Magic Lantern
Sunday, February 21, 2016
Oliver Banton Bluets Blog
I have found this book to be very interesting so far. It started off a bit strange, as I couldn’t really tell where the story was going. Or even if there was one. But as I continue through, love, coupled with loss, seem to be two of the main overarching themes in the story. My favorite part of the story thus far occurs in the very beginning. It’s when Nelson first tells the reader she fell in love with a color. But she goes on to say that she didn’t choose to fall in love with the color. It just happened, and there was really nothing to be done about it. I thought this set up the book extremely well. Nelson goes on to tell us of a breakup she experienced. Before she does this though, she talks about how great it was falling in love. She details her sex life and describes the great aspects of falling in love. But as she continues, she takes on more of a somber tone. She talks about the good and the bad that comes with falling in love and being in a relationship. This perfectly connects back with the beginning of the story. How love can be found anywhere and it often feels as though we don’t even have a say in the matter. Nelson connects these ubiquitous human feelings with the color blue. How it seems perfect and that there are tons of beautiful blue things in the world. But then she brings up back to reality by pointing out that blue can cause pain as well.
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After finishing Bluets, I too think that two of the main overarching themes in the story are love coupled with loss. The ideas that span multiple sections, such as Maggie’s friend who had been in an accident, or deliberating whether writing aids memory or not, speak of loss. Sections that deal with love often discuss her romance with her unnamed lover or the color blue. I like that Nelson never gets too “Fru-fru” for lack of a better word, about the color blue. She is not afraid to call out bullshit in definitions and other pieces of work on the topic of color, nor does she over philosophize her thoughts. Personally, I really enjoy this. It makes the book relatable and real. One specific section in which she is not afraid to speak her mind and call B.S. is section 177. She talks about how her ex-lover carried a letter she wrote him unopened for months as a sign of romance, yet she just wanted him to read it to tell him a message, plain and simple. I think it added a sense of almost-humor to this particular portion of the book and I really enjoyed it.
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