Category: Senior Literary

SUMMARY

Julia had just recently moved on from the death of her husband, Him, who left her a Great Dave named Singer in his place. Julia is attempting to get back into the dating game with Richard, who is handle and charming, but very mysterious. At the same time, she finds herself drawn to get best friend Mike, who has been there for her for years. A typical relationship turns deadly, and Julie finds herself in danger.

REVIEW
Something that has always kind of irked me about Nicholas Sparks books is that the women usually don’t have much personality. They’re just kind of shy and sweet and friendly, and Julie is the same way. Mike, however, I do applaud for being different. He’s not perfect and suave and slick. He’s kind of a clumsy dork who doesn’t know what he’s doing. He can be a little too immature, intentional or not, but he was a refreshing change from the usual Casanova. Richard is also written fairly well. You can tell something is off with him from the beginning, and it only gets worse from there.

Something that the book does well is that it knows where it’s going. It doesn’t feel like the reader is being tugged between plotlines. Even between romance and suspense, it keeps things merged well.

Julie and Mike’s romance is decent enough. Something that kind of threw me off was that they were supposed to be friends of several years. It didn’t feel like that. More like work buddies than best friends, but they work better as a couple. The fact that Julie’s husband had passed it meant to be a sort of tieback for them. She’s trying to move on now, and Mike doesn’t know if he should ask her out, etc. Though this could have been interesting, Julie being a widow is actually not that important. That is, it really didn’t feel like it mattered. It didn’t make me feel anything, and I kind of forgot at times.

Towards the end of the book, we are unedited to two new characters that we follow for a good bit. They aren’t can, but it becomes annoying to keep up with them when they aren’t really main characters. They disappear after they serve their functions, anyway. The same can be said for a side character that was set up to be quite important. She goes through the story as a woman jealous of Julie’s relationship with Richard. She doesn’t try to sabotage them or anything, but she does push the envelope a little bit. Something happens with her at the end, but afterwards, we are left a little in the dark about the outcome.

The ending managed to get me a little emotional, even though I kind of saw it coming. Overall, this book is far from the worst of Nicholas Sparks, but I wouldn’t call it his best, either. If you’re looking for a Hallmark-channel like book to read, this will work fine. Just don’t expect to be blown away by anything.

The short story “Barn Burning”, by William Faulkner is honestly a brilliantly worded and well-written story about a physically and emotionally abuse father who may be extremely crazy. There may be some spoilers in this review, but honestly, I’d recommend to go online and read a PDF file of it real quick and come back, it’s great.

So, first off, the book takes place in early 1900s, maybe 1890s, in the American South. The people there are still extremely racist, many are poor, and hard working. The main character is Sarty and the story is written in third person, but kind of told by Sarty twenty years from now. The story starts off with his father, Abner, in court because he is accused of burning somebody’s barn, which is pretty illegal. William Faulkner makes the beginning extremely easy to read and understand, but he also makes it extremely interesting and tense, making the reader wonder the entire time of what was going to happen. Sarty is then called to the stand to actually testify against his own father, Faulkner adds this conflict in brilliantly, bringing this up later to prove that Abner is physically abusive and paranoid that his own son won’t even help him.

Abner is then told to leave the city they were in, so they move for the twelfth time. Faulkner does a great job in this story of adding great information at the right time, and he gives us just enough so we could understand everything. He also establishes that Abner was in the war, he does this while they were moving from the city they just lived in, so Faulkner would not waste any time by doing this portion another time, it also gives a great transition to the next portion of the story.

They then go to Abner’s new bosse’s house. Abner steps in horse poop and kind of purposely rub his poopy shoe on a one-hundred dollar rug from France. His boss brings the rug to be cleaned to Abner, and Abner ruins it after being told by his wife to not put lye on it and rub it violently with a stone, which is what he did. His boss then tells him that he will pay him back for the rug, not with money, but with corn. Abner goes to court to get rid of the charge, but the charge is instead cut in half.

Abner does what any normal person would do, he goes home and prepares kerosene and oil to burn his bosse’s barn down. Sarty wants to stop him, but his father then commands Sarty’s mom to hold him down, or she would probably get beat, so she holds him down. Sarty escapes and tries to warn the boss, but the barn is already being burned down. The boss the gets a gun and shoots Abner. Sarty then ponders his father’s life and states that he respected him.

