Blog # 7

The book Autobiography of Red by Anne Carlson was certainly an interesting novel. It is much different than the novels we have read so far. Although still sticking with the theme of identity, the story of a young boy who is also a “red winged creature” captures the reader’s attention right away. I liked this book because it is “magical” and filled with “fantasy” in a way. Geryon, the little boy, also struggles with his sexuality and by the end comes out and is open about his sexuality being recognized as a homosexual. The story is about the two boys who go visit a volcano with Herakles. The mother wants her sons to return right away. The two must leave only to find out later in the story that Gerygon and him meet in Argentina to pick up where they left off. This book was broken up differently in that the chapters were much shorter and it was more of an easier read. The layout of the pages was also different in that it read more like a poem than a regular page in a book. This book also had some strong symbols in it referencing to the front cover of the book which has a volcano on it. The volcano represents the passion and destruction of the relationship between Geryon and Herakles. They had to part for awhile not knowing the future but soon to realize that they would be reunited. The use of color in this book is also interesting to note. The hot red fiery lava that slowly turns black represents death. He also refers to his mother as the color red and his father is the color gold. Over the novel, he contrasts the image of a volcano to certain things. One scene in the story depicting this is when Geryon returns to the volcano and reunites with his ex lover, who is with someone else. I also liked this story because it had some mythology to it. It played on the mortal and immortal feel to Hercules, the son of Zeus. This story was also full of emotion from all characters. Through taking pictures he also finds a way to connect more with in himself. He discovers that “the only way to remain immortal is to capture life on camera.” I really enjoyed reading this book a lot. I actually read it over twice because the first time I read it, I had some questions. After the second time, all the answers seemed to be clearer. I thought the characters in the story fit and the dialogue was good. I really liked the symbol of the volcano and thought it worked really well with the story. I also thought the quote by Emily Dickenson at the beginning was intriguing. It really made me think as to what this novel was going to in tale and made me really want to read it. Overall this was a fantastic book that fit our theme of identity and mixed with it was some mythology and fantasy. It was a really well written book!