My overall impression of "Love and Honor and Pity and Pride and Compassion and Sacrifice" by Nam Le was that it has stuck consistent with other short stories that we have been reading in this class because of its asian origin. We have read many other short stories that are either written by a person other than of American heritage, or involve foreigners somewhere in the story.
The first part of the story that immediately jumped out at me was on page 6, "I'd told Linda only the previous night that he was coming. We were at her place Her body was slippery with sweat and hard to hold. Her body smelled of her clothes. She turned me over, my face kissing the bed sheets, and then she was chopping m back with the edges of her hands." I usually find excerpts or scenes like this really interesting and fun to read, which is probably it ultimately stood out to me. However, the subject matter of what is actually going on in the scene (she is giving him a massage) is different from what I actually thought was going in initially (intimacy). The way that Nam Le begins the scene with his description of her slippery body that is hard to hold because of sweat leads the reader to believe that intimate relations are happening, but then it turns out that she is really just turning him over to give him a back massage.
The second phrase that I connected with was on page 14, "Southern-style shredded chicken salad, soaked in vinegar and eaten with spotty brown rice crackers." Although this is an extremely random sentence to trigger my thoughts, the whole reason I kept thinking about this was because of "After Cowboy Chicken Came to Town". The whole story was about a fried chicken joint in China and here we are talking about southern fried chicken in another asian story. I also found it ironic because the more that I thought about it, I realized that a lot of random chinese restaurants will sell fried chicken. It made me curious as to why this trend exists.
The last excerpt that stood apart from the rest was on page 16, "There were bodies on the road, a baby ith only the bottom half of its head, a monk, his robe turning pink. I saw two bodies with the ace of spades carved into the chests. I didn't understand it. I my sisters didn't even cry." First of all, the imagery here was excellent, despite the fact that it was forcing me to picture brutally disturbing things. I thought it was purely awful that the Viet Cong did such things and do not understand how the human race can be so ravage and heartless. I was also very confused as to how his sisters were not crying and that people were spitting and laughing. Personally, if I were to see such a thing, I would absolutely be scarred for the rest of my life and would most definitely not be laughing.
Vocabulary I was unfamiliar with:
defeatism: a person who expects or is excessively ready to recieve failure
consecration: to make or declare
attenuate: reduce the force, effect, or value
connex boxes: portable containers
eddies: circular movements of water
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Thursday, November 17, 2011
The Lazarus Project: Pages 200-246~Aleksandar Hemon
Aside from three quotes that I found interesting or found a connection with, I have drawn two major conclusions about these fifty pages. My overall impression from this section was that the theme was life versus death. It seemed as though in many different points throughout the fifty pages, the topic or discussion of death came about both in the present with Rora, Iuliana, and Brik, and the flashbacks of Olga and Taube. Secondly, the tour through the museum of polgroms consumed a large portion of this section of reading. My main connection to this is that it reminded me a lot of what I have heard about the Holocaust museum in Washington D.C. I am from D.C. and have yet to tour the Holocaust museum, but I have wanted to go for a very long time now.
The first quote that I literally had an immediate reaction in my head to was when Rora was speaking toward Brike on page 209, "Know what? Everybody knows some things. You don't need to know everything. What you need to do is shut up and stop asking so many questions. You need to relax." This scene made me laugh because Brik reminded me so much of myself. I am a chronic overanalyzer and and constantly asking questions. It is almost always to the point that someone has to tell me that I am annoying and need to shut up. This mostly happens with my boyfriend and sometimes with my father because they cannot handle my overwhelming curiosity about literally everything that I stumble upon.
The second quote that gave me insight was when Taube was speaking on page 224, "...We are within our life and we stay there for as long as possible, that's our home. We need life. There is too much death already, and there is probably more coming our way." Not only was this particular quote extremely deep, but everything that Taube says in reference to death and life within this scene was clearly given a great about of thought. Although I do believe that his character is somewhat forced to be saying these things in order to convince Olga to stay and cooperate with him and his team, I truly appreciated his outlook on life. Taube puts a bold emphasis on the fact that death is all around us, but we cannot give up because those that have passed are relying on us that are alive to continue on and to carry their traditions. I completely agree with Taube, although I believe that most of us lose sight of this reality too often.
Finally, my favorite scene of these fifty pages was on page 235, "Here it was. Iuliana was flustered, blushing, a globule of sweat sliding down past her ear, then curving at the jawline. She smiled at me--I could have kissed her right there, those living lips, those gloaming eyes, that pale face. That's me, I thought. That woman is me. Somewhere beyond the roof of tree crowns the sky grumbled, hearing up for a storm. Rora took a picture of her, then of me, then of us." I honestly thought this scene was beautiful in description, language, and imagery. I could picture the scenery perfectly, with the light sun beams gleaming off their faces of delight and wondrous love, all astounded both by the matter at hand (finding the tombstone) and the love they all discovered for each other right in that very moment. Even though it is clear that Brik has internal battles between his love for Mary and is interest in Iuliana, for some reason, this scene made me want Iuliana and Brik together. The way he describes her beauty is so precious that you can't help but root for her.
