log #8

P301~P395 (The end)

      Scoot is angry. He thinks that Rachel set him up. That makes Rachel terrified and gets drunk again. Thus, she can’t remember things clearly. On the other hand, Anna started to suspect his husband Tom. She saw a cell phone in Tom’s bag and she found that the cell phone belongs to another woman-Megan. Moreover, Rachel finds that Tom made her believe her memory is an illusion but that’s not true. She makes sure that Tom was getting into the car with Megan before she died. Rachel goes to find Anna and try to warn her. They compare the things which Tom told to them with each other. Anna found Tom also tells a lot of lie to her and they know Tom is the killer. At the moment, these two women cry together. Finally, Megan revealed the truth. She has Tom’s baby and she wishes Tom can be responsible for her baby. However, Tom doesn’t want to do that and he thinks Megan is a trouble which will ruin his life. Megan curses him and then he killed Megan. Tom confesses that he is the killer but he said that this is all Rachel’s fault. Then, Tom drags Rachel into the kitchen and tries to deal with her. When Tom was speaking, Rachel takes the opportunity to kill him. Anna goes out but she doesn’t try to save Tom. She pokes the weapon deeper into Tom’s body to make sure he can die. In the end, these two women explain to police that Rachel kills him for protecting herself.

The plots which we read this time are very exciting. I finally understand why this novel can be so popular. Personally, I think the topic is not special. There may be other novels are similar which is about a girl is disappeared. But to my mind, the meaning behind this story is more attractive-humanity.

 In this story, the reason why this tragedy is related to betrayal. Tom betrayed Rachel at first; Then, He also betrayed Anna and Megan. Megan betrayed Scoot. Anna betrayed her consciences. When all of the selfishness accumulated, the tragedy happened. In the end of the story, from John’s confession, he said this to Rachel,” Do you have any idea how boring you became, Rachel? How ugly? Too sad to get out of bed in the morning, too tired to take a shower or wash your fucking hair? Jesus, It’s no wonder I lost patience, is it? It’s no wonder I had to look for ways to amuse myself. You’ve no one to blame but yourself.” Besides, He also told to Anna that she has been changed after having a baby. He said,” You were so tired all the time,” he says,” You just weren’t interested. Everything was about the baby. Isn’t that right? It was all about you, wasn’t it? All about you!” When he killed Megan, he said,” Now look. Now look what you made me do.” He never wrong, he attributes every fault to others.

   So, what we can learn from Tom and other women in this story? After I read this story, it happened to resolve a problem on my mind. When I was young, my boyfriend betrayed me. I was very sad and I could not understand why people changed? What’s wrong with me? Why all of the commitments are so unreliable? In this story, I find the answer. People are selfish. Why they change? Do you think the reason is because you become fat, you are not interesting anymore? Maybe that’s all correct. But that is a superficial reason. In fact, you love a man who is selfish and he cares about himself than everything. Anna is also a selfish woman so she knows what a selfish person will do. Therefore, she doesn’t want to become next Rachel or Megan so she helps Rachel killTom.

    To sum up, as I mentioned in log 7. Women’s independence is very important. If a man makes you feel worthless, please cheer up. Think about Rachel. If a man abandons another woman for you, don’t be so happy. He might do it again. Thanks to this story. I feel relief from my past unhappy experience and I’ll always remind myself, “Put the controller in my hand.”

Log# 7

The girl on the train 

P199~300

The truth has been unraveled slowly. The most important one is Megan’s body has been found. Besides, Megan’s marriage is not as happy as it looks like. Except for her husband, Megan has a secret lover and falls in love with her therapist-Karmal. Although Karmal told Megan her love is a kind of transference, he still accepts Megan.After Megan died, Karmal and Scoot are all become the suspects. However, Karmal proves his innocence to police, Scoot can’t. So, Scoot turns to Rachel for help. He tries to clarify what happens when Megan was missing. Rachel couldn’t remember things clearly because she was drunk. Rachel borrowed some money to accepted Karmal’s therapy. She tries to get information from him. Later, the news goes on reported that “Was Megan a child killer?” Megan has been Tom’s nanny , so his new wife Anna is very surprised when she read the news. Rachel found that what she has seen on the train is not true. Megan is not a merely loving wife. Rachel says,” She was a liar, a cheat, she was a killer.” On the other hand, Anna was a mistress before. She gets everything which originally belongs to Rachel: Tom and the house near the train track. Whereas she also found that Tom is a liar. He often tells a lie to her.

