First Post

This is my first post for my new English 295 blog. Blogging is not unfamiliar to me, I have written blogs for other English classes before. My biggest hope though is that I can parlay posting in class to more regular posting on my own personal blog both during and after the class has ended.

At this moment I am reading Jonathan Safran Foer's "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close". Right now I am only halfway through, but so far I am loving it. One theme in particular has jumped out to me right away, a theme that seems to dominate the book, that being the idea of trauma. In the novel Oskar is dealing with the trauma of losing his father in the 9/11 attacks. His way of dealing with it becomes a search for some meaning, some hope that the key he finds will unlock a mystery that will make it all better.

But even more than Oskar, all of the characters in the book are dealing with some trauma, and the book explores how they all deal with it. The book is a fascinating look into the minds of those who have experienced trauma, and how we as a race have such a varied response to traumatic events.