A Review of "The Fly" by Katherine Mansfield

"The Fly" is told in two sections, in the point of view of "the boss", the main character who lost his only son in World War I. The story starts off when "old Woodifield" comes to visit the boss to tell him about how Woodifield's daughters went to visit the grave of Woodifield's son, which so happens to be next to the grave of the boss' son. He tells the boss about how the graves are well kept, and they share some whiskey. When the friend leaves, the boss tells his office messenger to give him 30 minutes alone, and he tries to mourn over his son by crying, but the tears don't come. By then, he sees a fly in his inkpot, and places it on a piece of blotting paper. He procedes to torture the fly by dropping a blot of ink on the fly every time the fly seems to have freed itself from the liquid, crushing its hope to become liberated. He repeats this procedure until the fly dies, and feels miserable because of it. He tries to recall what he was thinking of before he saw the fly, but could not remember.

I thought this story was quite ironic in different ways--partially because "the boss" couldn't remember what he was thinking of before he killed the fly, even when he felt superior to Old Woodifield because the latter couldn't remember his own story about his daughters' visit to the cemetery; but also partially because the name "the boss" brings about an assumption of control, but the boss does not have such control as his son's death ruined his plans of establishing a business for his son to take over in the future. Overall, I felt like this story was rather tragic, as the father was not able to mourn over his son (tears could not come to his eyes), but instead was able to torture a living being, and end up taking its life.

Cat in the Rain - Ernest Hemingway

          Cat in the Rain by Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961) tells the story of an American couple on vacation in Italy. Hemingway describes the hotel as "facing the sea" and the "public garden and war monument". It is raining, and the couple are in their room. The husband is reading on the bed when his wife looks out the window and spots a cat under a bench in the garden, she was desperate to go and save it as it “was trying to make herself so compact she would not be dripped on". She made her way down to the lobby and was greeted by the hotel keeper, who she took very much interest in. Hemingway emphasised that she really "likes" the hotel keeper by saying the wife "She liked his dignity. She liked the way he served her" etc. The innkeeper sent the maid who looks after their room to shade her under an umbrella and lead her out into the garden, the wife was surprised to find that the cat had disappeared from under the bench. She makes her way back to her room and proceeds to have a one sided conversation with her husband. She asks him for his opinion on her growing out her hair and emphasises on the fact that she wants a cat, and what she wants in her life that she doesn't have. He does not pay much attention to her and she says "I want a cat, I want a cat now. If I can't have long hair or any fun, I can have a cat." He continues to read when suddenly there was a knock on the door, the maid appears with a tortoiseshell cat in her arms and says "the padrone asked me to bring this for the Signora." 

          I don't believe this story was supposed to be mysterious, however, the ending was quite abrupt and suggests a deeper meaning behind the action of giving her the cat. Judging by the relationship of the husband and wife, both their life and relationship had never been stable, as the wife always felt lonely- even ignored, because she said that she wanted a "kitty to sit on [her] lap", and have "a table with [her] own silver...candles" suggests that they had never really settled down in one place, and have always been traveling. I quite enjoyed this short story as it depicted the simple selfishness on both sides of the relationship, and the gradual immaturity of the wife (from "woman" to "girl" and "cat to kitty"). The ending also intrigues me, as it remains ambiguous and does not tell us the reason behind the gesture and what her reaction is. 

A Small Good Thing

Although the story title leads one to believe the book is a happy piece of writing. The book is sad and bleak, with a young boy dying due to a car accident. I found the story quite and scattered and random, with a poorly developed story line. The ending didn't make much sense to me, as a baker blames himself for nothing and offers food to the couple with their lost child. Perhaps there is some deeper meaning to the story which I don't quite understand, but the entire plot seems irrelevant and meaningless. Although it is written well, with a good sense of narration and character development, I don't think it is a worthwhile read. There is not much to say about this short story, but that it is tragic, and a realistic portrayal of a mundane, undeveloped, real-world story. 

