Trees and Future

The benefit of seeing literature this way is that you have evidence of the changes and trends happening in the literature world. If someone were to ask why these fluctuating changes were happening, one could refer to these charts to explain possible coincidences and correlations. The drawback is that the way this article is written tends to be too dense and wordy at some points, making it hard for readers to stay focused. In my opinion, though, this way of looking at literature is too superficial and factual. I believe most people who are submerged in literature are interested in the entertainment and lessons a book has to offer, instead of whether the book is trendy or written by a male or female. Of course all the factual information allows the reader to understand more about the state of literature in that time period like whether a certain genre is popular or if a book is bestselling which could help in deciding on reading a book.

If other projects are being done, combining literature with computer tools and what not, I would suggest making the article explaining the findings, more elaborate and containing more visual examples to make the material more understandable.

Another way we can approach SSTLS is to see where it fits in with other futuristic fictional novels. Once it is seen whether that demand for that genre is high or low, one can create a survey which can be given prioritized in middle and high schools (but also given to everyone else) asking questions about what could happen in the future and compare it to opinions from previous years. From this we could see how radically different our perception of the future is compared to past ones. If the results are bad, it could be a signal to novelists and scientists to inform society more about what could happen in the future, and possible solutions to calm down concerns. 

Super Sad TRUE Love Story

First of the movie portrays how a person can love a person of the same gender; unconditional love. But this exact theme isn’t portrayed in SSTLS so far; in this case Lenny and Eunice are aware of their incompatibilities and are willing to make their relationship work. In both story and the movie the females are mostly Asian.  Personally, I wouldn’t date a person of my same gender for natural reasons, so I can’t understand what the motivation of man of the movie was or what he felt.

In the story, Lenny a Caucasian is in love with Eunice, a troubled lady from Korean descent whole in the movie the Caucasian is in love with a supposed lady that was really an Asian male. This shows how sometimes women who are emotionally scarred are seen as better partners by men, since they give the man someone to protect. In both stories both the ladies lie to the men to please them. Eunice lies to Lenny by continuing telling him she loves him, while the Asian male tells the Caucasian guy that he is pregnant. I really don’t like lies or liars, because if someone lies, he or she probably won’t have a healthy relationship with the person he or she lied to. Lies are hard to remember for chronic liars, and they make the person lied to assume different things than what reality is.

Also, in both stories, there is a lot of politics involved. In the movie, the womanly dressed man is in charge of giving information to China about USA plans but in the process accidentally falls in love with the Caucasian man. While in the SSTLS, Eunice is politically naïve and Lenny is involved in political affairs through his boss, Joshie. Also, in both stories, revolts and wars are occurring between the US and Asia but the in SSTLS the problem is overspending and major debts. In SSTLS’s case, overspending is a problem today; we are in great debt.  The way the author writes the book, gives emphasis to the fact that materials do not make us happy, but people we love do; materials only blind us from reality i.e. how Eunice and other media people are consumed into the Aparat.

 Eunice and her family were dysfunctional since the woman was inferior to man; her father believed hurting them was fine, as long as he prayed before he did it. In the movie, the Asian women were also inferior to the men. The horrible fact was that the women accepted it. The ironic thing is that, right now 2010, even though people say women are equal as men, it doesn’t seem like it. Subconsciously men are more likely to get better jobs and paid better than females.

The major difference is that the movie is based in a past, non technological time, while SSTLS is settled in an advanced futuristic world.  Their major similarities during different eras, implies that bad times and situations can happen at any time, like a cycle.

SSTLS Online and Diary Synthesis

In the era of Super Sad True Love Story, the literature in the online social network and handwritten diaries complement each other very well to allow the reader to see through two perspectives.

For example, in page 144, in the second paragraph, Eunice mentions “And I don’t mean scanning a text like we did in euro Classics…I mean seriously READING…and watched him for like HALF AN HOUR…” Based on what Eunice said, it can be noticed that in the recent era reading a textbook is a very unpopular custom.  All news and information is distributed electronically through the aparati. Society is heavily dependent of online social networks. Precious Pony is talking about Lenny to Eunice, “It’s not like he’s some superstar Media guy or VP at LandOLakes. So he REALLY, REALLY READS instead of scans.” By Precious Pony also agreeing, it can be assumed that it is a worldwide custom to not read from actual books. These were told electronically via GlobalTeens which shows online social peoples’ perspective.

The GlobalTeen entries also expose us to the modern woman mentality in the future world. In Eunice’s chat with Lenny, we see how she keeps insisting in making him clean the bathtub, “I asked you to clean the bathtub. This apartment is DISGUSTINGLY DIRTY…I don’t like living in a pig-sty …I just want a nice, clean apartment, Lenny…I got to run the laundry…” By this passage, one can tell that the modern woman is concerned with how things appear. Their views differ: Eunice, the online savvy lady, wants everything tidy and clean, while Lenny (the man who would rather outdoor activities over online activities) doesn’t mind filth.

On the other hand, the protagonist, Lenny keeps a diary which he writes by hand and not electronically.  Through this text, we see only through Lenny’s perspective which is helpful in judging his character. An example of his thoughts would be when he was describing an elephant which most people wouldn’t think twice about. He mentioned, “I locked eyes with the elephant…A lonely elephant, the only one the zoo had at the moment, removed from his compatriots and possibility of love…” We can see that Lenny is a very thoughtful man who observes his surrounding very well. Without Lenny’s diary entries, we would just think he’s a prevented old man and would concentrate only on Eunice and her family, when the synthesis of both compose the novel on whole.