Chapter 12, innovation at its best.

I wasn't sure what to expect when I embarked on the ominous "PowerPoint" chapter. Would it live up to the hype it was receiving from the class? How could there be a random PowerPoint thrown into a novel that already had a news article for a chapter and contained a section written in the second person? It seemed as though Egan wanted to drive her readers insane while writing, "what would completely blow their minds? I've already thrown in an umpteenth amount of characters, a constantly shifting time line, and very, very confusing plot, ...how about adding article and a PowerPoint? That would really throw 'em off." The crazy thing is, it works.

This book isn't like others. It's far from normal, so I'm not quite sure why I thought it would be. Throughout the novel we see a series of events unfolding, these events, which seem unrelated and obscure, matter, the characters matter. Evidence of this is when a character, Lulu, is mentioned in the middle of chapter four as the future wife of the future grandson of a present character. She is given only a sentence but returns in chapter eight and again in chapter 13. A character who seemed so irrelevant returns and has a big role in the book's ending.

The chapter I found to be the most innovative would in fact be the PowerPoint chapter. I know it sounds cliché as the entire class probably choose it but there's a reason for it: it's different, very, very different. The chapter allows readers to see into the mind of its creator, Alison. We see her life through her eyes, although we've seen the two characters she calls mom and dad in a different light. We are able to see the feelings of appreciation and resentment she shares for each of them and why they exist. In a few words, the PowerPoint is able to make what most writers of regular chapters aren't: a connection. We, the readers have invested time in the characters of Sasha and Drew and to see them portrayed as a mother and father, especially through a PowerPoint created by their daughter, it gives the characters so much more depth that a typical novel can't reach.

Goon Squad is different, but it's a good different. It's the kind of different that opens new doors in literature, questioning the status quo, creating future masterpieces.

Complex narrative, creating complex television.

Television today is confusing. One of my favorite shows, Game of Thrones, has many characters which required me to search a map. Well, here it is:

 

 

  This map doesn't even cover the amount of characters introduced. Each character has their own back story, their own relationships. There are twists and turns in every episode, keeping viewers constantly on their toes. This show doesn't follow the mold of those before it. Full House didn't have me cringing, gasping, or crying. I wasn't hoping that DJ would find her dragons or that Danny would emerge victorious in his revolt against the Lanisters. What contemporary television does is it keeps you engaged, keeps you thinking. It's not the mindless shows that run on Saturday afternoons. Each episode ends in a cliffhanger, causing you to wonder where on earth the writers are going next episode. Game of Thrones isn't the only show taunting its views.

 

  Lost, the immensely popular adventure drama, makes its viewers nuts with smoke monsters, flash backs and ominous talk of 'the others'. I've just completed season one and I can say that it ties as one of my favorite shows with Thrones. I never know what's coming next, where the story is headed. This isn't your average castaway story, there is something strange about this island these unlucky flighters found themselves on. Season one wraps up without voices or sounds, just instrumental music tuning it all out. The viewers see the castaways boarding the plane, ending with the beginning, showing those who are still alive, struggling and deserted, and those who have perished, casualties of the island. The dramatic end, with its music and flashback, served to me as an in memoriam, mourning those who died and the lives all the castaways once lived. It drew an emotional response from me and I am sure I'm not alone.

 

 

That's contemporary television. Those shows that reach the viewers within, making them think, making them angry, upset, anxious, making them feel as though they knew these characters. Television is no longer a one sided activity, it requires, DEMANDS, the attention of its viewers, creating a never before seen experience.



Kleptomania....what's that?

Kleptomania is defined as a irresistible need to steal, resulting from emotional disturbance rather than economic need.

I hadn't know that kleptomania was, I mean, I knew that people stole things for fun but I didn't know they stole out of necessity, to fill the void that was forming from the need to swipe something, anything. It's the way their brains are wired, they way they think and feel. It's an emotional state, a mental disorder and is not brought on by choice. Kleptomaniacs live a life of shame, they are embarrassed of who they are and what they do.

 

 

Following Sasha in chapter one of Goon Squad we see that she doesn't want this, to be this person. She snatches the wallet of an unsuspecting bathroom occupant,  one who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. What follows is an exhilarating flow of emotions. The night is no longer a dull date, but an evening filled with an abundance of possibilities. I can't say Sasha's actions are justified, stealing's a crime. But the world's not black and white and not everything in this world is just.