I recommend this story to anybody who is willing to embrace a wonderful story that showcases a father who is extremely abusive, narcissistic, impulsive liar, and might be insane. This story shows that even though you may be abused, you can still love that person, because in the end, Abner did try his best to protect his family.

“Freedom—that is what Lilly Linton wants most in life. Not marriage, not a brood of squalling brats, and certainly not love, thank you very much!
But freedom is a rare commodity in 19th-century London, where girls are expected to spend their lives sitting at home, fully occupied with looking pretty. Lilly is at her wits’ end—until a chance encounter with a dark, dangerous and powerful stranger changes her life forever…
Enter the world of Mr. Rikkard Ambrose, where the only rule is: Knowledge is power is time is money!”

This is the short detailed overview of the book Storm and Silence and within this review, I will discuss the amazing writing choices within the first few chapters of this historic masterpiece. A small bit of backstory to this book is that the author, Robert Thier, originally added this book to the well-known writing platform Wattpad, and although many people criticize Wattpad stories on this domain as cliché and poorly written, this book is clearly nothing of that nature. It is elaborately written and was acknowledged for it. The book was chosen to be published, and now is online as well as in stores for sale.

Now, onto the book itself. The storyline just as it was stated in the overview takes place in 19th-century London, and even though I know very little of London in the 19th-century, it was very easy for me to follow along with the storyline so far. The character traits that Mr. Thier gives to his characters, Lilly and Mr. Ambrose, is ironic and refreshingly clever. I am also not one to boast about writing that is written with accents nor with so much history, but this book has done a great job of providing these as well as keeping the reader engaged. The escalation of the storyline so far has been at a somewhat steady pace, and I can definitely tell that the characters each have there own bit of depth to them.

Not only do I want to just point out the progression of the story, but also the conflicts. One would presume that juggling so many conflicting social issues which are brought to light within the story would clash and cause the reader to become confused or overwhelmed, but somehow the book keeps every climax flowing accordingly. Lilly so far would have to go in my book of favorite characters alongside Mr.Ambrose because not only is she dealing with her constant need for freedom in a society that oppresses her, but also juggling the societies expectations of a lady, the issues within her family, and the responsibilities Mr. Ambrose brings along. Her quick wit and sly remarks are what keep her on top in this book, and so far I am loving it.

I encourage anyone looking for a switch up in their reading list to give Storm and Silence a look. I also encourage readers to indulge themselves in the mystery of if this book was named after the characters, which would you see as the description of the storm and which as silence; I guarantee your choice will never be set in stone.

Your Biology, Your Self?

Nature, Nurture, and Orchid Hypothesis

“Some people are more certain of everything than I am of anything.”- Robert Rubin, In an Uncertain World

In chapters four, five, six, and seven, Cane reveals that introversion and extroversion may be an inborn biological thing.  She reviews a study done by Jerome Kagan at Harvard, and the Orchid Hypothesis by David Dobbs.

Jerome Kagan is an eighty-two year old developmental psychological researcher at Harvard.  One of his many studies have been to see and follow a set of five hundred children at various ages, beginning at four months, and seeing if he can put them through a series of test and determine if they will grow up to be introverts or extroverts.  In these tests they determined the babies that reacted more to the tests, such as balloon popping and tape recorded voices, were going to be introverts.  At the beginning of reading this part I thought it was far fetched and interesting, but did not expect it to be a fruitful experiment.  Little did I know, the scientific findings of this experiment explained why these could determine this dominant trait in babies.  The amygdala of the brain in introverts is more active.  This means shocks such as balloon popping and strange un-tethered voices would be more significant to these babies for real biological reasons- their brains literally react more.  These babies made up twenty percent of the five hundred babies.  The other eighty percent were either not reactive at all,known as low reactive, or simply slightly startled and did not pay any more mind to the sound or new experience.  This means one hundred of these babies were introverts and the other four hundred were hypothesized as extroverts.  This is a pretty large difference in number, and if it is a true measurement of every five hundred only one hundred are introverts- this is a strange image of population scaling.