Vocabulary I was unfamiliar with:
Finitude: to look through/explore/examine
Sotto voce: a low, soft voice
Platitudes: a flat, dull remark
Ubiquitous: existing everywhere
Rapt: deeply engrossed or absorbed
Indelibly: making marks that cannot be erased
The first quote that I literally had an immediate reaction in my head to was when Rora was speaking toward Brike on page 209, "Know what? Everybody knows some things. You don't need to know everything. What you need to do is shut up and stop asking so many questions. You need to relax." This scene made me laugh because Brik reminded me so much of myself. I am a chronic overanalyzer and and constantly asking questions. It is almost always to the point that someone has to tell me that I am annoying and need to shut up. This mostly happens with my boyfriend and sometimes with my father because they cannot handle my overwhelming curiosity about literally everything that I stumble upon.
The second quote that gave me insight was when Taube was speaking on page 224, "...We are within our life and we stay there for as long as possible, that's our home. We need life. There is too much death already, and there is probably more coming our way." Not only was this particular quote extremely deep, but everything that Taube says in reference to death and life within this scene was clearly given a great about of thought. Although I do believe that his character is somewhat forced to be saying these things in order to convince Olga to stay and cooperate with him and his team, I truly appreciated his outlook on life. Taube puts a bold emphasis on the fact that death is all around us, but we cannot give up because those that have passed are relying on us that are alive to continue on and to carry their traditions. I completely agree with Taube, although I believe that most of us lose sight of this reality too often.
Finally, my favorite scene of these fifty pages was on page 235, "Here it was. Iuliana was flustered, blushing, a globule of sweat sliding down past her ear, then curving at the jawline. She smiled at me--I could have kissed her right there, those living lips, those gloaming eyes, that pale face. That's me, I thought. That woman is me. Somewhere beyond the roof of tree crowns the sky grumbled, hearing up for a storm. Rora took a picture of her, then of me, then of us." I honestly thought this scene was beautiful in description, language, and imagery. I could picture the scenery perfectly, with the light sun beams gleaming off their faces of delight and wondrous love, all astounded both by the matter at hand (finding the tombstone) and the love they all discovered for each other right in that very moment. Even though it is clear that Brik has internal battles between his love for Mary and is interest in Iuliana, for some reason, this scene made me want Iuliana and Brik together. The way he describes her beauty is so precious that you can't help but root for her.
Vocabulary I was unfamiliar with:
Finitude: to look through/explore/examine
Sotto voce: a low, soft voice
Platitudes: a flat, dull remark
Ubiquitous: existing everywhere
Rapt: deeply engrossed or absorbed
Indelibly: making marks that cannot be erased
Sunday, November 6, 2011
"After Cowboy Chicken Came to Town"~Ha Jin
Upon beginning After Cowboy Chicken Came to Town, I thought it was going to be a fairly shallow story, simply about an American-based fried chicken restaurant established in China. However, about half way through the story, it is very apparent that the underlying themes are about the differences in government between China and American (Socialism vs. Capitalism) and standing up for one's beliefs. I was a tad confused by the inference that China is Socialist in the story because I have always thought that China was run by Communism. In addition to these elements, I also noticed that all of Ha Jin's short stories thus far, have been related to marriage or relationships in some sense at least in one part of the story. In The Bridegroom this theme is very obvious and in After Cowboy Chicken Came to Town, this element is incorporated by Ha Jin's adding of the catering for the wedding party.
My overall impression of After Cowboy Chicken Came to Town, is that of the few connections that I did make with the story, they were very strong connections. One of my first strong connections was on page 202, "When the feast was over, both Mr. Shapiro and Peter were excited, their faces flushed." This quote made me think further into the visualization of their flushed faces because of many reasons. First, I found this flushing of their faces to almost be a symbolic connection between their two cultures because asians typically get red-faced when they are drinking alcohol, but white Americans typically do not--even though Mr. Shapiro is not asian, his faced is flushed too, which draws a connection between their two characters because of their happiness for the booming of their business. My second conclusion drawn from this imagery was that the two could be rosy cheeked not just from the excitement of the situation or from the alcohol, but also possibly from having been put on the spot in front of all of the wedding party. No matter your race, one usually becomes flushed or hot-faced when they are made the center of attention--this draws another connection between Mr. Shapiro and Peter.
