A Christmas Carol

The quintessential Victorian author, Charles Dickens, was much praised for his incredible contribution to classic English literature, and even today his work is unforgettable. Dickens’ life was one of rags to riches, and because of his fathers bad debt he was left out of school for much of his younger years. After he wrote his first two novels, he started his life as a journalist; and after the publication of his third novel, there was no turning back for Dickens. Along the road he also became a theatre enthusiast, wrote plays and performed for Queen Victoria in 1851. He could do it all. Dickens came to America in 1842, and after his return to England, Dickens began work on the first of his profound tales, A Christmas Carol, which was written in 1843.

Although Charles Dickens could have written A Christmas Carol for many reasons, I believe that the real reason was because of his childhood experiences and the sympathy he had for the poor. When Dickens was 12, his father was imprisoned for debt; and during this time, the young boy had to pawn his books, leave school, and take a factory job. For a boy at this age that had friends, who in no way had to go through what he did, this experience was very humiliating for him. While his family was very poor, he started to get a good look at all the impoverished families as well, leaving him to understand that he his family wasn’t the only one. Even though this time period was short lived, it affected Dickens in such a way that his novel’s, such as A Christmas Carol, were written because of what he went through. Another reason he wrote this novel was because years later, when Dickens had grown up more, he visited mines where he saw the effects of the Industrial Revolution on children. After experiencing these terrible sights, he started a pamphlet, "An Appeal to the People of England, on behalf of the Poor Man's Child." This pamphlet would later become the basis for the story of A Christmas Carol. Some aspects of his novel are based upon certain events or things that happened in his younger years, such as the Cratchit’s house being modeled on the small four room house at 16 Bayham Street in Camden Town, where Dickens lived when he was ten years old. Also, the six Cratchit children emulated the Dickens children. The character Tiny Tim was based upon Dickens’s youngest, sick brother who was known as “Tiny Fred.” Although connections to other things outside of his own life could have been put into this book, I do believe that this book was made to explicate the struggles and his own experiences that he went through as a young boy.

Throughout this novel, there is an underlying meaning that Dickens is trying to achieve and make people think about. The message he was trying to get across to people was that Christmas wasn't about greed and selfishness, but it was a spiritual time, a time for humility and charity for those who were less fortunate. He was trying to make people understand that you don’t need financial gain to feel good about yourself. Scrooge, the novel’s main character, embodies every value that puts down the happy joyful Christmas spirit, with his greed, selfishness, and a lack of consideration for anyone around him. Dickens used Christian principles to motivate his writing, such as the themes of generosity, kindness, and love for your community, and much of Victorian England in general. This book offers more of a modern view of Christmas, less focused on religious ceremony, but more centered around the joyous traditions of Christmas, like the sharing of gifts, festive celebrations, and displays of success.

Without giving away this amazing novel, A Christmas Carol, is about a man names Ebenezer Scrooge, who absolutely hates Christmas, and whenever he hears anything about Christmas he mumbles his same ongoing expression, “Bah! Humbug!” Scrooge’s nephew works for him; and although he asks his uncle many times to be get off work so he can be with his family, Scrooge wont let his nephew spend Christmas at home, but instead insists he remain at work. One day his old business partner, Jacob Marley comes to warn him that if he continues to live his life in such an unchristian way, he will spend the rest of his life trying to make up for it. Scrooge is a very cold and mean man and eventually gets visited by spirits who confront him about his ruthless behavior. The first ghost, The Ghost of Christmas Past, represents memory, the Ghost of Christmas Present symbolizes charity, empathy, and the Christmas spirit, and finally the last ghost, Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, epitomizes the fear of death. Dickens paints this picture of the Cratchit family, who are the exact representation of the poor. He shows us that even though this family has close to nothing, they express extreme gratitude for everything they do have. Taking this emotion even further, he shows us the figure of the genuine crippled Cratchit son, Tiny Tim. Tiny Tim helps to guide Scrooge in his sudden acceptance for the Christmas ideal, as Scrooge starts to express immense pity for Tiny Tim. On Scrooge’s path to “recovery,” he adopts Tiny Tim, serving as a sort of second father figure to this little boy. This young boy helped this alone and angry man, understand that there is more to life than just worrying about being rich.

Since the book is sent in Victorian times, the style of his writing was more Victorian. Because poetry was very popular in these times, Dickens wrote in a very poetic way, including metaphors, similes, personification, imagery, and symbolism. Satire was also used at times. This novel is mainly narrated in the third person, usually being told as “he said” or “she said” and “Scrooge watched them.” At the beginning of the novel though, there is a hint of first person; but it begins to go away when the characters start interacting with each other. The novel is full of metaphors and similes, in almost every paragraph, and a ton of repeated phrases and words are used throughout the novel. Dickens’ style of writing intrigues the reader, making you want to keep reading and reading. A Christmas Carol is definitely a must read, enabling you to look at things in your life in a different way as well.

