I really like a quote form John Updike's A&P. The quote is: " and my stomach kind of fell as I felt how hard the world was going to be to me hereafter", (Updike). (Sorry I don't have the book yet, so I read it online.) This quote made me think of what it was like when I moved away from home, leaving my parents and close friends to start my life as an adult. It's a scary time when a person realizes that the world is a confusing and complicating place. This quote summed up many things that I personally have felt in the past few months. (I just left home in March.) I think that growing up, or any transitions for that matter, make a person realize how hard things can be. I like that the character "Sammy" quits his job, but in the moment just after he thinks these words. I find that interesting, and slightly ironic. Interesting because he went with an impulse to quit his job, but then realizes how complicating life will be because of this situation, and ironic because he did something he clearly thought was best, but then thought it through and made the connection that even though it was best, it will make things harder in the long run. Why is it that sometimes the best choices are the hardest? This doesn't always make sense to me. If it's best then shouldn't it make things easier? The words that really jumped out to me where stomach, world, and hereafter. I think that these words caught my eye because they are very profound as far as the context they were written in. This quote is the very last of the short story and I think it wraps up the story, but also leaves the idea that all of the choices a person makes in life will effect them from there forward. However, I do find it interesting that it is the "world' that will be hard on him, not the people in it. I do find truth in this statement. I think the people on this planet make up the world, so therefore, it must be the world that is, indeed, hard on a person.
Hi Amber, my name is Mary and I am in your online Eng 104 class. It is so great that people who live far away from each other can have classes together. I was reading your part about Nora Roberts, my mom and sister in-law love to read her books. I think the reason is the same, it's in a escape to another world. I liike Dean Koontz as well, so I guess we have that in common. : )
ReplyDeleteHi. This is Natalie and I am in your Eng 104 class. I see that you like to read the same books over again. I have a lot of friends and family that do that also. I, however, never do that. I like to be surprised. I don't even read the back cover of a book. I will let a person tell me that a book is good, but that is all. I don't like to know anything that will happen. I also am a big fan of Nora Roberts. Her books do not all follow the same rhythm like some authors. I will not read Danielle Steele because they are too predictable for me.
ReplyDeleteHi, Amber. My daughter's name is Amber, so good name! I'm enjoying reading your posts. I love reading, too, and I sometimes reread my favorite books when I'm feeling blue or overworked. There's a fantasy novel called "The Fire Rose," which is essentially a beauty and the beast story. I really like the part where the main character ends up in a rich man's house as a governess with a big bathtub and a closet filled with clothes. Ah! I could use a little of that now and then. :)
ReplyDeleteI liked your discussion of "A&P" also. Yes, the right decisions should be easy, but often they are not, and I think they are more right because they are hard! I go back and forth on whether Sammy was right. Sometimes it seems as if he is standing up for the girls. Sometimes it seems as if he just wants to take on his boss, and the girls provide a good excuse. Maybe, right or wrong, he did need to get out of that job. Nancy