To the Lighthouse

Virginia Woolf, To the Lighthouse

To the Lighthouse is one of Virginia Woolf’s canonical works that helps shape the modernist tradition. In constructing this work, Woolf breaks away from traditional narration and takes on the voice of a modified third person narrator. The multiple perspectives allow the readers to delve into each character’s consciousness with more precision; they also offer a clearer and more in-depth picture of the relationship between characters as it examines beyond spoken words. Under a prevailing elegiac atmosphere, To the Lighthouse is a carefully designed tale that closely studies its characters as they interact and confront with each other; meanwhile, it also provides its own interpretation on human relations, memory and life.

Woolf constructs a foundational framework for the novel in the first section “The Window”, in which characters are introduced with tiny incidents in one summer day through free indirect discourse. As the story unfolds, each character is portrayed through a synthesis of angles and perspectives. We reach to certain knowledge about the characters through others’ understanding and opinions of them. In oppose to the traditional narration, in which characters are built with a fixed viewpoint, here they are shown through fragments of actions, self-reflections and comments from all other characters. Free from any biased, pre-ordained judgments, Woolf devises a more objective story-telling that distinguishes itself from nineteenth century writers.

In the highly experimental second part “Time Passes”, Woolf describes the passing of ten years through layers of scenes with sentimental and descriptive prose. As time slowly goes by, the shawl that Mrs. Ramsay wears in the previous section “loosen[s]”(148). The shawl, a symbolic representation of things in general, parallels with the crumbling down of things, as we are told about the death of several characters. Without direct reference to the actual incidents, Woolf successfully accounts for the passing time through her careful sketch on nature forces and the decaying physical objects, noticeably the shawl and the house. At the end of this section, the house, as if expectant of the coming final section, is finally cleaned and freshens up when the Ramseys’ decide to come back after ten years.

“The Lighthouse” concludes the novel through the realization of the long-anticipating voyage to the lighthouse; meanwhile, it forms a dialectic relationship with “The Window”. After one decade, the characters gather again on the island, and each recalls with reminiscence the tiny incidents that take place on that particular summer day. Memory, then, becomes the foundation to their thinking and behavior and is constructed through the fragmental image of past incidents, and these fragments are the things that we understand and remember others by. As when, in the third section, Lily Briscoe’s relationship with Mrs. Ramsay and Charles Tansley is reduced to one beach scene, each character finds in that summer things that they remember the past with. The past, in the sense of how Woolf recalls it, is no longer linear but fragmental. We realize, therefore, that the incidents Woolf captures are in fact larger than daily life, and they reminds us of the significance in the seemingly trivial things.

In a tale that revolves around characters as such, one detects, besides their relations, how characters counter, respond, echo with, or is similar with each other. As the title suggests, one greater theme in the novel is the desire to reach or to arrive at something. Besides the false promise in the opening, many characters share the eagerness to accomplish something. For Mr. Ramsay, it is first to arrive at the letter R; Mrs. Ramsay hopes to finish the knitting by the end of that summer day. For Charles Tansley, it is his dissertation, and all the while for Lily Briscoe, to arrive at her own vision. Some of the characters’ accomplishments, together with the fact that Lily finally reaches her own vision, turn this otherwise bleak novel towards a little light in the end.

Characters in To the Lighthouse are presented with much ambivalence, but the overall atmosphere has a tendency towards an elegiac tone. From the like/dislike, love/hate relations between characters, to the sorrowful tone and yet lighter ending, everything is shown with more than one interpretations. However, despite the ending, in spite of the reconciliation, the pessimistic undertone that starts with Mrs. Ramsay’s comment on her children that “[n]ever will they be happy again” (69) lingers, so when Mr. Ramsay mentions the line“[w]e perish, each alone” (189), even Lily’s final epiphany fails to make any difference in the end.

Yu Da-Fu, Chenlun (Sinking) /郁達夫, 沉淪

Yu Da-Fu, Chenlun (Sinking) /郁達夫, 沉淪

Recognized as one of the most important modern literary voices in the Chinese May Fourth Movement, Yu Da-Fu is known for his daring treatment of sexual desires among educational youths. His writing style shares a slightly likeness with the I-novel* found in Japanese literature. One of the most famous works from this iconic novelist is Chenlun (Sinking), in which he tells the story of a Chinese young man’s life as a foreign student in Japan. Rich, luscious but all the while brooding, Chenlun is a genuine portrayal of a troubled young man whose anxiety for sex and love we all share commonly, and yet, the patriotic spirit that embodies the protagonist, however the readers try to identify, remains so long lost to our generation that it is only unlikely to recall.

The work remotely recalls our first encounter with the young artist in The Sorrow of Young Werther (Die Leiden des jungen Werther) by Goethe, whose melancholic protagonist arouses sympathy from readers over generations. While Werther suffers for his unrequited love, the sentimentality in Yu’s protagonist derives more from the absence of love and the unfulfilled sexual desire. Having all the desire and feelings in the world, but with none to share with, the newly matured young man suffers tremendously an alienation that is hard to endure. Therefore, as he bestows himself upon the healing power of nature and practices the life of romanticists, nature then becomes his only escapade.

The final complaint from the protagonist, rather than an accusation towards the country, is instead a bitter exclamation to call for a more powerful country. For his suffering is not merely the result of his self-disappointment, but also the incompetence in China’s diplomacy in worldly affairs. For modern readers, Yu reminds a time when individual and the country are inseparable; he brings to us the nostalgic feeling towards the time when patriotism is still deeply rooted within every individual. We could not help but wonder since when it has gone from us, and for how long without our awareness.

Chenlun, having much involvement with natural surroundings, is a romantic tale of an upright young man. Yu accurately captures the hollowness and meaninglessness of a lone man’s life; his representation of human desires raw and meanwhile so fundamentally truthful. As one of the most prestigious modernist writers in the early twentieth century, Yu sets for Chinese Literature an example of a character courageous enough to face his true self, a voice that is daring enough to speak out. Stylish but without embellishment, Yu Da-Fu excellently captures in his work the last innocence remained in a maturing individual, an account over a period that has already, regrettably, flown past us without leaving any trace behind.

*I-novel: A genre sprang from Japanese literature in the early twentieth century. It includes works that features realistic and honest self-confession from the protagonist, through whom experiences are represented truthfully.

