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| 2017/05/16 14:10:10瀏覽861｜回應0｜推薦3 | |
Writer: Strout was born in a small town in Maine, and raised up in Maine and Durhum. She used to play with other relatives at their dirt road. Both Strout’s parents are professor. After Strout graduated from the law college, she spent one year in Oxford university for law degree. Later she moved to New York as a waitress and start to write novels which always hit the hotpot.
Story:
Lucy who is two daughter’s mom(Christina and Becka), stay 9 weeks in hospital suffering from appendix surgery and fever contamination. Her feeling goes through agonizing, It’s chance to open their heart to speak of their wound. All her family members go through hard time. Lucy’s ancestors not “fly” to USA, but”swim”there, they are fishermen and they were settlers. They are outcasts at anywhere. They move to USA with courage. But it’s a special chance to let her talk with her mom who she hadn’t seen for years. Her father got an affair and went through Vietman syndrome. Failure of the war turns into failure of life. Lucy’s brother is a gay. Before Lucy got out of the hospital, his brother passed away. Her great teacher Mr. Haley leads her a better way to respect people with different colors but her mom just break the rule to look down upon negros. Lucy looked back for all her wound. She got cured by strangers: doctor, nurse. Who she lost the chance to say her deepest gratitude. While Lucy went back to church. She felt accepted. She and her hub William used to help the poor, but her mom take is as bragging. So she gave up donating money and serving food to the poor. After Lucy back from the hospital, she only saw her mom once in nine years. After her mother was ill. Lucy’s turn to see her mom. Her mom wanna her to leave, they didn’t hold any service for her mom. After one year of her mom’s death, her dad suffered from pneumonia and he insisted to die at home. Lucy’s book got good reviews. Her two daughters went to college. Her hub left her. She didn’t take the money he offered her. She only wanted her daughters to have enough and that was agreed upon right away. Lucy married her hub at twenty years old. She didn’t love cook. Her hub who is a Yankee fan, chose a good cook at second marriage. Her second hub who is professional cello playist, loves anything she cooked now. Becka cried Mom out , while she saw the TV about a plane crashing into the World Trade Center. Lucy also remember that Chrissie wish to go back to the original family. Life keep going on. Lucy is a famous novel. But her own novel can’t change any lines any more. Just enjoy the daily fussy life with positive attitude.
Highlights vs self- reflection: 1.p.24”But the book brings me things.. they make me feel not alone 2.p.83”Tennessee Williams wrote that line for Blanche DuBois, I have always depended on the kindness of strangers.” 3.p.95”I think it’s the lowest part of who we are, this need to find someone else to put down.” We only feel better after we find out someone else replace our dark hole.” 4.p.102”He moved his thumb once, as though to brush away a tear. My God, he was kind. He ws kind, kind man. I gave a tiny smile to say thank you, a tiny grimace smile to say that I was sorry. He nodded and said, “You’ll see those kids soon. We’ll get you home with your husband. You’re not going to die on my watch, I promise you. “ And then he made a fist and kissed it, and held it out toward me.” The meaning of strangers are all the angels sent from God. 5.p.115” You’ll get better, and you’ll have some problems in your life. But what matter is, you’ll get better.” 6.p.120” what is it about someone that makes us despise that person, that makes us feel superior” Our superior confidence comes from beating others down and out? It’s not real self confidence, the real confidence is to beat yourself down and out , then find a way out after that. 7.p.121”From being so famous. Think about it: He couldn’t go anywhere.” Anything is a double-edged sword .Every cloud has a sliver lining. A rose has its thorns. 8.p.161”I wrote down things I’d found out in my marriage. I wrote down things I could not say. She read them all and said, Thank you. Lucy . It will be okay.” Words are our best and cozy friends It helps us find our way out. 9.p.162”My parents and my sister and my brother never wrote me, or called me, and when I called them it was always hard; I felt I heard in their voices anger, a habitual resentment, as though they were silently saying You are not one of us, as though I had betrayed them by leaving them.” Silence is so powerful. It says nothing. But also says everything. It’s more difficult to say something beyond words. 10.p.177”…I had to be ruthless to be a writer..” p.178” Look at your life right now. You just went ahead and .. did it….perhaps she meant that I was already ruthless.” The bad trait in the family relationship is a good trait for being a writer. 