The Treatment of Bibi Haldar

I’m surprised how much I’m actually enjoying the short stories in Interpreter of Maladies, I think it’s interesting learning about a whole other culture. The short story that interested me the most was The Treatment of Bibi Haldar. I thought it was really strange that Mr. Hadlar would never let anyone take her to the hospital to get her the medical help that she needed for her seizures, maybe then they doctors would have been able to give her a proper diagnosis and the right treatment. Because like someone said in class, we don’t know if her seizures are from epilepsy or if it’s something more than that. It was also weird that he wouldn’t even really support or let her try to find a husband, despite what he thought of her I think he still should have given her a chance to change and try to find a man and be happy, marriage is a big deal in the Indian culture. What I think all Bibi needed to be better is love… she was forced to sleep in a storage room and her cousins’ wife didn’t want her to be anywhere near her because she thought Bibi would somehow infect the baby. Of course Bibi had problems she probably felt awful about the way her own family thought of her. I’m really curious as to how Bibi got pregnant… I almost think it was Hadlar because he just randomly packed up his stuff and left with his family, and he left Bibi money. I also think Bibi didn’t tell anyone who it was who got her pregnant because she didn’t want to make a big deal out of it, because she wanted the baby and she wanted someone to love and have someone love her back. I don’t think she really cared that she got “raped” because she did want the physical attention from a man and she wanted love, but since she couldn’t have love from a man… she got a baby and of course the baby is going to love her no matter what because she’s his mom.

Round Ireland with a Fridge

At first I didn’t really like Round Ireland with a Fridge, I thought it was kind of boring and it was hard for me to get into. But once we got further into the book I started to understand Tony Hawks’ humor a little more and I was actually able to enjoy his stories. At first it did seem like he was rambling on about random things but now his stories are more funny and entertaining. I thought it was so funny when he said he planned to marry the princess of Tory and even brought her flowers, and then again with Roisin. It’s kind of sad that she hasn’t called him yet though, she didn’t seem all that interested in Tony though, I mean going to a club with another guy... I don’t think she really even wanted Tony to go, he kind of just assumed maybe. I think it’s weird that he takes the fridge surfing and gets it baptized… I guess it’s funny. Reading this book has really made me want to go travel around Ireland. I’ve always wanted to go to Ireland because I’m 50% Irish, but since we’ve been reading this book I’ve been looking up places in Ireland that he’s mentioned and I’m really eager to visit Ireland now. I think it would be so fun to go to a pub and experience how much fun all the Irish people have when they’re singing and dancing. Plus the way our teacher talks about Ireland so enthusiastically, she seems to really love it and that makes me even more curious and excited. I think my favorite chapter was when Tony had to sleep in the hostel with the mean Asian man and the man that snored really loud, I like how he gave a time line of his night, it was really funny.

Final Thoughts on My Sisters Keeper.

I don’t even really know how I feel about this book, I liked it but I hated it at the same time. I hate reading books about medical stuff and cancer because it always makes me think too much and starts to freak me out. But I liked it because it kept me interested and wanting to read more, I couldn’t put the book down no matter how much it grossed me out.
The part where you find out why Campbell has judge for a service dog really surprised me, I wouldn’t have guessed that but it made everything come together and make sense. Especially with the situation with Julia, I just think it’s dumb that he didn’t tell her because it’s not like she would have stopped liking him just because he has seizures and she still could be independent. I just didn’t understand his reasoning. I loved hearing all the reasons he came up with when people asked him why he had Judge if he wasn’t blind, it always made me laugh.
The ending to this book really threw me off, I’m still not sure how I feel about it or how I would’ve liked the ending to be if I could change it. I do like that the ending wasn’t predictable, because I predicted that Anna would end up giving up her kidney and everyone would be happy at least for awhile unless Kate relapsed, so in a way I was right… Anna did end up giving up her kidney but not in the way I expected. However, I do think that the wrong sister died. I thought it was kind of sad that after all the fighting Anna did for her right to her own body… in the end, even though she won the case she still lost. I mean I understand why they took her kidney but it was just frustrating to me. I feel bad that Kate will always feel so guilty that she was the one who told Anna to file the case that ultimately took Anna’s life and saved Kate’s which wasn’t Kate’s intentions at all, it was the other way around, Kate wanted to save Anna.

My Sisters Keeper

So far I really like My Sisters Keeper, I never had any desire to read it or to go see the movie. I know that my cousin was in love with both the book and the movie so when I heard that we were going to read it I was kind of looking forward to see why she liked it so much. I have a hard time getting through all the medical parts with the blood and needles, it freaks me out… Yes, even though I’m a diabetic. I get made fun of all the time for being afraid of needles. Anyways, I think that Anna went to the lawyer because she had no other way of getting her parents to hear her. If she had just went up to them and told them that she didn’t want to be a donor for Kate anymore they would have made her give up her kidneys anyways. I do think that they should have given her the choice on her own so she didn’t feel forced into giving up so much. I really don’t like Sarah, I think she needs to settle down and think about her other kids more. I mean yes she should always be there for Kate and help her in any way she can but her other kids need her too and Anna finally is shouting out to let her know this. Obviously Jesse needs his Mom too, I think it’s ironic how he’s the one setting the fires while his dad is the one putting them out. I wish that we could hear from Kate and get her thoughts on everything that’s going on, I think it’s really weird that we haven’t heard from her when basically the whole book revolves around her. I’m excited to see what’s going to happen, if Anna will end up giving Kate her kidney or not.

My Sisters Keeper

So far I really like My Sisters Keeper, I never had any desire to read it or to go see the movie. I know that my cousin was in love with both the book and the movie so when I heard that we were going to read it I was kind of looking forward to see why she liked it so much. I have a hard time getting through all the medical parts with the blood and needles, it freaks me out… Yes, even though I’m a diabetic. I get made fun of all the time for being afraid of needles. Anyways, I think that Anna went to the lawyer because she had no other way of getting her parents to hear her. If she had just went up to them and told them that she didn’t want to be a donor for Kate anymore they would have made her give up her kidneys anyways. I do think that they should have given her the choice on her own so she didn’t feel forced into giving up so much. I really don’t like Sarah, I think she needs to settle down and think about her other kids more. I mean yes she should always be there for Kate and help her in any way she can but her other kids need her too and Anna finally is shouting out to let her know this. Obviously Jesse needs his Mom too, I think it’s ironic how he’s the one setting the fires while his dad is the one putting them out. I wish that we could hear from Kate and get her thoughts on everything that’s going on, I think it’s really weird that we haven’t heard from her when basically the whole book revolves around her. I’m excited to see what’s going to happen, if Anna will end up giving Kate her kidney or not.