COA is Coming to a Close

At the end of my Hero's Journey english class last semester, I wrote a blog post that kind of just reflected back on all the books we read and kinda bring everything together. I'd like to go a similar route here. Here my reflections on the novels we covered in order of least to most enjoyable:

1. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man: I might have to say that this is my least favorite of the novels we read this semester. Maybe it's because it was the first book we were to read after winter break, and I didn't want to have to get involved in school again. Maybe it's because it was build season and I was at robotics almost every night for three hours, so I didn't always have time to read, or time to enjoy reading it. I think those are both factors, but I also didn't find Stephen hugely relatable.
2. Housekeeping: I'm not sure what to think of Housekeeping. The writing is beautiful -- almost lyrical in some places -- and yet I never really got hooked or felt like I needed to know what was going to happen next or anything. I'm also not completely sold on this novel as a coming of age narrative for Ruth. It kinda just went from her following Lucille around everywhere to her following Sylvie around everywhere. Additionally, the majority of the novel I felt like Sylvie was a terrible guardian and that Ruth and Lucille should not be entrusted to her care, but then there were nice, sentimental moments between Sylvie and Ruth that were nice to read. This novel makes me very torn and confused.
3. The Bell Jar: I really enjoyed this book as well. I could relate to Esther in some way, but not in others. There are themes in this book, specifically Esther's mental illness, that I feel uncomfortable talking about in class or on here, but I had no problem reading about them. I really am glad I read this novel.
4. The Catcher in the Rye: We got to this book, and I loved it. The thing is, I've had this book recommended to me by so many people! I just always assumed it would be boring or weird. Maybe the title threw me off? I remember I was misinformed by a friend and thought for the longest time that it was about a kid having to survive out in the wilderness or something weird that. And then when I learned otherwise, the story never really popped out to me. I dunno. But when I actually did read this book I loved it so much. There's something about Holden's narrative voice that is so very appealing and always made me want to read more.
5. Sag Harbor: I have really been enjoying this one, and it's pretty relatable for me (as seen by my previous blog post, as well as the one I'm going to post after this). There's the race and identity thing that I get, but the book is also relatable in other ways. There's the summer fun with friends, the will to reinvent myself, the generational gap. Some of the chapters are pretty long, though, and so sometimes I'll get into the flow of reading and then just start to kinda drift off because the chapter is still going on.
6. Black Swag Green: This novel was great. It was so incredibly relatable and Jason totally felt like a mix between my kid brother and a past version of me. It was pretty easy to get hooked, and reading it didn't feel like work as much as the other books (minus Catcher) did. Oh, and I loved the fact that the novel practically has it's own soundtrack.

Note: Spots 4, 5, and 6 are pretty interchangeable. I don't like any one of those three books much more than the others; I think they're all really good.