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Best Nora Roberts Books: Ranked by Popularity and Romance in Order

2024-08-03T00:37:00.017+06:00

Nora Roberts is a well-known author with over 200 novels and over 500 million copies sold worldwide. She is one of the most popular authors of all time.

Whether you like romance, mystery, suspense, or science fiction, Nora Roberts has a book for you.

This article will highlight the top 10 best Nora Roberts books. These most famous books show her range as a writer and why she is so loved.

From touching love stories to thrilling mysteries, these books show Nora Roberts' talent to entertain all kinds of readers.

Nora Roberts

Nora Robert's Books in Order

If you're a fan of Nora Roberts and want to read her books in order, it can be a bit confusing to figure out where to start.

Roberts has written many books, many of which are part of series or trilogies with their own internal chronology.

Here is a list of Nora Roberts' books in order by series or trilogy, as well as standalone novels:

Bride Quartet Series

You'll love the exciting world of wedding planning.
You can learn about friendship and teamwork.
Discover how to balance work and love.
Enjoy heartwarming love stories with happy endings.
You'll get to know four amazing characters.

Cousins O'Dwyer Trilogy

Learn about magic and witches.
Follow an exciting adventure filled with mystery.
Discover your own hidden powers.
Experience the thrill of a magical world.
Enjoy a story about family and friendship.

Inn BoonsBoro Trilogy

Read about love, loss, and new beginnings.
Discover the magic of small towns.
Learn about history and family secrets.
Enjoy heartwarming stories with happy endings.
Experience the beauty of second chances.

Chesapeake Bay Saga

Learn about life on the water.
Discover the challenges and joys of family.
Follow exciting adventures at sea.
Experience the beauty of nature.
Enjoy heartwarming stories about love and loss.

Circle Trilogy

Enter a world of ancient gods and myths.
Discover how the past connects to the present.
Learn about different cultures and beliefs.
Experience the power of friendship and loyalty.
Follow an exciting adventure filled with mystery.

Key Trilogy

Learn about magic and witches.
Discover the power of friendship and sisterhood.
Follow an exciting adventure to find hidden treasures.
Experience the thrill of a magical world.
Enjoy heartwarming stories about love and family.

These are just a few of the many book series that Nora Roberts has written.

Best Nora Roberts Books Ranked

Here is our list of the best Nora Roberts books, ranked:

Daring to Dream

You will meet three new friends named Margo, Kate, and Laura.
They are trying to figure out what to do with their lives.
The book has a pretty setting and an exciting love story.
The characters are like real people you might know.
It's a fun book that will make you feel happy, sad, and excited.

Holding the Dream

The story of Margo, Kate, and Laura continues.
They face new challenges and problems.
The book is beautifully written and makes you feel strong emotions.
You will learn more about the characters and their lives.
It’s a good book if you liked the first one.

Finding the Dream

This is the final book about Margo, Kate, and Laura.
You will find out what happens to them in the end.
The book has a happy ending and a sweet love story.
The characters grow and change throughout the book.
It’s a satisfying ending to a great story.

Bed of Roses

You will meet two new characters named Mac and Carter.
They have problems from their pasts.
The book is beautifully written and has a lot of feelings.
Mac and Carter try to find love and happiness together.
It’s a book about overcoming challenges and finding love.

Savor the Moment

This book is about two people named Laurel and Del.
They are both busy but start to like each other.
The characters are fun and easy to like.
The book has a pretty setting and a sweet love story.
It’s a happy and comforting book to read.

Happy Ever After

This is the last book about the characters Mac, Emma, Laurel, and Parker.
You will find out how their stories end.
The book has a happy ending and a heartwarming love story.
The characters are like real people you might know.
It’s a satisfying end to a great series of books.

The Next Always

You will meet three brothers named Montgomery.
They are trying to fix up an old hotel.
The book has a pretty setting and sweet love stories.
The characters are fun and easy to like.
It’s a happy and comforting book to read.

We hope that this ranking will provide a helpful guide for readers looking to discover or rediscover Nora Roberts's work.

Top 10 Nora Roberts Books: Romance & Most Popular

1. Vision in White

"Vision in White" is a romance novel by Nora Roberts, published in 2009. It is the first book in the Bride Quartet series.

The plot follows Mackenzie "Mac" Elliot, a wedding photographer, and her three best friends, who all own a wedding planning business together.

Mac is engaged to a successful lawyer but begins to doubt their relationship when she meets Carter Maguire, a charming landscaper who helps her plan a friend's wedding.

As Mac navigates the challenges of planning a wedding and dealing with her own love life, she also must confront the return of her estranged mother and the reappearance of her high school sweetheart.

This book is considered one of Nora Roberts' best works because of its well-developed characters and emotional depth.

Mac is a relatable and likable protagonist, and the other characters, including her friends and love interests, are also well-rounded and engaging.

The romance is sweet and believable, and the portrayal of female friendship is honest and heartwarming.

The novel also deals with themes of family, forgiveness, and self-discovery in a way that is both thoughtful and entertaining.

Overall, "Vision in White" is a charming and enjoyable read that will appeal to fans of romance and women's fiction.

2. Dark Witch

"Dark Witch" by Nora Roberts is a novel about a young woman named Iona Sheehan who travels to Ireland to reconnect with her ancestral roots and discovers she has inherited magical powers.

While there, she meets a handsome horse trainer named Boyle McGrath and becomes embroiled in a centuries-old battle between good and evil witches.

The novel is considered one of Nora Roberts' best books for several reasons. Firstly, Roberts is known for her ability to craft compelling and complex characters, and "Dark Witch" is no exception.

Iona is a relatable and likable protagonist, and the supporting characters are equally well-developed. Additionally, the plot of the novel is engaging and fast-paced, with plenty of action and romance to keep readers turning the pages.

Another reason "Dark Witch" is highly regarded is the beautiful and vivid portrayal of the Irish countryside, which serves as a rich and atmospheric backdrop for the story. The folklore and mythology woven into the narrative add depth and authenticity to the world-building.

Overall, "Dark Witch" is a well-written and enjoyable novel that is sure to appeal to fans of fantasy, romance, and Irish folklore. If you're a fan of Nora Roberts' work or are just looking for a captivating and heartwarming read, "Dark Witch" is definitely worth checking out.

3. The Search

"The Search" by Nora Roberts is a novel that follows the story of Fiona Bristow, a woman who has moved to Orcas Island off the coast of Seattle to rebuild her life after surviving a traumatic encounter with a serial killer.

She runs a successful dog training school and volunteers for Canine Search and Rescue. Fiona's peaceful life is interrupted when Simon Doyle, an intensely private wood artist, shows up at her door with an out-of-control puppy in need of training.

As Fiona trains the puppy, Jaws, and Simon begins to appreciate both her and the dog, the past comes back to haunt Fiona in the form of a copycat killer, who is being controlled by the original Red Scarf Killer.

"The Search" is considered one of Nora Roberts' best books because of its compelling plot and well-developed characters. Fiona is a strong and relatable protagonist, and the romance between her and Simon is both sweet and realistic.

The mystery of the copycat killer keeps readers on the edge of their seats, and the inclusion of the Canine Search and Rescue element adds an additional layer of depth to the story. Overall, "The Search" is a well-written and engaging novel that is sure to satisfy fans of romance and mystery.

4. The Obsession

"The Obsession" by Nora Roberts is a novel that follows the story of Naomi Bowes, a successful photographer living under the name Naomi Carson.

Naomi has managed to build a new life for herself after escaping her troubled past, but the sins of her father continue to haunt her.

She finds solace in a rambling old house in a small town called Sunrise Cove, where she hopes to embrace solitude and start anew.

However, the friendly residents of Sunrise Cove, particularly Xander Keaton, begin to draw Naomi out of her shell and she finds herself opening up and forming new connections.

This book is considered one of Nora Roberts' best works due to its well-developed characters, compelling plot, and themes of forgiveness and redemption.

Roberts expertly weaves together the past and present, revealing the secrets of Naomi's past and the extent of her father's crimes as the story progresses.

The romance between Naomi and Xander is also a key part of the book, with the two characters learning to trust and love each other despite their troubled pasts.

Overall, "The Obsession" is a beautifully written and emotionally powerful novel that is sure to keep readers engaged from beginning to end.

5. Whiskey Beach

"Whiskey Beach" is a romantic suspense novel by Nora Roberts. It follows the story of Boston lawyer Eli Landon, who inherits a beach house on the fictional Whiskey Beach, a small town in Massachusetts.

Eli retreats to the house to escape the media attention and legal fallout from a high-profile court case.

While at the beach house, Eli meets and becomes romantically involved with a local woman named Abra Walsh, who is a therapist and the daughter of a famous musician.

As Eli and Abra's relationship deepens, they become caught up in the mystery of a decades-old crime involving Eli's ancestors. Together, they work to uncover the truth and clear Eli's family name.

Many readers consider "Whiskey Beach" to be one of Nora Roberts' best books due to its engaging plot and well-developed characters.

The romance between Eli and Abra is steamy and passionate, while the mystery element keeps readers on the edge of their seats.

Roberts is known for her ability to create complex and relatable characters, and "Whiskey Beach" is no exception.

The book's vivid depiction of the coastal town and its residents adds to its appeal and makes it a standout among Roberts' other works.

6. The Last Boyfriend

"The Last Boyfriend" by Nora Roberts is the first book in the "Inn BoonsBoro Trilogy." The plot follows Owen Montgomery, the owner of the Inn BoonsBoro, and Avery MacTavish, a successful event planner.

Avery and Owen have a complicated past; they dated in high school but broke up before Owen left for college.

Years later, Avery returns to her hometown and finds herself reconnecting with Owen as they work together to renovate the Inn BoonsBoro.

As they spend more time together, they realize that their feelings for each other have never truly gone away.

The novel explores themes of second chances, forgiveness, and the enduring power of love. The main characters, Avery and Owen, are both well-developed and likable.

Avery is a strong and independent woman who is not afraid to speak her mind, while Owen is a kind and patient man who is dedicated to his family and the inn.

"The Last Boyfriend" is considered one of Nora Roberts' best books for several reasons. Firstly, the romance between Avery and Owen is sweet and genuine, making it a satisfying read for fans of romance novels.

Additionally, the setting of the Inn BoonsBoro is charming and well-described, making it easy for readers to visualize and become immersed in the story.

The supporting characters, including Avery's siblings and Owen's family, are also well-written and add depth to the story.

Overall, "The Last Boyfriend" is a heartwarming and engaging read that has earned its place among Nora Roberts' best works.

7. Angels Fall

"Angels Fall" is a mystery thriller novel by Nora Roberts, featuring Reece Gilmore as the main character. Reece is a survivor of a violent crime back East and has settled temporarily in the small town of Angel's Fall, Wyoming.

While out hiking one day, she witnesses an argument between a couple turn violent, with the man attacking the woman. When she goes to find help, the couple is gone and there is no evidence that they were even there.

The only person who believes Reece's story is a loner named Brody, who initially seems distant and impatient with Reece.

As Reece becomes the target of a series of menacing events, she must turn to Brody for help in uncovering the truth about what really happened on the mountainside. Along the way, Reece learns to trust herself and her own instincts.

"Angels Fall" is considered one of Nora Roberts' best books due to its engaging plot and well-developed characters.

The mystery keeps readers guessing until the very end, and the romance between Reece and Brody adds an extra layer of depth to the story.

Roberts' writing is also praised for its vivid descriptions and ability to draw readers into the world of Angel's Fall.

8. Birthright

"Birthright" - The plot of "Birthright" centers around archaeologist Callie Dunbrook, who is drawn out of her sabbatical to oversee a dig in the small town of Woodsboro where 5,000-year-old human bones have been discovered.

Callie must navigate the dangers and mysteries surrounding the site, including rumors of a curse and the presence of her ex-husband Jake.

The plot also includes a stranger who claims to know secrets about Callie's privileged childhood, causing her to question her own past.

"Birthright" is considered one of Nora Roberts' best books due to its engaging plot and well-developed characters.

Callie is an inspiring heroine who is intelligent, driven, and determined to uncover the truth about the site and her own past.

Jake, though initially irritating, becomes an intriguing hero as the plot progresses and the two characters' relationship is explored.

The supporting cast of characters, including the mysterious stranger and the other members of the dig team, add depth and complexity to the story.

Overall, "Birthright" is a rich, thrilling tale that combines elements of suspense, romance, and mystery to keep readers engaged from start to finish.

It is a testament to Nora Roberts' skill as a storyteller and her ability to craft complex and relatable characters. If you're a fan of mystery and romance, "Birthright" is definitely a book you won't want to miss.

9. The Witness

"The Witness" is a romantic suspense novel by Nora Roberts, published in 2011. The main character is Elizabeth Fitch, a wealthy and rebellious teenager who becomes a witness to a murder at a political rally.

To protect her from the killer, Elizabeth is placed in the witness protection program and given a new identity as Abby Millar. She is sent to a small town in Oklahoma where she meets and falls in love with deputy sheriff Boone Sawyer.

As Abby and Boone try to uncover the truth about the murder and protect Elizabeth from the killer, they also have to deal with the complications and dangers that come with falling in love while in witness protection.

Along the way, they are aided by a cast of supporting characters including Abby's temporary guardian, artist Cora Bannon, and Boone's police captain, Jackie.

"The Witness" is considered one of Nora Roberts' best books because of its well-developed and complex characters, fast-paced and engaging plot, and seamless blend of romance and suspense.

Roberts' ability to create realistic and relatable characters, as well as her skill at crafting a thrilling and unpredictable story, make The Witness a must-read for fans of romantic suspense.

10. Valley of Silence

"Valley of Silence" is a novel by Nora Roberts set in the kingdom of Geall, where the main character Moira has taken up the sword as queen to prepare her subjects for a battle against Lilith, the most powerful vampire in the world.

Moira also seeks to avenge her mother's death at the hands of vampires. Cian, a vampire who has joined forces with Moira and the rest of the "circle," becomes romantically involved with Moira, despite the risks involved due to his eternal life and Moira's mortality.

The novel is considered one of Roberts' best works due to its action-packed plot and well-developed characters.

Overall, "Valley of Silence" is a beautifully written and emotionally powerful novel that has earned its place as a fan favorite among Nora Roberts' works.

Whether you're a fan of romantic suspense or just looking for a captivating and heartwarming read, this book is sure to deliver.

Honorable Mentions: Nora Roberts Books

While narrowing down the list to just 10 books was no easy feat, there were a few additional titles that almost made the cut.

Here are some honorable mentions that are worth checking out:

Red Lily

You'll love the exciting story of Lily, a strong businesswoman, and Rogan, a rich guy with a wild past.
This book has lots of drama and romance, perfect if you like love stories.
It's part of a bigger story called the Garden trilogy, so you can read more about these characters later.
You'll meet interesting people and learn about their lives.
If you like the author's other books, you'll probably enjoy this one too.

The Collector

This book is full of suspense and keeps you guessing until the end.
You'll be scared and excited as you follow Lila, a young woman in danger.
The story is fast-paced, so you won't get bored.
You'll try to figure out who the bad guy is before the main character does.
If you like mysteries and thrillers, this book is for you.

High Noon

You'll meet Darcy, a successful businesswoman, and Aidan, a charming Irish guy.
This book has a sweet love story that will make you smile.
It's the start of a bigger story about the Gallagher family.
You'll learn about Irish culture and life in a small town.
If you enjoy heartwarming stories, you'll like this book.

Rising Tides

This book takes you back in time to a different era.
You'll follow a love story between a shipbuilder and a strong-willed woman.
You'll learn about life on the water and history.
The story is exciting and full of adventure.
It's part of a bigger story called the Chesapeake Bay Saga.

The Perfect Hope

This book is about two people trying to start over after tough times.
You'll enjoy the sweet love story between Ryder and Hope.
The characters are kind and easy to like.
This book will make you feel happy and hopeful.
It's part of a bigger story about a small town called Boonsboro.

Authors like Nora Roberts

If you're a fan of Nora Roberts and are looking for more authors who write in a similar style, here are a few recommendations:

Debbie Macomber

Debbie Macomber writes love stories that make you feel good.
Her books have strong women who learn about themselves.
Debbie's stories are about family, friends, and finding your place in life.

Susan Mallery

Susan Mallery writes love stories with lots of feelings.
Her characters are real people who make mistakes.
Susan's books are about learning to forgive, getting a second chance, and growing as a person.

Jill Shalvis

Jill Shalvis writes fun and exciting love stories.
Her books are in cute small towns and by the ocean.
Jill's characters are friendly and funny, and her stories make you feel happy.

Elin Hilderbrand

Elin Hilderbrand writes love stories in a pretty place called Nantucket.
Her books are about family, love, and discovering who you are.
Elin's stories are warm and fun, like a cozy blanket.

Robyn Carr

Robyn Carr writes sweet love stories in small towns.
Her characters are real people with problems and joys.
Robyn's books are about family, friends, and growing as a person.

These are just a few of the many authors who write in a similar style to Nora Roberts.

Books Similar to Nora Robert's Book

If you're a fan of Nora Roberts and are looking for books that are similar in style and tone, here are a few recommendations:

The Simple Wild by K.A. Tucker

You'll love the characters! Calla is trying to figure out her life, and Jonah is a cool pilot with his own problems. They're both real and easy to like.
The book takes place in Alaska, which is super cool! You'll feel like you're there with the characters.
There's a really exciting love story that will make you laugh, cry, and cheer.
The book is full of feelings and makes you think about life and choices.
If you like stories with strong characters and beautiful places, this book is perfect for you!

Love and Other Wild Things by Molly Booth

Zoe is trying to figure out what to do after college, just like you might be thinking about!
Will is a fun and adventurous park ranger. You'll love his personality.
The book takes place in a beautiful setting, and you'll feel like you're on vacation.
There's a sweet and cute love story that will make you smile.
It's a happy and feel-good book that will make you feel good inside.

The Things We Cannot Say by Kelly Rimmer

This book has a really interesting story about two women who lived very different lives.
You'll learn about World War II and what life was like back then.
The book will make you feel strong emotions like sadness and happiness.
It's a book that will make you think about what's important in life.
If you like stories that make you feel something deep inside, you'll love this book.

Love Lettering by Kate Clayborn

Meg is really good at writing, and you'll love learning about calligraphy.
Reid is a successful businessman, but he's also really sweet and charming.
The book has a fun and romantic love story with letters.
You'll feel happy and excited while reading this book.
It's a perfect book to read if you like cute love stories.

The Bromance Book Club by Lyssa Kay Adams

The book is about a group of friends who love to read and support each other.
You'll laugh out loud at the funny things that happen.
The book is about friendship and how important it is.
There's a sweet love story that will make you smile.
If you like books that are funny and heartwarming, this is the book for you!

These are just a few of the many books that are similar in style and tone to Nora Roberts' work.

Nora Robert's Books Made into Movies

Nora Robert's books have been adapted into television movies, but only a few have made it to the big screen.

Here are some of the Nora Roberts books that have been made into movies:

Montana Sky

You'll like this book because it's about three sisters who don't know each other.
They have to live together on a big ranch to get money from their dad.
The sisters learn to work together and become friends.
You might like it because it's about family and overcoming challenges.
There's a movie based on the book if you want to watch it after reading it.

Carolina Moon

This book is about a girl named Tory who sees scary things.
She goes back to her hometown to stay safe.
A police officer named Cade helps protect her.
You might like it if you enjoy mystery and adventure stories.
It’s exciting because there’s a dangerous person they need to find.

Angels Fall

This book is about a chef named Reece who had a bad time.
She’s trying to feel better when a scary person starts bothering her.
A police officer named Brody helps keep her safe.
You might like it if you enjoy stories about overcoming challenges.
It’s exciting because there’s a mystery to solve.

Northern Lights

This book is about a place called Lunacy in Alaska.
A police officer named Nate is trying to find a killer.
A woman named Meg is looking for answers about her family.
You might like it if you enjoy mystery and adventure stories.
The book has a cold and snowy setting, which is different.

Midnight Bayou

This book is about a man named Declan who gets a big old house.
He hires a woman named Liv to help make the house look nice.
They find scary secrets in the house.
You might like it if you enjoy mystery and spooky stories.
The book takes place in New Orleans, which is a cool place.

These are just a few of the Nora Roberts books that have been adapted into movies.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Nora Roberts is a master of storytelling, and her books are a must-read for anyone who loves a good romance, mystery, suspense, or science fiction tale.

From heart-wrenching love stories to spine-tingling thrillers, Roberts has something for everyone.

The top 10 books on our list showcase her range as a writer and demonstrate why she is a beloved and enduring presence in the literary world.

If you're a fan of Roberts' work or are looking to discover her writing for the first time, we highly recommend checking out these titles.

With their memorable characters, compelling plots, and beautiful writing, these novels are sure to leave a lasting impression.

Thank you for joining us on this journey through the best Nora Roberts books.

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes: Book Review

2024-02-25T14:58:00.008+06:00

The Hunger Games, held to teach the citizens of Panem the lessons of war, will soon be held for the tenth time.

Not only will the drawn tributes have to win the game with all-or-nothing determination, but students from aristocratic families in the capital will also serve as mentors, working with their tributes to win the game, gain glory, and have a great future.

Eighteen-year-old Coriolanus. Snow, looking forward to becoming the most competitive tribute mentor. The Snow family was once glorious but fell into decline after the war.

Now the house's taxes, and the fate of his family, depend on whether Coriolanus can outsmart and outmaneuver his classmates and guide the tributes to win the Hunger Games.

But the situation was very unfavorable to Coriolanus from the beginning. The tribute he was assigned was the worst of the worst, a skinny girl from District 12, the poorest district in Panem, Lucy. Grey.

She wore a rainbow pleated skirt, brought a snake to the lottery ceremony, and let the snake bite people in front of everyone...

In the arena, there is a life-and-death duel, and every choice Coriolanus makes may affect Lucy. Gray leads to victory or destruction.

With no way out, their fates are completely entangled, and he begins to sympathize with his doomed tribute...

He must weigh his own needs, follow the rules of the game, resist his inner desires, and keep both of them alive no matter what the cost...

This book is the latest to be released in the United States on May 19, 2020. It is the prequel of the "Hunger Games" series.

I am not too keen on the "Hunger Games" series, but as one of the few well-known works in recent years, it is still quite popular.

I was looking forward to it, so on the 20th, I obtained the electronic version of this prequel in Kindle format.

The hardcover version of the original book has 528 pages, which is much more than the average of more than 300 pages in the main story series.

The thickness of more than 500 pages is considered thick enough for a popular English novel. I originally planned to spend about five days on it.

I finished reading it in about half a month (compared to the reading time of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix).

However, I seriously underestimated its thickness and text volume. It took me about half a month to read it, and overall I felt that it was well written.

Strictly speaking, it is recommended that those who have not read the "Hunger Games" book or movie should first read the Chinese version of the book or movie.

This book cannot be regarded as an independent work. Many of its characters are related to the main story, and it feels like When writing this book, the author also assumed that readers had already read her previous "Hunger Games" series, so she did not explain too much about some concepts in the book.

This is different from the "Harry Potter" series. In my impression, each "Harry Potter" book can be read individually, even if the reader has not read the previous work...

Book: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is a dystopian action-adventure novel written by the American author Suzanne Collins. It is a prequel to the original The Hunger Games trilogy, set 64 years before the events of the first novel. Wikipedia

Author: Suzanne Collins
Country: United States
Language: English
Series: The Hunger Games
Genres: Science fiction, Thriller, Adventure fiction, Dystopian Fiction, War story
Publication date: May 19, 2020
Pages: 517
Followed by: The Hunger Games

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

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About the Author · Suzanne Collins

Suzanne Collins made her debut in 2008 with the best-selling series of novels "Underland Chronicles" and was highly praised; her "Hunger Games" series has become the most recognized trilogy novel since 2008, with each episode listed on the Top of the major bestseller lists, selling copyrights in 51 languages to 56 regions, Susan. Collins was named one of Time magazine's most influential people in 2010.

In 2018, the 10th anniversary of the publication of "The Hunger Games Trilogy" was released, and a special commemorative edition was released, including Susan.

Collins reflects on a conversation on the 10th anniversary of the publication of "The Hunger Games Trilogy"; and with novelist Walt. Dean. A conversation with Walter Dean Myers (1937-2014) on how to write war stories for readers of all ages.

Susan. Collins's works are popular around the world and have sold more than 100 million copies.

In addition, the four movies adapted from "The Hunger Games Trilogy" also caused a sensation and were released one after another in 2012; the first and second episodes respectively ranked 14th and 10th in North American box office history.

Book Overview

"The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes" What does it mean? In fact, both Songbirds and Snakes have two meanings. One refers to characters, and the other refers to animals.

Songbirds refers to Lucy Gray on one level, she is the female tribute from District 12, the heroine in the book, and her mentor is Snow, Lucy likes to sing, and the lyrics are unique; on the other level, it means mockingbird, which can convey a message (repeating a person's words).

As for Snakes, the first layer refers to President Snow. The male protagonist in the prequel is technically the young Snow.

Everyone who has watched the "Hunger Games" series should have guessed this. The second layer refers to snakes among animals. Lucy is good at "snake charming", and a mutant snake appears as a weapon in this Hunger Games.

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes Live Discussion

Author Background: Suzanne Collins and Her Culinary Influence

Before going into the specific content of this book, let me first talk about the author of the book, Suzanne Collins, whose Chinese translation is Suzanne Collins. She is a middle-aged American female writer.

Before "The Hunger Games", she wrote a series of children's literature and then turned to young adult literature. The works written by female writers all have one characteristic. They have a lot of psychological descriptions of the characters in the books.

The "Hunger Games" series and this prequel work are the same. Even the author directly uses the first person to narrate the main series. I am not used to the first person. The way of narration always feels not as "grand" as the third person perspective from God's perspective.

Readers who have read the main series of works should be very impressed by the various foods in the book. It seems that this female writer especially likes to add the element of "eating" in her works. The book is full of various games and sweets.

I think this female writer must be a master of cooking in her daily life. She can describe in detail what the protagonist eats for three meals a day. Many of the characters' names even come from the ingredients.

In fact, it doesn’t hurt to include various foods in the book. However, for those who like to read the original book, the English vocabulary for those foods is too unfamiliar. Generally, people like us who have learned Chinese English since childhood will have a hard time coming into contact with those vocabulary words.

Of course, speed reading It’s okay to skip it, but for people with obsessive-compulsive disorder, turning to the dictionary is unavoidable.

By the way, after writing the "Hunger Games" series, this female writer actually published a "cookbook", that wrote exactly the preparation methods of the food that appeared in "The Hunger Games". It's really Cooking enthusiast.

I thought, since I am writing a book review, I should write it in more detail, because many people don’t like to read long books, but at the same time they are interested in a certain work, or they are just interested in movies and want to learn more about the original work. , in fact, I am such a reader sometimes.

In other words, I often like to read spoilers, so next, I want to write about the specific content of this book and talk about my feelings at the same time. This part includes Serious spoilers, readers who want to read the original book themselves or are waiting for the Chinese version, please do not read it.

Because I have read the entire book, it takes a long time to read it back and forth, and I rarely read the book after I have finished it, especially the original book. The specific details may not be accurate. I apologize if I am wrong.

Snow is habitually called Coriolanus in the book, but I still habitually call him Snow. After all, everyone is more familiar with this name. Unless otherwise specified, Snow in the following content refers to Coriolanus Snow.

Characters and Setting: Snow Family Dynamics

The Snow family is highly respected and once wealthy. Coriolanus Snow's father, the future president's father, is named Crassus Xanthos Snow.

He is an arms dealer who made his fortune selling arms, but his arms sales are mainly concentrated in District 13, because of the rebellion that was first launched in District 13, not only on the battlefield, but District 13 was razed to the ground by nuclear weapons after the war, and the Snow family's weapons factory was also lost. Snow's mother was also in the war.

They died due to difficult childbirth and were not sent to the hospital in time. By the time of our Coriolanus Snow, their lives were difficult.

How to describe it? I think of what Ruth's mother said to Ruth in the movie "Titanic": "Except for debts and titles, your father left us nothing.

Titles are our only support." These days One sentence can basically describe the current situation of the Snow family at that time.

The main characters in the Snow family in book are Snow's grandma (of course it's just in English, it may mean grandma, but based on the whole book, grandma is the most likely), Snow's sister Tigris, and Snow himself.

Snow's grandma is an "old-fashioned" person who misses the glory of the Snow family in the past, is loyal to the Capitol, is nagging, loves to sing songs, and is discriminatory towards people in the district.

Author's Style: From Children's Literature to Young Adult Fiction

Here I would like to focus on Snow’s sister Tigris. This name seems familiar to everyone, right? She is the designer who helped Katniss and the others hide in the last chapter of "The Hunger Games 3".

People who have watched the movie must be deeply impressed by that lion's face. The old woman, as shown in the picture below, was shocked. It turns out that she is the president's sister.

In "The Hunger Games 3", how could she be so hostile to his brother? Closer to home, in the prequel book, Tigris is a hard-working person and the backbone of the family.

She always helps and encourages Snow when he is in trouble. She even saved Snow during the Rebellion War. She has sympathy for the people in the district.

Tigris in the movie "The Hunger Games 3"

The Snow family lives in the Capitol City. It is a tall flat-roofed building. It is probably the ancestral home of the Snow family.

Standing on the roof, you can overlook the entire Capitol. Snow's mother had a small cosmetic box with a hollow rose pattern carved on the lid, which contained rose-flavored cosmetic powder.

After Snow's mother died, Snow's grandmother, probably out of missing her daughter, stayed on the roof of Snow's house. I grow a lot of red roses and like to grow them in the greenhouse during the winter.

What impressed Snow the most was the scent of his mother's roses, so he would always take out his mother's relics - the makeup box at night, open the lid, and smell the roses inside.

Later, Snow went to the station to greet Lucy, and he also obeyed his sister. Tigris suggested bringing a white rose as a gift.

Before the start of the 10th Hunger Games, Snow lent her mother's rose-shaped makeup powder box to Lucy. First, she hoped that Lucy would think of herself when she saw the makeup box.

Second, Snow replaced the makeup powder inside with mice. medicine, telling Lucy that she can use it to poison people in the game. N years later, after Snow became the president, he still liked to carry roses with him and smell the scent of roses. He even always " sent " roses to Katniss.

It is necessary to introduce Snow’s classmates here. There are 24 students as tutors. As shown in the figure, the ones that appear more frequently in the book are marked with blue lines.

List of tributes and corresponding mentors from The 10th Hunger Games

Strictly speaking, Snow has no close friends in the academy. Except for Sejanus (the superficial friendship also developed later), Snow's relationship with everyone else is average. Let’s introduce them one by one:

Sejanus Plinth: The son of the Plinth family. Their family comes from District 2. His father is a manufacturer in District 2.

He sided with the President of Panem during the war, made a fortune selling arms, and moved to the capital. Sejanus was born in District 2 and has a deep affection for District 2.

Although he lives in the capital, he believes that his real "home" is in District 2. Snow initially thought that the Plinth family were competitors of the Snow family, and looked down on the outsider Sejanus from the bottom of his heart.

However, as the plot develops, Sejanus becomes an important figure that affects Snow's life, which will be mentioned later.

Persephone Price: The female character, this name is very easy to remember, "phone" and "price", the author's name is really interesting, not taking the usual path. Persephone is the daughter of Nero Price. As for Nero, he once ate the legs of the corpse of his maid during the Rebellion War. This made Snow very disgusted, so when he saw Persephone, Snow felt "sick to his stomach", but She's still a nice person.

Festus Creed: He is also the son of a prominent family in the capital. His family's wealth is concentrated in the lumber business in District 7. Although the business was affected during the war, it gradually recovered during the reconstruction of the capital.

Juno Phipps: A female character and one of the famous haters. Juno often emphasizes her noble blood and is hated by Snow.

Hilarius Heavensbee: Does the name sound familiar? Yes, the name of the Gamemaker who appeared in "The Hunger Games 2" and "The Hunger Games 3" is Plutarch Heavensbee, as shown in the picture below. I have reason to guess that Hilarius and Plutarch are related. The Heavensbee family is extremely wealthy, and the name of the hall in Snow's college is Heavensbee Hall.

Plutarch Heavensbee, the game designer in the movie "The Hunger Games 2"

Arachne Crane: One of the famous nuisances, a neighbor of the Snow family, who always likes to make a lot of noise and tease people. Her final destination is also expected. In addition, her name also reminds people of Seneca Crane, the game designer in the movie "The Hunger Games". As shown in the picture, they are probably related. It seems that there are not many good people in the Crane family.

Game designer Seneca Crane in "The Hunger Games" movie

Clemensia Dovecote: A female character who once lied to Gamemaker with Snow, but was bitten by a mutant snake (details will be written later). As a result, she was bitten by a snake and was afraid of good ropes for ten years. Later in the game, Snow apologizes and is forgiven. The people are still good, not bad.

Felix Ravinstill: The grandnephew of the president at the time, who got his mentor role through the back door. However, the relationship between the president's relatives did not bring good luck to him and the tributes he directed, so he received lunch in advance.

Lysistrata Vickers: A female character who is responsible for guiding Jessup, the male tribute in District 12. Because Snow guides a female tribute from the same district, Lysistrata wants to unite with Snow to cope with the game. However, Snow was more independent in the early stage, which made Lysistrata a little annoyed. In the later stage, When the situation demanded it, he gave up his own tribute and instead helped Snow's female tribute. He is a nice person and reasonable.

Key Figures: Tributes, Mentors, and Game Designers

Some "adult" roles in the academy need to be introduced:

Volumnia Gaul: Dr. Gaul, also known as Dr. Gaul, is a game designer. I don’t know if you have seen the animation "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse".

The impression of Dr. Gaul is similar to Olivia Octavius in the animation ( Doctor Octopus), a ruthless female character who hides a knife behind her smile and is cunning, cunning, and cold-blooded.

She also played an important role in Snow's growth. She gave Snow a lot of "reminders" and accepted many of Snow's suggestions about games.

Olivia Octavius (Doctor Octopus) in "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse" animation

Casca Highbottom: The dean of Snow's college is also a ruthless character. Because he has issues with Snow's father, he always likes to find fault with Snow (if he is bold enough to find fault with the future president, he will definitely not end well), and he Love "taking drugs", which is the posca mentioned in the "Hunger Games" series.

Origins of "The Hunger Games": Historical Context

One thing to mention here is why is this killing game called "The Hunger Games"? In fact, the name was very strange when I first saw it. Even after watching the movie, I still didn't understand it well.

However, in this prequel, there is a good explanation: when the districts outside the capital rebelled, the capital was to be taken into account.

The strategy of encirclement and closure was to starve the people of the capital and cut off the food supply in the city. Due to the shortage of food in the capital, there was even a phenomenon of eating corpses.

Later, after the war, to punish the rebellious districts, the people of the capital hung up the "game" The word "hunger" is missing. So who invented "The Hunger Games"? The answer is Lord Dean Highbottom.

According to Dr. Gual, Highbottom invented the "Hunger Games" when he was young to punish the people of the rebellious districts. In fact, there was another person who instigated it, which will be discussed later.

a deep dive into why the ballad of songbirds & snakes book is better than the movie *spoilers*

Book Structure and Parts: A Prelude to the Games

The book is divided into 30 chapters, plus a postscript. The 30 chapters are divided into three parts, each part has 10 chapters.

The reading time of each chapter of the e-book is about 30 to 50 minutes (Kindle automatically displays it, and I have verified it. Yes, not much different). There are three parts, each with a title, namely "Mentor", "Reward" and "Peacekeeper".

In my own words, they are actually "before the game", "in the game" and "after the game". Seen this way, it’s easier to understand.

As mentioned before, the author assumes that the reader has already read the "Hunger Games" series. In the beginning, Snow was looking for clothes to wear to attend the "mentor" meeting (which is to announce which student mentors are the tributes of which district).

His family was poor and did not have decent clothes. His hard-working sister Tigris found some curtains from the hostess who hired her. Waiting for the "leftovers", I made a beautiful outfit for Snow.

PS: Before the prequel was published, the publisher deliberately published a portrait of Snow in his youth on the website. In the painting, the young Snow wore a dark green coat with gold trim on the sleeves and collar.

However, according to the description in the book, the top that my sister made for Snow, material is linen, the overall color is light yellow, and the cuffs and collar are black velvet, with gold and black square buttons

Image of Coriolanus Snow in his youth as depicted on the publisher's website

Preparation for the Games: Mentorship and Challenges

As you can imagine, the subsequent plot is that Snow was chosen to guide the tributes from the worst district, District 12, and she was also a female tribute. This made Snow feel insulted, but if Snow had given up at this time, this book would not have been written.

Of course, he chose to accept it. As for the names of the tributes, they were drawn later on the Reaping Day of each district. The one drawn in District 12 was Lucy Gray, who is our heroine.

There is an episode here. When Lucy walks to the stage, she deliberately "gives" a small snake hidden in her clothes to the mayor's daughter Mayfair, which scares her so much that the mayor wants to vent his anger on his daughter.

After slapping Lucy, the whole scene attracted many students watching in front of the big screen, as well as urban citizens. Snow felt that this was a good sign because the exposure of the tributes he was about to guide increased, and Snow began to have confidence in himself.

Also, Lucy hummed a song live on stage, and not only the people in District 12 at the lottery site, but also the peacekeepers were fascinated.

Later, Snow decides to go to the train station to greet Lucy in person, but the train that transported the tributes is not the luxury train in "The Hunger Games", but a dilapidated carriage used to pull animals, and it pulled 24 people from 12 districts at once. come over.

At the station, except for the peacekeeper, only Snow among the instructors came to pick her up. He met Lucy once and had a brief conversation.

Lucy saw the white rose, pinched a petal with her hand, and put it into her mouth to taste it. Snow felt that he should go further, and he followed the tributes into the truck.

In the truck, Snow was almost strangled to death by Reaper, the strong male tribute from District 11, but fortunately Lucy "rescued" him in time.

In "The Hunger Games", the tributes all have a dedicated tribute building, with an independent floor in their own area. The facilities are luxurious and they have no worries about food and drink.

However, this was not the case in the 10th Hunger Games 64 years ago. The 24 tributes + our Snow instructor were sent to a large cage in the zoo. As Snow said, it reminded him of the animal cages in the circus performances he watched when he was a child.

Snow was confused at first, but he soon regained his composure and took advantage of the surrounding environment and the audience at the scene (outside the cage) (there were also news reporters from the capital) to warmly introduce Lucy and him to the citizens of the Capitol. themselves, and got a great response. It was enough to be in a cage in the zoo.

What was even worse was that there was no food in the first few days. The tributes were all very hungry. Snow brought some food from home and gave it to Lucy, and also had a "picnic feast".

Later, perhaps because they saw Snow's actions on TV and in news reports, more and more mentors began to give food to their tributes.

At the same time, Snow also began to encourage urban citizens, especially children, to go to the zoo to give food to tributes. Our food crisis has been temporarily lifted.

In a subsequent process when the instructor was delivering food to the tributes, Arachne Crane accidentally had his throat cut by the other party (the female tribute Brandy from District 9) because he was teasing (teasing the other person with a sandwich). He became a character in the book.

The first mentor to die deserved it. During the process, Snow tried to save her, but eventually, she lost too much blood and died.

However, Snow was regarded as a rescue hero by the people in the capital, and even as a "Friends" of Arachne Crane. Afterward, the capital and college held a grand funeral for Arachne Crane, and the then-president was present.

Snow was "rewarded" with singing the national anthem for his "heroic" behavior, and Snow's voice was recorded and was often played in the media thereafter.

Before Arachne Crane's funeral, there was an important episode. At the college's mentor group discussion, Snow was the first to propose tribute betting, which is betting in "The Hunger Games".

The difference is that the betting is all food and Water, Snow's proposal was later brought to Gamemaker Dr. Gaul by Snow's classmate Festus Creed, and she expressed that she could actively consider it (it was eventually adopted).

Snow later went to Dr. Gaul's weapon department laboratory with Clemensia Dovecote to submit a homework report on game suggestions.

In fact, Snow wrote this report alone, Clemensia did not write it. To take care of the former, Snow lied to Dr. Gaul. It was co-written by the two of them. Dr. Gaul is not someone who is easily deceived.

There is a highly venomous mutant snake in a box in the laboratory (Snow calls them rainbow snakes because of their colorful colors). Dr. Gaul threw Snow's report into the box. inside, and then asked Snow and Clemensia to reach into the box respectively (because they had to repeat the report content to Dr. Gaul, and there was no paper version).

When Clemensia reached out to grab it, the Rainbow Snake gave her a bite, and she was poisoned on the spot and sent to the hospital. Dr. Gaul told Snow that the rainbow snake could identify the smell of paper.

The report was written by Snow alone. Only Snow's smell was left on the paper, and there was no smell of Clemensia.

Of course, Clemensia was bitten when she went to get it. Our Clemensia stayed in the hospital for a long time, and Snow visited her during the trip. She was seriously poisoned, and it even affected the color of her skin.

Later, there was a bomb explosion during the tribute parade, which we will talk about later. The time jumps directly to the night before the game starts. Snow and Lucy meet for the last time.

The two kiss passionately for the first time. They are like a boyfriend and girlfriend. Snow secretly gives Lucy some food and asks her to keep it and bring it into the competition.

At the same time, he gave her a "magic weapon" - a rose cosmetic box with rat poison hidden inside.

It was the cosmetic box left by his mother, but the cosmetic powder inside was replaced with highly toxic rat poison, so that Lucy When convenient, she poisoned the water to kill the tributes who competed with her.

In addition, I also want to mention that on many occasions, Lucy will "sing affectionately". She is the lead singer of the band Corvey, and her singing is very meaningful.

For details, you still need to read the original book yourself. I won’t mention it here, but just like the title of the book, the ballad is used throughout the plot.

Next, let’s talk about the highlight – the game

Game Developments: Twists, Turns, and Fatalities

I have a habit of reading. When there are too many characters in the book, I have to prepare a piece of paper to record the names of the characters.

For example, I have read Arthur Clark's "Meet Rama" before, and also There is "Sky Bee" by Higashino Keigo. Both of them have too many character names, which is very easy to forget.

You have to scroll forward, which is very annoying. In this book, there are a total of 24 tributes, from 12 districts, with 2 people from each district. There are many characters.

The author may also be aware of this, so the names of the tributes are always mentioned repeatedly in the form of a list in the book. , the district to which it belongs, and the name of the corresponding instructor.

I printed the table on a small piece of paper and then made some small marks as the plot developed to facilitate understanding and analysis.

For the fate of the tributes in the 10th Hunger Games (the game is not the focus of this book), you can refer to the words and marks on the small pieces of paper I recorded.

The secant represents the death of the tribute, the cross represents the death of the mentor, the red line represents those who died for some reason before the game started (most of them were killed by bombs), the blue line represents those who died after the game officially started, the numbers represent the order of death, the red star represents the final winner, and the text on the secant line represents those who were killed. Who killed or how. Of course, as you can see in the picture, the final winner is Lucy Gray.

Arena and Explosive Start: Unveiling the 10th Hunger Games

Before the game started, the first one to die was Brandy, a girl from District 10, who was shot to death by the peacekeeper because she killed her mentor Arachne Crane (who had his throat cut with a knife) because the latter Sandwich teases the former, and here our Snow once tried to save Crane's life but failed.

Later, to give other tributes a warning, Dr. Gaul asked the tributes to parade in the arena for a week, and this process should be accompanied by a mentor.

This could be regarded as the mentor from Panam not being afraid of the tributes from Distinct and encouraging the former.

Here, the gaming arena comes on stage. I have watched the "Hunger Games" series of movies before and then went back to read the original book to better understand the specific plot.

If I want to talk about what impressed me most about the book, it would be the various science fiction arenas.

Those strange traps, hunting tools, and shielding force fields are very pleasing, especially for me who is a technical person.

But the arena in this prequel is really an "arena". Maybe my expectations were too high. There was no such luxurious arena 64 years before the main story happened.

The arena in the book is similar to The Colosseum in Italy and is very similar to that of ancient Rome. It is in ruins and dilapidated. It was formerly a stadium in Panem.

Later, the District's rebellion war occurred, which caused serious damage to the stadium. After the war, the waste was recycled and has been used as a venue for the Hunger Games.

Closer to home, during the parade of tributes, bombs exploded around the gates of the arena and inside the arena (the book does not specify who planted the bombs, but it may have been rebels), killing the male and female tributes from District 6 on the spot.

Along with their two mentors, the two tributes from the first area tried to escape the chaos and were shot to death by the peacekeeper at the gate. The female tribute from the second area fell from a waterfall not far outside the arena during their escape.

Death, Marcus, the male tribute in District 2, managed to escape (caught before the game started), and the male and female tributes in District 9, as well as the male tribute's mentor, were seriously injured.

Later, all three died of their injuries. Snow was also injured in the explosion. And Lucy saved his life.

By the way, the plot arrangement of this bomb explosion is really a bit ridiculous. Seven tributes flew into the sky at once.

In addition, the male tribute from District 5 later died of asthma. Nine people were killed before the game started. Lucy Suddenly one-third of the competitors were lost.

Game Conclusion: The Winner and Unraveled Alliances

After the game started, Marcus, the male tribute from District 2, was captured and tied to a high X-shaped iron frame for public display. When the bell rang, it meant that the game officially started.

Because of the previous explosion, many caves were blasted around the arena, and these caves were connected to each other. Most of the tributes chose to hide in these man-made caves.

By the way, one of the special ones among these tributes is Reaper, the male tribute from District 11. He is strong and has always been favored. He is also the one who attacked (choked) Snow in the truck transporting tributes.

Next, Lamina, the female tribute from District 7, used her climbing skills to climb onto the cantilever beam of the iron frame where Marcus was tied, killed Marcus with an axe, and "set up camp" on the cantilever beam because it was a high place to look at.

Far away, there is no need to worry about attacks from other tributes (it’s too early to tell). The female tribute in District 11 died of disease (tuberculosis), possibly because she was from the same district. Reaper seemed a little sad.

As time went by, an episode occurred. Sejanus, Marcus' mentor, and Snow's classmate and friend, suddenly sneaked into the arena at night and knelt in front of Marcus' body to "move in silence." Snow was nominally Sejanus. His friend was forced by Dr. Gaul to go inside the arena to fish Sejanus out.

However, during the process of taking Sejanus away, four tributes attacked Snow and Sejanus one after another. Snow accidentally killed District 8 out of self-defense.

The male tribute Bobbin (died after being hit on the temple by a plate-like object), the other three tributes, namely the male tribute Mizzen and the female tribute Coral from the 4th area, and the male tribute Tanner from the 10th area, threw javelins and other weapons, causing Sejanus' leg Injured.

Snow was taken to the hospital (the laboratory where Dr. Gaul worked) and was later cured and discharged, while Sejanus disappeared after being cured.

Arena Strategies Unveiled

The next day, the game continued as usual. Mizzen, the male tribute in District 4, Coral, the female tribute, and Tanner, the male tribute in District 10, formed a three-person team alliance. Coral hunted and killed Sol, the female tribute in District 5.

At this time, the protagonist Lucy Gray debuted in the game for the first time. She was chased by the male tribute Jessup from the same area, who had rabies because he was bitten by a small raccoon with rabies virus while sleeping in the zoo.

Later, when Lucy was in a dilemma, Jessup's mentor Lysistrata was forced to give up on Jessup and decided to help Lucy.

She thought of the fear of water in rabies patients and used a drone to drop "water bombs" to scare Jessup away. Jessup was finally cured of rabies. Invalid death. The three-person alliance mentioned before targeted Lamina on the cantilever.

Tanner throws a trident under the cantilever (Tanner has multiple tridents, which is different from the setting in "The Hunger Games") to scare Lamina. Coral and Mizzen climbed up the cantilever from both ends of the pillar at the same time.

Later, Lamina was killed by Coral, and Mizzen was injured in the leg. After the two went down to the ground, Tanner stepped forward to check Mizzen's injury but was attacked from behind by Coral with a trident. Mizzen faces Tanner from the front for a last hit, and Tanner dies. This is quite realistic. It seems that the alliance is just using each other.

If you are not careful, you will die at the hands of your ally. Then the next person to die was Wovey, the female tribute from District 8, who drank water she shouldn't have in the cave (poisoned by Lcuy with rat poison).

Next comes a big scene in the game: releasing the snake. At the end of Snow's hospitalization, he guessed from Dr. Gaul's words that she would release a mutant snake (called the Rainbow Snake by Snow) into the arena to "punish" the tributes. When Snow left the hospital, he secretly took a bag with his father's initials printed on it.

The handkerchief with the letters was put into the pool containing the snake, because Lucy had come into contact with this handkerchief before, and Snow felt that the snake would not attack Lucy after smelling the smell of the handkerchief. When the rainbow snakes were put into the arena, they began to pounce on the tributes quickly.

You can imagine the scene in the movie "World War Z" where zombies scramble to climb the wall and "bite" people. The snakes have bitten to death the male tribute Cire from District 3 and the female tribute Coral from District 4. Lucy was also surrounded by snakes, but the snake did not bite Lucy.

Instead, it followed Lucy in circles as she sang. After the song stops, the Rainbow Snakes Stay still (sleep) around Lucy.

When I read this, I really wondered how future movies would show a scene where a bunch of rainbow snakes circle around a female singer. After heavy rain at night, most of the snakes died the next morning because they were not adapted to the natural environment. Lucy was really lucky.

Then, Teslee, the electrically strong person from District 3, "hacked" the drone that delivered food, and used the drone to hit Mizzen, the tribute from District 4 (who had not accepted Teslee's rescue request before, and was resented by Teslee). face, Mizzen lost his footing and fell to his death.

The mantis stalks the cicada and the oriole follows, and while Teslee is enjoying herself, the male tribute from District 7, Treech (a low-key character, but very clever), sneaks up behind her and hacks Teslee to death with an axe.

Later, when Lucy comes out of the cave to drink water (and poisons the water after drinking), Treech tries to attack Lucy from behind but is bitten to death by Lucy with a rainbow snake hidden in her clothes.

At this point, Reaper and Lucy were the only ones left in the arena. The former refused to accept the water and food delivered by his mentor using a drone, and his body was about to collapse.

Later, when he drank the water from the pit, He was poisoned by the poison Lucy had given him before.

In the end, Lucy won. (applause for encouragement)

However, Snow did not get his reward. Instead, he was called to Dean Highbottom's office. The dean showed him three items: the tablecloth Lucy carried, Snow's mother's makeup box, and the rainbow snake that Snow put in the pool. handkerchief. The cheating was exposed, and Snow faced expulsion and punishment.

However, the dean proposed a "remedial" measure, which was that Snow had to be a peacekeeper, and he had to be a peacekeeper for 20 years. Snow had no choice but to accept it.

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

After Reading

The 3.5 cm thick prequel...it took me half a month to read it slowly. It mainly talks about the "growth" history of President Snow: an eighteen or nineteen-year-old child who originally had both humanity and cruelty.

After experiencing the Hunger Games, short-term love, and increasingly cold-blooded self-interest, After an act of ism, the latter finally prevailed.

My biggest feeling after reading it is that this book gets better and better towards the end. The first two parts, "The Mentor" and "The Prize" - mainly talking about the 10th Hunger Games - are actually a bit disappointing to read.

There is a lot of nonsense, and the plot is just advancing dryly. Mr. Snow describes every day in detail, and after reading hundreds of pages, I found that only a few days have passed in the book...

Some supporting characters are a bit flat, and some only show their faces; some places are written with a feeling It's a bit deliberate, and the logic is weird... but it doesn't look very good anyway.

