Augusten's brother who is seven years older than him is finally mentioned. His brother, Troy, is not like anyone else in his family. He was a genius. Complete opposites with Augusten. Dr. Finch wants Troy to be a patient of his. It didn't ever work.
This chapter is extremely graphic. I'll keep it simple.
Neil is forcing Augusten to have oral sex with him. Augusten says how he can't breathe and it hurts him. Neil had him pinned down and he could not move. "I must look like Jesus on the cross." All he is wondering is how he looks. He thinks he probably looks stupid with his mouth open so wide. "And then the black triangle smashes into my face." After Neil asks Augusten if he thinks he still wants to be gay.
These chapters were rough. Augusten describes the pain he was in and every little detail of the sex and doesn't leave anything out. He is so much younger than Neil so I find it even more wierd.
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Finch Fights
Augusten says there is always fights in the Finch House. He usually just sits back and watches, instead of getting involved. He thinks the more people that are involved in the fights, the better the fights will be. All fights were ended by Dr. Finch.
Doctor Finch openly has other relationships other than his marriage with Agnes. Sometimes he would rub it in her face, and that was the only time she would care.
These chapters were kind of dry and there wasn't anything too interesting happening. I didn't want to bore you with the useless details. :)
Doctor Finch openly has other relationships other than his marriage with Agnes. Sometimes he would rub it in her face, and that was the only time she would care.
These chapters were kind of dry and there wasn't anything too interesting happening. I didn't want to bore you with the useless details. :)
Don't Skip School.
Augusten and Neil are walking down the street, smoking. Augusten says smoking has become one of his favorite things to do. He makes a promise to himself that he would no longer be afraid to try new things. Hope then comes home and asks Augusten to do a "bible dip" with him. A bible dip is when you ask a question, another person flips to a random page in a bible, and you put a finger on a random word and it answers your question. "Hope and God were buddies. Theirs was not a formal relationshp steeped in ritual and tradition. It was more of a close yet casual relationship."
The next chapter opens up by introducing Fern Stewart, a minister's wife. Fern took in Augusten and Diedre when they were homeless after the divorce. Her family was very welcoming of them and extremely polite. "I wasn't sure whether I wanted to be one of them or simply live among them taking notes and photographs." He couldn't imagine them laughing at the baby because it was laughing because the dog was licking its penis, the way the Finches do.
Finally Diedre got her own house just a few miles from Fern's. He got a very tiny room with no door so he knew he would be spending even more time at the Finch's. Dr. Finch said you should choose your own parents so his daugther Natalie lived with Terence Maxwell, who was 42 and rich. Augusten hates his new school immedietly becuase he smells a pool and doesn't want to be in a bathing suit in front of everyone then change in the locker room when there is the most shrinkage. He leaves school early one day to go get money from his mom so he can see a movie. "When I opened the front door, there was Fern with her face burried between my mothers legs." They didn't even notice Augusten had walked in. He should have stayed in school.
This book just keeps getting more and more wierd. I secretly love it. I feel bad for Augusten who wants to walk in and see that. Especially his mother. That is dusgusting. I think it's so wierd that no one care that he smokes and doesn't go to school. He makes sure that he doesn't go 30 straight days without going so he doesn't get in trouble.
The next chapter opens up by introducing Fern Stewart, a minister's wife. Fern took in Augusten and Diedre when they were homeless after the divorce. Her family was very welcoming of them and extremely polite. "I wasn't sure whether I wanted to be one of them or simply live among them taking notes and photographs." He couldn't imagine them laughing at the baby because it was laughing because the dog was licking its penis, the way the Finches do.
Finally Diedre got her own house just a few miles from Fern's. He got a very tiny room with no door so he knew he would be spending even more time at the Finch's. Dr. Finch said you should choose your own parents so his daugther Natalie lived with Terence Maxwell, who was 42 and rich. Augusten hates his new school immedietly becuase he smells a pool and doesn't want to be in a bathing suit in front of everyone then change in the locker room when there is the most shrinkage. He leaves school early one day to go get money from his mom so he can see a movie. "When I opened the front door, there was Fern with her face burried between my mothers legs." They didn't even notice Augusten had walked in. He should have stayed in school.