The Orchid Hypothesis by David Dodds:

“Most of us have genes that make us as hardy as dandelions: able to take root and survive almost anywhere. A few of us, however, are more like the orchid: fragile and fickle, but capable of blooming spectacularly if given greenhouse care. So holds a provocative new theory of genetics, which asserts that the very genes that give us the most trouble as a species, causing behaviors that are self-destructive and antisocial, also underlie humankind’s phenomenal adaptability and evolutionary success. With a bad environment and poor parenting, orchid children can end up depressed, drug-addicted, or in jail—but with the right environment and good parenting, they can grow up to be society’s most creative, successful, and happy people.” – David Dobbs

So, in essence, this supports the information previously aquired through the texts of the book.  The books writing style is very factual so this was the first account using imagery or similarity charting to explain the topic better- but this was David Dodds talking and not Susan Cane.  The point of this following Kagan’s experiment is that the intro or extro-version of people are inborn.  They are predetermined, and can be as dominant or recessive as brown and blue eyes in a family.

This part in the book was a strong limb to the argument that introversion and extroversion is a trait pattern ultimately predetermined in humans.

One last quote for the road:

A shy man no doubt dreads the notice of strangers, but can hardly be said to be afraid of them. He may be as bold as a hero in battle, and yet have no self-confidence about trifles in the presence of strangers.”–Charles Darwin

Because this is a collection of stories instead of the usually collective story, this review will be different from my previous ones. Okay?

Okay.

JK Rowling, of Harry Potter fame, ‘s The Tales of Beedle the Bard are a collection of short stories, or more accurately, flash fictions, for the children of the wizarding world. Most likely, Beedle the Bard is the wizard, in-universe equivalent of Muggle,  or non-magic, storytellers, Hans Christian Andersen or the Brothers Grimm.

The stories are all very silly and have a childish way of explaining good behavior in a way that would make perfect scene to its target audience: children.

Story I: “The Wizard and the Hopping Pot”

Short Summary:

“The Wizard and the Hopping Pot” tells the tale of a cold-hearted wizard. After his generous father, who had become town-famous for his literally magical healing concoctions, passes away, the son refuses to assist the poor and unfortunate Muggles surrounding. The wizard’s father’s magical cauldron begins stalking him, all while reflecting all of the Muggles’ troubles, being very noisy in doing so. When the wizard can’t take the racket anymore, he helps everyone and cauldron goes back to normal.

The Moral: The moral child wizards and witches are supposed to take away is, “Treat others nicely.”

My Opinions: The message is  supposed to be “Treat others nicely,” but the problem as the wizard only decides to treat the Muggles nicely  when he’s been tortured into it. As a result, children could potentially take away the message, “Only treat others nicely when it is convenient to you.”

Story II: “The Fountain of Fair Fortune”

Short Summary: In the Fountain of Fair Fortune, there is a competition to get the honor of bathing in a fountain of luck, three unhappy witches and a very unlucky knight go through trials to see who will do so. Spoiler warning: (but it’s so obvious), the knight gets to do it. Also a spoiler warning: the fountain has no magical ability whatsoever.

The Moral: The moral you’re meant to take away from this is, “You make your own luck.”

My Opinions: This was truly a story for children. There was not one bit that was unpredictable. There are terrible loopholes to get around the established rules and there is a pointless romance tossed in at the very last second that did nothing for me.

Story III: “The Warlock’s Hairy Heart”

Short Summary: “The Wizard’s Hairy Heart” is about a warlock who removes his heart and locks it away in a dungeon so that he will never become a fool in love. Years later, he overhears servants insulting his lack of a wife and begins pursuing a maid. She is flattered by his cold words, but tells him he seems heartless. The warlock shows her his heart and when she begs him to replace it, he does. The heart has basically rotted and makes him perverse and malevolent. He kills his new bride and then himself.

The Moral: I’m actually a little stumped on this one. Maybe, “You need love in your blasted life?”

My Opinions: This is the darkest of the tales and more like the Muggle Hans Christian Andersen and Brother Grimm’s stories.