But starting from the third part "The Peacekeeper", the plot took a turn for the worse and finally started to look better; especially the ending of the last three chapters, it was quite exciting! Little Snow completes his final transformation in these three chapters, which makes people's heads tingle and adrenaline surge while reading.

After reading and reviewing the whole book, I found a very interesting point. Think about it, a book with thirty chapters has a lot of nonsense at the beginning, and the transformation of the protagonist is explained in the last three chapters. It feels very abrupt, but it is quite reasonable and not lacking in persuasion in the book.

What is going on? Woolen cloth? In fact, when readers first read it, they may not feel that there is anything scary about this overly cautious middle school boy; blah blah, the book keeps writing about his various situations and various little thoughts, which makes the reader's perspective It seems to be on his side.

But something is wrong as I read it: Snow was ruthless and ruthless when he was studying in school, and he would do anything to achieve his goals; but later it was discovered that he was like this in everything in life, calculating carefully, ignoring human feelings, and even betraying and killing people...

In the end, as the plot progresses, his true face naturally emerges: when faced with choices, Snow completely excludes human nature and emotions, so when the choices he faces become more and more terrifying, He becomes more and more terrifying.

Snow's cold-bloodedness has been in his character from the beginning. He does everything for his own consideration. He is a twisted product of "civilized" society, and he treats the whole world like the Hunger Games from beginning to end.

Let’s talk about the heroine in the book. The heroine Lucy Gray is very vividly portrayed. She comes from a group that relies on song and dance performances to make a living like the Gypsies, and she appears as a tribute to District 12.

Her story in a nutshell is that before the competition, she sponsored her and started a romance with Little Snow. During the competition, she was witty and brave and won the competition.

After the competition, she continued to date Little Snow, played with fire, and burned herself. In the end, she left a very sad and sad story. Sad ending.

Maybe the "songbird" in the title refers to Lucy Gray, and the "snake" refers to Snow? This also echoes the characteristics of Lucy "always knows where to find a snake", a girl who loves to play with snakes...

I think if you look at it from her perspective, this is a very different story: she fell in love with Snow He is innocent, but that kind of innocence is actually an absolute cold-bloodedness, so pure that there is no emotion.

In Snow's cold-blooded world, she plays a romantic character who represents love and freedom; but the singing bird who longs for freedom falls in love with a cold-blooded snake, and ultimately cannot escape the tragedy of her fate.

This leads to another keyword in the book - "self-destructive", the tragedy of self-destruction. Lucy's self-destruction is due to love, Snow's friend Sejanus's self-destruction is due to the awakening of conscience; the regional tribute's self-destruction is due to the rules of the Hunger Games, which twistedly proves the statement of "human nature is evil" and allows the controller to have his control reasons.

What Snow experienced was actually a process of self-destruction: at the end of the story, he destroyed his own humanity. His self-destruction was due to the "civilization" and "education" he received.

He believed that human nature is chaos. , needs rules (contract) to control (control); and also because of "Snow lands on top" - his identification with the hopeless extreme of egoism and elitism.

At the end of the book, Snow throws away the relics of his once-beloved mother. He no longer needs its comfort...

In the end, he only leaves his father's compass, indicating that he inherited his father's cold-bloodedness rather than his mother's softness. The battle between humanity and cruelty in him finally ended with the victory of the latter, and the development of the great devil was completed.

In addition to the origin stories of President Snow, The Hunger Games, Mockingjay, and other related things, the connection between this book and the main story is also the song The Hanging Tree.

Reading this prequel will reveal who created it, what story it tells, and the role it plays in Snow's experience. When I read this song in the prequel, I felt really shocked.

Everything seemed to be connected in series with the main story: more than sixty years later, when the melody of "The Hanging Tree" sounded again in Panem, that was When Snow's nightmare returned, it's as if Lucy Gray's ghost is causing trouble, returning to denounce Snow's ruthlessness. (From now on, the hanging tree becomes even taller ×

There are also some Easter eggs related to the main story in the book, such as some familiar surnames such as Heavensbee and Crane, which are related to some characters in the main story; and it is revealed in the book that Snow's cousin is named Tigris, which is related to the character in the third part of the main story.

The tattooed costume designer who protected Katniss and others in Capitol has the same name, maybe he is the same person? But the book doesn't reveal why she later hated Snow so much.

But considering Snow's darkening process, this may not be surprising. There is also an Easter egg in which Katniss is named after an edible plant in the book.

Because the dramatic change in the plot at the end is really shocking, I found this book to be quite enjoyable after reading it.

If I close my eyes, I can still see the scene of Snow chasing Lucy in the forest, which is quite exciting. The blackening seems to be just a thought, but the snake's blood is cold from beginning to end.

Anyway, the first book I read in full in August, finished Spreading Flowers!

12 Best Francine Rivers Books & Series List in Order

2024-02-04T21:46:00.008+06:00

Welcome to our list of the 12 best Francine Rivers books that will steal your heart! If you're a fan of inspiring and uplifting stories, you won't want to miss these amazing novels by bestselling and award-winning author Francine Rivers..

From sweeping historical dramas to heartwarming contemporary romances, Rivers' books are full of compelling characters, powerful themes, and captivating storytelling..

Whether you're a longtime fan or new to her work, you're sure to find something to love on this list of the best Francine Rivers books..

So get ready to fall in love with these amazing stories, and let the magic of Francine Rivers' writing sweep you away!

Francine Rivers

About the Author "Francine Rivers"

Francine Rivers is a bestselling and award-winning author who has written a diverse range of genres, including Christian fiction, inspirational romance, historical fiction, and biblical fiction..

Born in 1948 in rural Idaho, Rivers grew up in a family of readers and always had a love for books and storytelling..

She began writing in the 1970s, and her first book, "Redeeming Love," was published in 1991..

Since then, she has written more than 40 novels and novellas, and her works have been translated into over 30 languages..

Rivers is known for her powerful and inspiring stories that explore themes of faith, redemption, and love..

Many of her novels are set in historical or biblical times and feature complex and well-developed characters who must navigate difficult circumstances and challenges as they pursue happiness and fulfillment..

Rivers' writing is characterized by its strong and distinctive voice, clear and engaging prose, and sense of authenticity and verisimilitude..

Her works have received numerous awards and accolades, and have touched the hearts and minds of millions of readers around the world..

In addition to her writing, Rivers is also an active member of the Christian community and has spoken at various conferences and events around the world. She is married to her husband, Rick, and they have three children and seven grandchildren..

When she's not writing, Rivers enjoys spending time with her family, reading, and traveling.

Francine Sandra Rivers is an American author of fiction with Christian themes, including inspirational romance novels. Prior to becoming a born-again Christian in 1986, Rivers wrote historical romance novels. -Wikipedia

Francine Rivers(American author)

francinerivers.com

Born: 1947 (age 76 years), United States
Spouse: Rick Rivers
Children: Shannon Rivers, Travis Rivers, Trevor Rivers
Education: University of Nevada, Reno, Amador Valley High School
Nationality: American

Top 12 Francine Rivers Books You Can't Miss!

Francine Rivers is a bestselling and award-winning author known for her powerful Christian fiction novels..

With over 40 books published, Rivers has touched the hearts of countless readers with her uplifting and thought-provoking stories..

Many of her novels explore themes of faith, redemption, and love, and are set in historical or biblical times..

Rivers' books have won numerous awards, including the Christy Award for Excellence in Christian Fiction and the ECPA Gold Medallion Award for Excellence in Christian Fiction..

In this article, we will explore some of Francine Rivers' most popular and highly recommended books..

So, if you're a fan of Christian fiction or simply looking for an inspiring and enjoyable read, be sure to check out these 12 best Francine Rivers books..

1. Redeeming Love

"Redeeming Love" by Francine Rivers is a classic Christian romance novel that tells the story of Angel, a young woman who is rescued from a life of prostitution by Michael Hosea, a handsome and compassionate rancher..

Set in California during the Gold Rush era, the novel follows Angel as she learns to trust and love Michael and find redemption for her troubled past..

One of the notable themes in Redeeming Love is the idea of unconditional love and redemption through the power of God's grace..

Rivers explores these themes through the relationship between Angel and Michael, as well as through the struggles and triumphs of the other characters in the novel..

Redeeming Love is considered one of Francine Rivers' best books due to its compelling characters, engaging plot, and beautiful prose..

The chemistry between Angel and Michael is electric, and their journey toward love and redemption is both heartwarming and heart-wrenching..

The supporting characters are also well-developed and add depth and complexity to the story..

While Redeeming Love has received widespread praise, it has also faced some criticism for its depiction of Angel as a prostitute and for its portrayal of the historical setting..

However, Rivers has addressed these criticisms and has stated that her intention was to tell a story of redemption and hope, rather than to offend or diminish the experiences of anyone..

Overall, Redeeming Love is a powerful and moving novel that is a must-read for fans of Christian romance and anyone who loves a heartwarming and uplifting love story..

2. A Voice in the Wind

"A Voice in the Wind" is a historical fiction novel by Francine Rivers, set in the time of ancient Rome..

The story follows the journey of Hadassah, a young Jewish slave who is taken to Rome and must navigate the treacherous and decadent world of the Roman elite..

Along the way, she befriends Marcus, a Christian aristocrat, and becomes embroiled in the conflicts between the Roman Empire and the growing Christian movement..

One of the notable themes in the book is the contrast between the decadence and corruption of Roman society and the resilience and faith of the early Christians.. The book also explores themes of love, forgiveness, and redemption..

"A Voice in the Wind" is considered one of Francine Rivers' best books due to its compelling characters and engaging plot..

The main character, Hadassah, is a strong and determined young woman who refuses to let her circumstances define her..

Marcus is a complex and flawed character who must confront his own biases and prejudices.. The plot is well-paced and full of twists and turns, keeping the reader invested in the story..

The book's strengths also include its well-written prose and immersive world-building.. Rivers does an excellent job of bringing ancient Rome to life, and the historical details are woven seamlessly into the narrative..

While the book has received mostly positive reviews, some critics have pointed out that the portrayal of the early Christians as flawless and the Romans as completely corrupt may be a simplistic portrayal of the period..

However, the author has stated that the book is meant to be a work of fiction and not a historically accurate portrayal of the period..

3. An Echo in the Darkness

"An Echo in the Darkness" is a historical fiction novel by Francine Rivers, set in ancient Rome.. The main character is Hadassah, a young slave girl who becomes a Christian and takes on the name of Esther..

She is chosen to be the wife of the wealthy and powerful Marcus Valerian, a man who is initially cruel and abusive towards her..

Throughout the book, themes of faith, redemption, and the power of love are prominent..

The story follows Esther as she tries to navigate life as a Christian in a society that does not accept her beliefs, and as she strives to win Marcus over and bring him to a place of understanding and acceptance..

Many readers consider "An Echo in the Darkness" to be one of Francine Rivers' best books due to its well-developed characters and engaging plot..

Esther is a compelling protagonist, and her growth and transformation throughout the story are particularly noteworthy.. The supporting characters are also well-written and add depth to the story.

One criticism that some readers have of the book is that the romance between Esther and Marcus is somewhat rushed and unrealistic..

However, others have argued that this is intentional and serves to highlight the transformative power of love and faith.

Overall, "An Echo in the Darkness" is a well-written and thought-provoking novel that explores important themes and features compelling characters..

Its exploration of faith and redemption in the face of adversity makes it a standout work by Francine Rivers..

4. A Lineage of Grace

"A Lineage of Grace" by Francine Rivers is a historical fiction novel that follows the stories of five women in the Bible: Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba, and Mary..

Each woman is faced with unique challenges and difficult circumstances, but they all ultimately find grace and redemption through their faith in God..

One notable theme in the book is the idea of God's redemption and the power of faith..

Each of the women in the novel can overcome their hardships and find purpose in their lives through their belief in God..

The book is considered one of Francine Rivers' best works due to its compelling characters and engaging plot..

Each of the women is well-developed and their stories are told with care and sensitivity.. The prose is also well-written and flows smoothly, making for an enjoyable reading experience..

While the book has received praise for its portrayal of strong, faith-filled women, it has also faced some criticism for its depiction of certain events and characters..

However, Francine Rivers has addressed these criticisms and explained that she did extensive research and consulted with biblical scholars to accurately portray the stories and characters in the novel..

Overall, "A Lineage of Grace" is a beautifully written and thought-provoking novel that explores themes of faith, redemption, and the strength of the human spirit.. It is a must-read for fans of historical fiction and Christian literature..

5. The Lady’s Mine

"The Lady's Mine" by Francine Rivers is a historical romance novel set in the American West during the Gold Rush era..

It follows the love story between Hannah, a strong-willed and independent young woman, and Cal, a rugged and handsome prospector..

One of the notable themes in the book is the portrayal of women's roles in society during this period..

Hannah struggles with the expectations placed on her as a woman, and her desire to forge her own path.. The theme of forgiveness and redemption is also present, as both Hannah and Cal have past mistakes that they must come to terms with..

The book is considered one of Francine Rivers' best works due to its compelling characters and engaging plot..

Hannah and Cal are well-developed and relatable, and their romance is both heartwarming and tumultuous.. The historical setting is well-researched and adds depth to the story..

One criticism of the book is that it may be too predictable for some readers, as it follows a fairly typical romance novel structure..

However, Francine Rivers' writing is still strong and immersive, and she does a good job of creating tension and conflict between the characters..

Overall, "The Lady's Mine" is an enjoyable and well-written romance novel that will appeal to fans of the genre.. Its compelling characters and engaging plot make it a standout work from Francine Rivers..

6. The Masterpiece

"The Masterpiece" by Francine Rivers is a novel about a struggling artist named Roman Velasco who is haunted by his past and struggling to find his way in the present..

When he meets Grace Moore, a talented young art student, the two form a unique bond and embark on a journey of self-discovery and redemption..

One of the notable themes present in the book is the power of forgiveness and the importance of letting go of the past to move forward..

The relationship between Roman and Grace is also a key element of the novel, as they both struggle with their own insecurities and demons and learn to support and encourage each other..

"The Masterpiece" is considered one of Francine Rivers' best books due to its compelling characters, engaging plot, and well-written prose..

Rivers does an excellent job of bringing the characters to life and creating a captivating story that keeps readers engaged from start to finish..

One criticism of the book is that the religious themes may be off-putting to some readers..

However, Rivers handles these themes in a way that is subtle and not overly preachy, and they are ultimately woven into the story in a way that enhances the characters' journeys of self-discovery and redemption..

Overall, "The Masterpiece" is a powerful and moving novel that is sure to leave a lasting impression on its readers..

With its compelling characters, engaging plot, and well-written prose, it is no wonder that it is considered one of Francine Rivers' best books..

7. As Sure as the Dawn

"As Sure as the Dawn" by Francine Rivers is a Christian historical fiction novel set in ancient Rome.. It tells the story of Hadassah, a young Jewish slave who is chosen to be a servant in the household of Marcellus, a Roman general..

Despite the challenges and dangers she faces, Hadassah remains steadfast in her faith and eventually wins over the hearts of Marcellus and his family with her kindness and compassion..

One notable theme in the book is the power of love and forgiveness to overcome even the deepest conflicts and differences..

Another theme is the importance of faith and trust in God, as Hadassah relies on her belief in God to guide and protect her in her journey..

"As Sure as the Dawn" is considered one of Francine Rivers' best books due to its compelling characters, engaging plot, and well-written prose..

Hadassah is a relatable and likable protagonist, and the supporting cast of characters is also well-developed and interesting.. The historical setting is also well-researched and adds depth to the story.

There have been some criticisms of the book, such as its heavy focus on Christian themes and the fact that it is based on the biblical story of Esther..

However, Francine Rivers has stated that she wrote the book as a way to honor her own faith and share it with her readers, and many fans of the book appreciate the spiritual messages it conveys..

Overall, "As Sure as the Dawn" is a beautifully written and inspiring novel that is sure to appeal to fans of Christian fiction and historical fiction alike..

8. The Scarlet Thread

"The Scarlet Thread" by Francine Rivers is a historical fiction novel set in the early 1900s, following the lives of two women, Tessa and Leota, who are connected through their ancestry and the struggles they face..

Tessa is a wealthy, privileged woman living in San Francisco, while Leota is a poverty-stricken woman living in the Appalachian Mountains..

Despite their differences in social status and location, the two women's lives become intertwined through the power of prayer and the bonds of the family..

One of the notable themes present in the book is the idea of the redemptive power of love..

Both Tessa and Leota go through difficult circumstances and make mistakes, but through the love and support of their families and their faith in God, they can find healing and forgiveness..

"The Scarlet Thread" is considered one of Francine Rivers' best books because of its compelling characters and engaging plot..

Tessa and Leota are well-developed characters who are easy for readers to relate to, and the way their lives intersect is both surprising and emotionally impactful..

The book is also well-written, with beautiful prose that brings the story and its setting to life..

One criticism of the book is that some readers may find the religious themes to be heavy-handed or preachy..

However, Francine Rivers handles these themes with sensitivity and nuance, and for many readers, the portrayal of faith in the book is one of its strengths..

Overall, "The Scarlet Thread" is a powerful and moving tale of love, redemption, and the enduring bonds of the family..

9. The Atonement Child

"The Atonement Child" by Francine Rivers is a novel about a young woman named Dynah Carey who becomes pregnant after being raped..

The story follows Dynah as she grapples with the emotional and physical aftermath of the assault, as well as the societal shame and stigma surrounding unwed motherhood..

One of the notable themes in the book is the concept of atonement, as Dynah's pregnancy serves as a reminder of her attacker's wrongdoing and her own feelings of guilt and responsibility..

The novel also explores themes of faith, forgiveness, and the power of love and family..

"The Atonement Child" is considered one of Francine Rivers' best books due to its powerful and thought-provoking portrayal of a difficult and controversial subject..

The characters are complex and well-developed, and the plot is emotionally resonant and beautifully written..

One criticism of the book is that it might be triggering for some readers due to its depiction of sexual assault and its aftermath..

However, Francine Rivers handles these difficult themes with sensitivity and care, and the book ultimately delivers an uplifting and hopeful message about the healing power of love and faith..

Overall, "The Atonement Child" is a poignant and moving novel that tackles difficult themes with grace and humanity..

It's compelling characters and engaging plot, coupled with its well-written prose, make it a must-read for fans of Francine Rivers and anyone interested in exploring the complexities of love, faith, and forgiveness..

10. Her Mother's Hope

"Her Mother's Hope" by Francine Rivers is a historical fiction novel that follows the lives of two women, Marta and Hildemara, across four generations.. The story begins in Switzerland in the late 1800s and ends in California in the 1940s..

Marta is a strong-willed and independent woman who is determined to make a better life for herself and her family.. She immigrates to America with her husband and children, hoping to find success and prosperity..

However, Marta's dreams are met with numerous challenges, including the Great Depression and World War II..

Hildemara, Marta's daughter, is a kind and caring woman who struggles to find her own identity and purpose in life.. She is torn between her love for her family and her desire to live a life of adventure and independence..

One of the main themes of the book is the importance of family and the sacrifices that mothers make for their children..

Another theme is the struggle to find one's place in the world and the challenges that come with pursuing one's dreams..

"Her Mother's Hope" is considered one of Francine Rivers' best books because of its compelling characters, engaging plot, and well-written prose..

The book is a heart-wrenching and inspiring tale that will leave a lasting impression on readers..

There have been some criticisms of the book, including that the characters are not fully developed and the plot is predictable..

However, Francine Rivers' writing style and the historical context of the story more than make up for these weaknesses..

Overall, "Her Mother's Hope" is a beautifully written and emotionally powerful novel that is not to be missed..

11. Bridge to Haven

"Bridge to Haven" by Francine Rivers is a novel about a young woman named Abby who is struggling to find her place in the world..

Despite being abandoned by her mother at a young age, Abby has managed to build a successful career as an actress in Hollywood..

However, as she approaches middle age, Abby begins to feel unfulfilled and starts to question the choices she has made in her life..

One of the notable themes in "Bridge to Haven" is the concept of forgiveness and redemption.. Abby's journey is one of self-discovery, as she grapples with the pain of her past and learns to forgive those who have hurt her..

This theme is explored through the relationships Abby has with the various characters in the book, including her mother, her childhood best friend, and the man she falls in love with..

Many readers consider "Bridge to Haven" to be one of Francine Rivers' best books due to its compelling characters, engaging plot, and well-written prose.. Abby is a relatable and well-developed protagonist, and the supporting characters are also well-rounded and believable..

The plot is well-paced and keeps the reader engaged from beginning to end. The writing is also of high quality, with vivid descriptions and engaging dialogue..

There have been some criticisms of "Bridge to Haven," with some reviewers finding the portrayal of Hollywood and the film industry to be unrealistic. Others have also pointed out that the themes of forgiveness and redemption may be heavy-handed at times.

However, these criticisms are generally minor and do not detract from the overall enjoyment of the book.

Overall, "Bridge to Haven" is a well-written and emotionally satisfying novel that explores themes of forgiveness and redemption compellingly and thoughtfully..

Its engaging characters and a compelling plot make it a standout work in Francine Rivers' oeuvre..

12. And the Shofar Blew

"And the Shofar Blew" by Francine Rivers is a historical fiction novel set in the early Christian church.. The main character, Paul, is a converted persecutor of Christians who becomes a key figure in the spread of the faith..

The book follows Paul's journey as he faces challenges and persecution, and grapples with his own personal demons..

One of the notable themes in the book is the struggle for faith and the power of forgiveness.. Rivers delves into the internal conflicts that Paul faces as he tries to reconcile his past actions with his newfound belief in Jesus..

This book is considered one of Rivers' best works due to its compelling characters and engaging plot.. The portrayal of Paul is particularly well-done, as Rivers portrays his struggles and growth in a realistic and relatable manner..

The prose is also well-written, with vivid descriptions and smooth pacing that keep the reader invested in the story..

There have been some criticisms of the book, such as its depiction of historical events and its heavy use of Christian themes..

However, Rivers has addressed these criticisms by stating that the book is a work of fiction and is not meant to be a historical account..

Overall, "And the Shofar Blew" is a thought-provoking and emotionally satisfying read that is highly recommended for fans of historical fiction and Christian literature..

List of Francine Rivers's Books in Order

A Voice in the Wind (Mark of the Lion #1)
An Echo in the Darkness (Mark of the Lion #2)
As Sure as the Dawn (Mark of the Lion #3)
Redeeming Love
The Atonement Child
The Scarlet Thread
The Masterpiece
And the Shofar Blew
Her Mother's Hope (Marta's Legacy #1)
Her Daughter's Dream (Marta's Legacy #2)
A Lineage of Grace
The Ruby Slippers
The Last Sin Eater
The Bronze Bow
The Cloak of Promise
The Château (The Château #1)
The Freedom Factor (The Château #2)
The Priest (The Château #3)
The Summer of Roses
A Love So Big (Life-Changing Bible Story Series #1)
A Love So True (Life-Changing Bible Story Series #2)
A Love So Pure (Life-Changing Bible Story Series #3)
A Love So Faithful (Life-Changing Bible Story Series #4)
A Love So Endless (Life-Changing Bible Story Series #5)
The Ring (The Lineage of Grace #1)
The Pearl (The Lineage of Grace #2)
The Scepter (The Lineage of Grace #3)
The Crown (The Lineage of Grace #4)
The Warrior's Bride (The Lineage of Grace #5)
The Priest's Great Adventure (The Lineage of Grace #6)
The God Who Wins
The God Who Makes a Way
The God Who Stays
The God Who Sees
The God Who Makes a Way: A 40-Day Journey Through the Red Sea Rules
The God Who Stays: A 40-Day Journey Through the Land of Inheritance
The God Who Sees: A 40-Day Journey Through the Land of Promise
Bridge to Haven
The Masterpiece (The Art of Love #1)
The Bride (The Art of Love #2)

Francine Rivers Series List in Order

1. Mark of the Lion

A Voice in the Wind (Book 1)
An Echo in the Darkness (Book 2)
As Sure as the Dawn (Book 3)

2. Marta's Legacy

Her Mother's Hope (Book 1)
Her Daughter's Dream (Book 2)

3. Lineage of Grace

The Ring (Book 1)
The Pearl (Book 2)
The Scepter (Book 3)
The Crown (Book 4)
The Warrior's Bride (Book 5)
The Priest's Great Adventure (Book 6)

4. Life-Changing Bible Story Series

A Love So Big (Book 1)
A Love So True (Book 2)
A Love So Pure (Book 3)
A Love So Faithful (Book 4)
A Love So Endless (Book 5)

5. The Château

The Château (Book 1)
The Freedom Factor (Book 2)
The Priest (Book 3)

6. The Art of Love

The Masterpiece (Book 1)
The Bride (Book 2)

What is Francine Rivers' latest book?

According to my knowledge, Francine Rivers' latest book is "The Bride" (The Art of Love #2), which was published in 2021.. This book is the sequel to "The Masterpiece" (The Art of Love #1), which was published in 2020..

Both of these books are part of a new series called "The Art of Love," which follows the lives and loves of three generations of artists..

In "The Bride," Rivers continues the story of Jamie, a young artist who is struggling to find her place in the world and follow her dreams despite the challenges and setbacks she faces..

As she navigates the complexities of love and relationships, Jamie learns valuable lessons about faith, forgiveness, and the true meaning of art and beauty..

Francine Rivers Romance Books in no particular order

Redeeming Love
The Scarlet Thread
As Sure as the Dawn
The Summer of Roses
Bridge to Haven
The Masterpiece (The Art of Love #1)
The Bride (The Art of Love #2)
A Voice in the Wind (Mark of the Lion #1)
An Echo in the Darkness (Mark of the Lion #2)
As Sure as the Dawn (Mark of the Lion #3)
A Lineage of Grace
The Ring (The Lineage of Grace #1)
The Pearl (The Lineage of Grace #2)
The Scepter (The Lineage of Grace #3)
The Crown (The Lineage of Grace #4)

All of these books are classified as inspirational romance novels, which means they contain romantic elements and themes, but also explore deeper issues of faith, redemption, and personal growth..

Many of these books are set in historical or biblical times and feature complex and well-developed characters who must navigate difficult circumstances and challenges as they pursue love and happiness..

If you enjoy romance novels with a message and a heart, be sure to check out these Francine Rivers romance books..

Francine Rivers Books by Category

Below are some of the Christian fiction, inspirational romance, historical fiction, and biblical fiction books by category..

Christian Fiction by Francine Rivers

Francine Rivers is a bestselling and award-winning Christian fiction author who is known for her powerful and inspiring stories that explore themes of faith, redemption, and love..

Rivers' focus on faith and redemption in her novels has made her a popular and highly respected author among readers who are looking for uplifting and thought-provoking reads..

Some of the most popular Christian fiction novels by Francine Rivers include:

The Lady's Mine - In "The Lady's Mine," Kathryn Walsh arrives in the mining town of Calvada in the Sierra Nevadas to claim an inheritance from her uncle, a defunct newspaper office, and a seemingly worthless mine.. She decides to relaunch the newspaper and becomes embroiled in a conflict with the town's powerful men.. Matthias Beck, the owner of a local saloon and hotel, takes an interest in Kathryn and tries to protect her as she fights against the town's issues.. As Matthias and Kathryn work together and form a deeper connection, they find that love is more valuable than any material wealth..

Unafraid: Mary - In "Unafraid," Francine Rivers tells the story of Mary, the mother of Jesus.. The novel explores Mary's life as an ordinary woman living in ancient Palestine and follows her journey as she becomes the chosen mother of the long-awaited Messiah.. The book delves into Mary's emotions and experiences as she raises Jesus and witnesses the impact he has on the world.. Through Mary's story, Rivers shows how faith and obedience to God can lead to unexpected blessings and challenges..

The Last Sin Eater - This book is a powerful tale of forgiveness and redemption set in the Appalachian Mountains in the late 1800s.. It follows the story of Cadi, a young girl who is struggling to come to terms with the loss of her family and the secrets of her past..

Biblical Fiction by Francine Rivers

Francine Rivers is a bestselling and award-winning author who is known for her powerful and inspiring biblical fiction novels..

Many of Rivers' books are based on biblical themes or characters and explore the deeper meaning and significance of the Bible in the lives of her characters..

Rivers is skilled at bringing the Bible to life, using richly detailed and authentic settings, and using biblical stories and themes to add depth and resonance to her stories..

Some of the most popular biblical fiction novels by Francine Rivers include:

The Atonement Child - This book tells the story of Dynah Carey, a young woman who is faced with a difficult choice when she becomes pregnant out of wedlock.. Set against the backdrop of the pro-life movement, this book explores themes of faith, forgiveness, and the value of human life..

A Lineage of Grace - This book is a collection of five novellas that follow the lives of five biblical women: Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba, and Mary.. Each of these women is faced with difficult circumstances and challenges, but through faith and determination, they find hope, forgiveness, and redemption..

Redeeming Love - This is a classic and widely beloved Francine Rivers book that tells the story of Michael Hosea, a young man who is called by God to love and redeem a prostitute named Angel.. Set in the California gold rush of the 1850s, this book is a powerful tale of redemption, forgiveness, and the enduring love of God..

And the Shofar Blew - This book is a powerful tale of faith and redemption set in the turbulent world of the 1970s college campus.. It follows the story of Paul Hudson, a young man who is struggling to find his way in the world and live out his faith in a hostile environment..

Inspirational Romance Novels by Francine Rivers

Francine Rivers is a bestselling and award-winning author who is known for her inspiring and uplifting inspirational romance novels..

While these books contain romantic elements and themes, they also explore deeper issues of faith, redemption, and personal growth..

Many of Rivers' romance novels are set in historical or biblical times and feature complex and well-developed characters who must navigate difficult circumstances and challenges as they pursue love and happiness..

In addition to the romantic elements in her novels, Rivers is known for the positive messages and themes of love, forgiveness, and grace that are woven throughout her stories..

Whether she is writing about the enduring love of a married couple, the healing power of forgiveness, or the transformative grace of God, Rivers' novels are filled with hope, inspiration, and encouragement..

Some of the most popular inspirational romance novels by Francine Rivers include:

Bridge to Haven - This book is a modern retelling of the biblical story of the prodigal son, set in the world of Hollywood and the entertainment industry.. It follows the story of Abby, a young actress who is searching for love and acceptance in a world that is often hostile and unforgiving..

The Masterpiece (The Art of Love #1) - This book is the first in Francine Rivers' new "The Art of Love" series and tells the story of Jamie, a young artist who is struggling to find her place in the world.. As she navigates the complexities of love and relationships, Jamie learns valuable lessons about faith, forgiveness, and the true meaning of art and beauty.. With its compelling characters and themes of forgiveness, redemption, and second chances, this book is a must-read for fans of inspirational romance..

Her Mother's Hope - This is the first book in Rivers' "Marta's Legacy" series and tells the story of a young woman named Marta who must confront the challenges and hardships of her past as she builds a new life in America.. With its complex and well-developed characters and themes of family, faith, and resilience, this book is a must-read for fans of inspirational romance..

Her Daughter's Dream - This is the second book in Rivers' "Marta's Legacy" series and tells the story of a young woman named Hildie who must confront the challenges and hardships of her own life as she struggles to follow in her mother's footsteps.. With its compelling characters and themes of family, faith, and perseverance, this book is a must-read for fans of inspirational romance..

Historical Fiction by Francine Rivers

Francine Rivers is a bestselling and award-winning author who is known for her captivating and well-researched historical fiction novels..

Many of Rivers' books are set in historical or biblical times and feature complex and well-developed characters who must navigate difficult circumstances and challenges as they pursue happiness and fulfillment..

Rivers is skilled at bringing the past to life, using richly detailed and authentic settings, and using historical events and themes to add depth and resonance to her stories..

Some of the most popular historical fiction novels by Francine Rivers include:

A Voice in the Wind (Mark of the Lion #1) - This is the first book in Francine Rivers' "Mark of the Lion" series and tells the story of Hadassah, a young Jewish slave who is captured and taken to Rome during the time of the early Christians. As she navigates the dangers and challenges of her new life, Hadassah discovers the strength of her faith and the power of love to overcome even the darkest of circumstances..

An Echo in the Darkness (Mark of the Lion #2) - This is the second book in the "Mark of the Lion" series and continues the story of Hadassah as she struggles to survive and serve God in a hostile and dangerous world..

As Sure as the Dawn (Mark of the Lion #3) - This book is the final book in Francine Rivers' "Mark of the Lion" series and brings the story of Hadassah to a satisfying and uplifting conclusion.. Set in the time of the early Christians, this book is a powerful tale of faith, redemption, and the enduring power of love..

The Scarlet Thread - This book follows the story of Tessa, a modern-day woman who is struggling with the aftermath of a difficult past.. When she discovers a family secret that connects her to a distant ancestor, Tessa is drawn into a journey of discovery and healing that helps her find hope and forgiveness for herself and others..

The Mark of the Lion trilogy - This is a series of three books that follow the epic and inspiring story of Hadassah, a young Jewish slave who is captured and taken to Rome during the time of the early Christians.. As she navigates the dangers and challenges of her new life, Hadassah discovers the strength of her faith and the power of love to overcome even the darkest of circumstances..

Authors Like Francine Rivers

If you're a fan of Francine Rivers' books and are looking for more great reads, there are plenty of options out there..

Rivers is known for her powerful and inspiring stories that explore themes of faith, redemption, and love, and many other authors have written books that are similar in style and tone..

Here are a few authors that fans of Francine Rivers might enjoy:

Karen Kingsbury - Kingsbury is a bestselling author who writes heartwarming and emotional Christian fiction and romance novels.. Her books often explore themes of faith, family, and second chances, and are perfect for readers who enjoy uplifting and inspiring stories..

Colleen Coble - Coble is a bestselling author who writes romantic suspense novels with a strong Christian theme.. Her books are full of mystery, intrigue, and romance, and are perfect for readers who enjoy a little bit of danger with their love stories..

Tessa Afshar - Afshar is an award-winning author who writes historical fiction with a Christian theme.. Her books are richly detailed and authentic, and explore themes of faith, forgiveness, and redemption..

Linda Windsor - Windsor is an author who writes Christian romance novels with a strong historical theme.. Her books are full of romance, adventure, and faith, and are perfect for readers who enjoy a good love story set against a historical backdrop..

Elizabeth Camden - Camden is a bestselling author who writes historical romance novels with a Christian theme.. Her books are richly detailed and authentic, and explore themes of faith, forgiveness, and redemption..

These are just a few examples of authors and books that are similar to Francine Rivers' works.. If you're looking for more great reads, be sure to check out these authors and their books!

Conclusion of The Best Francine Rivers books

In conclusion, Francine Rivers is a bestselling and award-winning author who has written a diverse range of genres, including Christian fiction, inspirational romance, historical fiction, and biblical fiction..

Her books are known for their powerful themes of faith, redemption, and love, and their compelling characters who must navigate difficult circumstances and challenges to find happiness and fulfillment..

If you're looking for an uplifting and thought-provoking reading experience, we highly recommend checking out these 12 best Francine Rivers books. Whether you're a fan of Christian fiction or simply enjoy a good story with a heart, you're sure to find something to love in Rivers' works..

10 Best Colleen Coble Books & Series List In Order

2024-01-20T16:56:00.005+06:00

Looking for the best Colleen Coble books and series to read? Look no further! Today we will talk about the Top 10 Must-Read Colleen Coble Books & Series List In Publication Order.

Colleen Coble is a prolific author in the romantic suspense and mystery genres, with a career spanning over two decades.

Colleen Coble is a Christian author of dozens of fiction books, including her latest releases: Lonestar Angel, Smitten, and Blue Moon Promise.

She writes the best romantic suspense. Many of you first found her through the Rock Harbor series, but she has written many best-selling, award-winning novels.

Her writing style is characterized by intricate plots, compelling characters, and a strong focus on faith and family.

In this blog post, we will explore the 10 Best Colleen Coble Books In Order and Series List that every reader should add to their reading list.

About the Author Colleen Coble

Colleen Coble, a bestselling author of romantic suspense novels, has been recognized with awards such as the Best Books of Indiana, ACFW Carol Award, RITA by Romance Writers of America, Holt Medallion, Daphne du Maurier, National Readers’ Choice, and Booksellers Best.

With almost 4 million books sold, she writes romantic mysteries to see justice served.

Additionally, Colleen is the CEO of American Christian Fiction Writers and resides in Indiana with her husband Dave. To learn more about her and her work, visit www.colleencoble.com.

Colleen Coble is an American Christian author of romance, romantic suspense, and historical fiction. Her thirty-five novels and novellas have sold a total of about 2 million copies, and have received ... Wikipedia

Born: January 19, 1952 (age 71 years), Wabash, Indiana, United States
Genre: Romance, historical fiction

Colleen Coble

Colleen Coble Books & Series List In Publication Order

Publication Order of Wyoming Books

Where Leads the Heart-1997
Plains of Promise -1999
The Heart Answers -1999
To Love a Stranger -2000

Publication Order of Rock Harbor Books

Without a Trace -2003
Beyond a Doubt -2004
Into the Deep -2004
Abomination / Haven of Swans-2007
Cry in the Night -2009
Silent Night -2012
Beneath Copper Falls -2017

Publication Order of Aloha Reef Books

Distant Echoes -2005
Black Sands -2005
Dangerous Depths-2006
Midnight Sea -2007
Holy Night -2013

Publication Order of Smoke Jumpers Books

Fire Dancer -2006
Publication Order of Lonestar Books
Lonestar Sanctuary -2007
Lonestar Secrets -2008
Lonestar Homecoming-2010
Lonestar Angel -2011
All Is Calm -2014

Publication Order of Mercy Falls Books

The Lightkeeper's Daughter-2009
The Lightkeeper's Bride -2010
The Lightkeeper's Ball -2011

Publication Order of Smitten Books

Smitten(With: Kristin Billerbeck,Denise Hunter,Diann Hunt) -2011
Natalie - Birthday Wishes-2012
Secretly Smitten-2013
Love Between the Lines-2013
Love Blooms-2013
Smitten Book Club -2014
Love by the Book -2014
Happily Ever After -2014
Smitten Ever After -2014

Publication Order of Smitten Short Stories/Novellas with Diann Hunt

Shelby - You've Got a Friend-2012
Knit One, Love Two-2013
A New Chapter-2014

Publication Order of Hope Beach Books

Tidewater Inn -2012
Rosemary Cottage -2013
Seagrass Pier -2014
All Is Bright -2015

Publication Order of Under Texas Stars Books

Blue Moon Promise -2012
Safe in His Arms -2013

Publication Order of Rock Harbor Search and Rescue Books with Robin Caroll

Rock Harbor Search and Rescue-2013
Lost and Found-2013

Publication Order of Love Across the Sea Books

Butterfly Palace-2014
Bluebonnet Bride-2014

Publication Order of Journey of the Heart Books

A Heart's Disguise -1997
A Heart's Obsession -1999
A Heart's Danger -1999
A Heart's Betrayal -1999
A Heart's Promise -1999
A Heart's Home -1999

Publication Order of Sunset Cove Books

The Inn at Ocean's Edge-2015
Mermaid Moon -2016
Twilight at Blueberry Barrens-2016

Publication Order of Lavender Tides Books

The View from Rainshadow Bay -2018
The House at Saltwater Point -2018
Leaving Lavender Tides -2018
Secrets at Cedar Cabin -2019

Publication Order of Pelican Harbor Books

One Little Lie -2020
Two Reasons to Run -2020
Three Missing Days -2021

Publication Order of Annie Pederson Books

Edge of Dusk -2022
Dark of Night -2023
Break of Day -2023

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Love Ahoy -1999
From Russia With Love-2000
The Cattle Baron's Bride-2001
Maggie's Mistake-2002
Red River Bride -2002
Alaska Twilight -2006
Anathema -2008
Because You're Mine-2017
Where Shadows Meet -2018
Freedom's Light -2018
Strands of Truth -2019
A Stranger's Game-2022

Publication Order of Short Stories/Novellas

Belinda-2012
A Match Made in Heaven-2012
Heart Full of Love-2012
Love, Suite Love-2012
Storm Warning-2013
Love's Far Country-2013
The Wedding Quilt Bride-2013
Set Sail My Heart-2013

Publication Order of Picture Books

The Blessings Jar -2013

Publication Order of Anthologies

Spring's Memory-1999
Forever Friends -2000
Reunions-2000
Home for Christmas-2001
Heirloom Brides -2001
Blind Dates -2003
Gold Rush Christmas -2003

Top 10 Must-Read Colleen Coble Novels of All Time

1. Edge of Dusk

Review Edge of Dusk by Colleen Cobble description even though secrets lie off the coast of Rock Harbor the truth will set Annie Pedersen free if it doesn't kill her first nine-year-old Annie Person's life changed the night her sister was kidnapped

the two had been outside playing on a dock and Annie never forgave herself for her role in her sister's disappearance 24 years later now a law enforcement ranger Annie is still searching for answers as she grieves a new loss the death of her husband and parents in a boating accident

but Annie and her eight-year-old daughter Kylie aren't the only people in the town of Rock Harbor whose lives have been marred by tragedy while managing the property around the Tremolo resort and Mourinho she inherited Annie discovers a dead body floating

in the cold superior surf and begins to work with the sheriff's office to tie the death to a series of other mysterious reports in the area at the same time her first love John Dustan returns after nine years away reigniting the town's memory of a cold case

he'd been suspiciously linked to before he left to pursue his orthopedic residency for the sake of her investigation and her heart Annie tries to stay away but avoiding Jon becomes impossible once Annie realizes she is being targeted by someone desperate to keep secrets from the past

hidden my opinion Edge of Dusk by Colleen Cobble is Christian suspense it's the first book from the Annie Pedersen series this story focuses on two mysteries one is about Annie's younger sister who was abducted when they were kids the other one is about two young women who were murdered nine years ago

the plot captures your attention from the first chapter and holds you captive until the last one it's an intense suspense novel that has a few emotional scenes romance and lots of action the descriptions are on point you can easily visualize the place and the people the characters are interesting

as well each one has its own story and issues Annie was the one that struck me she was brave kind and helpful but she also seemed to be stuck in the past the relationship she had with her daughter was one of my favorite parts of the book

there are three big revelations towards the end and I am happy that I found out about two of them if you like mysteries and suspense novels I highly suggest you read this one I enjoyed reading it.

2. Smitten

Nataly Mansfield stood on the perimeter of the town square, watching her niece and the other children decorate the town for Easter. Mia, her five-year-old niece, had a huge smile on her face as she placed the lavender wreath at the top of the clock with her Sunday school teacher.

Natalie waved back at Mia and told her great-aunt Rose Garner how much she loved her. Her aunt's words made Natalie's heart fill with pride and happiness.

While they were talking, Natalie noticed a group of men standing nearby with dejected stances. She recognized one of them as her coffee shop patron, Murphy Clinton, and asked him what had happened.

Murphy informed her that the mill was closing, which would have devastating effects on the town's economy. Natalie was concerned because her business was already struggling, and if the mill closed, she didn't know how she would provide for Mia.

Natalie discussed the situation with her three best friends, Julia, Shelby, and Reese, and they tried to come up with a solution. Reese suggested capitalizing on the town's name and turning it into a place for honeymooners.

They brainstormed other ideas to attract tourists to the town, such as offering unique experiences and activities. The group was determined to save their beloved town from economic ruin.

3. One Little Lie

"One Little Lie" by Colleen Coble, is a Christian romantic suspense novel. The main character, Jane Hardy, is appointed as an interim sheriff in Pelican Harbor, Alabama, where her father is arrested for theft and implicated in a recent murder.

Jane finds herself dependent on a well-known journalist named Reid, who makes documentaries and has his sites set on covering her career. They begin working together to clear her father's name but Raid has his own secrets from the past, and the gulf between them may be impossible to cross.

The book revolves around Jane's search for her mother, her father's arrest, and her relationship with a journalist named Reid.

it was not really a suspense or Christian story, the characters were not developed enough, and the cult situation that was referenced throughout the book could have been explained more.

4. The House at Saltwater Point

The dangerous beauty of Lavender Tides is harboring secrets that reach around the world. Ellie Blackmore is making a name for herself as a house flipper.

But when her sister Mackenzie disappears, Ellie can't focus on anything but uncovering what happened. Her only clue is the bloodstain on the deck of Mackenzie's boat.

Ellie knows her sister isn't on the best of terms with her ex-husband, Jason, but he wouldn't kill her—would he? Coast Guard intelligence officer Grayson Bradshaw believes Mackenzie faked her own death after stealing a seized cocaine shipment.

The problem is convincing Ellie, who seems to view him as the true enemy. Both Ellie and Grayson want the truth, but the truth—and family—is often more complex than it first appears.

From international terrorism to the peaceful lavender fields of Puget Sound, The House at Saltwater Point is a thrilling race to uncover the truth before it's too late.

5. Lonestar Sanctuary

The story is about Ali, a rodeo participant who lives in a run-down trailer with her daughter Betsy. Ali dreams of winning the barrel racing championship so that they can have a better life.

One night, while taking a shower, Ali hears someone scratching at the bathroom door and a man's voice calling out to her.

The man taunts and threatens her, leaving Ali feeling trapped and afraid for her and Betsy's safety.

She tries to escape through the window but it's too small, and when she tries to open the door, the man threatens her with a knife.

Despite her fear, Ali remains determined to protect her daughter from harm.

6. All is Calm

The story begins with a woman named Lauren and a stallion named Angel. Lauren is worried because her boss, Charles McLeod, wants to put Angel down after someone drugged him, and Lauren believes that Angel would never harm anyone intentionally.

Lauren considers taking Angel and running away to a ranch where she worked as a teenager called Bluebird Ranch. Brendan Wadell, an ex-special ops intelligence officer, arrives at the ranch and notices Lauren, who has just arrived to work as a horse trainer. The story sets up a possible romance between Lauren and Brendan.

The story highlights Lauren's determination to save Angel, even if it means running away with him. It also introduces the possibility of a romance between Lauren and Brendan, who is intrigued by Lauren from the moment he sees her.

The setting of the ranch and the descriptions of the characters and their interactions add depth to the story, and the conflict between Lauren and her boss sets up the story's main tension. Overall, the story introduces interesting characters and a promising plotline.

7. Bluebonnet Bride

The first chapter of Colleen Coble's "Bluebonnet Bride" introduces the main character, Ellie Korpela, who arrives in Austin, Texas, in 1907 to marry Nathan White, a man she has never met.

Ellie is nervous and anxious, worried that Nathan might not be pleased with her appearance, as she has lost weight since her father's death and the journey from Finland.

However, when Nathan arrives, he is much more handsome than she had imagined, with a neat brown beard and green eyes. He also brings along his young niece, Hannah, whose mother had died three years ago.

Nathan explains that he wants Ellie to marry him and become Hannah's mother, providing her with a stable home and love.

Ellie is taken aback but agrees to the marriage, eager to delve into the mystery of why Nathan chose to obtain a mail-order bride from Europe. They go to a café, and Nathan orders lunch for them all.

Ellie is starving, having had only a few crackers that morning, but she tries to remain calm and composed in front of Nathan.

He then explains that he wants her to marry him to provide Hannah with a stable home and love, as he is her only living relative. Ellie is moved by Nathan's words and agrees to the marriage.

8. Rock Harbor Search and Rescue

The book "Rock Harbor Search and Rescue" by Colleen Coble is aimed at young girls and tells the story of Emily O'Reilly, a 14-year-old who dreams of owning a search and rescue puppy.

Emily volunteers with the search and rescue team and sells homemade jewelry to raise money for the puppy. However, her dreams are shattered when an expensive necklace is stolen from a jewelry artist during a festival, and Emily is accused of the crime.

Emily is determined to clear her name and find the real culprit, despite her birth mother being released from prison and her former best friend being mean to her. Emily must work with her friend Olivia to find the true thief and prove her innocence before her puppy is sold.

The book features characters from the Rock Harbor series, including Bree, the head of the search and rescue team, who influences Emily. The story is well-written, with enough depth to keep readers engaged.

Although it is listed as suitable for ages 8 and up, the reviewer recommends it for children aged 10 or older due to its length and complexity. Overall, the book is an enjoyable read, with enough twists and turns to keep readers guessing.

9. The Blessings Jar

The Blessing Jar: A Story About Being Thankful by Colleen Kavanaugh is a children's book about Punky Grace, who wakes up grumpy one morning and thinks that nothing good is going to happen that day.

Her grandmother introduces her to the concept of a "blessing jar" and takes her on an adventure to fill it with reminders of God's blessings throughout the day.

They add things like flowers, shells, leaves, and even a cookie to the jar, and Punky's grumpiness disappears as she focuses on finding blessings.

The book emphasizes the importance of gratitude and finding joy in everyday things. It also shows the positive impact that a caring adult, such as a grandparent, can have on a child's mood and outlook.

The illustrations are colorful and engaging, and the text is easy to read aloud. Overall, The Blessing Jar is a heartwarming and uplifting story that teaches children about the power of gratitude and the beauty of everyday blessings.

10. A Stranger's Game

A Stranger's Game by Colleen Coble is a gripping mystery that centers around Torie Bergstrom, a hotel heiress, who returns to Jekyll Island, Georgia after 18 years to investigate the death of her childhood friend, Lisbeth.

Torie believes that her friend's death was not an accident, and she is determined to find the truth behind it.

She goes undercover as a new employee in one of her family's properties on the island and starts investigating the case. Along the way, she meets Joe Abbott and his daughter, Hailey, who become her allies in unraveling the mystery.

As they delve deeper into the case, they realize that someone is trying to stop them and will go to any lengths to keep the truth buried.

The novel is well-written, and the plot is well-crafted with several twists and turns that keep the reader engaged throughout. The characters are well-developed, and the chemistry between Torie and Joe adds a touch of romance to the story.

The setting of Jekyll Island is described beautifully, and the author does an excellent job of creating a sense of atmosphere and tension.

The themes of loss, trust, and betrayal are explored, making the novel more than just a mystery but also a reflection on human nature.

Overall, A Stranger's Game is a must-read for anyone who enjoys a well-written mystery with well-developed characters and a captivating plot.

Colleen Coble has once again produced a compelling novel that will keep readers hooked until the very end.

Honorable Mentions: Best Colleen Coble Books

While narrowing down the list to just 10 books was no easy feat, there were a few additional titles that almost made the cut.

Here are some honorable mentions that are worth checking out:

Dark of Night
Three Missing Days
Two Reasons to Run
Tidewater Inn
Beneath Copper Falls
Secrets at Cedar Cabin
Without a Trace
Fire Dancer
Beyond a Doubt
Midnight Sea
Lonestar Secrets
Seagrass Pier
The Lightkeeper's Ball

Authors like Colleen Coble

If you're a fan of Colleen Coble's books and looking for similar authors, here are some writers you might enjoy:

Terri Blackstock
Dee Henderson
Dani Pettrey
Lynette Eason
Irene Hannon
Lisa Harris
Nancy Mehl
Daniela Petrova
Tamera Alexander
Colleen's daughter, Kristin Billerbeck

These authors share some similarities with Colleen Coble's style and themes, so if you enjoy her books, you might want to give some of these writers a try.

Books Similar to Colleen Coble

If you're a fan of Colleen Coble's books and looking for similar reads, here are some titles you might enjoy:

If I Run by Terri Blackstock
The Survivor by DiAnn Mills
The Alaskan Courage series by Dani Pettrey
Called to Protect by Lynette Eason
Dangerous Illusions by Irene Hannon
A Secret to Die For by Lisa Harris
Blind Betrayal by Nancy Mehl
The Escape Room by Megan Goldin
The Perfect Alibi by Phillip Margolin
The Inn at Ocean's Edge by Colleen Coble

These titles share some similarities with Colleen Coble's style and themes, so if you enjoy her books, you might want to give some of these titles a try.

