mood: uneasymusic: 'november' by azure ray

on monday night i finished like the red panda by andrea seigel. i read it in about a week and i never used a bookmark. this book is genuinely amazing. reading it seemed to be what i looked forward to almost everyday. the story is in diary format and follows the last 2 school weeks of stella, a high school senior in irvine, as she reaches the height of her youthful disaffection.

seigel gives stella this weird insight into things. she relates events to things you might not think of at first glance, but when she makes the connection, it seems to click almost instantly. kinda like palahniuk.

the only flaw i could spot was the lack of dramatic buildup and climax. of course there is definitely drama in the story, but the diction doesn't always do its best to illustrate it. still, an amazing read. and anyway, give seigel a break; it's her first published novel.

today in modern u.s. history, we watched the infamous 'russian roulette' scenes from the deer hunter. (we're covering the 70's at this point.) i'd heard many ambiguous comments about this movie, and they always referenced these scenes. now i understand all the hubbub.

the spotlight seemed to be on deniro, as he had the loudest and most directly characterized persona in the movie, but i especially liked the way christopher walken embodied his character. present-day walken might talk a bit funnier, but 70's walken was the shit. during the last russian roulette scene, you can see the fatigue in his face. his eyes are sunken and his skin is sallow. his red bandana only highlights his striking pallor despite spending so much time in the jungles of vietnam. tight-lipped and looking more like a wax figure than a man, he says almost nothing, but there's this inherent attempt at conveying the kind of trauma this warrior has been through. needless to say i was awe-struck at the end of the period.

---Goei---