A crying baker

A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings

A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings by Gabriel García Márquez is a story about Pelayo and his wife Elisenda, who find an old man with wings outside their house. They believe that he is an angle and this spread quickly as they kept him in their chicken coop. People started to come to visit and the old man has cured several people's lives. Money for the entrance fee started to pile up in the couple's house as tourist came to visit. This story tells the cruelty that humans would do to benefit themselves. This story gets you thinking and is interesting in many ways.

My favourite e.e cummings poem

i like my body when it is with your

by e. e. cummings

i like my body when it is with your
body. it is so quite new a thing.
muscles better and nerves more.
i like your body. i like what it does,
i like its hows. i like to feel the spine
of your body and its bones, and the trembling
-firm-smooth ness and which i will
again and again and again
kiss,  i like kissing this and that of you,
i like, slowly stroking the, shocking fuzz
of your electric fur, and what-is-it comes
over parting flesh… and eyes big love-crumbs,

and possibly i like the thrill

of under me you so quite new

e.e cummings poems are all so exciting and this one is no exception. This poem "I like my body when it is with your" is obviously about sex, but it describes it so beautifully gracefully which is why it is one of my favourite e.e cumming poem.

If

If freckles were lovely, and day was night,
And measles were nice and a lie warn’t a lie,
Life would be delight,—
But things couldn’t go right
For in such a sad plight
I wouldn’t be I.

If earth was heaven and now was hence,
And past was present, and false was true,
There might be some sense
But I’d be in suspense
For on such a pretense
You wouldn’t be you.

If fear was plucky, and globes were square,
And dirt was cleanly and tears were glee
Things would seem fair,—
Yet they’d all despair,
For if here was there
We wouldn’t be we.

If (take note of the rare capitol letter used) is a short and bittersweet poem that really make you think . The stanzas all begin with comparing negatives and saying if only they were positives everything would be good, but they all end on a realistic note on how nothing can be perfect because humans are all imperfect. What would we become without our imperfections? Robots!

3 Favourite Words

Kwashiorkor

A disease caused by protein deficiency, which originates from a local word in Ghana. Symptoms of this disease include swellen belly and skinny legs.  I like the sound of this word because it has quiet a few rs. Due to its special pronunciation, I found myself remembering it very easily when I learnt this word in Biology.

Hamachi

Hamachi is a type of fish used in Japanese cuisine. I like this word because I really like the fish itself, and also because of the fact that it is the first Japanese word that I learnt when I first travelled to Japan.

Moisture

I like the feeling of this word: a bit of moisture in the sizzling summer, like a cool and damp wind in the hot weather. It also reminds me of the cool feeling of water running down my throat, freshening up my mind. I also like how this word sounds, with an o shape in the middle when you pronounce it.

Story Song

Song Name: En Cambio No/ Instead No

Performed by: Laura Pausini

Written by: Laura Pausini

The official music video can be watched here: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-3h5fGyT5o

Story:

The song is about how a military veteran came back from war and had been diagnosed with PTSD. His lover, whom he had been together with before he went away, tries to help him through the process of recovery and although it is progressing very slowly, she stays by his side and waits for him to come back to her. 

My Spanish teacher introduced the song to me when we were back in year 7. He asked us to describe the story that the song was telling, in Spanish and since that was my very first year of learning the language and therefore I experienced some difficulties when doing the exercise, that made it especially memorable.

Lyrics:

En Cambio No

Original Lyrics (In Spanish)

Quizás bastaba respirar, Solo respirar muy lento

Recuperar cada latido en mi

y no tienes sentido ahora que no estas,

ahora donde estas, porque yo no puedo acostumbrarme aun

diciembre ya llego, No estas aquí yo te esperare hasta el fin,

En cambio no, hoy no hay tiempo de explicarte

y preguntar si te ame lo suficiente

yo estoy aquí y quiero hablarte ahora, ahora.

Porque se rompen en mis dientes,

las cosas importantes,

esas palabras que nunca escucharas

y las sumerjo en un lamento haciéndolas salir

son todas para ti, una por una aquí.

Las sientes.. ya besan y se posaran entre nosotros dos,

si me faltas tú, no las puedo repetir, no las puedo pronunciar

En cambio no me llueven los recuerdos

de aquellos días que corríamos al viento

quiero soñar que puedo hablarte ahora, ahora

En cambio no, hoy no, hay tiempo de explicarte

También tenía ya mil cosas que contarte

y frente a mi, mil cosas que me arrastran junto a ti.

