Title: The Catcher in the Rye
Author: J.D. Salinger
Date Written: Late 1940s–early 1950s
Date Read: 6.24.04
Main characters:

• Holden Caufield- narrator, main character, son of wealthy New York family, adolescent foibles get worse
• Phoebe-sister of Holden, more mature and intelligent than her age, well respected by Holden
• Mr. Antolini- English teacher who tries to save Holden

Themes:

• Hatred of phoniness
• Alienation within society that is increasingly sacrificing values for the sake of society
• Difficulty of adolescence

Symbols:

• Hunting hat-uniqueness
• Ducks in the pond-curiosity of youth, willingness to encounter
• “catcher”-catching kids before they reach “adulthood”
• museum of Natural History-world Holden wishes to live in, unchanging

Memorable Quotations:

• “Life is a game that one plays according to the rules.”
• “That’s all I’d do all day. I’d just be the catcher in the rye and all”
• “I have a feeling that you’re riding for some kind of terrible fall…”

Summary:

Holden Caufield begins by saying that he doesn’t intend for the novel to serve as his life story. He only tells of what occurred last Christmas in the coarse of only five days. In this story, Holden seems to be a typical adolescent until the story grows gradually more complex. One gets the feeling that Holden is mentally insane and is self destructive. He is unusually depressive and does things so spontaneously. He keeps repeating phrases such as “that kills me” and “…really” and uses words such as “phony” a lot. He is a failure at school and yet his parents are rich and are extremely worried about him. In the end however, Holden refuses to tell what happened next and how he got sick. In the end, he states that it’s amazing how you can miss people who are gone.

Other:

Holden never addresses his emotions directly, and never attempted to discover the source of his troubles. He really needs people to love him but his wall of bitterness towards others prevents him from having many successes in bonding. He depends on his alienation, but it destroys him. Holden consistently contradicts himself.

Book: The Bonesetter's Daughter
Author: Amy Tan
Setting: before, during, and after WWII in a small village near Beijin to modern-day San Francisco
Protagonist: Ruth Luyi Young, the daughter of Liu LuLing
Themes: The clash between Chinese and American cultures, depression and paranoia, finding one's past through memories and written documents

This story is written in four parts with two main stories.
One is the story of Ruth, an American-born Chinese woman, a ghostwriter for self-help books, in a relationship with a white man, stepmother to his two teenaged daughters, and finally, daughter of LuLing, who Ruth fears is becoming demented. Ruth begins to realize what her mother's memory loss means to both of them: for her mother, an increased need for attention, for Ruth, disappearing stories that could help Ruth understand her family and render a feeling that she is part of a larger story.

The second major story is that of LuLing, which Ruth discovers in the form of documents LuLing had given her several years earlier, written in Chinese, LuLing's attempt to hold on to fading memories of her life in China. This story within a story--LuLing's life in a village called Immortal Heart; the secrets passed on by her nursemaid Precious Auntie (who, we learn, is also her mother); a cave where bones are mined that may be the teeth of Peking Man; tales of ghosts and curses--parallels in many ways the present-day issues confronting Ruth: an inability to speak up to her partner and his two daughters; why she remains a ghostwriter, without a voice of her own; an increasingly problematic and confusing relationship with her mother. Answers to both women's puzzles and problems unfold as LuLing's story is translated in its entirety, providing answers through memory and words that could not be spoken, only recorded.

Waiting to be "in the mood" for recounting my trip to China just isn't working. Memory--or at least my memory--tends to fade quickly. Pretty soon, all that's left of my past is whatever I write in my Livejournal. Maybe this degeneration isn't that dramatic, but I like to think that the purpose for having a Livejournal is of dire importance.

I'm in the process of reading The Rough Guide to the Internet - 2006 Edition by Peter Buckley and Duncan Clark, and this book has become my greatest inspiration. I am currently enraptured by the many different blogs on the Net that I didn't even know existed till now. I'd like to share a few that I found in the book.

1. Belle de Jour: Diary of a London Call Girl
2. Apparently Nothing(a photo blog of a South African photographer)
3. Librarian.net
4. The Diary of Samuel Pepys

This book is brilliantly written in plain English, concise enough for beginners, but also useful for the more advanced. It contains information from choosing the right computer to security, from music and video to IRC. It's pocket sized, and convenient to use.