     The story becomes more attractive, each character shows more and more their characteristics and their thoughts. Rachel, Megan and Anna, the chain of destiny makes them connected. Actually, their relationship is similar to a food chain. As for love, Anna and Megan are the predators. From this story, I think the most important element is women’s independence. If I could rename the book title, I would say it can be renamed as “Three silly women.” In this book, the chapters are depicted by three different women. From three women’s perspective, we know their love, hate and, etc.

     However, what is love, sometimes, love is like riding a roller coaster. When the love is sweet, the passenger reaches a high point and feels very excited. However, the tricky thing is that you can’t control what position you will be. The controller is in other people’s hand. The three women in this novel they make their life as riding a roller coaster. Rachel started to drink because she’s frustrated by she can’t have a kid. Megan always relies on men to comfort herself. For example, she lost her brother when she was very young; she relied on a man called Mac to forget her sorrow. She says,” I was seventeen. I was with a man who excited me, who adored me. I’d got away from my parent, away from the house where everything, everything, reminded me of my dead brother.” Anna is pathetic because she has her own punishment, she steals other woman’s husband; thus, she also can’t have peace in her mind. She says,” there’s no way I can stay in this house, on this road, knowing everything that has gone on here. Everywhere I look now I have to see not only Rach but Megan, too.” For me, these three women they don’t know they sit on a roller coaster. The are all controlled by others, not by themselves.

    In my opinion, from these three “silly” or “poor” women’s story, I can learn that how important the independence for a woman is. I am not a girl now, so for me, I think what the difference between a woman and a girl is independence. The book title is “The girl on the train.” But actually Rachel is not a girl anymore, but she is still a girl in her mind. She objectifies herself. She let the beauty or the ability to have a baby to define her. Megan depends on her beauty to attract different men to comfort herself. Anna did the same thing and pleases herself by hurting others. They all put their controller in other’s people’s hand. From my perspective, as a woman, we shouldn’t objectify ourselves. We need not be a princess. We needn’t be always pretty and elegant or always cater to other's want. In one’s life, Shit happens. So, avoiding "shit" is more important than other things. We should try hard to put the controller in our hand, not in the "shit men" or other people’s hand.

Log# 6

Group reading

Book title: The girl on the train 

Pages: P91~P196

    As I mentioned last time, at the beginning, the author says: “She’s buried beneath a silver birch tree…” Besides, she also says:” one for sorrow, two for joy,  three for a girl …” So, we can infer that some people died. After I read P91~P197, the author still hasn’t revealed who is the death and the points are focus on the process of the investigation. Rachel is very warm hearted. Since she has peeped Scott and Megan’s life for a long time, she tries to help Scott. Because she believes that Scott must not be the murder. However, her current condition is very bad. Not only because of she divorces, but also because she lost her jobs, lost control sometimes and drinks a lot, thus, people will tend to look down on her or even suspect her that she is the suspect. Nevertheless, even she feels the process to testify is not very comfortable, she still stands out. For one thing, she tries to protect Scott’s innocence. For another thing, she is very curious about this criminal case. On Megan’s part, we know that she has worked in a gallery in the past. She seems very attractive to men, she always accompanied by men who are his husband or not, I’m not sure. In the end of the part, she is talking with Scoot, but after he left, she said: “I feel horrible then, like the worst person in the world. I can’t wait for him to shut the door because I know I am going to cry.” It seems implies she may have extramarital affairs. It also seems like the person is her Psychological counselor Kamal. Rachel tries to tell Scoot that Megan has affairs with other men, but she tells him a lie that she knew Megan. The criminal case is still full of questionable points. 

