The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild OST Playlist
Hey, Adam here. The Nintendo Switch is coming out tomorrow along with Breath of the Wild and I’m ecstatic! Some people already have it early and I am quite jealous of them. I wish I had the money to buy it… This game looks very interesting and something I would love to spend a lot of time on unlike chapters 5 to 7 of The Namesake which I read on the last two days this past week.
I guess saying it was very boring to read this section is an exaggeration since I found the section talking about the Ratliff’s to be quite interesting, but other than that I did not enjoy part two that much. Despite my boredom, I was still able to connect to Gogol’s desire to live independently, away from his parents, and the moment when he learned the past behind his name and dad.
When I read “But now it is his room at Yale where Gogol feels most comfortable,” I thought to myself that is probably how I would feel when I move out to go to university later this year (Lahiri 108). Gogol feels most comfortable there because he feels like he can finally be himself (Nikhil) now that he is not with his parents which I can relate to. Like a stereotypical teenager, I get annoyed by what my parents say sometimes. The most annoying thing they say is to go to sleep earlier as if they think I do not understand that not getting enough sleep is bad for me and that I am incapable of going to sleep without having someone telling me to. I know that getting less than 8 hours of sleep is not good for my health and as a result I have been making efforts this year to sleep earlier, and I know that they are saying it because they care about me, but I can’t help but find it annoying and unnecessary to tell me every single day. Therefore, I find the idea of living independently and away from your parents very appealing.
On the subject of parents, when Gogol is listening to his father talking about the train accident from his past, Gogol feels that “for an instant his father is a stranger, a man who has kept a secret, […] a man whose past he does not fully know” it reminded me of a conversation with my dad (123). My dad and I were discussing things about university which lead him to talking about his tough experience with being an immigrant and getting a good job here in Canada. I felt uncomfortable learning about his past as well as awkward because this was very unusual, but I developed an appreciation for the fortunate opportunities I have and for my dad who had to work extremely hard to get to where he is now. I realized how little I know about my parents and what they had to go through by leaving China to search for a better life in Canada. They’re like strangers to me, especially because I do not talk to them often, similar to Gogol feeling like Ashoke is a stranger to him because he knew so little about him.
All in all, even though I did not enjoy chapters 5 to 7 of The Namesake, I still connected to the sections where it talks about Gogol and his parents. It made me think about how much of a teenager I am and how little I know about my parents. And now, after typing all of that, I feel that I should try to talk to my parents more often and get to know them a little more.
Do you get annoyed by your parents? What do you think about living independently? Can you imagine yourself doing so? Let me know in the comments below.
-Adam
(I found the original owner of the cat meme in the featured image here: Persian Cat Room Guardian by AnyaBoyz)
Books and Thoughts 
Hey Adam!
I really agree, this section of the novel definitely wasn’t my favourite… Also, I can really relate to your stories about your parents. I too recently realized how little I actually know about my parents. Every time I learn even the smallest detail about what they gone through the build they lives my famil has now amazes me. I mean sure, I see my parents every day and talk to them, but usually the topics are trivial. It’s not often that you actually sit down and learn things about your parents that happened before you were born. Learning about their struggles can make me pretty uncomfortable too… just because they’ve had experiences that I can’t even imgine going through, and I’m kind of embarrased that I really can’t relate to those kinds of difficulties at all. But, I guess that just means all their hard work paid off, because parents always want their kids to have a better life. But, despite my discomfort, it definitely opened my eyes and made me realize I should stop being so petty sometimes and just appreciate whath they’ve done, becasue eventually, all the small things that upset me aren’t going to matter at all anymore.
When you go off for univeristy, are you going to make sure you continue to check in with your parents and keep in touch? Or do you think you’ll end up somewhat following Gogol’s path and drift away from your family, considering your university space your “home”?
Looking forward to your next post and thoughts on the end of the novel!
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Hey Aanya, thank you for commenting on my post! After reading how much of a d- an ungrateful and rude kid Gogol was towards his parents, I will most definitely make an effort to keep in touch with my parents. They would probably be worried to death about my well being after taking care of me for over 17 years of their lives. I would want to show that I still care about them too. Hopefully they don’t call everyday since I would find that pretty annoying. Texting would be fine I guess? Talking on the phone isn’t something I like to do.
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Great post and I liked your sense of humour. I also found this section of the book unappealing, but mostly because Gogol was irritating me by how unappreciative he seemed. I have to agree it was quite interesting reading about the Ratliff’s and the laid back life they have. My parent’s also bug me and my siblings telling us to sleep earlier, but by now they’ve sort of given up on it and only get mad at us once in a while.
So I have a question for you. After reading this part of the novel do you think Gogol will try to be closer with his family and embrace his culture more?
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Thank you for reading and commenting on my post! I do think Gogol will try to become closer with his family and embrace his culture more. He already showed signs of it when he stayed with his family during the time or mourning and denied Max’s request to be with him. I hope he shows more appreciation towards what his family has done for him, talks with them more often, and realize that he does not need to be so different when he uses Gogol or Nikhil. Both personas are still aspects of who he is as a whole; they are not separate beings and he needs to accept that. Besides the only one who has a problem with that is himself which makes the book all that more irritating to read…
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Hey Adam, great blog so far!
I agree that this part of the book really did drag on for quite a while, and that some parts (every time Gogol was complaining about his culture and life) were not the greatest to read about. I can relate to your comment about parents and discovering parts of their lives that we weren’t aware of before. I guess sometimes kids think their parents lives started when they were born, or they just kind of brush away the parts that didn’t include them. So it is often a foreign experience to learn new things about them, and in Gogol’s case it was a huge revelation. I just wished maybe his father had told him earlier, because maybe they’d have a better connection if Gogol knew that there was a very personal meaning behind his name. As for living independently, I think I personally would struggle with that just because I’m very family oriented and am so used to being surrounded by them. However, it’s something I’ll have to do eventually, but I’m in no rush to do. I quite enjoy using free WiFi and my mom’s home cooked meals.
Looking forward to your next post!
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Hi Nishwara thank you for commenting on my post! Now that you mention it, I also think it would have been better if his father told him sooner. A lot of things might have gone a bit differently if he did. Staying home for free WiFi and food sound like perfectly good reasons to stay.
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