This book just keeps getting more and more wierd. I secretly love it. I feel bad for Augusten who wants to walk in and see that. Especially his mother. That is dusgusting. I think it's so wierd that no one care that he smokes and doesn't go to school. He makes sure that he doesn't go 30 straight days without going so he doesn't get in trouble.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Joranne and Neil
Augusten is just sitting in the living room when he hears some noise that reminds him of this dog that was a wolf hybrid. It turns out to be one of the doctor's patients that lives in the house. She is an old lady with OCD and no one is allowed in her room. Agnes brings her food, leaves it outside the door and then when she leaves, Joranne takes it. She has been living at the Finch house for over 2 years. This amazes Augusten that a doctor would let a patient live in their house for more than two years. He was really intrigued by the disease and he says he wants it too. Augusten finally gets to meet Joranne and he can't believe he is looking at a real live crazy person.
As he is thinking about how upset he is that his parents don't want him, his mother finally comes to pick him up, a day late. on the car ride he writes, "She had come back for me, just like she said she would. Only, where was she?"
As time goes on with Augusten in the Finch house, he makes many changes. He no longer is obsessed with what clothes he is wearing or how perfect his hair was. He loved the freedom that was given to him in the house. His one worry was how they would react when they found out he was gay. When he finally tells Hope, her response is, "Big deal." Augusten was so worried, but everyone already knew his secret. Hope reveals that their adopted 33 year old brother is also gay. A week goes by and Hope calls Augusten to tell him that Neil will be home for the afternoon. When they walk in Agnes is sitting on the couch eating Purina Dog Chow and she makes everyone try it.
Augusten and Neil take a walk near the Smith College campus, and Augusten wants to ask him a million questions. They have a really good conversation and both of them admit to being gay.
The part about Joranne really freaked me out. She was so crazy about the littlest amount of dirt. I felt so sorry for Augusten when he gets picked up by his mom. As it turned out, he didn't really mind it at the Finch's anymore and he adapted to their way of life. Eating dog food on a regular basis is just disgusting. I really don't like Agnes, I think she is so wierd. Augusten and Neil have a very large age difference but Neil is someone that Augusten actually has some sort of connection to.
As he is thinking about how upset he is that his parents don't want him, his mother finally comes to pick him up, a day late. on the car ride he writes, "She had come back for me, just like she said she would. Only, where was she?"
As time goes on with Augusten in the Finch house, he makes many changes. He no longer is obsessed with what clothes he is wearing or how perfect his hair was. He loved the freedom that was given to him in the house. His one worry was how they would react when they found out he was gay. When he finally tells Hope, her response is, "Big deal." Augusten was so worried, but everyone already knew his secret. Hope reveals that their adopted 33 year old brother is also gay. A week goes by and Hope calls Augusten to tell him that Neil will be home for the afternoon. When they walk in Agnes is sitting on the couch eating Purina Dog Chow and she makes everyone try it.
Augusten and Neil take a walk near the Smith College campus, and Augusten wants to ask him a million questions. They have a really good conversation and both of them admit to being gay.
The part about Joranne really freaked me out. She was so crazy about the littlest amount of dirt. I felt so sorry for Augusten when he gets picked up by his mom. As it turned out, he didn't really mind it at the Finch's anymore and he adapted to their way of life. Eating dog food on a regular basis is just disgusting. I really don't like Agnes, I think she is so wierd. Augusten and Neil have a very large age difference but Neil is someone that Augusten actually has some sort of connection to.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Poo Bear
Augusten and the Finch girls think it would be a good idea to play with the doctor's electroshock machine that they used to use for crazy people. They are pretending to set up when their baby nephew, Poo Bear, walks in, they ask him if he wants to play with them. Once they start going, and Natalie pretends to convulse and Poo Bear starts to cry hysterically. They were trying to console him when he pooped on the carpet. Augusten then leaves the room to go in the kitchen to talk to his mom. He asks her if they can leave soon and he is very shocked and upset by her answer. Diedre then makes the doctor tell him that his father wants to kill them so his mother will be staying in a hotel and he will be living at the Finch's house.