11.p.119”When I am alone in the apartment these days. Not often, but sometimes, I will say softly out loud,”Mommy!” And I don’t know what it is-if I am calling for my own mother, or if I am hearing Becka’s cry to me that day when she saw the second plane go into the second tower.Both, I think.” On the day when we are in danger, the most person we think of, must be the most meaningful one in our life. 12.p.190”I love him, Mom, but I hope he dies in his sleep and then my stepmom can die too, and you and Dad will get back together.” No matter why people get divorced, kids are innocent. They still missed their only parents. As parents, be careful for your first step to get into having a baby. Golden Sentence: 1.p.24”But the book brings me things.. they make me feel not alone 2.p.73”My heart was with Black Hawk and not with these white people who live on the prairie.” 3.p.77”…I have a tongue in my head, and I used it.” 4.p.90”He was a funny man. He could make the Devil laugh.” 5.p.191”If you turned, the sun setting behind you, the sky in front becoming pink and soft, the slightly blue again, as though it could not stop going oninin tis beauty, the the land closest to the setting sun would get dark, almost black against the orange line of horizon, but if you turn around, the land is still available to the eye with such softness, the few trees, the quiet fields of cover crops already turned, and the sky lilngering, lingering the finally dark. A though the soul can be quiet for those moments…all life amazes me.” Conclusion: 1.We can't bribe the door on your way to the sky. Lucy seems sip a cup of Oolung tea and rewind her life story. Life is weaving with a lot of small warm story and make us be strong. 2.From Claire Fontane: I sat down to write something as a mother and saw this post from the most powerful woman I know, Barbara Fagan, friend and master coach (I had the great good fortune to be trained by her as a coach at SourcePoint.) I love this message! Happy Mothers Day to our beautiful readers and friends! Love is to be with someone you loved or love you to go through down and out 3.All our wounds will be cured by strangers. Love has no reason 4. It’s story about Lucy’s daily life during her appendix surgery. Life is filled with small stuff. Allow to sweat by the little stuff. Cos it’s your own life. 5.Tim is the best doc. No matter how sweat your little stuff is. It cures all.
My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout shared by Peggy Owen My Name is Lucy Barton, by Elizabeth Strout, is a novel that reads like a memoir. The protagonist, Lucy Barton, remains in the hospital for an extended period of time following surgery to remove her appendix. During this time, her husband William arranges a private room for her and pays for her mother to come and visit (a fact that Lucy does not find out until later). Lucy misses her two daughters terribly but is delighted to see her mother, from whom she has been estranged for many years. In the 5 days her mother spends with her, Lucy longs for her mother to tell her that she loves her and to take an interest in her life. Much of the interaction between the two women revolves around stories that Lucy’s mother tells of women in the community in which Lucy grew up. As the story unfolds, the reader is given glimpses of Lucy’s painful childhood, characterized by poverty, abuse and isolation. Even without a strong plot to move the story along, the reader is swept up into Lucy’s life by her memories of her childhood and various relationships, including a teacher, a romantic relationship with a professor, an author, her husband, neighbors and her doctor. What is left unsaid contributes as much to the story as what is said, and leaves the reader to wonder what else might have happened. Throughout the novel, Strout, in addition to communicating the complexity of family relationships, draws in many other relevant issues, such as poverty, child neglect and abuse, war, prejudice, and homosexuality. The author, Elizabeth Strout, is a Pulitzer-prize American novelist from Maine, who currently lives in New York City. After studying law, and practicing for only 6 months, she decided that writing was her first love. Her writing is mainly focused on human experience and flawed characters, often including themes of loneliness, family dynamics and social judgment. In her own words, “It is not ‘good’ or ‘bad’ that interests me as a writer, but the murkiness of human experience and consistent imperfections of our lives.” In looking at evaluations of the book, various themes emerge. According to one critic, the main theme is female identity. Another suggested that it was love and forgiveness. Mother/daughter relationships, the pain of childhood, loneliness, poverty and class are all explored in this short, but beautifully written novel.
Questions: 1. How would you describe the tone of Lucy’s story? How did it make you feel? Lucy is a famous novel. But her novel can’t change any lines any more. Just enjoy the daily fussy life with positive attitude.
2. The author writes in a series of flashbacks and anecdotes, instead of writing chronologically. Why do you think the author chose this style? How did it impact your enjoyment of the book? What though the radiance which was once so bright We can't bribe the door on your way to the sky. Lucy seems sip a cup of Oolung tea and rewind her life story. Life is weaving with a lot of small warm story and make us be strong.
