Sandman and Stupid People

[mir_fin]

So, One thing I've learned about a good portion of English Graduate students....they do not know how to relax and enjoy the beauty and worth of Sandman...or Neil Gaiman's other work for that matter

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[elf_groupie]

On a related note (that being otherwise intelligent people confusing you with their likes and dislikes), I've discovered that over half the grad students in my department cannot stand Monty Python. Not, hey, it's sorta amusing, but not exactly my thing. No no, downright cannot stand to even talk about it.

[bluecatahoula]

But there is a connection between them! *coughTitleCharactercough* The narrative style of Sandman is unique because he ISN'T the central focus of all of the stories. In fact, he takes a backseat in many of them, but he's always there, reinforcing the power of dreams and the cosmic truths underlying our reality. And THAT'S the real connection--the way dreams affect people: Calliope's dream of freedom, Richard Madoc's dreams of fame and fortune, Shakespeare's dreams of much the same thing, Hamnet's dream of a father who listens, (there's so much in that one story, I could go on forever!), the Siamese cat's dream of a new world, and Element Girl's dream of release. It's all about wanting things and what that wanting and yearning can do to a person (sell their souls? At least two characters of the above made what could be considered Faustian bargains to get their desires). Sure, Morpheus doesn't take center stage until later in the series (Brief Lives/Kindly Ones *sniff*), but he's moving through the background of everything. And

[mir_fin]

Well we read Watchman, then Funhome and Palestine. Then we read 3 of our own choice (I found a couple really good children's ones) One is called The Arrival by Shaun Tan...it's a "silent" graphic novel...no words. It has some beautiful pictures though.

And I'm sorry to set you off...It has been hard not to yell at people...or cry, something like that. We split the class into 2 possible meeting times, and one of the reasons I avoided the first meeting time (which included people you know like Andrew, Eric King, and Lauren Helbig) was because their feedback on the discussion board was so negative and I would've probably lashed out. I"m not pointing those three out...Andrew liked it pretty well, Eric hated it...but he's just..well...eric...
Just makes me miss people like you and Krista...who get this stuff.

Oh...Dr. Stewart is fun because he likes Sandman...and American Gods :)

[bluecatahoula]

I've heard good things about Funhome. I've not heard of Palestine (well, the title is familiar, but that just could be newsclips bubbling in my head). If I run across anything that looks good in class tomorrow night I'll send it along.

I'm currently reading Black Hole by Charles Burns, and it's quite good. Creepy as hell, with lots of underlying social commentary, but really good, with a strong scifi/horror bent. I'll post a review on it next week in my RA posting gig, if you're interested.