UNC Student Organization for Undergraduate Literature

So, Chuck Palahniuk wrote Fight Club. Everyone has heard of it. Most people have seen the movie, but the book is a different story. It's sort of hard to read, every sentence is packed, and it's one of the few times I've found the movie to be better than the book.

But Invisible Monsters is just completely different. Different from anything I've read, actually, and possibly different from anything written. Strange is an understatement...

It starts off with a super model who has just had her jaw blown off, and then she meets a transsexual, currently undergoing surgery to become a woman. Add in an ex-fiance, a trip across country, and one confusing plot twist after another, and you can enjoy one of the weirdest books of your life.

It'll also explain the lyrics to Panic! at the Disco's song "Time to Dance"...Possibly leading to a more disturbing ending than just not know what the song means.

Here is the link to the Wikipedia summary:

DO NOT READ IT IF YOU DON'T WANT TO RUIN IT FOR YOURSELF!
You might see the ending coming, but you definitely will if you read the summary!

Give it a try, the only downside is you might have to buy it, since it doesn't seem to be in either our libraries, or in the Chapel Hill Public Library. If you hate it, you could always donate it to the library, and then it would have a copy!

Enjoy!

To be such a well known novel, I found it really hard to find a good intro to put up here. It's a novel that most people have heard of but now I've got to wonder how many have really read it. Here's my lame attempt to give you a tiny version of what you could find on the book jacket.

Alex, our anti-hero, leads a small gang in a futuristic society...And they are up to no good. After some very disturbing and graphic scenes, Alex ends up in prison and is forced to undergo the Ludovico Technique, which is essentially hardcore aversion therapy.

Things you might want to know:
1. The book was published in 1962 by Anthony Burgess.
2. If you're too lazy/busy/cool to read it, here's a sparknote summary: http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/clockworkorange/summary.html
3.This book does what it wants with the English language. There is a set of made up slang, called Nadsat. there's a good chance there's a glossary in the back of the book, but there's also a good chance there isn't. Here's a link to a dictionary http://soomka.com/nadsat.html but you don't need it. It just takes a little practice. It can be frustrating, but if you give it a chance you'll probably realize it's pretty cool.
4. It's a movie by Stanly Kubrick, and a fairly celebrated one at that. Yes, it's graphic. Yes, it's disturbing. Yes, you should definitely see it. The IMDB page: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066921/combined and 65-DVD6451 is the number if you want to check it out of the MRC (It's free!)

Most of all, just try to enjoy it. It's not for class or anything, you don't even have to take notes!

Here are some links and resources for advising for Fall 09 registration:

There will be two online advising sessions where you can come to the SOUL Web site and get advice about classes. Here are the dates and times:

• Monday March. 30th from 9-11pm
• Monday April. 6th from 9-11pm

To join the advising chats, follow this link to the chat room.

You can also post to the advising forum

In addition there will be walk-in advising hours on Monday March 30th 22 from 10-12 in Greenlaw 533 and Monday April 6th from 11-1 in Greenlaw 533. Tyler Curtain also has office hours--check the door in Greenlaw 211. You can also speak with Mark Richardson in Greenlaw 210 most anytime or contact Mark Richardson, Tyler Curtain, or Daniel Anderson about advising issues.

Here are some helpful resources:

Fall 09 Course Descriptions

The Registrar's Calendar

The Arts & Sciences Academic Advising Resources

So at our reading/get-together on Wednesday (great turnout, by the way, thanks everyone for coming out!) a few people had mentioned wanting to see this.

I thought I'd throw it back out there. I'm not sure how long it's going to be at the Varsity, but I think it's definitely a good idea! Thoughts?

Dear Friends:

Next weekend (Sept. 5, 6, and 7) and following (12, and 13th), at the Forest Theater, are the last performances for the Paperhand Puppet Intervention's "I Am An Insect." You don't want to miss it. If you are interested in going here's some links for more information. One of my professors (William Stott) is the Preying Mantis! So cool! I plan to go tonight since the weather permits. I hope to see you there.

http://paperhand.org/insect.htm

http://mlight.typepad.com/moomin_light/2008/08/i-am-an-insect---paperhan...