Conclusion: Best Colleen Coble Books & Series in Order

From her debut novel to her latest release, we've got you covered. Discover heart-pounding suspense, captivating romance, and unforgettable characters in this list of Colleen Coble's finest works.

Whether you're a longtime fan or new to her writing, this list is a perfect way to explore her extensive library of books and series.

How the Steel Was Tempered by Nikolai Ostrovsky

2023-05-04T03:19:00.009+06:00

Discover the journey of a young Bolshevik in Soviet Russia with 'How the Steel Was Tempered' by Nikolai Ostrovsky. A captivating book review awaits.

The protagonist of this book, Paul Korchagin, has experienced the hardships of life and cultivated a revolutionary spirit and a rebellious character. After the outbreak of the October Revolution, he joined the Red Army when he was only 16 years old.

No matter in the war or in the recovery period of the national economy, Kechajin showed a fearless spirit, a steel-like will, strong patriotism, and opposition to the enemy.

The infinite and infinite loyalty of the people. Due to repeated injuries and overwork in the war, he was paralyzed, blind, and firmly confined to the bed.

However, he overcame the mental and physical blows and picked up a pen to sing praises to the heroes who fought for the establishment of the Soviet regime.

Contents Introduction: How the Steel Was Tempered by Nikolai Ostrovsky

"Collection of Masterpieces of World Literature: How Steel Was Tempered" vividly shows the heroic spirit of a revolutionary soldier who overcomes disease and never falls behind.

With its great artistic appeal, it reproduces the true picture of how the first generation of Communist Youth League members in the Soviet Union overcame all the difficulties and dangers in their life and fought hard and arduously for the realization of socialist ideals.

The protagonist Paul Korchagin is a shining example of this generation. Paul grew up in a poor worker's family and experienced the pain of exploitation and oppression by the capitalist system.

He worked as a small fireman in the canteen of a station and a worker in a power plant. His low social status and miserable life have tempered his indomitable character. He once risked his life and rescued the Bolshevik Zhukhlai from the bandit's bayonet.

This was an important turning point in his life. After the October Revolution, Russia was facing economic difficulties and rampant attacks of imperialism and domestic reactionaries.

Under the influence of Zhukhlai's revolutionary thought, the young Paul resolutely devoted himself to the Red Army and became the most famous Budyonny cavalry division.

One of the brave soldiers. He and his comrades charged the enemy seventeen times a day, and he was wounded three times a year, but he always fought at the forefront.

Whether serving as a soldier in Budyonny's cavalry division, doing work in the Communist Youth League and anti-revolutionary work in the local area, or building railways under extremely harsh natural conditions, his high sense of responsibility and strong work enthusiasm have attracted people.

I admire it. Bleeding and wounding during the war years, overwork, and sickness during the construction period, made Paul completely lose his health, and was imprisoned in the hospital bed.

However, his belief in the struggle for the liberation of all mankind has never wavered. He continued to work hard for the party, organized worker study groups, trained young activists, persevered in finding new weapons, and returned to the fighting ranks.

He finally withstood the severe test. With a firm belief in communism and an optimistic attitude of never giving up in life, he overcame obstacles and hardships that ordinary people cannot overcome and became the side of young people in history and reality who are constantly striving for self-improvement. banner. His charisma will never go out of style.

About the author: Nikolai Ostrovsky

N. Ostrovsky (1904-1936), Soviet writer. Born in a poor working family in Ukraine, he started working as a child laborer at the age of 11. Joined the Communist Youth League in 1919, then participated in the civil war. From 1923 to 1924, he served as the leader of the Communist Youth League in the Ukrainian border area and joined the Communist Party in 1924.

Due to his long-term participation in the arduous struggle, his health was seriously damaged. By 1927, his health condition deteriorated sharply, but he did not give in and fought against the disease with amazing perseverance.

At the end of the same year, he set about writing a "historical lyrical heroic story" ("Born of the Storm") about Kotovsky's division. Unfortunately, the only manuscript was lost by the post office when it was sent to friends for review.

This cruel blow did not frustrate his strong will but made him fight against the disease more tenaciously.

In 1929, he was paralyzed and blind in both eyes. In 1930, he used his own combat experience as material and began to write the novel "How Steel Was Tempered" with a tenacious will.

The novel was a huge success and received sincere and enthusiastic acclaim from its contemporaries. In 1934, Ostrovsky was absorbed as a member of the Union of Soviet Writers.

At the end of 1935, the Soviet government awarded him the Order of Lenin in recognition of his creative work and outstanding contributions to literature. On December 22, 1936, Ostrovsky died in Moscow due to a relapse of serious illness.

Book: How the Steel Was Tempered by Nikolai Ostrovsky

How the Steel Was Tempered or The Making of a Hero, is a socialist realist novel written by Nikolai Ostrovsky. With 36.4 million copies sold, it is one of the best-selling books of all time and the best-selling book in the Russian language. --- Wikipedia

Originally published: 1934
Author: Nikolai Ostrovsky
Adaptations: Pavel Korchagin (1957)
Genres: Novel, Fiction
Language: Russian
Original title: Как закалялась сталь

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Book Summary: How the Steel Was Tempered

How many years have I lent this book to him? I don’t remember it myself. I was looking at it by the bookcase and accidentally turned it out. I found that the edges and footers were folded, worn, and dusty. When I came back, what I said to him was: "I want to revisit the love between Paul and Tonya."

Maybe you, like me, are familiar with Paul's story from the nagging of your parents and teachers, and you can jump out of your tongue with such flexibility. "Ostrovsky" can recite the famous saying "A man lives only once" in one go, but he has never read this book in its entirety.

We are so far away from that era that the snowstorm in the Soviet Union became the scenery outside the window when we snuggled up by the fire. Those revolutions, politics, wars, classes... were either not understood or not interested at the time, and they were only roughly skipped.

In the rapidly flipping pages of the book, I only searched for the name of that eternal girl——Donia.

As soon as the book was opened, it was the first meeting of Paul and Tonya, the delicate pencil sketch illustration: the girl Tonya leaned over a crooked willow tree and saw the dark beating fishing boy with bare feet. He folded the corner of the book on this page. I know that we have read this passage thousands of times in our hearts.

"She wore a white sailor suit with a blue stripe on the collar and a light gray skirt. A pair of lace socks hugged her well-proportioned tanned calves, and she wore brown sandals. Her chestnut hair was combed into a Thick braid.”

When I read this description of Tonya when I was a child, I was very surprised. It turns out that in a distant cold country, girls are dressed like this, elegant and clean, gentle and polite, with an aristocratic atmosphere, looking down at themselves The crumpled red scarf and unclean white rubber shoes make me feel melancholy and longing. Class is nothing, only beauty is what we recognize.

In the novel, a lecherous bad boy described Tonya as "this girl is as sweet as a raisin and has a unique flavor." It is strange to say that this metaphor is deeply engraved in my heart. A girl as sweet as a raisin is The condensed sweetness in the sun, I think of Tonya running in the sun like the wind like the way the leather shoes clattered.

"Both of them stood panting, their hearts pounding. Tonya was exhausted from running wildly. She leaned on Paul as if unconsciously, and Paul felt how close she was. Although it was only a momentary event, it remains deeply in the memory.”

The throbbing of the first love is so sudden, the beauty of this moment is pure and transparent, like the first blooming of unseasoned love. Like flowers.

I also read their love with the same throbbing, sweet, and sour taste. I still remember: Paul went to the barber shop to cut off his tangled hair for Tonya, and worked hard to buy a blue shirt and black trousers; Tonya's proud and abrupt test on the edge of the cliff and Paul's stubborn jump; There are their misunderstandings, their worries, and their parting.

On the last night, in a quiet room, the clock reminded us of the separation after six hours. They spent it next to each other, kissing passionately, bright as a flame. Paul's fingers accidentally touched Tonya's chest, he panicked and trembled, and hurried away.

"I didn't dare to hug and sleep. I was afraid that falling asleep like this would cause suspicion to my mother, so they separated. It was getting brighter before they fell asleep. Before going to bed, they made a promise that no one would forget the other."

Seeing this, I couldn't help crying, I knew their love ended in this mutual respect, like a flower blowing down silently in the wind.

Paul's promise still echoed in my ears:

"Donia, when the situation settles down, I will definitely be an electrician. If you don't dislike me, if you really love me, I will definitely do it." Your good husband, I will never beat you, and if I bully you, I will die a terrible death."

I know through tears that I will never, there will never be that day, how many promises are so deep when I was young Made a deep promise, and then drifted away?

Many years later, they met next to the railway tracks ravaged by blizzards, and everything changed. But my Tonya still stayed on that night of separation and made a never-to-be-forgotten vow with the boy beside her.

Tonya, forever girl, forever first love, never to see you again. I remember her as bright and earnest, kind and sincere, and every word "you" she said made me feel affectionate. And this pure and untouchable, fire-like love will also be deeply buried in my memory.

Just like the first love, Donia is unforgettable.

Book Review of How Steel Was Tempered

Miscellaneous feelings: the history behind "How the Steel Was Tempered"

It's New Year, and I "organized" my bookcase. Those messy books, keep those that should be kept and sell those that should be sold for money. When I dug out those "Chen Zhima, Rotten Millet" novels, a novel with a tattered cover came into my eyes. That was "How the Steel Was Tempered" by the former Soviet writer N. Ostrovsky.

When I bought this novel, I was only a middle school student; There is an appointment with the film, the first issue played the film "How the Steel Was Tempered" from the former Soviet Union in the 1970s, and there were comments from film critics at the end of the film.

When the film was broadcast, I was immediately attracted by the plot of the film and went to the bookstore to buy the novel the next day. Although the novel is far longer and more complicated than the film, and the storyline is also different, I Still read him in one go.

Later, the TV series "How the Steel Was Tempered" was broadcast on one set, and "Bauer Fever" was set off across the country. My book immediately became a hot commodity, and I borrowed it from my classmates. Feeling a little complacent.

The author of the novel, Ni Ostrovsky, was born into a poor worker's family in Ostrosh County, Volyn Province, Ukraine, and began working as a child laborer at the age of 11. Joined the Communist Youth League in 1919, then participated in the civil war.

From 1923 to 1924, he served as the leader of the Communist Youth League in the Ukrainian border area. He joined the Communist Party in 1924.

In 1927, Ostrovsky was paralyzed due to illness and was bedridden. To show the face of the era and personal life experience oneself. His novel "How the Steel Was Tempered" was completed in this way.

Now, several years have passed, when I read this novel, I feel very different when I read it.

As we all know, "How Steel Was Tempered" has a large section describing the history of Ukraine before and after the October Revolution in 1917, from Ukraine's independence, revolution, and joining the Soviet Union; The historical background of the Triura "bandits" and the Polish-Soviet War.

The following briefly describes the background of the Ukrainian Civil War and the Polish-Soviet War reflected in How Steel Was Tempered:

After the February Revolution in Russia in 1917, the Ukrainian national patriotic group established the "Ukrainian Social Organization United Rada" on March 7, 1917 ("Rada" is Ukrainian, meaning "meeting", "parliament" and "congress") Italian, or "Soviet" in Russian).

The Central Rada elected the famous historian Grushevsky as its chairman. Grushevsky was forced to stay in Moscow by the Tsarist government because of his opposition to Great Russian chauvinism.

At first, the Ukrainian Central Rada and the Russian interim government mutually recognized each other on July 16, but on August 17, the reorganized Russian interim government overturned the agreement reached in July and did not recognize the legitimacy of the Ukrainian General Secretariat.

The Central Rada supported the Bolsheviks at first, but soon declared Ukrainian autonomy. After the October Revolution, the Central Rada of Ukraine declared the independence of Ukraine on November 20 and established the Ukrainian People's Republic.

On December 17, the Russian People's Committee issued an "ultimatum" to the Ukrainian Central Rada: On the one hand, it recognized the Ukrainian People's Republic, but on the other hand, it required it to submit to the Soviet Russian regime. Of course, the Ukrainian Central Rada will not respond to such an absurd ultimatum.

Since most members of the Ukrainian Central Rada were nationalists and bourgeois, the Ukrainian workers' and soldiers' representatives "Soviet" who supported the Bolsheviks passed a resolution to transfer power in Kyiv to the Petrograd Military Council.

On December 24, with the support of Soviet Russia, they held the first All-Ukraine Soviet Congress in Kharkiv, which declared Ukraine a Soviet republic to compete with the Central Rada. So far, Ukraine split and civil war broke out; With the help of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, uprisings continued in various parts of Ukraine.

The Central Rada was unable to suppress the uprising, so it had to make peace with Germany and signed the "Brest-Lithuania Agreement". Thousands of troops entered Ukraine to help suppress and resist Soviet-Russian armed forces. This move was purely to lure wolves into the house.

Unexpectedly, neither the Germans nor Soviet Russia was able to support the war. In March 1918, the Soviet Union and Germany compromised and signed the "Brest Treaty". Soviet Russia gave up Poland, Finland, and Ukraine. , Estonia, Turkey a large piece of territorial sovereignty of about 1 million square kilometers.

In April 1918, the German occupying forces disbanded the Central Rada and established a regime headed by the Cossack Skoropatsky. Skoropatsky advocated the revival of Ukrainian culture, and Simon Petliura, a former member of the Dala Central Committee (the white bandit leader in the novel), also participated in it.

In the autumn of 1918, Germany was defeated in the First World War. On November 13, Russia abolished the "Brest Peace Treaty" and began to recover lost territories.

November 28th, Ukraine Supporters of the Bolsheviks formed the Provisional Workers' and Peasants' Government, and on January 29, 1919, the Ukrainian Provisional Workers' and Peasants' Government was reorganized into the People's Commissars of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic.

On the other hand, the Ukrainian nationalist party established a nationalist ruling cabinet on November 14, 1918. On December 14, the ruling cabinet troops, led by Petliura, entered Kyiv to overthrow the Skoropatsky regime. In February of the following year, Petliura became the head of the ruling cabinet.

At the same time, a Ukrainian uprising broke out in the former Austrian Polish city of Lviv. The leader of the rebel army, Viktorsky, announced the establishment of the "Western Ukrainian People's Republic", with Lviv as its capital, and claimed sovereignty over the entire Eastern Galicia region.

The anti-Ukrainian uprising supported by the Republic of Poland also broke out. The uprising Poles announced their separation from the "People's Republic of West Ukraine". General Simon Petliura led the Ukrainian army into Western Ukraine and fought with the Polish army.

The Polish-Ukrainian War; was also the trigger for the outbreak of the Polish-Soviet War. Since the founding of the Polish Republic, Joseph Piłsudski has always wanted to recover the land looted by Russia in 1772.

This war just provided an opportunity to return the entire Ukraine and Lithuania to the territory, but Piłsudski's Polish army and Peter While Liula's Ukrainian army was fighting, the Soviet Red Army also came.

Facing the attack of the Soviet Red Army, Petliura signed a ceasefire agreement with the Poles. In Piłsudski's view, the Bolsheviks were just paper tigers, vulnerable to a single blow, but Petliura, the Ukrainian nationalist, was able to tenaciously Resistance, although each other and enemies, the same anti-communist and anti-Russian people deepened the "closeness".

On November 21, 1919, the Supreme Council of the Paris Peace Conference confirmed Poland's exercise of sovereignty over Eastern Galicia for 25 years. On April 21, 1920, Piłsudski and Simon Petliura of the Ukrainian People's Republic signed the Polish-Ukrainian Union treaty.

Piłsudski promised to help Petliura "defend" Kyiv from the Russians in exchange for Petliura's recognition of the Zbruch River as the border of Upo. On April 25, the Polish and Ukrainian armies, under the command of Piłsudski, launched an attack on Soviet Russia, known as the Polish-Soviet War in history.

In August 1920, the Soviet Red Army defeated Warsaw and ended with the defeat of Soviet Russia. In this war, the Polish Army lost 50,000 people and the Soviet-Russian Red Army lost 150,000 people.

However, the two sides could no longer continue the war. In 1921 On March 18, 1999, Poland and Soviet Russia formally signed the "Peace Treaty between Poland, Russia, and Ukraine" in Riga, namely the "Treaty of Riga".

Poland received the territories of Western Ukraine and Western Belarus, while Soviet Russia received the accession of the Ukrainian Soviet in 1922.

Now, from the perspective of Ukrainians today, whether it is Soviet Russia or Poland, they are actually the partitioners of Ukraine, and Petliura is the hero of Ukraine, but he believes in the Poles too much. defeated and detained by the Poles, so he went into exile. Petliura in history is not as bad as in the novel.

At least he is a Ukrainian nationalist. Petliura pursued the independence of Ukraine all his life. One of the three leaders of the Ukrainian Special Commission. He opposed the aggression of Germany and Poland and opposed Soviet Russia's ambitions for Ukraine.

In fact, the trick that the Soviets are best at is "revolutionary export", supporting other countries, especially the establishment of Soviet regimes in neighboring countries, and then grandiosely including other countries in the form of "joining" into their own territory. In "How Steel Was Tempered", this kind of thinking is also secretly revealed:

"The war with the Polish White Army is over. The Red Army has almost reached the city of Warsaw, but because it is far away from the rear base, it cannot be replenished with manpower and material resources. Failing to break through the last line of defense of the Polish army, they withdrew back. The Poles called this retreat of the Red Army the "miracle on the Vistula River". In this way, the white Poland of the landowners survived again, and the Polish-Soviet society was established. The idea of a socialist republic has not been realized for the time being. The blood-stained country needs to take a break."

I thought of Stalin's treatment of the Soviet family after World War II The model is even more unique.

Stalin hoped that Yugoslavia and Bulgaria would merge, Romania and Hungary would merge, Poland and Czechoslovakia would merge, and then the three merged countries would "voluntarily" join the Soviet family; Following the mistakes of the three Baltic countries, Tito broke with Stalin first, disrupting this process and aborting Stalin's "Balkan Federation" plan.

Judging from the encounters of the three Baltic countries and even Finland, northern Iran, and China's Xinjiang, the Soviet Union's big family model is more "aggressive" than Tsarist Russia.

In the novel "How the Steel Was Tempered", there are also a lot of descriptions of the massacre of Jews by the Petliura gang. Bandit bandits, Polish White Army, and Soviet Red Army Cossack cavalry also massacred Jews, and it is not an individual case of Red Army Cossacks.

In another Soviet literature, Isaac Babek’s "Cavalry Army", the author puts the Cossack cavalry The hatred of the Jews is vividly described, and it also truly reflects the bloodthirsty wildness of the Red Army Cossacks.

Whether it is the Red Cavalry of the Soviet Russian Cossacks or the "Ukrainian People's Army" fighting for independence, they have never stopped the atrocities and killings of Jews.

"I was assigned to live with a red-haired widow who was full of gossip. Once I was settled, I washed up and went out into the street.

There was a notice on the lamppost saying that the division political commissar, Vinogradov, would be giving a report tonight. , to convey the spirit of the Second Congress of the Communist International.

In front of my window, several Cossacks were executing a gray-haired Jewish old man for espionage. The old man suddenly screamed and broke free. It was too late, Soon, a curly-haired young man from the machine gun team grabbed the old man's head and put it under the armpit.

The Jewish old man stopped talking and split his legs. Curly pulled out the dagger with his right hand, and moved lightly He killed the old man carefully, to keep the blood from splashing. When he was done, he knocked on a closed window.

"If anyone is interested," he said, "come out and collect the body. There is this freedom..."

["Cavalry Army" People's Literature Publishing House, a small town of Berestechko]

Babek's description annoyed Budyonny, the commander of the 1st Cavalry Army, and Budyonny accused Babel Carr of slandering the disciplined Red Army and described them as a group of out-and-out "Makhnov gangs".

Under Gorky's protection, Babek lived safely for several years, but after Gorky's death, Babek lost his protector and died in 1939.

Arrested on May 15, charged with espionage and subversion of the state, he was secretly executed in January 1940, just like the Cossacks in "Cavalry Army" executed the Jewish old man for espionage, he was killed. (Babek He is also a Jew. In the beginning, he concealed his Jewish identity to experience the Soviet-Polish War in the name of an army reporter, and wrote this "Cavalry Army")

In the novel "How Steel Was Tempered", the Red Army soldier Androschuk told a story: Three scouts of the Soviet Red Army raped Polish women, and they were all shot dead by the company commander. Paul also said that if he abused the prisoners of the Polish White Army, he would be shot.

But in fact, during the Polish-Soviet War, the Red Army of the Soviet Union, especially the Cossack cavalry of the Red Army, was the most notorious at the time for killing people like hemp and bloodthirsty.

In June 1920, in the small Polish town of Berdyczow, Red Army Cossack cavalry locked more than 600 wounded Polish soldiers and nuns together and burned them alive.

In the eyes of the Poles, the Soviet Red Army is not the "liberator" who liberated the poor Polish people from the evil bourgeoisie as the Russians claimed, but an out-and-out aggressor.

On the way to retreat, if a soldier or wounded were left alone, they would often be "greeted" by the Poles with sticks. Ironically, most of the people who did this kind of thing were not landlords and white bandits. Class remnants, but the Polish peasants that the Soviet Red Army wanted to "liberate".

The Soviet general Todolski once wrote angrily in his diary: "The consciousness of the Polish peasants is so low that their brains are filled with narrow-minded bourgeois nationalism, and they wield guns and sticks at their class brothers."

In the book "Steel", the author described that the defeat of the Soviet Red Army was "because it was far away from the rear base and could not be supplemented with manpower and material resources." How much food do you get?

The Polish-Soviet War, the "last large-scale cavalry battle in human history", was almost invisible in Chinese history textbooks, but it was given the title of "European Defense War" by Western historians. It has a significant history.

Political significance, in the eyes of the bourgeois countries in the West, if Poland is occupied by Soviet Russia, then Germany, Hungary, and the Czech Republic in Central Europe will be lost, and the whole of Europe will fall into a domino effect, and the whole of Europe will be submerged in the red wave of revolution Among them, Piłsudski is the hero who saved European civilization from being engulfed by the red wave.

"Mom, I swore that as long as the bourgeoisie in the world is not wiped out, I will not have sex with girls. What, you said it will take a long time? No, Mother, the days of the bourgeoisie will not last long... A republic of the people is about to be established. In the future, you old men and women who have worked all your life will be sent to Italy to retire. That country is warm, right by the sea. There is no winter there, Mother. We will settle you down In the palace where the capitalists lived, let you bask your old bones in the warm sun. We will go to America to eliminate the bourgeoisie."

in "Steel Is This passage from Paul in the novel "How to Make It" revealed that the Bolsheviks at that time generally had a theory of the success of the world revolution.

From Lenin to ordinary party members, they all had a kind of incomparable self-confidence, and they firmly believed that they could be "successful" in a short period of time.

Liberate all mankind", not only can liberate Europe, but America on the other side of the Atlantic is no exception. The failure of the Polish-Soviet War also had a huge impact on Soviet Russia.

The disastrous defeat of Soviet Russia’s export revolution made Lenin realize that the completion of the socialist revolution did not happen overnight. It is completely impossible to turn the world into socialism all at once.

It is possible; instead of exporting the revolution recklessly, it is better to eliminate the counter-revolutionary gangs that occupy the territory first, return to the construction of the country, complete the industrialization of the country, make the country strong, compromise with the Western countries for the time being, and change the propaganda to overthrow capitalism all day long.

The slogan of the communist country, normalize diplomacy between countries and break the Western blockade. This change aroused the hope of Western financial groups to obtain economic benefits in Russia, so the relief food and a large amount of capital investment from the United States poured in.

During the Soviet period, Ukraine developed to a certain extent under the leadership of the Soviet Union. Ukraine, which has developed agriculture, has always been the "granary" of the Soviet Union. There was a great famine.

In the 1930s, Ukraine became the hardest-hit area of the "Great Cleansing". A large number of Ukrainian cadres and intellectuals were imprisoned and shot, and a large number of Ukrainian people were forced to move to Siberia, a world of ice and snow.

All these have widened the rift between the Russian and Ukrainian races. So much so that during World War II, the German army invaded, and quite a few Ukrainian women took out their own agricultural products to welcome the arrival of the German army, and regarded the Nazi German army as the "liberator" of the nation. This cannot be said not to make people feel sad.

In addition, the Soviet Union tried its best to interfere with and obstruct Ukrainians' research on their own history and culture and adopted an extreme and oppressive method to eliminate Ukrainian cultural characteristics, which greatly hurt Ukrainian national feelings.

Professor Zhao Yunzhong of East China Normal University in China recounted in his book Ukraine: Heavy Footsteps of History: "Since the end of the 1920s, the Soviet Union has waged a struggle against "hostile ideologies" in the fields of culture and science. Ukraine Historiography was labeled as “nationalist” and its representatives were branded as “national chauvinists.”

This type of ideological purge was repeated over the ensuing decades, and many Ukrainian historians were condemned on charges of "Bourgeois nationalism" which actually refers to national separatism.

The official Ukrainian historiography was established by relying on political coercion, and some obsequious works were regarded as the golden rule, which cannot be disputed or criticized. From one book to another. Thus, in the books of Ukrainian history, there is only one voice, repeating

the same words and phrases that cater to political needs and everything is judged by the attitude towards Russia.” There were bad results. On December 1, 1991, Ukraine held a referendum. More than 37 million Ukrainian voters, 83% of them participated in the vote.

As a result, more than 90% of people agreed that Ukraine should separate from the Soviet Union and establish an independent country. The vast majority of Ukrainians People have no attachment to the Soviet Union.

I think reading the novel "How the Steel Was Tempered" should be divided into literature and history. In fact, regardless of historical controversies and ideologies, "How Steel Was Tempered" objectively has it's unique cultural connotation and artistic value.

This book can indeed make readers love life, and it is an inspirational and inspiring work. But now that Ukraine is an independent sovereign country, and the Soviet Union no longer exists, the Chinese know too little about Ukraine’s history, and many Ukrainians are annoyed by the Chinese’s enthusiastic admiration for the novel "How the Steel Was Tempered".

I like Russian and Soviet literature far more than English and American literature. I like "How Steel Was Tempered" and "The Cavalry Army". There are differences in his history, but the emotion and spirit he expresses in the book are true, and his character is noble and respectable.

As for Isaac Babek, the Jewish genius writer, although his "Cavalry Army" has less influence in China than "Steel", this forbidden and endless "Cavalry Army" is shocking with its novelty and uniqueness. The authenticity of people's hearts is more worthy of savoring.

If Ni Ostrov's early death is a pity of history; then Isaac Babek's unjust murder is a tragedy of history.

"I am innocent, I have never been a spy... I only ask for one thing, let me finish my work."

This is Babick's last statement before he was shot.

Excerpts from the original text

The most precious thing for man is life. Life belongs to man only once. A person's life should be spent in this way: When he looks back on the past, he will not regret it because of his inaction and wasted years, nor will he feel guilty for being despicable and living a vulgar life. In this way, at the time of his death, he can say: "I have dedicated my whole life and all my energy to the most magnificent cause in the world - to fight for the liberation of mankind .—— Quoted from page 1

Bird Crane summer nights are lovely. In a small town like Shepetovka, the center is the urban area, and the suburbs are the countryside. On quiet summer evenings, young people go outside. The girls and boys sat in groups, in pairs, on the steps of their own houses, in the gardens and yards, in the street, on the lumber piles for the houses. superior. The laughter and singing never stopped.
The trembling air is filled with a rich fragrance of flowers; the stars are like fireflies, flickering slightly in the depths of the sky; the human voice spreads far, far away... —— — Quoted on page 23

Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens | Review, Summary & Analysis

2023-04-28T17:39:00.020+06:00

Exploring the World of Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens: A Comprehensive Review, Summary, and Analysis.

Delve into the timeless classic of Charles Dickens's Oliver Twist with our comprehensive review, summary, and analysis.

Charles Dickens, the most famous British realistic writer of the 19th century, wrote more than ten novels in his life. When he wrote Oliver Twist, he was only twenty-five years old.

This novel has been adapted, filmed, screened, and broadcasted into many kinds of movies and TV shows, and has a wide and far-reaching influence.

He has written more than ten novels in his life and is known as an outstanding language master. He is good at using irony, humor, and exaggeration.

The characters and language style in his works is full of strong romantic characteristics. "Oliver Twist" (namely "Oliver Twist") is a great social novel by Dickens, which occupies an important position in the history of world literature.

Oliver Twist is Dickens's first novel of social criticism. Oliver, an abandoned baby of the rich, struggled in the orphanage for nine years and was sent to the coffin shop owner as an apprentice.

Unbearable hunger, poverty, and humiliation forced Oliver to flee to London, where he was forced to become a pickpocket.

He was once taken in by the wealthy Mr. Blair, but unfortunately, he was discovered by a pickpocket and entered the den of thieves again.

In order to rescue Oliver, the kind-hearted female pickpocket Nancy reports to Bradlow that Oliver is the grandson he has been looking for, regardless of the thief's surveillance and threats.

Nancy was killed by the leader of the den of thieves, and the police immediately surrounded and suppressed the den of thieves. Oliver was finally reunited with his loved ones.

Book: Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens

Oliver Twist; or, The Parish Boy's Progress, is the second novel by English author Charles Dickens. It was originally published as a serial from 1837 to 1839 and as a three-volume book in 1838. ---Wikipedia

Originally published: 1838
Author: Charles Dickens
Characters: Fagin, Artful Dodger, Bill Sikes, Mr. Bumble, Nancy
Genres: Novel, Fiction, Social novel
Followed by: Nicholas Nickleby
Illustrator: George Cruikshank
Original title: Oliver Twist; or, The Parish Boy's Progress

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Author's Preface/Catalog

Chapter 1 Concerning the Place and Situations of Oliver Twist's Birth
Chapter 2 Concerning Oliver Twist's Growth, Education, and Dining Ster almost got a job, but it was by no means an idle job.
Chapter 3 Oliver Twist Twist almost got a job, but it is by no means an idle job.
Chapter 4 Oliver, who has other careers, steps into society for the first time.
In Chapter 5, Oliver deals with new acquaintances. The first time he attended the funeral, he had a bad impression of his master's industry.
Chapter 6 Oliver's ridicule of Noah provoked him to stand up and resist, which surprised Noah.
Chapter 7 Oliver still did not give in.
Chapter 8 Oliver Liver walked up to London. On the way, he met a curious little gentleman.
Chapter 9. This chapter gives some further details about the dear old gentleman and his promising students.
Chapter 10. What Oliver did to his new companions. He gained a deeper understanding; he gained experience at a high price. This chapter is short, but it is of the utmost importance in the book.
Chapter 11 introduces Mr. Finn, the Justice of the Peace, and gives a glimpse of the way he enforces the law.
Chapter 12 Oliver is taken care of like never before. The author returns to the account of the merry old gentleman and his apprentice.
Chapter 13 introduces some newcomers to the intelligent reader, with a few interesting incidents connected with life.
Chapter 14 further relates Oliver's stay at Mr. Brownlow's, and while he was away on errands Mr. Greenwig made a remarkable prophecy for him.
Chapter 15 This chapter shows how fond the jolly old Jew and Miss Nancy were of Oliver Twist
Chapter 16 shows the state of Oliver Twist after Nancy took him back
Chapter 17 Fate continues to oppose Oliver and brings a great man to London to discredit him
Chapter 18 How Oliver passed his days among those good teachers and good friends
Chapter 19 A marvelous plan was discussed and settled in this chapter
Chapter 20 Oliver was handed over to Mr. Bill Sikes
Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Burglars Chapter 23 This Chapter Contains the Gist of a Pleasant Conversation Between Mr. Bumble and a Lady, Showing Even a Rector's Passion at Certain Points.
Chapter 24 This Chapter Contains A very good exterminator, but not too long, perhaps of some importance in this book.
Chapter 25 The author goes back to explain the situation of Mr. Fagan and his party.
Chapter 26 In this chapter there is a mysterious character enters the scene and many events that are inseparable from the biography. What happened to Foo, and what happened to him,
Chapter 27 Amends a previous chapter for leaving a lady aside with great impoliteness
Chapter 28 See what has become of Oliver and continue his story
Chapter 29. The family to which Oliver went for help.
Chapter 30. The impression Oliver made on new visitors.
Chapter 31. Chapter 32: Oliver begins a happy life with good friends
Chapter 33 The Happiness of Oliver and His Friends Is Unexpectedly Frustrated
Chapter 34 This chapter contains an account of a young gentleman who is about to appear and another of Oliver's adventures
Chapter 35 This chapter contains the inconclusive results of Oliver's adventure and Harry's ·An important conversation between Meri and Luzi
Chapter 36 This chapter is extremely short, and it may seem irrelevant here, but it should be read, because it is the continuation of the previous chapter, and it is also the time when readers will read it.
Chapter 37 In which the reader may observe the unusual phenomenon of pre-marriage and post-marriage conditions
Chapter 38 tells the story of the evening meeting between the Bumbles and the Monks.
Chapter 39 re-enters some respectable characters already known to the reader, and then sees how Monks and the old Jew conspired.
Chapter 40 A Strange Meeting Continuing Closely with the Previous
Chapter 41. This chapter contains several new discoveries and shows that the unexpected often follow one another, just as misfortunes never come singly.
Chapter 42. An old acquaintance of Oliver shows Unmistakable traits of genius and suddenly became an important person in the capital.
Chapter 43 This chapter is about how the elusive clever ghost got into trouble.
Chapter 44 When Nancy was due to meet Louie Merry, she couldn't make it
Chapter 45 Noah Crepole Hired to Carry Out a Secret Mission for Fagan Chapter 46 Appointment
Chapter 46 Appointment
Chapter 47 Fatal Consequences
Chapter 48 Thicke Escaping
Chapter 49 Monks and Mr. Brownlow finally meet. Their conversation and the news that interrupted it
Chapter 50 The Pursuit and Escape
Chapter 51 This chapter will solve many mysteries and negotiate a marriage without mentioning the money
Chapter 52 The Old Jew is Alive The last night of
Chapter 53 and the last chapter.

About the Author: Charles Dickens

Charles John Huffham Dickens, British writer. Born on February 7, 1812, in the suburbs of Portsmouth, died on June 9, 1870, at Gates Hill near Rochester. 19th-century British critical realist novelist.

Dickens paid special attention to describing the life experiences of the "little people" living at the bottom of British society, which profoundly reflected the complicated social reality in Britain at that time, and made outstanding contributions to the pioneering and development of British critical realism literature.

His works are still popular today and have had a profound impact on the development of English literature.

His main works are The Pickwick Papers, Oliver Twist, The Old Curio Shop, Hard Times, Great Expectations, A Tale of Two Cities, and Our Mutual Friend.

Charles Dickens's father lived an intemperate life and was heavily in debt. The young Dickens was forced to be sent to a leather shoe polish shop as an apprentice and suffered a lot of hardships.

When Dickens was 16, his father was imprisoned for debt. Since then, their lives have become more miserable.

On the one hand, the Industrial Revolution brought prosperity to the British metropolises in the early nineteenth century, and on the other hand, it brought about the extreme poverty of the common people and the cruel exploitation of child labor.

The sharp social contradictions and unfair social system made Dickens determined to change his life. At the age of 15, Dickens worked as a scribe in a law firm and learned shorthand.

After that, he worked as a journalist in a newspaper. When he was a reporter at the "Morning Chronicle", Dickens began to publish some satirical and humorous short plays, mainly reflecting life in London and gradually gained fame.

He understands the life and customs of the people at the bottom of the city, which are reflected in his passionate writing.

Since then, he has served as editor, editor-in-chief, and publisher of different magazines, during which he has published dozens of novels and short stories.

His main works include Oliver Twist, A Christmas Carol, and David Copperfield. and "Great Expectations".

Most of Dickens' works are based on events related to his own personal experience or what he saw and heard.

In the book, he exposed the appalling living system in the workhouse, uncovered the terrible secrets of the bottom of British society, and vividly described the darkness and evil of the society.

From the beginning of the book, the protagonist Oliver was born as an orphan and lived a miserable life in a poor house.

Later, he was forced to work as an apprentice in a funeral parlor and ran away from home because of the unbearable abuse. After coming to London alone, he fell into the hands of thieves again.

In his works, Dickens described a lot of dark social reality, placed deep affection on the common people, and ruthlessly criticized the social system at that time.

He has outstanding achievements in the reality of novel description and the personalization of characters. After Shakespeare, he created the most characters in his works.

Oliver Twist's Book Summary

Oliver Twist is Dickens' second novel and one of his best works in the early stage of creation.

"It wasn't fashionable to write novels that reflected the sad realities of life, but Dickens set out to shock his readers."

The novel shows us Oliver Twist Jr., an orphan in a world of poverty and crime, how to be devastated by the horror and violence hidden in the small, dirty back streets of London, and how to get the warm care of some well-meaning people like spring.

All the characters appearing here represent a profound humanity. The flower of goodness and the flower of evil bloom at the same time, which makes us readers plunge into endless thinking about life while weeping.

Regarding little Oliver, "the writer poured his infinite sympathy and deep love for the millions of lonely and weak people in the society into this child protagonist." Pure goodness, a desire to do good, and a spirit that strives to resist the dark reality.

Little Oliver was born in a workhouse, and his mother died of hatred after giving birth to him. The author writes,

"The two men who were present at his birth gave him little help, which left Oliver to bear his first battle alone."

The reason was that an old woman was drunk and the doctor was not paid enough, So they don't care about the life or death of this new life. In such an environment of indifference and insensitivity, the child survived tenaciously.

It is not difficult to see that while exposing the hypocrisy and cruelty of the bourgeois charitable institution "workhouse", the author hints and emphasizes that little Oliver has an innate strong spirit of resistance, struggling in pain is the key to his life. of all.

If he succumbs to this dark world, he is doomed to be swallowed by the cruel reality. Little Oliver's spirit of rebellion did not arise without a reason.

It should be said that it was the inevitable result of repeated misfortunes: Once, little Oliver asked the steward for more food, but the steward was very surprised and called this a "dare to be the first in the world" The bitter child was tortured.

Readers will feel sad for little Oliver's hunger, cold and unfair beating after reading this, but I personally think that this is another strengthening of little Oliver's rebellious spirit-he is different from other people who dare not violate the workhouse steward.

The children, not only instinctively, but also courageously tried "anti-conventional" behaviors. Those managers who symbolized cruelty were awed by this kind of behavior.

Their rampant and unrestrained typical dark psychology of the society at that time was for the first time A discordant tone was encountered. Even if this discordant tone is still in its infancy, it is destined to stay and continue to struggle.

Afterward, little Oliver, who was an apprentice in the coffin shop, was slandered by Noah's vicious words. In his strong anger, he punched the big boy hard, so that the proprietress and other villains were terrified and beat the thin little orphan violently.

This fact shows that little Oliver's rebellious spirit grows with the gradual maturity of his inner world. After being humiliated and beaten again and again, little Oliver did not bow his head to this dirty and ugly society but still fought bravely and honed his pure heart under his thin body.

Fleeing to London alone, the poor little Oliver lived in the den of thieves headed by Fagin under the leadership of The Winged Thief. Readers will more likely think that it is little Oliver's bad luck to fall into a den of thieves, but this is not the case.

"According to Henry Mayhew's statistics in "Those Who Don't Want to Work" (1862)... only one-third of the British labor force People can find jobs... Due to the high unemployment rate, the crime rate is also high. According to statistics, there are 12,000 criminals in London alone."

In other words, it was the British society at that time that created so many thieves Ladies and gentlemen, what happened to little Oliver was not accidental, just like The Winged Thief said, "If you don't steal, someone else will.

There is no doubt about it!" But what I want to emphasize here is that even in such a Despite harsh environment, little Oliver is still poor and ambitious.

He has a kind and simple heart, even if Fagin and others try to instigate him to steal, little Oliver will not really do that.

And when he was rescued twice by kind-hearted people (the first time by Mr. Brownlow, the second time by Mrs. Merry and Rose), he ignored his frail health and was eager to tell those kind-hearted people about his life. His tragic life experience and painful experience.

In this regard, little Oliver wants to let others know that his inner world has not been polluted by the dark and dirty real life, he still guards the pure land of the soul and wants to be with those kind and caring good people who live together. Little Oliver's kind nature runs through the whole novel.

In the final part of the novel, when he finds out his parentage and is told that he will get all the remaining property in his father's will, Mr. Brownlow proposes to give half of it to his half-brother Monks, Little Oliver "very gladly accepted the offer".

According to common sense, there is absolutely no need for little Oliver to give favors to those who always want to kill him, but in fact, he just regards Monks simply as his half-brother, without the slightest hostility. What surged in his heart was only family affection.

The two diametrically opposite human natures between him and the Monks formed a strong contrast, which heightened the kind image of little Oliver; and as far as the whole novel is concerned, the kindness of little Oliver's nature was in line with the so-called "Victorian prosperity" period in England at that time.

The decadent and dark society, where the majority of people turn to evil, forms a sharp and vivid comparison, promotes moral thoughts and precious humanistic thoughts, and purifies the spiritual world of readers.

If little Oliver represents the brightest side of human nature, then the role of Nancy deduces the contradictory side of human nature.

Nancy, who grew up in a den of thieves, was controlled by Fagin and others on the one hand—for example, once she pretended to be little Oliver’s sister and kidnapped little Oliver who had just escaped from the clutches of the street with her accomplices; but on the other hand, when Fagin When King and Sykes beat little Oliver who was trying to escape, Nancy stepped forward again, "Now that you've got the kid, isn't that enough that you're going to turn him into a thief and a liar? Kill him?" She protected poor little Oliver with an almost crazy act.

From this pair of contradictory actions, we can clearly see that Nancy still treasures a humanity that has not been completely wiped out in her heart.

It's just that the ruthless and cruel reality kept torturing her last little kindness, and she was struggling in a deprived environment.

Maybe little Oliver ignited the bright fire in Nancy's heart, making Nancy rescue him from distress again and again.

When Nancy overheard the conversation between Monks and Fagin and learned the secret that Monks asked Fagin to try his best to turn little Oliver into a thief and put him to death in order to monopolize all the inheritance, she went Risking his life, he told the kind Rose the secret.

However, readers have noticed that in the two secret conversations between Nancy and Rose and others, it was mentioned such as "You have to promise me another thing - not to do any harm to this man I can never leave ", she has been trying her best to protect Sykes, who is of the same breed as Fagin. Why?

Although Sykes is also a villainous guy like Fagin, Nancy's love for him is like the pure love in the heart that every kind woman expresses for her husband. Said to be social factors.

If a person is entangled with thousands of social factors, others will naturally make value judgments on him, and treat him with different emotions and attitudes from the original.

Although the world in which Nancy lives is intertwined with pain and darkness, she is pitiful, miserable, and miserable, but she is faithful to the person she loves without complaint or regret.

Therefore, Nancy's love does not become filthy because she has fallen to the bottom of real society, but the instinctive and pure emotion shared by all people. It can even be said that Nancy's love instinct guards her from being completely wiped out. That is part of good humanity.

Although readers and Nancy both know that her own fate cannot escape the word "death", and although Nancy eventually died at the hands of the man she loved, we can say that Nancy, with her instinctive love and The goodness of that part of human nature frees one's soul from this miserable world and flies to the heaven without darkness and death.

Fagin and Sussex, the Bumble couple, Monks, and others destroy the two flowers of the goodness of human nature that bloom in the world of ghosts and demons, goodness and love, with their respective evils of human nature.

Fagin and Sykes are the embodiment of evil, cruelty, and deceit. Readers may have noticed that the English meaning of the name Fagin refers to the abettor (who instigates children to commit crimes), so we can see the author's intention.

In the preface to "Orphan in the Mist", Dickens clearly pointed out: "It seems to me that it is very necessary to describe such a group of criminals as they actually exist; in all their defects and all their misfortunes.

To describe them; to describe them in the poverty of their lives; to show them as they really are, stalking uneasily on the dirtiest paths of life, and finally, still not escaping the death of their lives by the black, ghastly gallows.

"So, in the author's pen, he not only wrote about the cold, damp, dirty, and disordered streets of London-the place where filth is hidden but also used little Oliver as a medium to compare Fagin and Sykes again and again.

The descriptions of coercion, temptation, and sticks portray their ferocious faces, evil hearts, and depraved lives.

Thousands of evil souls like them are lurking in every corner of London, using their means to make darkness continue to breed and spread in the entire society-this is a terrifying and serious reality.

What is even more infuriating is that there were more people who did not belong to the bottom of society at that time, such as the Bumbles, who stink of vitriol and mercenary.

They don't take a lonely child like little Oliver as a human being at all. Not only did they not feed and clothe the orphans, but they often beat and scolded them, which caused great psychological trauma to these children.

This kind of devastation is no less than that of villains like Fagin; it is these people who live a relatively comfortable life, who naturally and vividly paint us portraits of money worshipers: For example, Bumble because he does not want to miss Brownlow’s house in a hurry to tell him about little Oliver’s “situation” (as long as there is no conflict of interest with himself, speak ill of little Oliver, etc.).

When it comes to the character of Monks, what impresses people the most is his frightening jealousy and hatred.

Monks ignited intense resentment and jealousy towards his half-brother in order to monopolize all the inheritance income - if little Oliver lived well, his greed would never be satisfied.

So, driven by this perverted psychology, he let little Oliver "experience" the cruelty and horror of reality.

When he finally confessed the truth to everyone, he was still "cursing secretly" too little Oliver. This kind of abnormal psychology also reflects the moral decline of British society at that time.

Although many critics believe that this novel has many deficiencies, "the author was in his youth during this period, his career was flourishing, and his understanding of society was still relatively superficial... Especially in terms of novel structure and characterization, the author has not yet fully grasped it. You can live."

"Dickens only wrote about some of the ugly manifestations of society but failed to see that the root cause of these evils lies in the capitalist system itself. Contradictions."

In my opinion, this work delicately depicts and profoundly reveals many aspects of human nature, such as kindness, love, benevolence, evil, fraud, jealousy, and hatred, and their contradictions.

The flower of goodness and the flower of evil bloom together in the wonderful flowers of human nature, so that readers can understand the various aspects of life while clarifying their hearts, and striving to make their lives bloom with flowers of kindness. This is the deep thinking and enlightenment that only good work can bring us.

Just like the last sentence of this novel says.

"Throughout their lives, they showed compassion and kindness to others as God shows to all living beings."

Oliver Twist's Book Reviews

Leo Tolstoy wrote at the beginning of "Anna Karenina" that all happy families are alike, and every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.

Charles Dickens has a similar line in Oliver Twist: A sad, true story full of tribulations and sorrows is usually very long, and a story of pure joy and happiness is very short.

"Oliver Twist" seems to be somewhere in between, it is not only full of suffering and sorrow, but also brings happiness and joy to people.

In 1837, at the age of 25, Dickens wrote Oliver Twist, his second novel and also his first social novel.

As an early work of Dickens, "Oliver Twist" is a bit thin in terms of plot and character design. If we ignore the age when the story is told, it will be even more difficult to appreciate the beauty of this book.

But as Dickens himself said in the preface of this book, "I don't expect their (referring to the readers) approval, nor do I write for their amusement."

Dickens just told a story he wanted to tell, and what we readers get out of it is no longer his concern.

01. Oliver Crusoe

In England at the beginning of the 19th century, affected by the French Revolution and the Napoleon era, the society was turbulent and the economy was extremely depressed. The work of helping the poor was the main problem in British society at that time.

In 1834, the British government promulgated the "Poor Law", requiring able-bodied poor people to live in workhouses.

While this decree was effective, it also caused countless tragedies. Instead of receiving proper care, the poor living in the workhouse became the target of public shame.

"Oliver Twist," tells a tragedy in this historical background. According to Mr. Huang Shuiqi, the translator of this book, " Dickens in "Oliver Twist" used the "Poor Law" of 1834 as an object of condemnation."

At the beginning of the novel, a baby is born in the workhouse - "a world full of sorrow and distress", and the baby is the protagonist of this book, Oliver Twist.

Oliver's mother died as soon as he was born, and his father is not explained at all at the beginning of the novel. The helpless Oliver is logically included in the ranks of orphans, and the novel calls him "a character who is handcuffed, beaten, despised by everyone but sympathized by no one in the world."

Although "Oliver Twist" is a novel, Dickens referred to it more than once in the book as "the most concise and most credible biographical sample" of Oliver.

This statement undoubtedly strengthens the authenticity of the book. Oliver may be a fictional character of Dickens, but the tragedy written in the book is a true reflection of British society at that time.

In the follow-up episodes, Dickens' description of Oliver's encounter is indeed extremely true.

Although it is called a workhouse, Oliver received no relief at all in his childhood life. The board of directors of the workhouse formulated a specification: let the poor either starve to death slowly in the workhouse or starve to death immediately outside the workhouse.

Oliver, who was too hungry, asked the chef for more porridge under the instigation of his companions.

Oliver's move caused an uproar in the workhouse. The board of directors believed that Oliver's request was outrageous and should be severely punished. Some people even predicted that "the child will be hanged in the future."

Oliver, who made a mistake, was sent out of the workhouse to work as an apprentice in a coffin shop. Not long after he was abused, he fled to London alone.

Oliver was just a kid in his early teens at the time. But the child's life has gone through many ups and downs, and he finally went to London to start another tribulation and adventure.

02. Adventure and adventure

Oliver walked 65 miles to London in winter, in a strange place, cold and hungry, Oliver seemed to be at the end of the road.

At this time, a strange "young gentleman" reached out to Oliver. He treated Oliver to a meal and took Oliver home.

Oliver, who was indifferent, didn't even realize that he had just escaped from a fire pit, and he was tricked into the den of thieves again.

The leader of the den of thieves, Eugene, wanted to train Oliver to join their ranks of deception. Oliver had an accident during his first theft. He was mistaken for a thief and caught, but it was a blessing in disguise that he met the nobleman of his life. Mr. Brownlow.

Mr. Brownlow and Mrs. Bedwin took good care of Oliver, which gave the child a rare warmth in the world.

But not long after, Oliver was brought back to the den of thieves again by the female liar Miss Nancy and returned to Eugene's palm.

As a result, Oliver fell into the most dangerous disaster in his life without realizing it.

A gang led by the liar Eugene, Sykes, and Monks the Mysterious want to train Oliver to be a liar like them; an alliance of Mr. Brownlow, Mrs. Bedwin and Miss Ross, and foster mother Mrs. Merry Do everything possible to rescue Oliver from the clutches.

When the two forces competed, the mystery of Oliver's life experience gradually surfaced.

In this process, some confusing stories of Miss Nancy are interspersed. She is the female liar who helps Sykes catch Oliver back and is also the core figure who helps Miss Rose rescue Oliver. Miss Nancy's tragedy leaves a layer of tragedy that is difficult to ignore in this comic ending story.

03. Beautiful jade sinks into the ditch

In "Tess of the D'Urbervilles", there is a chapter called "Sink in the mud", which means that the innocent Tess was defiled by the shameless Yalei, and the beautiful jade fell into the ditch, which caused the tragedy of her life.

Tess's story has nothing to do with Miss Nancy's story in terms of plot, but their encounters are so similar.

Miss Nancy is a female liar, she has been following the liar Sayles for more than ten years, and it was she who brought Oliver back to the den of thieves.

However, Miss Nancy is fundamentally different from Eugene, Searles, and others. Even if she is trapped in the mud, she still cannot change her essence of beauty.

Therefore, when she learned of the plan of the Monks and others to harm Oliver, Miss Nancy suppressed her fear and secretly notified Miss Rose to help Oliver escape from the Monks' clutches.

