Thursday, January 5, 2012

Walk the BLue Fields

The next story I read had the same name as the title of the book. I feel like there had to be some significance to this. The cover of the story has a woman's face on it but we can only see her forehead and hair. The rest of the cover has fields that are a blueish color. The story is about a man, a priest actually, that is in love with the woman he had to see get married to someone else. The priest performed the ceremony which was torture for him. He wanted to leave after the ceremony but he felt obligated to stay. He recalls throughout the story of how their affair began and how he could not be with her fully because he was not allowed to leave the priesthood. The priest finally leaves and journey through some fields outside the town where he reflects more on his relationship with the new bride. He brings up how he had his chance to be with her and lost it. This happens to people all the time and it's unfortunate. People have millions of chances to do something but can lose it in a minute. That is the whole premise of the story. The priest regrets not being with this girl and now she is married to someone else so he will never get this opportunity ever again.

Thursday, December 22, 2011

The Long and Painful Death

From looking at this title, one might think the story is about exactly what it says. But this is not the case. The story is about a woman who moves in to a house that once belonged to a famous writer named Heinrich Boll. While she is staying in this house, she plans to write a story. At first, she procrastinates. She goes out to the ocean and she notices a small cove in the distance. She swims out to it and stays there for a while. The girl also procrastinates by going out and buying ingredients to bake a cake. We also find out that it's her 39th birthday. The morning of this day she receives a phone call. The phone call is from a man who wants to look at the house. He tells her she's outside but she asks him to come back later. He arrives at night and she's showing him around the house and exchanging in small talk. The man however becomes angry with the girl and tells her she is not worthy enough to be in this house. She kicks him out and is so offended by this accusation. This inspires her to stay up all night and write a story which reflects on her experience that day. She goes much deeper into the story by talking about this rude man and how his wife must be suffering so much. She pauses and as she fixes herself a cup of coffee she created the idea to make this man have a "long and painful death"
This woman is so hurt by the rudeness of the man she wants to write a story about him having an excruciating death. Usually when someone becomes angry, they don't immediately want to write about them dying. I personally chose not to accept the behavior of the rude person and I try to move on from it. However, writing about your feelings and the pain you feel can create a very good story and it's also a good way to relieve stress.

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Surrender

This story is about a sergeant who is away from home, in the middle of a war. It's unclear which war it is (if it's a war that took place in history or a made up setting) and where he is stationed exactly. We do know that he is stationed in the middle of a town with a guard named Doherty. They live in the barracks together. The sergeant, who we later find out is named Michael, goes into the town to a local tavern. When he is there he hears a group of people talking about the soldiers. He describes the level of authority he has as an "old, still feeling." Which is interesting because usually soldiers are respected, but in this case, Michael is not. He buys his bread and heads back to the barracks. Doherty leaves and Michael is alone getting ready for bed. He takes out a note that he received from his fiance. He knew it was coming. The envelope contained her engagement ring and a note saying that she can no longer wait for him and that she doesn't want to be with him anymore. Michael then starts to contemplate women and their thought processes. He says their minds are like glass but their thoughts break easily. Women can be simple but they are also complex. The story ends with him journeying back to see his future wife.
This story made me think a lot about the soldiers today that are still fighting overseas, but are returning by the end of the year. I think about how hard of a job they have and how difficult it must be to be away from loved ones. I think about the thoughts going through the heads of the loved ones at home. They aren't physically risking their lives, but every day they have to hope that their loved one over seas is safe. At any moment, someone can killed. It's hard to stay with someone who is overseas and might not return home. This people are very strong and I have such respect for them and the soldiers who are still in the Middle East.

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Dark Horses

The story is about a man named Brady. It is unclear what country he is from but he lives on a farm with cows and horses.  The story starts with Brady dreaming of a woman he is in love with and how she comes back into Brady's life. He awakens from this dream and goes about his morning rituals of getting dressed and having some tea. He starts to think about what he needs to do that day and then we are introduced to a man named Leyden. He is the owner of the farm and Brady works for him. Leyden and Brady go off and purchase horses from a man named Big Sean.
The story then shifts and the readers have an image of Brady walking into a diner. He sits by the window and flashes back to a night in Cootehill. That night he met a woman and throughout the night they talked, drank, and danced. They then spent the night together. Then the story goes back to the diner where Leyden shows up and the begin to dark. Brady tells Leyden and he and the woman fought about the horse she owned. He didn't want to commit to the woman and wanted to get rid of the horse. (however, he said this while intoxicated).
The story concludes with Brady returning home and getting into bed and he wishes again that the woman would come back. He imagines her with him and that they are lying together while her dark horse is grazing in his fields.

Thursday, December 1, 2011

"You'd go into the bathroom when it was over and wash, telling yourself it meant nothing, hoping the water would be hot"

This quote is describing the moments after the girl would return from being sexually abused by her father. She would try to forget how horrible this was which can cause a lot of damage on someone. This also creates another dysfunctional relationship. The only time the girl and her father would interact would be when he was sexually harassing her. To do this a child is absolutely hurtful and it's awful that she couldn't do anything to stop it.

"In her bedroom your mother is moving things around, opening and closing doors. You wonder what is will be like for her when you leave. Part of you doesn't care."

This quote is a perfect example of the type of relationship the girl had with her mother. As you can see, she really doesn't have strong feelings for her. The girl doesn't seem to care about her mother that much and she doesn't care how the mother is feeling about her departure. This is a huge thing in the story because they don't share any mother-daughter type relationship.

What is the "Parting Gift"?

Usually when someone moves out or goes away for a while, a loved one gives the departing person a gift. Throughout this story no gift is ever exchanged; no physical item. I believe that the gift for the girl was her being able to go to America. She never has to be with her family ever again. She can move on from all the painful memories living in Ireland has brought. That is the true gift she is receiving.