    After I’ve read more than half of this book, I have some reflections. First, this story is not easily to be understood, but the author uses different characters to tell their own story and details. So I can figure out my questions when I read another person’s Story. I think it’s a very special technique to write a story. We, like the jury, listen to the suspects and victim’s testimonies. For me, that’s interesting. Besides, I like the feeling of peeling the skin of the onion. There are many layers of an onion so we cannot see the core directly. Thus, I feel this story is very similar to an onion. 

    However, what was less effective was when the author makes the story become a little bit tedious. Compare with other novels, they may include some moving plots, however, I still haven’t seen that in this novel. But I have to admit that the story is suspenseful. Besides, I am sympathetic toward Rachel. She said,” Women are still only really valued for two things- their looks and their role as mothers. I’m not beautiful, and I can’t have kids, so what does that make me? Worthless.” Although she has her own problems, she was betrayed by her ex-husband. I know that hurtful. In conclusion, I learned that no matter how beautiful we are, we can’t keep that forever. We should find our own value in our mind not in other people’s eyes. 

Log #5

Group reading

Book title: The girl on the train

Author: Paula Hawkins

Pages: P1~P91

    The girl on the train was written by PULA HA HAWKINS. This is her first thriller. The setting is set in London. The story started by a piece of description: “She buried beneath a silver birch tree, down towards the old train tracks...” Then, the main character is Rachel. The initial date of the first chapter is July 5, 2013. According to Rachel’s description, we know she takes the train every day, and she always cares about what happened outside the window. She loves trains. That’s also why she chose to live nearby a train track in the past. Unlike the normal people who often prefer living in a quiet environment, she likes the rumbling of the low- speed train. She usually observes a young couple who also live nearby the train track when she takes the train, they look like a happy couple. However, she doesn’t live there anymore after her divorce. She lives with a roommate now and obviously she has an alcohol problem. She feels frustrated about her previous marriage and her life. Her husband and his new wife let Rachel reminds a lot of bad memory and becomes very resentful. Another character named Megan. Megan is a married woman, and her husband named Scott. Her new job is a nanny but she decides to quit very soon. She was accepting some therapist. After that, Rachel read news on BBC website- Megan is missing. 

    I enjoyed reading detective novel when I was studying in junior college. After that, most of the time, I didn't read for fun but read for a practical purpose. The reason why I like the detective novel is because that there are often many logical and realistic elements in the story. The story could happen to different kinds of people in different places. In this novel, Rachel is a very realistic character. There is no prince and princess in the story. She is quite a normal person with a failed marriage and a drinking problem. What a real life. Most of us own an ordinary life pattern. But actually, our world is never ordinary. There are always something strange and amazing could be happened. I don’t want to experience them, but I want to peep the different human nature through this novel.

Impressive presentations

1.      Jenny

She was the first speaker, but she seemed calm. For me, it’s easier to understand what she was talking about. She mentioned two books which were: “Lean in” and “Gathering Blue.” I never heard these two books. After her introduction, I liked the positive thoughts behind the stories which were introduced by Jenny. Her presentation was very fluently, and the content also insightful. That made me impressed.

2.      Alice

I am familiar with the book “Still Alice.” I also watched the movie not long ago on TV. Alice introduced the plots clear. We could understand the whole story easily. In my opinion, our classmate Alice is a good speaker. She always has an eye contact and makes her voice loud and clear. She spoke in an easy and pleasant way. I like her presenting style on stage. It seems mature and confident.

3.      Celine, 名雯, Cindy Yen

The first two presenters they all have the same features which can attract their audiences such as beautiful pronunciations and good eye contacts. Cindy Yen was the first speaker today. I can feel that she tried hard to describe her book, so I could have a better understanding of what inside her novel. She also raised her own point of views, although our teacher said that the story may not only about romance and it’s about Nazi which is an excuse of Hanna. That made me more curious about the story , adding more dramatic tensions to this story. As an audience, I felt they all talked in a friendly way and made me had a good comprehension of their reading.    

Actually, there were too many classmates gave us a good presentation. For example, our male classmates they all spoke very well and fluently.  I am encouraged by our classmates’ sharing. Thank you!

Before the flood

My sharing  on 2016/11/07

Title: Before the flood.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UGsRcxaSAI

https://www.beforetheflood.com/

Thank you!!