Oliver was saved, but Miss Nancy died at the hands of Sykes because of the leak. This is probably one of the saddest plots in the novel.

Many readers think that Miss Nancy described by Dickens is more embarrassing than Oliver. This is true, in my opinion, Miss Nancy is the most successful character in this book.

Dickens brings happiness to Oliver at the end of the novel but makes Nancy go to death. As a story of truth, goodness, and beauty, in fact, Dickens can completely redeem Nancy. In the novel, Miss Ross has offered to rescue Nancy.

But Nancy refused, she chose to return to Sykes, it can also be said that she took the initiative to her own death.

why?

Nancy's seemingly unreasonable choice is the truest and most painful truth of her life.

In the novel, Nancy took the initiative to say to Ross, "I am the notorious guy you have heard of, living among thieves, since the moment I wandered on the streets of London, except what they (referring to Sykes and others) gave me I never knew a better life or kinder words than my own."

Nancy, living in the darkness of humanity, has long lost the ability to feel love and the chance to be redeemed. Sykes and others are the initiators of the tragedy of her life, but also the only meaning of her life. Nancy's life is all based on Sykes and others, so even though "I hate this kind of life, I hate this kind of life, but I can't leave this kind of life."

I'm hopeless, Nancy used the word to seal the coffin of her life.

Perhaps when she bid farewell to Miss Rose, she had already anticipated her own end, so she said, "Alleys and ditches are my cradles, and they will also be my deathbed."

Miss Nancy finally fell into the ditch, blown by the north wind.

This is not the most embarrassing part of the novel. Miss Nancy described by Dickens does not believe that she can be redeemed, but resolutely gives Oliver the chance of being redeemed, at the cost of her life.

This is the most moving and brilliant part of this book.

04. Do you still believe that what is good is rewarded with good?

Now many readers do not have a high evaluation of "Oliver Twist", and there are probably two reasons for this.

On the one hand, "Oliver Twist" was Dickens's work when he was 25 years old, and it was also his second work. Both the plot and the characters are somewhat simple.

Oliver Twist, on the other hand, ends with comedy. For us readers, we want comedy more in reality, but in the process of reading, tragedy is more impressive and more real.

Therefore, the happy reunion story of "Orphan in the Twist" will make people feel unreal.

Good is rewarded with good, and evil is rewarded with evil. This is what Dickens wanted to tell us, so later generations called it "the light that calls people back to laughter and benevolence."

But now many people no longer believe such words. Compared with truth, goodness, and beauty, people think that poisonous chicken soup is more real.

It is undeniable that in reality, justice does not always come, and light does not always drive out darkness. In the novel "Pan's Labyrinth", it is said that the side of justice will not always win the real victory, they are just holding on.

In this view, Oliver's comedy ending seems to be a failure.

But in fact, in the happy ending of "Orphan Twist", there are also hidden tragedies and regrets that cannot be ignored. Miss Nancy mentioned above is an example.

Another example is Dick. Dick is Oliver's partner in the foster home. Before Oliver fled to London, he went to meet Dick. Dick told Oliver to go forward bravely, " But don't stop, honey, don't stop!"

Dick was the first person to give Oliver a blessing. Even though this blessing only came from a child, it was remembered by Oliver for a lifetime.

But when Oliver was rescued, he went to find Dick but only got the news of Dick's death.

The novel doesn't play up Dick's death in detail, but it's no less sad. Dick's death is matched by Oliver's rescue, and Miss Nancy's death is matched by Miss Rose's luck.

Dickens does not blindly make us believe in truth, goodness, and beauty. As Nancy said to Rose, "Kneel down and thank God, because when you were a child, many friends took care of you and raised you; because you were never hungry or cold."

Nancy wasn't quite right, she didn't know anything about Rose's twisted fate. But indeed, whether it is Rose or Oliver, they should thank God most for not letting them be in the fate of Nancy and Dick.

It can be seen that "Orphan in the Twist" is not unreal, but too real. Life is sometimes a passive multiple-choice question, is it, Nancy or Ross? Is it Oliver or Dick?

We cannot decide the environment we are in, nor can we completely get rid of the imprint of the environment. A good life depends on luck, and personal efforts are sometimes vulnerable.

But even so, we cannot completely deny the existence of light just because we are in darkness. "Orphan in the Twist" is a story of "a beacon that calls people back to laughter and benevolence".

Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne

2023-04-20T00:10:00.004+06:00

Jules Verne, the author of "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea", was an astonishingly imaginative science fiction writer in France in the 19th century.

His astonishment is not only the exaggerated, moving, and scientifically meaningful novels he wrote but also his surprise.

What's more, the stories written in this book are not surprising in our current era, but in his time, there were no submarines!

The protagonist in the book, the explorer and professor Mr. Aronnax, and his two companions embarked on a journey under the sea on the "Nautilus". The owner of the Nautilus is Captain Nemo. He is an eccentric, melancholy, and knowledgeable person.

Everyone on board communicates in a language that Mr. Aronnax and his two companions cannot understand. Mr. Si felt very strange why only Captain Nemo could understand the language of the three people.

Captain Nemo invited them to travel around the Pacific Ocean, Indian Ocean, Red Sea, Mediterranean Sea, Atlantic Ocean, Antarctica, and the Arctic.

I met many underwater animals and plants, underwater caves, dark passages, and ruins that people have not discovered so far.

The book contains a lot of scientific knowledge, geography, culture, and geology, so much knowledge, all in this book, the author passed Mr. Aronnas's servant, Consey who has a wide range of knowledge and loves to classify animals Er, tells us the knowledge of the ocean, and the mysteries in the ocean.

For example, in the Red Sea, a tiny organism called trigonum algae, the mucus secreted by it is the reason why the color of the Red Sea is as red as blood.

There are still many, many things we don't know, and I know them all through this book. Mr. Aronnax admired Captain Nemo's unparalleled talent and knowledge, and I also admired Captain Nemo's talent and knowledge.

Mystery and magic, exploring the treasures and wealth of the deep sea, I believe that in the near future, people will be able to build an excellent ship like the Nautilus.

"Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea" is not fabricated by the author based on imagination, it is a science fiction novel composed of foresight and erudition.

I admire the author's amazing imagination, rich knowledge, and superb description techniques.

For example, when writing about crossing Antarctic icebergs, the author vividly describes the ice sea, icebergs, and huge ice crevasses, allowing us to be there as if We are among the icebergs in Antarctica.

Book: Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne

Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas is a classic science fiction adventure novel by French writer Jules Verne. The novel was originally serialized from March 1869 through June 1870 in Pierre-Jules Hetzel's fortnightly periodical, the Magasin d'éducation et de récréation. ---Wikipedia

Originally published: June 1870
Author: Jules Verne
Characters: Captain Nemo, Pierre Aronnax, Ned Land, Conseil, Farragut
Followed by: Around the Moon
Genres: Novel, Science fiction, Adventure fiction, Speculative fiction, Scientific romance
Illustrators: Édouard Riou, Alphonse de Neuville

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Excerpts from the original text

I don't know if the author is hungry or the professor is hungry. After arriving in Antarctica, every time he encounters a jumping species, the professor will always add a description of their taste after describing their appearance. . . For example

Among the birds, I also saw the Antarctic White Plover, a wading bird, as big as a pigeon, with a white body, a short and pointed beak, and red eye sockets around the eyes. Conseil caught several plovers and brought them back to the Nautilus. This kind of bird is cooked properly, and the taste is still good. ---Quoting from Fourteen Antarctica

Now it's the hunt for the kill. I know it's a human prerogative. However, I cannot accept this bloody pastime. Indiscriminate killing of gentle Antarctic whales that are as non-aggressive as Arctic whales. Your colleagues, Master Lan, should be condemned for their actions. Thus they have exterminated the fin whale from Baffin Bay and will exterminate this useful animal. So please spare these unfortunate cetaceans.
Those were sperm whales, and those were horrible animals. I sometimes see two or three hundred of them gathered together. Humans should eliminate these vicious and brutal beasts. ---Quoted from page 314

The author may write this way to pave the way for the captain's revenge and hatred, but I really don't like it and think it's hypocritical and hypocritical. The good and evil wheels of animals are judged by humans? Originally, the weak eat the strong, and the weak fin whales also want to eat other living things!

Book Summary: Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne

Professor Aronnax, his faithful servant, Conseil, and the Canadian harpooner, Ned Land, began an extremely hazardous voyage to rid the seas of a little-known and terrifying sea monster.

However, the "monster" turns out to be a giant submarine, commanded by Captain Nemo.

1. About the "expedition"

Aronnax, Conseil, and Ned Land, by chance, came to Nemo's submarine and sailed under the sea with the Nautilus. The hull of the submarine is strong, and it uses the sodium decomposed from a large amount of sodium chloride in the ocean to generate electricity.

They set out from the Pacific Ocean, passed through coral islands, the Indian Ocean, the Red Sea, entered the Mediterranean Sea, and the Atlantic Ocean, and saw many rare marine animals and plants and strange sights in the water.

The wonderful and magnificent underwater world is full of exoticism and strong romanticism and is also convinced by the author's scientific knowledge.

Aronnax and his party encountered countless beautiful scenery and experienced many thrilling adventures during the journey. For example,

their ship ran aground in Papua New Guinea and was attacked by the local aborigines. The electricity on the ladder prevented the natives from entering the Nautilus;

they fought sharks in the pearl field of the Indian Ocean, and the whaler Ned Land killed a vicious giant shark;

they were trapped under thick ice in the Antarctic, the ship was extremely hypoxic, but all the people on the ship took turns using tools and boiling water to smash the 10-meter-thick ice at the bottom, crush the ice with the weight of the submarine, and get out of trouble; In a hand-to-hand fight with an octopus, a crew member died tragically;

in the North Atlantic, the Nautilus was bombarded by a British destroyer (the nationality of this destroyer was not stated in the original text, and it was only stated in "Mysterious Island" that it was the United Kingdom), all the crew except the three captives were filled with righteous indignation and sank the destroyer with the horn of the Nautilus.

"Adventure" is different from the emotional experience and spiritual meaning of the characters in the works. For Aronnas, "adventure" is the impulse and harvest of his scientific curiosity in the process of enjoying various animals and plants in the ocean.

"Expedition" also has more category value of "scientific" knowledge pedigree in Aronnas' expression and introduction. For Conseil, "exploration" provides a fresh and challenging space for the development of the character's easy-going personality of "following the teacher" and the simple and vague "scientific" expression of the specialty of "classification". scenes and journeys.

For Ned Land, "exploration" presents a certain degree of "paradox". On the one hand, the mystery and vastness of "Sea World" inspired Ned's "whaler" career. Instinct, on the other hand, the "detention" in "exploration" largely conflicts with Ned's nature of advocating freedom. This makes his search for "escape" in "adventure" from beginning to end.

For Captain Nemo, "expedition" is not only the "escape" and "rejection" of the "human world", but also a realistic choice to support the just struggle of oppressed nations by collecting gold, silver, and treasure under the sea.

2. Regarding "loneliness"

Aronnax and Conseil, in "Exploration" and "Imprisonment", both draw character "energy" from their own spiritual structure, and they all have certain sustenance, and they do not seem to be "lonely".

However, the whaling king Ned Land conflicted with the "complexity" of "undersea life" (combining "exploration" and "imprisonment") with his own identity, personality, hobbies, and his "loneliness" It is mostly the nostalgia and yearning for "land life" and "free life".

However, Captain Nemo's "solitude" has more elements of reference and intervention.

First, his disappointment and dissatisfaction with the "human world" made him actively choose "loneliness" on the "road". He claimed to have severed ties with all human beings and explored freedom at the bottom of the sea.

Second, as Aronnas said, Captain Nemo is first of all an individual, and his heart is still grieving and grieving for the suffering of mankind, and he still has a benevolent love for all the races and individuals who are enslaved and persecuted.

He is not a scientist who cannot withstand the wind and rain in his study and greenhouse, but a national patriot who grew up in the flames of the struggle against colonialism.

He collected gold and silver treasures under the sea to support the just struggle of the oppressed nations.

When the motherland was reduced to a colony, he led a small number of like-minded people to dive into the seabed and supported and awakened the oppressed nation's struggle against colonial rule with defiant actions and dissatisfied speeches.

His "loneliness" is based on the sadness of the motherland of the fall of the homeland and the national standpoint of anti-colonialism.

Third, the captain's "loneliness" and "revenge" go hand in hand. The captain's "loneliness" is for revenge, and this hatred becomes the "power" of the Nautilus.

What makes us helpless is that such "revenge" eventually makes Captain Nemo move towards "loneliness" in the true sense.

The "loneliness" of this "traveler" is possible to be understood and infected precisely under the superposition of the above meanings and the intervention of elements.

3. Regarding "human nature"

this is euphemistically reflected in Captain Nemo. For example, the "original intention" and "purpose" of his "undersea" travel show a trend of "escaping" from humanity and returning to it.

For another example, once, I encountered a group of long-scented whales and a group of sperm whales at sea.

He prevented Rand from capturing the "kind" sperm whale and encouraged Rand to "shoot and kill" the sperm whale.

Here, the two types of "whales" have different descriptions and metaphors. The captain's different attitudes towards them are obviously based on his "human nature" calling and regulations.

Book Reviews of Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea

"Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea" is the second part of Jules Verne's famous trilogy, the first is "Captain Grant's Children" and the third is "The Mysterious Island".

When I was young, I often couldn’t tell the difference between fairy tales and science fiction.

At that time, there were very few readable science fiction novels, and I had basically never seen domestic science fiction books. The first science fiction novel I came across was probably "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea". This is quite an interesting thing.

I read the novel in 1870 again after more than 100 years, and many plots in it have become reality, which makes people have to admire the greatness of the master.

It’s just that I was still young at the time, and I was a little confused. For a while, I felt that the plot was not science fiction, and for a while, I was fascinated by the description and yearning for it, so I finished reading this book with various weird thoughts.

Afterward, when I read "From the Earth to the Moon", this emotion reached its acme. Cannonballs land on the moon? After comparing it with the spaceship, I came to the conclusion that the master also made mistakes, but after I went to middle school, I knew the greatness of the master.

Many of his ideas were realized one by one, and what is even more impressive is that they were all ahead of schedule. Decades seemed an incredible setting at the time.

In "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea", Verne imagined the submarine decades ahead of time--the "Nautilus" of Captain Nemo in the novel. So the first submarine of mankind was named "Nautilus", and the first nuclear submarine was also called "Nautilus". It can be seen that people respect him.

Verne is recognized as a great man in the world, and countless people have added all kinds of glory to him, but even today, he cannot win the Nobel Prize in Literature, because his novels have not played a big role in literature.

He could not win the Nobel Prize in science because his designs were too advanced and took too much time for people to make them. However, his works have cultivated one Nobel Prize winner after another.

Such a feat, and I am afraid it will be difficult for anyone to surpass it.

Attached is a brief introduction to Verne’s life:

　　Jules Verne (Jules Verne, 1828.2.8 ~ 1905.3.25) was born in Nantes, a seaport in western France, and he lived and studied on Fayd Island on the Laoal River, which constitutes a part of the urban area. to graduate from high school.

His father was a very successful lawyer, and he wholeheartedly hoped that his son would inherit his father's career.

But Verne loved the ocean since he was a child, and yearned for expeditions. When he was 11 years old, he volunteered to be a trainee on a ship and sailed to India, but was found by his family who took him home.

For this reason, Verne was beaten severely, and he promised in tears while lying on the bed: "In the future, I promise to only lie on the bed and travel in fantasy."

Perhaps it is precisely because of this childhood experience that objectively prompted Verne Galloping to fantasize all his life, he has created so many famous science fictions works.

　　At the age of 18, he followed his father's advice and went to Paris to study law, but he had no interest in law but fell in love with literature and drama.

Once, Verne left early from a party. When he went downstairs, he suddenly lost his childlike innocence. He slid down the handrail of the stairs leisurely, not wanting to bump into a fat gentleman.

Verne was very embarrassed. After apologizing, he casually asked the other party if he had eaten, and the other party replied that he had just eaten Nantes scrambled eggs.

After hearing this, Verne shook his head, claiming that there is no authentic Nantes scrambled eggs in Paris because he is from Nantes and he is good at this dish.

The fat gentleman was overjoyed upon hearing this and sincerely invited Verne to perform at his door. The friendship between the two began from then on, and they once co-wrote plays, which created favorable conditions for Verne to embark on the road of creation.

The fat gentleman's name is Alexandre Dumas. After graduation, he devoted himself to the creation of poetry and drama, for which he was severely reprimanded by his father and lost his father's financial support.

He had to struggle in poverty and read books for pleasure. He admired Hugo, Balzac, Dumas, and Shakespeare in England very much. In Paris, he wrote 20 plays (unpublished) and some poems of romantic passion.

Later, Verne and Alexandre Dumas co-created the play "The Broken Straw" and it was staged, which marked Verne's initial success in the literary world.

In the process of continuing to create, Verne felt that there seemed to be no way out for literary creation, and he found that people in the literary world at that time were all looking for a way out, trying to integrate knowledge from other fields into drama.

For example, Alexandre Dumas integrated history into literature, while Balzac integrated social ethics into literature... At this time, Verne discovered that only geography remained undeveloped.

　　So Verne used a year to conduct experiments, and created works such as "Wintering on the Glacier", but they were not published.

　　In 1856, Verne came to the northern city of Amiens by train, met a beautiful widow with two children, fell in love at first sight, proposed to her, and then got married. Then Verne moved there and began to create seriously. He was 29 years old at the time.

　　After Verne created "Five Weeks on a Balloon", 16 publishing houses ignored it and threw himself into the fire angrily. He was rescued by his wife and sent to the 17th publishing house to be published. The editor who appreciates this book is called Herzl.

From then on, Verne met his bosom friend and forged a lifelong friendship with him. Hegel signed a contract with Verne to publish two science fiction novels for him in a year.

　　After the publication of "Five Weeks in a Balloon", Verne's creation entered a multi-faceted exploration period. He experimented with various writing methods and explored various directions, and he was out of control.

Two books are published every year, with the overall title of "Strange Travel", including "Journey to the Center of the Earth", "From the Earth to the Moon", "Rounding the Moon", "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea", "Mysterious Island", etc., covering land, sea, and sky... ...

After that, the exploration stopped, began to mature, and entered a period of steady development, creating excellent works such as "Around the Earth in 80 Days", "Adventures in the Solar System" and "Two Years Vacation". As his prestige grew, so did Verne's wealth.

　　Verne's later years were not very happy, and his creations decreased and entered a period of weakness. His "Carpathian Castle" has a certain autobiographical nature, showing the hidden side of life.

　　On March 17, 1905, Verne suffered from hemiplegia, lost consciousness on the 24th, and died at 8:00 am on the 25th.

　　On March 28, 1905, the funeral was held, and the whole world sent telegrams to mourn this great science fiction writer.

　　Verne's stories are vivid and humorous, full of witty words, and can inspire people, especially teenagers, to love science and yearn for adventure, so they have been welcomed by readers all over the world for more than one hundred years. According to data from UNESCO, Verne is one of the top ten most translated works in the world.

Verne is a very good writer of popular fiction, with a knack for making his illusions palpable, and full of sensations, conveying a certain human passion from prosaic literature.

However, the characters in Verne’s novels are all the same except for a few. He seems to be unable to create more important characters.

The characters are all simple good and bad guys with facial makeup, without any psychological activities; from his works, the characters are single-sex His prejudice against women can also be seen in his appearance, which faintly reveals his mentality of suffering from it.

In addition, Verne's works are full of obvious social tendencies, a patriot (the French are the best), a national liberationist (supporting the struggle of oppressed nations), and to some extent an anarchist (from Anarchist in some works), and finally a galactic imperialist (desire to create cosmic empires).

　　Verne's works are full of knowledge, but he himself is a cosmic mystic and has a mysterious worship of the world. In his novels, sometimes the thinking problems are not deep enough, and the themes are often repeated.

　　But overall, Verne's attempt is still great. Although he wrote about ordinary and trivial things, we were still excited after reading them. Just as the Pope said when he received Verne in 1884: "It's not that I don't know the scientific value of your works, but what I cherish most is their purity, moral value, and spiritual power."

Conclusion: Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne

This is the first science fiction work of Verne that I read. When I first read it, I just forgot about the fierce battle and the graceful seabed and didn’t work hard on the captain. In other words, I only understood the plot at that time But ignore the background and connotation.

It is no exaggeration to say that this is the book I have reread the most times, even higher than "The Little Prince", which I highly recommend. With the deepening of experience and the shallow understanding of philosophical thoughts, I began to study the will of Captain Nemo.

It's clear that the captain is out for revenge. This hatred became the "momentum" of the Nautilus. Captain Nemo's undersea voyage should represent the loneliness of the traveler, and loneliness can only be felt and understood by people in the form of travel, but loneliness itself does not come from travel. Finally, the captain's revenge, revenge is killing, this kind of killing brings pain, but there is joy in the pain!

I am also a donkey, but the loneliness I felt during the initial travel was not as much as "described", which should be because I did not feel lonely in that era at that time, that is to say, I was able to adapt to the times at that time.

After reading and thinking, I gradually broke away from this "age of fools". In order to implement my will, a kind of contempt for my surroundings and even my friends slowly grew, and finally escalated into "hatred". But I can't "hate" my friend, I can only feel utterly alone. Traveling is the best way to "excuse loneliness".

Here, Captain Nemo's journey is lonely, but this loneliness brings him joy. On the one hand, this kind of loneliness allows a person to read and think, because thinking is the best weapon to deal with loneliness.

Thinking about a problem first leads oneself into confusion and then walking out of it, which is a rare enjoyment; On the one hand, this kind of loneliness can irrigate "hatred", so a passion and long-suppressed desire are released during the time revenge, so the will is carried out spiritually, which is the joy of carrying out the will.

There is nothing to summarize, no matter from which aspect, this book is worth reading repeatedly!

Notre Dame de Paris by Victor Hugo | Review, Summary & Facts

2023-04-17T20:48:00.046+06:00

Review, Summary & Facts about Notre Dame de Paris by Victor Hugo.

Notre Dame de Paris is the first romantic novel by French writer Victor Hugo that caused a sensation. The novel is set in France under the rule of Louis XI in the 15th century.

Through the story of a pure and innocent Bohemian girl being brutally persecuted, it exposes the insidious despicableness of priests, the barbaric cruelty of the Inquisition, the debauchery of nobles, and the king's cruelty. Bossy and brutal.

The works clearly embody the awareness of anti-feudalism and anti-church and the praise of the people.

The story revolves around the relationship between Esmeralda and Phoebes, the archdeacon, and Quasimodo. Phoebes' love is frivolous and hypocritical, with elements of playfulness; Selfish, paranoid, even to the extent of perversion; only Quasimodo's love is dedicated, warm, and humble.

As an image of beauty and kindness, Esmeralda has been indulging in love with Phoebes from beginning to end, and some superficial feelings make her unable to see clearly the essence of this prodigal son.

At the same time, she fears and hates the archdeacon who brought her bad luck. Although she is grateful to Quasimodo, who is too ugly to be human, she can't fall in love anyway.

In the end, Phoebes married his cousin, Ace. Meralda was executed by the archdeacon, who died at the hands of his adopted son Quasimodo, and Quasimodo committed suicide holding Esmeralda's body, fulfilling his wish to protect his sweetheart.

Several relationships vividly portray love in the world. People are always so unequal in love relationships, and just the right love is so hard to come by.

Book: Notre Dame de Paris by Victor Hugo

The Hunchback of Notre Dame is a French Gothic novel by Victor Hugo, published in 1831. It focuses on the unfortunate story of Quasimodo, the Romani street dancer Esmeralda and Quasimodo's guardian Archdeacon Claude Frollo in 15th-century Paris. ---Wikipedia

Originally published: March 16, 1831
Author: Victor Hugo
Characters: Quasimodo, Esméralda, Claude Frollo, Phoebus, MORE
Genres: Novel, Romanticism, Drama, Gothic fiction
Dewey Decimal: 843.7
Language: French

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About the author: Victor Hugo

Victor Hugo was a representative writer of French Romanticism in the 19th century. Born in Baisancon, France in 1802, he has two elder brothers. His father was a general under Napoleon.

When he was a teenager, his family followed the army and migrated everywhere because of his father's occupation. Although the family environment was difficult, he continued to receive an education.

At the age of 13, he and his elder brother entered a boarding school, and both brothers became student leaders.

Hugo was able to create outstanding verses at the age of 16. At the age of 21, he published a collection of poems and became famous.

At the age of 43, King Louis-Philippe of France gave him the position of member of the House of Lords and has since devoted himself to politics.

When the French Revolution broke out in 1849, King Louis of France was executed.

During this period, Hugo traveled around advocating revolution, contributed a lot to the people, won the respect of the new republic, was promoted to the earl, and was elected as a national representative and member of Congress.

Three years later, Napoleon III proclaimed himself emperor, and Hugo attacked it so much that he was exiled abroad.

After wandering around for 20 years, he completed the novel "Les Miserables" (Les Miserables) during this period, and the musical of the same name was adapted from this novel.

In 1870, France restored the Republic (Second Republic), and Hugo also ended his exile and returned to France. Both political and literary contributions have been made.

In 1885, Hugo died at the age of 83, and a state funeral was held in Pendela.

Book Summary: Notre Dame de Paris by Victor Hugo

Who would have thought that under the holy cassock of the high-sounding archbishop, there is a sinister and despicable soul that is disastrous to the country and the people?

And who would have thought that in the heart of the ugly and deformed bell ringer, there was a divine radiance of perfection, beauty, supremeness, and greatness?

How should an abandoned baby who grew up under the wing of the bishop face the right and wrong that happened around him?

The contrast between beauty and ugliness, and the contest between good and evil are vividly interpreted in the works of French writer Victor Hugo.

　　This is a beautiful, romantic yet tragic story, set in medieval Paris. The pure and kind Jeep girl is attracted by the sanctimonious and evil-minded Vicar Claude because of her beauty.

He ordered his adopted son, Quasimodo, an ugly hunchback, to snatch her back, but was stopped by the bodyguard Phoebes.

Quasimodo is punished, but the kind Esmeralda brings him water. Quasimodo fell in love with her, but she fell in love with Phoebus during a date between Phoebus and Esmeralda.

Phoebus was wounded by Claude, and Esmeralda was questioned about the murder, and would rather be strangled than agree to Claude. The angry Quasimodo killed Claude and died for Esmeralda.

　　Beauty and ugliness, good and evil, appearance and heart are not necessarily harmonious. A person's heart does not determine everything, and the role played by the heart is far more important than appearance.

Therefore, people should not overly pursue the beauty of appearance, and the purity and sincerity of the heart are what we need to have in our life.

Similarly, to measure a person should start from his inner quality, not judge a person by his appearance.

Because under the ugly appearance, there may be a fiery and pure heart; under the handsome face, there may be a dirty, shameful, despicable, and twisted heart.

　　What is true beauty? External beauty is just a fancy thing, only inner beauty is the real beauty, the beauty we want to promote, and the beauty we want to pursue.

Just like the vagabonds and beggars on Miracle Street, for the Virgin in their hearts, they splashed blood on the wall pillars of Notre Dame de Paris, and broke down the gate of Notre Dame with their flesh and blood; Modo sent water, which affected the heart of the bell ringer, just as the ugly king Quasimodo faced many hardships, for the sake of justice, he resolutely betrayed his vice-bishop, rushed out of the fog, and competed with the evil.

　　Beauty and ugliness, good and evil, Hugo has perfectly interpreted on the stage of "Notre Dame de Paris". Close to the book, the story has long since ended, but this ancient story will be recited forever.

Book Review of Notre Dame de Paris

Paris in the middle and late fifteenth century seemed to be shrouded in haze, the Hundred Years War had just ended, the law was lingering between the royal power and the religious power, the nobles and dudes bullied others, the officials were corrupt but acted recklessly, and the people were ignorant and deeply superstitious.

It will take another thirty years for the humanistic spirit to spread from Florence to formally take root in the land of France. Printing is devouring the soul of architecture.

With this magnificent era as the background, under the overlooking of the ancient Notre Dame de Paris, Hugo wrote an elegy.

"Notre Dame de Paris" roughly tells the story of a beautiful bohemian girl who is pushed to destruction by a priest who wants nothing from her, interspersed with various characters with distinctive personalities and the author's perspective on things, they undoubtedly enrich the wings of this book.

However, the issues reflected in some plots in this book are still worthy of discussion. Here are a few humble opinions.

1. The court under the Pope

Although we have memorized Babylon's "Code of Hammurabi" in our junior high school history textbooks, which shows that the human legal system has a long history, and Rome has also introduced related laws such as the "Law of the Twelve Tables", but from the bourgeoisie of the United States, Britain, and France Only after the revolution began did the rule of law gradually enter the track of practice.

In medieval Europe, the power of the Holy See covered the sky with only one hand, and the red robe was not as strong as the black robe. The law was once reduced to a weapon for the church to expand its own power.

At that time, the law will bow to power, bow to public opinion, and even be affected by the judge's personal mood. So there are several ridiculous scenes in the book, including but not limited to

"the deaf judge interrogated the deaf defendant with a 'stern and selfless' face, and Fu Yi who entered the scene halfway was angrily sentenced because the deaf man answered wrong questions", "the plaintiff took it for granted that the Superstition distorts the facts, and falsely accuses girls of different races as witches" and "the judge tortures the defendant to extract a confession in order to obtain what the masses and himself believe to be the truth and not to delay his own lunch."

Will this unjust judicial procedure make Juditia vomit blood... (Juditia is the goddess of justice in ancient Rome, usually with the image blindfolded holding a sword, and holding a balance)

Also worth mentioning is "refuge". Because of the background of the era when religious power was greater than royal power in the Middle Ages, secular power could not enter religious places such as churches, sinners tried by secular courts could hide in churches for refuge, and secular courts had no right to interfere.

This is also the basis for Quasimodo to save Esmeralda for Notre Dame. This is undoubtedly unreasonable.

Today, death row inmates are commuted to life imprisonment because of "heaven's protection". Of course, unjust, false, and wrongly decided cases are another matter.

In the face of criminals in the church, the secular courts can only stare blankly, but the religious courts have the power to arrest them.

At the same time, not all cases will go to the religious court, so some people who escaped the butcher's knife will live in the church for a lifetime.

It is precise because of the excessive power of the Holy See, the church’s “tithes” and indulgences in different ways to suck blood from the people, the clergy embezzling finances, theology blocking the development of science, and refusing to recognize the truth of all things. "Dark Middle Ages".

In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, in order to change this situation, many countries launched religious reforms and established centralized power. This is a later story.

2. Beauty and Ugliness

Beauty and ugliness are actually the subjective feelings of each person's different aesthetics, and there is no clear scale. Beauty and ugliness are not confined to the body, they can also dwell in the spirit.

For example, if you often go to museums, you may find that some people are stingy to give even a glance at the broken and dusty tiles in the showcase, while others look at them with great enthusiasm.

That's because the meaning of a cultural relic has gone far beyond itself—it may reflect a wonderful story in a dynasty, or it may be engraved with the ancient wisdom of the ancients.

At this time, the definition of beauty and ugliness does not depend on the eyes, but on the understanding, love, and awe of history.

Quasimodo, the Hunchback of Notre Dame, is considered by many on the Internet to be a perfect example of being ugly on the outside but kind on the inside. I dare to question it today. Why is it generally believed that Quasimodo has a kind heart?

It is true that Quasimodo saved Esmeralda on the execution ground after Esmeralda did not hold him accountable for helping the archdeacon snatch her and gave him water; It is also true that he respects him for the kindness of his upbringing.

But because of his ugly appearance, Quasimodo was rejected by outsiders since he was a child, so he stayed in Notre Dame all day long, with a withdrawn personality.

The bell on the tower was his most loyal partner. For such a person, he loved People, he will humble himself into the dust and repay them with Qiong Yao.

For those who are malicious to him, he will beat them away with his own ferocity. At the same time, he buried the vicar who had nurtured him for Esmeralda. Is this kindness? No, this is love and hate.

Beauty and ugliness are opposite concepts, but in the human species, there is no pure good, evil, beauty, and ugliness, and there is no black and white.

In my opinion, Quasimodo is ugly on the outside, but his heart is close to the most primitive state of human beings, that is, animal nature and instinct. He is a natural man in society rather than a social man.

In contrast, I personally think Bienvenu Bishop and Jean Valjean in "Les Miserables" are the real goodness.

Although the former has some ideas that fall into the word "roundabout", he has done good deeds throughout his life and repaid evil with virtue.

Under the influence of the former, the latter has set up a high moral standard. Although he sometimes struggles in his heart, his kind side will always overcome evil thoughts, he spent decades tremblingly, helping others without leaving his name, and finally, he lived up to his conscience.

I love the ending of "Notre Dame Hunchback". The bodies of Quasimodo and Esmeralda hug each other tightly, and they turned into dust together under the touch of others.

At this moment, the beauty and ugliness of the appearance are intertwined, there is no distinction between you and me, there are only two unfortunate souls, looking down on the ocean composed of the city peacefully and serenely above Notre Dame Cathedral.

3. The deformed love under the robe

After reading the book, I went to the Internet to find guides of different translations.

"exposing the insidious meanness of priests"

"Profoundly condemned the hypocrisy and despicableness of the captain of the guard and the archdeacon"

Is this how the guide introduces the characters now?

I seem to see an adult pointing to a book of fairy tales and saying to a three-year-old child: The big bad wolf is a bad guy, and Little Red Riding Hood is a good guy...

But "Notre Dame de Paris" is not a fairy tale, and the archdeacon is not a big bad wolf.

The Archdeacon is undoubtedly the most complex and profound character in this book, even Quasimodo and Esmeralda are not as three-dimensional as him. His perfect blend of good and evil is breathtaking.

Before meeting Esmeralda, Frollo was an upright, knowledgeable, devout, and kind person. He lost his parents when he was young, and raised his infant brother alone while taking care of his studies. He was ordained a priest at the age of twenty.

He was thirsty for knowledge, and he probably read all the books he could read and was even favored by King Louis XI of France. Because of his kindness, he adopted Quasimodo, an abandoned baby who was so ugly that people thought it was a devil, and brought him up, giving him a position at Notre Dame.

And the final ending, that is, Quasimodo, who was adopted by Frollo in order to accumulate virtue for his brother, killed Frollo’s younger brother, John, so it’s ironic.

But when he met Esmeralda, his life trajectory was reversed by an irresistible force called love. Frollo first fell into endless pain.

Since the eleventh century, priests have had to be celibate and dedicate themselves to God, but Frollo gradually abandoned himself after discovering that he fell in love with Esmeralda, and used an almost crazy desire for a monopoly to bring Esmeralda together with himself. to hell.

I thought for a long time that Hugo should write such a character to criticize the Holy See in the Middle Ages rather than the character itself because the vicar is a product of that oppressive and deformed era. What makes Frollo tragic is his environment.

The first is the academic aspect.

After Frollo finished studying canons, he turned to medicine, refined herbs, and prepared ointment himself, but when he talked with the king, he didn't believe in medicine, but in alchemy.

What drove him to abandon the rigorous and broad medicine that we see today, and instead pursue the illusory technique of "turning sunlight into gold"?

That is the absolute authority of theology. At that time, science that was not conducive to the church and God was regarded as heresy and would be criticized and persecuted, such as Copernicus and his heliocentric theory.

Under such a system, the development of scientific theories is greatly restricted. Frollo's medical knowledge may be irrational.

He can find mistakes, but because of his life creed, which is the Catholic faith, he cannot question it. That is why he denies knowledge and sinks into nothingness.

The second is the social environment.

Humans are social animals, and communication is a necessary skill for a person, and it is also the premise and foundation for him to integrate into the world.

On the other hand, Frollo, because he is obsessed with academics, is serious, depressed, and often wears a black robe, which makes many people timid, so there is a legend among the people that he is a wizard and Quasimodo is a demon who traded with him.

Frollo was ostracized, and his few close friends were his brother John and Quasimodo.

It is his character that caused his situation, and his character is influenced by the religion he believes in, bound by strict rules and regulations, and so on, this is the fault of the church.

Finally, there is the psychological aspect.

I have had this experience: I bought a bottle of Coke, happily shook the bottle like a fool, and then walked home with the Coke in my hand, unscrewed the cap - bang.

Human nature is a carbonated drink that has been shaken, and no matter how long it is suppressed, it is possible to burst out.

The rules of the church are oppressive and anti-human. Frollo's mind has spent more than 30 years like an ascetic. When he saw Esmeralda dancing like a butterfly, he was restless.

Thoughts popped up uncontrollably one after another, and the image of Esmeralda flashed in front of his eyes. The priest found in despair that he was getting farther and farther away from heaven and closer to hell.

So he finally abandoned gods, academics, religion, secularism, and precepts in the entanglement, just for the illusion of a beautiful future emotional life in his mind.

After he stretched out his hand to the forbidden fruit called "love" with nothing, he got bad news: the girl he loves fears and even loathes him, and the girl he loves likes the young and handsome captain of the guard.

Reality. No Romeo and Juliet. What a cruel reality!

So the distorted psychology began to cause trouble. He forcibly occupied Esmeralda several times (attempted), he assassinated the captain of the guard and blamed Esmeralda, and when he got negative answers one after another, he would personally send Esmeralda to the gallows.

The extreme and terrifying mentality of "destroy if you can't get it" and "take others to hell with you if you die" is very reminiscent of the order of xtl to blow up Paris in late World War II (still attempted).

This sad and pitiful man may not have thought that he would die in the hands of Quasimodo, whom he raised so hard.

He was pushed down from the top of Notre Dame, smashed to pieces together with his fiery and cold soul.

If he hadn't met Esmeralda, if he hadn't fallen in love with her, as she said, he would have been very happy and would have continued to walk with integrity and kindness.

No if. Only the word "fate" is permanently fixed on the wall tiles of Notre Dame de Paris.

4. "Architectural changes" that have nothing to do with the story

Hugo was known to like to insert small essays in his novels. In "Les Miserables", it is "On the Reasons for the Defeat of Waterloo", "the emergence and Development of Slang", "the sewers of Paris", etc., and in "Notre Dame de Paris", it is "the changes of the urban layout and architecture of Paris".

Every time I read content in this form, I feel dizzy and wonder why the author wrote these things.

Later I gradually realized that these two novels are not pure novels, they contain the author’s viewpoints and opinions in the fields of politics and other fields.

Provided valuable information, for example, according to the description in "Notre Dame de Paris", perhaps architects can roughly restore the style of Paris at the end of the fifteenth century.

Then I began to wonder, how can a person know everything like a jack-of-all-trades and present knowledge in books?

Hugo always drops God.

5. Notre Dame de Paris today

In 2019, Notre Dame de Paris, a church that had existed for more than 800 years, was engulfed in a fire, and the Gothic spire collapsed in the thick smoke of the fire.

But as the bells of Notre Dame rang again a year later, we learned — the resilience of civilization.

The towers described by Hugo cannot be destroyed by a single flame, and neither can those real or fictional stories be erased by a single flame. Quasimodo's ten thousand bells ringing together, Napoleon's self-coronation...

the accumulation of countless times will hover in the hearts of everyone who loves history and literature, and there is a humanistic spirit that lasts for a long time.

Conclusion: Notre Dame de Paris by Victor Hugo

There is nothing to say about the quality of world-famous books, and Hugo's writing style is also excellent, vividly showing the scene of Paris.

I have read two books in this collection of illustrations, one of "Great Expectations" and one of "Notre Dame de Paris" which can be included in my top ten books.

Looking forward to the next Hugo of Houlang's collection of illustrations "Les Miserables"!

Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl: Review & Summary

2023-04-17T17:26:00.007+06:00

Book Review: Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl

Every suffering is the meaning of life. Find worthy goals, choose your own life, and explore the purpose and meaning of life.

Introduction of Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl. What is the meaning of life? What is life? I have been thinking about it for four years, and I have graduated from college. The meaning of life is sometimes clear but sometimes ethereal.

I intermittently remembered the sentence that the Teacher quoted in class: "A person should not ask him what the meaning of life is. On the contrary, he should realize that he is the one who is questioned by life."

The original author of this sentence is Victor Frankl. He was imprisoned in a concentration camp for three years during the Nazi period and survived. After being released, he founded logotherapy, a psychotherapy called logotherapy.

The day before yesterday, I finished reading his booklet "Searching for the Meaning of Life". The moment I closed the book, I deeply regretted why I didn't read it earlier.

The author of Man's Search for Meaning is a psychiatrist himself. He came out to become a psychiatrist and invented a kind of meaningful therapy.

The whole book is to the effect that the sense of accomplishment, love, and enduring hardships are the three major components of the meaning of life. It's about suffering here.

The author tells you that suffering is a blessing, and suffering is earned. To experience pain is to experience life. Of course, the author also reminds you that if you suffer unnecessary hardships, you are a fool.

As for how to judge whether suffering is necessary or not, it is entirely up to you. The author can't help you either.

The whole book is divided into three parts,

In the author's life in the concentration camp, he finds that people can still make choices under extreme predicaments, and the ultimate freedom in life---the freedom of the mind.
Liberated, went out of camp and invented logotherapy, a meaning-based psychotherapy
On how to find meaning in suffering, he told the case of patients he met

In fact, the whole book can be summed up in an old saying, suffering is a blessing.

But why blessing? God knows.

In fact, the author has not made it clear in this regard, or it is difficult to make it clear. In fact, enduring hardship is a blessing, and when it comes to the final judgment of whether it is a blessing or not, it is also result-oriented. If the author finally died in the concentration camp, there is no meaning at all, and the meaning may only be known in his heart.

But the author believed it. He believed that all the suffering he suffered was meaningful. He came through. So, in fact, as long as you don’t die, you still have a future, your hardships will not be in vain, your sweat, your tears, all of which are valuable, you have a purpose and a sense of meaning, all these things will turn into the strength of your soul so that you do not give up hope for life, so you can face life with a more optimistic attitude.

This is what the author has to say. There's a bit of a philosophical one here. The effect of idealism is the greatest. The law of attraction is universal. As long as you believe that this one won't break you, you can survive, you have a future, and you have hope.

Therefore, you must have goals and expectations. In the face of extreme difficulties, you still have the right to choose.

Of course, the author also reminds us that if you don't eat hardships, you will be an idiot.

But many times, you don't know whether you should eat the bitterness or not. When we suffer, in fact, most of us cannot help ourselves.

Therefore, the most important thing is the tragic optimism mentioned in the last part of the book. Learn to have fun while you suffer.

Finally, I conclude with the author's sentence,

"There is only one thing that I dread: not to be worthy of my sufferings"
The only thing I fear is that I am not worthy of my sufferings.

Book: Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl

Man's Search for Meaning is a 1946 book by Viktor Frankl chronicling his experiences as a prisoner in Nazi concentration camps during World War II, and describing his psychotherapeutic method, which involved identifying a purpose in life to feel positive about, and then immersively imagining that outcome. ---Wikipedia

Originally published: 1946
Author: Viktor Frankl
Genres: Biography, Autobiography, Personal Narrative
Language: German
Original title: Ein Psychologe erlebt das Konzentrationslager
Pages: 200

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About the Author: Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl

Viktor Emil Frankl MD, Ph.D., was an Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist as well as a Holocaust survivor. Frankl was the founder of logotherapy, which is a form of Existential Analysis, the "Third Viennese School" of psychotherapy.

He holds professorships at Harvard, Stanford, Dallas, and Pittsburgh, and teaches Significance at San Diego International University in California. Frankel has published 39 works that have been translated into 34 languages. His work "Live the Meaning of Life" is one of the "Top Ten Most Influential Books in America".

His book Man's Search for Meaning (first published under a different title in 1959: From Death Camp to Existentialism. Originally published in 1946 as Ein Psycholog erlebt das Konzentrationslager) chronicles his experiences as a concentration camp inmate and describes his psychotherapeutic method of finding meaning in all forms of existence, even the most sordid ones, and thus a reason to continue living. He was one of the key figures in existential therapy.

At the time of Frankl's death in 1997, Man's Search for Meaning had sold more than 10 million copies in twenty-four languages. A 1991 reader survey for the Library of Congress that asked readers to name a "book that made a difference in your life " found Man's Search for Meaning among the ten most influential books in America.

Beacon Press, the original English-language publisher of Man's Search for Meaning, is issuing this new paperback edition with a new Foreword, biographical Afterword, jacket, price, and classroom materials to reach new generations of readers.

Book Summary: Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl

The psychoanalyst Victor Frankl often asked his patients, "Why don't you kill yourself?" This is a "provocative" question. We can politely ask: "What makes your life have purpose and meaning?" "What makes you wake up in the morning and want to jump out of bed?" "What are you desperate to do?" "What are you looking forward to?" ?" Pause and see what answers come to your mind as you ponder these questions?

The meaning of life

During World War II, Frankel was imprisoned in Auschwitz and Dachau concentration camps for three years. Every day there is a struggle to survive. During those difficult years, Frankel had almost nothing. His parents, wife, and younger brother all died in the concentration camp. He said afterward (and so did others who had survived such extreme conditions) that he only survived because he found something worth surviving. In his view, living only needs a few things, namely "why to live" or "for whom to live".

Life, so to speak, consists of two pursuits. The first pursuit is how to live. The second is the pursuit of the meaning of life. In response to these two pursuits, Frankel reminded: "More and more people today know how to live, but they don't know what it means to live." Life is also hopeless. If life lacks meaning, we will fall into the abyss of despair. Frankel followed and observed 60 exceptional college students who attempted suicide and survived. When interviewed, 85% said they killed themselves because life had no meaning.

No purpose - life in crisis

Psychologist Jung found that about one-third of the people he treated were not so-called neuroses, but because life had no purpose and meaning. Frankel, an American doctor, found that more than 50% of his hospitalized patients experienced a crisis of lack of meaning in life. Psychiatrist Owen Yaron noticed that virtually all hospitalized patients still care about the lack of meaning in their lives.

Many observers have written about the "existential crisis" that many of us face when we are dissatisfied with our lives, when they lack true meaning, even though there are things we struggle with and think are important. In "Confessions", the great Russian writer Leo Tolstoy described the crisis he encountered in his life, such as: what is life for, where is it going, what will it be good for, etc. The more frequently such questions arise, the more urgently they need to be answered.

Find Progressive Life Purpose

There is a story about a 70-year-old man who decided to learn to fly a plane and needed to apply for a medical certificate. When registering the basic information, the doctor asked his father's age when he died. The old man told the doctor that his father was not dead. In fact, his father just celebrated his 92nd birthday and college graduation.

So the doctor asked again when his father's father died. The old man replied that his grandfather also had a long life and that he had just turned 112 and would remarry next Tuesday. Another man, whose father was just 44 years old, lost his job last year and soon lost his enthusiasm for life. Now his father sits at home all day watching TV.

In fact, everything in life is changing. Watching young children reveals their eagerness to practice and utilize each new ability. Everyone remembers the joy of learning a new thing. In life, there will be the joy of harvest, and there will be frustration and frustration. We want to be able to express ourselves, but everyone has moments of inspiration and frustration. There are pros and cons to both progress and non-progress: progress is promising, but requires a certain amount of effort and risk; no progress or standing still, although easier and more comfortable, can be tiresome and uncomfortable.

Our mundane, monotonous daily lives are full of adventures that both spark our curiosity and demand courage to challenge them. Sometimes we rise to the challenge, and sometimes we retreat. Psychologist Amy Gross describes a woman's dilemma:

She has to travel long distances between the hospital and home every day. She learned that she had a job at another hospital, just 10 minutes from home and that the job and salary were better than what she was currently doing. This made her feel embarrassed. She asked everyone what to do. To apply or not to apply? Everyone told her to apply, but she asked back, what would happen if she got the job and couldn't do it?

In a situation like hers, when you don't encounter it, you dream of it; when you encounter it, it's hard to make a choice. Just when she was hesitating, the job was taken away by someone else. She was asked, "What do you need to give up?" She felt that people didn't understand the risks she was taking. This is what she calls "self". She believes that all judgments would be confirmed if she applied and was unsuccessful, or if she got the job and then was fired. From beginning to end, she knew that God would also know that she was going to fail.

In fact, we can understand what happened to this woman, because I have had many times in my life to back down from a challenge. Looking back, I think, "I could have done it." And when new opportunities arise, I remind myself that. Is your life improving? The so-called progress here is only a desired change.

What do you want to have or what kind of person do you want to be? Are you progressing toward your goal? Are you becoming more and more of the person you want to be? Are you letting your life gradually become the way you want it to be? Have you increased your ways of enjoying the good things in your life and dealing with the not-so-good things? Pause for a moment and try to find the answer to your question.

Are you choosing your life?

Life is full of choices. In a sense, everyone's life is a choice they make. Are you choosing your life? Or: Are you in charge of your life? Are you making decisions about your life? Are you ready when life changes?

One might think that we should not be responsible for our own lives because we have to live whether we want to or not. Others believe that they live the life they choose, that their life is theirs, and that they can change or maintain the status quo as long as they want. Others are neutral and believe that life is a combination of necessity and choice.

For example, we may not be able to choose our jobs—we are just a cog in a work machine—while at home we can handle it. The reverse is also true: we have power at work, but we feel deeply incapable of running our own families.

A certain view holds that all human activities are given, that is: all our behaviors are governed by genetic or environmental factors. From this point of view, humans are like robots. Another opposing view is that humans are free to act and can freely choose how to act, that is, humans have their own will and their own choices, they are self-determined and not subject to external forces.

Accordingly, we are free agents. Sometimes we may not be able or able to change something, but we are free to choose how we do things, our attitudes, and the perspectives associated with them. If we can't change the world, at least we can change ourselves and make choices.

Finally,

True, freedom often comes with responsibility. Taking control of your own life can be both exciting and tiring. Many people try to escape freedom. These evaders of freedom deceive themselves into thinking that some power greater than themselves dictates society or God in their actions. On the contrary, there is an opinion that each of us can have our own way of life if we have the courage.

Book Review: Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl

I have been fascinated to think about "what is the meaning of life". If I had known about this book then, people around me would not have been annoyed to death by me. Chattering about the "meaning of life" is almost a symptom of psychosis. Who is the normal person to think about this problem?

It turns out that as early as 1946, Viktor E. Frankl had clearly answered my question. He has a clear and tested view of the meaning of life, and he believes in it; after reading Man's Search for Meaning, I couldn't help but admire it.

No long-winded reasoning can compare to a good story. After reading this book, I can also say that any obscure theory is inferior to a good story, including medical theory.

Man's Search for Meaning was first published in 1946. Frankl was a German Jew, psychiatrist, and scholar. He was imprisoned in Auschwitz by the Nazis in 1942 and was later imprisoned in other concentration camps. After regaining his freedom, he distilled his prison experience into this small book.

The original German version was originally called "Anyway, Say Yes to Life - A Psychiatrist's Experience in a Concentration Camp", and the English version was titled "Anyway, Say Yes to Life". Man's Search for Meaning", there is a good translation in Chinese, the triptych, translated into "Live out the meaning".

The first edition of the book was republished, and Frankl added two supplements, mainly adding a summary of medical theory. By the time of Frankl's death in 1995, ten million copies had been sold and translated into at least 24 languages. The book focuses on the experience of concentration camps, supplemented by medical theories.

The title also became "Man's Search for Meaning: An Introduction to Logotherapy". Logotherapy, or translated existential therapy, is a spiritual therapy founded by Frankl, known as the third school of Vienna spiritual therapy.

The first school is Freud's psychoanalytic method, and the second school is Albert's rational emotional behavior method. Frankl founded this school, and the foundation is this book. Strong, right?

