Vivian's Book Pavilion

The Struggle to be an All-American Girl      By Elizabeth Wong     I know, I’m horrible. But I’m not dead…I’m just lazy. So…before I finish my currently reading, I’ve decided to give you something short. A little reflection on what I thought on my school reading.     It's still there, the Chinese school on Yale Street where my brother and I used to go. Despite the new coat of paint and the high wire fence, the school I knew 10 years ago remains remarkably, stoically the same.     Every day at 5 P.M., instead of playing with our fourth and fifth grade friends or sneaking out to the empty lot to hunt ghosts and animal bones, my brother and I had to go to Chinese school. No amount of kicking, screaming, or pleading could dissuade my mother, who was solidly determined to have us learn the language or our heritage. Forcibly, she walked us the seven long, hilly blocks from our home to school, deposing our ...

Sonny’s Blues John Baldwin     After I finished this story…I immediately compared it with Everyday Use by Alice Walker, I can’t help but associate the brothers with Dee and Maggie. The narrator wasn’t exactly the same as Dee, but in some way, they share the same situation. During their time, the inequality between black and white was easily seen. The narrator choose to blend in, that was his way of survive. On the contrary, Sonny decided to become a musician, yet not a classic musician, but a jazz player. They faced their life differently, and the story was about the conflict between the lives they chose. A really love those literature work, they always gave you hint about the story plot. For example, Araby (Arabia), A Rose for Emily (Well…you know my crazy theory) and a lot of examples for that. Now, Sonny’s Blues. There are different meanings for blues, yet all of them fit for the explanation. First, the Blues in music. In the past, Jazz and Blues are considered as “bla...

A Rose for Emily By William Faulkner     Oh my god…I hate this story so much…but then I love it so much. I’m such a weird person. So when I first finished this story, my classmates and I discussed it and we came out with some question. What does the “Rose” from the title mean in this story? Is it truly that the rose is only a mean of pity? I believe that there are other explanations. During the time when A Rose for Emily was written, American was really fond of making dry flowers, and in there house, especially lady’s dressing table, there must be a vase of dry flowers. Dry flowers can be used to preserve the flowers you love, and wanted to cherish forever. So, we believe that the dead body in Emily’s house was actually a dry flower to her. Only by preserving his body in her house can she stayed with him forever. It’s so creepy. But I love this theory. Now, but why Emily kept H.B. like this? Why don’t let him stay alive?   And then this comes out with another ques...

The Yellow Wallpaper By Charlotte Perkins Gilman        In The Yellow Wallpaper, readers can see a woman lose her sanity and gradually insane. However, behind the process of sanity, the entire story hides a more important message. Should we truth the authority entirely? Throughout the story, the wife was forced under the rest cure, which wouldn’t allow her to anything but rest. Yet, at the beginning, readers can see that the narrator tried to rebellion and write, which is strictly forbidden by her husband. And till the end of the story, readers can see that doing nothing didn’t solve her problem, instead, it intensified her illness and caused her illustration of the creepy wallpaper. “ If a physician of high standing, and one’s own husband, assures friends and relatives that there is really nothing the matter with one but temporary nervous depression—a slight hysterical tendency—what is one to do? ” Readers can see that the narrator tried to speak out about...

The Story of an Hour By Kate Chopin        In The Story of an Hour, Mrs. Mallard’s emotion was extremely changed in a short period of time. At first, she was faced with disbelieve and sorrow, then happiness came to her, in the end, it was said by the doctor that “of joy that kills.” Why would a wife’s emotion changed so suddenly during a short time? It seemed to be a natural reaction for Mrs. Mallard to bury herself in sorrow and tears for her husband’s death. However, no one might consider the possibility that some part of her might also be happy. But why? During the time when the story was written, women’s right aren’t emphasized by the public, and even worth, women were considered as a possession of men, which might cause them to lost their freedom after marriage. Aside from that, their husband often regarded them as children and taken great care of them, yet at the same time, it meant that those women didn’t have their right to speak out for themselves. ...

Once Upon a Time By Nadine Gordimer        In this short story, the implied author had denied the function of fairy tales and refused to write a story for children, as readers can read from the first paragraph. “ I don’t write children’s stories ” said by the author. However, during the later paragraph, the author told himself a bedtime story to ease his nerve. What is the function of fairy tales? Personally, I believe that fairy tales are used as a way to release the children’s uneasiness during their sleep, and a way for parents to educate their children the good and evil in the world. “ I couldn’t find a position in which my mind would let go of my body—release me to sleep again. So I began to tell myself a story, a bedtime story. ” From this quote, readers can see that the author mentioned the point how fairy tales release the children into their sleep. However, the later part of the story was denying the part that “fairy tales educate the children.” In...

The Storm By Kate Chopin   Just when I though thing couldn’t get crazier…bang! The Storm comes. Yes, the storm and The Storm.   The entire story said about a housewife, waiting along at home for her husband and son to come back, since the storm was hitting the town. While the weather was hot and unbearable, her ex, Alcee came. He asked for a shatter to hide from the storm, and well…the storm was so heavy that he needed to get inside the house. When he went in, the every movement of Calixta kept drawing him mad, but he managed to keep as a gentleman. Yet, the big yet came. When they moved the clothes into the bedroom, their desire could no longer bear when they remember the passionate kiss. And…   After that, the storm stop, and Alcee left when Calixta’s husband returned. Everything seemed so normal and usual, but…   What I can’t agree with was that how can Calixta be so claimed after everything? And how can Alcee wrote that letter to his wife. Yes, both of...