Written on the Body

Jeanette Winterson, Written on the Body

As readers, we praise those writers who can once in a while bring something different to the table, things that serve our insatiable desire towards always a different perspective, different narrative from yet another surprising protagonist. We claim ourselves to be too familiar with the literary device that oftentimes we judge certain work to be uninspiring and clichéd. However unjust this might appear, in our attempt to evaluate a certain piece of literature, we must, personal feelings aside, summon the whole literary context to see in what position this work might find its stance. In Written on the Body, English novelist Jeanette Winterson showcases a perspective that may be considered idiosyncratic; however, the efforts conveyed only appear self-indulgent and patronizing when she fails to engage the reader with her over-polished language and the obviously contrived narrative.

Written on the Body takes up gender issues but without further examining it. Given an unnamed protagonist with no sexual specifications, we find ourselves wondering anxiously through the novel whether the speaker is a he or she, our anxiety a solid proof that we are too much confined within the social stereotypes. Nevertheless, the tale falls short in sustaining this issue and exploring its other possibilities. As descriptions of the “Body” are restricted mostly to that of the females’, the work concerns too much with its self-appointed sex than the panoramic examination which is otherwise promised. Winterson’s inconsistent treatment over such issue ultimately restricted the work into a prejudiced narrative that it originally tries to mock.

One significant part of the novel contributes to a series reference to human body parts, through which the protagonist identifies his/ her feelings towards the loved one. Here the author tries to bridge the gap between physical and spiritual existence, and to develop in flesh a “language” that represents love. Despite its seeming innovation, the metaphorical relation between body and mind seems awkward and forced when Winterson only manages to present forced connections through her over-sentimental love account. The main plot, interrupted by such experimental writing, appears incoherent in its development, the tale relatively common and stale.

Written on the Body stumbles on its way to revelation; it is a philosophical meditation that goes astray. Winterson unfortunately does the translation between the body and the mind poorly as our mentor; consequently, the book reveals nothing but Greek. The book is unbelievably self-indulgent as the protagonist absorbs in his/her own intoxication all the way through. Eventually, the author proves herself not prophet but a common mortal who, like all of us, struggles to find the truth. Readers would be surprised to find, despite the work’s rather short length, how dull and lengthy the novel feels with only false teaching contains. Obviously, we need a guru with clearer mind; one who can teach us his/her own philosophy, instead of a second rate thinker who makes us all fools by following her all over the place. This book is nothing but a great disappointment.

True History of the Kelly Gang

Peter Carey, True History of the Kelly Gang

Twelve years after the 1988 success of Oscar and Lucinda, the Australian author Peter Carey again won The Man Booker Prize with his seventh novel True History of the Kelly Gang, in which he fictionalizes the life of Ned Kelly, one of Australia’s most famous bushranger. With this well devised portrait of the legendary outlaw, Carey reintroduces to the reader the unknown history of the hero through the composition of thirteen parcels, each Kelly’s own disclosure of different stages in his life. Dotted with engaging incidents, True History is a fairly paced chronicle that documents the Australian lowlifes in the Victorian age, when people faces everyday injustices; Carey successfully constructs a faux-memoir that is honest and believable, a literary tribute carefully done to commemorate Ned Kelly and his Gang.

Compiled from several reports and autobiography, True History immediately constructs an illusional “fact” that seems genuine and true. The book begins with a report on the final defeat and capture of Ned Kelly then starts with his account over his early life. With knowledge over the tragic fate that will eventually befall the protagonist, readers inevitably detect an elegiac undertone throughout the book. As Kelly addresses each thirteen parcels, all of which resonate with fatherly love, to his daughter who he never has the chance to meet, readers are helplessly drawn towards the intriguing plot and the inescapable, namely the hero’s downfall.

Remotely reminiscent of Cormac McCarthy’s work, Carey’s portrait of the life in the wilderness is comparatively more lively and interesting. As readers follow Kelly’s steps through a journey along the Australia landscape, we are awed by the rawness of its beauty, the magnificence of its range, and with the brutal and violent truth within so mesmerizing a panorama.

True History tells a tragic tale of a hero, a man who fights against the injustices all his life to no avail. Ned Kelly is a steadfast character who, in the end, dies for his own principles. His unyielding characteristic may be the one reason that results in his final fall; however, it is also this rebellion to the corrupted authority that marks the essence of Australian spirit, the steadfastness in human beings. Carey’s reconstruction of the Kelly Gang recalls back to the reader a great moment of human nature, one that shines through time and culture. It is a reminder of the heroic past which seems so long lost in our generation; an attempt to recall in all of us the courage to stand for our own beliefs. For even if we failed miserably, our spirits, like that of Kelly’s, would remain to mark its very own effort in the end .

Essays in Love

Alain de Botton, Essays in Love

Alain de Botton is a Swiss English writer whose philosophical thinking has been appearing in several different genres, ranges from Essays to fiction and non-fiction; his work also appear regularly in several English newspaper columns like The Independent on Sunday. In Essays in Love, his first fictional work that published in 1993, de Botton tries to analyze people’s behaviors in a love relationship. The word Love then is restricted to a narrower sense, indicates solely the ones that belong to couples. In his attempt to demystify “Love” and those who are in love, de Botton uses the relationship between a man and a woman as the target sample, from which much of his philosophical thinking derives.

While the book discusses the relationship between two individuals, the author only allows readers perspective of the protagonist, who, despite his occasional attempts in speaking from the other’s point of view, inevitably falls into prejudiced and sometimes stereotypical assumptions. Readers are likely to find fault in the book’s lack of another perspective and second account. Moreover, as de Botton endeavors to reveal his philosophical insights in each single step the couple takes, he unexpectedly turns his protagonist into a paranoid skeptic who tends to overanalyze everything. His sentimentality, while pushes the theories further, only becomes tedious and annoying in the end.

The format that de Botton chooses to take in constructing the book may be the one reason that distinguishes Essays in Love from all the other works that share the same idea, yet at the same time it is also this very same frame that at moments dissuades readers from pursuing the plot line. The articles, with its witty phrases or theories as titles, bring about ideas in a proper sequence with much clarity, but as the readers are introduced to one title after another, we could not help but gradually find the body of work preachy and self-proclaiming.

