I thought that this book was extremely interesting. I was very pleased with the way it was written and I thought that the main character, Zahra, was incredible in the story. She started out with nothing left of life and turned it into something worth while.
She not only was divorced, which was something that was considered bad by her society. But she recreated a life for herself. She began to learn how to get by and not depend on anyone but herself. It goes back to the days when her husband was in prison and how she risked her life to help with an escape for a convict. And how she did other things that were dangerous but I think it helped shape who she was today.
I think that she is better off without her husband. To me it sounds as if he held her back in life. And they were in a loveless relationship that was unfullfilling. I am glad that her husband asked her for the divorce. It helped her become a more independent woman. And it reminds me of my mom and how she and my dad are getting a divorce and how it has turned our family and our world upside down yet it has made her a happier person and I'm glad for that. I truly believe this story is something that any women should read. Marriage and men aren't always lasting but the choices you make in life help build who you are today.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Year of the Elephant
A House In The Woods:
I thought that this story was a lot like my childhood. I have two older sisters and they would always boss me around and we all used to play in the woods and try and build stuff. I thought it was funny how they are builing a house and by the end of the story the house is destroyed. I remember one time when me and my sisters tried to build a teepee out of sticks and by the next day it had fallen down and we moved on to other things. I also was wondering who the man was in the story. It could possibly be a relative, looking after the girls. At least that's what I thought.
A Vacation:
In this story it talks about these two cousins who can't stand each other and end up locked in a cellar together. And Roukia get's scared while in the cellar, whereas her cousin gets hungry. And once she finds something to eat she somehow gets a chick pea lodged up her nostril. Finally a woman finds them and they go back to the house. And they give the cousin sneezing powder and she gets the pea out of her nose and starts crying and wants to go home. If I were her I would want to go home to after being with that crazy family.
The Discontented:
This story reminded me a lot of how many people are unhappy with their lives. The official was going to help the custodian get a better job, but in the end the custodian ended up not taking the job. If I were the official I would have been mad at the custodian for turning down the job last minute. I think that's why at the end of the story he is so angry.
Divorce:
I felt sorry for the emaciated man's wife in this story. He not only acts depressed all of the time but he also is a bitter man. He is unhappy with his life, with his wife and also how his father treated him. If I were the wife I'd be happy at the end when he goes and files for divorce.
Silence:
I thought that this was a strange story. These two sisters are living with each other and they hate each other. The first sister got married to the second sisters husband. The first woman picked up her sister from the hospital because she was ill and brought her to her house. The second woman gets into it with her sister and ends up leaving and dying. And the first woman ends up getting a telegram that her sister is dead and she is happy about it. I would have hated to be the second woman because she not only was shamed with being a divorcee but her ex married her sister.
Dinner in the Black Market:
This story is about a woman who ends up jipping a couple that goes to her house for dinner. She takes all of their money and their cigarettes. She fooled them all by being a hostess and then taking all of their money. I thought it was funny that the she had everyone fooled about who she was. What's crazy is that there are so many schemes out there these days and you can never really trust anyone.
The Stranger:
I thought that this was the strangest of all the short stories. I was confused why this man, Aziz, at the end of the story goes home and why his old 'caretaker' or I guess you could say babysitter? ignores the fact that he's come home after she goes to talk to his mother. And comes back and tells him that Aziz died 30 years ago. I thought this was strange. I'm not to sure what really happened and if that was really Yasmine from his childhood, why did she ignore him?
Out of Work:
I thought that it was great that when this man is suddenly out of work he gets to rediscover his city. A lot of people's lives are so fast pace now that they don't have time to stop and smell the roses.
Year of the Elephant (First two chapters):
I thought that the first two chapters of this book took some getting used to. At first it was hard for me to follow along with the story line but I eventually began to understand it. The story sort of jumps around from time periods, showing flashbacks or memories of her former life and life before her divorce and life as a child growing up in a small little town.
I thought that this story was a lot like my childhood. I have two older sisters and they would always boss me around and we all used to play in the woods and try and build stuff. I thought it was funny how they are builing a house and by the end of the story the house is destroyed. I remember one time when me and my sisters tried to build a teepee out of sticks and by the next day it had fallen down and we moved on to other things. I also was wondering who the man was in the story. It could possibly be a relative, looking after the girls. At least that's what I thought.
