A Visit from the Goon Squad First Impressions

Thus far, I am enjoying the style and structure of writing than Jennifer Egan offers. I have never read a book that is not a mystery novel that still requires that I piece together information from each chapter to help understand the next one. It has become really fun to decide which minor characters from a previous chapter have become major characters and often key characters moving forward in the book. My literary circle actually was quite intersting adn delightfl ebcause we often had to back track to figure out which characters were who and who plays central roles in various parts of the novel.So far the book is becoming for me a kind of puzzle. I am having to weave relationships in and out of each chapter and often I am having to calculate years past and ages of character to find out who certain characters are from previous chapters. However, I am really enjoying the dynamic of the text because I have never read a text that is structured in the way Egan constructs this story into a series of intertwining short stories. In the opening chapter, I sense a mix of comedy and introspection Sasha is a classic kleptomaniac, unable to quell her impulses to steal. She has a therapist Coz and already is being shaped as an unstable and possibly volatile character. Coz is unique in herself for a therapist. She is eccentric and surprisingly dislikes eye contact. This detail stood out to me in particular. A therpaisst is an intimate figure, one who has to be able to connect with another’s life and identity in order to offer council. Yet, coz avoids this level of intimacy thorugh a lack of eye contact. Nevertheless, Coz offers advice to Sasha on her theft issues. The idea of Coz being a mentor figure for Sasha reminds me of that same dynamic in Invisible Man. I enjoy finding commonalities in every book we read even when these books are totally different genres. I have noticed most prominently; however, that authors tend to base their central characters around some eternal conflict that inhibits the procession to the climax of the novel. In Hamlet, it was a hesitation over how to avenge his father. In Invisible Man, the central internal conflict was that of the narrator and his struggle to balance between two parallel ideologies which inhibited his identification with himself. Similarly, in Winesburg, Ohio, George Williard had to discover an "ungrotesque" truth that allowed him to escape the small town of Winesburg. Oh and I just thought of this one! Grendel has to revel between two states of existence : meaninglessness and meaning in a world that he is not welcome and viewed as a monster. Unable to establish a human-like existence in the Anglo-Saxon world, Grendel has to decide whether to concede to meaninglessness or embody the role of the monster in order to find meaning in the people's world. I am finding that AP lit has opene my eyes to these types of connections. I do not think that if I would have not taken this class that I would be able to have a level of sophistication in my reading to draw parallels in novels written in totally different time periods and totally different genres.