3. Lucy’s mother told stories while she sat with Lucy in the hospital. What might have been her reasons for choosing those particular stories? But it’s a special chance to let her talk with her mom who she hadn’t seen for years. Her father got an affair and went through Vietman syndrome.Failure of the war turns into failure of life. Lucy’s brother is a gay. Before Lucy got out of the hospital, his brother passed away.
4. Describe the relationship between Lucy and her mother. Were there any moments between them that you found particularly moving or shocking? Do you think her mother’s inability to say, “I love you” mattered? How does Lucy’s relationship with her mother impact her own relationship with her daughters? After her mother was ill. Lucy’s turn to see her mom. Her mom wanna her to leave, they didn’t hold any service for her mom. After one year of her mom’s death, her dad suffered from pneumonia and he insisted to die at home. They do love each other by talking about the people around them. And can’t find a better skill to get closer to each other. This problems seems solved with Lucy's own kids.
5. How do the poverty, neglect, and loneliness that Lucy experienced as a child impact the adult she becomes? Lucy’s ancestors not “fly” to USA, but”swim”there, they are fishermen and they were settlers. They are outcasts at anywhere. They move to USA with courage.
6. By the end of the novel, do you think she makes peace with her past? Why or why not? p.177”…I had to be ruthless to be a writer..” p.178” Look at your life right now. You just went ahead and .. did it….perhaps she meant that I was already ruthless.”
7. As you think about the people who were kind to Lucy throughout her life, which of these interactions seemed significant to you? Why? Her great teacher Mr. Haley leads her a better way to respect people with different colors but her mom just break the rule to look down upon negros. Lucy looked back for all her wound. She got cured by strangers: doctor, nurse. Who she lost the chance to say her deepest gratitude.
8. Lucy had a sister and a brother. What role does her brother play in the story? Does Lucy’s lack of closeness to her sister surprise you? Why or why not? Lucy’s brother is a gay. Before Lucy got out of the hospital, his brother passed away. p.177”…I had to be ruthless to be a writer..” p.178” Look at your life right now. You just went ahead and .. did it….perhaps she meant that I was already ruthless.” The bad trait in the family relationship is a good trait for being a writer. p.24”But the book brings me things.. they make me feel not alone p.162”My parents and my sister and my brother never wrote me, or called me, and when I called them it was always hard; I felt I heard in their voices anger, a habitual resentment, as though they were silently saying You are not one of us, as though I had betrayed them by leaving them.” They don’t have good relationship, writing is a way for her to let her feeling go 9. What is your impression of Lucy’s father? Her father got an affair and went through Vietman syndrome. Failure of the war turns into failure of life. 10. What do you think is the main theme of the book? “you must be ready to burn yourself in your own flame;how could you rise anew if you have not first become ashes?”― Friedrich Nietzsche, Thus Spoke Zarathustra p.191”If you turned, the sun setting behind you, the sky in front becoming pink and soft, the slightly blue again, as though it could not stop going oninintis beauty, the the land closest to the setting sun would get dark, almost black against the orange line of horizon, but if you turn around, the land is still available to the eye with such softness, the few trees, the quiet fields of cover crops already turned, and the sky lilngering, lingering the finally dark. A though the soul can be quiet for those moments…all life amazes me.”
Do not stand at my grave and weep
Related Reading: 1.Elizabeth Strout: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Strout 2. Harry Styles - Sign of the Times 時代的標誌: http://lonlyapple.pixnet.net/blog/post/341183610-harry-styles---sign-of-the-times-%E6%99%82%E4%BB%A3%E7%9A%84%E6%A8%99%E8%AA%8C 3.the merchant of Venice”tongue in my head”: http://nfs.sparknotes.com/merchant/page_58.html http://dict.zhuaniao.com/en/have+a+tongue+in+one's+head/ 4.Tenness Williams: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tennessee_Williams 5.Blanche DuBois: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blanche_DuBois 6.Vietnam syndrome: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam_Syndrome 7.Tupelo: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tupelo,_Mississippi 8.Aryan: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aryan 9.Don’t sweat the little stuff: http://myuclover.tian.yam.com/posts/48724142 10.Zarathustra: https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/196327-also-sprach-zarathustra 11.nervous breakdown: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mental_breakdown 12.I am thousand wind: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-j_2bc8z18 13.Resume vs last words: http://newsblog.chinatimes.com/sow/archive/60162 14. story about “I am thousand wind”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBJo89LDCTM 15.do not stand at my grave and weep: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBJo89LDCTM 16.do not stand at my grave and weep lyric: https://www.poemhunter.com/poem/do-not-stand-at-my-grave-and-weep/
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