De Botton may be a well-informed writer as he incorporates ideas from many great thinkers throughout the work and, at the same time, manages to present sensible ideas in most of the essays; however, his efforts fail to meet the readers’ expectations from a title that promises so much. As readers, we expect the author to put down some philosophical truth that can be universally acknowledged, solutions that clear our shared doubts, but unfortunately, de Botton manages only to disappoint the reader by restricting everything under a one-sided, biased tale with an irritating protagonist who cannot arouse in readers compassion nor interests. Eventually, Essays in Love fails to educate the readers, who have been expecting ever so eagerly, and hoping still, for some wise man to teach them the wisdom within so great a mystery we call love.

The Woman Warrior

Maxine Hong Kingston, The Woman Warrior

On the English literary scene there comes, once in a while, a distinctive voice that catches the public’s attention. However, such cases are rare for writers who come from minority groups. A decade before the success of The Joy Luck Club from Amy Tan, Maxine Hong Kingston published a nonfiction work called The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts that won her the National Book Critics Circle Award, and has since been known as one of the greatest Asian writers. However, despite Kingston’s careful design in storytelling, readers today may consider Kingston’s documentation dour, her effort in incorporating the Chinese mythic element mottled.

Composed of five sections and each focus on a different stage of life, The Woman Warrior is a close examination over the early Asian women immigrants and their survival in America. The first part, No Name Woman, opens with her mother’s incomplete revelation over an aunt who killed herself, a family secret that cannot be told nor mentioned. Kinston then begins an imagined retelling of the story that fills the blanks left out by her mother. To this aunt whose name is erased from the family history, Kinston devotes her words, in a way to appease the cursed soul and absolve it from the blames. Kingston’s tactic works fine up to this point, and yet her imagination may well be the only light on this otherwise too gloomy novel.

Thematically, the book is so ill-proportioned that it weakens the impact it could have over such an ambitious title. As it turns out, the book is not merely a simple memoir. Kingston pours in fictional elements that turn the book into semi-autobiography. Consequently, the blurry line between the true events and the make-believes confuses the reader. Kingston gets all tangled up in her attempt to allude to Chinese folklore in the second part, White Tigers, where she imagines herself to be a heroine that protects the family from harm. For readers, especially Chinese, who knows the references by heart, Kingston’s effort seems awkward and contrived. While reading along, we find the misadventure ludicrous and absurd.

As a humble contemporary reader, I cannot overthrow the work’s value simply because it lost its impact that it may originally created when first published. There are two types of literary work, or so I believe, one that transcends the time and the other gets caught in its own age. For the readers nowadays, The Woman Warrior evokes things that are too familiar, themes that we too repeatedly encounter, that it may arouse only little interest and scarce compassion. Like the women in the novel, who find themselves caught between their Chinese tradition and the American culture, the book, after over three decades, sadly finds itself stuck in its own time frame and becomes an old time cliché.

The House on Mango Street

Sandra Cisneros, The House on Mango Street

As one of the most prominent writers in Chicano (i.e. Mexican American) literature, Sandra Cisneros’ The House on the Mango Street is the one book that puts her on the literary scene ever since its 1984 publication. From a girl named Esperanza, we are introduced to a world that does not belong; we are told, in a somewhat nostalgic tone, of her dreams and hopes in a place where things always fall short. The House, compiled from a series of short writings that resemble both poetry and prose in style, is a true to life observation of a young girl’s living and her coming-of-age experience, in a place she finds difficult to identify with.

“Shame is a bad thing, you know. It keeps you down.”(The House, 91), so says Esperanza’s mother. Surely, much effort is spent as Esperanza struggles to outgrow the things that shame her. Her weird-sounding name, that disgraceful place she has to call home, and together with all the other worries, are the things that confuse her, the obstacles that refrain her from growing into a mature self. Her thinking, mostly innocent yet at moments deep and philosophical, reminds the readers of our own troubled youth, and we cannot help but take side with her.

And yet, The House does not merely focus itself on the little girl’s bildungsroman, it also grants the reader admissions to different aspects of life that surround the Mango Street. Esperanza’s matter-of-fact tone amplifies the seriousness of the social issues that are mentioned. These references not only reflect serious issues down in the lower society, but for Esperanza, these are the things she desperately wants to break away from. From domestic violence to social segregation; from repressed women to immigrant issues, Cisneros, using her fictional characters, puts focus on the actual problems that need to be addressed to.

The House is a novel that reveals a lot despite its rather short length, an honest confession of a little girl and those around her. Cisneros superbly constructs the voice of Esperanza, whose truthful revelations comes up real without any pretence. Readers will be more than glad to see the timid little girl from the beginning grows into a more mature selfhood. For even though in the end she finds a way to leave the Mango Street, she has the thought bear in mind to always come back, for those who are left behind, and this time she stays willingly, without any regret.

Unaccustomed Earth

Jhumpa Lahiri, Unaccustomed Earth

Unaccustomed Earth is a short story collection from the English born Indian writer Jhumpa Lahiri. The Pulitzer Prize-winning author borrows the title of her latest short story collection from The Custom-House by Nathaniel Hawthorne, who in his work writes of the belief in the power of a foreign land. That is, in oppose to most post-colonial writers, who wallow themselves in their nostalgic lamentation over their state of diaspora, the great American writer believes that the “unaccustomed earth” should bring along the greatest in human nature. Lahiri efficiently adapts to this idea and develops a series of stories that tells the life of the Indian immigrants in America, and meanwhile, allows the reader to examine the lives of these people, in a place where everything is so different from the way back home.

Contrary to most Indian writers, Lahiri tells the story of a different group of Indians by successfully tossing away the heavy baggage that has long burden and maimed most Indian writers and its people. These immigrants, after leaving their mother land, find themselves relived of many long time oppressions such as the caste system and the poverty from Indian tradition. Lahiri finds in her tale characters that are oftentimes well-educated, rich, and successful with high social status, who share the everyday family problems like all the other Americans. In a total six tales, Lahiri explores in each a unique relation, ranges from father-daughter relationship, sister-brother issue, and to childhood acquaintance.