A Vacation:
In this story it talks about these two cousins who can't stand each other and end up locked in a cellar together. And Roukia get's scared while in the cellar, whereas her cousin gets hungry. And once she finds something to eat she somehow gets a chick pea lodged up her nostril. Finally a woman finds them and they go back to the house. And they give the cousin sneezing powder and she gets the pea out of her nose and starts crying and wants to go home. If I were her I would want to go home to after being with that crazy family.
The Discontented:
This story reminded me a lot of how many people are unhappy with their lives. The official was going to help the custodian get a better job, but in the end the custodian ended up not taking the job. If I were the official I would have been mad at the custodian for turning down the job last minute. I think that's why at the end of the story he is so angry.
Divorce:
I felt sorry for the emaciated man's wife in this story. He not only acts depressed all of the time but he also is a bitter man. He is unhappy with his life, with his wife and also how his father treated him. If I were the wife I'd be happy at the end when he goes and files for divorce.
Silence:
I thought that this was a strange story. These two sisters are living with each other and they hate each other. The first sister got married to the second sisters husband. The first woman picked up her sister from the hospital because she was ill and brought her to her house. The second woman gets into it with her sister and ends up leaving and dying. And the first woman ends up getting a telegram that her sister is dead and she is happy about it. I would have hated to be the second woman because she not only was shamed with being a divorcee but her ex married her sister.
Dinner in the Black Market:
This story is about a woman who ends up jipping a couple that goes to her house for dinner. She takes all of their money and their cigarettes. She fooled them all by being a hostess and then taking all of their money. I thought it was funny that the she had everyone fooled about who she was. What's crazy is that there are so many schemes out there these days and you can never really trust anyone.
The Stranger:
I thought that this was the strangest of all the short stories. I was confused why this man, Aziz, at the end of the story goes home and why his old 'caretaker' or I guess you could say babysitter? ignores the fact that he's come home after she goes to talk to his mother. And comes back and tells him that Aziz died 30 years ago. I thought this was strange. I'm not to sure what really happened and if that was really Yasmine from his childhood, why did she ignore him?
Out of Work:
I thought that it was great that when this man is suddenly out of work he gets to rediscover his city. A lot of people's lives are so fast pace now that they don't have time to stop and smell the roses.
Year of the Elephant (First two chapters):
I thought that the first two chapters of this book took some getting used to. At first it was hard for me to follow along with the story line but I eventually began to understand it. The story sort of jumps around from time periods, showing flashbacks or memories of her former life and life before her divorce and life as a child growing up in a small little town.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
The Marsh Part 2
I thought that the end of The Marsh was wierd. I began to get confused about what was real and what was just a hallucinatory fantasy. I understood the first 12 chapters and it seemed as the story went on the more confusing it began. In chapter 13 he goes to the river and sees a motor boat and gets on the platform it is tied to and rocks it but then a family comes and takes a ride and has to pay fifteen tomans. And the ride only lasts a short amount of time and when the narrator asks the boy if he could take him a little further the boy refuses. I understood why the boy would refuse because the water was too shallow and if he tried his boat would get stuck. So he did not take a boat ride.
Next the narrator has another dream about his father and he dreams that he is in a row boat with his father and Mr. Golchin, his fourth grade teacher. They are headed for the marsh and so he jumps out of the boat at the very end to avoid going there all the while it being a dream. He wakes up to hitting his head on the corner of the table in the living room of his former aunt's house. Then he tells his wife about his dream and she falls asleep in the middle of his description.
After that night all he does is dream of his father and you never know if he is living in the present or simply in a dream. He begins to see his father at his shop and at his house that he has with Hamid and Khashayar and he starts to see him everywhere.
He then goes to his elementary school to find out about Mr. Golchin and figure out why he also keeps appearing in his dreams. At the school he finds out from the secretary that Mr. Golchin drowned in the river. And he also finds out that he was the swimming champion of Isfahan.
As the story goes on he ends up divorcing his wife/cousin and gives her the shop for a price and moves back in with his two roommates. He keeps seeing his father everywhere and you never know if he's just gone crazy or if he is hallucinating or if his father is really there. I thought that the end was odd, because it sounds like he goes into the river and ends up drowning. Overall I thought the more you read the more confusing it became. I'm not sure if I really like this story at all. It just got to confusing and jumbled and became like a puzzle that had missing pieces and I'm not sure if sense could be made out of this.
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