Title: Things Fall Apart
Author: Chinua Achebe
Date written: 1959
Date Read: Aug-Sept 2004
Main characters:

• Okonkwo- a clan leader in Umofia, early childhood is embarrassing and he works hard to be successful. In the end, his rash behavior is his ultimate destruction
• Ezinma- Okonkwo’s favorite daughter, understands Okonkwo better than any other children
• Mr.Brown-first white missionary in Umuofia nonaggressive, understanding, trys imposing Christianity on the people of Umuofia

Themes:

• Struggle between change in living style and tradition
• Language as a cultural difference
• View of self through society

Symbols:

• Locusts- white colonists decending upon Africans
• Fire- Okonkwo’s nature: fierce and destructive
• Drums- physical connection of community in Umuofia, heart beat that unites all village members

Memorable quotations:

• “Turning and turning in the widening gyre the falcon cannot hear the falconer”
• “And at last the locusts did ascend.”
• “Does the white man understand dour custom about land?” “how can he when he does not even speak our tongue?”

Summary:

    Okonkwo, a wealthy and respectable warrior in Umuofia is haunted by the actions of his father, Umoka. He has a son Nwoye, whome he fears will grow up like his father. In settlement with a neighboring tribe, Umuofia receives a virgin and a 15 yr. old boy (Ikemefuma), who stays with Okonkwo and calls him father. During the week of peace, Okonkwo beats his youngest wife, breaking the peace. He makes a sacrifice. Nuoye looks up to Ikemefuma as an older brother and Okonkwo is also proud of him but ends up killing him-after the collection of the locusts. Okonkwo sinks into great depression and Ezinma falls ill, but later recoves. At the funeral of Ogbuefi Ezeudu, Okonkwo’s gun explodes and kills Ogbuefi’s 16 yr. old son. Okonkwo and his family is sent into exile for 7 years. In his mothervillage, Mbanta. Okonkwo’s kinsmen help him build a new compound and Obierika brings him cowries from selling his yams. Obierika also brings news that Abame has been destroyed by the white man. 6 missionaries come to Mbanta, Mr. Brown tries persuading the clan to become Christians. He grows ill and is replaced by Reverend James Smith who is intolerant and strict. Enoch-a convert-unmasked an egwugwu and the egwugwa burns his compound and the church. The District Commitioners sent the 6 leaders of the clan to jail and when they returned, everyone had a meeting. Okonkwo is upset that Umuofia won’t go to war and commits suicide. He receives the same fate as his father is not buried.

Other:

• Narrator-unknown
• Tone-tragic, ironic, satirical, fable like
• Past tense, 1890s, lower Nigerian Villages, Iguedo and Mbanta
• Conflicts-traditional society vs. new customs brought by whites
• Internal-Okonkwo struggling to be as different from his father as possible

Title: The Color Purple
Author: Alice Walker
Date Written: 1982
Date Read: 2nd quarter Junior year
Main Characters:

• Celie- narrator or writer of the letters to God and Nettie, wife of Mr._____, lives a miserable life when everyone disrespects her, till she meets Shug
• Shug Avery- Blues singer, Mr.____’s lover, helps Celie gain self-esteem and tells her Nettie’s still alive and that God is not a mane and God is everywhere
• Mr.___- Husband of Celie, treats Celie like an undeserving servant till she finally takes control of her life and they finally respect each other

Themes:

• Power of narrative voice
• Power of strong female relationship
• Evil nature of racism and sexism
• Disruption of traditional gender roles

Symbols:

• Sewing- power women can gain from their creativity
• Quilts- diverse people coming together in unity. There’s a community of love in the end of the book
• God- Celie thinks God is a helping hand in the beginning, then as being everything around her, showing independence

Memorable quotations:

• “I been so busy thinking bout him I never truly notice nothing God make…not the color purple”
• “Shug act more manly than most men…he say.”
• “She bound to her life and be herself no matter what.”
• “Mr.___think all this stuff mendo. But Harpo not like this, I tell him.”