Hawthorne’s idea of putting oneself into a foreign land might find its explanation from Freud’s theory in Mourning and Melancholia, where he suggests that “it is only via the representation of the object in its absence that the symbol can come to replace the loss as a memory which is, from then on, registered psychically”(Introjection, 177). The same idea has been discussed in the review on Robinson’s Housekeeping, that is, the presence of a lost object is re-recognized and admitted in one’s mind, in anyway stronger than with the object’s previous actual physical existence.

Writers are special in the way they perceive things. Most of the time they do not experience the stories they write; instead, as we may find in many great authors, they imagine. In the case of Lahiri’s work, her vivid portrayal offers the reader an opportunity to experience the complexity and intensity of the lives of her characters. Though Unaccustomed Earth tells the stories of Indians immigrants, the emotions it deals with are familiar to all readers. As we go in and out of the characters life, we experience more. Unaccustomed Earth, coming from the talented writer Lahiri, is the reminder of our reason to read, and also, an honest realization of our wish in the process of reading, namely, to experience differently.

Their Eyes Were Watching God

Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God

Their Eyes Were Watching God is a famous work by Harlem Renaissance writer Zora Neale Hurston, a bildungsroman novel that tells the story of a black girl named Janie Crawford, whose experiences in three of her marriages eventually shape her into a complete selfhood. Hurston, in developing the story, takes on a different perspective and tone compared to her contemporaries and later writer like Toni Morrison and Alice Walker, whose works often covers on the desperation and helplessness of African American women. Hurston’s success consists in the unique voice she gives to the protagonist, whose self-assurance allows her to see far beyond than others and whose emancipation is self-induced from the very start.

Janie may seem an oddity or even “new” to some readers who have a general understanding of African American Literature. Realist writers from the nineteenth century have long contribute to the shaping of woman’s voice, from Madame Bovary (1857), Anna Karenina (1875), The Awakening (1899,) to the more contemporary, feminist writings like Mrs. Dalloway(1925); however, to have an African American woman voiced her yearnings and desires, Janie may well be one of the first. Unlike most characters in her position, Janie yields not to the belief in destiny. She craves for love, and is determined to attain it however the circumstances dissuade her of being otherwise.

Therefore, the three marriages symbolize each a step towards a more mature being, for she becomes more of her self as she see more clearly, thus chooses more freely. Her first marriage is an answer to Nanny’s wish, the second being her attempted escape to the first, while only until the third one, despite much dissuasion, does she finally find the one to give her soul to. The third marriage that finally settles the Janie is the author’s mercy towards her protagonist, and despite what happens in the end, Hurston manages to infuse optimism into the much too bleak genre, like a light in the dark.

Abounds in lively, everyday vernacular dialogues, Their Eyes is a hopeful and profound reality-like fantasy that shines through its time and remains fresh until recent days. Even though the book was once criticized as being too unrealistic, and not contributing to the social realism that dominates the then literary circles, its sheer survival eventually proves that Hurston accomplishes a literary voice that transcends all the barriers between race, gender, and language, a perspective that all readers have been looking forward to sharing views and hopes with. The novel’s wide coverage on different culture experiences, together with the tear-shedding, truthful love between Janie and her third husband, should be able to satisfy all readers. The novel is a promise to a great reading experience.

Netherland

Joseph O'Neill, Netherland

Hailed as one of best books of the year in 2008, Netherland is a tale written by the Ireland born writer who, raised in Holland but now lives in New York City, infuses his personal experience into the character portrayed in his narrative. The story is about Chuck, the narrator, and his rediscovering of life, with the reminiscence of his childhood in Netherland and his time spent in England with his wife, while a greater part of the novel dwells on his own living in New York City, when his wife and son leave him for London after the 911 incident. Being left alone in a city where the apocalyptic uncertainty lingers, the protagonist shares no less the same suffering that overtakes the all New York residents.

The tale focuses largely on the relationship between the protagonist and a friend he meets in a cricket game in New York City. Chuck Ramkissoon, an optimist and a dreamer, is perhaps Hans’ only friend during his lonely exile in the city, where he strives hard to reinvent the purpose of life. Chuck introduces to Hans, as well as the readers, an underside of the city, where countless of minority groups fights for their own existence and living. Chuck’s dream of establishing a standard cricket field in the city where the sport is not acknowledged offers a prototype for all the American dreams that are yet to be realized. Even though Chuck’s dream in the end comes to a tragic halt, his ambition revives much of the same spirit in the protagonist.

Netherland is a post-colonial novel, in which all the characters are under the influence of diaspora. Han’s constant remembering of his childhood past is his greatest comfort among all the misadventures in America. The cricket game that Hans and the immigrants take to heart so dearly is their final and perhaps only grasp to their lost past. It is always difficult to adapt, once you leave your hometown. During the process, some fail to get used to the new land, while still others perseverate; however, the bottom line is that most live the same way as they did. Those who stay have never accomplished in adapting to the new culture; they just do better in establishing their old life in the new place.

Even though O’Neill combines in his novel a large variety of urban experiences and, at the same time, gives much different perspectives in life, the work overall tends to get too ponderous as we slowly follow through. The usage of cricket as the symbolic idea throughout the novel arouses little interest from the readers, who are neither familiar with the sport nor care much about its going-ons. Netherland, successful perhaps in its reestablishment of the little known, beyond surface city life, is a work that does not necessarily appeal to all readers. For those who want to explore similar subjects, it is better to start with The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, a classic that is comparatively more accessible, more profound, and at the same time, a lot shorter.

The White Castle

Orhan Pamuk, The White Castle

From Nobel Laurite Orhan Pamuk comes a tale about the quest for the meaning of human existence. The White Castle, the first English translation from the Turkish writer, symbolizes the human search to the unattainable truth. The story is about a young Italian scholar, after being captivated by Turkish vessel, becomes a slave to a man who bears a shocking resemblance to himself in appearance. As the years go by, they become more alike, until the line between the two individuals begins to blur. In his working of this short but nonetheless profound, imaginative tale, Pamuk delves into the issue of self-examination and explores the more philosophical question on the formation of identity.

“Why am I the way I am” is central to many philosophical thinking; it is also the utmost question that drives the characters in The White Castle to their self-searching experiences. In the formation of the self and its identity, one inevitably comes across the recognition of the “mirror stage”, from which the basic self-awareness and the prototype of an identity is built on. The novel then features a scene, in which the protagonist and the antagonist both stand in front of the mirror half naked, gazing at the two reflections of the two “I”s. Being essential to the recognition of the self, the scene sets for the two characters a foundation to a shared identity.

