Eternally Confused

Arjuna seems to be very lost and uncertain in this chapter. After he noticed that it is wrong to fight his own relative, he is really confused about whether he should fight him or not. Krishna, who's driving Arjuna's chariot, tries his best to convince him that he must fight. He says that it's his duty and since Arjuna thinks it is a big sin to kill people, Krishna tries to convince him by telling him that bodies of humans might die, but the the soul of a person cannot be destroyed:

"Our bodies are known to end, but the embodied self is enduring, indestructible, and immeasurable; therefore, Arjuna, fight the battle!" (p. 34)

I sort of agree with most of what Krishna said in this chapter, but I don't really like how he's using this belief to convince Arjuna to kill people. He even says that great warriors who battle in war are welcomed in heaven when they die. Arjuna does seem to understand Krishna's concept very well but I think he starts to feel even more confused afterward. He still doesn't seem to feel confident about battling his cousin, and I don't think he ever will because he knows that he's supposed to be battling but something in his head doesn't let him. And now, he has more questions in his mind because of Krishna's explanation. Whatever Arjuna decides to do later on (to battle or not to battle), he will never be sure whether he did the right thing or not.

I'm starting to like this book because it seems to have some kind of a teaching for every chapter. But, it might be a bit better if the book kept on with its story now.

Where You Stand: The Bhagavad-Gita - 1

Arjuna, the protagonist, starts a war with Duryodhana for the gain of a kingdom. I think it's a bit ironical because these two characters are cousins, and they are about to waste many lives just because of them. Besides that, many of the warriors have relatives on the other side of the team. In a way, we could say that this is just a big family problem between two sides that don't agree on something. I don't really think it's very smart of them to just start killing each other until one of them wins. I mean, imagine killing one of your family members, it's just not right. And, this is exactly what Arjuna starts to notice later on, when he is in the middle of the battlefield, on a chariot with Krishna. He notices that it's a big unreasonable waste and a bit unethical to just start fighting and killing our own relatives.

According to the narration of the story until now, Arjuna is sort of the character that starts out a bit confused, but then realizes something and changes to become a character with good values. On the other hand, Duryodhana will probably turn out to be the type of character that doesn't accept some kind of truth or value, and ends up losing or failing on his quest at the end. Until now, he is thought to be the enemy of the protagonist. So, obviously someone reading this would think that Duryodhana is the "bad guy" of the story.

The story was a bit hard to understand in my opinion. I think it might have been because there were too many names, and also maybe because of the way it was written in. But, the topic seems interesting until now so I guess it's a good story to read about. Also, there probably will be some kind of moral at the end of the story (since the chapters are named "The First Teaching" and "The Second Teaching".

The Nether World: Tablet XII Response

In the short story of tablet XII, Gilgamesh accidentally drops his drum and drumsticks and they fall through a hole to the Nether World, the world after death. Enkidu, his companion and the love of his life, goes into the Nether World to retrieve it for him. Gilgamesh told him not to do specific things like not wearing shoes, not putting on clean clothes, carrying no staff nor bow, etc. so that he wouldn't bring up such a commotion down there. But, Enkidu decides to (I don't know why) do everything that he wasn't supposed to do and he ends up trapped there because of Ereshkigal, Queen of the Nether World. In other words, he had died and was now stuck forever in the world of the afterlife. Knowing this, Gilgamesh asks the god of Ea for help. Ea hears his heeds and orders Nergal, King of the Nether World, to let the spirit of Enkidu rise up out into the Upper World. So then, Enkidu appears, rising up from the ground. Gilgamesh, full of curiosity, asks Enkidu about the things he saw in the Nether World. Enkidu is reluctant to tell him because it's so horrifying, but the short story of tablet XII ends as he describes his seeings to Gilgamesh.

Tablet XII was kind of confusing for me, because I didn't know whether it was part of the actual main story or not. This tablet did have the same two main characters (Gilgamesh and Enkidu) as the other tablets, but the story was kind of different. It seems to me as if this tablet was another version or another different story apart from the one from tablets one through eleven. The main difference was that this short story had an afterlife, the Nether World. And, of course this makes the whole story different because the original story was written as if there was nothing after death. Almost half of the original story was about Gilgamesh struggling with the fear of death after his companion, Enkidu, had passed away. So, the existence of the afterlife in the original story would have affected it a lot. But, besides that, most of the characteristics of both stories seem to be very similar. Gilgamesh and Enkidu are still, of course, lovers and soul mates in tablet twelve:

"The spirit of Enkidu, a puff of breath, came forth from the Nether World into the Upper. Then Gilgamesh and Enkidu, companions, tried to embrace and kiss one another, companions." (p. 90)

What seemed the most interesting in the short story of tablet XII, however, was the description of the Nether World told by Enkidu. He described the afterlife of men with different amounts of sons. And, the more sons a man had, the better afterlife he had. I think that the author was indirectly trying to tell or even persuade us that having more sons was better, in a sort of a demonstrative rhetoric:

"How is it with the man who has one son? I have seen the man. He sits by the wall and weeps... How is it with the man who has four sons? His heart rejoices as the heart rejoices... How is it with the man who has seven sons? As if he were companion of the gods he sits upon a throne and listens to music." (p. 91-92)

Through this dialogue, the author might be showing his belief towards the happiness of having sons. In a way, he is telling us to have more sons if we want to be happy.