Summary:

    Celie a poor, uneducated 14 yr. old African American is living in rural Georgia. She writes letters to God because her father, Alphonso, beats and rapes her. Celie tells God that she is a good girl and questions whether or not she disserves such an awful life. Celie marries Mr.__ who wants to marry Nettie, Celie’s younger, pretty sister who is well educated. Nettie runs away to Africa but Celie thinks she’s dead. Shug Avery, a blue’s singer had a relationship with Mr.__ and came back to sing at a local bar. Mr.__’s son, Harpo, marries Sofia, a spunky girl. Shug is rude to Celie at first but Celie nursed her back to health and they become attracted to each other, as Shug learns that Mr.__ mistreats Celie. Harpo has a new girlfriend, Squeak, after Sofia left over a series of fights with Harpo. Shug leaves and returns with a new husband, Grady. Shug and Celie still continue having a sexual relationship though. Shug finds Nettie’s letters and Celie is mad that Mr.__ kept them away from her. She also learns God is all around us and she should stand up for herself when Mr.__ treats her unfairly. Nettie and Celie meet in the end and her relationship with Mr.__ also improves, as they genuinely enjoy each other’s company.

Other:

• Olivia and Adam are Celie’s children
• Alphonso isn’t really Celie and Nettie’s true father. He wanted to be their father so he can inherit the house and property that was their mother’s. Celie finds a talent-designing and making pants, and is very successful in making it a business.
• Adam maries Tashi, a native African girl
• Samuel marries Nettie after Corrine dies and they return to America together to meet Celie

Title: Frankenstein
Author: Mary Shelley
Date Written: 1816
Date Read: first quarter, Junior year
Main Characters:

• Victor Frankenstein- narrator and protagonist, discovers the secret of life, creates a monster that ruins his life
• The monster- intelligent and sensitive, Frankenstein’s creation, feels abandoned and seeks revenge
• Elizabeth Lavenza- Victor’s sister (adopted) and has an intimate relationship with Victor and later marries him
• Henry Clerval- Frankenstein’s friend, nurses him back to health but murdered by Victor’s monster

Themes:

• Dangerous knowledge- beyond human limits and access of secret of life can curse one’s life
• Secrecy-Victor’s obsession with creating life is shrowded in secrecy and his life is in secrecy as he never tells anyone about his monster
• Monstrosity- the monster is treated unfairly but is created by one who is a monster because Victor’s life is also alienated
• Revenge is not a good thing, for it ruins people’s lives

Symbols:

•  Light and fire- knowledge, discovery, enlightenment

Memorable Quotations:

• “What may be expected in a country of eternal light?”
• “I the miserable and the abandoned, am an abortion, to the spurned at, and kicked, and trampled ant”
• “Did I request thee, Maker, from my day to mould me man…”

Summary:

    Robert Walton, in a series of letters, recounts to his sister of the story of Victor Frankenstein, who was in poor conditions till Walton nursed him back to health. Victor describes his childhood life in Geneva as blissful and full of love from his parents and his adopted sister Elizabeth Lavenza. Victor enters the Univ. of Ingolstadt to study natural philosophy and chemistry and is consumed by the desire to discover the secret of life. After accumulating knowledge, he diligently works in secrecy to create life. When he is done however, he’s horrified to see a monster and runs into the streets and runs into Henry, his friend. The monster is gone but he becomes ill and Henry nurses him back to health, but he finds his youngest brother, William dead and returns home. Jessica, accused of murder, is executed but Victor knows his monster was the real murderer and vows revenge. The monster explains why he killed William and asks Victor to create a female counterpart to keep him company so he won’t bother anyone. Victor starts but finds he can’t and the monster says he’ll see him on his wedding day. The monster kills Elizabeth, home Victor married and Victor wants revenge. He has been chasing his monster till he met Walton and dies. The monster also meets Walton and finds his creator dead, and returns to the mountains to die.

