War is a Force that Give us Meaning

I just finished War is a Force that Gives us Meaning by Chris Hedges for my American domestic and foreign policy course. What an incredible novel. Chris has a unique ability to explain the realities of war in a real and uncensored way because of his many personal experiences. He traveled throughout the world covering conflict zones as a war journalist. He explains how the press is censored, which is something I did not understand to what extent. For instance, he speaks about how during the Gulf War, journalists had to be escorted to certain areas always with  U.S. military personnel so that they could not see anything more than what the U.S. wanted them to see. I never realized that the press was censored in such a way by an exemplary democratic nation (a bit of sarcasm).
I believe this book was a form of healing for Chris because he has experienced so much death and suffering, it is overwhelming just from reading it. But what Chris hopes to remind us all, and which he accomplishes through this book, is that war is not the half ass truths we see depicted on the news or on film. It is not a "only the bad guys die and the right person wins" type of simplistic vision that we all hope to believe. It is a messy, ugly, depressing, sad, and inconceivable reality that everyone suffers from. The line between victim and perpetrator, good and bad, winners and losers blur as we witness rape camps, los desaparecidos, mass evacuation, looting and burning of homes, child soldiers and concentration camps. Furthermore, the real victims of war are the disenfranchised families who want nothing to do with the Serbian national rhetoric and the Palestinian children who are taunted by Israeli soldiers. The real victims are the lonely soldiers, the forgotten children and the misguided public who develop a war language rhetoric that perpetuate war.
And in the end, Chris describes the unbreakable force that he saw keep families together and himself alive during the worst of times. Love. Pure, unconditional love.
Thanks Chris for your powerful words and opening my eyes a little bit more.
~Lo

Madame Bovary=Madame Crazy!

I have just finished reading Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert, and what a classic! It is a suspenseful tale of adultery, selfishness, idleness, adultery and pure ecstasy. Madame Bovary appears to have been a severely naive and has unreal expectations of marriage. But what drives her persona most of all is her pure selfishness and insatiable appetite to be happy. Unfortunately, she is not happy with herself and what she already has, so she sought happiness in other men and fancy events. Her first encounter with "the good life" is when she and her husband Charles were invited to a ball by an “up to do” Count in their city. The glistening lights, soft perfume, and exceptional royalty are perfect for the Madame. Unfortunately, her husband proves only to be an embarrassment for her as his legs hurt from standing for five hours curiously watching the men play billiards, something he was unaccustomed with. After the Madame falls ill from boredom the couple move from Tostes where the Madame discovers the first love of her life, Leon. After a short courtship, Leon moves to the city, and the Madame falls in love with a different man, Rudolphe. Their love is insatiable, and it appears the two will elope until Rudolphe comes to his senses. He realizes her absurd infatuation with him, and does not follow through with the plans to elope. After Madame’s extreme display of "sickness" and selfish bouts for attention, she meets Leon again in the city at a play. They continue their affair and when they make plans to elope together, Leon backs out as well thanks to the good advice of his mother. Meanwhile, Monsieur Charles is beyond clueless and still profoundly in love with her despite all of her craziness. On her death bed, she realizes Charles is the perfect man for her a long. And in true dramatic fashion Charles dies in the end as well from "unknown" causes. 

The novel is intertwined with religious criticisms, peasant and city life, marriage criticisms, and the normalcy of “secret” double lives. 

What a classic drama! It is such a well written book, I have no criticisms. Flaubert is not called the "creator of the modern novel" for nothing. It was a delight to get caught up in home girl’s craziness and unreal expectations of life. It reminds me of how we are all human and can relate to her developing her own vision of reality. Furthermore, this novel proves to be a great example of how important self-love is!! What I did not know, was the actual aftermath the publication of Madame Bovary caused in French society. Gustave was asked to censor the book by editors because of offense to the public and religious indecency. He refused so he was eventually charged with his work being “offensive because of the sexuality, but also because you could not tell "what is going on in the author's conscience". He was acquitted in the end. Good job French society!