Vicky 

Log #4

Eat Pray Love  

P146~P250

Before I read this book, I imagined that there must be some interesting guidances of different countries in this novel. I have read many tour guides in the past, so I considered Eat Pray Love must be very similar to a tour guide. It does meet my expectation; furthermore, the depth of her travel reviews beyond my expectation. For example, except for the common trips. The author describes a spiritual journey this time. At the beginning, Liz sets out for Sicily. As usual, she introduces what happens to her. But I think what makes her different is that she does not only depicts her own experience but also introduces the culture and her personal comments. For example, when she travels in Sicily, she talks about the corruptive history in Italy and some features like Mafia. If you think that is what I mean “depth”, of course not, the answer is wrong. Further on, the Italy journey is an appetizer to cure her body. The following India journey is truly a spiritual journey for the author and also for me.

    I didn’t know what meditation is until I read this novel. The author talks about meditation in different chapters. She uses an interesting analogy: “There’s a difference between meditation and prayer, though both practice s seek communion with divine. I’ve heard it said that prayer is the act of talking to God, while meditation is the act of listening.” She has ever asked to herself which one is easier to do. Of course : pray. Also, she adds some medication techniques like one-pointedness. In my opinion, Meditation is a way to find inner peace. Sometimes we have to spend sometimes for ourselves to deal with our sad or angry emotions. I think Liz adopts a very wise way to cure herself.  Seeing that some people suggest her to start another romance to forget the failure experience very soon, but I think that is not the best way to treat a wound. Liz reminds me of my experience. I believe that many people have their own trauma. In my opinion, in order to be rescued, we have to face our error and changed our thought by ourselves. Not only simply by the external help, like another romance or drug abusing. I think meditation is good because it gives us a chance to cultivate a better thinking habit by ourselves not by other people.

    Apart from meditation, there are some Buddhism rituals have been mentioned in the story, and they are also very helpful to find inner peace . For example, chanting, Yoga and doing chores. As Liz said:” Yoga is to find union-between mind and body, between the individual and her God,etc. “This is the first time I know the meaning of Yoga. Besides, the setting of chanting also very special, it’s also very helpful to be calm down and has already been proved by some scientific evidence. It’s a good choice for me or for many people to read this book because the author said that it’s not easy to access Ashram. I feel satisfied because I acquire the knowledge of Yoga, chanting ,and the deeper meaning of doing chores.My favorite part is the motto from Liz's Guru- Instructions for freedom .

Log #3

EAT PRAY LOVE
P95-P146

     After I continued my reading, I found that every chapter resembles a piece of diary. She wrote down everything she has done and how does she feel. So I will summarize the plots I’ve read and also discuss my personal reflection..

    To her eyes, Rome is a city which always keeps her own style. Although the other cities which are all trying to get a powerful position, Rome still is Rome. First of all, she depicts the street scenes, such as the arch or some special areas in Rome. She visits some places such as Piazza del Popolo, Palazzo Porghese and Trastervere. Piazza del Popolo is a place in honor of the historic visit of a Sweden queen, and there is a church can visit. Of course there are some paintings inside the church. Palazzo Borghese is a building, where many celebrities had lived inside. She said that there is a place named Tiber Island which is a very quiet place. In addition, she also mentions a very famous hot spot in Rome which named “Pantheon.” She said,” an old proverb says that anyone who goes to Rome without seeing the Pantheon “goes and comes back an ass.” Then, she continues to introduce a place Augustus’s mausoleum. That building has had an erratic career and let her think about herself.

    Second, the reader is informed about her thought of love. In her journey, she still think of her marriage and talks about her mother and sister’s marriage. From her description, we can find the problem which Liz has in her marriage may also exit in her mother’s marriage; however, her mother made different decision to deal with the same problem. In another section, her sister Catherine nudges Liz attention away from lingering sadness over David. Her sister’s arrival makes Liz’s journey more interesting. She is a good traveler who brings five guidebooks. Catherine is a person who is crazy about knowledge and often has different opinions with Liz. In my opinion, her sister is more optimistic and practical than Liz. In the next part, Liz continues to point out her opinion of having children. She uses her friend as an example to show how miserable when you become a mother. However, she also a little bit envy the stable life which a married woman has like her sister Catherine.


