Initial Thoughts of Sag Harbor
Since I haven’t been in class the past week because of exams, I thought to dedicate this blog post to my initial thoughts of Sag Harbor. Some of these points could overlap with things discussed in class, but I wouldn’t know because I wasn’t there.
My first reaction to the reading is that Reggie and Benji remind me of my sister and I, because we’re both treated basically like twins everywhere except for school. We participated in all of the same extracurricular activities and sports teams together. Especially growing up it was always “Malaak ‘n’ Raneem” or “Saadah sisters” (cheesy, I know I’m not a fan of it). My friend recently made a group chat and titled it “twins + her name” and the twins part of the title was referring to my sister and I. However, my sister and I are two years apart, so it’s not a small or large age gap. I understand what Benji means by always being associated with his sibling except at school, because that’s similar with me too.
I really enjoy the writing style. Benji has a sarcastic tone so it feels conversational, and his dramatics are very entertaining. He described hitting a piñata by saying, “in a succession of finely furnished living rooms we took sticks and expressed our lust through an eager fury, assailing the poor piñatas and sending their sad paper fur flapping, their empty bulk wobbling above us, such a grubby mob we were” (Whitehead 40). It’s easy to read, it’s not dense, but Benji goes on rants about subtopics (reminds me of Holden from The Catcher in the Rye about ranting on subtopics) so the original topic gets almost forgotten. For example, Benji was talking about his and Reggie’s independence. He then goes to talk about all the different foods they eat, mentions specific brands, and his opinion about each food item. I still enjoy his sub-rants because they remind me of telling a story to my friends and mentioning a bunch of other smaller stories throughout the actual main story.
Benji also foreshadows, which is interesting and I haven’t read a book in a while that does it so bluntly. For example, when he’s talking about not hanging out with girls his age and he says, “it was about to change in a few weeks we just didn’t know that” (Whitehead 206). Or when talking about Clive he says that he has his flaws but “didn’t let them deform his character yet. Not back then” again with the foreshadowing (Whitehead 221). It keeps me more interested in the book because I’m waiting for the climax that turns these aspects of the people.
My first reaction to the reading is that Reggie and Benji remind me of my sister and I, because we’re both treated basically like twins everywhere except for school. We participated in all of the same extracurricular activities and sports teams together. Especially growing up it was always “Malaak ‘n’ Raneem” or “Saadah sisters” (cheesy, I know I’m not a fan of it). My friend recently made a group chat and titled it “twins + her name” and the twins part of the title was referring to my sister and I. However, my sister and I are two years apart, so it’s not a small or large age gap. I understand what Benji means by always being associated with his sibling except at school, because that’s similar with me too.
I really enjoy the writing style. Benji has a sarcastic tone so it feels conversational, and his dramatics are very entertaining. He described hitting a piñata by saying, “in a succession of finely furnished living rooms we took sticks and expressed our lust through an eager fury, assailing the poor piñatas and sending their sad paper fur flapping, their empty bulk wobbling above us, such a grubby mob we were” (Whitehead 40). It’s easy to read, it’s not dense, but Benji goes on rants about subtopics (reminds me of Holden from The Catcher in the Rye about ranting on subtopics) so the original topic gets almost forgotten. For example, Benji was talking about his and Reggie’s independence. He then goes to talk about all the different foods they eat, mentions specific brands, and his opinion about each food item. I still enjoy his sub-rants because they remind me of telling a story to my friends and mentioning a bunch of other smaller stories throughout the actual main story.
Benji also foreshadows, which is interesting and I haven’t read a book in a while that does it so bluntly. For example, when he’s talking about not hanging out with girls his age and he says, “it was about to change in a few weeks we just didn’t know that” (Whitehead 206). Or when talking about Clive he says that he has his flaws but “didn’t let them deform his character yet. Not back then” again with the foreshadowing (Whitehead 221). It keeps me more interested in the book because I’m waiting for the climax that turns these aspects of the people.
In general, while reading there are many things that remind me of myself while reading Sag Harbor. A big example is how Sag Harbor itself reminds me of the MAS-ICNA convention. MAS-ICNA is a 4 day conference over Winter break where Muslims all over the world meet in Chicago and attend lectures and activities together (25,000 people attend each year). Just like Benji and his friends meet at Clive’s place to not be excluded, my friends and I would meet at the same lecture room every morning, listen to the lecture there then just stick together the rest of the day. I’ve been friends with the same people ever since I could remember and just like Sag Harbor, we only get together once a year.
I think it's really interesting and funny that you can relate to Benji/Reggie so much. I think that between a difference of 2 and 3 years there's a huge difference, because me and my brother have a 3 year age difference and we have a huge gap in the eyes of everyone else. My brother even got called "little Lorenzo" all through elementary school, which he absolutely DESPISES. So I think that the fact that Reggie and Benji are seen as inseparable (even though they aren't really anymore) has to do with the fact that they probably were in the same social circles.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your thoughts on how easy the book is to read. Whitehead isn't trying to impress anyone with big words- after all Benji is only a teenager and he's supposed to be a convincing one. I think one thing that makes the book so easy to read is how real the characters and events feel. I thought your connections to the book were really interesting!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading this blog post so much, and all of these connections between Sag Harbor and your own life are really, really interesting! I thought the parallels between Benji and Reggie’s life and your own with your sister were so cool (and I think it’s something I can relate to sometimes as well!). I also enjoyed Colson Whitehead’s writing style and Benji/Ben’s casual and conversational tone. I thought the included humor and sarcasm made it fun to read as well. The rant part of the narration that you discuss really interested me too, and it also did remind me of Holden! It’s cool because it feels like these rants are necessary to make this book whole, because as we’ve seen, nothing very big happens plot-wise. However, it’s so interesting to see how all of these rants and extra stories come together to form a cohesive and clear coming-of-age narrative, each chapter’s theme playing a great role in progressing Benji’s story over the summer (even if nothing necessarily “big” or “life-changing” happens).
ReplyDeleteI agree that the foreshadows too, connecting young Benji to Ben the narrator, were striking and seem to show how these events are actually significant to who Benji grows up to be in the future.
The MAS-ICNA convention sounds really fun! These parallels were super interesting too. Thanks!
That foreshadowing thing that Whitehead does that you pointed out is really interesting to me - mainly because half the time we don't ever actually get to learn what he was foreshadowing about. He drops the line "[Clive] didn’t let them deform his character yet. Not back then”, and then proceeds to never tell us how or when he eventually let them deform his character, what happened because of it, etc. It made me simultaneously amused and annoyed - like you said, it makes me look forward to a climax, which never ends up coming. But at the same time, I find it kind of funny how Whitehead seems to bait us and then is just like "Ok anyway we're never coming back to that again let's talk about ice cream". Although, all of that foreshadowing for things that don't occur before the book ends does leave me curious as to if the people in Benji's crew kept in touch after they apparently stopped coming out, or if they had to hear it second hand from people or during brief moments where they might run into each other. Anyway I'll stop here. I really enjoyed reading your blog and all the parallels you mentioned between your life/experiences and Benji's!
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