Story IV: “Babbitty Rabbitty and Her Cackling Stump”

Short Summary: “Babbitty Rabbitty and Her Cackling Stump” is about a foolish Muggle King who declares magic treasonous, but wants to learn for himself. A conman pretends to know magic and embezzles riches from the King, while teaching him fake spells. The washerwoman, Babbitty, a real witch, sees the ridiculousness of the lesson and embarrasses the King by laughing at him. The King forces the conman to hold a ceremony at which he (the King) will perform for his subjects, else the conman will lose his head. The conman makes Babbitty do the magic behind a bush, and all is fine until Babbitty is unable to do spell. The conman accuses her of being an evil witch and she transforms into a tree. The soldiers try to chop her down, but she claims that axes cannot harm magic-wielders and tells them to chop down the conman to prove it. The conman confesses all and is presumably killed. Babbitty “curses” the land, so the King strikes the magic ban.

The Moral: “Don’t discriminate.” and “Don’t lie or steal.”

My Opinions: I thought this story was the most childish one, and I won’t read it again.

Story V: “The Tale of the Three Brothers”

Short Summary: Three brothers cheat Death. Death gives them gifts meant to kill them. Two brothers die. One brother passes his gift to his son and greets Death willingly.

The Moral: “You can’t cheat death.” or “Don’t trust strangers.”

My Opinions: I’m biased, beacause I already know this story from the Deathly Hallows and I love it.

Recently, I read a flash fiction titled “Possessions(s)”. It was about the aftermath of losing your wife, and I found it interesting because when I think of a widow, a woman automatically comes to my mind. So, I was enticed to read this flash fiction and discover how a man feels when they lose their significant other. The first line instantly drew me in because it was shocking and compelling. The “great first line” rule of flash fiction was definitely accomplished by this piece. There is not necessarily a progression of time in this flash fiction; time is left ambiguous. It does not let you know how long the wife has been dead or the time span between the beginning and end, which I liked very much. It made it easier to focus on the thoughts, emotions, and surroundings. This piece was very emotional and thought-provoking because it just made me wonder. I felt what the widow was feeling in every sentence, metaphor, and image.

Some things I like about this story is the structure: the punctuation use, choppy sentences, and unfinished thoughts. It goes well with the theme of subtle detachment. There are many great lines. “… hanging from a pole sagging with the weight of remembrance” (Smolens). This is one of my favorite uses of figurative language used by the writer. The style of the writing gives the theme, tone, and concept so many attributes. Another thing I enjoyed about this piece is the comparison of possession and possessions. That was an intelligent concept used, and it worked very well; it also contributed to connecting the title with the story. My favorite line is “Fuck you, Stephen Spielberg; death has no special effects” (Smolens). It added a lightweight tone to the extremely heavy subject. It served as a breather for me. There was also a mix of brevity and specifics which was cool to see. Although I enjoyed this piece, there were some aspects of it I have to disagree with.

A characteristic I found distracting was the fragments. They worked in some places and others felt forced. It was overused. However, it still did not affect the quality. The ending was not as strong as I thought it would be. At the end, there was a very unique metaphor introduced, and the author continued to use it until the conclusion, but it was a poor execution. The last line could have been exponentially stronger compared to the rest of the story. The format of the text was intimidating, and I spotted many places that could have been benefited with a paragraph break.

Overall, I loved this flash fiction. It did very well with being consistent and emotional but not full of pity. It was full of great imagery and other figurative languages. I love reading works that use personification, and it was prolific in this story. This is now one of my favorite pieces, and I plan to read more from the author. If you would like to read it, click here.

The story “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin is about a woman who thinks her husband is dead and she begins to go through the stages of grief along with hallucinations that things are happening that aren’t actually happening. The main character basically is married and she’s in love with him, having a great future for them in mind. Her friends then come over to the house to tell her that they think her husband died in an accident. She then goes to a room by herself and locks everybody out, sitting in a chair in front of an open window, and crying desperately. It’s also pointed out that she has heart problems and her friends wanted to give her the information delicately so she wouldn’t have a heart attack.

