A Recipe

You start out with two heaping cups of young love, one overflowing pint of uncontrollable passion, and a leveled tablespoon of family tradition. Beat together these first three ingredients, violently using a seasoned wooden spoon, until irreversibly well blended. To this add a sharp pinch of hatred and a dash of insanity. Mix well and stand back.

The novel, Like Water for Chocolate, by Laura Esquivel is pleasantly point-blank. I was very much impressed with the epic tale revealed and the blunt manner used. The story took place over many years and involved many characters. Laura Esquivel has this amazing talent of depicting an event that most authors may take chapters to depict in one small paragraph. She puts it right on the table for you: this is who was involved, this is what happened, the end. I wish life could be so simple.

LOVE!?!??

I recently finished reading the novel by Toni Morrison, Love. What a complex story. I had heard rumor of how confusing the story was, and I was sure that I would not fall into that same pit of confusion.....but I did anyway. There was a great deal of reading a person's thoughts and not knowing who that person was or even when and who the thoughts were about. The story took place over many years and found great joy in hopping from year to year and then back again. The characters were as complex as the story. I spent most of the time just trying to understand each one and why they did what they did, said what they said, and were who they were.
The funniest aspect of my relationship with Love is that I was left wanting when I finished. I never really connected with or had much sympathy for any of the characters. In the beginning, I actually liked the grand puppeteer Mr. Cosey, but by the end, I would not have minded being the one to quietly and without remorse slip him a nice dose of foxglove. Adios Mr. Cosey, and don't let the door hit you on the way out. Having finished the novel, I feel that if I were to reread it, knowing the characters, it would all make a little more sense.
Once I finished reading, I was left with two thoughts:
1. I am eternally greatful that love in my life is so different than love in Love.
2. I wonder if I can get any money for this book at the bookstore?

Lusting for Freedom Rewritten

Is sex just a game? Lusting for Freedom, a paper written by Rebecca Walker, dives head first into the subject of sex and the restrictions society places on it. Walker shares the intimate story of how she lost her virginity at a very young age, 11. She talks about the awkwardness involved and how she quickly got over that to become a very sexually active teenager. Her sexuality brought her power and strength. Her self-worth and identity came from the bedroom. She found great pride and pleasure in attracting the men she shared her bed with.
Rebecca Walker was a young woman with many different faces. The men that shared her bed knew that she was the right girl for them, but was that girl really her? She would be the perfect race, age, and personality to suit each man. She seemed to enjoy reeling in her partners as much as the actual sexual act. Each bedmate was a challenging game to be played and then it was off to the next with seemingly little emotion involved. One might question the safety and intelligence involved in such a lifestyle.
Walker speaks of how sex should be a young woman’s right and not be “blocked by cultural taboo, government control or religious mandate”. She insists that it is not the act of sex that is dangerous for a “minor”, but the rules of society that actually make sex dangerous. She believes that girls should have the knowledge of safe-sex and have birth control and abortions readily available to young girls without involving the parents. Is there really such a thing as safe-sex? “We deserve to have our self-esteem nurtured and our personal agency encouraged.” Having sex: is that the only way for a young woman to have self-esteem and true freedom?