Roman Fever By Edith Wharton   What am I actually reading??? Please can somebody tell me why all stories for this week’s literature class are so twisted???? So…Roman Fever…it’s a story about two woman, who happened to be childhood friend. Now, at first, when you’re reading this story, you’ll find it strangely enough. Mrs. Ansley and Mrs. Slade didn’t come out until the seventh and eighth paragraph, which was a questionable way to write. I personally believe that this is a way to bring out their past, while the beginning was mostly about the scenes. However, this are not the major point why I said it was soo twisted!!!! There are several hints for you to find in the stories, such as how the author described Mrs. Ansley and Mrs. Slade, their color, appearance… And I personally regarded as the most ironic part of all—the full-moon night. Moon? In Rome, as you might know, the goddess of moon—Diana, also the goddess of virgin, hunting. Yet, were Mrs. Ansley and Mrs. Slade that pure...

The Diary of Samuel Pepys The Diary of Samuel Pepys, 1666 By Samuel Peps   This…is going to be a short review…since I only read a few pages about this. The main part I read in 1666’s diary is about the great fire in London, how Pepys described it all. It’s an interesting thing, since his tone for diary is definitely different from our ages. “Dear Diary…” No, his diary is more like a list, how everything happened. A special note about this 1666 diary is that he didn’t really mentioned how the fire affected the people, rather he wrote the dove flew away from the fire in detail. However, personally, I think it somehow emphasis how terrible the fire is. From the movement of a tiny animal, how they left in a rush. That I think is a funny part of Samuel Pepys diary. He was not like other authors who purposely left his diary to be seen, but he wrote them down with his original idea about them. The Diary of Samuel Pepys, 1668 By Samuel Peps     What’s the main part...

Kew Gardens By Virginia Woolf   The first time I read this story…I had completely no idea what I was reading. It’s so…flat. You read people walking around the garden, telling their past, and a snail moving across a leaf. Besides, I read this story before I even took my first literature lesson, double trouble. But, after I had a discussion with my teacher and classmates, I can’t help but wonder how brilliant and interesting this story was!   Kew Garden was written after World War 1, so I personally think there are a lot of connection between them, especially we all know that England played an important part in WW1. There are a lot of metaphors inside the story, and only when you look deep down while you find the story interesting…otherwise? You will think this is just a horrible one, only with vivid description. Now, where should we start? Let’s start with the snail. You might ask…”Really? A snail?” Yes, it’s a snail, and we had discussed it for an entire class. What di...

I Stand Here Ironing By Tillie Olsen   I Stand Here Ironing, well…you cannot deny that we often trace back our past when we’re doing house chores. I Stand Here Ironing told a story about a loving mother, who couldn’t take care her first born during the age of The Depression, and her daughter’s personality changed throughout those years. I love this story, at first, it might be a bit difficult to understand if you just read the story. But, think of the age of Depression. Or any economic depression in every country every place. It’s always a hard thing to survive during those periods let alone taking good care of your child. Just watch the movie! Even we can’t and do not hope to go through those timing, it’ll be easier to imagine with film. What else? One of the heart-broken parts of this story is that the mother is so young and alone when she needed to take care of Emily, her first born.   Her awful husband left her when she needed him the most…only pay a tiny kindness ...

Everyday Use By Alice Walker   Well? From today began, as long as you see the category “Literature,” the review might be a little bit more serious. “A Bit.”   So the funny thing about literature is that you’ll never find it interesting unless you look into it. Everyday Use is a short story by Alice Walker, and…I figure if you know The Color Purple you’ll know her. But in case you don’t know, she’s a Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist and a “womanist.” This short story was given by my Literature class as a class material.   Narrative by “Mama,” it says the story behind a black family during 1960s. How they struggle to send at least one of their children for higher education and makes them better. Well…that’s the back ground. This story was about Mama, and her two daughters, Dee and Maggie, who had a complete different personalities in this story. While Dee was a confident, perhaps…selfish girl, Maggie is a shy one, embarrassed by her own burning scar. So after a lo...

The Trial By Franz Kafka   So…after a long while, I finally finished it…and I have totally no idea what I’m reading, and my head is now a mess. I originally read this short story because I’ve no idea what “Before The Law” is taking about, which is our required read for Introduction to Literature course…but after reading The Trial? I have no idea what this is about, but the good thing is that I seemed to be more clear about the idea of Before the Law…probably. I hope.   The Trial tells the terrifying tale of Joseph K., a respectable functionary in a bank who is suddenly arrested and must defend his innocence against a charge about which he can get no information. Whether read as an existential tale, a parable, or a prophecy, this hauntingly believable story stands out as one of the great novels of our times. Kafka's unsurpassed nightmare vision rings with chilling truth as it foreshadows the excesses of modern bureaucracy wedded to the mad agendas of twentieth-...