The Fiftieth Gate (2 Viewers)

[xConverse]

GAHHH this book ! I love reading but I've never come across anything so.. repetitive :S honestly I don't know how I'll manage studying this text but I've got a study guide which I've flicked through its pretty helpful. As for related texts.. I wouldn't have a clue :S

 

[kiwipunch]

This book makes me want to pull my hair out. Normally, I can sit down with a book like that and finish it in a day but this book took me five effin' days to get through because the formatting was so frustrating.

I hate Mark Baker so much for putting his parents through that just to 'find the truth' and to satisfy his own curiousity, arrrrgh.

 

[DInfinity]

I was actually looking forward to module C, and then they dumped this crap on us.

 

[Aerath]

I was actually looking forward to module C, and then they dumped this crap on us.

I did Conflicting Perspectives for Module C, but my cousin who's doing his HSC this year is doing Fiftieth Gate, so I thought I'd read it, to maybe help them out.

Boring-est crap ever. Didn't get past Chapter 3.

 

[jet]

I did the Fiftieth Gate for Module C, and I didn't mind it. I thought it was quite easy to analyse, so I liked it. But trying to link the ideas about history and memory with another text was a lot harder than it looks...

 

[marksalvestro]

I am. We are starting it next week (Monday 8 March). I didn't really like it. It was really hard to follow because of the constant change in persona and tense. AND i dont do history so its hard understanding what they're referring to.

 

[sexii_Can_I]

I quite enjoyed reading Fiftieth Gate, and I don't find its concepts all that complicated...but that might just be a result of my teacher's excellent tutelage.^^

Basically the Fiftieth Gate refers to this concept of Jewish mysticism, whereby there are 49 gates separating "good from evil, the darkness from the light," and you have to symbollically "pass through" these gates before you can achieve the enlightenment which awaits at the last gate. The chapters are fragmentary because every gate is an experience within itself, and must be understood one by one which will then determine what state will be achieved by the Fiftieth Gate -- either a void of knowledge and feeling or a state of complete knowledge which transcends physical and concrete boundaries.

Practice question: Analyse ways in which history and memory generate compelling and unexpected insights.

 

[d43m0n1c_kn1gh7]

I think it's a brilliant novel. Yes, he pushed, maybe a little too hard at times. And for those that think he is a terrible writer: You are obviously approaching it with the belief that he is writing a story, or a novel, that we can enjoy in a clear and linear format. He is not. The whole book is a metaphor. That is what makes it so brilliant. The whole book is written to show that memories are fragmented, as well as sharing his and his family's stories.

Besides, he is an historian by trade, not an author.

As for those looking for related texts, try the film Everything is Illuminated (Everything Is Illuminated (2005)) , or the webpage Holocaust Poetry (Holocaust Poetry, Prayers, Lamentations.).

 

[Louisa_17]

omg
wat a horrible book
he just goes on and on and on about the same thing
ahhhhh and his dad how annoying is he!?:burn:

 

[tcm]

@Student22...... What is Europa Europa? Would you reccomend watching it and does it provide good background?.........Would you say its an alternative to reading the book

 

[Seven Squared]

Yes, our school is currently studying the novel. When I first saw the size of the text I thought I would never read it, but I read it over a weekend. It's a really good story and it's (mostly) easy to follow. You do have to read some Polish and Yiddish words though.

 

[shelldrake]

I hate this book too -.-"
using the chapter summaries the teacher gave us.
i think i might have read...... 20 pages of it.....


and with related texts.... I'm using a holocaust related one... is it bad?

 

[forbidden01]

this book is bullshit.

i hate it. so. much!

i much prefer to work with related texts ... and i still hate that

 

[katemana]

I can't stand this book.

 

[cedricc]

The book is not actually that bad, you just need to sit down and read it chapter by chapter. Split each chapter up into its own individual reading and have a chapter summary handy so you know what's 'happening' in each chapter then read the chapter. The book will start to make sense.
There are a few chapters that took several readings but try to appreciate what Baker has done to preserve and record some very precious and invaluable memories. Many did not even make it out of the Holocaust to tell their story and if those who have a story from the Jewish perspective but dont tell, then these Jewish memories will only fade away as the survivors die out.

 

[ZombieApocalypse]

someone for the love of god tell me what related texts they're using


im dying

 

[wilsondw]

someone for the love of god tell me what related texts they're using


im dying

Im very likely gonna use Hero by Zhang Yimou...has elements of history and memory....gonna BS my way through

 

[ZombieApocalypse]

Im very likely gonna use Hero by Zhang Yimou...has elements of history and memory....gonna BS my way through

ugh ugh ugh


I need like, an article or something (it's much, much easier to analyse)
im so stressed.

Are we meant to have two related texts?

 

[wilsondw]

I believe only 1....my teacher thought it was 2 but that was in the previous years.....it should be only 1 now

 

[Warle]

Never made it past page 75 on my own accord - I'm going to use the stuff my teacher gives me.