Atonement Part 3

Summary:

Briony is undergoing vigorous training to become a nurse under Sister Drummond. They are preparing for a batch of soldiers to come in. Yet, when the soldiers do arrive the nurses are terrified and that day changed their whole outlook on nursing and the war. Briony for once doesn't mind taking a break on her writing and tries to focus on taking care of the men. She gets a letter from the publishing company rejecting her novel and they refuse to publish it until Paul Marshall and Lola were dead because it exposed them. She truly feels, looking back, that Paul Marshall was the one that raped Lola, not Robbie. On a day off, Briony goes to witness Lola and Paul Marshall's wedding. She has extreme ill feelings towards the two of them but her character won't allow her to act on her feelings. Briony finds and goes to Cecilia's for the first time since the accusation. Cecilia refuses to ever forgive her. Robbie walks in and the argument escalated from there. Briony said that she would formally announce that her accusations in the past were a lie.

The setting changes to London in 1999, on Briony's 77th birthday. She has been diagnosed with dementia. Briony goes back to her childhood home which is now a hotel, for a birthday celebration. That night she looks back and reflects about what she did and how her book never got published. She reveals that she never did go to Cecilia's and that her and Robbie never reunited, for they both died.

Response: To tell the truth I expected them both to die without seeing each other. Yet, the part where Briony said she went to go see them made me think I was wrong. That just made the ending suck more, was the false hope. Although the ending was not my favorite, it showed what Briony wanted to be true and showed her remorse for her actions. I think without the ending being the way that it was the book wouldn't have been as interesting and probably wouldn't be such a success. I couldn't help but kind of laugh when the book was talking about the harsh Sister Drummond. I grew up in a Catholic school and nuns don't play. Haha. Anyways, I really enjoyed the book because it was unlike anything I have ever read before and I found it enlightening, not frustrating.

Atonement Part 2

Summary: Robbie went to fight in WW2 after serving time in jail, thanks to Briony. Cecilia and Robbie met up after his time was served in prison and they hoped to share quality time before he was shipped off to war but he was called and was on his way. He met up with two guys named Nettle and Mace and they became allies and stuck together throughout the war and tough times. His only motivation that kept him pushing through the war was Cecilia and her letters of affection. Cecilia moved away from her family and refused to speak to them because she felt that they gave Robbie that awful fate and she blamed them solely on her unhappiness. Robbie, Nettle, and Mace see death everywhere but Robbie is able to push them on despite horrible living conditions. The whole journey Robbie keeps thinking about his resentment towards Briony and how he feels he can never forgive her. They finally made it to a bridge where people were handing out goods such as food and water to the soldiers. Robbie fakes and injury so he doesn't have to go back into infantry. They finally are able to make their journey home.

Response: I don't like this section of the book as much as the first part. I'm not a big war and death person. It's depressing but I can however appreciate it. I think that true love can pass the test of time and they have certainly proved it. I don't however expect a good outcome. Yet I kind of like it that way. Not all books should have a fairy tale ending. It would be hard for me to try to ignore the one I love's sister sealed me into a terrible fate. That would always but a sour twist to my relationship with the one I loved. Yet that isn't Cecilia's fault. I really enjoyed this book and I can't wait to read more.

Atonement Part 1

Atonement starts off with a young girl named Briony trying to organize a play to show her brother Leon when he returns from college. She entitled it, "Trials of Arabella". Her cousins come to visit and she casts them all in the various roles but accidently gives the leading role to her elder cousin Lola. She is greatly disappointed because her two younger cousins, Jackson and Pierrot, really don't fit the profiles of the characters she has chosen for them to play. With all the frustrations she decides to cancel it altogether.

Cecilia, Briony's sister, is at a crossroads in her life. She has returned for college but is discontent and debates about leaving but for some reason always tells herself she needs to stay for various and untrue reasons. Robbie, the servant's son, and Cecilia have always been attracted to each other and have wierd tenson but they both refuse to admit it. One day Cecilia was trying to fill a valuable vase with water. Her and Robbie started to struggled with it and they eventually knocked it and broke a couple pieces off. Cecilia stripped down and retrieved the pieces and stormed off in frustration.

Leon returns home with a friend of his named Paul Marshall. Cecilia, her brother and his guest all sit around talking and getting to know each other. Leon tells Cecilia that he has invited Robbie over for dinner and she is livid because of what happened earlier. Robbie realizes how strong of feelings he has for Cecilia and decides to write her a letter telling her how he feels. He can't seem to find the right words and writes an explicit letter but then decides to write another one to give to her instead. He accidently gives Briony the wrong letter to give to Cecilia but instead Briony reads it and is appalled and refuses to give it to Cecilia. Robbie decides to confront Cecilia about the letter in the library but things got heated and they ended up having sex and Briony walked in.

Dinner was weird and awkward. The two twins asked to be dismissed from supper and after they departed Lola found a note. It stated that the twins were unhappy and were running away. Everyone created a search party and they all went out looking for the twins. Briony took her own route but instead found Lola on the ground and her sexual attacker running away. She assumed it was Robbie since he had been very sexual lately with Cecilia. Lola didn't see her attacker and was unsure. When they returned home Briony showed everyone the explicit letter and the police were called. Robbie was arrested and Cecilia was upset and annoyed.

