Reading Logbook
Ainun Najmah Alhadid
2206824193 - Kritik Sastra BC
Date Pages Covered Quotes
1. October 1st 20-50 “God knows what the
crows are trying to say.
La’es—go down to
the bottom of the ocean,
to get snagged in the
bottom, like a halibut
hook stuck on the ocean
floor; a boat sinking,
coming to rest on the
bottom. The seiner sank?
Mom and Dad are in
danger if they go on
a boat? I should go after
him? I used to think that if
I could talk to
the spirit world, I’d get
some answers. Ha bloody
ha. I wish the dead
would just come out and
say what they mean
instead of being so
passive-aggressive about
the whole thing..”
Page 22
2. October 2nd 50-80 ”She had
forced us to read a book
that said that the Indians
on the northwest
coast of British Columbia
had killed and eaten
people as religious
sacrifices. My teacher had
made us each read a
paragraph out loud.
When my turn came, I sat
there shaking, absolutely
furious.
“Lisa?” she’d said. “Did
Interesting Issues and
Details
From this quote, I knew
where this story is going.
Spiritual world, mild
horrific event happening
around the MC and how
she wished Jimmy (if he’s
really dead) or other
people that have died
could just told her what
happened instead of
appearing in her dreams
every now and then,
creeping her out.
The setting in which Lisa
grew up. Not having a
choice but to have people
around her discriminate
her people, the Haisla, or
rather the Indians. Even
though, in fact, they were
the ones inhabiting the
island first, after British
colonialization, her
people are being treated
differently from others.
 you hear me? Please
read the next
paragraph.”
“But it’s all lies,” I’d said.
The teacher stared at me
as if I were mutating into a
hideous
thing from outer space.
The class, sensing
tension, began to titter
and whisper. She slowly
turned red, and said I
didn’t know what I
was talking about.
“Ma-ma-oo told me it was
just pretend, the eating
people, like
drinking Christ’s blood at
Communion.”
In a clipped, tight voice,
she told me to sit down.
Since I was going to get
into trouble anyway, I
started singing
“Fuck the Oppressors.”
The class cheered, more
because of the
swearing than anything
else, and I was promptly
dragged, still
singing, to the principal’s
office.”
Page 60

3. October 3rd 80-102 “I can’t find my cigarettes.
I’ve ripped my room apart
and nothing. I
had a full carton. I couldn’t
have gone through it so
fast. I had a full
pack right there in the
bottom of my purse. I
have more, I know I
have more. I can’t have
just three cigarettes to my
name. Damn. I’m
going to have to make a
trip into town. I light the
first one. Eyes are
closing again. I collapse
A call back to how much
Lisa misses Jimmy. Back
when they were little,
they argued a lot and
Lisa wanted to get out of
the village as soon as
possible. But now as
Jimmy has gone missing,
a part of her is missing
too, and she cannot stop
thinking aabout the past,
including the part where
Jimmy was with her.
 into my bed. Never fall
asleep with a
cigarette in your mouth.
No, no, no. I regretfully
stub it out, saving
the rest of it for later.
Funny how you never
appreciate a cigarette
fully until you know it’s
one of your last.”
Page 102

4. October 8th 102-142 “The rest blurs like a The turning point of
shaky homemade movie. Lisa’s personality after
My feet, heavy as witnessing Uncle Mick’s
we walked down the dock. death, knowing that she
The speedboat’s outboard could’ve prevented it
motor, cranky since she already had the
and refusing to start for vision beforehand.
five endless minutes of
Dad yanking on the
cord. The choppy ocean.
The net, all the corks
along the middle
sunk under the water.
Mick’s speedboat pushing
itself against the
shore, nudging it and
scraping slowly along the
rocks. Seals bobbing
their dark heads between
the whitecaps as Dad
picked up his
shotgun and fired and
fired at them, then
reloaded, saying, ‘Don’t
look.’’
Page 109

5. October 9th 142-182 “I stood at the window, Lisa’s overprotectiveness

trembling. Then I went
into Jimmy’s room
and saw him sprawled
over his bed. I pinched
myself to make sure I
was awake. I understood I
had just had a vision, but I
was afraid to
now that she doesn’t take
her visions easy anymore
after what happened to
Uncle Mick. She had a
vision where Alexis and
Jimmy are both in it and
she decides to spring into
action and prevent
 think about what it meant. anything bad to happen
I went downstairs and to Jimmy.
waited until
Jimmy woke an hour later.
I followed him onto the
porch as he took
a bag of stale bread out to
feed the crows for good
luck. The crows
fluttered around his feet.
He seemed puzzled that I
was watching
him do what he’d done for
years. I asked him if he’d
been up earlier
and he said no. I touched
him, to make sure he was
the real Jimmy,
and he smacked my hand
away, then asked if I was
feeling okay.”
Page 175

6. October 10th !82-262 “I went to every window in Lisa witnessing yet

the house, looking out for another death after
the fire. having yet another vision.
House lights went on and She witnesses how Ma-
people waited in their ma-oo’s body are badly
doorways to hear burnt from the incident,
who the unlucky ones practically dead. Yet
were. I didn’t bother another event that makes
phoning the fire hall her mentally scarred.
because everyone else
would be doing the same
thing. There was
nothing to do but wait. I
went back and made
myself a cup of hot
chocolate, wondering who
had been careless.
Wondering if anyone
was dead. I went back to
the doorway and heard
someone shouting
that it was old Agnes Hill’s
place. Ma-ma-oo. Ma-ma-
oo’s place.
By the time I got there,
her house was a black
shell and lights
were flashing over it, fire-
engine lights, ambulance
lights, camera
lights and the constant
murmur of the people
waiting, shifting.”
Page 228-229