This entire story focuses heavily about how when you are in love, you have to face grief when your spouse passes away, especially whenever it is unexpected. What I’ve noticed while reading is that the writer loads this story with filler words and figurative language. The filler words is basically her reaching for elegant sounding descriptions of things, but it just sounds choppy and unappealing, also making it difficult to read. The figurative language in this story is the only saving grace of this story, even though it doesn’t make that much of a difference. During her time of crying hysterically and trying to comprehend that her husband is dead, she begins to convulse violently, like she’s having a heart attack. I believe that she started to have a heart attack while sitting down, but she managed to control the attack and calm down. Kate Chopin uses great descriptions in this time, making the reader think about everything they are reading, having to concentrate on every little word that was in the story. After the main character was finished with her grief and contemplation, she left the room and noticed that her friends were worried about her, their ears were against the door. After she talked with her friends for a bit, her husband entered the house and she died from a heart attack from seeing that he didn’t die.

I do not recommend this story. It was uninteresting and every character remained the same. All sentences had a bunch of filler words, reaching for very descriptive images and attempting to sound like an incredibly elegant and greatly descriptive writer. The plot of the story was very one-dimensional, and it was so boring to have to sit through and read. The ending was a very degrading ending for a reader. I didn’t like how the ending was so sudden and all it did was kill off the main character, a cheap cop out for someone who didn’t know how to actually end a story. It’s a disrespectful way to end a story, especially to the reader because the reader spent the entire time reading, hoping for a good plot and a great ending to summarize everything. This story did not give a good ending that gave the plot justice, it just killed the main character off while doing a plot twist that the husband was never dead. Again, not recommended.

Fahrenheit 451 is Ray Bradbury’s first novel. He is normally a poet so the wording and diction of the novel come across with a poetic tone that is simply beautiful. The book deals with the social aspect of literature and media. It follows a firefighter, Guy Montag,  who is tasked to burn books in a futuristic dystopian society.  The reason being that books are illegal. Guy has a sudden realization and has to confront his moral standing on the law.

Montag begins pushing himself further and further into questioning the law. He eventually watches a woman decide to die in her house (which they are burning for her illegal possession of books) and decides that there must be something in books that is worth dying for. Montag eventually gets caught, runs away, and joins a secret society of people who remember literature.

The book addresses important issues about the power of literature and the censorship of them. This is particularly striking due to the relevancy today as more and more of the world leaning more toward technology instead of traditional forms of literature. This issue is posed in the book as part of the gathered exposition, and has led to the outlawing of literature in the world that Bradbury created.

The book also talks about the numbing power of technology on the world. The people in this society are holed up in their houses watching TV programs and always listening to some form of entertainment when not in the room.  (We also see the firefighters playing cards, but the majority is technological based entertainment) This technology has made the people socially capable, but less observant and thoughtful of the rest of the world.  The book addresses this by presenting a juxtaposition between Faber, a lovely old man who indulges in literature, and Guy’s wife, Mildred, who only indulges in technology. Faber is thoughtful where Mildred is dismissive and unintelligent. This issue is particularly relevant because of the recent controversy over technology being harmful for children.

His characters are pretty well rounded and make very human observations and decisions. Such as Guy, Beatty, and Faber.

Guy is what one might consider as the  protagonist. He is the focus of the story and is the focus of the arc. Guy struggles between fear and curiosity throughout the whole story. This makes him more relatable and easier to empathize with while still understanding the reason of his actions, being that he grew up in this society and has no way of knowing better.

Beatty is the antagonist (government and censorship) manifested into a person and Guy’s boss. Beatty is smart and is aware that Guy is struggling with his moral decision to follow the law or defy it. Beatty serves as a source for tension and intimidation. He is complex and relates to Guy during Guy’s hardship. This makes it hard to predict his motives and reasoning.

Faber is cowardly and timid. He serves as a help to Guy, even in pressing times. Guy confides in Faber about literature after overcoming his moral conviction and Faber tries to avoid him. He is static, but puts himself on the line for Guy when it matters most.

The book kept me awake at night and forced me to keep going back to read more or re-read certain passages. The language is captivating and entrancing, yet also demanding the upmost attention. I would definitely suggest this book to anyone who enjoys poetic diction, unpredictable plots, and socially relevant narrative.

(Spoilers)

 

Margaret Atwood, a famous Canadian poet, provided us with The Handmaid’s Tale in 1985 and proposed a problem that is still relevant today.

The book follows a character we come to know as Offred in a dystopian society where women are held with importance, because the birth rates are so low.

