Loved this story, I also saw the short movie in the 80’s. Ray Bradbury had a science fiction show called Ray Bradbury Theatre. It was a bit scary and suspenseful. The ending was unexpected. Time travel stories are always my favorite. They all follow the same theory that when people go back in time they shouldn’t disturb anything because it may have grave effects on future events. Good storyline even though the main character got what was coming to him.
Author: renee
The Sandkings story was creepy, and horrifying. I got the chills while I was reading it. There was nothing in this story that I enjoyed. From the very beginning of the story I noticed that the main character Simon Kress was a sick and demented piece of crap. His strange need for lifeforms was disgusting. The whole story got on my nerves. He didin’t listen to any of Jala Wos instructions when handling the Sandkings. His total disregard for them was unbelievable. He is a sadist who gets off on the injuring of animals and things smaller than himself. I hated this character so much I didn’t even want to read any further.
However, I continued on. The sick war game parties, the puppy, his anger and madness at the Sandkings when they created a twisted version of his face all indicated that this man was a psycho. He was so busy trying to be in control that he didn’t even realize how out of control he really was.
The dismememberment of Cath was tormenting to read. The only satisfaction I got from this story was seeing him get what he deserved. The ending was also disturbing. The little orange ones all having his face was too much for me.
I guess George R.R. Martin achieved his goal in writing this creepy tale, I was very scared and nervous by my reading of it. As much as I wanted to stop reading it was as much as I wanted to continue to see what happens next. That’s what good writing is all about, taking the reader on a journey.
Tim O’Brien’s story, “The Things We Carrried” is very sad in a way. The Vietnam War used young men to go into war. None of them were mature enough to handle the emotional scars this war would leave. In my research I read that Tim O’Brien did an interview where he tells that he was an actual soldier in the Vietnam War. He stated that, “we all carry physical burdens and spiritual and mental ones, and he wanted to convey that in this story.
O’Briens use of tangible and intangible things was interesting. All the soldiers were carrying their own burdens , aside from the physical load that all soldiers must carry to survive. each soldiers carry was unique to him, just as his mental burdens were personal to himself also.
I liked that O’Brien used lots of juxtapositions. It made the story better. It was easy to see things as a reader from the writers point of view. One example of O’Briens use of a juxtaposition was, the soldier Kiowa. He carried a bible but also carried his grandfathers old hatchet. the Bible representing a symbol of peace and love and the hatchet was a weapon that was a symbol of violence. These items were tangible. Kiowa also carried something intangible, which was his distrust of the white man.
Overall, I thought this story was interesting.
Renee Mans.
This Blessed House was a marvelous story. I can read this again and again. Twinkle and Sanjiv are hilarious together. This sweet little story tells of two people starting their lives together and getting to know each others personalities. The thing I enjoyed most was that even though they were arranged by matchmakers, they were just like any other couple with flaws and querks that each had to get used to. Twinkle knew how to handle Sanjiv with patience, because Sanjiv was a person who worried about everything. Twinkle was a care free spirit. Throughout the story the couple has various disagreements about whether or not to rid their home of the religious items that kept popping up. I sensed that Twinkle always knew she would have her way with her new husband.
Sanjiv had no more experience being married either, and it showed. I laughed so many times reading his ridiculous comments about the religious artifacts. However much he complained, Twinkle paid him no mind. That was funny to me. I really like his submission to her at the end. I guess the saying is true, “A happy woman makes a happy home”. This Sanjiv knew for sure.
I enjoyed reading The Yellow Wall Paper. I also enjoyed the classroom discussion and the exchange of ideas of the reading. There was miles of ambiguity to this story. So much to draw from and ideas. I believe the woman in the story was mentally ill in some way. She may have been driven to her mental state by some circumstance the reader doesn’t know, or perhaps her husband has convinced her of it, or the other thought could be the medications could be causing her to hallucinate.
The story is still very interesting whatever conclusion a reader derives from it.
The contrast in the story as I viewed it was while she had a distaste for the wall paper she is getting some level of pleasure from her study of it.
She is like a great deal of women in life. Some are trapped in their circumstances and don’t really know how to get out. While she is physically in a room she doesn’t desire, some women are trapped by their mentally, perhaps not having the mental strength to get out of their situation,
My opinion about her husband is a strong one. I can think of many negative adjectives to describe him but, right now I will simply say he seems extremely selfish to no end. Why has he locked her away in this child like room? After all she is his wife. Even if she has some mental issues why are they not sleeping in the same room or the same bed for that matter? My thought is he really doesn’t love her the way a husband should. I will go so far as to say even the patient doctor relationship is a mess. This woman has no support network. No one to rise up and advocate on her behalf. So sad. This poor woman is in a somewhat abusive situation at the hand of her”husband/doctor”. Shes being told how to live her own life!
However depressing her situation or the story, it is a good read and one to ponder about the way women have been treated and dismissed in society over history and to the present day.
Renee Mans.
