The Fiftieth Gate (1 Viewer)

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Just thought I'd start a thread... who's studying 'The Fiftieth Gate'??
 

kara42

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We started it awhile ago... I never finished it, just read the chapter summaries and stuff that my teacher gave us... I should finish it these holidays...
 

Brizzo

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I'm about half way through reading it =/ buut more importantly i'm trying to find related texts and all the renting stores doesn't seem to have the documentaries i want on the holocaust.
 

Nightsarah

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I HATE THIS BOOK.
Baker is a horrible, horrible writer.
I haven't read it and REALLLYY don't want to. I don't know what I should do for the related texts either :( Ugh I'm really screwed for this.
 

Tragische

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Yeh, Im studying it too and absolutely hate it. Baker comes across as an arrogant man who is deliberately putting his parents through emotional torment to write a book about their experiences! Although i guess the book is insightful and thought provoking, I dont like it. Its poorly written and deliberately fragmented. I only read what i had to to get some techniques and just resorted to study notes for further understanding.

Related material is annoying too. I found Life Is Beautiful by Roberto Benigni and Triumph Of The Will directed by the lovely Leni Riefenstahl to be ok-ish.

Im trying to see if I can use Daddy by Sylvia Plath to show the memory side of the module (History and Memory) although progression is slow lol.
 

student22

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I am just starting it now. We watched Europa Europa in class to prepare for it and get a historical back ground I suggest that if you need some background research then to watch this movie.

Must say though the novel is rather repetitive and drawn out.
 

katie21792

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We got told that we weren't supposed to use related texts about the Holocaust. I wanted to use Triumph of the Will because we used it in Modern, but apparently we shouldn't :|
 

Fiennes

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Yeh, Im studying it too and absolutely hate it. Baker comes across as an arrogant man who is deliberately putting his parents through emotional torment to write a book about their experiences! Although i guess the book is insightful and thought provoking, I dont like it. Its poorly written and deliberately fragmented. I only read what i had to to get some techniques and just resorted to study notes for further understanding.

Related material is annoying too. I found Life Is Beautiful by Roberto Benigni and Triumph Of The Will directed by the lovely Leni Riefenstahl to be ok-ish.

Im trying to see if I can use Daddy by Sylvia Plath to show the memory side of the module (History and Memory) although progression is slow lol.
I'm jus gonna guess u do ext english1.....hence the plath.

i'm pretty sure "the believer" is a good film to get ur hands on for anyone looking for related material. its about a jewish teen who joins a neo-nazi cult.....he's constantly confronted by his jewish history by a rabbai...and it reminds me of the part in Fiftieth gate where Mark dresses as Hitler for a partay.
 

elle92

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we were told that we could do holocaust texts for related material as long as we had at least one that wasn't. i don't know if that's a BOS rule or just a recommendation. but a good film is Neverwas (2005) which is hard to find but good with the fiftieth gate because it uses similar symbolism (e.g. the light as a symbol for memory)
 

Sans

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I, for one, am in love with The Fiftieth Gate. I am using The Killing Fields as my related text - it's about the cambodian holocaust
 

dave91

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hey
does anyone know some H + M practise questions
would be greatly appreciated =)
 

bell_9192

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Yes it is a very bad read, but you still have to appreciated what baker is trying to do. He is trying to keep in theme with the midrashian beliefs that the jewish people employed. This is why the chapters arent linear.
 

Tensai1827

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no matter what baker does, it just looks pretentious to me... it was like he did all that fragmentation, quotes, and those one-liner chapter - eg gate 50, and gate 1 etc, ... = = on purpose... and seriously i don't feel I've read something wise...

I swear some lines in the book don't make sense... I have no idea what he's on about... is he just trying to sound wise or what? I don't get him.

I've read many other jewish/holocaust based texts, and all of them were so much better than this....

oh well... pfft. hsc, get it over and done with soon :cook:
 

asdfpoiu

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Yes it is a very bad read, but you still have to appreciated what baker is trying to do. He is trying to keep in theme with the midrashian beliefs that the jewish people employed. This is why the chapters arent linear.
Can you (or anyone) explain the midrashian thing in more detail please?
My teacher told us about it but she didn't explain it properly >.>
 

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