Garden of Eden


sorabji.com: Last book you read: Garden of Eden
THIS IS A READ-ONLY ARCHIVE FROM THE SORABJI.COM MESSAGE BOARDS (1995-2016).

By kazoo on Wednesday, March 19, 2003 - 05:23 pm:

    by Hemingway. I rarely get to read novels anymore...Ada, or Adore is still lying on my floor where I left it, about six weeks ago...anyway, I had to read Garden of Eden for a class and lead class the class discussion on it. So I wasn't reading it like I wanted to enjoy it, I was busy taking notes and trying to think of things to talk about in class. However, there was something nagging me about it...something kept tugging at my insides but I coudn't stop and think about it, I had to finish it. Today, on the bus home I kept thinking about what had been nagging me and went back and read some passages over.

    I think this book really affected me...and I feel like I need to read it again to really understand why...I don't even think I liked the book very much, I'm not a big fan of Hemingway otherwise. In the beginning of the book I found the main character, Catherine, completely annoying, but toward the end she totally represents what I fear most in the world, which is losing my mind and hurting the one I love the most. It's not likely, but with my family's history of mental illness, it's still weighs heavily on my mind.

    There's more but I think I need to journal for a bit.

    Thanks for listening.


By eri on Wednesday, March 19, 2003 - 05:38 pm:

    My family (particularly the women) tend to get mental illnesses. My grandmother, mother, her twin, my sister. I have a little fear that as time goes on I will develop these things, but so far have come out allright. I don't let it nag at me.

    I haven't read Hemingway. I don't know why, but never really bothered.

    Maybe if you reread the book you can figure out what about it is nagging you.


By kazoo on Wednesday, March 19, 2003 - 05:51 pm:

    I think part of what bothers me now is that I couldn't get into it on that level while I was reading. And I am going to read most of it again because I am writing at least one of my final papers on it...unfortunately that kind of reading is even worse.

    I'd probably recommend this book...it's not terribly long or hard to get into...and it's good for reading by the pool while drinking adult beverages. Until Catherine starts to lose her mind...all they do is eat, drink insane amounts of alcohol, skinny dip, and tan. Then she brings another woman into the picture and all hell breaks loose. There is also a lot of sex, no descriptions, just these gaps where one minute they are eating lunch and the next minute it's pillow talk.


By eri on Wednesday, March 19, 2003 - 06:07 pm:

    I haven't been able to read poolside, or I might give it a try. I still have to keep an eye on the rugrats. Though for some reason this season they appear to have lost some of their confidence in the water. I dunno. Hayley still jumps in and swims, but she only doggy paddles short distances and Micki (who was swimming on her own without the help of floating devices last summer) won't go anywhere where she can't touch the bottom, even with the ring/bathingsuit thing she wears.

    I am looking forward to a nice day of relaxing by the pool drinking adult beverages again, though. My neighbor is jealous of the tan I don't have and wants us to lounge by the pool on her day off. It's easier to read and stuff when there are other adults to watch the kids.

    My best friend S will be here next month and we will probably drink poolside and then race each other in the pool. I am so out of shape that this is probably the first year she will beat me!


By sarah on Thursday, March 20, 2003 - 10:28 am:


    kazoo, why are you not sleeping enough my dear?



    also, did you know today is the first day of spring? did anyone see the full moon? wow.




By sarah on Thursday, March 20, 2003 - 10:29 am:


    oh, on topic: one of my all-time favorite books is The Sun Also Rises. great story. a nympho and a guy who lost his dick in the war are in love, but obviously can't work it out.




By J on Thursday, March 20, 2003 - 10:29 am:

    "It's easier to read and stuff when there are other adults to watch the kids" Don't count on other adults,look at how many other adults were at Tommy Lee's pool party when that kid drowned.We have such a high rate of child drowning here that I just really freak around the pool,I even took a CPR class and have instuctions posted if I panic which I am prone to do.


By eri on Thursday, March 20, 2003 - 11:17 am:

    That is why I make sure that the other adults are able to take care of the kids at the pool. The little ones stay in the toddler pool which only goes up to 18 inches deep, but we have a small group of parents who really watch the kids and most of us have taken at least one CPR class. We don't just let any other adult watch our kids at the pool, there are only 3 other adults we trust. Fortunately they are our neighbors who want to be at the pool with us.


By kazoo on Thursday, March 20, 2003 - 11:28 am:

    Sarah, You are so sweet. Thanks for your concern. Insomnia is an old friend. I generally have trouble sleeping right after I leave Ohio or after sem leaves here. This week was made even more difficult by the work that I had to get done before yesterday.

