Week #15

Toni Morrison

For a senior English project, I read and presented the novel Beloved to my classmates. Between the novel and the Oprah Winfrey movie, I did not enjoy the story at all. It was not that Morrison had a bad or not enjoyable way of writing, but I did not feel comfortable with the storyline and the mystical elements of the novel. Therefore, I went into reading Morrison's Recitatif cautiously, hoping that it was not at all like Beloved. Thankfully, this short story had little resemblance to the novel, other than the issues of race. I felt that I could relate to this short story much better than the novel because it takes place in a more current time period and references things that I have learned in school, such as busing. I was also very interested to learn things about the East Coast that I hadn't know, cities and suburbs and situations with IBM, etc. The story of Twyla and Roberta could have been relatable to many pairs of friends with differences, whether they be a different race or sexual preference or have another difference between them.

Thomas Pynchon

Pynchon's short story Entrophy is unlike any of the other short stories in the assignment for this week. Out of all of the stories, this was the story in which I had the most trouble understanding. There were a great number of references that I did not know and could not relate to, and I was very confused by the number of characters and the relationships between them. I get the feeling that there are government references, probably negative, but I do not understand them.

Raymond Carver

I enjoyed the short story Cathedral very much. I felt that I could really relate to the main character in his unfamiliarity with the blind man. People often come into contact with people that they are unfamiliar with, whether they are a different race or have a disability or something else. I liked how Carver conveyed how uncomfortable the main character felt upon meeting the blind man and how just one night of talking cathedrals made them sort of kindred. It gives a sort of hope for the human race, in my opinion.

Leslie Marmon Silko

To me, there were a few elements of this story that made it hard for me to follow. One was the issues involving the Native Americans. I am not exactly cultured in Native American life and history, so I was confused as to what was happening. Another element that made the story hard to understand and follow was the fact that it seemed to jump around a lot and not follow a steady timeline. I was confused as to when the children were taken away and when Jimmy had died, etc etc. It was very well written, but at times hard to understand even the basic ideas that Silko was trying to convey.

Sandra Cisneros

If in fact there is a Woman Hollering Creek, I've definitely passed it. When I saw the title of the story, I immediately thought of the bridge that I would often cross on my way to San Antonio, seeing a small sign baring the name of the creek we were driving over. I always thought it was odd. This story was also quite odd. Because I grew up in a Hispanic-oriented town, I often feel like I can relate to stories with Spanish themes, and this story was no exception. As Cisneros described the way Cleofilas' relationship was formed and how her husband acted in public and in private, I could picture these people and their lives very clearly. There was a great amount of description and emotion within the short story.

Jhumpa Lahiri

Out of all the assigned stories for the week, I enjoyed this story the most. It felt, to me, the most real, the most current, and the most relatable. The main character was young, and although Lahiri was referencing a different culture during all of the adultery issues, it still felt as though I could understand the situation, since it happens so much in today's society, unlike some of the issues that we've read in other stories covering other time periods. Miranda was enjoyable as a clearly naive, inexperienced girl who, by the end, becomes wiser. I personally liked the scenes with Rohin, because it shows how children, in their simplicity, are often very wise.