Vibha, Walter Reed, Last Tango, Sinatra

I really enjoyed reading Babita Persaud's three-part series about arranged marriages in Indian culture. This topic is something I had only heard about, but not really known in depth how much of a process it was. It's hard to believe that there are resume's and photos involved, or that Vibha's mother traveled to India to interview possible future husbands for her daughter. Obviously, it is a cultural difference for me to not understand the whole process of arranged marriage. On my own, I wouldn't elect to read a story about arranged marriages, it doesn't really catch my attention all that much. But, I really loved Persaud's presentation of the story. Even though it was lengthy, I found myself anxious to get to the next part of the series. I was excited to see if it would end up being a man her parent's had chosen or if it would be someone Vibha would. I think the reason why I was so happy that Vibha's husband ended up being a man she was friends with was because of how unfamiliar I am with the culture. It is so foreign to me when I imagine my parents picking a boyfriend for me, let alone my husband! I'm sure it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world, seeing as even in Vibha's case she did appreciate her mother's opinion a lot. What struck me most about this whole series was how long Persaud spent with this family. Three years is a LONG time. I tried to imagine myself doing that, or even how Persaud initially got the family to trust her. Perhaps because she is of Indian descent as well. Either way, that was most fascinating.

Anne Hull and Dana Priest's piece "Little Relief on Ward 53" was very disheartening to read. It was so unfortunate to read how little is being done to help soldiers that return from war. Particularly reading about Joshua Calloway's personal experience with post traumatic stress after returning from war was troubling. Much like any person who is experiencing deep psychological issues, it is difficult to hear or read about what they are going through and not feel a sense of sadness for them. He was so traumatized by the death of his sergeant that it affected his daily life. I think it was very important that this piece was written. I certainly had no idea that so little resources are available to soldiers with PTSD, and that soldiers with actual physical wounds receive greater and better attention than those with emotional and mental wounds.

Gay Talese's piece on Frank Sinatra was interesting. While it wasn't my favorite piece, I certainly found it fascinating that such a lengthy piece could be written about how having a cold affects Sinatra. Especially since I have a difficult time with the literary journalism style of writing, it was certainly insightful to see how so much detail and so much story could be written out of one seemingly small idea. I liked reading this a little probably only because Frank Sinatra is such a huge icon, he's likable which makes him easy to read about. However, I would imagine that perhaps the cold was meant to symbolize the feelings Sinatra had about turning fifty soon.

Mike Sager's piece about finding Marlon Brando in Tahiti was.. different. I know we've learned in class that sometimes bringing yourself into the piece is okay, depending on how you do it. I thought this piece was definitely more about Sager than about his mission to find Brando. He didn't ever actually talk to Brando, just other sources and other information. Which I guess that can work on some level, but I didn't think it worked that well for this piece.

In Cold Blood

Capote’s In Cold Blood was a very interesting read. Sometimes when I read stories, articles, etc. when it is too wordy or descriptive I get bored easily but for some reason this was different. I think Capote’s purpose in using great detail was to engage the reader enough to understand how real this tragic event was. By describing the killers, Perry and Dick, and their activities previous to the murder, Capote managed to developed them into real people instead of just murderers. And while it would probably prove difficult to capture a family so well, considering when he wrote this they had all died, but Capote delivers it well and without using first person. I thought that was pretty impressive, especially considering how close he got to the story.

I think a major aspect of this book that becomes challenging is that by default it asks for the reader’s sympathy in regards to Dick & Perry. I think that was Capote’s point. I think he wanted the reader to understand the men behind the murder in the midst of grasping such a tragic event. This becomes challenging because I think it is hard for most people to have sympathy or acknowledge sympathy for someone who does such horrible things. Sure, you feel bad for someone who has lost family members to suicide. But after putting into context, like if who you are feeling bad for turns out to be a murderer, it takes away some, if not all, of the sympathy.

However, a tragic or shocking event such as what happened to the Clutters usually causes a mixed and unusual reaction. Especially to be living in such a small town as Holcomb, I’m sure the initial reactions were something along the lines of, “you don’t expect something like this to happen in a small town like this.” That is almost always the response to a highly tragic event, I think because it is too overwhelming to think about it. But even at that, part of you wants to know what could possibly make a person commit such a heinous crime. What makes them tick? It reminds me of the VT shootings. That was a horribly tragic event, but afterwards how much information and stories were aired all over the TV, newspapers, etc. about the boy who committed the crime. It was like you wanted to watch it and find out about him, and what could possibly make him do such a thing but at the same time you were sitting there wondering why you even cared about such a detestable person. I think this is the same reason why In Cold Blood is a testing novel. It attempts to make you understand the murder as a whole, not just from the Clutter’s point of view, and not just from the killers.