Where is the strength? Because it's a moving story. The record of Nazi concentration camps during World War II is overwhelming. This book is unique among many documents because it is not only the author's personal painful experience but also a scientist's calm observation and summary.

The author said from the beginning that he did not want to write the actual record of the concentration camp. He just wanted to answer a question: "What kind of psychological process would an ordinary prisoner live in a concentration camp every day?" Ordinary prisoners, their reactions to their environment.

What fascinates me the most is the author's point of view which is both earnest and detached. Based on his own heart, he tried his best to be honest and not deceived; at the same time, with the professional and calm attitude of a doctor, he surpassed the harsh environment at that time, and he did not feel self-pity, nor complain or talk.

This kind of writing/attitude not only makes people feel his tough heart and excellent and pure mind but also makes people fully understand his inhuman situation. In fact, such a realm has reached a considerable height in literature; such a person can only be described by diamonds, but also by Chairman Mao's beautiful words: a noble person, a pure person, a moral person, A man out of vulgar taste, a man who is good for the people. Everyone fits!

There is a passage in the book where the author walks to the construction site of the railway while being beaten and scolded by the prison head on an empty stomach, wearing broken shoes that leak, with frostbite on his feet.

His mind is full of resentment: will there be a few more beans for tonight's "dinner", will he be assigned to another unfamiliar and cruel foreman later, and how long will the "shoes" under his feet last. . .

He suddenly realized that these thoughts are so trivial and humble that they are of no benefit to his own living state, so he turned his head and began to analyze his own situation from a professional point of view and study his own mental state from a professional distance.

In fact, not many people can make such a change. I believe that this kind of dissociation is a habit he developed in the concentration camp, and the foundation of this book is laid in this way.

Sometimes, he is dissociated from the current environment, talking to his beloved wife in his heart, and filling his heart with love. At that time, the wife was still alive and there was no difference. Being able to use the imagination to pull away from reality is a unique ability for people to help people survive in extremely harsh environments.

Really moved. So the theory he said was unwittingly accepted. Story + not hypocritical + vernacular = psychotherapy theory.

His theory is this: man's search for meaning in life is the primordial force in his life. This meaning is unique and unique, and only people can and must practice it; and only when it is practiced can it satisfy people's will to seek meaning. The mission of "meaning therapy" is to help a person find meaning in his life.

The meaning of life is different for each person, and the meaning of life in each stage is also different. The person must find it by himself. Once he finds it, he can hope to get rid of the neurological symptoms caused by the emptiness of life. The meaning of life is something real. For example, a mother lives for her child.

There are three ways to find meaning in life:

Create and work;
Recognize value (like love);
Suffer.

Frankl believes that everyone can find their own meaning in life, either by creating and working, or by experiencing something or loving someone, and in extreme cases, when all pleasure is deprived, the inevitable suffering itself is the meaning of life. From his experience in the concentration camps, he realized the third way.

Under extremely harsh conditions, a person is deprived of only his body and mind, and he still has the freedom to choose how to face the environment, whether to actively use every condition to survive or to give up the desire to live and bow to fate. The choice of attitude is the only full dignity and meaning. And people can choose to say "yes" to life.

So Frankl is a pessimistic optimist. He knows that life is actually meaningless, but he is willing to inspire all human beings to find meaning for themselves. The mission of his psychiatry is to use various methods to help the patient find his own meaning in life.

Compared with psychoanalysis, which regards people as passive products of an objective environment, Frankl puts people's subjective will in a more important position.

I can't disagree with Frankl. From my half-life life experience, I also think that the attitude you use to deal with the environment you are in, whether it is good or bad, really determines the trajectory of a person's life. The so-called "character determines destiny".

Of course, there are times of depression, disappointment, and pessimism. There is no need to feel ashamed. You should learn to pull yourself out of negative emotions and truly believe that "tomorrow will be better". Tomorrow is really fine.

Different ages have different pursuits in life. It is good to pursue ideals when you are young; it is normal to pursue your wife and children when you are older. Frankl said that at different stages of life, the meaning of life on which the spirit is based is different, and it is true.

In the past few weeks, I haven't watched any movies, and I haven't been in the mood to read. Fortunately, I came across this good book, and I couldn't put it down after reading it. It forced me to find time to read it, which is really a blessing.

Reading note: Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl

1. Life is suffering, and the meaning of life is to suffer. It is here that we encounter the central theme of existentialism: to live is to suffer, to survive is to find meaning in the suffering. If there is a purpose in life at all, there must be a purpose in suffering and in death.

2. Don't aim at success - the more you aim at it and make it a target, the more you are going to miss it. For success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue, and it only does so as the unintended side-effect of one's personal dedication to a cause greater than oneself or as the by-product of one's surrender to a person other than oneself. Happiness must happen, and the same holds for success: you have to let it happen by not caring about it. I want you to listen to what your conscience commands you to do and go on to carry it out to the best of your knowledge. Then you will live to see that in the long run - in the long run, I say! - success will follow you precisely because you had forgotten to think of it."

3. Optimism through hardship is true optimism it is hoped that an "optimism" for our future may flow from the lesson learned from our "tragic" past.

4. three phases of the inmate's mental reactions to camp life become apparent: the period following his admission; the period when he is well entrenched in camp routine; and the period following his release and liberation

5. Ask those who were liberated from concentration camps, how did you get through it? They say, get used to it. But don't ask them how they got used to it Yes, a man can get used to anything but do not ask us how."

6. Shave every day, make sure you look fit and work shave daily, if at all possible, even if you have to use a piece of glass to do it . . . even if you have to give your last piece of bread for it. You will look younger and the scraping will make your cheeks look ruddier. If you want to stay alive, there is only one way: to look fit for work. If you are even limp, because let us say, you have a small blister on your heel, and an SS man spots this, he will wave you aside and the next day you are sure to be gassed.

8. Apathy, the main symptom of the second phase, was a necessary mechanism of self-defense. Reality dimmed, and all efforts and all emotions were centered on one task: preserving one's own life and that of the other fellows

9. In a position of utter desolation, when a man cannot express himself in positive action, when his only achievement may consist in enduring his sufferings in the right way - an honorable way - in such a position man can, through loving contemplation of the image he carries of his beloved, achieve fulfillment

10. In spite of all the enforced physical and mental primitiveness of life in a concentration camp, it was possible for spiritual life to deepen. Sensitive people who were used to a rich intellectual life may have suffered much pain. but the damage to their inner selves was less. They were able to retreat from their terrible surroundings to a life of inner riches and spiritual freedom

11. To be in love, to experience the process of love, is the ultimate goal of life The truth - is that love is the ultimate and the highest goal to which man can aspire. Then I grasped the meaning of the greatest secret that human poetry and human thought and belief have to impart: The salvation of man is through love and in love.

12. Humor is the art of life and the greatest Powerful-Strength Humor was another of the soul's weapons in the fight for self-preservation. It is well known that humor, more than anything else in human makeup can afford an aloofness and an ability to rise above any situation, even if only for a few seconds

13. Those who can laugh at life are those who have mastered the art of living. The attempt to develop a sense of humor and to see things in a humorous light is some kind of a trick learned while mastering the art of living

14. This example is very touching. We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, and giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms - to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way.

15. In the most extreme desperation, you still have the right to choose there were always choices to make. Every day every hour, offered the opportunity to make a decision, a decision which determined whether you would or would not submit to those powers which threatened to rob you of your very self, your inner freedom; which determined whether or not you would become the plaything of circumstance, renouncing freedom and dignity to become molded into the form of the typical inmate.

16. There is only one thing that I dread: not to be worthy of my sufferings." It can be said that they were worthy of their sufferings; the way they bore their suffering was a genuine inner achievement. It is this spiritual freedom - which cannot be taken away - that makes life meaningful and purposeful.

17. It makes sense!! An active life serves the purpose of giving man the opportunity to realize values in creative work, while a passive life of enjoyment affords him the opportunity to obtain fulfillment in experiencing beauty, art, or nature. But there is also purpose in that life which is almost barren of both creation and enjoyment and which admits of but one possibility of high moral behavior: namely, in man's attitude to his existence, an existence restricted by external forces. A creative life and a life of enjoyment are banned to him. But not only creativity and enjoyment are meaningful. If there is a meaning in life at all, then there must be a meaning in suffering. Suffering is an ineradicable part of life, even as fate and death. Without suffering and death, human life cannot be complete.

18. Having goals and expectations is the most important thing. As we said before, any attempt to restore a man's inner strength in the camp had first to succeed in showing him some future goals.

19. What matters is not what we can get out of life, but what life wants us to get. What was really needed was a fundamental change in our attitude toward life. We had to learn ourselves and, furthermore, we had to teach the despairing men, that it did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us

20. We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life - daily and hourly. Our answer must consist, not of talk and meditation, but of right action and right conduct. Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual.

The meaning of each individual's life These tasks, and therefore the meaning of life, differ from man to man, and from moment to moment. Thus it is impossible to define the meaning of life in a general way. Questions about the meaning of life can never be answered by sweeping statements.

"Life" does not mean something vague, but something very real and concrete, just as life's tasks are also very real and concrete. They form man's destiny, which is different and unique for each individual. No man and no destiny can be compared with any other man or any other destiny. No situation repeats itself, and each situation calls for a different response.

Sometimes the situation in which a man finds himself may require him to shape his own fate by action. At other times it is more advantageous for him to make use of an opportunity for contemplation and to realize assets in this way.

Sometimes a man may be required simply to accept fate, to bear his cross. Every situation is distinguished by its uniqueness, and there is always only one right answer to the problem posed by the situation at hand.

Excerpts from the original text: Man's Search for Meaning

The pursuit of the meaning of life, meaning of life, when the topic of the meaning of life is brought up, people around me will express disdain, and the expression of puzzlement makes me very helpless. I think I am not a serious fantasist, although the topic of the meaning of life is too much. Heavy and bulky, but I always thought it was a question that had to be thought about.

The meaning of life is not given, it is proposed.

The meaning of life is different for everyone, every day, every moment, so what matters is not the universality of the meaning of life, but the specific meaning of life for each person at a particular moment... You shouldn't ask for the abstraction of the meaning of life. Everyone has their own unique mission. This mission cannot be replaced by others, and your life cannot be repeated.

I think one of the happiest things is that one day when you are old, you look back at your life and find that you have sincerely paid for many people, you have created so many beautiful stories through your hands, and you and I have created so many excellent castles with my heart, that kind of relief and satisfaction is the meaning of life.

I would venture to say that there is nothing in this world that can help a man survive the worst of circumstances unless he sees that his life has meaning.

"Those of us who have lived in concentration camps remember that there were people who could comfort others in their shacks and bring out their last loaf of bread. They may be insignificant in number, however, they provided enough evidence to prove that it is possible to deprive man of everything, except for one thing: man's final freedom - to choose his own attitude, to choose his own way in a given environment."

"Among prisoners, only some maintain have gained all their inner freedom, and acquired the value that their suffering conferred, but even one such example is sufficient to demonstrate that man's inner strength may allow him to transcend his external destiny. Such a man does not exist only in concentration camps. Everywhere people face their fate, the opportunity to gain something through pain."

"What is really needed is a fundamental change in attitude towards life. We have to learn from ourselves, and we have to educate people who have lost hope that it doesn't really matter what we can get out of life. What matters is, what we can give to life. We need to stop and think about the meaning of life. And as those who are asked by life, think about ourselves - every moment. Our answers must include, not saying and Thinking, but right action and right action. Life ultimately means that it is the responsibility of finding true answers to questions and fulfilling the task that is often asked of each of us individually."

"It is safe to say that the human search for meaning can be Causes inner tension rather than inner balance. However, these tensions are an indispensable prerequisite for mental health. I dare say that there is nothing in the world that helps people survive the worst of circumstances than the existence of meaning in life There is much wisdom in Nietzsche's words: 'A man who knows why he lives can bear almost any question of how he lives.'

"What man really needs is not a state of anxiety-free, but a worthy goal. effort and struggle, a freely chosen task. What he needs is not a discharge of anxiety at all costs, but a call to an underlying meaning that awaits his completion. "

"People should not seek the abstract meaning of life. ... Each man can answer to life only by taking on his own life; he can only respond to life by being responsible. Therefore, logotherapy sees the true essence of human existence in responsibility. "P111

"According to logotherapy, we can discover the meaning of life in three different ways:

(1) by creating a job or doing a real thing;
(2) by experiencing something or meeting someone;
(3) By our attitude towards the inevitable."P113

"Man can change the world if possible, and oneself if necessary. "P133

At the end of the book, he says:

"Man is not an object; objects have mutually determined characteristics, but man is ultimately self-determining. What he eventually becomes—within the limits of talents and conditions—depends on himself.

For example, in a concentration camp, here A survival laboratory, and a testing ground, we observed and found that some of the victims lived a lowly life, while others lived like saints. There are two potentialities in human beings; which potentiality is realized will Depend on our own decisions, not circumstances.

Our generation is realistic as we begin to understand people as they really are. After all, man is the one who invented the Auschwitz gas chambers; For those who walk into the gas chambers with their heads held high."

Life is really full of luck and chance. It turned out that at an accidental intersection, you will really meet some people who are full of wisdom. He will say to you calmly: "You can also find your answer in this way."

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen | Review, Summary & Facts

2023-04-17T13:45:00.008+06:00

Book Review: Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen. Summary. Quotes & Facts

Introduction of Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen. Although "Sense and Sensibility" is Jane Austen's first novel, their writing skills are quite skilled.

Every plot in the story, though the author's ingenious conception, the apparent cause and effect relationship, and the essential cause hidden behind the scenes are natural and reasonable.

The heroine makes reasonable speculations and judgments based on superficial phenomena.

Although attentive readers have various doubts from time to time, their thoughts will naturally develop with good observation. When the final result appears, it is completely different from the superficial phenomenon, causing unexpected results. Unexpected comedic effect.

If you read it in reverse, you will find that the factors that lead to the inevitable result have long been seen between the lines.

The plot of the novel revolves around the mate selection activities of the two heroines and strives to reveal that in the British social trend at that time, marriage was used as a bad habit for women to seek economic security and improve their economic status, and the ugly fashion of focusing on the family regardless of women's feelings and rights as a human being.

The heroines in the novel all pursue equal communication and communication with men's thoughts and feelings, require equal rights in social status, and insist on the freedom of independent observation, analysis, and selection of men. In Britain at the time, it was almost a cry of resistance.

As reflected in the title of the book, the story focuses on the conflict between "reason" and "emotion". The characters represented by Marianne lack reason but have excess emotion; the characters represented by John Dashwood and his wife have excess reason but lack emotion, and the characters represented by Willoughby are very hypocritical in emotion.

He seems very emotional, but in fact, he is indifferent and downright selfish. In the story, the author praised those who cherished their feelings. Although he also satirized these people's lack of reason from time to time, he showed contempt for those who were only rational or hypocritical in their feelings.

The author ultimately admires the heroine, Eleanor, because she is both emotional and rational. This shows the author's ideal on this issue, that is, people cannot be without emotion, but emotion should be restricted by reason.

Book: Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

Sense and Sensibility is a novel by Jane Austen, published in 1811. It was published anonymously; By A Lady appears on the title page where the author's name might have been. It tells the story of the Dashwood sisters, Elinor and Marianne as they come of age. --- Wikipedia

Originally published: 1811
Characters: Marianne Dashwood, Elinor Dashwood,
Author: Jane Austen
Followed by: Pride and Prejudice
Genres: Novel, Romance novel, Fiction

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About Sense and Sensibility Author

Jane Austen was born on 16 December 1775 at Steventon, near Basingstoke, the seventh child of the rector of the parish. She lived with her family at Steventon until they moved to Bath when her father retired in 1801. after his death in 1805, she moved around with her mother, in 1809 they settled in Chawton, near Alton, Hampshire.

Here she remained, except for a few visits to London, until May 1817, when she moved to Winchester to be near her doctor. There she died on 18 July 1817.

Jane Austen was extremely modest about her own genius, describing her work to her nephew, Edward, as 'the little bit (two Inches wide) of Ivory, on which I work with so fine a Brush, as produces little effect after much labor. As a girl, she wrote stories, including burlesques of popular romances.

Her works were published only after much revision, with four novels being published in her lifetime. These are Sense and Sensibility(1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814), and Emma (1815). Two other novels, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion, were published posthumously in 1818 with a biographical notice by her brother, Henry Austen, the first formal announcement of her authorship.

Persuasion was written in a race against failing health in 1815-16. She also left two earlier compositions, a short epistolary novel, Lady Susan, and an unfinished novel, The Watsons.

At the time of her death, she was working on a new novel, Sanditon, a fragmentary draft of which survives.

She wrote most of the novel which took the daily life of the middle class in towns and villages as the theme and reflected the style of British society in the late 18th and early 19th centuries through conflicts in love and marriage.

The works often ridicule people's stupidity, selfishness, snobbery, blind self-confidence, and other despicable and ridiculous weaknesses through comic scenes.

Austen's novels appeared at the beginning of the 19th century, swept away the trend of false romanticism, inherited and developed the excellent British realism tradition in the 18th century, prepared for the climax of realist novels in the 19th century, and played a link between the past and the next important.

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Quotes from Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

"A woman of seven and twenty," said Marianne, after pausing a moment, "can never hope to feel or inspire affection again, and if her home is uncomfortable, or her fortune small, I can suppose that she might bring herself to submit to the offices of a nurse, for the sake of the provision and security of a wife. In his marrying such a woman therefore there would be nothing unsuitable. It would be a compact of convenience, and the world would be satisfied. In my eyes, it would be no marriage at all, but that would be nothing. To me, it would seem only a commercial exchange, in which each wished to be benefited at the expense of the other." --- quoted on page 28

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen Summary

When love is impossible, are you Eleanor? Marianne? Or Brandon?

For those who suffer from love, reading this book is enough.

Not to mention how elegant and soothing Jane Austen's writing is, and not to mention that Jane Austen brings a consistent gentleman and lady demeanor, I would say that this work, for those who suffer from love and endure suffering, is a redemption.

Although the original title of the book was "Eleanor and Marion", the two sisters' very different personalities also fit the title "Sense and Sensibility", but Jane Austen's feeling in this work is not only It's enough to describe the different responses of people with different personalities when faced with a lovelorn,

but through comparison, let us learn from Eleanor and Brandon about reason and restraint, forgiveness and understanding, those virtues are victory The weapon of selfish lust is difficult to learn but necessary.

Many readers will like Marianne's candidness, and will feel that Eleanor is repressed to the point of repression - while enduring the pain of lovelorn, she has to put on another face to comfort Marianne's hysteria. This kind of character is too tattooed. Silk is not messy, too detached from human nature.

This pair of sisters showed completely different personalities when they first fell in love. Eleanor was quiet and wise, thoughtful and thoughtful about problems, and Marianne escaped self-will and showed unconcealed candor in her feelings. Men find Eleanor respectable and Marianne lovely.

But is Eleanor's rationality really too realistic a personality? If, as Marianne said, Howard has so many disappointments, Eleanor should not choose Howard because he is too rational. He has a sister who dislikes Eleanor.

He relies on his mother for support, and he is unemployed and unwilling to make progress. Eleanor's virtue was always defending Howard until one day Lucy told Howard that he was engaged to her.

The boundless pain, in Eleanor's case, did not turn into bitterness, did not turn into a grudge, for Howard, and for Lucy.

You might say that she's not as straightforward as Marianne, and she seems a little hypocritical, but after reading the whole work, Eleanor has not hurt anyone, whether or not someone brought her misfortune.

Facing Willoughby's abandonment and her notoriety being revealed, Marianne was never as strong as Eleanor. She slowly collapsed and collapsed. If it weren't for Eleanor and Brandon, I think Marianne will never get out of trouble so easily.

Facing the loss of love, Marianne is a weak person. She either makes her relatives and friends worry or hurts herself, while Eleanor is a veritable strong person who knows how to not pass the pain on to others when she is in pain. Eleanor didn't hurt anyone, and she didn't hurt herself either.

If it is said that unrequited love is a disease, it is really a disease that only one can cure. On the other hand, the party who was tortured and could not respond, always thought that the panacea was in the other's hands. In fact, maybe the etiology of the disease is not initiated by people, and the situation is different.

Maybe it is because of the habit of not being able to eat and sleep without the things that you like from childhood. She just likes the troubled taste of lovesickness and enjoys the pain of being abused; it may also be that for some people, no matter who the object is, love is only a stage of the disease that is used to recur like arthritis.

There are so many different kinds of emotions, in fact, indulging in unreachable emotions is a kind of disease, and none of them is shameful, but none of them are noble. When the disease comes, it needs only treatment.

But if those who can free themselves to follow Eleanor's path of self-healing and healing others, and those who harbor her compassion and compassion, may become noble, because of their impossibility, they are noble.

Otherwise, when A falls in love with B, B falls in love with C, and C falls in love with D, in such a strange cycle, if every character is Marianne, if there is no more pain like Eleanor and Brandon He who heals others, then who is left to save himself?

I have never been a very rational person, and I also developed a habit like Marianne when I was a child and has continued to this day, selfish, willful, indulging in something and ignoring the surroundings, reading "Sense and Sensibility", seeing Eleanor and Brandon Only then did we know that reason is not without emotion, but with compassionate consideration and redemption with one heart.

Those who suffer from love can learn from Eleanor and Brandon's minds, or read Jane Austen's "Sense and Sensibility".

Love that doesn't know how to help is just taking.

Love with additional redemption is compassion.

Jane Austen has built a stage for those who are trapped in love so that every past, present, and future struggling on both sides of the boundary between reason and sensibility finds their current position and should play a good role.

Book Review of Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

　　Jane Austen lived in the English countryside at the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century. Most of her novels revolve around the marriage and love of decent people in the countryside. On the surface, this is a small pastoral world.

The small world that Steen is very familiar with shows us the subtle emotional world of women. Her novels have endured rounds of "interesting revolutions" in the UK because her writing can not only illuminate women but also reach the depths of universal humanity.

　　Austen's first published work, "Sense and Sensibility" also pinned Austen's femininity and ideals of love. This work mainly tells the story of the marriage and love of two sisters, Eleanor and Marianne.

Born in an English country squire family, the two sisters had to live with their mother on a frugal diet because their inheritance belonged to their half-brother after the death of their father. Due to the financial setback, Eleanor had to break up with like-minded lover Edward, and Marianne was also abandoned by Willoughby due to various changes.

When faced with emotional blows, the two sisters had very different character reactions. Sister Eleanor was good at controlling her emotions with reason, while Marianne was emotional and allowed her emotions to spread. Fortunately, after a painful experience, Austin ended with a "big reunion", so that the two sisters finally have a perfect marriage.

　　The storyline of this work is simple and easy to read, and the language style is also plain and simple, which does not seem to give us a tremor reading effect. However, the female consciousness and concern for women behind the characters it portrays have triggered a series of thoughts for me.

Female love dominated by patriarchy

　 The novel begins with the serene reading of the old manor's will: the estate must pass in its entirety to his son and his son's son, a four-year-old (John Dashwood's son). Such a will is undoubtedly grief-stricken for Mrs. Dashwood and her three daughters, who have since lost a reliable source of income.

In the British society described by Austen, the value of people is based on property ownership, and the right to inherit property is handed over to men, and women are naturally in a subordinate position.

This financial subordination makes the women in the story expect happiness through a happy marriage, and the vivid characters in the novel show this situation: Mrs. Janis, who is happy to match young men and women; Mrs. Dashwood, who was happy and changed the face of the family; Fanny, who was shrewd in calculating her family property and spared her sisters; Lucy, who desperately wanted to win the favor of the Ferrers family and won love by any means; Deep, haggard Dashwood sisters.

These female characters usually do not have any career pursuits, but play the piano, read, chat, work as female workers, and have endless social gatherings. Their biggest sustenance is to harvest a happy love, and they can live a peaceful life without food and clothing.

Therefore, marriage has become the pillar that dominates the fate of women. For women, what is closely related to marriage is the evaluation of men, which leads to the emergence of male characters with different personalities in the novel: Colonel Brandon, who is stable and profound, and has a wealth of industry; Edward, who is determined and persistent; the brilliant Willoughby; wealthy or dependent, regardless of their background, the female characters of the novel expect their ideal mates to have a respectable background, wealth, and refined manners It can be seen that they attach great importance to men's social status, especially economic status because this status determines their happiness in the second half of their lives to some extent.

Even like the beautiful and refined Dashwood sisters, they value wealth and the comfort of life. They once debated wealth, prestige, and happiness. The naive Marianne claimed that wealth, prestige, and happiness had nothing to do with it, but Eleanor It is believed that wealth and happiness are closely related and that without money there is no comfort in life.

Marianne despised her sister's statement with a lofty attitude, but in the end, she still couldn't give up her requirements for the necessities of life. In this way, women tend to be passive in their choice of marriage and love.

A typical example is the emotional setbacks suffered by the two sisters: Marianne and Willoughby were originally in love, but Willoughby married a wealthy man because of his greed for money. Miss, but abandoned Marian, who was in the middle of the family. Eleanor is also embarrassed by the family property.

　　In a society dominated by patriarchy, women can only control their own happiness in the small world of marriage. This is undoubtedly very sad. The space for them to exert their freedom is so narrow, which also determines that women are largely unable to make their own decisions about their own happiness.

From Marianne to Eleanor's transformation

　 throughout the whole article, there is no doubt that Eleanor is the ideal woman that Austin wants to shape. She is generous and decent, acts prudently, has a clear mind, takes into account the overall situation, and is in the face of lovelorn. When in pain, be good at using reason to control your emotions.

Marianne, who is the exact opposite of her, is impulsive, warm and lovely, innocent, and unrestrained when she is sad and happy, especially when facing Willoughby's ruthless abandonment, she is immersed in painful emotions and cannot extricate herself. Nearly killed.

　 According to my reading experience, the first half of the novel unfolds from two parallel perspectives, Eleanor and Marianne. Because of their very different personalities, their views on people and things are also quite different, especially on the issue of love.

　　First of all, they had disputes over the choice of a partner. Marianne only loves men who are attractive, passionate, and intelligent, so when Willoughby rides a horse on a hillside in the rain to save beauty, Marianne falls in love instantly, the kind of dramatic plot, romantic scene, and their artistic sympathy later in life convinced Marianne that Willoughby was her destined love.

This kind of strong and romantic fantasy is a typical girl's complex in love. This kind of complexity does not work for the rational Eleanor. Eleanor is deeply shy and introverted. Edward is not good at talking.

Attraction, that kind of attraction is a little dull and calm. From the appearance, it is hard to believe that it is the attraction of love.

No wonder Marianne questioned her sister strangely:

"The relationship between the two of them is always unpredictable. The last time they broke up, they were so cold and so calm. When they were together the night before, they spoke so plainly!"

In Marianne's view, this kind of plain and watery relationship is definitely not loving, but love should be passionate like fire Just as the composure and indifference shown by Edward in his lyrical poems puzzled Marianne, in Marianne's view, such a beautiful verse should be recited in an intoxicating and irresistible tone, an artistic one. How can a listless person have fiery love?

　　Eleanor did not think so, she knew Edward's heart deeply, she respected Edward's character and understood his situation when Edward fell into depression and had to be cold and silent with Eleanor because of the objection to the marriage contract and family,

Eleanor was still able to restrain her negative emotions and treat Edward with sympathy and tolerance. She knew very well Edward's kindness and firmness and also knew that Edward's situation was involuntary, so she could not let her emotions go.

Edward and Eleanor had a tacit understanding in their hearts. For Eleanor, a man with a noble personality, steadfastness, modesty, and restraint was far better than a brilliant but flashy playboy. Therefore, Eleanor naturally has a lot of criticism of Willoughby, which is clearly reflected in the difference between the two sisters in their love behavior.

　　After falling in love, the innocent and lovely Marianne disregarded basic etiquette. She and Willoughby were inseparable almost every day. Marianne put all her thoughts on Willoughby, and they never concealed themselves in public. , boldly expressed her intimacy with each other, even if others made fun of them as a topic, Marianne never took it to heart and still went her own way.

Eleanor obviously disliked their behavior, especially Willoughby's indiscretion, eloquence, and pushy show that Eleanor couldn't agree. She felt that Willoughby liked to judge on any occasion. It's too much like her sister, and this kind of contempt for the rules of etiquette is out of control.

　　Eleanor naturally incorporates moral constraints into the behavior of love. In her opinion, good love needs to be restrained by moral behavior, and temperance and rationality are the consistent virtues of women in love.

She made no secret of her admiration for Colonel Brandon: "My darling you said is a reasonable person, and the reason is always attractive to me... He has seen a lot of the world and has been abroad, reading After reading books, he is willing to use his brain. I found that he can teach me a lot on various issues; he always answered my questions calmly, showing both culture and patience."

Colonel Brandon Marianne's unassuming love has always been admired by Eleanor, and his unrequited concern for their families moved Eleanor, and his low-key, introverted, well-educated temperament made Eleanor much admired.

　　Marianne, on the other hand, was deeply disgusted by the shameless submission of reason to vulgar ideas. Although she had great respect for Colonel Brandon, she did not like his gloomy old age and lack of vitality, even laughing at a thirty-five-year-old man's love of dressing. The blue velvet vest must be the cause of rheumatic pain.

　　Willoughby's treachery and the appearance of Edward's first love, Lucy, are the turning points of the novel, and the narrative after that is more developed from Eleanor's point of view. From the time Willoughby left to the lack of news, and then to the marriage of the rich lady, it is no secret that this series of events brought a heavy blow to Marianne.

She who is very affectionate lost herself in an instant like countless little girls who have lost love. The ideal space woven by the girl's fantasy used to be filled with Willoughby, and once Willoughby left, this space quickly collapsed. She can't accept such a fatal blow, she can only be immersed in her past memories and let her emotions run wild, so as to temporarily relieve the pain of lovelorn.

　　At the same time, when Eleanor confronts Lucy's true identity, she suffers no less than Marianne, and she also begins to question Edward's loyalty and feelings for her, but in rational contemplation and calm After the analysis, Eleanor could still suppress the pain and pressure in her heart.

She quickly abandoned the shadows of Edward and Lucy's past, forgives Edward's mistakes with understanding and sympathy, and still trusts Edward's present wholeheartedness toward her. Once such a belief has been established, neither Lucy's malicious attacks nor jealousy will shake Eleanor.

　　The nobility of Eleanor's heart is most prominently shown: when she knew that Edward would fulfill the promise of the engagement to marry Lucy and had to be abandoned by the family when she realized that her love with Edward was almost hopeless, she still sympathized with Edward's situation and did her best. Helping them if possible and wishing them a happy life is heartwarming.

　　Suffering can stimulate growth, especially the pain of lovelorn. Marianne struggled to escape from a long period of negative emotions and eventually faced both physical and mental collapse. After a serious illness, she survived and suffering made her stronger.

And wisdom, what she said to Eleanor after her illness was thought-provoking, she regretted her former impulses and ego, and she knew that emotional laissez-faire led directly to her suffering, even to those who loved her.

The same suffering, after that, she chose to repay and control her feelings, she believed that her conscience and reason could guide her happiness, this kind of transformation has made me see Eleanor's shadow, after experiencing inner struggle and entanglement, a naive innocent girl grows into a wise and wise woman, and Marianne is destined to abandon her seventeen-year-old girlish feelings and love someone more worthy of her love with conviction.

　　Through this strong contrast, Austin has hinted at the majority of women through Eleanor's "ideal paradigm": in a male-dominated society, if you want to autonomously determine your own happiness, you must be good at using reason to control your emotions.

The Conflict Facing the Perfect View of Happiness

　　Through the comparison of the two sisters, it is not difficult to see that Eleanor starts from the "other" more, and her behavior in love always follows a certain strict morality.

In terms of concept, she has to consider the feelings of her mother and sister, take into account the situation of Edward and his family, and worry about housework and housework. Under the leadership of this strong sense of responsibility, she consciously let go of the emotions that belonged to herself.

　　Marianne starts from the feeling of "self". She is unwilling to succumb to the external concept and go against the true will of the heart. She dares to think and act, has clear love and hate, and is frank and candid. hurt the feelings of others.

That is to say, on the surface, Marian is more aware of the conflict between self and other than Eleanor, so does Austen's story tell us that Eleanor will not face inner conflict, she will be happier than Marianne? I don't think so.

　　The principle of rationality that Eleanor upholds is rationality with the label of morality. Her actions always conform to the standards of moral concepts. Such a rational conception always guides her to behave appropriately.

This solid belief can be both Let her resolutely pull away from negative emotions when she encounters difficulties, but will also let her suppress her true emotions and choose forbearance.

When this kind of forbearance and restraint will eventually erupts, the most obvious manifestation is when Edward told Eleanor that Lucy didn't marry him and that he was willing to resume the relationship with Eleanor, Eleanor could no longer be calm, she ran out of the room, changed the attitude of a lady in the past, her tumultuous emotions Expressed in tears.

At that moment, we finally understood that no matter how rational a woman is, she cannot escape the sentimental side of a woman. Women are inherently emotional animals, they are used to acting on their emotions, especially for love, women instinctively regard love as their entire career, and they will spend all their energy on love.

Men are different. Men have many things to pursue besides love. When encountering emotional difficulties, they will make more rational and realistic considerations.

This difference is not only determined by the innate physiological and psychological structure but also caused by the social structure and system. If we deliberately ask women to suppress the emotional side and use the ability that men are better at - rationality, This easily hides the feminine and lovely side of women.

　　In my opinion, Eleanor's tearful scene is the most lovely part of her in the whole book, because all the moral armor is disarmed, and she restores the pure and sexual side of a woman.

This formed a huge tension with her previous empathy, magnanimity, and decent words and deeds in social situations. Her temperance and tolerance often made her go against her heart. Sometimes she tried to please Mrs. Janis and Middleton.

The lady would say something welcome, although the act of avoiding embarrassment was decent. Even after she was hit by a love affair, she had to quietly eat with her family to avoid suspicion.

In this way, Eleanor will often face inner entanglements, and conflicts between herself and others, but she swallows these conflicts in her heart, making these conflicts more hidden.

　　If it is said that the root of civilization lies in repressing one's own heart and putting on the cloak of moral hypocrisy, such "goodness" needs to be considered. If women need to suppress their own sensibility and innocence to exercise rational power in order to obtain happiness in love, then Such "happiness" is also worth examining.

　　The "good" that Eleanor seeks is a moral life of the highest good, a bland and lasting satisfaction that transcends fleeting, sensual pleasures. If we need to achieve this kind of transcendence in the secular world, especially in love, we must rely on the support of some external concept (moral law, religion, etc.), Eleanor chose the moral concept, her practice of "goodness" Reflected in the "altruistic" code of conduct.

However, if the motive of doing good is only aimed at the ultimate goal, but the purity of doing good itself is lost, then the "good" in the cloak of morality is not the real "good".

　　When it comes to "goodness" and "happiness," a happy life is not necessarily "good," and "altruism" isn't the only behavioral pattern to achieve happiness.

　　We still go back to Marianne, a girl who is accustomed to starting from "self", excited, informal, fanciful, and eager. After experiencing the pain of the lovelorn, she is a little more rational and stable, and also a little more like Eleanor's shadow. Civilization and time have made people more and more similar but also smoothed out her personality and characteristics.

I think Eleanor and Marianne live in the heart of every woman at the same time. Do we really have to use Eleanor to suppress Marianne? Not really, Marianne also has her own happiness, her innocent, Passionate, lovely, and indulgence in fantasy are more attractive to men.

Although she will not be hit when faced with hardships in the world, suffering will also make her stronger and more aware of herself.

As Colonel Blanton had enduring faith in her purity of heart: "If that girl of good nature had been supported by stronger men, or had been happier in her marriage, she would have been the other one you will see The destiny is exactly the same."

That is to say, in love, a "self" person needs the support of a stronger "other", and once this support is established, happiness can also be achieved.

This point of view reveals to some extent the nature of the harmony of yin and yang, the harmony of hardness and softness in love. Therefore, Marianne does not need to suppress her own heart to visualize external concepts, she has her own way of behavior to achieve happiness.

　　If women deliberately pursue the universal essence of human nature while ignoring their own characteristics in the process of practicing happiness, such happiness will gradually drift away from their original hearts.

Eleanor is the "ideal paradigm" of this novel, but it is by no means the only mode of happiness, and you will surely find your own position when you are smart.

Reading Notes: Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

When I first read this book, I saw a sentence that made me feel very emotional. Marianne said to her mother, "The more I see in the world, the more I feel that I will never see a man I will truly love in my life."

Maybe That's it, as I get older, people become more mature, and I see things more comprehensively, but I would rather keep a girlish heart and look for pure love with girlish feelings, regardless of material things. There is always some hope in life, isn't it?

"The world is a comedy to understand by reason and a tragedy to understand by emotion." --H. Walpole could not understand the meaning of this sentence. "People can't be emotional, and their emotions must be restricted by reason."

In Jane Otins's opinion, emotional people may seem very funny, but as long as they are kind-hearted and warm-hearted, they are always better than the powerful people who are exhausted by the authorities. many. Dialogue is the essence of characterization in Jane Austen's novels.

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey

2023-04-17T13:26:00.001+06:00

Book Review: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Develop these 7 good habits to make your life go uphill

Introduction of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey

In The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, author Stephen R. Covey presents a holistic, integrated, principle-centered approach to solving personal and professional problems.

With penetrating insights and pointed anecdotes, Covey reveals a step-by-step pathway for living with fairness, integrity, service, and human dignity -- principles that give us the security to adapt to change and the wisdom and power to take advantage of the opportunities that change creates.

One of the most inspiring and impactful books ever written, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People has captivated readers for 25 years. It has transformed the lives of Presidents and CEOs, educators, and parents— in short, millions of people of all ages and occupations.

Is a rich person a highly efficient person? Is a person with a happy family a high-performance person? Is a person who owns a listed company a high performer?

Maybe, maybe not. After reading this book, I found that high-performing people have happy families, and good relationships, do things without regrets, and can live in peace no matter what the environment is.

Truly effective people know how to listen to others, be respected and respected by others, and can greatly influence others and even the world for the better.

Highly effective people are not only the kind of people want to be, but they themselves learn to keep up with the times.

There is also a passage in "How Steel Is Tempered" that can describe highly effective people, yes, as you think, people feel no regrets when they die, and have a sense of happiness, a sense of accomplishment, and a sense of relief for future generations.

Specifically how to do it? Next, we will briefly talk about the seven habits of highly effective people. If you also want to become a highly effective person, this article can give you some useful advice.

Book: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey

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About the Author: Stephen R. Covey

Stephen Richards Covey was the author of the best-selling book, "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People". Other books he wrote include "First Things First", "Principle-Centered Leadership", and "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Families" ".

In 2004, Covey released "The 8th Habit". In 2008, Covey released "The Leader In Me—How Schools and Parents Around the World Are Inspiring Greatness, One Child at a Time". He was also a professor at the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business at Utah State University.

Covey died at the Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center in Idaho Falls, Idaho, on July 16, 2012, due to complications from a bicycle accident he suffered the previous April.

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People Book Summary

What is a habit? Stephen Covey said that "habit" is a combination of three things, that is, knowledge, skill, and willingness".

In layman's terms, I can do it, I know how to do it, and I want to do it.

What really determines our life is habits, so how difficult is it for a person to change habits? If you can change the first few days or ten days, then it will be easier and easier later.

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Develop these 7 good habits to make your life go uphill.

Habit #1: Be proactive.

What is being proactive? We need to start with a new concept, what is the ultimate freedom of human beings.

Frankel, the author of Living the Meaning of Life, believes that the ultimate human freedom is "no matter when and where you are in any situation, as a human being, you always have the right to choose."

Stephen Covey also found that "from stimulus to action, there is a big space called choice." A truly proactive person will not give up the right to choose.

For example, once President Roosevelt's home was stolen, many friends wrote to him to let him not be sad. His reply was as follows:

I feel fortunate in this matter, they just stole things and didn't hurt anyone; they only stole some things and didn't steal everything; he was the one who stole things, not me.

Roosevelt chose such an idea, the thief stealing things would not hurt him, he just chose the right to make himself not sad.

And there are many people in our lives who are not proactive and give up their right to choose. For example, when you were in school, you gave up studying a subject because you didn’t like the teacher, and you left the choice to the teacher.

Stephen Covey said, "You have to be able to insist that you have a choice, and there are four things to support this matter, self-awareness, imagination, conscience, and independent will." With these four things, you can really do it Do not waive the right to choose.

There is a second definition of being proactive. We have a circle of influence and a circle of concern in our lives. The center part is called the circle of influence, and the outer part is called the circle of concern. The circle of influence is when you do things that can change the surroundings, and the circle of concern is where you can only comment and express opinions, but they are useless.

Throughout the ages, successful people have focused their energy on doing things in the circle of influence. The losers focus their energy on the circle of attention, complaining, scolding, and angering, but to no avail.

So being proactive is: first, you have to choose, and second, you must focus on doing things in the circle of influence.

The second habit is to start with the end in mind.

Find the principles of your life, write down your life direction, and set a goal in advance.

Many of us focus on one-sided things, such as only work. These people threw themselves into work and sacrificed their health and family harmony. In the end, even if they made a lot of money, they could not live a good life.

Stephen Covey said that you should never focus on any one-sided thing, you should focus on principles.

"A principle-centered person has a good mind about his choice, no matter what the outcome is, he can focus on it, and he has peace of mind and no fetters in his heart. A principle-centered person always has extraordinary insights and unique thoughts and behaviors. A strong and stable inner core gives them a high sense of security, direction, wisdom, and strength. It will enable them to live a positive and fulfilling life.”

To find the principles of your life, set a goal, and start with the end in mind.

The third habit is to do things first.

Stephen Covey did such an experiment. He invited a woman up and gave her a pile of large stones, each with the words: Family, Health, Leisure, etc. He found a bucket, poured a bunch of small stones into the bucket, and then asked the lady to put the big stones into the bucket. The lady wanted to put the "family", "health" and other big stones into the bucket, but they couldn't put them at all. The bucket is full.

Stephen Covey changed the method. He poured out the small stones into the bucket, put the big stones in first, and then poured the small stones in. The result was just right, and all the stones could be put in.

Many people in our lives are occupied by a large number of small stones. We spend a lot of time on Weibo, chasing dramas, playing games, and putting important things to an end. This approach is not desirable.

We should get the important things done and spend the odd time entertaining.

The fourth habit is win-win thinking.

First of all, we need to understand a word called "emotional account". There are emotional accounts between people. We can not only know how to "withdraw money" in emotional accounts but also know how to "save money" in them.

There are some basic ways that emotional accounts can be invested: "You learn to understand others; you pay attention to social details; keep promises; be clear about your hopes; maintain integrity, apologize, and unconditional love."

To achieve a win-win situation, we have to trust each other, so emotional accounts are important.

The fifth habit, know the enemy and understand yourself.

You just have to learn to listen. We need to know that loving listening is being able to express the feelings of the other party at this time, and you do not need to make any judgments.

The counterpart to pleasant listening is the autobiographical response.

Autobiographical responses include value judgments, such as "you're doing this wrong"; getting to the bottom of things, such as "what's going on"; being a good teacher, such as "you should do this and you shouldn't do that"; and One is self-righteousness.

The sixth habit is integration and synergy.

Nature is the most typical result of synergy, all living things combined to play the best effect.

The most important thing to achieve synergy between us and others is to be able to collaborate creatively. You have to drive each other to be creative and communicate together. In order to achieve a good synergy, we must respect differences and achieve creativity in communication.

The seventh habit, keep updating.

We are constantly renewed intellectually, physically, socio-emotionally, and spiritually.

On the intellectual level, you can read and study; on the physical level, you can meditate, eat healthy food, and exercise; on the social-emotional level, you need to join more connections and “save” in emotional accounts with others; Spiritually, you need to have higher cognitive abilities.

Be proactive, start with the end in mind, put things first, win-win thinking, know each other and understand yourself, integrate and synergize, and keep updating. These are the seven habits of highly effective people. Develop these seven good habits to make your life go. uphill road.

Book Review of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

Author Stephen R. Covey proposes a very comprehensive and principles-based methodology that can address a variety of personal and workplace problems, known as a classic for personal growth and management.

At first glance, this book seems to have a lot of "I understand the truth and still have a bad life" advice.

But as I grew up, some of the words in the book resonated more and more in my heart and made me constantly reflect and think. Every time I go back and read the author's meaning again and understand it again, it is a process of "internalizing" my own experience and pain.

To this day, it has even brought me a great sense of peace and well-being in an impetuous environment, and being able to make some decisions with peace of mind and still do me regularly without being "forced" by people or the system what to do.

1. Why many people are successful but unhappy inside

Many people, including myself, have inner anxiety and confusion. Some of them even appear to be very successful on the outside, but they are often miserable inside.

Have you ever encountered such anxiety?

"I've worked my way up the career ladder, but I've sacrificed my time. I often ask myself, is it really worth it?"
"I've taken a lot of management classes, hoping to manage my employees well. I've worked hard to be nice to them. But I just can't get their hearts. As soon as I take a few minutes of rest, they also give themselves a vacation. Why can't they take the initiative to take responsibility for the company?
"My children just can't learn, they're stupid, it really worries me"
"I'm very busy, I'm very busy every day, I don't know why I'm so busy, what's the meaning of my life"

Author Covey, who has spent years studying human perception, found that since World War I in 1920, the definition of success has changed dramatically, and people's perspectives have changed.

People are starting to pursue " Personality Ethics" instead of the previous "Character Ethics".

What is character literacy? Such as presentation skills, and communication skills, those skills that make you look more decent. And character qualities are those qualities that have been respected across any culture for centuries: honesty, kindness, patience, etc.

In other words, people are looking for skills, not character.

For example, we usually study how to get children into better colleges, not how to get children to learn the subjects they like.

For example, everyone will say: "Laugh more and frown less, so that it is easier to make more friends". Don't say "being honest with people".

Instead of developing mutual trust with employees, we usually study the routines that make employees work more overtime.

Instead of asking stupid questions, exposing our ignorance, and learning, we'll look at how to make it seem like we don't know everything.

We study how to act better, rather than thinking about the true meaning of being awesome.

These techniques and routines are like quick shots that can bring some results quickly. Skills can be disguised, but the character takes time to shape and develop.

Today we may meet some people who live like a machine. He doesn't know or understand himself, the only thing he knows is what kind of person he should pretend to be. Boring words replaced meaningful communication, fake laughter replaced genuine laughter, and dry eyes of despair replaced real pain.

Today we come across an individual who behaves like automation, who does not know or understand himself, and the only person that he knows is the person that he is supposed to be whose meaningless chatter has replaced communicative speech, whose synthetic smile has replaced genuine laughter, and whose sense of dull despair has taken the place of genuine pain.

2. Change yourself from the inside out: from perspective to habits to character

As the saying goes.

Sow an idea, reap an action.
Sow an action, reap a habit.
Sow a habit, reap a character.
Sow a character, reap a life.

Your thoughts determine your actions, your actions determine your habits, your habits determine your character, and your character determines your life.

If you want to have a self-disciplined and free life, a life under your own control, you must start by changing your perspective.

Did you realize that many people see the world from a very different perspective (Paradigm)?

Different perspectives see the world differently and behave differently.

Many people use the wrong perspective, and therefore the wrong way to achieve success. The way we see the problem is the problem

If you base your perspective on Personality Ethics, you're bound to gain a wrong habit and end up unhappy.

For example, if you think that you can win friends by laughing more, then you will learn to fake a smile. Although you may indeed win the appreciation of many people, your heart is empty.

If you want to be truly "efficient", you must first change your perspective, truly from the root, from the inside to the outside, from the perspective, to change behavior, behavior to change habits, and habits to change character.

Perspectives must be based on principles, not any artificial values.

Note: Values and principles are not the same. Values are man-made, and principles seem to be immutable, across time and culture, such as Integrity, Honesty, Dignity, Value, Patience, Encouragement, and Nurturing.

A principle is like a lighthouse that always points in the right direction. Principles are human-proven codes of conduct that endure.

Only basic goodness gives life to technique.

Once you base your perspective on principles, you can begin to develop effective habits, otherwise, everything will be in vain, and there are no shortcuts, only a solid foundation.

So what is a habit?

Habits are the result of the intertwining of knowledge, skill, and will. To form an effective habit, all three are necessary. Knowledge dictates "what to do" and "why to do it." The trick is "how to". Will is "wanting to do".

Even if you change your perspective, you must know why you do it, what you do, and how to do it, in order to be truly effective, otherwise, it's just "I understand the truth and still don't live a good life."

3. The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People: An Introduction and a Framework

So what exactly are the 7 principles-based habits?

Covey proposes a framework of seven high-performance habits, in order: Be Proactive Begin with the end in mind First thing first Think win-win-win) Seek first to understand, then to be understood Synthesize Keep updating Sharpen the saw

List of 7 Habits

The 7 Habits seem simple, but they are actually extremely difficult, so we must correctly understand what each habit is, why, and how to do it, otherwise it is not a habit, just a creed.

Covey pointed out that there are three stages of human beings from infancy to maturity:

When people are born, they are all dependent on their parents. They are dependent on their parents if they are not full or happy. They will cry to show their parents.

However, many people don't realize that even if many people are in their 30s, they may not be out of the "dependency period" Some symptoms:

Passive, dependent on others, emotionally controlled by others, and unable to arrange a time for themselves. Many people's thinking is often manipulated by others and driven by trends.

What school you go to is arranged by your parents, what unit you go to is assigned, and the boss stipulates that you go to get off work. It is psychologically uncomfortable to be said a few words by others, and I completely lose control over my emotions, thinking, and time.

Habits 1, 2, and 3 help us achieve independence.

From relying on others in everything to mastering oneself, not being controlled and influenced by others, and not being dependent on the emotions of others. You are your own planner, master, and reshape your goals. And be able to have the self-discipline to complete the goals that you have planned for yourself, gain personal victory (Private Victory), and defeat yourself.

The second stage can only be pursued after independence.

After you can control yourself, you must achieve the balance of cooperating with others in society. After all, we are not playing single-player games. Many things require cooperation and teamwork. Those who do not understand win-win cooperation can only end up fighting alone, which is not as efficient.

Habits 4, 5, and 6 can help us achieve mutual support (Interdependence).

During this period, we learn win-win thinking instead of zero-sum thinking, know how to communicate with others and cultivate trust, and finally get the maximum benefit 1+1>2, gain the public Victory (Public Victory), after all, this society needs cooperation.

Last Habit 7 allows us to constantly update and iterate to grow ourselves.

Why Are These Seven Habits Highly Effective?

First, let's understand what efficiency is.

Covey defines high efficiency as:

output/capacity balance(P/PC Balance)

P - Output obtained by Production;
PC - Production Capability Capacity, and assets or capabilities of production.

Before understanding this concept, let's first tell a well-known fable:

Once upon a time, there was a goose that could lay a golden egg, only one per day, but a farmer killed the goose to dig out the egg because of his anxiety, but the goose died and the egg was gone. Here the goose is the PC egg is the P. If you want to speed up the laying of eggs (P), you will kill the goose (PC). But if there is too much emphasis on a goose (PC), P will decrease (P). Only by finding the perfect balance of geese and golden eggs can you get golden eggs and guarantee a healthy and productive goose.

Finding a balance between output and production capacity is truly high-efficiency.

Usually, efficacy can be reflected in three types of assets: Physical, Financial, and Human Capital.

For example, in terms of manpower, if a boss blindly wants to produce a lot of work in a short period of time, it will make employees work a lot of overtime and P will increase. But in the long run, PCs will run out and employees will quit. But if you keep taking good care of your employees, if you don't live, PC will rise and P will fall. In the same way, if a machine is used all the time, the machine will break down, but if it is maintained in time, the machine can be maintained better.