Sarah's Review of The Shipping News

"Then, at meeting, Petal Bear. Thin, moist, hot. Winked at him. Quoyle had the big man's yearning for small women. He stood next to her at the refreshment table. Grey eyes close together, curly hair the color of oak. The fluorescent lights made her as pale as candle wax. Her eyelids gleamed with some dusky unguent. A metallic thread in her rose sweater. These faint sparks cast a shimmer on her like a spill of light. She smiled, the pearl -tainted lips wet with cider. His hand shot up to his chin." In just a passage from E. Annie Proulx's, The Shipping News her unique writing style is exposed. This is a fond memory of Quoyle's first meeting with his soon-to-be wife. Every sentence I found intriguing and descriptive, meant to keep your reader locked in. It's choppy yet rich and a simple type of writing that would be impossible to replicate. Her story is about Quoyle; the protagonist, who's life has been rough and just now is blowing up in his face. He is a man of few accomplishments and had been seen as a failure all his life. His wife cheats on him in front of his face; his job unsteady; and his looks are not very appealing. This was all a fuse waiting to be lit. His abusive mother and father commit suicide, and is wife dies in a car crash while leaving him. The love Quoyle has for Petal Bear is still strong despite his wickedness. Broken, he decides he needs to start over and moves to Newfoundland where he has a long ancestral family history. Hoping to forget about the misfortune that occurred back home, he finds what happiness a small fishing town can offer. A relationship begins, a successful career blossoms and dark family secrets rise. Throughout the book Proulx shows the goodness and warmth in a place as isolated as Newfoundland. You can tell the author is familiar with and fond of the country through her descriptions of small town business. Annie Proulx has a personal connection to the setting and much of Quoyle's character. I learned that she has decided to keep little contact with her own family connecting her to Quoyle. One thing that you pick up on quickly and connects the whole story is the reoccurring theme of knots. Chapter titles are often named after knots, and the symbolism comes up frequently within the writing. Her idea behind this was to show the variety of something so simple and yet how it all remains connected. As Quoyle leaves his life in New York behind, he his reconnected with it in many ways from a country across the ocean. His purpose in the beginning is to leave an unsettling childhood behind yet Newfoundland brings him back often, like his inability to swim. That's where his father started a foundation on Quoyle's failures, and brings him back to the those days of choking on pond water. This is a book worth hours of your time. Through a dark and cold book comes a wonderful ending. It's unexpected, but it's what makes the book what it is. The author has gained much recognition, and it is all well deserved. Proulx's unique writing can be your only reason to read this. Its amazing what a writer like her can do with words in order to take an image from her mind and transfer it to hers. I once heard that reading is the closest humans have gotten to teleportation and while reading The Shipping News I can believe this 100 percent.

Oreo Murder

Oreo

I am shut out from your creamy center
Black bars restricting my entry
I wish nothing more, my love, than to enter
I've threatened to use a sentry

Oh my little oreo please let me in
There's nothing bad i can do to you
If you take this plunge we both win
A beautiful relationship sprung anew

Oh thank you, thank you cookie!
I didn't think you'd succumb
You've won against my bookie
Turns out you're really dumb

I will rip you apart black sweet
Waterboarding you to eat
Yum yum yum, slurping cream
Thank you oreo, you are my dream.

The English Patient Review

 The Sri- Lankan Canadian author, Michael Ondaatje, wrote The English Patient in the year of 1992. The story is based around a brutally burned Hungarian man, his nurse, a Canadian thief, and an Indian sapper in the British Army as they live out the end of World War II. This novel is nothing short of spectacular, as it was recognized for its Canadian Governor General’s Award and the Booker Prize for fiction.  

Michael Ondaatje devoted most of his early life to studying and excelling through learning. He studied at Bishop’s College School and Bishop’s University in Lennoxville, Quebec, but then moved to Toronto to receive his BA from University of Toronto and his MA in addition from Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario. He began teaching English Literature at York University and Glendon College. His work varies from fiction, autobiographies, poetry and film. He has published thirteen books of poetry and has been given the Governor General’s Award, Booker Prize, and Academy Award for best picture for several of them.