Moving on further, Pamuk shows that, besides the indispensible mirror stage, the formation of a self and its identity requires also social experiences, for identity is often socially constructed. What ultimately makes the two characters identical is their acquirement and adaptation of each other’s social experience. As the years go by, each knows better the other’s background; therefore, it is with no difficulty that the two become interchangeable.

The sovereign once asked the protagonist, “must one be a sultan to understand that men, in the four corners and seven climes of the world, all resembled one another?” and “was it not the best proof that men everywhere were identical with one another that they could take each other’s place?”(The White Castle, 136). Identity is fluid, as the novel exemplifies. In order to know oneself, as the protagonist suggests later, one should look “outside” instead of "inside", since mostly the outside determines what we are, and because we are more often what we are as socially recognized. Ultimately, it is what surrounds a person that make up the identity in question, and that we are all build by tiny bits of facts, and likely they are all transient.

Blood Meridian

Cormac McCarthy, Blood Meridian

Cormac McCarthy is an American writer who has received much attention from the public in these recent years, one because of the Oscar-winning novel adaptation by the Coen brothers, No Country for Old Man, the other for McCarthy's most recent comeback work The Road, which has been selected by the Opera Book Club and received many awards. Cormac is known for his treatment of borderline issue and violence that often embodies his work. Blood Meridian, or the Evening Redness in the West, regarded by some critics as his masterpiece, is yet another novel from McCarthy that deals with the similar themes. The plotless novel, which abounds highly in obscure literary allusions, American-Mexican warring history, jargons and even un-translated Spanish, is a great challenge for any reader who does not have enough background knowledge and whose patience cannot outlast the constant frustration in the reading experience.

The difficulty in understanding the text lies mostly in its language, rather than its allusions and backgrounds, for, even though both are complex and challenging, they do not barricade readers in the understanding the tale. It is McCarthy’s meticulous and often archaic word choice, together with the dialectical, sometimes foreign usage in language, that make Blood Meridian a difficult read. There are often passages that one cannot understand without referring constantly to the dictionary, not to mention the Spanish that is repeatedly used by the characters. The literary allusions from Bible, Paradise Lost, Moby-Dick, and possibly other works, once acknowledged, only help in the appreciation of the novel, as the warring history does.

Another major fact that might dissuade the reader from reading is the seemingly lack of plot in McCarthy’s narration. The violent plot tends to get repetitive at some point, and the barren landscape for some might only serves as an irony to the plot, as the party goes from one killing to another. The narrator introduces the reader all kinds of brutal ways in the killing of mankind but never goes into detail, which prevents the feeling of compassion and numbs the reader even before halfway through.

Difficult as it is, one cannot disregard the importance of Blood Meridian and McCarthy’s success in American and world literature simply because one fails to recognize it. Selected by Time magazine as one of the most important novels in American literature, Blood Meridian is a challenge for all readers, no matter because of its content or techniques. It is a book worthy of a second and even a third-try; even though not very likely in any time soon, for those who just have their first failure may really want to escape a bit form this nightmarish experience and come back a while later. Meanwhile, maybe one can relax a bit and try the previous movie adaptation or, better then, The Road starring Charlize Theron and Viggo Mortensen that will hit the local cinema later this year.

Note: I lost track of the plot and decided to give up reading the novel at page 198, just half way through it. The interpretation on the allusions I learned from a live recording lecture from Yale by Professor Amy Hungerford, the links listed as below.

Lecture 1 http://academicearth.org/lectures/cormac-mccarth-blood-meridian-1

Lecture 2 http://academicearth.org/lectures/cormac-mccarth-blood-meridian-2

Everyman

Philip Roth, Everyman

Everyman is American writer Philip Roth’s 2007 and latest work, the title of which borrowed from a well-known medieval morality play that stages the pilgrimage of a Christian soul through life to death. Roth casts away its strong religion influence and reinterprets the inevitable issue of life and death through a contemporary, everyday individual. The omniscient point of view reveals the later life of a common old man, who, after several unsuccessful marriages, finds himself facing with the deterioration in bodily health as he gets older. With much reminiscence of the past, Everyman takes the reader on a journey to the haunting experience of old age and death through the tale of the unnamed protagonist.

Roth vividly captures the desperation and helplessness of man when forced to face the unknown but surely approaching death. The protagonist, having a keen awareness about death, suffers even in his youth the dread towards the oblivion end. While he finds easy distraction in his youth, the ominous inevitable comes eventually back to him as he grows into older age. This is a fight between one’s willing spirit and the dying flesh, to which the will always yields in the end. For humans” […are] born to live and die on terms decided by the bodies that had lived and died before us” (Everyman, 51).

Hopefully, before one manages to face it alone, one still has people and memories for consolation. As the flesh drags our consciousness, no matter how unwillingly, to the final end, at least there exists something that we can attach ourselves to. For the protagonist, it is his parents’ warm comfort the night before his hernia surgery as a little boy; his memories of sitting in his father’s jewelry store; or perhaps his daughter, the only person who cares about him. It is cruelty to experience the final steps, as we see how the protagonist’s mind always tries to find shelter in his childhood memory, when the surgeries again and again cut open his failing flesh as it undergoes numerous surgeries.

With a simple tale, Roth masterfully portrays all men’s struggle in this less than 200 pages novel. He effortlessly treats such grave subject with much ease, wisdom and elegance. Everyman, like the name suggests, is a miniature of every single human being, an insightful interpretation of an issue that all is bound to face. Surely there are all kinds of different perspectives in facing death, like those taken by other characters. However, whichever attitude we should choose to take, we are all bound to the same end. Eventually, we should all be able to accept it like the protagonist; his philosophy resonates in mind: “Just take it as it comes. Hold your ground and take it as it comes. There’s no other way”(79).