Response:

I really love this book. I feel like it's on a whole new level. Even though Briony has some insight I much rather be reading from Cecilia's point of view. I feel like she's kind of unsure about what she wants in life which I can relate to. I hate that Robbie got arrested because I really don't think that he did it. I think that weird Paul guy did. I don't like him. I can't stand how Briony is always putting herself in other people's business and she thinks it's her right. However, Robbie was stupid for giving her any kind of letter to give Cecilia. He should have known to give it to her himself. That was asking for trouble on his part. I do think that Briony has given Robbie a terrible fate without any proof. The timing just sucked too because him and Cecilia finally expressed their true feelings for each other. I really enjoyed this book and looking forward to the next chapters!

Thanks for letting us read a book like this because most English teachers around here don't have the balls to. :)

Heart of Darkness Part 2 & 3

Marlow overhears the manager and his uncle questioning Kurtz and his methods. Krutz is deathly ill and Marlow, the manager, the clerk, and pilgrims start a journey on Marlow's repaired steamer to find him. On the way many elements test Marlow such as the weather and the direction and choppiness of the tide.

They stop to find a stack of firewood and a note was found that stated, "Wood for you. Hurry up. Approach cautiously." There was also a code a note that was suspected to be the work of the Russian trader. They continue their journey and are attacked by a group of natives, who killed one of their crew. They finally arrive at the Inner Station where they run into the Russian who is surprisingly and extremely fond of Krutz. They find Kurtz but he doesn't want to return to England, infact, he's the one who ordered the attack from the natives. The natives worship Kurtz and want him to stay. In the night Kurtz escaped from Marlow in attempts to reach the natives but Marlow caught him and the next day they were headed back to England. Kurtz dies on the river and his last words were, "The horror! The horror!"

Marlow returns and pays a visit to Kurtz's fiance who is in terrible mourning. She asked Marlow what was Kurtz's last words and he couldn't bring himself to tell her the truth so he lied and said he spoke her name.

Response: I'm not very fond of this book. I hate when it takes an author ten pages to state one fact. I did however love some of the insightful quotes that really made me think such as, "They had behind them, to my mind, the terrific suggestiveness of words heard in dreams, of phrases spoken in nightmares." I also admired Marlow and his outlook towards the end and I respected his loyalty for Kurtz. It amazed of how Kurtz had such a strong affect on people. Some people are natural leaders. I know how it is to lose someone and I would want someone to lie to me in a situation like that. Who wants to think of their loved ones in pain and suffering in their last hours? I'm glad Marlow lied and saved that woman of even more pain and heartache.

I'm ready to read something abundantly and ridiculously happy.

Heart of Darkness Part 1

Heart of Darkness starts off with a ship called, "The Nellie" banked at the Thames river due to the direction of the tide. The narrator gives a detailed description of all the members on the boat before reaching Marlow. Everything is silent and calm and Marlow decides to break the silence and tell about the past of the Thames river and all the adventures that took place. He then goes into his experience when he was younger and was employed, when his aunt pulled some strings, as a fresh water sailor at a Belgian company. He set off on a French steamer to Africa. He is surrounded by death, war, and horrible conditions on his journey. He reached station where he saw mistreated and neglected enslaved blacks being controlled by whites. He stays at station for 10 days and decides to set foot with 60 other men. When he arrived at Central Station he noticed that his boat had sunk and whether it was by accident, he is unsure. As he is repairing his boat he meets the manager of Central Station is becomes very uneased by his presence. Marlow then meets a man that had something to do with him getting his job and he tries to get supplies from him to fix his ship, but fails. The Eldorado Exploring Expedition comes sweeping in, with their leader being the manager's uncle.

Response:

This book was very hard to follow and I felt they took forever to just make one point. I kept having to reread certain parts because the complexity of the language was confusing. It was filled with very detailed descriptions and imagery. Figurative language was all over the place and I loved some of Marlow's perceptions and descriptions. One of my favorites was, "It is impossible to convey the life-sensation of any given epoch of one's existence--that which makes it truth, its meaning--its subtle and penetrating essence. It is impossible. We live, as we dream--alone." I didn't however like their ignorance and how they treated the Africans. The descriptions were sickening even though Marlow was trying to give us a real mental picture of what it was really like. I'm glad the times have changed. I'm interested to see how Marlow's journey will turn out and what new characters he has to introduce for the next section of the book.

"Life Cycle of Common Man" by Howard Nemerov

I think this poem will be the never ending emotional cycles of mankind. Howard writes about how men leave behind things after they are gone. From material things, to words, to things that they use, he is amazed at all a human being does. The poem contains a metaphor (the world is his apple, and forces him to eat), a personification (would stagger the imagination), and imagery (cartoon's bubble of speech proceeding). Nemerov day dreams about all the things involved in a human's life and is infatuated. He wants his readers to share his fascination and reflect about his writing and relate to his opinion. The shift happens when he starts to question all the actions of humans in line 19. The title means what all humans do in their lifetime and what impact they leave. The theme is life is what you make it.

I think this poem kind of strange and used weird analogies but I liked it. The stuff that he was writing about was deep and not an ordinary poem. He actually made me think about what he was saying.

"My Mother's Face" by Brenda Serotte

I think this poem will be about someone reflecting about their mother's face. This poem says that this women is getting ready for work and she sees her mother's face looking at her in the mirror. Her mother cries and sighs and she states that if her mother had been silient she would of surely thought it would have been her in the mirror. Serotte uses imagery (red frizzled hair wild in all directions),and personification (smile weighted with loss). The shift occurs in line 12 when she says that her mother started crying without warning. The title means that she sees her mother's face in the mirror and it resembles her own. The theme is mother's are emotional about their children.

I thought the whole time she was talking about herself until she said that that if she would have been silent she would have thought it would have been her. I like this poem even though it's random. Her mother sounds straight up ugly.