Quizás bastaba respirar,

solo respirar muy lento.

Hoy es parte, hoy en cambio, no.

English Translation: 

Maybe it would have been enough just to breath, Just breath very slowly
Recover every throb of me
and it has no sense now that you're not here,
wherever you are, because I can't get used to yet
December has come, You are not here..I'll wait for you 'till the end,

But instead no, today I have no time to explain
or ask if I loved you enough
I am here and I want to talk to you right now, right now.

Because are breaking between my tooth ,
the important thoughts
those words that you will never listen
and I crowd them in a lamentation making them go out
are all for you, one by one here
You feel them...are already kissing and will be put between us
Yes,I miss you, I can't repeat them, I can't pronounce them

Instead my memories do not take me
to those days, when we were following the wind
I want to dream that I can talk to you right now, right now

But instead no,today I have no time to explain you
I already had a lot of things to tell you
and in my face,a lot of things that are bringing me close to you

Maybe it would have been enough just to breath,
Just breath very slowly
Today is a part, today instead no...

Favourite Poem by e e cummings

I was introduced to this poem a few weeks ago at my school's poetry café, the friend who read it spoke with great excitement and slyness, which is one of the reasons I find this poem so interesting to read, it's so satirique  

Humanity I Love You

Humanity i love you
because you would rather black the boots of
success than enquire whose soul dangles from his
watch-chain which would be embarrassing for both

parties and because you
unflinchingly applaud all
songs containing the words country home and
mother when sung at the old howard

Humanity i love you because
when you’re hard up you pawn your
intelligence to buy a drink and when
you’re flush pride keeps

you from the pawn shop and
because you are continually committing
nuisances but more
especially in your own house

Humanity i love you because you
are perpetually putting the secret of
life in your pants and forgetting
it’s there and sitting down

on it
and because you are
forever making poems in the lap
of death Humanity

i hate you

Story Song: Love Vigilantes

Love Vigilantes, which is originally by New Order, but was covered by Iron and Wine, is a beautiful but sad song regarding how a soldier longs for home, and when he does go home, he finds out that he died during the war from a telegram his wife held as she cried. The first time I heard this song was when I was watching an episode from the TV show House, and this song began to play during the end of the episode. When I first heard it, I was quite taken by the lyrics and the beautiful way the guitar and voice accompanied one another, so I decided to look it up. I really enjoy how the song is emotional, but expresses it in a very simple way. The song is soft, and it carries quite a heavy story with it. It is a good song.

Link to: Lyrics
Link to Audio
Live Performance Video:

E E Cummings - If

If by E E Cummings

If freckles were lovely, and day was night,
And measles were nice and a lie warn’t a lie,
Life would be delight,—
But things couldn’t go right
For in such a sad plight
I wouldn’t be I.

If earth was heaven and now was hence,
And past was present, and false was true,
There might be some sense
But I’d be in suspense
For on such a pretense
You wouldn’t be you.

If fear was plucky, and globes were square,
And dirt was cleanly and tears were glee
Things would seem fair,—
Yet they’d all despair,
For if here was there
We wouldn’t be we.


I like this poem, because I agree with the message it's giving. If all the bad things in life were good, then the world would be a better place, yet everything will change and we won't be ourselves anymore. It is very true, because if everything went right, then life would be really boring and there won't be any point in life.

Favourite Story Song - Don't Cry by Guns N' Roses

"Don't Cry"

Talk to me softly
There's something in your eyes
Don't hang your head in sorrow
And please don't cry
I know how you feel inside I've
I've been there before
Somethin's changin' inside you
And don't you know

Don't you cry tonight
I still love you baby
Don't you cry tonight
Don't you cry tonight
There's a heaven above you baby
And don't you cry tonight

Give me a whisper
And give me a sigh
Give me a kiss before you
tell me goodbye
Don't you take it so hard now
And please don't take it so bad
I'll still be thinkin' of you
And the times we had...baby

And don't you cry tonight
Don't you cry tonight
Don't you cry tonight
There's a heaven above you baby
And don't you cry tonight