Wuthering Heights

Emily Brontë, Wuthering Heights

Wuthering Heights is Emily Bronte’s first and only novel, a much praised work that was published one year before her early death in 1848, at the age of 30. It is difficult not to compare it with the work of her older sister Charlotte Bronte, whose Jane Eyre also receives great critical acclaim in literary history. Though the two sisters share similar personal background, their respective work differs greatly in tone, perspective and settings, and while both works center on love, thematically each heads towards a different direction. The juxtaposition of the two shows Jane Eyre a gothic love fantasy, whose rather melodramatic plot, though greatly touches readers, reflects little realistic aspects, while Wuthering Heights, through its lengthy family history, gives a realistic portrayal of the human nature in its shortcomings and complexities.

This novel, divided into two parts, reveals most of its plot in the first section "1801", in which the narrator, Mr. Lockwood, is told the history of the Earnshaw and Linton family, and the unresolved love between Heathcliff and Catherine, while the second section "1802", draws the tale to the end with Mr. Heathcliff’s earnest confession and his death. The second part of the tale, short as it is, lifts up the tale to a wholly different level with Mr. Heathcliff’s self-disclosure, as he discovers that hatred has numbed him of any possible joy and therefore resolves, in the end, to abandon his grudge. The tale would be rendered into nothing but a cruel and heartless story had it been made up of only the first part, in which only the sinister part of Mr. Heathcliff is revealed.

The perspective Bronte takes helps the tale in securing a reliable account; however, the overall plot tends to be too lengthy in its development. The history of the two families is told through an effective third hand account, so that readers can, without any previously established perception, establish for themselves each character and their doings through their own understanding. The family tree revealed at the very beginning of the novel already gives the reader a clear picture of the family history, without even the narrator’s further explanation; therefore, the over-long plot only bores the readers along the way, where little surprise ensues. Consequently, the novel tends to be at times so tedious that one feels the years slowly passing and therefore endures much, as the characters do, while reading along.

Even though the story might be way too tedious on its revelation for some modern readers, Bronte’s success in Wuthering Heights lies in her honest construction of human nature, with a stress on the apt to contradictories. It tells of one man’s revenge against the people and fate that previously wrongs him, and through which, Bronte shows the reader the ineffectiveness of revenge one may take on. As in the case of the victim-turned-villain Mr. Heathcliff, the decades spent on the scheming and planning of his revenge, in the end, brings him no relief. The grudge that one holds eventually results in no satisfaction, and whatever is lost remains the case. It is all better to let go, for in order to absolve oneself from the earthly burden, sooner or later, one is bound to do so.

The White Tiger

Aravind Adiga, The White Tiger

The 2008 Man Booker Prize winner, The White Tiger, is an effortless debut by the Indian born writer Aravind Adiga, in which he reveals the dark side of India, the modern day jungle that still plagues with caste system. The title “White Tiger” is used to suggest person with extraordinary talent or bravery, one who appears only once in a generation. He is one-of-a-kind, bound to success, and is likely to establish a name for himself. Once thus called as a child, the narrator, Balram Halwai, asserts the name and tries all his might to live up to it. The novel consists of Balram’s letters to Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, as he explains to the Premier how an Indian entrepreneur like himself comes into being, and the prices needed to be paid along the way.

The analogy between India and the jungle brilliantly captures the workings of Indian society at its transformation. Sadly, everything in India helps preserve its caste clichés, for the changes that take place both politically and economically surprisingly do not affect in any slightest way the traditional values that Indians have been living in. Balram’s case shows that in order to break away from fate, one has to put away all the morals and do whatever it takes, like slaying one’s employer, as in his example. For Balram, since the social working itself is immoral, no conscience is needed in the pursuing of success.

Balram showcases a simple man’s struggle in India. In a country where people are treated like animals, and sometimes worse, Balram alone stands out, for he is the white tiger of the generation, a man of action, and one who is not afraid to fight against fate. On his way to success, he may do things that the readers find hard to agree with; however, in the end he successfully arouses a deep respect from all of us. For in the world where one either sinks deep or rises high, we all need to make difficult decisions at some point. Indeed, there will be sacrifices, and we are bound to regret for whatever step we take; however, it is human survival we are talking about. Coming down to the bottom line, we are all animals, and are all trying in one way or another to survive in this big jungle called society.

Adiga successfully transform what he sees in India into a narrative that is witty, sarcastic and at times shocking. It is a thought-provoking tale that documents a world which is little known to us. Balram’s story is a candid sample on the injustices and drawbacks of social structure that exist not only in India, but every single part of the world. The White Tiger, a novel that deals with a dark matter with such lightness, is a page-turner which embodies everything that reflects the Indian politics, economics and its complex society.

Housekeeping

Marilynne Robinson, Housekeeping

Housekeeping is a story about lost things, among which American writer Marilynne Robinson tells the story of three generations of women, focusing on the youngest Ruth and her sister Lucille. The small town named Fingerbone, where the story finds its setting, is surrounded by a lake, over which a railroad is built on to connect the town with the outside world. Ruth, the narrator, gives us a vivid account of her life and those before her in a prose like language; therefore, we are told at the beginning of the novel things that took place earlier at Fingerbone, where her grandfather died in a curious train wreck and where her mother years later drives her car off the cliff. Robinson masterfully sets her tale in this secluded, imaginative town, where each character strives to find meanings in the absence of lost things, and along the way, offers a different perspective on things gained and lost in life.

“To crave and to have are as like as a thing and its shadow. For when does a berry break upon the tongue as sweetly as when one longs to taste it, and when is the taste refracted into so many hues and savors of ripeness and earth, and when do our senses know any things so utterly as when we lack it?”(Housekeeping, p.152) This direct quote from the novel presents the central idea which the tale and its characters nourish by; it suggests that anything we loose is its presence regained. All three generation of women suffer for different kinds of lost from the contemporary point of view, but if the afore put quote is to be regarded as the central philosophy that all the characters believe in, then the sufferings no longer exist. All is free of sorrow and all, when seen in completely different light as this, can indulge themselves in the nostalgic feelings of the re-appearance of lost things.

The title “housekeeping”, then, is deprived of its meaning. For Ruth and her aunt Lucy, the only way to free themselves from their dysfunctional home and to gain its idealized image is to disown it. This explains Ruth’s strange way of housekeeping, since her sole purpose is to turn it into a place one can hardly recognize as a home. She wants the lights to stay off at night for fear that it asserts itself the idea of a home. Therefore, in the end when the authority comes in and ask them to act according to social conformity, meaning to restore the house to its usual image, they cannot do anything but destroy it. For they want to have in their mind always the beautiful craving of their home in its complete form, and it is always a lot easier to imagine its perfect state than to see its flawed existence.