Augusten says how he has always seen his father as being cold and not affecionate or loving. He sees Dr. Finch more like his father. Augusten is worried because he doesn't know how long he will be staying here or when the next time he sees his mom will be. He pretends to care about what he's going to do about school but he doesn't even go to school under normal conditions, so she assures him it's not a big deal.
When the kids were talking about playing with the electroshock machine I thought they were really using it. I think Poo Bear is a disgusting little baby. He poops everywhere and they let it stay there until someone actually picks it up. I felt so bad for Augusten when his mother told him he would be staying there for a while. I would never ever ever want to stay in that house.
Augusten says how he has always seen his father as being cold and not affecionate or loving. He sees Dr. Finch more like his father. Augusten is worried because he doesn't know how long he will be staying here or when the next time he sees his mom will be. He pretends to care about what he's going to do about school but he doesn't even go to school under normal conditions, so she assures him it's not a big deal.
When the kids were talking about playing with the electroshock machine I thought they were really using it. I think Poo Bear is a disgusting little baby. He poops everywhere and they let it stay there until someone actually picks it up. I felt so bad for Augusten when his mother told him he would be staying there for a while. I would never ever ever want to stay in that house.
Monday, October 27, 2008
The Masturbatorium
It's a year after the divorce and Augusten and his mother are at Dr. Finch's office, like they are for hours every single day. His mother wants him to get to know the doctor because he refuses to go to school and doesn't have any friends. The doctor has a room in his building he calls "The Masturbatorium", which is pretty self-explainitory. The doctor tells Augusten that he wants to show the room to him, but when they walk in they find Hope taking a nap on the couch.
The next chapter starts as Augusten and his mother are driving to Dr. Finch's house. They are passing all these beautiful Victorian houses and Augusten is really getting excited. He is dressed in slacks and a blazer, and of course his jewlry. They finally pull up to the house; it was pink and didn't fit in with any of the beautiful houses surrounding it. They ring the doorbell and are greeted by Dr. Finch's wife, Agnes. Augusten thinks the house smells like wet dog and eggs and is extremely dirty. His mother forces him to hang out with Dr. Finch's daughters, Vickie and Natalie, who he wasn't very fond of.
When I read about the Masturbatorium I thought it was some kind of sick joke. But Dr. Finch really does go in there before, between or after patients leave. While reading the part when they were driving to Dr. Finch's house, I knew Augusten was going to be extremely disappointed. How they describe the house is absolutely disgusting. It's an absolute mess and no one seems to care, except Augusten.
The next chapter starts as Augusten and his mother are driving to Dr. Finch's house. They are passing all these beautiful Victorian houses and Augusten is really getting excited. He is dressed in slacks and a blazer, and of course his jewlry. They finally pull up to the house; it was pink and didn't fit in with any of the beautiful houses surrounding it. They ring the doorbell and are greeted by Dr. Finch's wife, Agnes. Augusten thinks the house smells like wet dog and eggs and is extremely dirty. His mother forces him to hang out with Dr. Finch's daughters, Vickie and Natalie, who he wasn't very fond of.
When I read about the Masturbatorium I thought it was some kind of sick joke. But Dr. Finch really does go in there before, between or after patients leave. While reading the part when they were driving to Dr. Finch's house, I knew Augusten was going to be extremely disappointed. How they describe the house is absolutely disgusting. It's an absolute mess and no one seems to care, except Augusten.
Friday, October 24, 2008
Family Life
Augusten blames himself for the way his parents hate each other and the life they all had. They were getting in huge fights all the time and not even giving a second thought to their son just sitting in the other room, listening to them scream at each other. But the real problem came in when the fighting got physical and his father had his hands wrapped around the neck of his mother, and he could kill her in a second. After watching this episode, he got a sense of calm by going to his room, picking out an outfit for school the next day and shining some jewlry from his shelf.