So, I guess that's the end of the book. At first, I thought that the story would be very different from the ones that I'm used to reading and that it would be hard to understand. But, even though some parts of the story were very unexpected, it wasn't hard to understand and I actually enjoyed reading it. There were random events from time to time in the story, but I think that was what gave the unique touch to the book.

Tablet XI Response

Tablet XI is mostly about Utnapishtim, the son of Ubartutu, telling his story of how he was admitted to the company of the gods and was granted eternal life. But, the most important thing in this tablet is how Gilgamesh, after hearing the story and trying out the challenge of being awake for a week, realizes that life and death is how it's meant to be. By knowing this, Gilgamesh finally turns back to his normal self and returns back to the city of Uruk. When he falls asleep while he tries the challenge, he notices that it is really hard to stay awake for a full week. By this, he understands how it is also very hard to be alive for such a long time.

What caught my attention the most was the story that was told to Gilgamesh because it was very similar to Noah's Ark: "...abandon your house and build a boat instead. Seek life instead of riches, save yourself. Take with you, on the boat you build, an instance of each thing living so that they may be safe from obliteration in the flood." It's interesting how this story has its own version of Noah's Ark just with different characters. Even in different religions and cultures, there are some similar beliefs and characteristics that we can notice while reading the book.

Tablets IX & X

So, the grief of Gilgamesh because of Enkidu's death goes on. Gilgamesh keeps on wondering whether he should die just because his companion died. He thinks that it's unfair that Enkidu was forced to die while he had the chance to live. He seems to be very sad and lonely now that Enkidu died. He show signs of sadness and lack of courage after the death of his life companion. His first lonely journey through the mountains shows an example: "At night in the mountain passes there were lions, and Gilgamesh was afraid, and entered afraid into the moonlit mountain passes, praying to Sin the moon god... Terror in the body of Gilgamesh seized hold of him from within and held him there in terror. (p. 48)"

Gilgamesh also seems to have actually loved Enkidu, not just as a friend, but something more. He keeps on repeating long descriptions of how great Enkidu was, and besides that, he even says this: "Enkidu, the companion, whom I loved... (p. 54)" So technically, Gilgamesh is going on a journey to help save his loved one.

I also think that the author might be trying to suggest something through the situation of the story. Since Gilgamesh kind of represents civilization, his act of living like Enkidu (wearing animal skin, living in the wilderness, not being very clean, etc.) and his grief for him gives us a small indirect message. It represents how at the end, civilization is "grieving" for nature, after it's destroyed. It represents how civilization wants to go back to the way it was in the beginning: the way it was meant to originally be.

Tablets VII & VIII Response

These two tablets were kind of surprising for me. I didn't really expect Enkidu to die in the middle of the story, for he was supposed to be Gilgamesh's companion for life. Too many events suddenly happen really fast while reading this book. It seems like the author sometimes rushed through his writing in some parts, but I guess this helps the story to be more interesting since we never know what's going to happen next. The author also keeps on repeating short parts of phrases in dialogues to point out some kind of idea, feeling, or emotion. Tablet 8 is a great example for the use of this technique: "May the wild ass in the mountains braying mourn... May the pathways to the Cedar Forest mourn... May the passes through the mountains mourn for you... May the young men of the city who fought the Bull, may they mourn for Enkidu who protected them... etc." It does start to get kind of boring when a whole page keeps going on like that, but it helped a lot to show the feelings and emotions of Gilgamesh towards the death of Enkidu. Of course, Gilgamesh is very sad and feels that Enkidu should somehow be remembered by the people of Uruk. So, he decides to build a statue in honor of Enkidu. This represents the strong friendship that existed between Gilgamesh and Enkidu and all the heroic actions they have done together. But in my point of view, the death of Enkidu represents many other things too. In the beginning, Enkidu started out living in the wilderness along with other beastly creatures. Then, he earned a better life when he became more civilized in the city of Uruk. But, the price he had to pay for that at the end was death. Since Enkidu represents humanity, the story might be suggesting that humans won't last much if they are civilized for too long and if they completely forget about the nature around us that we belong in. The author might be indirectly suggesting us to pay more attention to our surroundings and to be careful because we might not be living in the correct way...

Here's a short video that shows the death of Enkidu and explains a bit about the nightmare he had before passing away:

Gilgamesh Tablet VI Response

So the story goes on... Gilgamesh comes back with Enkidu to the city of Uruk. Because of Gilgamesh's heroic actions and handsomeness, the goddess, Ishtar, falls in love with him. But, Gilgamesh rejects her and she punishes him for insulting her. She sends the Bull of Heaven to destroy the city of Uruk. The bull keeps on attacking simultaneously, but on its third try, Enkidu, along with Gilgamesh, destroy the bull and stop it from making any further damage. The hero, Gilgamesh of course, saves the day again with Enkidu.

