there is going to be a point where everything turns around for her, and I think that is making the book even more interesting. After everything that's happened, I can't wait to see her come out on top.

My sister

Loving.
Organized.
Beautiful.
Understanding.
Moody.
Busy.
In love.
Engaged.
Caring.
Worrisome.
Fun.
Energetic, but also tired.
Full of life.
Loves her family.
Educated.
Hard working.
24.
Lovable.
Creative.
Thoughtful.
Indecisive.
Wishes she could take somethings back, but knows they happened for a reason.. at least most of them.
Confused.
Insecure.
She knows who she is.
Likes where she is in her life.. for the most part
Challenges herself.
Challenges others.
She keeps to herself, but opens up when necessary
Wonderful.

There really aren't enough adjectives that i cant think of to describe who my sister is. To sum it up, everything she is, is a part of who i would some day like to be.

First reflection on The Liar's Club

If I had to sum up the first chapter of The Liar's Club in two words they would be; confusing and descriptive. Mary Karr did a very good job of thoroughly describing everything, I just had trouble figuring out what exactly she was talking about. It seemed as though she jumped around a lot, and changed which tense she was writing in very frequently. I suppose she did warn us of this with this comment "Even now the scene seems so real to me that i can't but write it in the present tense" on page 15, but it was still a struggle to keep up. When it comes to her jumping around, on page 9 Karr talks about how some parts of her life went uninformed to her for a long time, and she planned to keep it that way for us. Although this may add to my confusion, I really enjoy her style of writing. It was as though she really was just telling her story as it came into her memory. It wasn't planned out, or edited to go in a certain order. It was her story as she remembered it, which appears to be somewhat of a jumbled mess in her head. I think this is going to make the story even more interesting.

Even in the first chapter, and with her jumping around a lot, I got a good idea of how she felt about the people in her family. It was as though she really looked up to her father, even though she wasn't sure if she should or not. I got the impression that she loved her mom, but not in the same way she loved her dad, and I think later on she may begin to blame her mom for somethings. Also, she didn't talk too much about her sister, but I felt as though they had somewhat of a competing relationship, and I think there will be much more to come about their childhood together.

I cant say that I really related to anything that was discussed in the first chapter. The only this that seems to be somewhat close is that I believe we all have at least one "nervous" person in our family, and although these people may cause some issues, they are the ones that keep us on our toes. I am very interested to see what kinds of things Mary went through in her childhood, and throughout her life.

English Expirence

I never really realized how much I liked English, until around high school when everyone would moan and groan about writing and reading and I would find myself truly excited. Everyone found it very odd that I was this way, but they liked it because they figured I'd write their papers for them. Although I don't think I ever wrote an entire paper for anyone, I do remember proof reading, and depending on the writer, rewriting parts of papers for my friends. Even last quarter here at OU, I went through just about every one of my roommates papers and made sure it made sense. Shes is one of those that required a lot of rewriting.

Although I've always enjoyed English, it doesn't always come very easy to me. Even in this fairly simple assignment I have been struggling. I always find myself typing something, then going back and deleting all of it. Such as, I'm not sure if my beginning paragraph even makes sense, but that was probably the fourth one I have written and I'm afraid I'll never finish if I don't move on! Even though I do struggle with what to say, and how to say it, writing is something I do enjoy very much.

I took an advanced senior composition class my senior year of high school and enjoyed it very much. It introduced me to even more types of writing and increased my love for the subject. I think it was around this time that I realized I wanted to be somewhat of an English major. It was either this, or how strong my hatred for math had become!

Reading is also something I really enjoy. Over Winter break I read the first three Twilight books and am currently reading the fourth. It's kind of an obsession! I am also very glad that we are reading memoirs in this class, because non-fiction is my favorite type of reading material (besides the books about vampires or course!) Another plus to this class, is that it is centered around family. My family means more to me than anything, and they are the most important people in my life, so I'm sure I will have no problem writing about them.

As I said before, I'm not sure if this writing makes any sense, or even covers what you asked, but I hope you have at least somewhat of an overview of how much I've come to enjoy English. Overall, I really enjoy English and have for most of my life. Also I am very glad I signed up for this particular class because it has everything I enjoy most about English all in a ten weeks.

-Michelle