So far it is clear that Augusten values clothes and jewlry, but he also loved medical doctors and celebrities. When he grew up he wanted to play a doctor on a TV show, so he could have the best of both worlds. He would use his imagination and things around him to practice and pretend he had the life he hopes to have when he grows up. Augusten would trick his mother into bringing him to the doctor's office just so he could see there white jackets. One doctor he didn't always love to see was Dr. Finch, his mother's psychiatrist. The first time Augusten meets him is when the doctor has to come to their house at night because his father is drunk and Diedre is scared that he will kill her for real this time.
When he was forced to go to Dr. Finch's office on Saturdays, he would sit in the waiting room and talk to the receptionist, who happens to be Dr. Finch's daughter, Hope. She tells him about all her siblings and how their house is always busy with people. When she tells him he should stop by sometimes, he is thrilled with the idea of going to a real doctor's house. And soon it wasn't the once a week sessions with Dr. Finch, now it was an everyday thing. Augusten looked at the divorce as a way to start fresh.
Augusten is facinated with the more valuble things in life. He doesn't have anyone who really cares about him yet, so he is more interested in material objects. I think it is kind of a good thing Augusten doesn't have any friends because he has never seen a relationship actually work in his life, so how is he expected to make them work himself.
So far it is clear that Augusten values clothes and jewlry, but he also loved medical doctors and celebrities. When he grew up he wanted to play a doctor on a TV show, so he could have the best of both worlds. He would use his imagination and things around him to practice and pretend he had the life he hopes to have when he grows up. Augusten would trick his mother into bringing him to the doctor's office just so he could see there white jackets. One doctor he didn't always love to see was Dr. Finch, his mother's psychiatrist. The first time Augusten meets him is when the doctor has to come to their house at night because his father is drunk and Diedre is scared that he will kill her for real this time.
When he was forced to go to Dr. Finch's office on Saturdays, he would sit in the waiting room and talk to the receptionist, who happens to be Dr. Finch's daughter, Hope. She tells him about all her siblings and how their house is always busy with people. When she tells him he should stop by sometimes, he is thrilled with the idea of going to a real doctor's house. And soon it wasn't the once a week sessions with Dr. Finch, now it was an everyday thing. Augusten looked at the divorce as a way to start fresh.
Augusten is facinated with the more valuble things in life. He doesn't have anyone who really cares about him yet, so he is more interested in material objects. I think it is kind of a good thing Augusten doesn't have any friends because he has never seen a relationship actually work in his life, so how is he expected to make them work himself.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Something Isn't Right
Running With Scissors is a memoir by Augusten Burroughs. It starts as Augusten watches his mother get ready to go out to a poetry reading, leaving him home alone. Augusten is a 12 year old boy who really doesn't have anyone there for him. His parents are divorced and he lives with his mom who is not mentally stable, and therefore needs to see a doctor quite frequently. He loves shiny things. He has a shelf of things he just likes to sit and polish so they can get really shiny. Augusten was the kind of boy that loved to dress nice and wouldn't go to school if his hair wasn't exactly perfect.
Augusten describes his dad as having "the loving, affectionate and outgoing personality as petrified wood." He would always ask his dad to play games with him or just try to have a conversation but his dad would always respond by saying he has too much to do, when really he only can't because he is an alcoholic. Finally his father agrees to take Augusten to the dump, where Augusten spots this chrome coffee table that he wants to take home so bad, but his dad won't let him have it. Augusten's description of life at home depicts his very hard family life.
It makes me feel really bad for him when he describes the way his parents act in front of him. That is something that can really screw up someone for the rest of their life. We will see that it does affect Augusten for a long time.
Augusten describes his dad as having "the loving, affectionate and outgoing personality as petrified wood." He would always ask his dad to play games with him or just try to have a conversation but his dad would always respond by saying he has too much to do, when really he only can't because he is an alcoholic. Finally his father agrees to take Augusten to the dump, where Augusten spots this chrome coffee table that he wants to take home so bad, but his dad won't let him have it. Augusten's description of life at home depicts his very hard family life.
It makes me feel really bad for him when he describes the way his parents act in front of him. That is something that can really screw up someone for the rest of their life. We will see that it does affect Augusten for a long time.
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