    After my reading this time, I totally agree with my friend’s comment of this book which I have mentioned last time. One of them said it’s difficult, and another said she doesn’t like Liz, she is too self-centered. In the former part, I didn’t have the same feeling but when I read the introduction of the hot spots in Rome. Wow, the words are getting harder and harder. Besides, I do feel Liz shouldn’t keep thinking her marriage. As a reader, the feeling is seems like having been stuck in a corner. It makes me get a headache. Although, I know how hard to get rid of a bad relationship, I still don’t want to read that again and again. I need something more positive and optimistic. My favorite part was the beauty of Rome because that makes me interested and wants to understand the history of European more. In conclusion, I feel a little bit tired to read this time, but I still enjoy it.

Log #2

P 44~95

    In my last reading log is mainly about why Liz made the divorce decision and her inner struggle. After that, Liz set off to Italy, and she describes the entire thing she experience. Since I always bring this novel everywhere, I have met two people who said that she had read this novel. Nevertheless, their opinions are all negative. One said that Liz is too self-centered. Another one said that there are too much unfamiliar words in this book. Whereas, I am not disappointment about this part. I have been to Italy many times. I have my own experiences, so I wonder the author – a western woman’s thought; what’s her experience and what does she think about Italy.

    Firstly, she talks about the depression that she goes through. Some people might feel it’s a kind of unnecessary sentiment or making a fuss. However, I don’t think so. She just divorced. I don’t think we should discriminate those who admit they have some metal issue. We have sun and moon in the world. Therefore, it shows brightness and darkness are all natural things in the world, dark won’t be forever. We should try to sympathize and bright up the people in the the dark corner.

    Furthermore, Liz told that she wants to learn Italian; she thinks that is the most beautiful language in the world. Actually, I bought an Italian-Chinese dictionary many years ago in Italy. That also has been a wish for me. The reason why I wanted to learn Italian is that I loved to travel Italy a lot before, so I hoped to understand Italian better to become a good traveler. Liz has a typical western face, so most people she met in Italy all consider she can speak Italian. However, that;s not true. In order to be good at speaking Italia,she uses the way that exchange language with other people. They teach each other idioms in English and Italian. She also introduces some difference between Italian and English. In the same time, she also made some good friends during the learning process.

    

    Plus, several features are introduced in this section. For example, she introduces food and soccer in Italy. I didn’t study the food culture in Italy so I didn’t understand it much when I was young. From my experience, I saw the yellow lemon everywhere in Italy. I was crazy about that. I love everything with lemon. For example, seafood with lemon juice will be more fresh and delicious. Liz introduces a special dish: intestines of a newborn lamb. I can imagine the taste of dish because I have tasted some dishes in Italy. I like them because I feel that it’s more similar to oriental style food and home cooking. Reading this chapter makes me hungry. Besides, she also talks about the soccer game in Italy. I am not a sport fan, so I don’t know the performance of Italian in world cup football match. From her observation, I think watching the soccer game in Italy must be very exciting.

    

    In conclusion.I am not disappointed about Liz’s Italian journey. I see different things through Liz’ eyes. I learned some Italian and her language learning experience. I also see her interaction with Italian people and know more about their thinking and that increase my knowledge or common sense in the same time. 

Log #1

   Book name: EAT PRAY LOVE
   Author:Elizabeth GILBERT
   Reading log :p1~p44
   

   This book was found in an university library near my home. It categorized as Geography type on the book case. After I read “The New York time’s book review” at the bottom of book cover, I found a lot of interesting thing that I was curious about. Therefore, I chose the book.

   The first interesting thing is about the theme in this novel. According to the book review, the story is about a woman who decided left behind everything to travel in order to examine three different aspects of her nature after she divorce. What’s more, it seems like base on the author’s real experience. I believed many women have some confusion in their life. They may also have the same thought like the author. However few of them can make their thought come true. Honestly, I also have the same idea not long ago. Leave alone without my family or kid, and hope that all of the problems and difficulties will disappear immediately. But after I told the idea to my friend, she just said:” Don’t be silly, you can’t hide and never be found forever.” I think the main difference between the author and I is that I have a kid but the main character has’t. The main character said that she has ever wished to have a kid when she was young, but he

r sister to her: “Having a baby is like getting a tattoo on your face. You really need to be certain it’s what you want before you commit.” That was really a very realistic admonition. She took the advice and wrote down what she experience.