High performance refers to a balance between short-term and long-term goals.

Only you have control over your time, attention, and emotions (initiative), know what you want (short-term and long-term goals), know what is more important than what (first things first), and know how to let others When it is comfortable, both parties benefit (win-win, listening, and synergy), and continuous iterative updates are the real way to achieve high performance.

Covey found that most people believe in "character literacy" and do a lot of superficial skills. Although they have achieved some results, it is still difficult to be happy because they often lose their original direction, purpose, and balance. His point is that to be truly effective, that is, to be able to balance short- and long-term goals, you must base your perspective on principles and character, not skill. Based on this perspective, he proposed 7 habits that can help us to achieve individual victory in turn, to achieve true independence, then to achieve public victory, to achieve interdependence in social cooperation, and finally to continuously update and iterate.

Above we talked about the reason and thinking framework of the book 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. The author believes that if you want to be truly efficient and happy, you need to focus on the essence rather than words and deeds and change from the heart, not just behavior.

Habit 1: Be Proactive

There are a lot of stimuli that come into our brains around us every day, insults, contempt, teasing, pleasing, laughter, etc.

But have you ever wondered: do we all have the same conditioned response to every stimulus? Will I be sad if you scold me? Will I be angry if you accuse me today that your article is badly written?

No, because people are born with a filter.

The reason why human beings are different from animals is that between "accepting stimulation" and "responding", humans actually have the freedom to choose. The reason why we have this freedom is that people have self-consciousness, imagination space, moral heart, and free will.

But not everyone knows it exists and actually uses it.

What is self-awareness?

Let's do a little exercise:

while you are reading this right now, imagine that your consciousness is floating in the sky, looking at yourself as you read, looking at yourself as if it were a doppelganger of you.

Think: How are you feeling now? How do you feel? Are you happy or peaceful? What's going on in your head?
OK, stop. Looking back on the situation just now, have you found that you can even completely disconnect from your own body and think about the way you are thinking?
This is "Self-Awareness". Being able to think about your own thinking is the biggest difference between humans and animals. It is also why humans have the ability to build and rebuild their own habits. So you can reshape your life.

Because people are self-aware, we have the ability to isolate ourselves when we are angry and angry, and find out in peace that "Oh I'm angry".

Think about it again, every time you are angry, can you clearly realize that you are angry, and you can even get out of another sober self to comfort yourself and stop being angry?

The people who are comfortable using this filter are the ones who have really mastered Habit 1: Proactive.

Because active people are not stimulated by the environment, surrounding stimuli, others, or emotions, they can actively use self-control, effectively filter, and leave "freedom of their own".

Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist Victor Frankl, whose parents, wife, and brothers all died at the hands of the Nazis, was brutally abused in Nazi prisons.

One day, Frank was lying naked in a small room by himself. After going through countless twists and turns and thinking, he suddenly had an enlightening realization and felt incomparably peaceful:

No matter how the Nazis abused his body, they could not rob him of his spiritual freedom. The last freedom of human nature—the freedom to choose one's attitude and way of life in any situation—cannot be taken away.

No matter how painful the body is, he can imagine that he is teaching students in the classroom, he can isolate himself mentally and physically, and choose not to think about the pain.

In fact, if you think about it, we get hurt for so many things only because we give them the right to hurt us.

Active people do not attribute their choices to the environment, external conditions, or the influence of others. They consciously choose the way they interact with others according to their own values and do not act in response to external or emotional impulses.

Passive people take every feedback from the outside world seriously, and in the end, they become pawns for other people, scarred. Think pure concubine.

Think about the negative people around you again: do you remember those grumpy women who always felt that the whole world was embarrassing them?

For example, some people will tell me that I am very old and my mother is urging me to get married all day long. If only I were a few years younger.

Some people will say that the salary of the company is too low, it would be better if the boss thinks more about the employees.

That's just because passive people focus their energy on things they can't influence and blame the outside world.

In fact, people have two circles: the circle of concern and the circle of influence.

The circle of concern is everything you care about, such as salary, market conditions, other people's opinions, family expectations, etc.
A circle of influence is something you can influence.

The circle of influence is divided into 2 types:

You can directly control
You can indirectly influence.

What directly affects is what you can personally control, such as your experience, how you allocate your time, what you invest in, and so on. Indirect influence is what you have to influence by influencing other people. The former is won by individuals (Habits 1, 2, 3), and the latter by public victory (Habits 4, 5, 6).

The blank space between the circle of concern and the circle of influence is what you pay attention to but cannot influence, such as other people's affairs.

If you keep focusing on your circle of influence, it will get bigger and bigger.

But if you keep focusing on your circle of attention, your circle of influence will get smaller and smaller.

For example, if you want a raise

The active person will focus on the improvement of her workability and how to communicate with the boss, and her influence will increase.

Passive people pay attention to why the boss doesn't give you a raise and complain about making irresponsible remarks. Instead, they will become more and more negative and gloomy and lose their position in the workplace.

Active people pay attention to their circle of influence, improve their abilities and public influence, and find ways to achieve their goals.

Passive people are preoccupied with the "circle of attention," focusing on other people's weaknesses, environmental problems, and things beyond their ability, complaining about others, and feeling self-pity.

Are you an active personality or a passive personality who is responsible for your life?
Listen to what you usually like to say.
Passive people like to say:
I can't help it.
I can't change it.
He's mad at me.
They don't agree with me.
People who have taken the initiative like to say: We think about what else we can do. We may have to go another way. I will control my temper. I will find a way to convince him. I will do it in an appropriate way.

How to change from a passive personality to an active personality?

Starting today, practice repeatedly and deliberately. Whenever someone attacks or stimulates you, remember that it is a stimulating input. You have the freedom to choose not to react to it. You say that the person who decides your life is not someone else.
Focus on the things you can influence and focus on expanding your influence.

Habit 2: Begin with the end in mind

Let's take the story of Yanxi Palace as an example. In the play, Wei Yingluo can endure many people's criticism of her and the emperor's indifference to her, and hangs up all the way, why? Because she has a very clear goal: to seek revenge for the queen and to declare justice.

People who don't know their purpose and meaning can easily get overwhelmed by all kinds of trivial matters and find themselves busy doing the wrong things.

Begin with the end in mind, that is, you have already thought about the final appearance of everything before you do it. And the creation at this time is actually the second creation (All things are created twice). In fact, things have been created in the heart for the first time (Mental Creation), and the second time is the actual creation (Physical Creation).

For example, if you want to start a startup, you have to think about what the mission of your company is, what kind of problems you want to solve, and you already have a blueprint and your beliefs in your heart, but the actual company you create is just It's really just creating the blueprint in your heart.

On the contrary, if you don’t know your purpose and meaning in your heart, you will be caught in the middle of a lot of trivial repeated discussions because you can’t make a lot of decisions, and you will eventually become a pawn in someone else’s plan.

Our company has invited growth engineers from Facebook to share their growth experiences. The first question everyone asks is always: Do you know what the mission of your company is? People who don't know the company's mission will only end up tangled in strategic decisions.

It's the same as being a person and doing business.

We all need to lead our lives, not just manage. Leadership and management are like thoughts and actions. Leaders focus on "what do I want to achieve". Management is concerned with "how to get things done effectively". True leadership is doing the right thing. Leading in the right direction is more important than hard work.

So, what are your mission and vision in life?

When it comes to personal vision, it is easy for many people to focus their lives on one thing. But in fact, no matter what you focus on, it may cause some small changes in this matter and completely capsize your life.

For me, my focus has been on work for the last few years, I take pride in what I do, and I feel very comfortable working. I make work a lot of my priorities in life. But a little dissatisfaction from my boss or a little bit of unhappiness in my work would make me overwhelmed, and it was very painful.

Therefore, the focus of a person's life vision needs to be based on principles, inner character, and various social relationships (family, self, friends, work, lovers, etc.)

How to find your life vision and purpose?

Close your eyes now, use your rich visual imagination, and imagine if...Tomorrow is your funeral, your children, your loved ones, and your friends are talking about your life, and you have the opportunity to be able to float in the air and listen to others How did they say about you, what do you want them to say about you?

Do you want your kids to say you are a great father/mother? Do you want your friends to say you are a righteous person? What do you want the world to say about you?

Think about it for 5 minutes and write it down. This is your real purpose in life.

By asking myself this, I wrote down my own vision of life that I can share with you:

My life vision:

To be a person who has an impact and meaningful help to others. You can also be happy, grow, and have positive energy.

Goal: I want to inspire people and help them live better lives. A happier life with positivity.
Family: keep family members healthy (fitness, eating, and drinking), happy (company), rich (education, medical care, basic, housing, entertainment). Hope you have love, cultivation, trust, understanding.
Friends: There are 5-6 best friends and newcomers to each other. Support, maintain communication, support. Friends (weak ties) are all over the world
financially: financial freedom, being able to do what I want to do, and the people I love too.
Workplace: Own your own brand (shop, restaurant, company, or whatever), have my philosophy but also make money, and give positive energy to others.

What is yours? Feel free to write it down or share it with me.

After I wrote it down, I was surprised to find that many of the things I was usually busy with did not seem to be related to the things I wanted to achieve. It suddenly dawned on me that life was short and that what I had to do was meaningful.

"Those who know why they live can survive."

Habit 3: First Thing First

Habit 1 tells us that we are the masters of ourselves.
Habit 2 tells us that we must have our own mission and purpose.
Habit 3 helps us differentiate what is important and prioritized based on our goals, and how to accomplish them efficiently.

The completion of efficiency is divided into three parts:

Know what is important and have priorities
Know how to allocate time
Know what to do by yourself and what to let others do

1. Know what has priority

Many people are aware of the well-known four quadrants of time and prioritize what is important and urgent. But often many people tend to ignore the important and not urgent second quadrant.

Over time, many people are always doing urgent and important things, so they are fighting the fire every day, and the pressure will increase in the long run, but not for long.

Things of long-term value tend to come from the second quadrant, things that make sense in the long term but don't seem urgent in the short term. They may seem useless in the short term, but a long-term accumulation of bits and pieces will add great benefits, such as fitness, writing your own life manifesto, drinking tea with your parents, cultivating friendships, etc. So there is a saying, do more useless things.

2. Know how to allocate time

In addition to prioritizing, it also needs to be done efficiently. For this purpose, Covey invented a new weekly and daily schedule. It starts from your social role, and you need to write down what goals you need to accomplish this week according to the personal declaration you wrote each week, and then split it into what you need to do every day, and finally what time you do every day.

I specially copied this timetable, and I can download this timetable and guidance by replying "time" in the background of my Princess.

3. Know how to assign to others

The improvement of efficiency lies only in what to do and what to do in advance, but also in how to make others do it efficiently.

Don't do everything by yourself, delegate the work in your hands. What kind of deserving appointment? Doesn't help your own PC, just P's work. (For the concept of PC and P, please see the previous article)

There are generally two types of appointments:

Gofer Delegation is a way of teaching the other party how to do it. This kind of appointment is not long-term but will make you more tired.
Steward Delegation focuses on the outcome rather than the process of delegation. The appointer only needs to tell the other party his 4 elements (RRAC) and leave the rest to him. A. Results B. Confirm the required resources C. Specify the time and standard Accountability D. And clearly do the good and bad Consequence of Consequence

How to start managing time to accomplish your goals?

Try to sort all the work you do into these four quadrants?

I will do a demonstration myself, for example,

in the first quadrant (important and urgent): prepare for the upcoming official account article.
The second quadrant (important but not urgent): cook dinner for my husband,
the third quadrant (urgent but not important): buy toilet paper, pay phone bills

Have you ever noticed that you are constantly procrastinating your second quadrant indefinitely, while you are constantly fighting the fire?

Use the downloaded schedule to start planning your priorities and schedule each week, deliberately making time for quadrant 2.

Distribute things that don't help your own product to others, using RRAC principles.

Habit 4: Win-Win Thinking - Be bold and considerate of others

Usually, when two people have different positions, many people have a psychological scale of winning and losing: if he wins, I lose, and if I win, he loses.

For example, when I was in charge of the operation of Alipay in North America and negotiated with Airbnb, I thought that I must win. When I was on Alipay, I often had the thought "You still depend on me?", so I often spoke with a kind of arrogance of "You have to give me more". (Now that I think about it, I'm really stupid)

Such a "you win or I win" mentality is called a " poor mentality Scarcity Mindset".

People with a poor mentality believe that resources in this world are very scarce, and that the game is ultimately a zero-sum game. So he either chooses to win, or loses. They believe that only one person can get it, either you or me. Even if I can't get it, you can't even think about it, we will lose together.

People with a poor mentality are not only aggressive in negotiation but usually have difficulty seeing others happy and successful in life. Because they will feel in their hearts that the success of others in disguise means their own failure.

Have you ever seen someone who heard that their friend was successful and then became very upset? Feel like you're falling behind and failing? This is the mentality of the poor. This kind of mentality is very common, but what many people don't realize is:

Whether it is to benefit others at the expense of others, sacrifice oneself for others, or lose both, it is a friendship that means the end of long-term cooperation.

If you win and he loses, although you win temporarily, it is actually at the price of the other party's concessions, and the other party will no longer cooperate with you next time, and you will not always take advantage of it. All friends.

If you lose and he wins, you will always have scars on your heart the next time you cooperate, thinking about getting the money back this time. Still friends.

And people who can have good long-term cooperation often have an "Abundance Mindset", they believe that there are enough resources in the world that everyone can profit and succeed.

And people with a rich mentality often have a win-win mentality: if I win, you can also win.

Often the bolder people are better at fighting for their own interests, and the more considerate of others, the easier it is for them to make concessions. A win-win thinker is someone who achieves the highest values of courage and consideration for others: a state of balance between daring and empathy.

In my example at the beginning, my leader’s solution to this matter was to fly to meet Airbnb’s executives in person, spend a lot of time together, understand each other’s needs, and make some adjustments based on the Alipay business itself, and also communicate with each other. Opened more requirements in exchange for Airbnb's support for Alipay during the global travel season.

"Maturity is the ability to express one's own emotions and beliefs while being considerate of the thoughts and feelings of others."

So how do get a win-win? In fact, the following four steps can be used to complete the win-win process:

Look at the problem from the perspective of the other party. Really understand the other person's thoughts, needs, and concerns, sometimes even better than the other person.
Recognize the main problems and concerns behind Shengwei
Determine the results that everyone can accept.
Find all possible ways to achieve this result.

"When you develop a win-win mentality in yourself, you'll discover a wonderful thing: relationships become easier." - George Elliott

Small exercise:

Think of a person you are very close to or a negotiation you are about to meet. Think about your inclination. Are you competitive or always give in? Try to have the courage to fight for yourself and consider the other person at the same time. What would you say?

Habit 5: Know the other side and understand it - empathic listening and expression

With win-win thinking, what is more, important is how to express it next.

Have you ever been in such a situation,

for example, you and your boyfriend are talking about a very annoying thing that happened to you today, and before you finish, he said: Oh, this kind of thing is very common, you can do it like this... ... chatting and chatting, you have lost interest in chatting.

In fact, this kind of thing happens not only among couples, but also among friends and partners every day: I tell you about my grief, but you use my grief as your own judgment.

We think we are very good listeners, but in fact, when you listen to your usual words, you are often "self-answered".

Self-response is often divided into 4 steps:

Value judgment - only accept or not accept the opinions of others.
Investigate the bottom line - explore other people's privacy according to their own values.
Be a good teacher - give advice from your own experience.
Self-righteousness – Measure the actions and motivations of others in terms of their own actions and motivations.

The conversation between her and her boyfriend was like this:

"I'm going to be pissed off at the company today"
"What's wrong?" (to get to the bottom of
it) "My boss, he's really stupid, and he wants me to kick this out tonight. PPT, changed a dozen times "
"What PPT?" (to get to the bottom of it)
"It's the XXPPT that the boss wants tomorrow"
"Your boss also has her reasons, (value judgment)
Don't be so emotional, you must obey your superiors" (self-righteous, good teacher)

Have you ever been in such a situation? You complained a few words, but you were taught a lesson by the other party. You didn't hear my real troubles. I'm too lazy to tell you.

Such communication is not only ineffective but also greatly reduces the emotional savings of both parties, which is very detrimental to the establishment of mutual trust. Instead, empathetic listening should be used.

Empathic listening is also divided into three steps, and learning is very simple:

Repeat the other party's words
Reorganize the other party's expression in another way
Reflect the other party's feelings
Combine the other party's feelings and content to express them together

Back to the above example of being pissed off by her boyfriend:

"I'm so pissed off at the company today"
"You're pissed off at the company" (repeating the other party's words)
"Oh, my boss, he's really stupid. He insisted that I get out of this PPT tonight and changed it a dozen times. "
"Your boss asked you to change the PPT a dozen times until now?" (reorganized repetition)
"Yeah, that's the XXPPT. In fact, she told me clearly what needs to be changed, and it's enough to explain it once, it doesn't need to come like this. Repeated back and forth"
"You must be very tired, this is not professional" (reacting the other party's feelings)
"Yes, I am exhausted, I must communicate this with her next time, it is a waste of everyone's time"
" You’ve done so many PPTs and you’re so tired now, talk to her next time, come and let’s have dinner together” (expressed together with each other’s feelings and content)

Empathetic listening can not only make the other party feel that she is understanding and listening to her, but also increase the emotional account stored value of the two people, and she will also communicate her hidden willingness more and be more inclined to listen to you.

In fact, 10% of our usual communication comes from our language, 30% from our voice, and 60% from our body language.

Once you understand the other person, you can express yourself more effectively.

How would you express it? When talking or giving speeches, many people hope to talk about logic as soon as they come up, but people are not born to accept dry goods as soon as they come up. So, instead of just being reasonable, it is better to let the other party understand you and empathize with you first, and then expand the rationale.

The so-called, mediocre salesman sells products, outstanding salesman sells the way to solve problems and meet needs, this is the truth.

How to achieve empathic communication, the best way is to combine the three elements of Ethos (credit), Pathos (sympathy), and Logic (logic) in order.

Ethos is your personal credit, the trust others place in your competence and integrity.
Pathos is empathy, resonating with the feelings and emotions of others.
Logic is logic, the rationale behind the speech, etc.

First, use Ethos to make the other party trust you and let them understand why they should listen to you.

For example, you can say "I have a good idea that has worked very well before". Then use Pathos to generate empathy and put the other party in the situation, "I also had a boss at the time, he asked me to do PPT for a long time, and repeated changes, I felt too uncomfortable..." Finally, I went deep into the logic layer and said, "I found the reason behind it because..."

To put it bluntly, first move with emotion, and then understand with reason.

Use empathic understanding and expression, first understand and then express, not only the other party is full of goodwill towards you, thinks you understand him, and then makes the other party believe in you, agree with you, and finally listen to you.

Small exercises:

Observe two people chatting, try covering your ears, observe each other's body language, and feel what his true emotions are?
Next time your girlfriend complains that you don't understand her, try what I call "emotional listening", maybe she will open up to you instead.
When communicating next time, use Ethos, Pathos, and Logos to convey convincing, empathy, and logic in turn. Is the effect better?

Habit 6: Synergy - Accepting Differences

Even so, many times we understand the truth, but there is still no way to endure each other.

Have you ever been in a situation where someone said something and said it right, but it always upset you?

For example, I am an ENTP, and people I meet with ISTJs often have a hard time communicating. I like to see the big picture, he likes to see the details. I like to look at a lot of things with optimism. He always said that this needs to be carefully considered and that that needs to be rethought. I find that people like me and I can't always agree with each other. When I'm imagining the future, he just limits my imagination!!

But this is actually because his way of thinking is different from mine.

The so-called comprehensive synergy is actually based on the first two habits (win-win thinking, knowing each other, and understanding each other), respecting differences, establishing advantages, and making up for shortcomings. Begin to be inclusive to the outside world, producing an effect of 1+1>3.

Think about it. If a person with considerable intelligence and intelligence disagrees with you, then the other party's proposition must have a mystery that you have not yet realized. Isn't it actually an opportunity for you to improve yourself?

The most important thing in working with people is to pay attention to the different psychology, emotions, and intelligence of different individuals, as well as the different worlds that individuals see in their eyes.

Communicating with people who see the same way is of little benefit, and there are differences to gain.

Small exercise:

Think about the people around you that you can't always talk to, and always feel that there is a difference in thinking? Think about who do you always have the same opinion and think the same way?

However, by stacking Habits 4, 5, and 6 in sequence, a public victory in the interdependence period can be achieved. From the beginning of winning or losing, gradually trying to respect each other and make concessions, and comprehensive synergy is the ultimate state. I respect the differences between you and me and would like to have friction with you to improve my reverse thinking.

Habit 7: Keep Updating

Habit 7 is based on the last link after Habits 1 to 6: constantly updating personal productivity. It's really about protecting and optimizing the most important asset you have - yourself.

It renews and iterates your nature in four dimensions: physical, spiritual, intellectual, and social/emotional.

Renew body assets: eat well, rest and relax well, exercise regularly, and stretch. This can also help exercise Habit #1: Actively build your muscles.

Renew spiritual assets: daily meditation, communication with nature, reading literature, and listening to music. Practicing to renew your mental assets can also help exercise Habit Two: Start with the End in Mind.

Renew your intellectual assets: reading, writing (writing your own thoughts, ideas, and experiences), and watching TV in moderation that will make you feel refreshed. Practicing to renew intellectual assets can help develop Habit Three: First things first.

Renew social/emotional assets: Find ways to understand others, do projects that are meaningful to others/society, have a "rich mentality", and help others succeed. In this way, it can also help us to exercise Habits 4, 5, and 6, a win-win mentality, know each other and understand each other, and produce a comprehensive synergy.

The most worthwhile investment in life is to hone yourself because you have to rely on yourself to live and serve people, which is the most precious tool. Work itself does not bring economic security. Only with good thinking, learning, creativity, and adaptability can you be invincible. Having wealth does not mean economic independence, but the ability to create wealth is truly reliable.

To achieve a virtuous circle, you must learn, persevere, practice - then learn, persevere, practice...

"Small things can lead to amazing results, and every time I think about it, I think there are no small things in the world." -Bruce Bardem

The influence of this book on me

It took me a year and a half to finish reading this article, forcing myself to write down these reading notes, to understand the book many times, and then write down my own precipitation.

Nowadays, many people are very successful but are often unhappy. It is because they have pursued too many "arts" and pursued shortcuts, but their essential self has not improved. If you want inner peace, you must first return to your own moral literacy, recognize, accept, and grow yourself, and then have a good social relationship with others. Otherwise, it will only go further and further.

This book had a very big effect on me.

Especially the first one: Be Proactive.

For example, my husband and I once said,

"Now the divorce rate is getting higher and higher, and when I hear that men are rich and powerful, they will change their minds."

He said to me, have you forgotten the first Be Proactive? It is something we can control ourselves, and we don't need to listen to the "big environment" of the outside world. If the two of us were close, this wouldn't have happened.

It dawned on me at the time that just because something like this happened doesn't mean I need to be affected by it.

Coldplay's "Viva la Vida" album has the song "Lost", which I like very much. Two of the lyrics are clearly written between the stimulus and the reaction.

we have a choice:

Just because I'm losing, doesn't mean I'm lost
Just because I'm hurting, doesn't mean I'm hurt

The second rule, Beginning with the end in mind, also makes me ask myself in the dead of night, at my funeral, what do I want others to say about me? What value am I creating? I hope others say that I am a good daughter, a good mother, and a good wife. I hope people say that Doris has helped many of us, giving us hope and sustenance when we are most confused and helpless. The brands and products created by Doris have given us new energy. With that in mind, I found my way.

The third rule is First Comes First. When I am busy, I am willing to stop and accompany my parents, cook meals for my husband, go to the gym, and read books. Focus on the second quadrant: things that are important but not urgent. I made Covey's schedule, and when I made my plan, I drew a weekly schedule that included not only work but also time for rest and company.

The fourth is win-win thinking. It makes me reminds me that when I want to win in cooperation with others, I also know how to think about others when I dare to fight for it. Every time someone helps me, under the circumstance that it is not excessive, I will enthusiastically help others and increase the balance of the emotional account, and as a result, the other party will often give me a greater return.

Article 5 Knowing the enemy and understanding, I have not done very well. When someone talks to me, I always make premature judgments or be a good teacher. I wish I could be more attentive to listening to the other person's meaning, the meaning that the language does not express.

The sixth comprehensive effect, I have not yet achieved. I hate people who don't agree with my thinking, even yelling at each other, and trying to win verbally. But after knowing this, I will remind myself to tolerate the difference in the other person's thinking. A CEO once told me that when you can look at a problem from the perspective of more people, it’s time to do bigger things. I think the same is true.

Article 7 is constantly updated.

And I'm doing a terrible job. I often burn out, wandering between sickness and toil. But then I want to give myself regular rest time as much as possible, and it’s good to go out for a walk.

But I'm taking this book as a guideline and reminding myself all the time.

These seven principles are integrated and progressed layer by layer. Only then can we truly achieve self-victory and public victory, form a form from the inside to the outside, and find the balance and continuous iteration of efficiency and production capacity?

Finally, let me give you a famous sentence:

“Life is a book, and you are its author. You set its plot and pace, and you—and only you—turn it page by page.” — Beth Mond. Connie

Conclusion: Book Review of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

Disclaimer in advance: This article should be the best analysis of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People you can read.

After all, I have read this book for more than 2 years, and I have read it 4 to 5 times before and after. It took a long time to brew this long article.

It is not easy to create if it is useful to you, please like it and share it.

Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift | Review, Summary & Facts

2023-04-16T17:17:00.017+06:00

Review, Summary, Characters, Analysis, & Facts about Jonathan Swift's Book Gulliver's Travels.

Through the mouth of Captain Limell Gulliver, the book narrates the strange experience of traveling around the four countries.

But after careful understanding, it reveals the dark reality of British society everywhere and embodies the author's ideal.

Although Gulliver thought that the Lilliputian was nothing like England at first, in fact, the Lilliputian is a portrayal of England.

Through that seemingly absurd logic, what we see is that the king is only 100% taller than his subjects.

A fingernail, but arrogantly pretends to be the ruler of the universe with his head above the sky, and decides the fate of the common people with his impermanent mood.

Officials don't need to have both ability and political integrity, as long as they jump rope high, they can get high officials and generous salaries.

The two parties of Lilliputian are distinguished by the height of the heel, which alludes to the two-party politics of the British Tory Party (the predecessor of the Conservative Party) and the Whig Party (later developed into the Liberal Party);

While eating eggs Whether to knock from the big head or the small head refers to the nonsensical dispute about church rituals between Catholicism and Protestantism (also known as Puritanism, that is, Calvinism).

This small dispute actually led to a civil war in the Lilliputian country and even affected neighboring countries. Due to the police system and false accusations in Lilliputian, Gulliver had to flee there.

The people in the adult country surpassed those "villains" in terms of physical strength and reason; the adult country implements an idealized and educated monarchy, the king is wise and upright, and he often cares for his subjects. The law is also the guarantee of freedom and welfare.

The king criticized the existence of selfishness and fraud, aggressive wars, and legal injustice in Britain, and pointed out that the reason was the despicable selfishness of the human heart.

Scientists in the flying island country are divorced from the people and reality, and engage in far-fetched "scientific research".

Especially for the residents of the territory, adopt cruel methods: if there is a slight rebellion, the flying island will be over the sky to block the sun, or it will be lowered to its territory above, crushing the inhabitants into powder. What is exposed here is the British colonial rule of Ireland.

Gulliver also went to a country of magicians, where he traced the politics of ancient Rome and compared the British system.

At this time, his thinking has changed from supporting the monarchy to supporting the republic. However, he only praised the patriarchal society in the "state of nature".

If this view is still a "romantic retrogression", Gulliver's description of Zhima pointed out the corrosion of human beings by civilized society and showed that only people living in a natural state are pure and noble.

This point of view was later carried forward by Rousseau in France and became the origin of romantic literature.

The residents of the Kingdom are divided into two categories: "Yahoo" who looks like a beast and Zhima who is wise and can talk. "Yahoo" represents human greed and corruption, while Zhima lives in a primitive kind of society.

It goes without saying that if human beings degenerate, they will be no different from animals, how sad it is!

Swift lived in a time when experimental science, pioneered by Bacon, and classical mechanics, founded by Newton, were on the ascendant.

Although the Lilliputian Kingdom and the Adult Kingdom in his works are fictitious, their residents are respectively one-twelfth and twelve times the height of normal humans.

All the buildings and utensils there has the accuracy of mathematical proportions, and the structure of the whole book is well-proportioned and obvious, which all meet the requirements of rational thinking.

Book: Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift

Gulliver's Travels, or Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. In Four Parts. By Lemuel Gulliver, First, a Surgeon, and then a Captain of Several Ships is a 1726 prose satire by the Anglo-Irish writer and clergyman Jonathan Swift, satirizing both human nature and the "travelers' tales" literary subgenre. ---Wikipedia

Originally published: October 28, 1726
Author: Jonathan Swift
Adapted from: Gulliver's Travels
Genre: Satire, Fantasy
Text: Gulliver's Travels at Wikisource

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About the author: Jonathan Swift

Jonathan Swift (1667-1745) was the founder of the radical democrats in the British Enlightenment, and the most outstanding political commentator and satirical novelist in England in the eighteenth century.

His father, an Englishman who had settled in Ireland, had died seven months before his birth. Swift was brought up by her uncle and studied at the prestigious Trinity College Dublin (named after the Catholic "Holy Trinity").

At that time, the priesthood of the church was the safest way out for poor children; but Swift hated theology and those tedious philosophy courses and his interest lay in history and literature.

With a "chartered diploma" that indicated that he could not study further (in fact, he later obtained a master's degree and a doctor's degree), he had no choice but to work as a private secretary at the home of his mother's distant relative Sir Temple.

"Literate servant". Before long, he was showing his talent with insightful and sarcastic writing.

One of his political theories exposing the government's corruption directly led to the armistice between Britain and France so some people called the peace treaty the "Swift Peace Treaty".

Although he later became the prime minister's confidant and the drafter of the Queen's speech and became the object of fawning, he still took pride in being poor.

Swift has no official title, and he does not get paid for reviewing manuscripts for newspapers; the bonus given to him by Prime Minister Harry for writing articles was returned by him angrily, declaring that he is not a hired literati.

The queen and her dignitaries eventually expelled him from London for fear of his popularity and the influence of his satirical articles.

After he arrived in Dublin, he actively participated in the Irish people's struggle for freedom and independence.

Struggles, successively published highly combative literary theories, so that the British colonial policy had to be restrained. Sweet was deeply loved by the Irish people.

When he was rewarded by the authorities for his anonymous works, people protected him; when he returned from his last visit to the UK, people rang the bell and raised fire, surrounded him with a guard of honor, and returned to his apartment.

Swift's evening scene was bleak, his relatives died, and he was dizzy and deaf. Whenever he was sober, he still wrote until he died at the age of seventy-eight.

Among Swift's handed-down works, "Gulliver's Travels" (Gulliver's Travels, 1726) is the most widely circulated and most loved by readers from all over the world.

Book Summary: Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift

It is the first time that I have finished reading the novel "Gulliver's Travels" so completely. The previous image is always fixed in the cute and interesting story of Lilliputian in the cartoon "Gulliver's Travels" that I saw on Children's Day in elementary school.

The author is called Tarzan there, the king of the Lilliputian talks to him in the palm of his hand, his feat of wading across the sea and pulling an entire enemy fleet with a hook.

In the novel, there are more strange countries and small islands, such as the country of giants, the flying island of Laputa (floating island), Balbania (the country surrendered to the flying island), the magical island of the soul, Japan Island, Huiyin Island (the horse is the most advanced rational ruler), magnificent and peculiar imagination, which makes people easily think of the adventures of Starbad in "Arabian Nights".

The gold panning and adventures in the age of great voyages are fascinating and exciting, and all kinds of grotesque and absurd countries turn out to have origins, realistic significance, and complex human nature.

The novel sharply satirizes the greedy nature of the British government and human beings, the unwarranted war killings, and the vulgarity of pseudoscience.

Lilliputia: Britain in miniature, the government gets office by jumping on a rope, high heels vs low heels, the long war between Lilliputians and Brevescue (France) is due to eating boiled eggs The way (broken big-endian or little-endian).

Kingdom of Adults: The docile giants formed a self-sufficient, closed environment, with no intention of competing with others, and a peninsular country.

The author became a child's doll and his master's money-making tool. Later, the author entered the palace to please the king and queen.

The author's conversation with the King of Giants introduces the British government structure - the House of Lords, the House of Commons, courts and lawyers, finance and economy, a powerful army and navy, and historical events in the past 100 years.

The king refuted them one by one, asserting that the series of historical events in Britain were nothing more than a series of conspiracies, rebellions, murders, massacres, revolutions, and purges, and the worst results were greed, factional struggles, etc.

The giant country is a closed and closed country that only pays attention to ethics, history, poetry, and mathematics. It is narrow-minded and short-sighted. The threat of internal rebellion.

Similar to China's "giant country", it is a feudal and autocratic country enclosed by mountains, deserts, and seas, surrounded by small countries and overseas barbarians.

It wasn't until the Opium War was knocked on the country's door that it was like waking up from a dream.

Journey to Laputa: There is a group of kings and courtiers who think about mathematics and music all day long on the flying island.

They are indifferent to everything else, including their wives and children. Everyday thinking is a useless pseudoscience.

The rule of the city it belongs to, rely on the flying island that can be freely controlled, torturing the residents on the ground to make them submit, pay taxes, and maintain their luxurious life status.

Lagado College, a group of utopian designers waste money and money, and make meaningless pseudo-scientific inventions: extract sunlight from cucumbers, calcine ice into gunpowder, restore feces to food, use pigs to cultivate the land, and judge loyalty based on the color of feces ( It is somewhat similar to using "how is the stool?" to inquire about symptoms and cure diseases) and other weird things.

The school teaches students that propositions and calculations are written on thin shortbread with ink made from a head-cure potion. After the student eats the shortbread, the potion will also go into his brain, which is a cramming education.

On the magic island of evocation, the author met the most famous wise men, scholars, and historical legends in ancient times, subverting the tradition of history.

The so-called historical heroes are nothing but ugly people. Despicable deeds to gain high positions.

The Ragnag, the pain of the immortal, and all the ailments brought upon them by the terrible prospect of immortality, not only stubborn, surly, greedy, withdrawn, conceited, and talkative, but also impersonal and friendly, they became For those who are abandoned, not wanting to live forever is indeed endless pain.

Huiyin Island: The horse has become the highest form of the ruler in this country, a model of rationality and morality, reflecting the brutal and ugly Yehu here (lower creatures here, similar to humans), through the description of Yehu, The author scolds the greedy and selfish nature of human beings.

Although Huiyin is noble and selfless like saints, their lives are quite boring without desires and needs. There is no country with words, and they think they are moral gentlemen, but they still have masters and servants?

Although I don't know the history, political and economic system of Britain, through the author's interesting whimsy, I can get a general understanding of it. It is a satirical classic with super imagination and realism.

Book Reviews of Gulliver's Travels

The eighteenth century is called the Century of Enlightenment by historians. It was not long after the advent of the Newtonian mechanic system that human knowledge made breakthroughs, and the entire Europe was filled with the unique optimism of that era.

Human beings have already claimed to have mastered the key to understanding the mysteries of the universe.

With the development of knowledge, people are confident that it is only a matter of time before they gain dominion over nature, and the well-being of human beings will be infinitely improved in a bright future.

It was also in this era that historians declared for the first time in history that history develops linearly in a tone that now seems quite naive. Bacon's ideal of utilitarian science, Newton's mathematical physics, Locke's political thought, and Voltaire's candid and naive optimism, these are the enlightenment stars shining on Europe in the eighteenth century.

If there is one word that can be used to label this century in history, it is rationality. Yes, this is the era of rational awakening.

The classical rationality of ancient Greece fell asleep for more than a thousand years under the oppression of medieval Christian beliefs and finally stood on the horizon of the times, but without the prudence and restraint of the classical era, from it In the shades of gray, we can vaguely foresee the heavy nightmare of the twentieth century.

Not everyone had such a premonition at the time. Swift, a prophet of the Enlightenment Age, watched the modern rational trend with a cold eye and was the first to question Enlightenment planning.　　

　　Swift's (1667-1745) fantasy and satirical novel "Gulliver's Travels" described the customs and customs of four countries, including the Lilliputian, the Adult, the Leputa Island, and the Huihui, in the style of travel notes popular at that time.

In his works, he reflected on the political and social conditions in Europe at that time and described his ideal kingdom in the form of a Utopia.

The Lilliputian alludes to the corrupt and petty political scene in Britain and continental Europe at that time, where the people there were small in number, greedy, and selfish, and their virtues were just in proportion to their body size.

On the contrary, the people in Daren's Kingdom are simple, comfortable, and self-sufficient giants.

They are noble and upright, just like the ancient citizens of the ancient Greek city-state that Swift admired.

There is a flying island on the island of Leputa, which is suspended in the air by means of a magnetic device. It is inhabited by a group of kings and courtiers who think about mathematics and music all day long.

They are indifferent to everything else, including their wives and children. Swift used it to satirize the Royal Society at the time. The cruel oppression of the rulers on the flying island by the people below the flying island clearly reflects Swift's foreboding of the totalitarian rule that science may bring.

In the Hui Hui Kingdom, the ruling order of people and horses was reversed, people became lowly animals, and horses became noble masters. Here, Swift despairs the moral condition of humanity.　　

In this book, Swift takes the form of a utopian fantasy novel, but it is very different from similar novels that were popular at the time.

If we trace the genealogy of modern utopias, we can find that they were all utopias or positive utopias at first, from "Utopia", and "Sun City" to "Christchurch", without exception. Bacon's "The New Atlantis" is undoubtedly also within this pedigree.

Its special feature is that it connects the prospect of utopia with the progress of science and creates a scientific utopia.

It wasn't until the twentieth century when unprecedented humanitarian disasters shattered people's illusions about progress, that utopias of the opposite sense began to emerge.

"Brave New World", "1984" and "Us" all belong to this. The significance of Swift is that, as early as the rise of utopian fantasy, his works have synthesized the double fantasy of positive utopia and dystopia.

The Lilliputian and Leputa Islands can be classified as dystopias, while the Adults and Hui Huiguo can be regarded as positive utopias. The whole book of "Gulliver's Travels" has a structure of "reverse-front-reverse-front".

The anti-utopia and positive utopia are intertwined, which not only deeply worries about the future of enlightenment, but also hopes for a better life. However, if we analyze it more carefully, we will find that even his positive utopia is quite different from the prevailing customs at that time.

Almost all utopian visionaries pointed their ideals to the future or to a foreign land—a time or space that people in the northwest corner of Eurasia had never experienced. Swift, against the trend, turned his attention to ancient times. Yes, in his foreign travels in the Kingdom of Adults and the Kingdom of Hui Yi, we can easily recognize the nobility and elegance of the classical age.

Therefore, Swift's utopia is not a fantasy, let alone a rational and arrogant design. On the contrary, it yearns for ancient times and admires the classics, criticizes the times with memory, and puts his ideals and reflections into a strange utopia.

There is a golden age that once existed but no longer exists, so it can be classified as a genealogy of positive utopia.

Similarly, there is also a terrible world that is gradually emerging or people intend to realize, and it is all the more absurd and in contrast to the former. Ugly, so it also falls into the dystopian spectrum.

It is his admiration for ancient times that make the utopia he created present the intertwining and conflicting positive and negative sides.　　

　　This conflict is also the conflict between ancient and modern politics and philosophy. Swift turned a cold shoulder to the Enlightenment, which was just emerging at that time.

On all the issues of ancient and modern disputes, Swift did not hesitate to side with the ancients. The Enlightenment intended to replace custom with science, superstition with reason, and ignorance with progress.

According to Kant's classic definition, Enlightenment is the process of human beings getting rid of their own immaturity and moving toward maturity. The so-called maturity means having the courage to use their own reason freely without the guidance of others.

The watchword of the Enlightenment was precise, have the courage to use your own reason. Using reason to guide oneself is exactly Kant's view of reason.

But what Kant expresses is a kind of self-confirming reason, a kind of inner moral law, and we should not ignore the brilliant starry sky above our heads corresponding to it.

The subject of enlightenment is not only content to legislate for nature, it also intends to conquer nature with the power of reason. Bacon's famous saying "knowledge is power" is the original expression of this utilitarian ideal.

In his "New Atlantis," Bacon imagined a scientific utopia. A group of scientists from Solomon's Palace has a clear division of labor and manages the entire country in an orderly manner. They combine knowledge and virtue, are highly respected and authoritative, and under their rule, the entire country is harmonious, orderly, prosperous, and healthy.

For the first time in history, Bacon based politics on science rather than on the virtues of citizens and rulers. This is partly because Bacon is obsessed with the utilitarian effects of science, and partly because he believes that science can promote moral education.

In these two points, Swift is exactly opposite to Bacon and even all the advocates of the Enlightenment.　　

　　In "Gulliver's Travels", Swift responds to Bacon's New Atlantis with the island of Le Pita, the Lagadore Academy of Sciences to Solomon's Palace, and the utopia of anti-science to the utopia of science.

The scientists and rulers on Leputa Island are obsessed with abstract science all day long, ignoring the customs and life of the world, they are clumsy in action and need human guidance in everything.

The servant should remind the dialogue that the wife cheating on someone face to face is ridiculous and ignorant. Such people are destined to be scientific madmen who only look up and observe the orbits of planets.

They lack the sense of reality that politicians must have. More importantly, such a group of experts has no virtue at all, even if they cannot be called morally corrupt.

Therefore, on the question of knowledge and virtue, Swift is an antithesis of Bacon. Not only that, but Swift also constitutes an antithesis to Bacon in terms of the relationship between knowledge and society.

Bacon believed that scientific knowledge, as a kind of gospel, would bring happiness to human civilization.

But in this book, Swift insists on the terrifying picture of scientific rule. The flying island on Leputa Island is suspended above the island and can adjust its height and position according to Gilbert's emerging physics principles.

If one side of the people resists its rule, then their homeland will be crushed into ruins by the flying island in an instant.

The difference between modern tyranny and ancient tyranny is that modern tyranny is based on rationality and science rather than ignorance and fanaticism.

Swift is particularly wary of the political domination of scientists. He believes that there is a natural boundary between science and politics, and using science to guide politics will inevitably lead to political disorder.　　

　　These two themes about science initiated by Swift have been continuously echoed and deepened in later generations.

On the issue of science and virtue, Rousseau was the first to respond in his "On Science and Art".

He believed that science and art, as universal and super-regional things, would inevitably destroy the moral foundation of civil society.

Later, Kant opened up an immanent space for moral practice through the division of the phenomenal world and the thing-in-itself, pure reason and practical reason, objectively saving reason and science from moral accusations against them temporarily.

But Horkheimer and Adorno finally criticized this plan in "Dialectics of Enlightenment", arguing that this attempt to base morality on inner goodwill is invalid, and morality will ultimately be based on material interests.

Turned into barbarism in the face of calculation. On the issue of science and society, the concern that science leads to totalitarianism is also expressed in the book "Dialectics of Enlightenment".

Myth is already enlightenment; enlightenment regresses into myth. This is the dialectics of enlightenment, which reveals to us how calculation-based instrumental rationality can alienate and enslave people themselves.

The biggest myth today is none other than science and technology aimed at dispelling myths.　　

　　The original intention of enlightenment is to free people from the domination of blind forces, but science and technology that cross the border have become the blindest forces today.

If we are to restate the Enlightenment, we must rethink science and technology itself. Taming science and technology is the most important task of this era.

Whether or not this task is possible, we need a utopia of hope in our pessimistic coping, to free us from despair and draw from it the courage to act.

It is precisely this attitude that Swift's double-faced utopia embodies, which is what makes him so important, and what sets him apart from some of the so-called postmodern masters.

Conclusion: Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift

Swift wants to complain about the feeling of magical sketches written by society.

The advantage of English literature is that there are so many details about life, so it is quite enjoyable to read, even if this kind of nonsense has what Gulliver eats and wears in every small country he goes to The description of the clothes is very down-to-earth;

I really like the part about the immortal man, and the immortality really feels like a curse rather than a blessing, so a way to reconcile death is to say that death can be regarded as exempting oneself from eternal life;

The Country of Horses That paragraph is also very interesting, completely rational rule, I feel that it is really a utopia;

I feel that the significance and interest of the times are greater than the depth and literature, but it is indeed a masterpiece, and the writing is really good, so ironic.

The Shining book by Stephen King | Review, Summary & Facts

2023-04-13T14:55:00.015+06:00

Originally, Stephen King's novels were used by me as hypnotic reading materials~ There are a lot of delicate and easy life descriptions of characters in his books, which have no sense of plot.

At least that's what I thought at first.

Because I have the habit of reading my favorite novels over and over again, for example, I have read "The Silence of the Lambs" no less than twenty times, and I am basically familiar enough to memorize it, so I can't accept the film adaptation.

"The Shining" is similar, but every time I watch it again, I feel more terrified. It is obviously a familiar plot, but because I am more and more familiar with every detail of the novel, so every time I read it again, I feel more vivid and clear about the novel. It's hard to describe in words.

Compared to Joey hiding "The Shining" in the refrigerator, I understand very well, because now I wrap this novel in a cover, and then press it under a thick pile of military novels and comedy novels, and then lock it in the cabinet, I feel less scared, hehe~

I have read too many horror novels and horror movies, except for the kind of works that challenge my stomach with blood, if there is any story that can scare me from scratch The one with cold feet and too scared to sleep is "The Shining". And only this work has terrified me so persistently.

I'm sure any reader who doesn't think The Shining is scary hasn't read it carefully enough to experience the feeling of immersion.

Book: The Shining by Stephen King

The Shining is a 1977 horror novel by American author Stephen King. It is King's third published novel and first hardback bestseller; its success firmly established King as a preeminent author in the horror genre. Wikipedia

Originally published: January 28, 1977
Author: Stephen King
Followed by: Doctor Sleep
Adaptations: The Shining (1980), The Shining (1997), The Shining
Genres: Novel, Horror fiction, Psychological horror, Gothic fiction, Supernatural fiction
Cover artist: Dave Christensen

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About this Book: The Shining

Jack Torrance, an amateur writer, is unemployed and embarrassed in his middle age. In order to support his family, he did not hesitate to choose to be a temporary manager of an old hotel in the mountains that was closed by heavy snow in winter and isolated from the world.

So when the hotel was about to close in winter, Jack took his wife Wendy and son Danny to the Yuanwang Hotel in Colorado. The five-year-old boy Danny was born with a kind of super sensory predictive ability - "The Shining".

Before the family set off, he had nightmares of ominous dreams. Since Jack's family moved in, weird and strange events happened one after another: Hornets killed by pesticides came back to life in groups, green hedges cut into animal shapes were ready to move, and footsteps sounded in empty rooms...Jack, I accidentally found a newspaper clipping book about the history of the hotel among the old paper piles in the basement.

I was addicted to it and my spirit became increasingly tired. The young Danny had a premonition of various dangers and was at a loss; while Jack's temperament changed drastically, he was moody, and he was violent to his wife and children from time to time... The family gradually went crazy and was destroyed in the isolated environment.

About the Author: Stephen King

The author, Stephen King, is one of the most influential popular novelists in the United States.

Since the publication of his first novel "Carrie" in 1974, he has written more than 40 novels and more than 200 short stories, and more than 50 film and television works are based on his novels. The most famous one is "The Shawshank Redemption".

In 2003, he won the National Book Award of the United States, and later won the "Lifetime Achievement Award" of the World Fantasy Literature Award and the "Master Award" of the "Ellen Poe Award" of the American Mystery Writers Association.

Core Content: The Shining book by Stephen King

"The Shining" is one of the most famous masterpieces of the American story by King Stephen King. It's a haunted house-type horror story set in the isolated Overlook Inn during winter in Colorado.

The first half of the novel provides readers with a standardized scare package, but the second half shifts the focus of horror from ghosts to people, giving the story a more general and realistic meaning.

The Yuanwang Hotel is the epitome of the United States, and Jack is a "struggle" in quotation marks who goes astray in pursuit of the illusory "American Dream". Jack did not hesitate to destroy his family to achieve his career, but in the end, he could only go to self-destruction.

Although the movie version of "The Shining" downplays the existence of ghosts, it strengthens the theme that people are destroyed by their inner desires.

This issue of audio is divided into three parts. The first part talks about ghosts and the "working principle" of ghosts.

The second part talks about people and analyzes why people can be more terrifying than ghosts. In the third part, I will compare the difference between the original book and the movie for you.

This difference is in the final analysis of the different choices in the "ghost content" of the story, and the different interpretations of who should be more responsible for crimes, ghosts or humans.

Book Summary: The Shining book by Stephen King

Stephen King won the Lifetime Achievement Award of the National Book Award in 2003 for "inheriting the great tradition of American literature's attention to plot and atmosphere, and embodying all kinds of beautiful and tragic moral truths deep in the human soul". This book is one of his masterpieces.

Another story about the hotel. The environment of the hotel itself can produce all kinds of weird plots.

As the book says, "Every big hotel has a scandal," "just like every big hotel is haunted. Why? Hell, people come and go. Sometimes someone dies suddenly in the room, heart Sickness, stroke, or something else.

Hotels are superstitious places. There is no 13th floor, no 13th room, no mirror behind the door to the guest room, all these things." I have seen an adaptation of

Stephen Jin's "1408 Phantom of the Dead", plot is full of twists and turns, and the story is set within the story. In a suite, various horrible events are derived. And "The Shining", which also happened in the hotel, has very different techniques and angles to create horror.

The protagonist of the story, Jack, is an unemployed college teacher who finds a job at the Yuanwang Hotel in the mountains. In the long and harsh winter, Jack, his wife, and his son will stay in the hotel for several months. He was going to make a big splash and make a difference in writing.

In this book, the narration of the story is also progressing step by step, and the first part slowly lays the groundwork and lays the groundwork. The strange failure of the hotel boiler happened one after another, the baked honeycomb gave birth to bees and the diary of the former guardian.

Suffering from writer's block and his family's suspicions, Jack turns to alcohol again, shattering an already fragile trust between him and his wife.

Part of Jack's transformation is due to the depravity of human nature, and part is also due to the terrible power of the hotel itself. His transformation is the climax of the entire book. The author's handling is also the most ingenious. In the bar, the conversation between Jack and the former Guardian is chilling:

"—kill him. You must kill him, Jack, and her. Because the true artist must suffer. Because every man destroys what he loves; for they are always plotting against you, trying to hinder you from your success."

For a writer, "a real artist must endure pain" is the truth, but when the truth comes here, it is distorted and used for murder, which is so plausible. It seems that in every really good horror story, the villain or hindering force is not a simple killer.

They all contain various weaknesses of deep human nature, so they can always find good excuses for their actions. These excuses are often difficult to refute.

In the drama "Fargo", isn't what if they are wrong while you are right the key to the hero's transformation from a wimp to a murderer with ease? In the "Silence of the Lambs" series, Dr. Hannibal's knowledge of God often makes us feel empty and lost.

I think the reason for the success of these works is that their villains really stand up and have their own souls. When they use words to ridicule positive characters, they are independent individuals, and what they say will move readers and even the author himself.

Only in this way can the conflict of a story play its most important role and bring you an exciting reading experience.

Book Review: The Shining book by Stephen King

The book I will interpret for you today is The Shining, the masterpiece of the American story King Stephen King.