Angela

Hi everyone. Just a quick note to say that things are starting to get rolling. At the end of last year, we elected leadership for SOUL, but if you are interested in joining with the leadership group, you are welcome to do so--there is plenty of work to do. We will have an events committee, publicity committee, and conference organizing committee (to name the few certain groups for the year). All of these groups need members, co-chairs, or whatever other leadership that might be provided.

The leaders for 2008-09 as of now are:

Lauren Bailey (President)
Joel Kearney (Vice President)
Natalie Moore (Vice President, Events Chair)
Sarah Morayati (Events Chair)
Samantha Harvey (Publicity Chair)
Maria Devlin (Conference Chair [tentative])

Again, we want to expand the leadership and participation, and, of course, the direction of SOUL is always something that can be reshaped by its members. We know we want to have a dinner event in the fall, a faculty mixer in the spring, and an undergraduate research conference this year. What these events will look like and other possibilities are wide open.

Look for another message about our first organizational meeting shortly.

Hi everyone.

This is probably the most important announcement I've ever posted here:

My birthday is approaching. It's just a few days away: Tuesday, April 29th. That's right, it's just next week. I will be 23. Say it out loud. TWENTY THREE. Imagine yourself turning 23. It's not the exultant 21, or the confused 22, but the resigned 23: settling in for the climb. Approaching the hill of 30. Comrades... it's hard to grow old.

I post this announcement in order to let you all know that I won't be offended if you give me gifts.

Love,
Your Friend,
Sarah Bull

(This is in jest, really.)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0858479/

The gist: Smart People is a story about a pompous English professor, who in the years following his wife’s death, has become a scourge to his students and an emotionally absent father to his rebellious son James (Ashton Holmes) and his perfect preppy daughter Vanessa (Ellen Page). When he suffers a concussion in a freak accident, he meets and unexpectedly falls for an E.R. doctor (Sarah Jessica Parker), a brilliant former student who is still harboring a grudge over a bad grade he gave her years before.

(Yes, I copied that from Wikipedia.)

These readings promise to be wonderful, so please consider attending and supporting the UNC Creative Writing program's finest! - Sarah Bull
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Senior Honors Fiction Readings

Members of the Senior Honors in Fiction Writing class will give three public readings of their work in the Morehead Lounge, first floor, Graham Memorial, Johnston Center for Undergraduate Excellence, UNC-Chapel Hill. A brief reception will follow each reading.
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Tuesday, April 8th, 6:00 p.m.

Nate Dixon
Adam Edgerton
Tanner McSwain
Ali Tharrington
Parker Woltz
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Monday, April 14th , 6:00 p.m.
William Drew Donegan
David Hodges
Sydney Krell
Lori Sullivan

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Tuesday, April 22nd, 6:00 p.m.
William Boggess
Mika Chance
Kitty Lynn
Katherine Meehan

For further information, please contact Professor Bland Simpson at bsimpson [ at ] email [dot] unc [dot] edu.

Hey guys--I just got this email and it reminded me: poetry month approacheth! These daily poems in April really make me happy, so I am posting the email here in case any of you want to sign up (there's a link below). And as an aside--last year, through the Knopf poem a day, there was a competition--basically one had to follow a link to a page where an author introduced a poem (audio file) and read it aloud, and to enter the contest one simply sent the name of the poet and poem to the Knopf people (no guess work, the author introduces his or her self AND the poem)... the prize was an audio CD from Knopf, poems read by authors, neat to listen to an author reading his or her work. I won the CD, I think, because so few people entered! So give it a try if you sign up for this.

Sarah
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Dear Poetry Lover,

Ten years ago we began a Knopf tradition. To celebrate National Poetry Month, we sent a poem a day by e-mail for 30 days to anyone who asked to receive them. Now, with over 35,000 subscribers, we are proud to continue with a whole new series of daily poems. Each day during the month of April you will receive a poem from some of the best poets in the world including Mark Strand, Mary Jo Salter, Julia Hartwig, and Richard Kenney, as well as classics from Frank O'Hara, Rudyard Kipling, Kenneth Koch and more. This year, we'll also be featuring special podcasts, gorgeous printable broadsides, and signed books.

If you know of someone who might like to join the Poem-a-Day party, they may visit http://www.randomhouse.com/knopf/poetry/poemaday/ to sign up.

Best Wishes,

Jason Kincade, Knopf New Media
knopfpoetry@randomhouse.com