Graphomania in Practice

In some ways, people have always been graphomaniacs — those that feel they don’t exist unless they’re documenting their life — and hence the subsistence of diaries, blogs, youtube, etc. Graphomania is the compulsive urge to write.

In my case, the compulsion to write is stifled by the compulsion to daydream, but I’m always looking for new ideas to incorporate into the stories in my head…stories that no one will probably read or hear because they’re locked up tight…caged by sloth :)

But anyway, I should become a graphomaniac. I’m always writing little things…not every day like I should. Writing takes practice and developing analytical writing skills is much more difficult than writing for fun. So let me try my hand at it by doing a little review thing of Chris Crutcher’s book, “Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes”. And, I also want to return it to the library for goodness sakes! It’s been sitting, gathering dust balls for about a month now because I couldn’t get off my lazy arse to write this thing. So let’s do it:

Whoops! Before I get to that, though, I’d like to write a little something about Jared Diamond’s “Guns, Germs and Steel”. It’s a look at the fates of societies as determined by geography and attempts to answer the age-old question of why some societies have prospered while others have been wracked by disease and poverty. His answer? Geography is destiny. Especially when considering the differences between the lateral span of Eurasia to the longitudinal span of the Americas. Within a lateral span, more movement can occur because environments and temperatures are similar enough, whereas movement within a longitudinal span is barred by different environmental barriers caused by differences in latitudinal temperature. Thus, smaller tribes in Eurasia were able to move across huge spans of earth, spread knowledge, technology, language, diseases and so forth, whereas the Americas only gained these things at a later time because smaller groups of people (who could have grown into bigger civilizations) were kept isolated by geography. This is why isolated communities were more susceptible to diseases and colonization, and why there is such a division between the haves and the have-nots of this world. Many people have thought, especially with the rise in science and genetics, that the propensity towards success and prosperity in the modern world was due to an inherent superiority in genetics, but in actuality, Diamond’s studies show that people in these isolated communities are quite intelligent, and in some cases, much more intelligent, than their cousins in prosperous parts of the world. Diamond’s theories seem so natural and logical, and it’s a wonder that people have tried to complicate and exacerbate the issue with genetics! And yet, and yet, and yet! Why didn't he put footnotes, schnabbit!!

Okay, so now back to “Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes”. This book, hands down, has the sweetest boy character in the world. Eric was a fat boy with few friends. Sarah Byrnes, a girl whose face was disfigured by her father as a child, was his best friend, and for a long time, they were just the two of them. When Eric discovered that he loved swimming, he still continued to eat a ton of food. Eric wanted to stay fat for Sarah because he didn’t want to lose her friendship if, all of a sudden, he got thin and popular. That’s not even the meat of the story though, because it’s the story of loyalty and love in the midst of terrible secrets held by Sarah that make this book brilliant. No one knows it was her father that allowed her face to be disfigured. It was her own secret and she didn’t want anyone to know the truth. This is the story of how Eric saves his friend. Man, do I ever love this book. It has some great lines and dialogue, some of which I’d like to share because they are ever so cool!

There was a scene in the book where Ellerby is talking about how Sunday school teachers usually answer tough questions like, “How come nobody ever caught Jack the Ripper?” or “Why do good people die?”, with the generic “the Lord works in mysterious ways” line. However, Ellerby tells Eric that there’s actually nothing strange or mysterious about it, because

“if those things were in God’s jurisdiction, he’d do something different about them. But they aren’t. Those are in our jurisdiction” (Chapter 5).

I found this to be very profound, and in fact, I guess I’ve always felt that way, and sort of knew it. After all, God gave us free will, right? But for a kid to be saying something like that…it was a bit strange, but you know what, there’s a wisdom in kids sometimes that adults don’t have anymore because they forget how to look at things clearly. Sometimes, adults muddle things up by adding whats-its and galore to the problem, when a solution is right before their eyes. And so, I am just wowed by this wisdom, and how I can actually believe the words coming out of a kid’s mouth :) (Well, technically it was the author, but who really cares…) Sometimes it’s good to sit down and take a real look at God’s job description.