Even though Robinson’s poetic writing and her nuanced words choice may pose as a threat or challenge to the readers, Housekeeping, this highly metaphorical tale, still contains too much to be left unnoticed. Robinson’s philosophical interpretation on the lost things leaves both the optimist and pessimist with much to dwell upon. If we should all believe thus in Ruth and her philosophy, we would never mourn with desperation, for “[…] whatever we may lose, very craving gives it back to us again”(p.152). But then, since to “have” makes us forget the thing’s actual presence, while to “lose” brings it right back to us, how to distinguish the actual owning, and how to make exact of anything, remains open to each reader’s interpretation.

Note: Lectures on Housekeeping is also available from the website lited on the side.

Lolita

Vladimir Nabokov, Lolita

First written in English and later translated into Russian, the 1955 publication of Lolita by Russian-American writer Vladimir Nabokov arouses great controversy even until today. This instant classic involves the protagonist Humbert Humbert and his confession in his obsession over a twelve-year-old girl Dolores Haze. His love for young girls, whom he calls “nymphets”, makes him one of the greatest villains in literary history, and the word “Lolita” becomes so well-known that it is later borrowed to suggest young girls who are sexually preconscious. Lolita is a successful literary accomplishment in that Nabokov delicately and precisely captures the subtlety of an obsessive mind, which no writer before has the courage to made narrative of.

In dealing with his morally challenging topic, Nabokov portrays the suffered soul of Humbert Humbert, who struggles between his desire and morality. Humbert’s candid disclosure of an unspeakable desire seizes the reader with huge interests even from the very beginning of the novel. The protagonist describes to the reader in detail his desire, its subject and his dilemma in procuring it. This honest confession, although may still repel some, wins over much sympathy from the readers. After all, who among us have not suffered from our own desire?

Humbert is weak, brave, impulsive and sentimental; he is the sole existence of “Id”; an example of impulsiveness. His tragedy lies in his failure to adapt to his “Ego”, where his conscience lies. Therefore, his self-destruction in the end seems inevitable, since he is too much deviated to ever return back to the track that follows social convention. The car drive in the final scene only quickens his misadventure to its end.

Nabokov’s tale is but an example of a misplaced hunger over an unsuitable object, the sufferings common to all. It reminds the reader of our secret desire, the unconscious wish, and our not trodden path. In the end it is not approval from readers that Humbert tries to arouse, but a kind of understanding, an awareness of our similar bondage and limitations as human beings. That we are all subject to different desires; that every joy and happiness is under conditioned, and that we can never be free, as long as we keep wanting.

Note: Lectures on Nabokov's Lolita can also be found on the website provided on the side.

Things Fall Apart

Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart

Being one of post-colonial classics, Things Fall Apart, published in 1958, is the first of “African Trilogy” by Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe, followed with No Longer at ease (1960) and Arrow of God (1964). Being a South African with British educational background, Achebe possesses the multiple identities which post-colonial scholars share a huge interest in. His works, then, are often found to contain subjects concern with identity and the sense of diaspora. In Things Fall Apart, Achebe tells a tragic story of the brave man Okonkuo, who strives hard to build his own name but later finds himself defeated by fate and his own hardheadedness.

The principle in categorizing a literary work as “postcolonial” is in itself complicated; therefore, theory beginners should start with identifying the postcolonial elements within literary works. Achebe, with his double identities, adapts western literary genre and infuses with it the traditional African oral tradition and themes, turning Things Fall Apart into a postcolonial work not only in its form but also subject matters. The beautifully written prose and verse that derives from African oral tradition, known as “orature”, compliments the story and allows the reader a deeper understanding of Africa and its cultures.

Achebe is almost pessimistic in his portrayal of diaspora in Things Fall Apart, as it suggests the inevitability of being uprooted and exiled. A doomed sense of diaspora looms in after the first part of the novel, where Okonkuo accidentally kills one villager and has to be sent into exile for one year. His banishment does not end there, for he comes back to his hometown Umuofia only to find it almost taken over by Westerners and their religion. Unable thus to secure the tradition which he tries his whole life to abide, Okonkuo took his own life and becomes the victim under colonialism.

The tragic tale of warrior Okonkuo is but a tip of the iceberg under the working of colonialism. As cultures from different origins clash, there are undoubtedly casualties. In shaping Okonkuo and his tragedy, Achebe exemplifies the anxiety, insecurity, animosity and fears that colonized people must find themselves experienced through. The great woe that Achebe ultimately laments on lies not merely in the tragic hero, but also in the culture that is forever lost to mankind. Things Fall Apart is a sentimental but true account of the past, and as it recalls the old time trauma, readers are nevertheless reminded of our own lost culture, the long-forgotten past, and, inevitably, our diaspora.

The Memory Keeper's Daughter

Kim Edwards, The Memory Keeper's Daughter

By far the most disappointing novel among all the listed ones, The Memory Keeper’s Daughter is a pretentious work by Kim Edwards. The plot contains nearly all the clichés and it strains too much to touch the reader, making the story a soulless bore. Edwards’ contrived effort in the end leaves the reader with nothing memorable and little to keep. The Memory Keepers Daughter is a best-seller that will soon be tossed away and forgotten.

The Cleft

Doris Lessing, The Cleft

In her 2007 novel The Cleft, Doris Lessing retells the story of our human kind through her much imaginative, mythological tale. Categorized as a post-colonial work, the highly symbolic title suggests the overall strong feminist undertone within the narrative. Even though Lessing herself does not want to be referred to as feminist writer, her works constantly deals with feminist ideas. Told from the remote beginning of human existence, the tale arouses the long forgotten memory about how the two sexes come to know each other, and how, along the way, the two groups became inseparable.

Finding the concepts through a scientific article, Lessing based her tale on the speculation that the very basic and primal human existence is of the female sex, and that male found its existence much later. Through the narrator, a Roman historian, we are told the very first tale about our ancient ancestors. The “Cleft” that titles the novel is a pre-historical group of women who lives a self-sufficient life on the rocky sea shore. Conceived by nature, these ancient women gave birth only to its own kind. The tale begins at the time when baby boys, being called as “monster” or “squirts”, start being born to this maternal group.