Offred has been made a handmaid. A handmaid is under the rule of the higher class men and their wives, is given the job of procreation, and is forced under strict rules and regulations. The handmaids are forced to wear red dresses covering all of their body, and headdresses preventing their peripheral vision.

These outfits create a sense of division within the society. The dresses mark them as property and walking wombs. The handmaids will typically shop for the household and lay with the head of the household.

Offred is particularly interesting because she remembers the world before the revolution that has lead to the reformation of society. She is struggling to keep the details of her previous life, but is losing some, either through repression or simply forgetting.

Offred holds so many of her emotions and impulses in as she attempts to find a way out of the world she is in. Fear motivates her and chaos ensues as she begins to explore the people around her more and more.

Atwood presents an interesting  structure of plot, sending us from the present to the past and back again, over and over. This keeps us constantly informed with the way Offred’s mind has slowly altered as time has carried her further into her new position in life. She is constantly recounting her lover before the reformation, Luke, her time at a camp that was meant to train her to be a handmaid, her best friend, Moira, and her daughter. She is trying to hold onto these memories as she is faced with new and challenging obstacles in her household.

The obstacles force Offred into a precarious place where she is sneaking behind the commander, the head of the house, with the guard, Nick, under Serena Joy’s, the commander’s wife, order. She is also sneaking around with the commander under Serena Joy’s nose. Offred is trying to gather herself and gain a foothold into some way to get free.  Offred is also becoming closer to her walking partner, a handmaid named Ofglen, who is involved with an underground resistance.

The issues that the book propose are heavily embellished with controversy over abortion, maternity, rape, and gender superiority. All of these things are present in modern day life and have raised controversy within the general population on the social and political front.

Atwood presents us with incredible characters, who are dynamic and real, incredibly poetic diction, wonderfully chosen dialogue, and a narrative that can touch anyone who is willing to read it.

The novel is a socially and politically awakening piece that forces the reader to pay attention, come back for more, and address the problems involved with empathy and sincerity.

“I squeezed Kevin’s wrist in pulsing units, three pulses, then two pulses, then three pulses. I was trying to invent a physical language that could enter his sleep. But after a while I realized I wasn’t even squeezing his wrist, I was just pulsing the air. That’s how scared I was; I was squeezing air” (July).

For this month, I have decided to write on the short story, “The Man on the Stairs” by Miranda July. When I originally found the story, I expected a somewhat horror themed flash fiction; however, the story turned out to be nothing like any of the previous reading choices that I’d become so familiar with. It was a very abstract plot line that contained a lot of sidebar thoughts, and although the story did leave me confused, I find the need to commend the story for the connections the author made within the text as well as the way she was able to tie so many of them together. Ms. July gives so many characteristics of the main character that it feels as if in the midst of an intense situation she is almost comfortable having casual conversation, and really draws a clear picture of the protagonist’s mindset as well as the character’s reflection s on herself.

My favorite sections of the story are moments when she adds detailing in comparing herself to the intruder. Ms. July does a really phenomenal job with the polar opposites connecting and having such an abstract for of similarities. I also enjoy the details written about her boyfriend, but in some ways, it seems as though the main character is more connected to the intruder than the man she is with which I found very odd yet interesting. This story all in all really took me for a loop as the reader. Even as a writer, I found myself constantly thinking, I wonder where she got this idea from, and I wonder how she came up with this comparison.

I do believe there are areas that could have been edited that would improve the piece as a whole, but for the blogs sake I will spare the in-depth detailing of what I would suggest as specific changes. I’ll simply state that the ending, in my opinion, fell short of what it could have been seeing as though the entire piece had a constant build up that missed its mark on ending strong. Although the ending lines do add to the story, the plotline just swerves in a way that was not for the best. I also believe the explicit content within the piece is somewhat unnecessary. Yes, the minor section of content shows the protagonist’s inner thoughts, but it doesn’t necessarily add detailing to the story to make the plot move forward; it simple gives detailing to the protagonist’s boyfriend who isn’t focused on very much in the story anyhow.

Even though I found certain elements changeable within the piece, I still nevertheless believe this piece is a good read. It is most definitely a change in tone of my previous suggestions.

If you would like to read this short story, please click here.