And please remember that I never lied
And please remember
how I felt inside now honey
You gotta make it your own way
But you'll be alright now sugar
You'll feel better tomorrow
Come the morning light now baby

And don't you cry tonight
An don't you cry tonight
An don't you cry tonight
There's a heaven above you baby
And don't you cry
Don't you ever cry
Don't you cry tonight
Baby maybe someday
Don't you cry
Don't you ever cry
Don't you cry
Tonight

 Don't Cry by Guns N' Roses is often considered as the first part to the "Illusion Trilogy", which came out in 1991. The song itself however, appeared as early as 1985. It depicts the story of a guy recalling his break up with his girlfriend, and the many emotional struggles that he has been facing since then. In the video, these emotional struggles are represented by demons that the main character Axl (the vocalist of the band) has been fighting for years. There was a scene that shows Axl driving a car and falling off the cliff with his girlfriend (who died). Axl continued to sing as he jumped off the car. Another scene shows Axl drowning in water, and being confronted by both the past and future version of himself. The grave that appeared at the end of the video represents the fact that Axl has finally got over with all the emotional struggles. The baby that appeared both at the end and start of the video symbolises rebirth. 

 When I first listened to the song, it was rather the music then the video that got me into it. I liked the sad and melancholic feeling of the song in particular, which gives makes me feel tranquil within. I would listen to this song when I am upset, to tell myself not to cry. Apart from the thoughtfulness demonstrated in the music video, I really enjoyed the harmony of this song, which always seemed to take me away to a remote place every time I listen to it. Even though this may not be one of the most famous songs of Guns N' Roses, it is my favourite rock song / slow rock.

A Story Song: Simon & Garfunkel's "Save the Life of My Child"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=miVs2bRqFlM

Simon & Garfunkel's "Save the Life of My Child"is a story about how a boy was sitting on the ledge of a building looking like he was ready to commit suicide. People start converging underneath the building, and they all--including the cops--were sure that he would jump off the ledge, as the "kids these days"are becoming more and more disrespectful and don't value life as they should. The mother is "heard" throughout the song by her wail "save the life of my child", which also becomes the "catchphrase" in this piece of music. At the end of the tale, however, the boy surprises all by not jumping, and instead, he says "oh, my grace, I got no hiding place", and leaves the spotlight of attention.

Save the Life of My Child
"Good God! Don't jump!" 
A boy sat on the ledge 
An old man who had fainted was revived 
And everyone agreed 'twould be a miracle indeed 
If the boy survived

"Save the life of my child!" 
Cried the desperate mother

The woman from the supermarket 
Ran to call the cops 
"He must be high on something" someone said 
Though it never made The New York Times 
In The Daily News, the caption read

"Save the life of my child!" 
Cried the desperate mother

(Hello darkness, my old friend 
I've come to talk with you again)

A patrol car passing by 
Halted to a stop 
Said officer MacDougal in dismay: 
"The force can't do a decent job 
'Cause the kids got no respect 
For the law today (and blah blah blah)"

"Save the life of my child!" 
Cried the desperate mother

"Oh what's becoming of the children?" 
People asking each other

When darkness fell, excitement kissed the crowd 
And it made them wild 
In an atmosphere of freaky holiday 
When the spotlight hit the boy 
And the crowd began to cheer 
He flew away

"Oh, my Grace, I got no hiding place"

Getting to know E.E. Cummings

I Will Wade Out

i will wade out

                        till my thighs are steeped in burning flowers

I will take the sun in my mouth

and leap into the ripe air

                                       Alive

                                                 with closed eyes

to dash against darkness

                                       in the sleeping curves of my body

Shall enter fingers of smooth mastery

with chasteness of sea-girls

                                            Will i complete the mystery

                                            of my flesh

I will rise

               After a thousand years

lipping

flowers

             And set my teeth in the silver of the moon

I really like this poem because by only reading from the title, you would think that it is talking about wading out to the sea. However, as I read on, I realize that it is actually about how a type of person and in what way do they want to live. To E. E. Cummings, it is about spontaneity and living with the waves of nature. The lines of the poem are indented to resemble the shapes of waves, which adds to theme. There are a few oxymorons and visual effects in the lines: 'burning flowers' and 'sleeping curves'. I think that the poet is trying to reclaim himself in the process of this poem and I really enjoy reading it.

