Postcard Killers Proposal

Alright everybody, here goes!

The Postcard Killers by James Patterson and Liza Marklund contains many important literary elements, which give the story a natural flow and rhythm. With this, it is difficult to notice such elements, but they are deeply seeded in every page. The setting of any book tells the place, time, atmosphere, mood, state of characters, where the story may go, and more. Setting in The Postcard Killers plays a major role with plot movement and even the understanding character’s roles. The beginning of the Postcard Killer’s murders began in the United States and the move onward to all regions of Europe. I want to further understand how and why Europe makes the story immobile and what movement and murders mean in relation to location. Within this paper, I would also like to compare the cultural boundaries and walls between Jacob and the Swedish police because of their different exposures to the United States and Europe. Throughout the book it is evident that Jacob has a concrete opinion of how the European police work versus how he works back in the United States. Jacob is often labeled as “the American” and the European characters have a similar title related to their background. Jacob’s anger obviously surrounds his daughter’s vicious murder, but it is also directed at the law and agents he is working with across the ocean. The setting seems to displace Jacob and make him an outsider, especially with language because he cannot understand Swedish. He is not a conventional character within Europe, nor is Dessie even though she has resided all over Europe. This book would be extremely different if it had taken place in the United States, which is small compared to the size of Europe. Also, it seems that authors are still portraying Europe as almost “mystical,” spacious, and full of opportunities. Many horror movies take place in Europe, as well. It seems that this would faze an American audience, especially someone who has not been abroad, more than someone who lives in Europe. In this paper I will research how setting can highlight a lot of social and cultural differences between characters, drives the plot and murders, and how it also enhances the imagination of a reader or specific audience.

If you can't tell, my thoughts and ideas are all over the place. Any suggestions or ideas would be amazing to hear. Thanks, everybody and have a great, relaxing weekend!

Reflections about Blogging

One part I enjoy about weekly blogging is taking concepts we have talked about in class and applying them to my own personal ideas. It really is nice at the end of the week to have a physical representation of what we have been learning about in class. My blog is a space where I can explore ideas that strike me while reading and a place where I can openly ask questions. Each week I have used the readings we have focused on in class and expanded on them in length and content. I worry that my blogs are too long at times and people might not want to sit there and read it based on the length. We are all busy after all.

I incorporate images and quotes as much as I can because I think it can draw people in. I want a people to have a visual, especially if it pertains to what the blog is about, and I also want them to see how words of the past fit into our present day. I like thinking my blog is being reached by people who will finish reading and have at least one question or comment on their mind.

The grammar in my blogs probably is not perfect, especially my commas. I personally think that a blog space should be whatever a person makes it, and those small spelling and grammar errors can fly! Despite my misspelling of the word “an” I think that my ideas and words are still credible and interesting. Those little mistakes and quirks can add character! Right? I like to re-read my writing, especially after a number of days have passed by and they are not in the forefront of my mind.

I really appreciate the major events in history we have been covering in class like: Hurricane Katrina, 9/11 because they make me dig deep into my emotional soul. I know this sounds cheesy, but these are moments I lived through and blocked out of my memory. 9/11, for example, occurred when I was 7^thFalling Man grade and I realized how much I had suppressed. Since I am older I can look at this event through many lenses I have attained since middle school. I touch upon this in my entry about when Lianne approaches Elena about her music. Lianne’s use of the word “they” when talking about Elena and her assumed Middle Eastern “people” reminded me of how racism further thrived after 9/11. I also talk about how Lianne “frames” Elena physically in the doorway and racially. Framing also appears in my blog about The Boondocks episode where the news was accusing the “drug-related crime” on the only Black characters in the neighborhood.

