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Infinite Country by Patricia Engel | Thoughts

   Published : 2021   ||    Format : print   ||    Location : Colombia ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆   What was it about the country that kept everyone hostage to its fantasy? The previous month, on its own soil, an American man went to his job at a plant and gunned down fourteen coworkers, and last spring alone there were four different school shootings. A nation at war with itself, yet people still spoke of it as some kind of paradise.. Thoughts : Infinite Country follows two characters - young Talia, who at the beginning of this book, escapes a girl’s reform school in North Colombia so that she can make her previously booked flight to the US. Before she can do that, she needs to travel many miles to reach her father and get her ticket to the rest of her family. As we follow Talia’s treacherous journey south, we learn about how she ended up in the reform school in the first place and why half her family resides in the US. Infinite Country tells the story of her family through the other protagonist, El

The Sunday Salon -- Apr 18, 2010


The Sunday 
Salon.com

It has been HOT this past week, except in the evenings, when it would get chilly! I know I'd been waiting for summer since winter started, still I can't help but struggle with the heat as well! I grew up in Dubai (a desert), where I was for 13 years. Then it was back to home, in Palakkad, India, another hot place. Once I was done with my my UG, I headed off to Hyderabad, India, which is yet another hot place. I can tell you, I was relieved and thrilled when I came to Virginia, US. This place doesn't see as much snow as in the states north to VA, but it does get very cold. That was a welcome change for me.

It has been a relaxed weekend for me. Lots of reading, but I doubt I will be getting much time for that in the next few months. It's time for me to start writing the thesis and wrap up my research work, and for that, I'm going to be needing a lot of motivation to kick it into gear. I actually love writing. Since my 11th grade, I had an eye on a career that involved some form of writing, and in those days, I quite yearned to be a journalist, because, well, I was very opinionated then. Somehow that didn't work out due to many reasons (a discussion for another day), so I became an engineer instead. Now the main avenue for writing that I get is via blogging. I love getting creative with words and sentences, and particularly enjoy reading posts written in a beautiful hand (not my posts, I mean yours). Some times, I am guilty of just reading and not taking in a word of the review, simply because the author of the post has written such a lyrical post that I get lost in the aesthetics of the language.

I have another avenue for writing as well, and that is in my research when I write technical papers. (Yes, you read that right!) Technical writing is terse. No emotions, no colorful words, no repetition, no stress or emphasis. In short, it is one dry stretch of words that come together in an almost machine fashion. Can you imagine a writing as far away from the blogger style of writing? So sometimes, when I write a technical paragraph, I unwittingly write as a blogger. My Professor and my colleagues have pointed that out a few times, much to my embarrassment. And sometimes, when I blog, I write tersely, making it very technical. Thankfully you readers are so good that you wouldn't tell me that. :)

I don't enjoy technical writing. I can do it, but it is a form of writing so against and so different from the expressive form of writing that I love. My words are my medium. I am quite known to be someone who bottles up my emotions. There's only so much emotion that I will show you. But if I had to write, it will be much more expressive than my spoken words are, much more than I can ever show on my face. It comes from my growing up years, when I used to write as a way to speak my mind. Sometimes, I wrote in my head, and had internal conversations with myself. Sometimes, I write reviews in my head, and soon as it develops a structure or flow, I rush to complete it.

Anyways, I'm rambling. I started talking about the weather and ended with the hobby of writing.

Have a good Sunday blogging and non-blogging folks! Hope you have a good week ahead!


Comments

Jennifer said…
I am very good at technical and scientific writing as it is how I had to write in college and grad school. Years passed and now I am unlearning as I review books. Learning to show emotion and feeling in my writing has not been easy for me and hopefully I am improving. My Sunday, if you find time, is here: http://www.rundpinne.com/2010/04/sunday-salon-18-april.html
Lisa said…
I write in my head all of the time. The things in there are brilliant. I wish they could come out so fully formed. I used to have to do some writing for an insurance company and it was such dull stuff!
Oh I learned so much about you in this post; I love it! And, I am discovering even more we have in common since I just peeked at your profile (Cancerians unite!)

I've been to both Oman (a number of times, the UAE and Hyderabad! Loved them all.

Good luck with the thesis writing
bermudaonion said…
We've had some warm weather, too, but I like it hot, so I'm not complaining. Good luck with your thesis.
I wish it was warm here... it's been rainy and yucky for the past few days. Anyways, I wish you luck when you write your thesis!
This was a very interesting post for me Aths. It was nice to learn a little about where you grew up.

As for Technical Writing. It is dull IMO. I have a friend who does it for a living and it pays well, but I would be bored to tears.
Athira said…
Jennifer, I think you write awesome reviews! I agree, it's very hard to mix the two kinds of writing.

Lisa, sometimes I write when I am so close to bed. And then I fret because I don't want to get up and turn on the PC. That happened last night as well, but I somehow got up and wrote it down before I forgot it.

Helen, Wow!! Cancerians, been to the Gulf, and I remember so many similarities between us from one of my earlier posts. We must be long-lost sisters!! :)

Kathy, thank you! :)

Emidy, thank you! I agree - the sun is better than the rains. :)
Athira said…
Diane, I'm glad you enjoyed the post. :) I can't imagine writing technical matter for a living!
Eva said…
I love winter, but I love heat too! :) Mainly, I love sunshine, whether it's warn or cold...I think living in England for seven years made me covet the sun. lol
Athira said…
Eva, I can totally relate to that! LOL! Funny how we never like the weather we are used to.