There are many writers in the United States who can be called literary masters, but perhaps only Stephen King can be called the king of storytelling. The surname King (King) originally means "big king", and King's name is worthy of the name, which can be proved by data.

According to statistics, Stephen King has published more than 60 novels, more than 10 short story collections, and 5 non-fiction works in his writing career of more than half a century.

The most amazing thing is that his works have been adapted It has become more than 50 movies, and many of them are classics, such as: "The Shawshank Redemption", "The Green Mile", "Carrie", "The Clown", and today's "The Shining".

You must know that many excellent novelists may not necessarily have their works adapted into movies throughout their lives. Although the film adaptation itself cannot measure the artistic achievement of the writer, it can explain the public influence of the work.

It is generally believed that catering to the interests of the public requires giving up part of artistic pursuits, but when it comes to Stephen King's level, commercial success, and artistic achievement will lead to the same goal by different routes.

If an excellent novel must reflect reality, then King's works constitute the reality of America itself. He provides readers with "a way to imagine America". Generations of Americans have observed and understood contemporary society through King's filter.

The Fears and Desires of American Society. In this sense, it is also reasonable that Stephen King won the National Book Award’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2003 as a popular novelist, the highest award in the serious literary circles of the United States.

"The Shining" I'm going to talk about today is one of Stephen King's most famous and influential works. The film of the same name, adapted by the talented director Stanley Kubrick, has been the number-one horror film in film history year after year.

In 2018, the film version of "The Shining" was selected as a "National Treasure" in the United States due to its "cultural, historical and aesthetic importance", and was permanently collected by the Library of Congress-specifically, the film copy of the film was sent to the mountains The underground warehouse, even if one day the outside world is turned upside down due to reasons such as war or natural disasters, these movies must be passed on.

Interestingly, though, King himself hated the film version of The Shining, arguing that it grossly misrepresented his original work.

Hearing this, you may have a series of questions in your mind: Is "The Shining" really that scary? Do horror stories really have such high cultural and artistic value? What are the differences between the novel version and the film version, and why do the original authors hate these changes so much?

My reading will attempt to answer these questions. Combined with the plot of the novel, my interpretation will be divided into three parts. The first part talks about "ghosts" and the "working principle" of ghosts.

The second part talks about people and analyzes why people can be more terrifying than ghosts. And in the third part, I will compare the difference between the original book and the movie for you.

This difference is in the final analysis of the different choices in the "ghost content" of the story, and the different interpretations of who should be more responsible for the crime, ghosts or humans. Which is better, I will give my conclusion, I believe you will have your own ideas after listening.

First part: The Shining

OK, let's start with the story. "The Shining" is the third novel published by Stephen King. The first two novels were set in his hometown of Maine. By the third book, he wanted to change the environment and spread out a map of the United States in the kitchen. , casually pointed to Boulder, Colorado, which is a tourist destination with the magnificent scenery of the Rocky Mountains.

King and his wife rushed there and checked into a hotel called The Stanley. The hotel was big and old, and the walls were covered with portraits in elaborate frames. When Kim and his wife arrived, the tourist season was drawing to a close and there were no other guests.

Monotonous record music echoed in the empty hall and winding corridors. This strange and chilling atmosphere stimulated Jin's imagination, and he had a nightmare that night. After waking up from the dream, the story of "The Shining" has taken shape.

The stage where the story of "The Shining" takes place is actually the Stanley Hotel, but it has been renamed "Yuanwang Hotel".

Note: The word "overlook" can also mean "overlook" in English. The object of looking from a distance is naturally the scenery outside the hotel, so it is not difficult to imagine what is being overlooked, and what is being overlooked must be the secrets inside the hotel.

The Yuanwang Hotel opened its doors to welcome guests in 1910. By the end of the 1970s when the novel took place, it had a history of 60 to 70 years. After welcoming so many people, it naturally left countless stories and secrets, some of which were terrible. chapters.

For example, the story of Grady, the previous winter janitor. In winter, the mountain is closed by heavy snow, and the hotel is closed, but a caretaker has to be arranged.

Who knew that this Grady went crazy in the isolated environment, hacked his daughters to death with an ax, and then committed suicide. This incident alone is enough to characterize Yuanwang Hotel as an ominous haunted house.

The protagonist of the story of "The Shining" is the new winter gatekeeper, his name is Jack Torrance, and he is a writer. Jack did not write well, but he contracted a writer's common problem-drinking.

Once he was drunk and broke the arm of his three-year-old son Danny because Danny messed up his manuscript paper. Jack was so remorseful that he gave up drinking, for nineteen months now.

But after quitting drinking, he still lost control of his emotions and lost his teaching job for beating students. He came to work as a hotel janitor, firstly for money, and secondly for creating a quiet environment.

In order to avoid being too lonely, Jack also brought his wife Wendy, and his five-year-old son Danny with him.

Hearing this, you might think, this hotel manager is really big-hearted, isn't he afraid that the guard will repeat the same mistakes? The reason for the hotel manager is that Jack is a cultural person, unlike his predecessor who was a big bastard, so he should not be so bored as to go crazy.

The biggest suspense of the story has been buried from the very beginning: Will Jack let the tragedy happen again?

Let's look at it step by step.

At the end of September, Jack, Wendy, and Danny, a family of three, came to the Yuanwang Hotel on a closed day. The hotel chef, an old Negro named Dick Hallorann, took them on a tour of the hotel before leaving.

Dick discovered that Danny could communicate with him directly in his heart without using his mouth. Dick himself also has this kind of telepathic superpower, so he secretly told Danny in his heart that this kind of power is "The Shining".

The original meaning of the word Shining in English is "shining", and the translation is "shining", which perfectly takes into account the sound and meaning, and the translation are very spiritual.

However, the function of Shining is not just like a wireless walkie-talkie in the brain, allowing two people to communicate through the air. It can also perceive the past and the future, but it is not necessarily accurate. Dick bet on the horse with the Shining, and he couldn't keep winning.

Danny's Shining is much more powerful and will transform into a boy named Tony. In the eyes of his parents, Tony is his son's "invisible little friend". The Tony in Danny's eyes looks very similar to himself, only a few years older, as if from the future, and often uses a dream-like way to give Danny a preview.

For example, this time, Danny knew that his father would get the job of janitor, and had a premonition that something terrible would happen to the Yuanwang Hotel, but he didn't say it because he knew that this job was very important to his father.

In the first few weeks in the hotel, the Jack family was quite happy, after all, the entire luxury hotel now belongs to them only. Jack didn't really have much work to do, except to depressurize the basement heating boiler every day.

But as time passed, loneliness set in, and with it a series of strange events. For example, in the hornet's nest where the insects had been killed, many hornets suddenly flew out, stinging Danny's body with cuts and bruises.

For another example, the shrubs built in the shape of various animals outside the window seem to be changing postures all the time.

In addition, the elevator seems to always go up and down automatically, and it seems that noises can be heard in the corridor, but only the voices of people can be heard, and no one is seen...

These strange things basically belong to the standard configuration of haunted house stories. Giving life to inanimate things and imagining people where there are no people is actually a psychological mechanism for people to resist loneliness.

To some extent, it can even be said that loneliness is worse than ghosts, and people prefer to believe in ghosts' half-truths, so as to avoid facing the endless emptiness.

But the Yuanwang Hotel is really haunted. The first person who really appeared was the female ghost in room 217. Before she was alive, she was a very old rich woman who lived with a young lover who "could be her grandson" and attracted attention.

But then the guy ran away in the rich woman's Porsche. The rich woman then took a large number of sleeping pills with alcohol and committed suicide while lying in the bathtub. Her body was secretly transported out of the hotel, but her ghost lingered in the bathtub, often scaring people to death.

Danny knew something was wrong with room 217 by virtue of his flashing spirit, and the black chef warned him not to go there, but a five-year-old child was curious after all, not to mention extremely boring in a closed environment.

Danny secretly took the key, finally entered room 217, and was almost strangled to death by the female ghost.

Although Danny was able to escape, shocking fingerprints were left on his neck. Mother Wendy once thought it was Jack's domestic violence child again, so she had a big fight with Jack. Danny had to tell the truth.

Of course, the adults didn't believe it, but Jack still went to Room 217. He saw the silhouette of the female ghost through the shower curtain, and quickly backed out, but told his wife Wendy that everything was normal.

Let's pause here for a moment and briefly talk about the "working principle" of ghosts in works of art. Ghosts are different from man-eating beasts because ghosts are social.

The essence of ghosts is that they are incompatible with secular ethics. It can be said that before the rich woman in room 217 committed suicide, she had largely become a female ghost who was ostracized by society.

The reason why ghosts are scary is that the physical discomfort caused by their appearance is only a superficial factor, and the deep factor is the desire represented by ghosts and the transgression of social ethics.

Here I want to introduce a concept to you: Gothic novels. "Gothic" literally means "Germanic", and the Germanic people destroyed the Western Roman Empire, so they were regarded as barbaric and heretical.

However, whether it is Gothic architecture or Gothic novels, it is not limited to the Germans. The elements of Gothic novels are usually gloomy castles and reclusive monsters, and the reason why monsters live in reclusion often involves some kind of unethical love.

From this point of view, the female ghost in room 217 is a typical Gothic female ghost. And the reason why King arranged it as the first ghost to appear in "The Shining" is not so much to inherit and pay tribute to Gothic novels, but to say that Gothic novels have already unconsciously delineated the framework for Westerners to imagine ghosts.

Gothic novels were produced during the period when the European feudal system disintegrated and the bourgeoisie rose. It always looks backward: it has a strong and even morbid nostalgia for the nobility that passed away.

The boundary between life and death cannot be easily crossed in Gothic novels. The result of force is often stuck in an embarrassing state of neither life nor death, such as in the famous vampire.

The female ghost in room 217 can actually be regarded as a vampire in disguise because she has a morbid obsession with her lost youth. Today's readers probably don't think she is scary. After all, she can't even strangle a 5-year-old child to death.

Her appearance on the stage mainly depends on the status bestowed by literary history. If you ask me, what is really scary is not her ghost, but Jack, who saw a ghost, but lied that everything was normal. In the next part, I will talk about why people are more terrifying than ghosts.

The second part: The Shining

Back to the story, now we focus on the father Jack. It is said that one day, Jack found stacks of old files in the basement, which were the hotel's past registers and ledgers.

Jack looked through the list of guests over the years, which is really a gathering of celebrities, including Henry Ford, the founder of Ford Motor, Hollywood superstar Clark Gable, and even Warren Harding, the 29th President of the United States...

Jack also found A newspaper clipping book with a white leather cover, which records various past events of the hotel with pictures and texts: After the war, a mysterious rich man named Horace Deventer, who is said to have made his fortune from smuggling and gambling, bought the hotel and invested in it.

A huge sum of money has been refurbished to turn it into a must-visit resort for celebrities. Later, the hotel changed hands several times and fell into the hands of a gangster who was involved with Devonte.

In 1966, the gangster and his bodyguards were brutally massacred in the presidential suite of the hotel... Jack was reading greedily, forgetting the time.

Who made the clipping? It may be considered that the ghost in the hotel did it, deliberately letting Jack find out, and the purpose was to win him over.

Jack is a writer, and the allure of this material is self-evident, and he soon decides to write a book based on it, and spends long hours in the basement every day from then on.

But the real desire planted in Jack's heart by this clipping is actually not to write a book, but to join the American upper class in the photo.

It can be said that the newspaper clippings endow both the Overlook Hotel and Jack with a more general meaning: the Overlook Hotel has become the epitome of the entire United States, and Jack has become the tragic character that most often appears in serious American literature: The "strugglers" whose "American Dream" leads to destruction—these strugglers are in quotation marks because their struggle methods are always "by whatever means".

After Jack went to Room 217 and saw the female ghost, he lied that everything was normal, not because he was timid, but because he didn't want to leave Yuanwang Hotel. He even broke the sled and the radio, cutting off the hotel from the outside world.

In other words, not only did he not leave by himself, but he also trapped his wife and children here as a kind of sacrifice to this hotel. This is the horror story version of "sacrificing family for a career".

Sensitive Danny knew his father was lying. Danny began to have frequent nightmares. In the dream, Tony said a word to him repeatedly: "red rum" (redrum), and Danny never knew what it meant. Until one time, Danny dreamed of a mirror.

In the mirror, there was a clock covered in a glass case. There were no hands and numbers on the clock face, only a date "December 2", and the glass surface faintly reflected "redrum". The word "wine", after a double reflection, turns out to be "murder" written backward.

The meaning of this dream couldn't be clearer. Danny woke up and quickly used the flash to ask for help from the black chef Dick thousands of miles away.

So what is Jack doing now? He walked into the ballroom of the hotel, where there should be no one there, but at the moment it was very lively, men and women of high society danced to old tunes from the past, as if they had traveled to the past.

There wasn't any alcohol in the hotel, but everyone was drinking now. Jack, who had been abstinent for a long time, couldn't hold it anymore and asked the bartender to pour himself a martini.

With the strength of alcohol, Jack danced lewdly with a beautiful woman, only to find out after the dance that the beautiful woman was the wife of the innkeeper Deventer. The woman even invited Jack to play in her room.

At this time, a person with a British accent offered Jack a glass of wine. Jack looked back and saw that the person who offered the drink was none other than his ex-Grady—yes, it was the Grady who went crazy and hacked his two daughters to death!

Jack greeted him: You, aren't you the janitor? Grady replied politely: You're the janitor, sir. You have always been the gatekeeper. ——This is a very strange remark, but Jack did not refute it.

Grady then tells Jack that his son is being naughty and that he is bringing an "outsider"—a "nigger"—to destroy the hotel. You have the responsibility to "correct" your son, just as I "corrected" my two daughters back then.

It was this dialogue that detonated the thunder that was planted at the beginning of the novel: Jack is finally going to make the same mistakes as Grady. Before telling the story of Jack chasing and killing Danny, I want to disassemble this dialogue again, because it is the weirdest and most intriguing part of the book. As mentioned earlier, the Yuanwang Hotel symbolizes the United States itself, so Grady's words have obvious xenophobia and racial discrimination.

However, please note that Grady not only asked Jack to kill the old black man who came to the rescue but also asked Jack to "correct", that is, kill his own son Danny. In fact, racial discrimination is just a superficial excuse to encourage Jack.

Regardless of whether Grady is a real ghost or a fantasy after Jack went crazy, Jack obviously has murderous intentions for his own son in his heart. What kind of hatred is this?

Jack's murderous intention actually stems from jealousy. Jealous that his son has the Shining, but he doesn't. Jack is a failed writer, he lacks aura and sharpness.

Earlier, when Jack walked into the dance hall where ghosts appeared, instead of being afraid, he was secretly happy: he could finally experience a supernatural feeling similar to his son.

And in the following episodes, Jack will yell at Danny himself: The hotel wants me, not you! ——It can be seen that the infinitely magnified jealousy has turned father and son into competitors.

And we can also understand this kind of father-son competition from the perspective of fables. As I said before, Gothic novels are always morbidly nostalgic.

Jack wants to kill his son, and he can also be regarded as a conservative father who kills a new generation of the creativity-the price of being obsessed with the past is often to kill the future.

Well, now let's see how Danny deals with Crazy Jack. Here, Wendy, the mother who does not have many roles in the book, stepped forward.

When Wendy found that Jack had lost his mind again and threatened the safety of her son, she did not hesitate to pick up a sharp knife and fight Jack. He stabbed Jack.

But Jack seemed to be blessed by the evil energy of the hotel, so he was not stabbed to death and continued to hunt down Danny.

At this time, the black chef Dick finally arrives after many twists and turns, but he is attacked by Jack and knocked unconscious on the ground as soon as he meets him.

So in the end, Danny had to face his crazy father alone. Tony warned Danny in a dream: You have to remember what Jack has forgotten. Now Danny finally understood the meaning of this sentence: it turned out that Jack was too busy hunting down his son to depressurize the boiler room every day.

Danny deliberately lured Jack upstairs, and when he retreated to a dead end, he reminded Jack that midnight was approaching and the boiler was about to explode. Jack hurried to the basement, and just entered the door, just in time for the boiler explosion.

It's ironic to think about it, no matter how much Jack tried, he failed to fulfill his duty as a gatekeeper, and the entire Yuanwang Hotel was destroyed by explosion and fire. And Danny, Wendy, and Dick narrowly escaped before the hotel was engulfed in flames.

That's pretty much the end of the story. Looking back, you may find that the haunted part of the novel is basically a standardized and routine operation, just like hamburgers and French fries.

Although it will never go out of fashion, there is nothing too special. You find that the ghost has never killed a person from the beginning to the end.

The person who kills is a person, the father who should have played the role of family protector, and this is where "The Shining" is truly original and terrifying.

What is the strongest horror? Let me quote a concept from psychoanalyst Freud: uncanny, which is sometimes directly translated into horror in Chinese, such as the famous Uncanny Valley theory: when a robot is most like a human It will suddenly cause strong resentment and horror.

The horror of this uncanny valley is actually "weird". Strangers and unfamiliar environments will make us instinctively feel vigilant and fearful, but what is even more frightening is that a very familiar person or scene suddenly becomes strange.

The degree of horror is the degree of impact on the sense of reality, and the contrast between the front and the back of the weirdness has a particularly severe impact on our sense of reality.

It is precise because of this psychological mechanism that Jack in "The Shining" is much more terrifying than evil ghosts such as the female ghost in room 217 in Yuanwang Hotel.

In fact, Jack's previous drunken domestic violence was more or less a foreshadowing of his murder of his wife and children later.

But Jack worked hard to quit drinking for 19 months, which shows that he still loves his children and family, but he didn't expect to encounter a ghost, who would conjure him alcohol out of thin air.

This involves a fundamental problem in "The Shining": How many of the ghosts in the hotel are external and "objective" existences, and how many are the illusion of Jack's dark desires in his heart? The different answers to this question caused the great difference between the movie version of "The Shining" and the original work.

The third part: The Shining

Stanley Kubrick, the director of "The Shining", is a rare genius in film history. It is said that in order to find a story suitable for adaptation, he would buy a lot of novels, read a few pages and feel bad, and throw the novels directly on the wall.

One day, the secretary realized that there had been no sound of books hitting the wall for a long time, so he opened the door and went in, and found that the novel Kubrick was reading was "The Shining".

A few years later, the movie version of "The Shining" came out, and it has almost firmly secured the throne of the first horror film in film history since then.

The horror of "The Shining" is not the kind of horror that makes you cover your eyes and dare not look at it, or cruel and bloody, but it will make you feel more and more wrong after reading it, and the more you think about it, the more chilly you feel.

Kubrick's adaptation strengthened the visual presentation of the story. For example, the pair of little daughters who were killed by Grady, standing quietly at the end of the maze-like hotel corridor, has become a classic image.

Another example is that Kubrick let Wendy inadvertently discover that on Jack's thick typescript, there was a proverb repeated over and over again: "All work and no play makes Jack stupid" (All work and no play makes Jack stupid) a dull boy), it was immediately revealed that Jack was completely insane.

And this kind of madness is obviously caused by the huge pressure of work. Who is forcing Jack to work? In fact, it is Jack's own "American Dream".

For another example, the "Yuanwang Hotel" built by Kubrick deliberately made the layout of the rooms contradictory, which cannot exist in reality, so it is no wonder that the audience always feels something is wrong.

Kubrick also further elevated the pattern of "The Shining", setting the Yuanwang Hotel as being built on an Indian cemetery, thus strengthening the motif of "the hotel is the epitome of America" and "the bright surface of civilization There is always a terrible evil underneath" the central idea.

At the end of the movie version, the hotel was not burned down by a big fire, but Jack, who was frozen to death outside the hotel, strangely appeared in the old photo of all the hotel staff in 1921, dressed in the tuxedo of the waiter. smiling for the camera.

All of the above, it can be said that a lot of ingenious optimizations have been made to the story of "The Shining". But Kubrick's adaptation downplays the ghost element in the story as a whole.

According to him, this is a story of a family slowly going crazy together in a closed environment. The so-called ghosts are mostly inner demons, evil thoughts, and hallucinations of people themselves.

Why is King so dissatisfied with this? Because Jack in "The Shining" has elements of King's autobiography. Kim also had a bad habit of drinking, but he never beat a child, but he frankly admitted that when the child was disobedient, he also had thoughts of violence in his mind.

If the existence of ghosts is downplayed, the responsibility of ghosts is also downplayed, which means that Jack has to bear greater responsibility for evil deeds, and since Jack is regarded by Jin as his clone, after all, he doesn't want Jack to look too bad.

In fact, there is such a sentence in the original text of "The Shining": "Monsters are real, they live in our hearts, and sometimes, they win." It can be said that King and Kubrick's understanding is essentially the same.

Let's borrow the previous horror concept again: isn't a movie adaptation just a horror version of the original? Watching the movie version, Jin feels like looking at a person whose eyebrows and eyes are very similar to his own child but have a very different temperament, so he looks particularly annoying.

Interestingly, the prototype of the Yuanwang Hotel is called the Stanley Hotel, and Stanley happens to be the name of Kubrick, the director of "The Shining".

I don't know if this magical coincidence can calm down the protracted debate between fans of the original book and fans of the movie.

Conclusion: The Shining book by Stephen King

Well, the essence of this book will be interpreted here for you.

To sum up, "The Shining" is one of the most famous masterpieces of the American story by King Stephen King. It's a haunted house-type horror story set in the isolated Overlook Inn during winter in Colorado.

The Yuanwang Hotel is the epitome of the United States, and Jack is a "struggle" in quotation marks who goes astray in pursuit of the illusory "American Dream".

Jack did not hesitate to destroy his family to achieve his career, but in the end, he could only go to self-destruction.

Although the movie version of "The Shining" downplays the existence of ghosts, it strengthens the theme that people are destroyed by their inner desires.

Finally, I want to talk about the superpower of "The Shining". The famous French philosopher Pascal in the 17th century once said: The biggest problem for people is that they cannot stay in the room by themselves. As I get older, I understand the sharpness of this sentence more and more.

The so-called loneliness is actually never being alone, because when you are alone, your inner memories, regrets, desires, and fears will only emerge more strongly. In the novel, Danny relies on Tony, transformed by the Shining, to fight against loneliness and danger.

In reality, we ordinary people can also have The Shining, the way is to read novels. Those characters in the novel, just like Tony, will use their wisdom, experience, and courage to accompany and guide us, help us fight against loneliness and madness, and stay away from indulgence and sin.

The above is the essence of this book, click on the "Manuscript" below the audio, and check the full text and mind map we have prepared for you.

The full-version e-book of this book has been attached at the end of the manuscript, and you are welcome to read it.

You can also click on the red envelope and share this book with your friends for free. Congratulations, you have finished listening to another book.

Mansfield Park by Jane Austen

2023-04-06T17:21:00.004+06:00

Book Reviews: Mansfield Park by Jane Austen

Begun in 1811 at the height of Jane Austen's writing powers and published in 1814, Mansfield Park marks a conscious break from the tone of her first three novels, Northanger Abbey, Sense and Sensibility, and Pride and Prejudice, the last of which Austen came to see as "rather too light."

Fanny Price is unlike any of Austen's previous heroes, a girl from a poor family brought up in a splendid country house and possessed of a vast reserve of moral fortune and imperturbability.

She is very different from Elizabeth Bennet but is the product of the same inspired imagination.

Mansfield Park shows Austen as a mature novelist with an almost unparalleled ability to render the character and an acute awareness of her world and how it was changing.

Through the stories of Fanny Price, the Bertrams, and the Crawfords, she tackles the themes of faith and constancy and the threat that metropolitan manners could pose to a rural way of life.

Mansfield Park is as amusing as any of Austen's novels, but, according to the critic Tony Tanner, it is also arguable that it is "her most profound novel --indeed...it is one of the most profound novels of the nineteenth century."

About the Series: Each Norton Critical Edition includes an authoritative text, contextual and source materials, and a wide range of interpretations- from contemporary perspectives to the most current critical theory-as well as a bibliography and, in most cases, a chronology of the author's life and work.

According to the critic Tony Tanner, it is also arguable that it is "her most profound novel --indeed...it is one of the most profound novels of the nineteenth century."

and a wide range of interpretations-from contemporary perspectives to the most current critical theory-as well as a bibliography and, in most cases, a chronology of the author's life and work.

Book: Mansfield Park by Jane Austen

Mansfield Park is the third published novel by Jane Austen, first published in 1814 by Thomas Egerton. A second edition was published in 1816 by John Murray, still within Austen's lifetime. The novel did not receive any public reviews until 1821. ---Wikipedia

Originally published: 1814
Author: Jane Austen
Characters: Fanny Price, Henry Crawford, Edmund Bertram,
Adaptations: Mansfield Park (1999), Mansfield Park (2007),
Genres: Novel, Romance novel, Historical Fiction, Bildungsroman

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About the Author: Jane Austen

Austin was born on December 16, 1775, in the family of a parish priest in Steventon Township. Received a better family education, the main textbook is the father's literature collection.

The Austen family loves to read popular novels, mostly a vulgar pastime. Her teenage studies were parodies of popular novels of this kind, which formed the tone of irony in her work.

Her six novels "Sense and Sentiment" (1811), "Pride and Prejudice" (1813), "Mansfield Garden" (1814), "Emma" (1815), and "Northanger Abbey" published after the author's death (1818), and "Persuasion" (1818).

Most of them take the daily life of the middle class in the township as the theme and reflect the style of British society at the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century through conflicts in love and marriage.

The works often ridicule people's despicable and ridiculous weaknesses such as stupidity, selfishness, snobbery, and blind self-confidence through comic scenes.

Austen's novels appeared in the early part of the 19th century, sweeping away the faux-romantic trend, inheriting and developing the excellent tradition of realism in Britain in the 18th century, preparing for the climax of realistic novels in the 19th century, and playing a link between the past and the future. important role.

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Book Summary: Mansfield Park by Jane Austen

In fact, it was a long time ago when I read the original book. I remember that I was a little impatient when I read it.

After all, the Cinderella heroine Fanny is not a very likable girl: delicate and sensitive, shy and timid, and rarely spoken.

Quiet, she is not as lively and funny as Elizabeth, not as vigorous as Emma, not as passionate as Anne, and not even as simple and charming as Catherine.

It is true that she knows the general situation, distinguishes right from wrong, and has a great spirit of sacrifice and perseverance to endure humiliation. Under Edmund's education, she has been trying to be a virtuous person and she has really done it.

The dull and awkward part of her character should only be Blamed on her dependent situation rather than nature. But such people are never popular for long.

At first, we will pity her life experience and admire her virtues and integrity, but soon, our attention will be attracted by other qualities, such as her beautiful appearance, healthy figure, elegant manners, witty conversation, cheerful temperament, etc., just as the Crawford brothers and sisters attracted everyone's attention as soon as they appeared on the stage.

How different is the lively, talkative, attentive Henry from Edmund, who aspires to be a pastor as his sacred profession, and how different is Mary, who can talk and gallop, from Fanny, who is always lovely and cautious.

Brilliant, these two young men are so lovable, well-bred, and interested in all things, they always come up with something new and interesting, and they know a lot and say no Compared with all this,

Henry's little hobby of getting girls to fall in love with him seems harmless, just an unconscious showing off of his charm by attractive young people That's all, it can add interest to life without any loss, can't it? It's just part of his charm.

As for Mary's big words from time to time, or some sarcastic witty remarks about men and women's love, priesthood, and property inheritance, there is nothing wrong with it.

Isn't it normal for young girls to be playful, active, and fashionable? Isn't this the embodiment of her exuberant vitality?

In this way, although through Fanny's sharp eyes, we have seen some seemingly specious things about the brother and sister again and again, I still choose to turn a blind eye, be fascinated by them like Edmund, and try every possible reason to justify them, until Henry and Maria eloped, and Mary wrote to Fanny to try to cover up and make up for the scandal,

I was still on Mary’s side emotionally, and read the passage Mary accused Fanny of:

“She ( Fanny) why not him? It's all her fault, naive girl!--I'll never forgive her. If she'd done it right, they might be getting married by now. Henry must be very happy and busy now, without thinking of others. He would not bother to see Mrs. Rushworth again. The result would be nothing more than regular annual flirting at the Sutherton and Everingham gatherings."

I even felt a little sympathetic to Henry, thinking that, as Mary said, if the steadfast and virtuous Fanny had agreed to be his wife earlier, wouldn’t it just be possible to save this lovely but unprincipled young man from the scandal? Naturally, it can be avoided.

Then came what Fanny thought when she heard the bad news:

"She thought again of Miss Crawford's strange letter, which she had read so many times that she was almost memorizing it. Yes. The cover-up of her younger brother, the attempt to cover up the scandal, and the obvious agitation in the letter all confirm the authenticity of the scandal in front of her. If there is such a woman in the world, how dare she Miss Crawford is the woman who would trifle with such a colossal crime, and try to cover it up, in order to escape the inevitable."

If those words weren't clear enough, Lionel Trilling's comment on this couldn't be more explicit:

"His (Henry's) role requires him to remove Maria from a marriage devoid of joy. freed her and placed her in a life of idle indulgence. His sister's refusal to acknowledge the event as having any moral importance conclusively demonstrated her lack of seriousness. We first thought that It should be the modern people's point of view that refuses to condemn sex and sexual freedom, but it is not. Because what is to be condemned here is not the sexual activity itself, but the sexual activity as a game, a drama, or personal will, The expression of personality, or the symbol of power, prestige, and autonomy, in short, is the use of sexual activity as an act and insincere activity. It is this use of sexual activity that caused D.H. It’s child’s play.”

These words were like a slap in the face, and every word and every word seemed to be accusing me, which made me feel ashamed.

Only then did I clearly see that Fanny was not what I always thought she was, just a country girl who was reserved and rigid and would only obey her cousin? She had meticulous observation and judgment, and her kind and soft-hearted nature saved her from being Mean, she can stick to the principles not because of a simple mind but a real character.

This valuable virtue is repeatedly emphasized by the author from beginning to end, but I think it is just a moral advantage imposed by the author on the protagonist and ignored it.

Like all smart people, I am used to playing tricks on big and small occasions to avoid responsibility and escape punishment, and I think that those who stick to principles and are willing to sacrifice for principles are either simple-minded, boring, or deep-minded and have other plans.

When did I no longer really believe in the existence of truly wise and resolute people? I looked at the Crawford brothers and sisters’ words and deeds with approval and even admired their frivolous cleverness.

I always felt that they were like that. It's pretty and cute, and it's okay to be a little naughty, right? It's okay to be a little willful, right? It's okay to be a little deviant, right? The moral bottom line retreats again and again in the face of charm until a big mistake is made and there is no way to retreat.

In fact, if you really look into it carefully, when they talk about hurting other people's feelings and take pleasure in it, they are so understated, and when they ask others to be responsible for their crimes, they are so natural.

With such deep-rooted selfishness, domineering and irresponsible sense, how can it be a " The evaluation of "cute" can be mixed up?

Lionel Trilling's comment on Mary's image is very pertinent:

"When we first read "Mansfield Park", those words that Mary said sounded pleasant, but when we read them again, those words lost their luster. We began to feel that there was something unpleasant in her tone, which was insincerity. Austen was the first writer to express this modern bad quality. This kind of Insincerity is different from the hypocrisy of earlier writers. Mary's intention was not to deceive the world, but to comfort herself; she played the woman she thought she should be. When we are attracted by her charming performance We also see through her moral role at the time, but we are disturbed that she thinks it is necessary. Mary Crawford is the first modern type, that is, a carefully cultivated sensitivity The glorious image of a man of virtue, virtue, and intelligence.”

Looking back and thinking about myself, I couldn’t help feeling more ashamed. As a modern person, while blatantly denouncing this materialistic society, he is always ready to surrender to various desires.

In the world in the book, there is a final bottom line that cannot be retreated, and there is also a recognized moral standard. What about in real life? Bragging, lying, cohabitation, and elopement seem to be nothing nowadays.

We have already half-heartedly admitted that violence can be beautiful, pornography can be beautiful, fragmentation can be beautiful, chaos can be beautiful, and all behaviors are beautiful.

With a plausible excuse, it's just waiting for someone to get a chance to practice it. Do we really still have that thread in our hearts telling us that there are certain things that we must not do and must not think about? Can we really tell the difference between crime and sin?

Looking back at "Mansfield Park", it seems that I am not as impatient as I was at the beginning. "When our anger at Mansfield Park dies down, we may discover how dearly it speaks to the unspeakable secret desires of our hearts."

It has no Pride and Prejudice It is not as clear-cut as "Sense and Sensibility", not as generous as "Emma", nor as humorous as "Northanger Abbey".

However, it is its obscurity and stagnation that make it unique. The ambiguous and hard-to-define characters make us hesitate. It is a book that people can never underestimate even if they don't like it.

Mansfield Park's Book Reviews

"Mansfield Park" (Mansfield Park) is not Jiaojiaoer, no matter when it first came out, or now, it is often neglected and criticized more than it is praised.

If you browse the Amazon website casually, the number of people interested in it is completely incomparable. Jane Austen's Pride, Reason, and Emma.

I didn't like it at first, the heroine is weaker than ever, the hero is vacillating, and the plot is too long.

I browsed an interview-type book review by ASByatt before and singled out this story as "the most sympathetic"-although for several other female authors, she chose a different perspective.

I was influenced by her, and I was born On the other hand, looking at what she said, it started like a fairy tale, and I immediately associated it with Cinderella, the root word "Cinder" of "Cinderella", which condensed Fanny's gray life, which couldn't be more appropriate.

Opening the black-skinned penguin that had been in the cabinet for a long time, I reread "Man" almost verbatim, including brief notes and version changes.

The first sentence of almost all review articles is "This is the first work of Jane Austen in her mature period".

That alone is a huge amount of information. The so-called "maturity" is actually on the verge of death, so it is even more precious in the author's career.

Between maturity and youth, there is a sudden stop for nearly ten years, which consumes a quarter of life.

If you look back with a simple and obsessive mentality, it is simply too extravagant to waste.

During this period of time, not only did she stop writing, but her letter paper was also scarce. It is difficult for future generations to guess, and it is difficult to grasp it accurately.

She has experienced relocation, bereavement of her father, refusal of marriage, poverty, squeeze, away from the beloved writing desk given to her by her father, and still never has even a moment of alone space.

I have always wondered if Austin would not have returned to the world of writing if the manuscripts at the bottom of the box hadn’t been published and even sold like hotcakes.

The first volume of "Man" is quite a bit like the wax torch turning into ashes and tears before drying up, especially because of the lingering smoke, which makes the air cold and lonely.

Chapter XVI deals with the East Wing of Mansfield Park. Fanny's bedroom is in the attic, and the small hall in the East Wing was originally a study room for her and her two cousins to attend classes.

Abandoned for a long time, it was picked up by Fanny. The girls were afraid that they would lose their dignity by claiming the small room and disliked the rule of their aunt, Mrs. Norris, that they could not live alone for Fanny. Every time the hostess, Mrs. Bertram, talked about this room, it was as if the most luxurious room in the Mansion.

Therefore, to Fanny, it is like infinite kindness. Austin only said a few words, explaining the complexity behind a hut. If the walls could talk, they would probably not only vomit air-conditioning but also pantothenic water.

Then, she went on to say what it meant to Fanny, referring to the plants she planted, the books she collected, the scrolls she wrote, and "her writing desk", and on the day after she suffered unprecedented misunderstanding and slander, she It is such a circle of still life silently waiting for her and comforting her.

After reading this, it is hard for me not to think of Austen herself who survived in the cracks, so that behind the statement, I don’t know if she sympathizes with Fanny more, or she is purely self-harming, envious that she still has the possibility to live in peace.

The words that followed were filled with blood and tears:

...though her motives had been often misunderstood, her feelings disregarded, and her comprehension undervalued; though she had known the pains of tyranny, of ridicule, and neglect, yet almost every recurrence of either had led to something consolatory...

The word "recurrence" used on this occasion can be described as dangerous and bitter.

The low pressure spreads throughout the book, and finally cannot be reborn. On the surface, Fanny is not hot enough, not as clever and brave as any of the early heroines, and her appearance is only barely delicate.

Like Miss Ann in "Persuasion" later, she is used to swallowing blood and suffering and does not easily show her heart. Far more than contention.

Does this return to the traditional negative acceptance of fate, and even the image of some old-fashioned virtues, imply the helplessness of reality to some extent? No matter "old girl", "inaction", or "death to die", none of them are not heart-piercing.

The tone of "Man" is relatively heavy, and "Persuasion" is darker. In terms of writing, the author has partially given up describing the plot with dialogue and describes the inner heart of the characters very realistically, and bites the related parties, such as the room mentioned above.

Get everything covered. When you continue to penetrate people's hearts instead of delaying the story, the dimension of the novel is actually greatly expanded.

As we all know, Jane Austen is good at portraying small characters, especially villains. "Man" is no exception.

I even think that the greatest joy of reading is watching this group of sad and angry lives.

Not to mention that the Bertram family of Mansfield Manor has a strict father and a cold mother, with proud children (except Edmund), and a Mrs. Norris who is jumping up and down.

Aunt Nuo was the one who proposed to adopt Fanny at first and was the one who kept talking about everything, but she dismissed it when the little girl came, because it took her too much energy to take care of Mr. Norris, and it was impossible to spend extra money.

After her husband passed away, she moved to a small house nearby. For a while, she said that she was secretly happy because she was economically economical and that she was terribly stingy when she lost her widow.

At this time, she once again declined the responsibility of raising Fanny, and the reason happened to also involve "a room".

She did reserve it, but it was only for staying guests, and it could never be used for Fanny's long-term stay, because she had been working so hard for so many years and her body was broken.

If you drop it, how can you be disturbed by others? Aunt Nuo's inconsistency, selfishness, ungratefulness, and super cheeky, super self-feeling are the pinnacle of Austen's Facebook. It seems that she is like a female version of Mr. Collins.

The above slanders Fanny extremely, and she just said: "...but I shall think her a very obstinate, ungrateful girl, if she does not do what her Aunt, and Cousins wish her -- very ungrateful indeed, considering who and what she is."

The capitalization of the two nouns here, I don't think it's because of the proper title, but because of her tyrannical tone and superiority in psychology, at the end, she scolded Fanny "forgot my name, what is it?" Things", as if hearing his voice, he was so mean that it made people back away.

With these people sitting in town, could Fanny not sink into the deepest and most heavily curtained recesses of the courtyard? People under the eaves, how can they not bow their heads, open their mouths to think about the consequences, shut up and observe their expressions, and carefully understand the general situation.

It is not without reason that she has an extremely tough and subdued personality.

Another character who writes very little, Mr. Rushworth, the wealthy son-in-law caught by Miss Bertram, is very humorous. He gives people the impression of a fat and rich second generation. Apart from being vain, he likes to play with a little sensitivity and temper.

Whenever he encounters cold, releases pigeons, takes off the rich man's mask, and is bloody and injured, he attracts sympathy. The highlight of the book is the rehearsal of the family version of Lovers Vow, and Mr. Rushworth, as a quasi-family member, also participated.

His famous saying, "My lines are forty-two lines", appears several times, "Forty and two", emphasizing the difficulty and his achievements, it is also used to persuade others to win, even when Edmund finally Gives in, Austin left a message for Mr. Rushworth: He offered to count the lines for Edmund. So cute.

I seldom ask other people's opinions when I read books, especially Austen's works. Occasionally, I saw someone face to face, "Austin has never been married all his life, and he still writes about men and women who love to talk about marriage" and so on.

After being stunned, apart from disdain, he really couldn't think of retaliation. Of course, some senior Jane fans have written a book to specifically deny the premise of this accusation, even if they are not married, it does not mean that they have no love.

But I have always been too lazy to turn over old papers, so why bother to turn over old papers, I can't help "relying on it or not", I just need to see whether her writing is "good or not" if it is profound, then I have to write, why not? The not-so-famous emotional story "Man" is an example of thousands of twists and turns.

The heroes and heroines are different from any other book. They are neither love at first sight nor friends at first sight. The opening chapter is not enough to stimulate male hormones.

Edward's sweetheart was not Fanny, he asked her what she thought of Miss Crawford, Austin wrote a rather cruel sentence:

"Having formed her mind and gained her affections, he had a good chance of her thinking like him; though at this period, and on this subject there began now to be some danger of dissimilarity, for he was in a line of admiration of Miss Crawford, which might lead him where Fanny could not follow."

Especially "having formed her mind ", like a death sentence, because he already possessed it psychologically and knew it like the back of his hand, Edmund couldn't immediately like Fanny, and her feelings were destined to go to hell for a while.

Obtaining the consensus of his own body is precisely to set up another challenge that really arouses his desire, so he essentially chooses to ignore such an easy consensus (even if it is insightful).

A man's emotional desire to conquer and fight, the new and the old are clearly out-matched, just this one sentence is already flesh and blood, deep-rooted three points. It is true that Edmund was far from imperfect, but quite realistic.

Later, when he and Miss Crawford acted as lovers, they each came to the East Wing to find Fanny to match their lines. Turn, grease what a rich hedge. Another example is Mr. Crawford who is an abusive lover, Mr. Rushworth who is a lover, and the Bertram sisters who deceive each other.

Miss Jane not only understands love but also understands human nature. Never pull up the fig leaf. For someone who writes so thoroughly, she is no longer qualified. I really wonder who is more appropriate.

"Man" stopped following the footsteps of the owner Sir Thomas. When the curtain falls with a thud, the viewer will be in suspense. This is also a wonderful pen.

Excerpts from the original text: Mansfield Park

I simply replied that I wished her good luck with all my heart, and sincerely hoped that she would soon learn to see things impartially, and not have to learn the most valuable thing we can all learn by hard lesson—knowing yourself, and Knowing my responsibilities, I walked out after speaking. ---Quoted from Chapter Sixteen of Volume Three

Time always works out some tricks between people's intentions and results, both for their own education and for the amusement of their neighbors. ---Quoted from Chapter 17 of Volume Three

Conclusion: Mansfield Park by Jane Austen

I'm glad that Pride and Prejudice didn't stop me from trying Austen, it's definitely the most unexpected novel I've read in months.

This roundabout but rigorous, lengthy but not boring language seems to be based on a complete symbol system, but it also has a very mysterious magic.

Jane Austen's insight into people's hearts (or human nature, although I think it is more difficult to observe people's hearts) is so precise and subtle that it will not lose its charm in any era.

Such novels can only be written by women. Although the ending is very abrupt, I have already guessed it, but it doesn't matter, because the plot is really the most important thing in this novel.

The descriptions of the twists and turns of interpersonal relationships are too real and detailed. It is estimated that the older you are, the more you will feel the same.

Jane Austen's language style sometimes confuses me, especially those sentences with double and triple negatives in a single sentence, which makes my head hurt.

People who hold Kindle and lie under the quilt before going to bed to read it say their hearts are very tired.

The Queen's Gambit by Walter Tevis

2023-03-18T21:59:00.012+06:00

Book Review: The Queen's Gambit by Walter Tevis

The Queen's Gambit is a novel about an orphan named Beth Harmon who discovers her love for chess, which helps her escape her surroundings.

She had a natural gift to envision the game and go through all its permutations in her head. Beth became so good at the game that she started entering local tournaments and quickly wiped all her competitors before becoming the first state and then the American chess champion.

As Beth's skill continued to grow, her ultimate goal was to travel to Russia and become the world chess champion. She becomes addicted to tranquilizers and battles with alcohol addiction.

Despite her aloofness and social awkwardness, Beth was a fascinating character who kept readers rooting for her throughout the book.

It is a story of resilience and self-discovery, with the game of chess serving as a vehicle for Beth's personal growth.

The author provides intricate details about chess games and tournaments that may seem daunting to some, but the engaging and fast-paced narrative keeps readers hooked till the end.

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About the Author: Walter Tevis

Walter Tevis (1928-1984)

Walter Travis was an American novelist and short story writer. Born in San Francisco, he was taken to the Stanford Children's Rehabilitation Center by his parents at the age of 11 and reunited with his parents in Kentucky a year later.

While a student at the University of Kentucky, Tevis worked at a pool hall and published a report on the sport for an English class.

While teaching in a small-town middle school, he began to write short stories. He once taught at Ohio University for a long time. Died of lung cancer.

He later rekindled his love of billiards in the novels "The Prodigal Son" (1959) and "The Color of Money" (1984), both of which were adapted into multiple award-winning films starring Paul Newman.

Among his other works, "THE MAN WHO FELL TO EARTH" (1963) and "MOCKINGBIRD" (1980) are considered science fiction masterpieces. Tevez died in 1984.

A total of 7 novels and many short stories have been written. The works have been translated into nearly 40 languages and adapted into many film and television works, which have been widely acclaimed.

Three of them have been adapted into films with considerable weight in the history of film, and these three are "The Prodigal Son", "The True Colors of Money" (directed by Martin), and "The Man From Space".

Here are some other popular books by Walter Tevis:

Is THE QUEEN'S GAMBIT Based on a TRUE STORY?

Beth Harmon is based on a blend of real chess prodigies including Bobby Fischer in the Queen's Gambit's acknowledgments. Teves wrote that he was inspired by grandmasters Robert Fisher, Boris Spassky, and Anatoly Karpov all of them were active in the chess scene in the 60s.

When writing the novel remarkably those figures don't appear in the book or the show because they're incorporated into the fictional characters of them all of Beth's career parallels. Bobby Fischer was born into a poor Jewish family in Brooklyn. Fisher rose to become a household name through the game of chess his list of achievements resembles Beth Harmon's.

According to The Guardian, Fisher was the most youthful u.s master at 14 years and five months the youngest candidate for the world championship at 15 years and 6 months, and the youngest international grandmaster in his time.

Beth and Fisher have more similarities in addition to being teenage talents both studied Russian to prepare for playing there. won the championship trophy in 1967. Both were tormented by inner demons by drugs and mental illness. Both were self-sufficient as teenagers and actually, that's where the similarities end.

By the end of the queen's gambit, you'll learn a little more about chess but a lot more about human nature and what people can overcome. this is why ultimately it doesn't matter that the queen's gambit is not based on a true story it's based on a universal one.

Excerpts from the original text

Chess isn't always 'competitive,' she said.
----Quoted from page 94

"It talks about the orphanage." Beth had bought her own copy.
"And it gives one of my games. But it's mostly about my being a girl."
"Well, you are one."
"It shouldn't be that important, "Beth said."They didn't print half the things I told them. They didn't tell about Mr. Shaibel. They didn't say anything about how I play the Sicilian."
" But, Beth, "Mrs. Wheatley said, "it makes you a celebrity!"
Beth looked at her thoughtfully," For being a girl, mostly," she said.
----Quoted from page 95

Book Summary: The Queen's Gambit by Walter Tevis

The Queen's Gambit by American best-selling author Walter Tevez is a literary work with the theme of "chess". The characters and stories in it are fictional, and it is a fictional novel.

Walter Tevez is a chess player, and he received direct corrections and guidance from many international grandmasters when writing this book, which undoubtedly raised the text in the fictional novel "Queen's Gambit" to the level of professional chess knowledge. level.

If you are not a chess player or a chess lover, but chance has opened it for you, then you must cherish it. It is not only a book about "playing chess", but also a book that allows us to "play chess" in the process. A book that explores the wisdom of life.

"Life is like chess, and the foresight wins." The "chess game" we talk about, on the surface, seems to be a game of chess pieces held by two people on the board, but in fact, it is a game constructed by two different brains according to different ideas.

This kind of contest of mental strength is even more a contest with our own mind because sometimes the opponent is not the other party, but ourselves.

"chess game" = "miracle". The protagonist in "The Queen's Gambit" - Beth, is a little girl who lost her parents at the age of eight and lived in an orphanage, and then was adopted by a less healthy family.

For example, Josh Shipp, a well-known youth expert, once said of himself: "I have lived in an orphanage since I was a child. I will be a person who achieves nothing in the future, and will even bring a lot of danger to the world."

In terms of probability, a child who lived in an orphanage and was adopted by a "stranger" has a high probability of a mediocre or miserable life in the future, and may even be harmful to the world.

Beth was most likely one of those people too, but she made it to success. In the competition field that belonged only to men at that time—chess—step by step to the top of the chess game, he became a world-class chess master who came out of the basement of the orphanage. "The Queen's Gambit" is such a work that writes that life as humble as dust can create miracles.

The more persistent a genius is, the closer he is to a genius. Beth is very talented in chess, since the day the teacher asked her to go to the basement to clean the blackboard eraser, her fate has been connected with chess.

When in the basement of the orphanage, he won the first game against the stubborn and prejudiced handyman——Xa Beier—and defeated Xia Beier, who was both the first teacher and the first opponent, and his life began.

Hanging, so Beth, who came out of the basement of the orphanage, wrote her legendary "chess skills" life on the chess circuit. The chess competitions described in the book are thrilling and exciting.

Even if I don’t understand the rules and procedures, I can fully feel the murderous spirit on the chessboard, a battlefield where there seems to be no gunpowder...

There is a sentence in "Big Fish and Begonia": "Life is used to create miracles, so you might as well be bolder and bolder."

Beth was once confused and helpless on the way to boldly pursue her "miracle" life, with tears, and loneliness; but there are also visions, helping hands, laughter, and companionship.

Bring hope when you are helpless, watch for warmth when you are lonely, and look forward to guidance when you are confused. Who of us in the world is not like this?

The Queen's Gambit only covers Beth's 19-year-old life. The final race in the book is in Moscow. She defeated all the top players in the Soviet chess world and finally won. But two years after the victory at this time, she will participate in the more intense competition for the world championship.

The end of this competition is the beginning of the next promotion. Our "way of life" is the same as "the way of chess", which belongs to the brave and wise, and it will not stop until the end of life.

Share the book "The Queen's Gambit" with all of you who are persistently pursuing your "dream".

Book Reviews of The Queen's Gambit by Walter Tevis

In 1939, eleven-year-old Walter Tevez was sent to the Stanford Children's Rehabilitation Center by his parents. I don't know if that experience left a particularly deep impression on him.

Decades later, he fabricated a genius chess player who was sent to an orphanage.

It is a pity that the author could not imagine the popularity of the novel after it was adapted: the number of broadcasts topped the charts in more than 60 countries around the world, it won the "Emmy Award" and "Golden Globe Award", and the original works have repeatedly entered the "New York Times" "Bestseller list, has been translated into thirty-seven languages.

It is even more regrettable that the author failed to continue the narrative talent shown in this novel. He died of lung cancer in 1984 and was buried in Richmond, Kentucky, where the story of "The Queen's Gambit" took place.

When Walter was young, he worked in a billiard hall and wrote a report on the sport of billiards. He has published six novels in his life, almost all of which are wonderful.

The 1959 debut novel "The Hustler" ( The Hustler ) was adapted into a movie and was nominated for an Oscar. It was a story about billiards. A second novel, The Man Who Fell to Earth, followed in 1963, a sci-fi discussion of culture clashes, and a film of the same name starring rock star David Bowie.

The debut sequel "The Color of Money" ( The Color of Money ) attracted Martin Scorsese to direct himself and helped star Paul Newman win the only Oscar statuette in his career. It is another story about billiards.

Therefore, the debate on the adaptation of novels to film and television may be a false proposition. When a story is good enough, it is very likely that film and television will be forced to reduce points. When a novel happens to be very suitable for adaptation, it is enough for the main creative team to present the original content as it is, such as "Queen's Gambit".

Story

Beth, the heroine of the novel, entered the orphanage at the age of eight and met Deardorf, the dean, Jolanie, and Chapelle, the handyman. Chapelle taught her to play chess, Gioranne taught her to hide the sedatives issued by the orphanage, and Deerdorf stopped issuing addictive sedatives. Already addicted, Beth was caught stealing the drug and was forced to stop learning chess.