3 Favorite Words

1. Procrastination - It's a really long word that sounds very technical, yet it just means to do things later. I like it because it sounds so formal when its not, and it's a bad habit that many people have, including me.

2. Abibliophobia - It means the fear of running out of reading material, which is a fear I will never have. It sounds really funny and strange, because of all the "bi"s. I didn't even know this type of phobia existed until I found this word.

3. Doozy - It means something outstanding and unique. It sounds like a silly word, because it has the "zy" sound.

Favorite Poem - Enrique

My favorite poem is something that changes quite regularly, as I read more poetry and discover new poets. But currently, my favorite poem is Widow, by Sylvia Plath. The poem beautifully conveys the sense of weakness and sorrow that a woman who loses her husband feels. The poem also uses incredibly vivid imagery that emphasizes the emotion in the story.

-------------
Widow
by Sylvia Plath

Widow. The word consumes itself —-
Body, a sheet of newsprint on the fire
Levitating a numb minute in the updraft
Over the scalding, red topography
That will put her heart out like an only eye.

Widow. The dead syllable, with its shadow
Of an echo, exposes the panel in the wall
Behind which the secret passages lies—stale air,
Fusty remembrances, the coiled-spring stair
That opens at the top onto nothing at all….

Widow. The bitter spider sits
And sits in the center of her loveless spokes.
Death is the dress she wears, her hat and collar.
The moth-face of her husband, moonwhite and ill,
Circles her like a prey she'd love to kill

A second time, to have him near again —-
A paper image to lay against her heart
The way she laid his letters, till they grew warm
And seemed to give her warmth, like a live skin.
But it is she who is paper now, warmed by no one.

Widow: that great, vacant estate!
The voice of God is full of draftiness,
Promising simply the hard stars, the space
Of immortal blankness between stars
And no bodies, singing like arrows up to heaven.

Widow, the compassionate trees bend in,
The trees of loneliness, the trees of mourning.
They stand like shadows about the green landscape —-
Or even like black holes cut out of it.
A widow resembles them, a shadow-thing,

Hand folding hand, and nothing in between.
A bodiless soul could pass another soul
In this clear air and never notice it —-
One soul pass through the other, frail as smoke
And utterly ignorant of the way it took.

That is the fear she has—the fear
His soul may beat and be beating at her dull sense
Like Blue Mary's angel, dovelike against a pane
Blinded to all but the grey, spiritless room
It looks in on, and must go on looking in on.

Chinglish

My favourite piece of chinglish is by the Finnish communications company Nokia. In a store located in China, the sign say "connocting poopie" instead of "connecting people". I have no idea WHAT went wrong there.

E. E. Cummings - Love is more thicker than forget

love is more thicker than forget

love is more thicker than forget

more thinner than recall

more seldom than a wave is wet

more frequent than to fail

it is most mad and moonly

and less it shall unbe

than all the sea which only

is deeper than the sea

love is less always than to win

less never than alive

less bigger than the least begin

less littler than forgive

it is most sane and sunly

and more it cannot die

than all the sky which only

is higher than the sky

 This poem describes the poet's understanding of love, and the many forms that love can take. In the first stanza, where it states more seldom than a waves is west, more seldom may mean frequent or not seldom. I really like how the first stanza has the same structure as the third stanza, while the second stanza has the same structure as the fourth stanza, and how the poem is filled with contrasts and comparisons. Examples of such include the use of "more" in the first stanza and the use of " less in the third stanza, as well as "it is most mad and moonly" and "it is most sane and sunly". Here the poet compares the two types of love, one is more crazy, and might represent women's love (as indicated by the word "moonly") as well as the more sensible type of love (as indicated by the word "sunly"). However the poet believes that both types of love are really deep and strong. Hence in my opinion "Love is more thicker than forget" is an very interesting poem filled with wordplay that starts off describing the contrasts of love, but concludes that the nature of love is the same, which I think is very true.