Although Michael Ondaatje never fought in the war or didn’t have much background regarding the war he was very motivated to write a compelling novel based on that time period. Because he is known for his heart felt poetry, he most likely felt the war fell into that category.  The emotions are deeply revealed from each character and the way Ondaatje expresses them through words is truly beautiful. "All of us, even those with European homes and children in the distance, wished to remove the clothing of our countries. It was a place of faith. We disappeared into landscape.” He must’ve had a desire to write about strong feelings, passion and love’s ability to transcend time and place because those are the main themes of the novel. Although Kip leaves Italy to get married in India, he never loses touch with Hana, and always maintains their connection. The love within this novel is so strong that it transcends death; each character upholds their emotions beyond the grave. Perhaps Ondaatje wanted to prove that time and place are irrelevant to a relationship. 

The English Patient is written in a unique way. The past and present are constantly intertwined; the characters frequently flash back on prior occurrences but also focus on living in the moment. There is not one specific narrator, that way each character has the chance to convey their point of view. The novel opens with Hana, outside her Italian villa in 1945, shortly after the Germans had retreated up the countryside. Before the Germans retreated they left hidden bombs and mines everywhere around the villa, making it incredibly unsafe. The other patients and nurses decide to leave the villa, in search of a safer place, but Hana chooses to stay with her patient. Hana doesn’t know much of anything about the patient she is caring for, other than he has faced a tragedy that now only leaves him with a copy of the history of Herodotus. As Hana and her patient become closer, a man named Caravaggio suddenly shows up at the villa with his hands covered in bandages, in search for Hana. The two begin to reminisce together and grieve over the loss of Patrick. One day while Hana is playing the piano, an Indian Sikh named Kip arrives at the villa, with the hope to stay at the villa to clear all dangers of the hidden bombs. Kip and the English patient immediately grow to be friends. Shortly the Patient reveals his entire story, he was a part of a desert exploration team accompanied by Geoffrey and Katherine Clifton, and his job was to draw maps of the desert. The Patient became infatuated with Katherine and they had a very extreme affair but she abruptly cut it off in 1938, stating that Geoffrey would go crazy if he ever found out. However, Geoffrey had known the entire time, and when WWII broke out Geoffrey attempted to kill all three of them in the plane. Geoffrey dies, Katherine barely survives and from then on the Patient faces many challenges and ends up being captured as a spy but eventually is able to escape. I personally didn’t enjoy the ending because Kip and Hana’s connection was lost when he unexpectedly left, and the letter that Hana wrote to her stepmother about the death of her father was incredibly depressing. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this novel, despite the fact that it took me many attempts to keep reading.

A Phat Gorilla

Ishmael is a novel with a massive telepathic gorilla that teaches an aspiring hero of the world the reason humanity is in decline, and how we are faulted.

Ishmael helps the writer understand how most of us, most of humanity, are all living lives that will destroy the world…but a tiny group of people, a minority, live in connection with earth, and that it is these people who will lead civilization to a bright future.

There are two groups, takers and leavers, essentially and very simply. Takers are a part of the system, a part of the civilized culture. I don’t want to give anything crucial away, as in the truly thought provoking unearthings, because everyone should try and read this book – but the takers think the world was made for the them and therefore can “take” anything from it for themselves. They don’t believe the laws of nature apply to them. As well they think they know what is good and bad, as well as who deserves to live and die. Ishmael states that this thought is the most destructive we could conjure. By believing that we know who should die, asserts that we think of ourselves as god, that we can control life and deserve to do so. And seeing as how the takers have taken over, with the majority of us living with this mindset, the earth and humanity are dying.

The leavers on the other hand believe they are a part of the world and that they are given a beautiful opportunity to live on earth; that we are put here to do justice to mother nature, not take from it what we want like a grocery store. They don’t know how to tell whether someone should die or not or what is good and bad because they are pure. Daniel Quinn uses multiple biblical references to solidify his point, there’s one quote in there that is awesome. ‘Have no care for tomorrow. Don’t worry about whether you’re going to have something to eat. Look at the birds of the air. They neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, but God takes perfect care of them. Don’t you think he’ll do the same for you?”

The leavers believe, also, that each one of us should have to suffer a little bit and we need to take turns because, like the quote above explains, we will be fine, god knows we will be fine and we have to trust in the ways of the world.

When it all comes down to brass tax, the Takers have been destroying the planet out of ignorance, greed, and fear. The main problem, though, is that it’s been going on for so long that we seem blinded to the possibility that there could even be another way to live. It’s been this way for most of humanity and for it to change now would flip over most of what we believe.

“People need more than to be scolded, more than to be made to feel stupid and guilty. They need more than a vision of doom. They need a vision of the world and of themselves that inspires them.”