This is also connected to the stories behind Botero’s paintings of Abu Ghraib where American soldiers tortured innocent civilians in Iraq. This unjust event is grounded by racism, hate, and prejudice, and is also a product from 9/11. In my blog I analyze the colors, shapes, and appearances in Botero’s paintings and why he perhaps painted his figures and scenes the way he did. This was a powerful blog for me to write because as I continued analyzing the paintings I realized how they impacted me. I began to ask questions about the painting with the tied up man being attacked by the dog: he scream? Did he call for anyone? Hopefully others began asking questions. I think that art was a good switch from talking about books people outside our class perhaps have not read.

Other concepts I have highlighted are escapism and creation, particularly in 1 Dead in Attic. I reflect on how “Some through alcohol and medication and even suicide” have “achieved escapism, but Rose seeks a piano. The piano becomes the symbol of the broken house/family and a memory of the liveliness of Louisiana through music.” I thought it was important to understand how Katrina emotionally and physically affected the survivors. There was also a certain amount of creation and creative thought, like the Cat Lady, who lived near Rose. This creativity acts as a light through the bleak darkness that surrounded the survivors and Louisiana as a whole. I really wanted to touch upon these two concepts because I feel like that they should provoke empathy and understanding in people who haven’t given Katrina much thought.

One thing I would like to change within my blogs is making them more personal. I feel that at times I can get too hooked on the analysis of a book or idea, which can take away from my personal opinions about the topic. I do this a lot in informal, personal papers even! I would like to make more concrete statements as to how I feel about a specific concept and to be able to feel my voice more.

The Postcard Killers

The Postcard Killers has been a thrilling book thus far! I haven’t gotten too far into it but the short and precise chapters have been a real treat compared to the reading I’ve had for other classes this semester. It is really different for me to be reading a contemporary book published in 2010 because I never have time with school to do that. To say the least, I am excited to be reading more modern literature this semester. I really enjoy reading murder/mystery novels and it’s great to be reading a contemporary one. I’ve always read a lot of Sherlock Holmes stories and I even took a class this summer that focused on the British Empire, narrative, and detection. It’s interesting to compare The Postcard Killers to Sherlock Holmes, or even The Moonstone. They are all extremely different but they all make up the history of the detection novel.

The narrator in this book seems to be objective and honest. I’m unsure of who is telling the story, but it reminds me of the driving voice in The Good Guy by Dean Koontz. The narrator feels like it’s someone who was not personally part of the story, but seems to know everything; it could even be the author. I also enjoy the switch narratives from Dessie to Jacob and to the killers. This reminds me of Falling Man in this aspect. I think it’s important to have these multiple focuses because as a reader we know they will all come together, which can be a really fulfilling feeling. These four characters are all in close proximity but just haven’t run into one another yet, which creates more suspense. The setting of the book takes place in Europe from Italy to Germany and to Paris. There’s a lot of ground for these characters tamper with and physically move on, which I like because the book doesn’t seem grounded in one place.

As readers we also learn a lot about each character. We can tell that Jacob is grieving over his murdered daughter and how close this case is for him based on the repetition of “Rome, Rome, Rome” and his large intake of alcohol (20-21). We can see how his mind goes in circles and how emotionally committed he is when he repeats words or phrases like, “what the hell, what the hell, what the hell” (22). I’m finding it really easy to latch onto how the characters feel and what type of personalities they have. One last thought: the use of postcards to relay murders and to secretly contact people is pretty damn creative!

I personally think that Falling Man should be taken off the syllabus. I enjoyed this book the least and I had a hard time identifying with it. I think that there is a better book out there about 9/11 somewhere; I’m just not sure what it is. The prose was great and the emotional states of the characters were pretty accurate, but it didn’t trigger a great deal of emotion for me. Perhaps this is because it’s fiction? I really wished I liked this book and got more meaning out of it like some people did, but it just was not my cup of tea. Yet, this makes me want to read more novels written about and around 9/11. I think if I were to teach this book I would have another book from post-9/11 so the class could do a cross comparison and see which they could relate to better, or feel the most compelled by. This would be the only way I could keep Falling Man on the syllabus because I feel that it this one book doesn’t entirely capture the moment in history.