The Uses of Enchantment by Helen Julavits
Not to be confused with Bruno Bettelheim’s The Uses of Enchantment, which is stringently assertive in it’s psychoanalytical study of tales, fairytales, and other folklore. There are some interesting comparisons to the two books.
Helen Julavits has created a book in three parts. all three parts are twisted and mixed together in alternating chapters. It is the story of Mary Veal (aka: miriam) who is famous for being a girl who may or may not have been kidnapped, molested, and released two months later. Cast in and around Boston, the book carrys literal and symbolic references to Witch Trials and the hysteria that surrounded them.
- The inital segment and many following segments are titled “What might hve happened”.
- The second is notes from Dr. Hammer, her psychiatrist who interviews her and attempts to help her after she returns.
- The third is 14 years later, when Mary returns home for the funeral of her mother and tries to put all the peices back together and find a sign that her dead mother forgives her.
In the opening of the book, we see Mary work her way to a car outside her school where a bored man has been watching the girls smoke cigarettes on numerous days. She climbs into his car and plays on his emotions and undercurrent of desire to get him to play along with her “abduction”. She is well read but average in most every other fashion.
Following throughout are sessions with Dr. Hammer as he unravels her story and becomes obsessed with the fact that she may be lying about her abduction.
By the end of the book i was pretty enthralled. The aptly titled “What may have happened” leave you unsure at the end and analizing her yourself. looking for a gleam of additional ifomation about the truth behind her fairytale. Is she telling the truth, is she lying, is she telling the truth when she says she is lying? Maybe a litle of all three.
Freudian discussion spatters all of Dr. Hammers notes and make you wonder exactly how much of Freud is actally relavent today, or whether he master was only meant to be a stepping stone in the psychoanalytical world instead of a pillar.
There is an interesting character in this book named Roz. She is an all encompassing Feminist psychiatrist who drove her points home in any way possible. She really shines as an antagonizing pain in the ass. Characters like her remind me of all the things I hate about Feminism. She is not he only Feminist though. The man who “abducts” Mary has a fair amount of talk on the subject too.
All in all a well researched and very well written book
Books / Stories/ Articles | Comment (1)HELLO DOGGY
[click to enlarge images]
Went to a movie with Jenn the other night. i rode a bus and then the max out to beaverton, where she met me. we went over to the cedar hills mall and had about an our to kill before going to the flick. we decided to wander and browse.
inside the frou frou japanese toy store (nothing but chococat, hello kitty, etc) we looked about and jenn located the above notebook. for $1.50, we almost walked out with it because it was so engrish we couldnt stop staring at it.
“when you left me… the sunshine filled this empty room.”
we could not quite put a finger on the meaning, intended and mistranslated,nor the new meaning.
if this were a greeting card, it would just be one that was sarcastic and funny.. but as a notebook of paper, it was a new thing all together. does it mean the person was very large and they blocked the light? does it mean that he dog owner was a real jerk and the dog hates them? maybe it is a simple commentary about how the owner/loved one works during the day, and when they leave it happens to be when the sun comes up?
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leaving the shop, we went over to powells book store and perused books for a while. i can spend hours in any book store, small and local or big and corporate. i cant help it. we poked about and i managed to find a new copy of “go ask alice” which i have been meaning to read again for quite some time. (jenn loaded me up after the movie with 5-6 more books from her storage unit, so i am now swamped with reading, an awesome situation to be n even at its worst.)
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the movie enchanted ended up being fairly hilarious. going to the film was near spur of the moment. we discussed wanting to see it on a previous day. i didnt even know it had been released until i received a text message from mouse stating she really enjoyed it.
jenn and i laughed the whole way through it. it was clever and witty and overall not the average disney princess film (though i like those too).
Flicks, I am a consumer whore, humor | Comment (0)Turd Station 2
[Click image to enlarge]
forgive the poor photo quality, it was taken with a cell phone in two parts which i then had to splice together to get the full image.
bathroom humor has always gotten me to laugh. and sometimes take pictures :) The image above was taken inside the Bagdad Theater [http://www.mcmenamins.com]. the restroom included a diaper changing station which i can only imagine used to be called a “sturdy station 2″.
note to the person who felt the need to scratch off the S and Y:
thank you for giving me a laugh.
note to the person(s) who added all the smaller drawings:
the baby elephant poop was a nice touch.
slackerino extaordinaries
remember how i was going to be going through photographs and start posting more of them as i have been hoarding them to myself for many years? well, these were taken on january 17th. almost a year from when they were taken, they are being published for view.
i have been meaning to get them online as they make me happy when i see them, but alas, i am part of a club called “slackerino extraordinaries”
Portland does not often get snow. so this was an awesome day. While supposed to be at work, much of the city was closed due to “inclement weather”. this meant SNOW DAY for many people. a great number of which i see rarely due to work schedules or any number of other reasons.
Nathania:
Nathania.
She has changed so much since i first met her.
calm and powerful.
intuitive and trust worthy.
beautiful and overtly coy
acute and convex
Joe:
He is the epitome of my bearded envy. joe is subtly humorous. catchin you off guard with statements that you would never expect from him otherwise. he always look warm and cuddly. i think i need to see more women flock to him. the fact that they do not flock makes them fools. i have only seen him with out a smile one time.
Minae:
Supreme music tastes and humor that is sometimes hard to hear because she is quiet. she is the rarest seen of the four people i am tributing time to today. She is a true to life goddess with destructive powers over those often around her. no seriously… she is a player admin for a game system.. even though i am not a player in her world, she still has admin power over my face as Minae makes me smile just by being around.
Suzuki Beane
In january, Suzuki was stressing on getting school work completed. Locked away from the snow and bright glare, she huddles in the dark and chilled, literally. Though she herself is dread(lock)ed, conversation with her is never dreaded (punny!). having recently gone through some mind bending experiences, the person in this image no longer exists but has been instead set in motion toward transformation. ask her for details as it is her journey, and one we all wish her luck and happiness on.
interesting folks, my photos, photography, shit from a long time ago | Comments (5)