Melissa's Blog Responses

Response to Erika's Blog:

First off, great presentation! I think you girls explained each section with relation to the book very well! I personally think that Jason shouldn't be in the heaven position. After the masacre he slowly falls away from God. It seemed like if Cheryl wasn't by his side then God wouldn't be either. Maybe this could be because he had so mcuh anger towards God he lost faith in him or he was just to miserable to even care. God is said to be forgiving and loving but the second half of the novel showed the opposite of these qualities in Jason. Coupland never wrote about Jason repenting or showing love to his family once he let his life slide. For a person who is in the heaben category of this ontology those two key ideas should be very evident but they were not there in Jason. - melissa

Response to Ken's Blog:

My favorite part of the preface was the last line.."for the trumpet will sound, and the dead shall be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed." I think that the concept that Jason, in a way, changed Reg towards the end of the novel illustrates this line very well. In a sense Reg was dead to the world and others throughout the novel because he was closed minded. But towards the end he was changed by Heather and Jason's actions through reflection. This caused Reg to be changed and raised from the dead...hopefully into eternal life. I really thought this preface fit the book perfectly. After reading the book it made a lot more sense and it is a unique way to present a preface. - melissa


Response to Sunshine's Blog:

I found the part where you made the comment about how the image on the cover is kneeling and that represents Jason's act of surrender in his life. It seems like his life isn't going the way he planned it and he has no more goals or aspirations anymore. He is just going through life without hope that things may get better. He has lost his faith in God which could've been his biggest mistake because now he has nothing to live for. Since Jason totally gave up he never feels like he is good enough and has isolated himself from the people that love him the most. I think it would be interesting to think what if Jason stayed connected with God? Would his life after the massacre be different? Would he not have surrenderd his life the way he did?- Melissa

Response to Clayton's Blog:

So i am definitely not finished this book yet. I just can't seem to read more than 5 pages then I have to go do something else. This book does not interest me at all. From going to Hey Nostradamus, which i read in 2 days and couldn't put down, to this confusing and uninteresting novel I am upset that this is the last book we are reading. I think that Gibson's want for the story to be fragmented is what throws the readers off. Not only is his writing style and language confusing, like the sentence fragments, but the way he jumps back and forth from charcters has me lost. I think that you brought up a topic that 3/4 of our whole lecture hall is thinking. What were Ogden's reasons for picking this book anyway? Without a doubt, he is the only one that can answer. Unfortunatly we have no choice but to suck it up and read it. - melissa