Until now, the whole book is about Gilgamesh and his relationship with Enkidu. This tablet again shows the big bond shared by Gilgamesh and Enkidu. Only together, were they able to defeat the Bull of Heaven. Only together, were they able to bring peace back to the land of Uruk. Besides that, Gilgamesh even rejected the goddess, Ishtar, because the friendship with Enkidu was a lot more important. I personally think Gilgamesh and and Enkidu are going to end up living together forever... just saying.

Gilgamesh Tablets IV & V Response

Gilgamesh and Enkidu, together, succeed their quest on slaying Huwawa. Tablets four and five clearly show a lot of evidence of Gilgamesh's foil with Enkidu. They both have similar characteristics that differ them from other normal people; they are strong, tall, and sturdy. But, in these two tablets, the differences between them help each other. The bravery of Gilgamesh and the knowledge of nature of Enkidu make a good combination to destroy Huwawa.

These two tablets are mainly about the bond between Gilgamesh and Enkidu growing bigger. Every morning on their way through the Cedar forest, Gilgamesh always struggles with the thoughts about the nightmares he had. But, Enkidu always tried to cheer him up by telling him that his nightmares were actually blessings. So, their friendship starts to grow more little by little.

Gilgamesh Tablets II & III Response

Besides being one of the earliest known works of literature, Gilgamesh is a pretty interesting book in many ways.

The way that the author wrote this book is very different and unique compared to other writings these days. The plot and events of the story seem to happen and change fast while reading it. Tablet II starts out with Enkidu trying to prove his strength and power by going on a journey to Uruk to face the strong and mighty king, Gilgamesh. By the end of tablet III, Gilgamesh and Enkidu were already friends and they were planning on a journey together to go into the Cedar Forest to destroy a dreadful demon called Huwawa that could kill any normal man if it wanted to. Everything else happened only between two tablets (chapters). It is kind of interesting because it's a new style that I haven't seen before but I would have suggested the author to have slowed down and taken a bit more time to describe and add more things.

Besides that, tablets II and III were good, but there was one part that kind of caught my attention or maybe even confused me a bit. I still don't understand why the two strongest and most powerful beings would decide to kiss each other. I don't have anything against it, but it's just weird how Enkidu gives up his fight with Gilgamesh so easily and ends up kissing him right afterward. But, that did add to the uniqueness of the book so I wouldn't change it if I were the author.

So, I guess it was fun reading it, but the only thing was that it was a bit short.

Asian Ramblings Questions Response

A. What is the title of the blog?
Asian Ramblings

B. What is the blog about?
The blog is about the life and experiences, or any other free topic, of the editor, Steve. Most of them is about experiences and photos of parts of Asia.

C. Why is this title fitting?
The title is very fitting because all the personal experiences and photos of the editor are from Asia. Also, the editor talks about his random adventures throughout Asia and he doesn't seem to have a definite place he wants to end up on. He just writes about himself rambling through Asia.

D. How does the blogger offer information in a way others don't?
This blogger keeps readers up-to-date about his life in Asia. He gives information that isn't very useful but fun to read about. Also, the way he offers it, is a bit different than the others because he sometimes adds random information that is fun to know about but has nothing to do with the topic he is writing about.

E. Compare this blog with another of the same topic.
The blog, "Weblog Wannabe" is also a blog in which the blogger writes about their life and personal experiences. Weblog Wannabe has more varieties of topics than Asian Ramblings. Weblog Wannabe also seems to have more opinions and humor of the blogger while Asian Rambling seems to be a little bit more informative than Weblog Wannabe.

F. Evaluate this blog. Is it good or not? How can it be improved?
I think this blog is good. It is well organized and the blogger puts a lot of his voice to his writings. Maybe the only thing the blogger might want to do is to pick other topics that would catch more attention of the reader. But, it would still be a good blog even if it is left how it is.

Questions and Answers About Blogs

A. According to this author where does the word blog come from?
The word, blog, was created by an author called Peter Merholz when he separated the word, weblog, into "we blog".

B. Why might the writer object to a book about blogs? What is the difference between a blog and a book?
The author says that it is almost impossible to turn blogs into books because of their differences. One of the main difference would be that blogs have links that could instantly take you directly to other blogs or other sites just by one click.

C. How have blogs changes recently?
In the beginning, blogs were first used mainly as sources of information. But later on, when anyone was allowed to make their own blog, people started to put wrong information (or anything else that isn't really useful). So now, many of the blogs are not reliable information.

D. Why might you read a blog rather than a book, or a magazine, or a newspaper?
I would read a blog when I want to read about other people's opinions and thoughts about a topic I want to know about.

D. Is there reason to doubt the objectivity of a blog? Why? Why not?
No, because a blog can be about any topic that a person wants it to be.

E. If you kept your own blog, what would you title it?
THE blog

F. Find three blogs that mention our summer reading.
http://martiananthropologist.blogspot.com/2005/08/ishmael-ishmael-discussion-my-ishmael.html
http://peakoil.blogspot.com/2005/10/book-review-ishmael-by-daniel-quinn.html
http://www.iyou.me/group/green/forum/topics/ishmael-by-daniel-quinn-free

Hello!!!

This is an English reading blog by an Asian student..... Enjoy!!