“Man does, woman is.” The opening quote from the poet Robert Graves sets the overall tone of the novel. Men, except their physical strength, are being described through the tale as somehow incompetent and inferior in logical and sentimental thinking compared to their female counterparts. Their insistence on the “venture out” despite the warning from women not only proves their impulsive disposition but also reveals their inconsiderate nature.

Lessing found a narrative at the time before reason enlightens our very ancient ancestors, who act according to their instincts. The story then reveals a description of our human nature in its earliest form. Readers are told, therefore, that human beings are capable of cruelty, compassion, jealousy, and above all, love. The novel does not dwell on the negative side of humanity; on the other hand, it carefully finds a balance between our virtues and faults.

This reinterpretation of history is framed with meta-narrative, more widely known as “story-within-story”, in which a historian talks about the “past” through the reading of a set of ancient relics. The greater frame of the novel belongs to the historian narrator. Acting as the medium between the reader and the meta-narrative, the historian shows how history is put down and then interpreted, and thus reminds the reader of always a different perspective on reading history, and to always question its probability.

The Cleft is a successful reinterpretation of human origin; it offers a different perspective and celebrates the possibilities in history that still awaits even more different, possible readings. It also reminds us that human beings are gregarious, and that it is only through union can we prosper and be content.

Jane Eyre

Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

Among all the female writers that found their own voice in the late 19th century, Brontë sisters mark their stance and prominence in literary history with their distinguished works. Their works have been constantly mentioned, and until today remained popular among modern readers. Charlotte Brontë gave birth to one of the most memorable female heroines in novel history with her sole work, Jane Eyre, whose name has since then been connected with poverty, long suffering and misfortune. It is a wonder how such a pitiful character, long after its first appearance, still captivates the reader around the world with her good nature and perseverance. Some would perhaps compare her with the works of Jane Austin; however, although similar in their high-society portrayal, Bronte distinguishes her work in her mixtures of late 19 century themes, other than her contemporaries.

Jane Eyre may remind the reader of, say, Pride and Prejudice with its vivid account of rich man’s life and witty dialogue between the sexes. However, rather than following the mere love and marriage seeking plot, Jane Eyre proves to be a more realistic character as she deals with far more serious difficulties, such as physical restraint and moral conflicts. Brontë’s mercy towards the heroine shows at the later part of the novel, as she spares her of further suffering and has her finally settle down.

Readers who are not familiar with Jane Eyre would be surprised to find the strong Gothic elements within, as the story finds its scenery from the red chamber in Gateshead to the three stories Thornfield Hall. While reading along, there is always a certain degree of ominous feeling, as if pre-shadowing the unfortunate fate that would soon befall the protagonist. The “mad woman in the attic” who haunts Thornfield Hall belongs to a past which Mr. Rochester tries hard to put away and forget about. Her existence not only has its dramatic effect on the plot, its ghastly appearance also contributes to the gothic elements in the novel.

The plot on Jane Eyre and Mr. Rochester might, for some, seem too dramatic and clichéd; however, there is something to their love, despite all the difficulties, that appears as so genuine, so real that touches even readers today. It is love with strong will that survives chance, fate, and disaster. Their reunion after a long year shows happiness and little remorse, even though great calamity befalls Mr. Rochester. It is a happy ending with a twist in it.

Therefore, although Jane Eyre may contain a plot too melodramatic, the supposedly witty dialogue at times tedious, its abundance in gothic elements and final romantic touch still satisfies modern readers after its long publication. Jane Eyre, with its memorable plot and characters, is a classic that surpasses its time and one that will continue to be read and liked by all the readers, despite the cultural differences and even ages.

Wide Sargasso Sea

Jean Rhys, Wide Sargasso Sea

Jean Rhys calls attention to the “mad woman in the attic” in Jane Eyre through her postcolonial novel Wide Sargasso Sea, in which she tells the story of Antoinette Cosway, Mr. Rochester’s first wife, who turned mad shortly after the marriage. The mad woman appears as a disturbance in Jane Eyre, where she roams in the house late at night and sets fire. Readers get to know little about her through Mr. Rochester’s account, which, from his point of view, may not be wholly reliable. Set in Caribbean, Rhys traces all the way back to the time when the doomed marriage first started, and, with switching point of view in each three parts, gives a different account that does the character justice. Wide Sargasso Sea is a successful parallel novel not only in its brilliant adaptation and reinterpretation, but also in Rhys’ mesmerizing account of the West Indies, its beauty, cruelty and pain.

The complicated race issue in Wide Sargasso Sea requires some extra effort from the readers; therefore, in order to better appreciate the story, some understanding on history and the natives in the West Indies during 19th century is needed. Some readers might find the novel a little confusing in the matter of each character’s race and, to be more straightforward, their skin tone.

Wide Sargasso Sea abounds in the idea of diaspora, in which people cannot recall their past, fail to identify themselves with a certain race, and is uprooted then and again from their home or land. Annette and her daughter, the later Antoinette Cosway, are being caught between the “black” and the “white”, as each group calls them “white cockroach” and “white nigger”, they are isolated, ridiculed, despised and shun away among their people. Twice the house Coulibri becomes the sole shelter and belief its female owner attached herself to; however, both women loose their sanity when the house fails to secure them from the world. Mr. Rochester suffers also from the alienation when he finds himself trapped in the exotic and foreign land, with people different from his kind.

Mr. Rochester and Antoinette each holds a different hope as they become married, their marriage then easily tumbles down when their hopes dissolved in reality. Mr. Rochester gives Antoinette “a wish to live” when he marries her, their honeymoon takes place in Coulibri, Antoinette’s only safe ground; therefore, her insanity becomes inevitable when she lost trust in her husband and the house. Mr. Rochester, on the other hand, is at some level forced into the marriage in order to obtain the huge inheritance from the Cosway family. On finding Antoinette’s family madness history, he lost hope in the marriage, and is, as we later know from Jane Eyre, trapped in and tormented by it for many years.

Rhys' careful design in the switching perspectives in its three parts gives the reader a balanced account without any bias. As the narrator switches, in the three parts of the novel, from Antoinette to Mr. Rochester and back again, readers are introduced to the romantic and yet painful account of “the mad woman in the attic”. It is surely a novel that worth a second read.