The second quote that instilled an interesting thought in me was also on page 202, "I figured my stomach wasn't used to American food yet. I had eaten fries and biscuits everyday, but had never taken in ice cream, cheesecake, red wine, and champagne. Without doubt my stomach couldn't digest so much rich stuff all at once." The reason this made me think was that I never really realized that all of our cultures foods truly are extremely different and our stomachs have all become adapt to our culture's particular food. I put myself in their situation and pictured eating Chinese food every day of every meal and almost got sick at the thought! It is strange to think that American food is a delicacy to them, when I would never be able to handle eating that much fried chicken on a daily basis. Similarly, us Americans view going out to eat at a nice Chinese or Mexican or Italian restaurant as a delicacy.
My third deep thought while reading After Cowboy Chicken Came to Town, was during my understanding that the story is strongly about socialism and capitalism. On page 218, "The author praised our policy on leftovers and believe it would reduce waste eventually. He said we Chinese should adopt the American way of running business." It never occurred to me that Americans even ran our businesses down to a Capitalistic way, different of many other countries. It also never dawned on me that we wasted so much food--although I understand the principle that passing these leftover to the homeless or hungry could be unsanitary, the massive waste of extra food that occurs in America is truly depressing. America's disposal of leftover food supports our Capitalistic way of living because within Capitalism, Darwin's Theory of evolution is supported--survival of the fittest takes place and those who can afford to eat will get food, those who can't will not. This waste of food all relates back to the fact that within Capitalism, everyone cannot actually be equal.
Lastly, I had a small connection toward the end of the story with the three employees are about to go on strike at Cowboy Chicken on page 222, "When the day was at last over, we met briefly at a street corner. We were confused, but all agreed to wait and see. Feilan sighed and said, 'I feel like we're in a tug-of-war.'" I related the Feilan's feelings because my friend group has recently gone through the same sort of disagreement issue. Because we have all had difficulty agreeing on a location to live for our junior year, within our group of four, the same sort of tug-of-war dilemma has occurred. Because two of us want to live in one complex and the other two want to live in another, we have also had the same sort of secret meetings plotting about how to convince the other two to want to live where we prefer to live--the same thing that the characters are doing in After Cowboy Chicken Came to Town.
Vocabulary I was unfamiliar with:
Eunuch: a man who has been castrated
My overall impression of After Cowboy Chicken Came to Town, is that of the few connections that I did make with the story, they were very strong connections. One of my first strong connections was on page 202, "When the feast was over, both Mr. Shapiro and Peter were excited, their faces flushed." This quote made me think further into the visualization of their flushed faces because of many reasons. First, I found this flushing of their faces to almost be a symbolic connection between their two cultures because asians typically get red-faced when they are drinking alcohol, but white Americans typically do not--even though Mr. Shapiro is not asian, his faced is flushed too, which draws a connection between their two characters because of their happiness for the booming of their business. My second conclusion drawn from this imagery was that the two could be rosy cheeked not just from the excitement of the situation or from the alcohol, but also possibly from having been put on the spot in front of all of the wedding party. No matter your race, one usually becomes flushed or hot-faced when they are made the center of attention--this draws another connection between Mr. Shapiro and Peter.
The second quote that instilled an interesting thought in me was also on page 202, "I figured my stomach wasn't used to American food yet. I had eaten fries and biscuits everyday, but had never taken in ice cream, cheesecake, red wine, and champagne. Without doubt my stomach couldn't digest so much rich stuff all at once." The reason this made me think was that I never really realized that all of our cultures foods truly are extremely different and our stomachs have all become adapt to our culture's particular food. I put myself in their situation and pictured eating Chinese food every day of every meal and almost got sick at the thought! It is strange to think that American food is a delicacy to them, when I would never be able to handle eating that much fried chicken on a daily basis. Similarly, us Americans view going out to eat at a nice Chinese or Mexican or Italian restaurant as a delicacy.
My third deep thought while reading After Cowboy Chicken Came to Town, was during my understanding that the story is strongly about socialism and capitalism. On page 218, "The author praised our policy on leftovers and believe it would reduce waste eventually. He said we Chinese should adopt the American way of running business." It never occurred to me that Americans even ran our businesses down to a Capitalistic way, different of many other countries. It also never dawned on me that we wasted so much food--although I understand the principle that passing these leftover to the homeless or hungry could be unsanitary, the massive waste of extra food that occurs in America is truly depressing. America's disposal of leftover food supports our Capitalistic way of living because within Capitalism, Darwin's Theory of evolution is supported--survival of the fittest takes place and those who can afford to eat will get food, those who can't will not. This waste of food all relates back to the fact that within Capitalism, everyone cannot actually be equal.
