Chris Hedges inspires

Hello! I have finished War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning, by Chris Hedges. This was a very special book for me. It took me a while to finish because it sparked so many ideas about the direction I want to take my book, information I want to investigate further, and the importance of maintaining cognition about my own culpability as a military veteran.
Like all of my favorite books, I have destroyed this one by filling the margins and back pages with sentences, remarks and notes on topics that Hedges brings up, such as the awful allure of war. One of Hedges themes about the need to belong to something has greatly assisted me in creating my own piece on boot camp, which is centered on the idea of belonging through food, and I am ultimately trying to connect it to “foreign enemies'” need to do the same, so that my ultimate goal of the piece and future book recognizes that I (we) and the “enemy” are the same.
Hedges book has also helped me to further understand and articulate key points that I need to include in my own writing, such as the sexual perverseness that accompanies war. He states, “In the midst of slaughter the only choice is often between hate and lust” (167) and “war is necrophilia" (165). Keeping his words in my thoughts helps me to focus on images and metaphors that I want to portray. Throughout my writing I want to allude to the hyper-sexuality between soldiers, enemies, and even between a government and its portrayal of military members. I like the way Hedges continuously weaves previous themes into new paragraphs, so that the reader is not disconnected but instead he builds a steady arc to explore larger concepts as the book progresses. Writing my next piece, I have tried to incorporate this style instead of my idea to confuse the narrative to make a point, which ends up confusing me as well.
Moreover, Hedges nonfiction account of historical facts and first person observations reminds me of one of my favorite “war” books, A Farewell to Arms, with its relationships that develop in the heady acceptance of future battles and end with its passionless refusal to participate. Here, like Hedges suggests, war and lust are synonymous.
Finally, Hedges inspires and enlightens me to write angry, to not hold back, to tell the ugly truth, even when those truths are mine. Hedges includes Asadourian’s words: “You write because you have to. It all wells up inside of you. It is like a hole that fills constantly with water and no amount of bailing will empty it. This is why I continue” (124). I can only hope to continue with my writing and produce something of such great style, clarity, and relevance. Thanks Jess, I’d be lost without this and not even know it!
~C

Grasshoppers, Cannibalism and War (OH MY!)

Greetings! I have been working on two different writing projects. The first is a short piece/chapter that begins the cannibalism theme I am hoping to build in my book. I am researching cannibalism in a book by Peggy Reeves Sanday, titled Divine Hunger: Cannibalism as a Cultural System, which is a highly researched sociological approach that views cannibalism as a cultural ritual having nothing to do with physical hunger but, instead, used in different societies as a part of retaining social order through rules, fertility and myth. Interestingly, Sanday argues that cannibalism did exist in cultures, such as the ancient Aztecs, who did not suffer from hunger, but cannibalism did not exist in other societies that did struggle with famine.
The research is helping me develop a strong base so that I can stretch the metaphor in my book. Sanday’s notes and bibliography section is nearly as large as the body text and will hone my further research to the specific ideas I am attempting to convey, suh as cannibalism as a tool of sexual power evident in both male/female and male/male relationships as written extensively by Fitz John Porter Poole (as suggested by Sanday's bib and notes).
Additionally, I have been watching The History Channel's “Gangland.” The series has underscored my connection between the military and cannibalism, as large inner-city gangs have militant structures, recruiting practices, and are fed with concepts common to the military. Even more disturbing is the admission by former gang members that they refer to their victims as “food,” which connects my idea of cannibalism and war.
There are two other books that I am reading in doses: The Art of the Personal Essay and War is a Force that Gives Us Meaning. Joan Didion’s “Goodbye to All That” has sparked a personal essay that I have been writing in my head since Laurie Alberts’ lecture “Animals in Literary Prose.” During Albert’s lecture, I gave a description about torching a grasshopper. After I read my brief, hastily written piece, Alberts instructed that what people share about animals says a lot about their character, and she’s right, so I am exploring the reasons I torched a grasshopper one night, outside of the fact that they gross me out, based on innocence lost (an attempt at something like Diddon’s, I hope). I must add a disclaimer: I do not make a habit of torching anything, just one night, one hapless grasshopper, one disillusioned girl.
Now, I am having fun researching grasshoppers in my spare time, so that in my personal essay, knowledge of self follows knowledge of the insect, maybe like the obsessive cataloguing in Moby Dick, but on a smaller scale. I don’t know! I am just playing with this for now, but it is something that won’t go away. Maybe once I get it out of my head I can concentrate on my chapter. Ha Ha. I have read the first chapter of War is a Force that Gives Us Meaning, by Chris Hedges. It is amazing! This book is helping me to understand what I want to articulate regarding war's myths, attractions, and results. I love this sentence: "...the lie in war is almost always the lie of omission" (22).
Hope all is well with everyone!
~C