Another reason why I thought this was profound and appealing to me was because it allowed me to understand that I am accountable for all my actions. What happens to me is in my jurisdiction (except of course when I'm in contact with others — in that way, their actions can have just as much of an effect on me as my own actions).

Here are some memorable quotes:

“Once a thing is known, it can’t be unknown.” – Ellerby in Chapter 7

“I think most of us tell ourselves we don’t want what we think we can’t have just to make life bearable.” – Eric in Chapter 8

“It doesn’t make me proud to say this, but even with all the work I’ve done on the shimmering nerd I once was, there is a scared little fat boy inside me who is terrified of being seen. And I think if you’re going to be with somebody, you owe it to them to show yourself.” – Eric in Chapter 10

“When a fool and a wise man argue, it’s sometimes hard for those of us on the outside to tell the difference.” – Lemry to Ellerby in Chapter 13

I really liked the Chapter where Ellerby calls in his dad to mediate between Mautz, the ultra-conservative vice principle, who accuses Eric and Ellerby of causing Mark Brittain to commit suicide. I liked it when he told Mautz that he doesn’t need forgiveness for something he hasn’t done, since after all, Mark did it to himself, and he was a big advocate of taking responsibility for one’s own actions. Here’s some of his dialogue:

“I’m really sorry Mark tried to kill himself. I really am. But you guys calling us in here to let us off the hook is just a way to tell us we’re on the hook.” – Chapter 15

“What’s wrong with Mark Brittain is that he can’t allow himself to make mistakes. That makes humiliation his worst and constant enemy. Somebody needs to back off that kid.” – Cal Ellerby (Ellerby’s dad) to Mautz in Chapter 15

“Families can get pretty messed up while they’re looking pretty good.” – Eric as narrator in the Epilogue

Now on to my third book of the night :) It’s called "Saint Iggy" by K.L. Going. I just have a few things to say about this work. It was alright. The character was likable, except that I was slightly disappointed because I’ve heard this story before. I don’t know where, but in any case, I like to read stories that I’ve never heard before, or are done in a way that is unique and distinct. No offense to K.L. Going and her raving fans, but it was just an okay book. Maybe I’ll get over the plot disappointment one of these ol’ days and write a proper review, but for now, all I can say is that this was a mediocre work. Sort of like “Catcher in the Rye”. I think maybe it has something to do with the fact that I was expecting a lot from this book, and I was let down none too gently. Maybe if I hadn’t read reviews about how good it was, how fresh, then I wouldn’t be so mean about it. Heh heh! In any case, Iggy as a character did have a unique way at looking at the world. He was very truthful, and as a kid, he’s pretty admirable and funny. And you never thought he was too saintly (he did think about vengeance and proving himself to “those traitors!” at his school who didn’t stand up for him when he was wrongly accused of being a highschool terrorist by his Spanish teacher), but that there was just something about him that made him special because he saw into the heart of things. He saw truth when no one else would admit it, like the fact that Mo wasn’t really spiritual or wise at all, but a kid rebelling against his father’s affairs. He wasn’t exactly smart, but Iggy was wise (note that I said “was”!).

Here are some quotes from Iggy the cool narrator:

“Enlightenment? Even though Mo would say it comes from pot, and his mom would say it comes from being a good person, and Principal Olmos would say it comes from contributing, maybe they are all wrong. Maybe it comes from a color circle, where you can see the world in every single color. Then when you step out again, nothing looks the same as it did when you went in.” – Chapter 22 (he was standing in a circle of light coming from a stained glass window outside the church)

“Even though God’s got a lot to answer for, maybe He’s not quite so bad once you get to know him.” – Chapter 23

This last quote is in direct contrast to what Ellerby was saying about some things not being in God’s jurisdiction. I just wanted to put this quote here as a contrast to what I thought was a better way to look at things :)