Lastly, I had a small connection toward the end of the story with the three employees are about to go on strike at Cowboy Chicken on page 222, "When the day was at last over, we met briefly at a street corner. We were confused, but all agreed to wait and see. Feilan sighed and said, 'I feel like we're in a tug-of-war.'" I related the Feilan's feelings because my friend group has recently gone through the same sort of disagreement issue. Because we have all had difficulty agreeing on a location to live for our junior year, within our group of four, the same sort of tug-of-war dilemma has occurred. Because two of us want to live in one complex and the other two want to live in another, we have also had the same sort of secret meetings plotting about how to convince the other two to want to live where we prefer to live--the same thing that the characters are doing in After Cowboy Chicken Came to Town.
Vocabulary I was unfamiliar with:
Eunuch: a man who has been castrated
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
"Orbiting"~Bharati Mukherje
After reading "Orbiting," by Bharati Mukherje, I was left with a few general thoughts aside from the parts of the story that jumped out at me. First, I am confused as to how the story got its title. Second, it is interesting in that it introduces an idea different from other stories that we have read: interracial relationships. Third, Rindy has portrayed herself as having an unconventional relationship with her parents--she wants her parents to know that she has slept with Ro. Lastly, I was glad that we were given the opportunity to read a story that involved Thanksgiving dinner because we are so close to having Thanksgiving break!
The first section in the text that sparked a strong thought in my head was on page 62, "He bought me a Cinzano and touched my breast in the dark. He was direct, and at the time weirdly courtly. I took him home though usually I don't, at first." Not just this quote stood out to me, but the entire subject that Rindy is talking about did as well. By speaking of boyfriend to boyfriend and then speaking of how she brought Ro home with her on the first date, I sort of ignored the part where she said she usually doesn't do that. She gave me the impression that she, as a character, must be boy crazy or get around a lot because of how many boyfriends she has had and slept with. She also seems a bit hung up on her ex, Vic, because she talks about him a lot.
Secondly, on page 65, Rindy is describing Ro, "He wants men to come on to me. Lately when we go to a bar he makes me sit far enough from him so some poor lonely guy thinks I'm looking for action." I found this strategy very bizarre because most boys and men I know are very jealous and protective when it comes to other guys coming on to their significant other. Although I thought it was a weird outlook of Ro's, his technique that watching other men attract to his woman showed him that she really is as attractive as he finds her, actually did make sense to me. However, I do not think I could ever put this to use--I am much too jealous of a person.
Lastly, the very end of the story changed my entire outlook on Ro and Rindy's relationship. I tend to be judgemental of love in stories and I found myself thinking that their relationship was quite odd and different. But when she describes him on page 74, "I realized all in a rush how much I love this man with his blemished, tortured body. I will give him citizenship if he asks. Vic was beautiful, but Vic was self-sufficient. Ro's my chance to heal the world." I truly appreciated her description of how much she loves him and why because I believe that when you truly love someone you see past their flaws without even recognizing it, and a mutually loving relationship consists of being able to grow with each other, learning from each other. This is where she has gotten a different side of love with Ro versus the love that she had with Vic.
Vocabulary I was unfamiliar with:
Poignant: evoking a sense of sadness or regret
The first section in the text that sparked a strong thought in my head was on page 62, "He bought me a Cinzano and touched my breast in the dark. He was direct, and at the time weirdly courtly. I took him home though usually I don't, at first." Not just this quote stood out to me, but the entire subject that Rindy is talking about did as well. By speaking of boyfriend to boyfriend and then speaking of how she brought Ro home with her on the first date, I sort of ignored the part where she said she usually doesn't do that. She gave me the impression that she, as a character, must be boy crazy or get around a lot because of how many boyfriends she has had and slept with. She also seems a bit hung up on her ex, Vic, because she talks about him a lot.
Secondly, on page 65, Rindy is describing Ro, "He wants men to come on to me. Lately when we go to a bar he makes me sit far enough from him so some poor lonely guy thinks I'm looking for action." I found this strategy very bizarre because most boys and men I know are very jealous and protective when it comes to other guys coming on to their significant other. Although I thought it was a weird outlook of Ro's, his technique that watching other men attract to his woman showed him that she really is as attractive as he finds her, actually did make sense to me. However, I do not think I could ever put this to use--I am much too jealous of a person.
Lastly, the very end of the story changed my entire outlook on Ro and Rindy's relationship. I tend to be judgemental of love in stories and I found myself thinking that their relationship was quite odd and different. But when she describes him on page 74, "I realized all in a rush how much I love this man with his blemished, tortured body. I will give him citizenship if he asks. Vic was beautiful, but Vic was self-sufficient. Ro's my chance to heal the world." I truly appreciated her description of how much she loves him and why because I believe that when you truly love someone you see past their flaws without even recognizing it, and a mutually loving relationship consists of being able to grow with each other, learning from each other. This is where she has gotten a different side of love with Ro versus the love that she had with Vic.
Vocabulary I was unfamiliar with:
Poignant: evoking a sense of sadness or regret
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)