Other:

• Prejudice towards the monster is somewhat similar to the prejudice the strangers of the Irish land display towards Victor, the English man-only more civil.
• “How mutable are our feelings, and how strange is that clinging love we have of life even in the excess of misery!
  ~Victor Frankenstein

Title: A Farewell to Arms
Author: Ernest Hemingway
Date Written: 1926-1928
Date Read: April 2005
Main Characters:

• Frederic Henry-ambulance driver in Italy, expatriate, narrator
• Catherine-English nurse’s aide
• Rinaldi- sergeant, friend of Henry

Themes:

• Reality of war is grim, there’s nothing glorious about it
• With love comes pain
• With war come feelings of loneliness and loss

Symbols:

• Rain-inevitable loss of happiness in life; foreshadows bad events that occur between Henry and Catherine
• Catherine’s hair-the couple’s isolation from the world as both are covered in it as a tent or waterfall, fragile yet safe

Memorable Quotations:

• “I’m afraid of the rain because sometimes I see me dead in it.” (pg 126)
• “I was always embarrassed by the words sacred, glorious, and sacrifice and the expression in vain.” (pg 184)

Summary:

    Frederic Henry, an American ambulance driver serving the Italian army in WWI meets Catherine Barkley, an English nurse’s aide at a nearby British hospital. Rinaldi claims that he is in love with her at first but when Henry gets involved in a love game with her, they have an emotional interaction so Rinaldi gives up on her. Henry claims to never love anyone but when he’s wounded on the battlefield (eating macaroni ^^;) he is brought to a hospital in Milan and runs into her and claims that he “loves” her. During the following months, Catherine and Henry’s relationship intensifies and their love becomes real. Once Henry’s wounds (damaged leg) got healed, he was granted three weeks covalence leave and finds that Catherine is pregnant. Henry is later diagnosed with jaundice and Miss VanCampen (superintendent of the hospital) accuses him to have drunk his way into it, forcing him to return to the front as soon as he’s well again. When he returned to the front, soldiers, angered by Italian defeat, capture him but he breaks away and escapes with Catherine to Switzerland where Catherine delivers a still born baby boy and dies of a hemorrhage. Henry attempts to say g-by but it was too late. It was raining when she died.

Author: Amy Tan
Date Read: 2nd quarter, Junior year
Main Characters:

• Jing-mei Woo-main character, serves as bridges between two generations, speaks for herself and her mother, Suyuan
• An-mei Hsu- sees “fate” and “destiny” and believes in God
• Rose Hsu Jordan- unassertive and doesn’t stand up for herself or makes decisions
• Ying-ying St. Clair- born a tiger and prideful but later becomes meek and passive

Themes:

• Challenges of cultural tradition
• Power of story telling
• The problem of immigrant identity

Symbols:

• Suyan’s Pendant- cultural difference between Jing-mei and her mother; mother’s love and concern
• Lena’s Vas- symbolizes Lena’s marriage but she did nothing to protect it
• Lindo’s Candle- success of marriage and also tradition and culture

Memorable Quotations:

• “A mother knows what’s inside you.” “A psycheatricks will only make you hu li hu du, make you see hei mong mong.”
• “Her wisdom is like a bottomless pond.”
• “…I want my children to have the best combination: American circumstances and Chinese character.”

Summary:

    There are sixteen interwoven stories about the conflicts between Chinese immigrant mothers and American raised children. The main story is about Jing-mei’s trip to China to meet her half-sisters. Jing-mei’s mother was forced to leave them behind during her desperate flight from Japan’s invasion of Kweilin during WWII. She has taken her mother’s place playing majong in the Joy Luck Club. The people in the club tell her she must tell her sisters about her mother’s life but no one- not even Jin-mei is sure she can accomplish this.
There are four sections to this novel, which contains four separate narratives in each. In the first four stories, the mothers recall their relationships with their own mothers and worry that their daughters will never see them in the same way. In the second section, the daughters relate to their childhood relationships with their mothers. In the third group, the four daughters tell of their adult quagmires, such as with marriage and careers. In the final group of stories, the mothers struggle to offer solutions and support to their daughters, and learn more about themselves in the process. Jin-mei finally travels to China and helps her half-sisters know their mother and forms a bond. Her trip also reassures others that they can preserve their past and present cultures through generations.

Other:

• Lindo, ying-mei, and An-mei are mothers and members of the club, as was Suyuan
• The four daughters are Waverly, Jing-mei, Lena, and Rose
• There are four sections, four people in each section, and the game majong involves four people, so the number four is pretty significant