    I don't know what it is...I slept about 30-45 minutes on Monday night and on Tuesday organized my work schedule so that I could get 7 hours of sleep and have time to finish some work...but then it took me from about 10ish to 1:30ish to actually fall asleep and then I had to wake up at 5.

    What really helps and what I really need to do is get back into doing a pre-sleep ritual. I usually take a quick shower, then write in my journal for a bit, drink some honey-vanilla-chamomile tea, and listen to some music.

    Last night I slept better. Being completely exhausted helps although I went to be around 11:30 (and not 8 like I planned) after getting stuck in cyberspace and sucked into the news.


By kazoo on Thursday, March 20, 2003 - 11:47 am:

    Eri,

    I forgot about the kids. Read when it's Spunkem's turn to watch.

    "We don't just let any other adult watch our kids at the pool, there are only 3 other adults we trust."

    I can understand that. When I had my certification, I used to lifeguard at parties for my cousin. The parents and neighbors LOVED this. You should get a german sheppard...they have to keep him away from the pool when the kids go swimming because he freaks out and tries to pull them out of the water.

    This is one of my issues...one of my pet peeves are parents who don't think that swimming lessons are such a big deal. Even if all they every learn is the doggie paddle, treading and/or floating. The younger they start, the easier it is to learn and the more likely that they'd be able to help themselves out of situations. Even with a life preserver on, if they fall out of a canoe or a rowboat, it's better and easier for everyone involved if people can manuever themselves around. Teaching adults and older kids to swim is incredibly difficult.

    I started swimming lessons before I could walk. The Y had a waterbabies program that my mom took me to. Then it was lessons every summer. Despite that, I still have a memory of floating into the deep end of a pool and having my aunt dive in after me.


By patrick on Thursday, March 20, 2003 - 12:05 pm:

    its shameful that there are adults who are afraid of th water, muchless dont know how to swim.


By eri on Thursday, March 20, 2003 - 12:17 pm:

    Hayley has had the swimming lessons, and we are always working with the kids. I got them as an older kid, but then did a little lifeguard training myself. I work on teaching the girls to swim all of the time. Micki was actually swimming in the 4 ft section of the pool without the use of floating devices for part of the summer last year (we were right with her at all times). Our girls are getting the benefit of learning how to swim properly. I look forward to when they are good enough swimmers that I am comfortable going to the ocean and swimming all over the place with them.

    Last summer I was kinda the neighborhood swim teacher for parents who didn't know how to swim (you'd be suprised how many there are out here) helping teach the parents (which was basically useless because they were so afraid of the water) and then working with the kids (all of whom were swimming on their own by the end of the summer and learning more than just a doggie paddle) and the rest were in swimming classes at the Y by the time I was done with them. It worked out well. At least we were able to show how important learning to swim proplerly was and most of the kids were doing wonderfully. This year it is just going to be getting their confidence to try back up again.

    I was just talking to spunky about getting a big german shepherd. The thing is that we have 3 cats, two hamsters, and a fish tank in our apartment and if we get transferred adding a dog will make it hard to find a new place. Too many pets in too small of a space. Still, it would be nice.


By Spider on Thursday, March 20, 2003 - 12:22 pm:

    I can swim, but I can't go underwater without holding my nose. I'm so ashamed.


By eri on Thursday, March 20, 2003 - 01:17 pm:

    One of our pools has a bench seat in it so you can sit on the bench and talk and drink and whatever and we spend about a third of our time just doing that. One of our friends is so fair skinned that he has to use super sunscreens and still can't spend more than 10 minutes in the sun without burning, so we sit in the water with him so he doesn't burn.

    We're like little fish we spend so much time swimming. The kids absolutely love it and we get a lot more excersize when we do. We just have to watch (later in the summer) for idiots who spend too much time ogling. Last summer there was this group of guys who just watched my every single move all of the time and gave spunky these retarded thumbs up whenever I was with him. We went to one of the other pools after that. They got annoying following me around for 3 weeks.

    If it is any consolation, Hayley holds her nose ever time she puts her head under water....actually she plugs her nose before she goes under and then lets go once she is under. It's funny to watch her, but she is cute when she does it.

    She has taken to jumping in the deep end and doggy paddling again this year, so we are working on swimming properly again. She'll be a pro by the end of the summer! She is really into learning how to swim better and is really receptive to what I have to tell her.

    Unfortunately it will be too chilly to swim again until next Monday.


By patrick on Thursday, March 20, 2003 - 01:58 pm:

    im the same way spider, i have a hard time keeping water out of my nose.

    i either accept it and just expel the water as I surface or do some serious snorting upon surfacing.

    though i only get mass water in my nose when i enter the water a certain wait, if i put my head down a bit i manage to keep water out.


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