   After I got whole picture of this book, I continued to read the story, the second thing I felt that interesting is the point of view. This story is completely written with a first person perspective. From p1 to p46, It a little bit like read someone’s diary. The author use the pronoun: I. As a result, it easy to read and also easy to have the similar feeling to her. At the beginning she told the feeling and reason why she want to divorce, and then she raised an important question to herself “What do you want to do?” And another question she asks herself is that “ Is this lifetime supposed to be only about duty?” That’s also two questions in my mind, so I got the hook and tried to know more about the story.

   After the questions she asks herself, she has an eager to find a spiritual teacher. The section 8 and section 9 is about pray. The process of divorce is difficult, and some conflict still can’t be resolved. As a result she started to pray. Her petition to god is trying to end all the conflicts in her marriage. At the end of section 9, her petition works, her husband sign her petition, so she brings about her pray. The process of her divorce is very truthfully. Unlike other novels that are a little bit exaggerate. It’s easy understand and easy to get an echo from me.

  I am a practical person, so I am interested this kind of novel which discuss the questions or issues in the real world. I just read the beginning part of story; I hope that the following story will be more interesting.

        

  

My reading historoy

Reading history

     Life is similar to a trip. We have many places to visit. We see different things in different places, and we meet different people in different period. However, we can find that nothing can last forever. A beautiful historic spot may be destroyed by some selfish tourist. Your friends perhaps become your enemies. Not to mention your lover. Ok, you may say, “How about human’s best friend-Dog.” Unfortunately, they have a short life span. Those people we love will leave me one day. But, fortunately, I found a best friend who is always stand by me: Reading. I will briefly introduce how reading becomes my best friend in my childhood, adolescence, and adulthood.

    Reading brings a lot of happiness to my childhood. I was an introvert child.
For example, when I was in kindergarten, I studied in a super big class. If my memory is correct, there were almost 50 kids in a same classroom. All of the props in school were few and kid had to share. When teacher said that: Kids, let’s operate these props. All of the kids swarmed out, so I even couldn’t see the props. I was afraid to join them. I chose to be an outsider to look at them. There was similar situation in my house. I had two siblings. We share few toys. If there was a competition for toys, most of the time, I was a loser. But fortunately, my father was a books lover. There was a large bookcase in my home. My father often bought different kinds of new books. They were so beautiful and smelt good. I always remember the first time I saw the picture books in my home. The color was bright and graceful. I loved those books at my first sight. Unlike the toys, I could get at least one book to read. My siblings and I had a good time to read those new books. My mother sent my sister and brother to learn some interesting talent such as painting or English, but I only got a difficult abacus class. Sometimes, I felt alone, so I started to let myself immersed into the world in the different kinds of story books. The most impressive foreign literature works are “Little Nicholas” and “Mafalda”, these books are very funny and bring a lot of happiness to me.



    My adolescence is a climax of my reading history. As a teenager, I started to face some problems in school and family. I felt stressful and helpless. Novel gave me an exit to the real world. Besides the famous novel of金庸. I also very like a female writer; her name is 亦舒. She didn’t wrote an exaggerate story. The tone in her story always light but give you a space to imagine. When I was a junior high school student, there were few TV programs on TV and no internet. I also read some literature works such as” Gone with the wind”, “Daddy with long legs” and” A lamp in the attic”, Those books actually made me see a different world.

     When I became an adult, reading still by my side. My first formal job was a flight attendant. At that time, I had a fear of loneliness at first. Sometimes I got a jet-lag and stayed at hotel. Therefore, I brought some books when I flew to other countries. However, there are fewer and fewer time to read when I getting older and older. I like to buy books, but I don’t have much time to read them. As a result, they gradually become a decoration on the bookcase.

     Reading is my best friend. Never give up or betray me. However, I leave it alone sometimes. But, I don’t worry about it. Because we will be best friend forever.