Four or five years later, the Whitleys adopted Beth. But Mr. Whitley abandoned his wife and daughter and left without saying goodbye, leaving the mother and daughter in trouble.

Relying on her talent and diligence, Beth went to various parts of the United States to participate in competitions, win bonuses, and lived a prosperous life.

The genius girl was invincible until she met Benny, the number one man in America. Benny was about as strong as she was, and the two tied for the national championship.

At that time, the international chess world was dominated by the Soviets, and it was generally believed that it was impossible for an American player to beat the Soviets for decades.

After graduating from high school, Beth began to attack Borgov, the king of the Soviet Union but was defeated. With the help of her boyfriend Benny, Beth started special training and went to Paris to challenge Borgov again, but she was still defeated.

After returning, Beth fell into deep self-doubt, broke up with Benny, drank heavily all day long, and couldn't extricate herself from drug addiction.

It is her childhood friend who finally pulls her out of the abyss: through Deerdorf, Beth finds Britney. The two attended Chapelle's funeral together. Revisiting the old place, Beth regained her original intention and finally defeated Borgov in the international competition in Moscow and won the championship.

Beth in the novel does not have a real character prototype. But she has gathered the shadows of several chess players, such as the American chess player Fischer who fought against the entire Soviet army alone, Minchik, the first women's world champion, or Polgar, the highest-ranked women's player in history. But in my personal opinion, Beth is more like Yang Guo or Wu Qingyuan.

Walter Twiss wrote a story with an oriental martial arts flavor. An orphan enters strange surroundings and grows up in fear and anger.

Fortunately, the protagonist has some kind of talent, and an understanding of martial arts or chess skills, and meets the guidelines, the orderly in the basement, or the grave keeper in the ancient tomb. Since then, the orphan has continued to hone his skills, facing opponents one after another, experiencing setbacks one after another, and becoming a peerless master.

In addition, there are frequent descriptions of chess players drinking and taking drugs in the story, which can't help but remind us of the ancient "Wei and Jin romances".

The plot of "The Queen's Gambit" perfectly fits the structure of a Hollywood commercial film: the characters appear at a low tide, change their fate in about one-third of the way, and then rise all the way up until they encounter a strong enemy in one-half, and then continue to decline. It fell into a trough at two-thirds and finally rose against the trend, forming a happy ending.

In 2008, Joker actor Heath Ledger wanted to make this story into a movie, but unfortunately, he couldn't make it. Until 2020, Netflix made this 14-section feature into a seven-episode web series, which eventually conquered hundreds of millions of viewers.

In addition to the fact that the concept of the novel is suitable for film and television, the key to its popularity all over the world is due to the objective and emotional female perspective.

Feminism

"The Queen's Gambit" was once famous for its "feminism". Paradoxically, former Soviet chess grandmaster Nona Gaprindashvili sued the web series for "sexism and historical inaccuracy."

Because it was said in the play that Nona Gaprindashvili is only a female world champion and has not defeated a man. This statement is false: Nona has played against many chess masters and won against many men.

In the end, this lawsuit caused a loss of five million US dollars to Netflix, the producer, which was harvested and lost.

The success of "The Queen's Gambit" lies in its ruthless deconstruction of the routine of love between men and women. The heroine's mother, who was a doctor of mathematics, chose to commit suicide after being abandoned by her lover.

Beth's adoptive mother, who lost first her husband and then her longtime pen pal, died suddenly of pneumonia after her relationship withered.

Young women have already seen through everything in the patriarchal society: in the online drama, Beth’s first love’s sexual orientation is unclear; in the novel, the adoptive father backtracks and asks Beth for a high price for buying a house.

Even his confidant Benny, when he learned that Beth didn't want to go to New York to get together, quickly put on a cold face, ignored his girlfriend, and even didn't want to help her through the financial difficulties after buying a house.

The biggest difference between the film and television versions of "The Queen's Gambit" and the novel may lie in the more delicate friendship between Beth and Joanne.

The two met with foul language and loneliness. Qiaolanni helped her integrate into the life of the orphanage through sports, talked about the relationship between men and women, and once ran to Beth's bed to enlighten her sexually. When Beth's drug addiction hits, Jolanie gives a friend her private stash of sedative pills.

Some people on the Internet have criticized Beth for thinking masculinely, using masculine ways, and intruding into men's territory to gain men's respect. It is actually a pseudo-feminist story. Probably ignoring its "women helping women" theme.

Beth's talent comes from her biological mother, Beth's growth comes from her adoptive mother, and Beth's redemption comes from Qiao Lanni. Whether it is a web drama or a novel, the heroine is not really emotional to the man.

Only the passing away of the adoptive mother and the return of Qiao Lanni really broke the heart of the heroine. All her focus is on the chessboard. This calm design of "God helps those who help themselves" is gender-neutral.

As The New Yorker put it: "If you've ever felt lost, unaccepted, or recognized, while silently yearning for a buried strength that could somehow save you, you'll love The Queen's Gambit."

Conclusion: The Queen's Gambit

It's really well-written and concise but with a tight plot. Although I don't understand chess at all, I still enjoy watching it. Maybe because the author is also a screenwriter, this book is really suitable for adapting to a TV series Or movie. Moreover, many contents in the book are really advanced, and the author is really farsighted.

If I read this book ten years ago, I would definitely use this book to write a thesis. The TV series did not waste too much pen and ink describing the emotional line, so it is actually normal to deal with it this way.

Benny is actually the male version of Beth. Both of them are very similar. Both of them have cold appearances and hard-spoken hearts.

In fact, they are afraid of loneliness and want to be accompanied by others, but neither of them wants to show it.

The casting of the TV series is really good, and Anya is also very suitable for Beth. There is a section in the novel that describes Benny's appearance.

Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe

2023-03-16T22:26:00.011+06:00

"Robinson Crusoe" is a novel by the British writer Daniel Defoe. The book was first published on April 25, 1719.

This novel is considered to be the first novel written in English in the form of a diary and enjoys the title of Britain's first realistic novel.

The main structure is: the protagonist overcomes difficulties with wisdom and bravery through personal efforts, which shows the social atmosphere of pursuing adventure and advocating personal struggle at that time.

The work mainly tells the story that the protagonist Robinson Crusoe (Robinson Crusoe) was born into a middle-class family and aspired to travel all over the world in his life.

Once encountered a storm on the way to sail in Africa, he drifted to an uninhabited desert island alone and began a life isolated from the world.

With his strong will and unremitting efforts, he survived tenaciously on the desert island. After living on the island for 28 years, 2 months, and 19 days, he was finally able to return to his hometown.

This novel was created by Defoe and inspired by a true story at that time. In September 1704, a Scottish sailor named Alexander Selkirk had a quarrel with the captain and was abandoned by the captain in the Atlantic Ocean.

After living on a desert island for 4 years and 4 months, he was rescued by Captain Woods Rogers.

Defoe took the legendary story of Selkirk as the blueprint, devoted his years of sea experience and experience to the characters, and made full use of his rich imagination for literary processing, making "Robinson" not only a primary and secondary school at that time.

He is a hero in the eyes of the bourgeoisie and has become the first idealized emerging bourgeois in Western literature.

Years after the novel was published, it has been translated into many languages and widely circulated all over the world, and has been adapted into movies and TV series many times.

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About the Author: Daniel Defoe

Daniel Defoe (Daniel Defoe 1660-1731), the father of English novels, is a groundbreaking legendary master in English literature.

Born into a wealthy merchant family in London. He is the third among three brothers and sisters, and his father ran a slaughtering business.

Defoe received a secondary education and believed in a Presbyterian denomination that was not part of the Anglican Church.

Due to family influence and Protestant school education, he had become a respectable small businessman at the age of twenty.

At the age of five or six, he experienced three major disasters in London: the plague, the fire, and the Dutch-British War. When he was about ten years old, his mother died. During school, that is a lot of reading and learning to write.

As an adult, he engaged in business activities and went bankrupt several times.

He built all his hopes in his business. He has been in the cigarette business, a middleman in underwear making, and a factory.

British capitalism, which was in the stage of primitive accumulation, brought him many benefits, carriages, housing, and a "joyful life".

However, because he believed in Protestantism, opposed the rule and oppression of the Anglican Church, published pamphlets to sting the government, and engaged in political activities, he was arrested and imprisoned in 1702.

Later, he was arrested several times, all because of his remarks, the newspapers and periodicals he ran, and the political and economic pamphlets he published.

Therefore, his life was spent in prison and bankruptcy, and he still failed to realize his ideal of becoming a big businessman and a rich man.

He paid attention to the current situation and wrote a large number of political satires and political articles.

He was convicted of writing and was imprisoned for a time. Later, he founded the "Review", which became the pioneer of the British newspaper industry.

At the age of 59, he published his first novel "Robinson Crusoe".

For the first time, with shocking realism and wonderful stories of ups and downs, the novel created a classic character in the history of world literature-adventurous, the eternal "Robinson Robinson" who is uncompromising, loves traveling, has a deep love for the sea, is devout to faith, and is extremely shrewd in business and practical affairs.

In the following 12 years, Defoe successively published many novels, poems, biographies, and other works, establishing his status as a literary master and being welcomed by readers.

In the end, he died in the hostel where he was staying because of avoiding debts.

Contents Introduction: Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe

"Robinson Crusoe," tells the story of a British sailor Robinson Crusoe in the 17th century who was not satisfied with the mediocre and comfortable life of the middle class, and went to sea many times to operate.

On a trip to Africa to traffic black slaves, he was killed at sea and fell to a deserted island.

With his indomitable tenacious will, relying on his personal wisdom and hard work, he earns food and builds houses, makes utensils and raises animals, opens up wasteland and farms, overcomes all kinds of difficulties, and finally returns to civilized society.

With an Introduction and Notes by Doreen Roberts, Rutherford College, University of Kent at Canterbury From its first publication in 1719, Robinson Crusoe has been printed in over 700 editions.

It has inspired almost every conceivable kind of imitation and variation and has been the subject of plays, operas, cartoons, and computer games.

The character of Crusoe has entered the consciousness of each succeeding generation as readers add their own interpretation to the adventures so thrillingly 'recorded' by Defoe.

Praised by eminent figures and such as Coleridge, Rousse Wordsworth, this perennially popular book was cited by Karl Marx in Das Kapital to illustrate economic theory.

However, it is readers of all ages over the last 280 years who have given Robinson Crusoe its abiding position as a classic tale of adventure.

Character Introduction: Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe

Robinson

In the mid-17th century, Robinson Crusoe was born in a middle-class family in England. According to his father's arrangement, he could have lived a peaceful and affluent life relying on his wealthy family property.

However. Robinson, who wanted to go out for a living, became a sailor full of adventure and excitement, sailing on the rough and dangerous sea. Later, he suffered a shipwreck and was exiled to a deserted island.

In an extremely isolated situation, Robinson, an exiled British aristocrat, used the geographical orientation marks, astronomical human observations, sun shift and tidal change calculation methods, etc, and mysteries trained in the sailor era.

On the same day, he recorded his life on a deserted island and waited for the opportunity to escape from the desperate situation at any time.

Robinson rescued the cannibal boy Friday on the self-made calendar Friday. Friday was taken to the deserted island by the cannibals as a sacrificial sacrifice, and he could not return to his tribe.

As the two get along day and night, Robinson slowly changes himself into the face of a person of a different race, religion, and culture from his own, and the two develop a friendship that is both father and friend.

This friendship, which was lacking in the civilized world, became the spiritual pillar for Robinson to live on a desert island for more than 20 years.

Friday

Friday is a savage who was almost eaten by a savage from another tribe on the beach, but Robinson finally saved him. It happened to be Friday, so Robinson named him "Friday".

It is also because of the sincere friendship between them that he survived and returned to his hometown.

Friday is a simple, loyal friend and a wise brave man. He knows how to repay his kindness, is loyal and responsible, and has strong adaptability.

He and Robinson have cooperated and used different skills to spend many years on the island. Friday’s arrival made Robinson realize his dream of returning home, and he himself became Robinson's assistant.

Friday asks to be motivated and quickly integrate into the life of civilized people. He is an optimistic and lovely person.

Excerpts from the original text

Especially young people, as a rule, should follow the guidance of reason at such moments. However, they are not ashamed of sin, but of repenting; they are not ashamed of doing stupid things, but of reforming them. In fact, if they are enlightened, others will regard them as smart people.
If a person is really enlightened, he must realize that true happiness is not being saved by God from suffering but being saved from the abyss of sin.
In human emotions, there is often a mysterious driving force. Once this driving force is attracted by a certain goal, it will prompt our soul to rush towards that goal with a kind of enthusiasm and impulsiveness, no matter if it is a visible goal. It is still an invisible goal in our own mind's imagination; if we don't reach the goal, we will suffer endlessly. ---Quoted from page 26

How frequently, in the course of our lives, the evil which in itself the most dreadful to us, is often the very means or door of our deliverance, by which alone we can be raised again from the affliction we are fallen into. ---Quoted from Page 201 Wreck of a Spanish Ship

Robinson Crusoe's Book Summary

"Robinson Crusoe" is the first foreign novel I read in my memory. When I was a child, I was fascinated by it: alone! island! Adventures!

That day, I accidentally chatted about this novel with a friend, and suddenly thought, hey, why not read it again? Time has passed, maybe you can read something new?

Sure enough, reading it now, I feel that this is not only an adventure story but also a notebook of political economy in the 17th century.

Robinson went to sea in 1659 when his accident happened, and he left the isolated island in the Caribbean in 1687, which happened to be the period when the British Empire began to rise, but it had not yet fully emerged from competitors such as Spain, the Netherlands, and France.

How did Britain stand out from the crowd of colonialist countries? This is the question that another book, Empire (Naill Ferguson), tries to answer.

"At the end of the day, it's just a remote island in Northwest Europe."

His analysis: the British are better pirates than the Spaniards; they took over the Netherlands through the Glorious Revolution—Prince William of the Netherlands and Queen Mary of England co-ruled in 1689 Britain, in his view, was a reorganization of British and Dutch assets; squeezed out France through the Seven Years War-why can it beat France? Because Britain used the modern financial system earlier than France, borrowed money to fight wars, and created a new world.

These are just macro-analysis, so Robinson, who pioneered on desert islands, farmed, domesticated wild animals, and made his own production tools, what does Robinson have to do with all of this?

Max Weber has thought about this more directly than Naill Ferguson. "The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism" is essentially a rectification of the four words "capitalism" that have been stigmatized by Marx.

In his view, the driving force of the spirit of early capitalism is not—at least not only—greed, fraud, and exploitation, but the spirit of hard work, enterprise, self-denial, and these qualities, according to Weber, is rooted in Protestant ethics.

Robinson keeps reminding me of the "new man of capitalism" described by Weber. In the contemporary politically correct discourse system, the image of colonialists is often extremely evil, and the pioneering side of early colonists is often forgotten.

However, in the 17th and 18th centuries, transportation, communication, medical care, and means of production were extremely underdeveloped.

Under the current situation, those who are willing to risk their lives and leave their hometowns to make a living in wild and backward Canada, the Caribbean, and Africa are often the most industrious and brave people.

Robinson Robinson is a typical example of this group of people. When he was first exiled to an isolated island, he was poor and white, and he might die of starvation or illness at any time.

Twenty-eight years later, with his own hands, he built two "houses" and Two boats, raising a group of goats, planting cornfields, and owning their own vineyards, the hardships can be imagined.

If at the beginning readers can't help but sympathize with Robinson's doom, by the second half of the book, sympathy has gradually turned into respect-to be exact, not only a respect for him personally but also a respect for the human species. tribute.

Interestingly, Robinson's "mental journey" also fits with Weber's capitalist newcomers. Before living on an isolated island, he was mentally a libertine, but with a high fever that almost killed him, he suddenly saw God:

"Why should God save me? How can I repay his intention?"

On the isolated island The longer he stayed, the more pious his faith became, and in the end, faith became the most powerful driving force for his survival.

In this way, the encounter turned into a call, and the abandonment became saved. God closed one door for him but also opened another door. In 28 years, what he created on the isolated island was not only a house, farmland, and livestock but also a temple for pilgrimage.

In Weber's view, the reason why the spirit of capitalism emerged in Protestant countries, rather than in traditionally Catholic countries or Eastern countries, is essential because Protestant ethics first realized the unity of "righteousness and profit" in the discourse system:

"Traditionalism" shames In terms of profit, those who only seek huge profits love wealth rather than creation itself."

It is the Protestant ethics that combines hard work and wealth creation, making "self-denial and compound interest" a road to heaven.

When Robinson stayed on the island for 23 years, there was still no sign of leaving, but by then he "wouldn't mind spending the rest of his life on the island at all", because by then he had opened up a wilderness with hard work.

Island, he felt that he had lived up to God's good intentions, and he could go to heaven leisurely and whistling.

Robinson Crusoe's Book Reviews

More than 20 years ago, when I read "Robinson Crusoe", I felt that it was really fun. One person can be a king on a deserted island; now that I have re-read this book, my perception is completely different, and I appreciate it more when people are in adversity. The spirit and strength that burst forth.

The story of "Robinson Crusoe" is simple, simple, and very touching. A sailor, Robinson Crusoe, was exiled to an uninhabited desert island for 28 years because of the sinking of his ship. With nowhere to go, he began to think of ways to save himself-making rafts, building houses, growing food, raising livestock, and trying his best to fight against nature.

Relying on his own hands and wisdom, he spent decades turning this deserted island into a "Xanadu". He also bravely rescued an aboriginal "Friday" and lived with him. But when he was ready to live on a deserted island, he got an opportunity by chance and finally returned to England.

Reading this book, we can easily be moved by Robinson's spirit of self-improvement, hard work, and courage to create. But why can Robinson have this spirit? Why can a person stick to it? Today, I would like to share with you Robinson's mental journey and his own insights through some fragments in the book.

　1. The psychological monologue just after the shipwreck

　　It is true that you are alone and alone, this is a fact. But, don't you think about it, where are your companions? where did they go Were there not eleven of you when you boarded together? So where did the other ten go? Why are they dead and you are the only one left alive? Should we be strong on this isolated island, or should we go to them?

　　2. Mental balance after the exile

　　I compare the current disasters and disadvantages one by one to make myself content and safe. According to the format of business bookkeeping, I divided it into "debits" and "credits", and listed my luck and misfortune, advantages, and disadvantages fairly.

　　Misfortune: I am stranded on a deserted island, and it is hopeless to get out of this predicament; Fortune: I am the only child, and all the companions on the boat are buried in the sea;

　　Misfortune: I have no clothes to wear; Fortune: I am in the tropics, even if I have clothes, I can’t wear them. . .

　　3. Start to believe in faith

　　I don’t believe in religion, and I never restrict my behavior to religious precepts. I think everything is accidental, or simply attributed to God’s will, and I never ask for the will of the Creator and the principles governing all things in the world. But when I saw barley grow here, though the climate was unsuitable for corn, and I knew nothing about how it grew, I was naturally amazed, and it occurred to me that this could only be a miracle of God. --No one sows a seed and it produces a crop. I also thought that this is what God did to allow me to survive on this deserted island.

　　4. Feelings when I was sick

　　But now, I am sick, and the tragic situation of death is gradually presented in front of me. I have sinned so badly that I have offended God, so now God has come to punish me, to deal me with an extraordinary blow, to treat me with this kind of vengeance.

　　Thinking of this, I yelled again: "God, save me! I have nowhere to go!"

　　5. After the illness

　　I always thought of this sentence in the "Bible": "I will save you "But I deeply feel that rescue is absolutely impossible, so I dare not have any extravagant hopes for it. Just when I felt discouraged and disappointed by this kind of thought, I suddenly realized: I only wanted God to save me from the current predicament, but I didn't think that I had already been saved. So, I asked myself: Am I not saved from the disease? Isn't this a miracle?

　　6. The feeling of the first anniversary

　　From September 13th to today, I just came to the desert island for the first anniversary. This is an unfortunate day. I counted the notches on the post and found that I had been ashore for 365 days. I set this day as a day of fasting and held a religious ceremony. I knelt down on the ground with extreme piety and humility, asking God to repent of my crimes, accept his just punishment for me, and ask him to have mercy on me and forgive me through Jesus Christ. I.

　　7. Thoughts on wealth

　　Facts and experience have taught me that all things in the world are only useful and are the most precious. Anything that has accumulated too much should be given to others; what we can enjoy is at most what we can use, and it is useless to have too much.

　　8. Thoughts on Gratitude

　　I have learned to look more at the bright side of my life and less at the dark side; to think more about the enjoyment I have and less about the lack. It is hard to express the comfort I felt in this attitude. Here, I write these words, hoping that those who are not satisfied will be awakened: the reason why they cannot enjoy God's gifts comfortably is that they are always expecting and coveting what they have not yet got. I feel that our constant dissatisfaction with the lack of something comes from a lack of gratitude for what we have.

　　9. Thinking about reality

　　I began to blame myself for my temper of being unaware of happiness in the midst of blessings, blaming myself for not complaining about my lonely life. Now, I'd give anything to get me back on shore! However, ordinary mortals will never see the superiority of our original environment if we don’t personally experience a worse environment;

　　10. After saving Friday

　　God's arrangement for the world has its own will. In his governance of all things he created, on the one hand, he deprived many creatures of the world of talent and conscience, on the other hand, he still endowed They have the same abilities, the same rationality, the same emotions, the same benevolence and sense of responsibility as our civilized people, and they also endow them with the same hatred and hatred;

　　11. Discuss God and the devil with Friday

　　Asked, "Since God is stronger and more powerful than the devil, why doesn't God kill the devil so that he won't do evil again?"

I replied: God will punish the devil severely, and the devil must be punished. Judgment, and will be thrown into the bottomless abyss, endure the tempering of hellfire, and never turn over. "

　　He asked me again: "Finally, definitely, I don't understand. But why not kill the devil now? Why not kill the devil long ago? "

　　I answer:" If you ask me like this, it is tantamount to asking why God didn't kill you and me, because we also sinned against God. God keeps us to give us the opportunity to repent and to be forgiven.

　　Robinson's twenty-eight years of life on the desert island were actually thinking about the meaning of his own life and God's arrangement for his life. In the past 28 years, he has established a belief, and it is this belief that allows him to sustain and live a more fulfilling and happier life.

　　I personally don't believe in religion, but I think people need faith. Faith is not to believe in God or the Lord in a narrow sense, but to set a goal for one's own life and life, and to find a destination for one's heart.

　　Most people live hard not because they have too little material, but because they have no pursuit and no ideals and get confused. Perhaps the solution is to start with small things, find out our pursuit of life little by little, explore the meaning of life, and gradually build up our beliefs.

　　Read "Robinson Crusoe" to find the power of faith.

Theme Analysis: Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe

Struggle for Survival

The island in the work is actually England in the author’s mind. Before the Renaissance, the environment on the British Isle was so free and fascinating, but after the emergence of industry, the tranquility of the island was broken, followed by It was the chugging of machines and the din of humans.

So in addition to Robinson's enterprising spirit, another factor that attracts readers to this novel is the free environment of the island—an independent space far away from the hustle and bustle and industrial civilization.

Robinson's experience on the island represents the dream in people's hearts - with their own hands, people can also create their ideal paradise on earth.

The author not only makes a gripping description of Robinson's adventures and tribulations but more importantly, as a writer with typical emerging bourgeois consciousness, the author brings people's diligence, bravery, wisdom, and creativity to the fore in his works.

It has reached an unprecedented height, affirming the value of people. He firmly believes that human beings, as the spirit of all things, have the ability to overcome difficulties, conquer nature, and finally reach the shore of victory.

Colonial Perspective

From the perspective of post-colonial criticism, the interpretation of colonial literature on the extraterritorial world is often narrated through the identity of colonizers and explorers. Daniel Defoe's "Robinson Crusoe" is a typical example.

"Robinson Crusoe" reproduces the process of early British colonialism and imperialism expanding overseas for colonial development and building a colonial empire in the form of fables.

It is an early imperial text of European colonialism engaged in colonial practice. It reads between the lines It is full of colonialist discourse and strong imperial and colonial consciousness.

"Robinson Crusoe" is a classic text that adapts to the new trend of western historical and cultural development.

From the creative labor of human beings, it further sees the great role of human ability, so as to promote human intelligence and labor creative ability and deny The absurd theory of God being omnipotent and that God created everything.

Through Robinson Robinson's 28 years of arduous experience on the desert island, the work symbolically shows the basic trajectory of human development, thus proposing the theme of the times that labor creates history.

On the surface, this is an adventure novel, and the storyline is simple and straightforward. However, if interpreted by post-colonial critical theory, "Robinson Crusoe" reflects the idea of colonialism.

The protagonist of this novel is a typical bourgeois colonialist who settles on the desert island and colonizes the desert island.

He not only controls the entire desert island but also conquers his companions. This novel calls for the study of colonial content, and in fact, the tendency of colonialism can be seen in every aspect of this novel.

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

2023-03-11T01:32:00.038+06:00

Book Review: Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens (1812-1870) was a British novelist who created 14 novels, many novels, short stories and essays, travel notes, dramas, and sketches in his life.

"Great Expectations" (also known as "Blood and Tears") is one of Dickens's most mature works, and it is his relatively late work.

After Dickens experienced a rich life in the world, he has a deep understanding of people, the surrounding environment, and his own life experience, and all his mature thoughts and understandings are summarized in the book "Great Expectations".

"Great Expectations" is a classic novel that explores complex themes such as social class, identity, love, guilt, and redemption through the story of Pip, a young orphan who desires to become a gentleman and struggles with conflicting desires and loyalty to his humble beginnings.

The novel is skillfully written with a varied sentence structure and rich vocabulary but can present challenges for readers.

It features several strong female characters challenging traditional gender roles and critiques the rigid social hierarchy of Victorian society.

True happiness and fulfillment cannot be found through material wealth or status but must come from within.

The novel is typically studied in high school or college and takes around 12-15 hours to read.

It draws heavily on Dickens's own experiences growing up poor and exploring themes and concerns that dominated his life and work.

Book Description

An unknown benefactor provides Philip Pirrip with the chance to escape his poor upbringing. Aspiring to be a gentleman, and encouraged by his expectations of wealth, he abandons his friends and moves to London. His expectations prove to be unfounded, however, and he must return home penniless.

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About the Author: Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens was born on February 7, 1812, in Portsmouth, England, where his father was a naval pay clerk. When he was five the family moved to Chatham, near Rochester, another port town.

He received some education at a small private school but this was curtailed when his father's fortunes declined.

More significant was his childhood reading, which he evoked in memory of his father's library: 'From that blessed little room, Roderick Random, Peregrine Pickle, Humphrey Clinker, Tom Jones, The Vicar Wakefield, Don Quixote, Gil Blas, and Robinson Crusoe came out, a glorious host, to keep me company. They kept alive my fancy, and my hope of something beyond that place and time.'

When Dickens was ten the family moved to Camden Town, and this proved the beginning of a long, difficult period. (He wrote later of his coach journey, alone, to join his family at the new lodgings: 'I consumed my sandwiches in solitude and dreariness, and it rained hard all the way, and I thought life sloppier than I had expected to find it.')

When he had just turned twelve Dickens was sent to work for a manufacturer of boot blacking, where for the better part of a year he labored for ten hours a day, an unhappy experience that instilled him with a sense of having been abandoned by his family: 'No advice, no counsel, no encouragement, no consolidation, no support from anyone that I can call to mind, so help me God!'

Around the same time, Dickens's father was jailed for debt in the Marshalsea Prison, where he remained for fourteen weeks.

After some additional schooling, Dickens worked as a clerk in a law office and taught himself shorthand; this qualified him to begin working in 1831 as a reporter in the House of Commons, where he was known for the speed with which he took down speeches.

By 1833 Dickens was publishing humorous sketches of London life in the Monthly Magazine, which were collected in book form as Sketches by 'Boz' (1836).

These were followed by the publication in installments of the comic adventures that became The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club (1837), whose unprecedented popularity made the twenty-five-year-old author a national figure. In 1836 he married Catherine Hogarth, who would bear him ten children over a period of fifteen years.

Dickens's energies enabled him to lead an active family and social life, including an indulgence in elaborate amateur theatricals while maintaining a literary productiveness of astonishing proportions.

He characteristically wrote his novels for serial publication and was himself the editor of many of the periodicals—Bentley, The New'sHousehold Words, All the Year Round—in which they appeared.

Among his close associates were his future biographer John Forster and the younger Wilkie Collins, with whom he collaborated on fictional and dramatic works.

In rapid succession he published Oliver Twist (1838), Nicholas Nickleby (1839), The Old Curiosity Shop (1841), and Barnaby Rudge (1841), sometimes working on several novels simultaneously.

Dickens's celebrity led to a tour of the United States in 1842. There he met Longfellow, Irving, Bryant, and other literary figures, and was received with an enthusiasm that was dimmed somewhat by the criticisms Dickens expressed in his American Notes (1842) and in the American chapters of Martin Chuzzlewit (1844).

The appearance of A Christmas Carol in 1843 sealed his position as the most widely popular writer of his time; it became an annual tradition for him to write a story for the season, of which the most memorable was The Chimes (1844) and The Cricket on the Hearth (1845).

He continued to produce novels at only a slightly diminished rate, publishing Dombey and Son in 1848 and David Copperfield in 1850; his books, he wrote to Forster: 'If I were to say half of what Copperfield makes me feel tonight how strangely, even to you, I should be turned inside out! I seem to be sending some part of myself into the Shadowy World.'

From this point on his novels tended to be more elaborately constructed and harsher and less buoyant in tone than his earlier works.

These late novels include Bleak House (1853), Hard Times (1854), Little Dorrit (1857), A Tale of Two Cities (1859), and Great Expectations (1861). Our Mutual Friend, published in 1865, was his last completed novel, and perhaps the most somber and savage of them all.

Dickens had separated from his wife in 1858—he had become involved a year earlier with a young actress named Ellen Ternan—and the ensuing scandal had alienated him from many of his former associates and admirers. He was weakened by years of overwork and by a near-fatal railroad disaster during the writing of Our Mutual Friend.

Nevertheless, he embarked on a series of public readings, including a return visit to America in 1867, which further eroded his health. A final work, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, a crime novel much influenced by Wilkie Collins, was left unfinished upon his death on June 9, 1870, at the age of 58.

Excerpts from the original text

For me, this day is the day of a lifetime because it caused a huge change in me. Whoever lives such a day will never forget it. Please put yourself in your shoes and think about it, if you have such an unusual day in your life, how different it will be from the usual one! Readers, please put down the book for a while and think about it, whether the long chain of life is made of gold, iron, thorns, or flowers, if it is not for you Get your hands on that first ring one day that you'll never forget, and you'll never live a life like this at all. -----Quoted from page 108

Pip, dear old chap, life is made of ever so many partings welded together, as I may say, and one man's a blacksmith, and one's a whitesmith, and one's a goldsmith, and one's a coppersmith. Divisions among such must come and must be met as they come. If there's been any fault at all today, it's mine. You and I are not two figures to be together in London; nor yet anywhere else but what is private, and be known, and understood among friends. It ain't that I am proud, but that I want to be right, as you shall never see me no more in these clothes. I'm wrong about these clothes. I'm wrong out of the forge, the kitchen, or of the meshes. You won't find half so much fault in me if you think of me in my forge dress, with my hammer in my hand, or even my pipe. You won't find half so much fault in me if, supposing as you should ever wish to see me, you come and put your head in at the forge window and see Joe the blacksmith, there, at the old anvil, in the old burnt apron, sticking to the old work. I'm awful dull, but I hope I've beat out something nigh the rights of this at last. And so GOD bless you, dear old Pip, old chap, GOD bless you!' ----Quoted on page 175

Heaven knows we need never be ashamed of our tears, for they are rain upon the blinding dust of the earth, overlying our hard hearts. I was better after I had cried than before - more sorry, more aware of my own gratitude, more gentle. -----Quoted from page 124

We are all human beings, so often, in order to guard against those we despise most, we end up committing the most despicable deeds. -----Quoted on page 242

Book Reviews of Great Expectations

A vast and exquisite picture of British society, a stack of heavy and complicated figures and relationships, and a field of fate full of bizarre coincidences, Dickens closely combines the grand theme with the meticulous narrative with his superb skills, thick brushstrokes, and agile thoughts, created a group of characters with distinctive personalities and unique temperaments, created various grotesque scenes and tense atmospheres, and revealed a clear understanding of society and profound criticism.

Immersed in the witty and wonderful descriptions of the novel, wandering in the ups and downs of sorrow and joy, lingering in the mysterious and weird associations and images, I experienced the baptism of my heart in the storm of the times in a small boat. Perception is like a bouquet of clear springs, flowing slowly, calmly, and sad.

A disillusioned future

When a great future falls from the sky, and destiny is about to turn into a magnificent and splendid future, who wouldn't be moved?

Pip was fortunate to receive such a gift. He leaped from a low-class person to a high-class life circle. Changes in his heart and attitude towards life were inevitable.

His heart was slowly eroded by wealth and superiority, and he began to ignore the kind Joe. and Biddy and began to pursue his love with the self-confidence of a gentleman. In the Victorian era, the concept of social class was deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.

The fear and humbleness of the poor, the arrogance and pickiness of the upper class, and the flattery of the middle class are vividly displayed in the novel. As Pip's heart deteriorated and his attitude towards life changed, the cruel truth began to surface.

When Pip learned that he was sponsored by the fugitive Magwitch to become an upper-class man, his inner gratitude and pride were completely shattered. He realized that he had no good luck or great prospects.

The witch was a tool for retaliating against society and retaliating against the upper class, and he fell into deep contradictions and pain.

On the one hand, Pip has squandered a lot of money after accepting Magwitch's funding, got used to the life of the upper class, and can never return to the original simple and happy life.

As a person who has lost touch with the past, Magwitch must be helped out of danger to continue living in this world.

On the other hand, Magwitch is an important fugitive. Pip harbors him and deports him. If he is caught, the consequences will be unimaginable. Pip will lose everything and his future will be completely destroyed. Disillusioned. Pip chose to repay and give back in a sense, helping Magwitch escape.

In fact, no matter how he chooses, there is nowhere to put his inner expectations. He knows that the future can only be fragmented.

If he continues to accept funding from a fugitive or returns to an inferior person, his poor self-esteem will be completely destroyed, but he He had no choice but to choose the more appropriate path of the two with his remaining selfishness and conscience.

In the end, great expectations are still shattered without a trace, Magwitch is arrested, Pip falls into great panic and anxiety, and he has a high fever. For Pip, this high fever is a return, with a strong symbolic meaning.

This high fever burned his fantasy and burned the decadent and vulgar ideas of high society in his mind. After the high fever subsided, Pip woke up from the dream of "great expectations" he pursued and returned to the living reality from the castle in the air.

The high fever is like an external destructive force, tearing off the vines that grow around Pip so that he can restore the freedom and liberation of his original mind, obtain the return of kindness, and his spirit can be liberated and sublimated.

Returning to his hometown, the duckweed-like Pip finally had a sense of belonging and found his spiritual home - the small village where he was born and raised, the simple and kind Joe, and the real life.

Disillusioned love.

When he was a blacksmith, Pip kept his love for Estella hidden in his heart. This kind of love existed only as a fantasy and extravagance. When he entered the upper class, he bid farewell to the rude old days.

His temperament, conversation, and appearance have taken on a new look. He has successfully found his own position from the huge changes. He has no doubt that he will be a person with a bright future, so he sublimates his love into equality, a natural existence, and Sincerely believe that the combination of him and Estella is destined.

As the intricate truths are dissected one by one, this emotion runs through the entire novel as the lifeline that appears and disappears from time to time. Just looking at the development and final outcome of this emotion can dig out the huge influence and contradictions of the social environment. difficult choice. Pip's love for Estella has always been sincere and warm.

When he was a teenager, he had low self-esteem, and when he was an adult, he was not confident whether Estella could fall in love with him, so he always had humble sensitivity and delicate care.

Emotions are completely controlled by Estella, and the little warmth she bestows on him is regarded as a treasure by him. As the years went by, seeing that his love still had no results, Pip began to jump out of the fanaticism of love and think about the reasons for his failure.

He saw Estella who didn't know how to love, who was distorted by revenge, From this, he knew that his love for Estella was futile, so he gave up struggling.

The most tragic truth is that Estella is actually the daughter of Magwitch, a prisoner and a desperate person who abandoned the blood of time. Her noble pride and humble origin form a strong contrast, which makes people unable to help Shocked by this fact.

The most wonderful technique of Dickens is to connect the huge intertwined links into a perfect sea route map. The fate of every character is closely related, and the joys and sorrows of every life are by no means accidental.

When Pip learned about Estella's birth and heart, he was undoubtedly involved in the core of the vortex of contradictions. His emotions towards the Magwitch father and daughter were extremely complicated.

They changed his life and gave him hope. and destroy all things. After a storm, people cherish the calm more than anything else. Kindness, simplicity, simplicity, these are the ones that can withstand the washing of the wind and waves, and these are the ones that shine brightly after the ups and downs of a lifetime.

Although love is disillusioned, Pip found himself and became friends with Estella. He deeply realized that everyone is facing countless problems, and they are lonely and painful.

Remaining warmth

In the vicissitudes of the world, the edges and corners of many people are constantly being worn away, tending to be smooth and soft pebbles.

No matter how much resistance screams in the heart, the arc of the smile at the corner of the mouth is always appropriate. People have learned the game of the world Rules, if not all-in, are dressed up.

In Britain in the 1850s and 1860s, social problems were constantly beating people's lives like dense drums. The decadent capitalist system swept people's consciences, lazy parliament, complicated ruling institutions, complacent bourgeoisie, and money The ruling power of the people is lost in this terminally ill society.

In such a decadent age, Joe and Biddy, Herbert, and Wemmick also experienced washing, but they gave us the last warmth and comfort with their kind character and rich heart.

Although Joe is a little cowardly and inferior as an inferior person, he keeps his duty, takes good care of Pip and his wife, and gets along with others with the gentlest heart and kindest words.

He is the most natural and lovely person. Biddy is hard-working, studious, kind and honest, and good at listening. There is a continuous maternal breath in her body, which makes people feel warm and stable.

Although Joe and Biddy's social status is not high, they are not pessimistic and disappointed. After Pip became a superior person, they did not ask Pip to be grateful and repay them.

Mental ability, living a simple and gentle life, glowing with vitality like a green sapling in a turbulent social environment, unobtrusive but joyful.

Herbert, the delicate image of a young boy in white clothes is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. He embodies piety to ideals, loyalty to friends, and an understanding character.

He pursues free love, devotes himself to his career, and treats people gently, even if he cannot He does not compromise with the rules of society, and always has a sense of beauty. It is his own unique nature that makes Pip willing to get close to him, trust him, and help him.

And Wemmick, his fairytale-like back garden, wonderful castle, all kinds of interesting small mechanisms, and long suspension bridges are really fascinating. In a materialistic society, he still maintains his love for handicrafts and closeness to nature.

He makes utensils, designs organs, and grows plants and vegetables with his own hands. He has a simple heart and a beautiful pastoral temperament, without any luxury and Signs of impetuousness.

At work, he has to face complex entanglements, disordered human nature, hovering on the edge of morality, and making some choices that violate justice. Perhaps because of the complexity of the nature of his work, he completely separates his private life from his work.

The mask of work is a rigorous and intelligent face, wandering in the human relationship and the law, trying to be considerate, but the nature in life is free and carefree, open-minded and simple, even with child-like curiosity and exploration consciousness, Very commendable.

Remaining regret

The fate of Havisham and Estella reveals a strong sense of tragedy in the novel, and one can't help but feel an indelible melancholy after reading it.

Havisham's gloomy gothic room and her grotesque bridal attire all make people shudder, and the paranoia and gloom in her character are like a blooming mystery that attracts people to discover.

When her life experience slowly surfaced, her eccentricity was able to be matched with the source of fit. From a woman who was madly pursuing love to an old woman who was abandoned and neglected, and her heart was full of resentment, people could not help but understand and sympathize with her.

The target and the tragic victim released by the greedy nature of human beings in the capitalist society, all made her no longer believe in love and men and fell into the endless psychological cycle of revenge and hatred.

Havisham's life has always been full of unspeakable pain, so she adopted Estella, used her as a tool for revenge, and trained her in a cruel way, trying to make her a tool for revenge on the dude in the upper class.

Teach her to absorb and snatch, never teach her to love and appreciate sincerely. Estella became what Havisham expected. She rejected Pip's love, shuttled among the noble children, and finally married a lazy noble boy, who was abused and tortured.

In the end, Havisham expressed remorse for her behavior and felt remorse and pain for her ruined Estella. Estella's heart was restored to kindness, and she became friends with Pip, but such an ending is not pessimistic.

And helplessly, the best years have passed, regrets have been deeply injected into their lives, and it is too late for everything to happen again in a trance.

The decadent capitalist society distorts human nature, and the greed and endless desire inspired by money are also the executioners after the tragic love of two women.

Finally, after the manor burned down, the ruins full of gray dust symbolize the occupants of the house and the whole world. The decadence and depravity of the upper class.

The novel is paved with the sense of vicissitudes of disillusionment of chance. However, when all the magnificence is gone, the most authentic things in life can be revealed.

In that decadent and harsh era, the remaining goodness and reflection are the precious gifts of the paralyzed society. Everyone has the possibility of a great future, and what is handed out is always not as good as what you create, and the luck and hope you wait for are easily disillusioned.

Book Summary of Great Expectations

A well-known novel always has the charm of attracting people to read on. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens is certainly one such novel.

As one of the masterpieces that I plan to read carefully this year, I appreciate this work in four steps.

Step 1: Simply read and feel the splendor of the novel itself

The little man Pip had no parents since he was a child, and was brought up by his sister. Two accidental events created the ups and downs of his life.

One is that he accidentally ran into the fugitive and was forced to assist him; the other was that he was taken to Havisham's house to meet the beautiful and arrogant Estella.

The latter ignites the flame of Pip's love, making him dislike his origin for the first time and long for change. And the former dramatically gave him hope of realizing his dream.

Of course, the story finally reveals the true meaning of life, and unrealistic fantasies will eventually be shattered. Only down-to-earth efforts and peaceful harvests can gain inner peace.

The dream or goal that I longed for when I was young and thought it was the only dream or goal gradually became blurred and beautiful with the passage of time and the precipitation of the soul, but it turned out to be not so important.

Step 2: Get to know the author and experience the influence of the background of the times and the creative mood on the work

Charles Dickens (February 7, 1812-June 9, 1870) was born in a family of minor employees in the navy. When he was a teenager, he could only attend school intermittently due to poor family life and was forced to work as a child laborer in a factory. After the age of 15, he successively worked as an apprentice, recorder, and court reporter in a law firm.
In 1830 Dickens fell in love with Maria Bidner, the daughter of a banker. He thought that the two sides were in love with each other, and in 1833 he mustered up the courage to confess his love to Maria, but he was met with cold rejection. This experience carved a deep imprint on Dickens' soul so that he despised real women and liked fantasy ideal women.
In 1834 he met Catherine Hogarth, daughter of George Hogarth, editor of the Evening Chronicle, and married two years later. After marriage (1836-1852), a total of 10 children were born. Although this marriage healed the hurt he suffered from his first love, it did not bring Dickens happiness. Their husband and wife are very different in thought, character, and aspirations.
In February 1855, reunited with Maria Beadnell, who was by then Mrs. Wind. In May 1858, he officially separated from his wife Catherine. At the end of 1860, "Great Expectations" began to be serialized in "All Seasons".

The author's description of Overseer Jaggers, his assistant Wemmick, and the law firm in "Great Expectations" undoubtedly owes to his own experience in his youth. Estella, whom Pip loves, has more or less the shadow of the banker's daughter Maria Bidner.

And Dickens's wife, Catherine, always reminds me of Biddy in the novel—gentle, virtuous, and considerate of reality, which can make Pip feel at ease but cannot arouse his love and passion.

Dickens lived during the period of Queen Victoria (May 24, 1819-January 22, 1901). When she was in power (1837-1901), it was the strongest "Empire on which the sun never sets" in Britain. "Victorian Era". At this time, Britain stepped up its colonial expansion and established and occupied many colonies within a certain range. The decades of her reign coincided with the transition period of British liberal capitalism from the fledgling to the top, and then to monopoly capitalism, with unprecedented prosperity in economy and culture.

The shadow of the Industrial Revolution in London can also be felt in "Great Expectations". What kind of business did the fugitive Magwitch do in the land of exile? Is it related to colonial expansion and the slave trade? The happy ending at the end of the article is also known as a unique pattern of Victorian culture.

Step 3: Find related film and television books, and use the power of famous artists to deepen the appreciation of the works

As the saying goes, "There are a thousand Hamlets in the hearts of a thousand people." The more famous the book, the more people pay attention to it. We can read it purely for entertainment, or we can read it to increase our knowledge and combine it with the background of the author's time.

Or, as the British writer Bacon suggested, "Reading is not to challenge or refute, nor to believe and take it for granted, nor to find words and talk, but to weigh and consider. " It helps to improve the depth and height of seeing problems.

Film and TV category:

Of course, those who don't like reading or have limited time can choose to watch the film and television versions. The novel gets a movie remake every once in a while. The TV series is the 2011 version.

Of course, due to time constraints, it is inevitable that there will be some choices and adaptations in the plot of the film and television. Party members of the original works may choose to watch according to the preferences of the actors. Personally, I just pick on how cute little Pip is.

Interpretation class:

How to Read and Why? (Famous Literary Forum)" [US] Harold Bloom (Bloom, H.)

According to different literary forms such as poetry, drama, and short stories, the author gives examples of representative writers and works for interpretation. Among them, the work "Great Expectations" was chosen when explaining the representative figure of the novel, Dickens.

As the philosopher Emerson mentioned in the book once said, the best books are "written with one nature and read with one nature". If this work has something close to the reader and touches the reader's heart, the reader will naturally have a certain resonance and understanding when reading it.

How to Read Literature [British] Terry Eagleton

When Eagleton explained literary criticism in the fourth chapter "Interpretation", he emphasized that it is not easy to distance yourself from literary works and examine work in an all-round way. Many literary critics simply retell the story and add some comments of their own.

The author chooses Dickens's "Great Expectations" as an example. Story retelling is inevitable, but the role of alternate parents, family, and society described behind the story are all worth savoring carefully.

The reason why the novel "Great Expectations" lasts for a long time is that apart from the author's lofty literary and social significance such as focusing on the people at the bottom and exposing the essence of capitalist economic wealth accumulation, the most grounded thing is that the characters in the novel are close to A true portrayal of our lives.

Aside from bizarre opportunities and coincidences arranged to satisfy story creation, we will compromise when we meet people who are afraid, we will choose to hide because of fear of being blamed, we will also be disturbed because of our conscience being blamed, and we will get rich overnight Wait for unrealistic fantasies.

And the ending of the book has brought us enlightenment, preventing us from going astray when encountering temptation, allowing us to examine ourselves with a peaceful mind, and cherish the seemingly ordinary but peaceful life in front of us.

Step 4: Jump out of the storyline and learn Dickens' writing techniques from the perspective of literary creation

In addition to Dickens's humorous, witty, and satirical writing techniques mentioned in most of the reviews, there are several other features worth learning from.

1. About the characteristics of characterization

Each character has specific actions or mantras, which can be clearly positioned through simple descriptions.

For example: "Maybe" Pampoch, "My Old Partner" Joe, "Time Stopped" Havisham, "Whispering" Estella, "Public and Private" Wemmick, if you use the characters in "Great Expectations" as a Guessing game, probably only use a short word to make readers guess the person they refer to with a smile.

Reveal the character of the character through repeated action description

About Pip's loyal partner, his brother-in-law, Joe the blacksmith, there is a description in Chapter Four: Whenever Pimp, Mrs. Joe, Woofsey, and others embarrass Pip, Joe always scoops up Four times he spooned broth to comfort Pip, which time Jo said nothing.

Only through such repeated descriptions of actions, Dickens portrayed Joe's honest and dull image thoroughly.

Similarly, in Chapter 19, after Pip received funding from the mysterious man and was about to make a fortune, Pumptree would stand up and ask "May I?" every time he said a word, and then shake Pip's hand to show respect, repeating More than 20 descriptions of "is it possible" have been described, and the image of Pan Boqu's flattering and flattering villain is fully revealed.

2. Writing skills

The design is suspenseful and appetizing

In the beginning, Pip, the people around Pip, and even Havisham himself deliberately misled everyone, making people think that the person who helped Pip was Havisham.

And the real answer "Abel Magwitch" only appeared for the first time in Chapter 40. It can be said that the reader's appetite has been whetted, and a big reversal has come.

Difficult to translate, the author’s careful thinking can only be reflected in the first language of the work

For example- The English name Pip ( pip ) is written in palindrome, which indicates that everything will go back to the beginning and start over.

And Havisham's name is a combination of "have " and " sham ", implying the desire to have, but in the end, everything is empty. It is a pity that these small thoughts are difficult to be reflected in the translation.

A Brief Analysis of the Practical Significance of "Great Expectations"

"Great Expectations" has extremely important reference significance for today's society, especially the society that is undergoing accelerated industrialization and urbanization.

The development of the material world has led to people's pursuit of materials to the point of fanaticism. People have become realistic and utilitarian, and money and material satisfaction have become the driving force behind all pursuits.

So we were surprised to find that the most popular major is always the most profitable major; the principle of "three hundred and sixty lines to get the number one" was abandoned; the principle of "following the heart" is difficult to put into practice; "reality" It is very popular, but the "ideal" is struggling.

Driven by the social environment, people are desperately rushing forward for the so-called "great future", fighting for a "broken head" but never stopping to explore their inner spiritual needs and pursuits.

At the same time, although the hierarchical system has been eliminated, the concept of inequality caused by differences in status in today's society is still rooted in some groups.

Vulnerable groups are not valued and respected frequently, and people with power and status are exalted and flattered. This kind of abnormal social value orientation will lead to the birth of countless "Pip".

Wouldn't it end up being nothing like Pip? Don't you realize that your original self has been lost, and the most precious value has been "buried"?

For personal development, the reference significance of this book is the same. When have we not been like Pip, from the carefree state of nature of childhood into the complex social melting pot? How can the colorfulness of real society and the temptation of interests not challenge our hearts?

We are ambitious and strive to be recognized by the world, but we are also unknowingly assimilated by secular society.

Have we ever thought about whether what the mainstream of society advocates is really valuable and what we are really pursuing? Are you "washed" by society's materialistic desires, and are you still the original you?

In fact, what "Great Expectations" warns us is nothing more than a return or persistence. For society, it is necessary to cool down the material and impetuousness, and prevent the material from encroaching on our original and natural spiritual world; for the individual, it is necessary to have independent thinking to distinguish the authenticity and uphold the original intention.

This process is very difficult because the two themselves are a contradictory cycle. Individual ideology comes from social education, and an awakened society comes from awakened individuals.

The burden of breaking this vicious circle, in my opinion, falls on intellectuals. Intellectuals who have received a good education can break free from the shackles of the environment, penetrate into the essence of problems, and be able to judge things independently.

Intellectuals' exploration and awareness of the true value of human beings and the meaning of life can spread through their influence on the world, thereby changing the overall development of society step by step.

Of course, the role played by society is also very important, that is, to develop the economy steadily and provide prerequisites for the sublimation of people's spiritual world.

We call for the awakening of people. Just as Dickens suggested, Pip walks out of the vain "dream" and returns to the fullness of his heart. We don't need to pursue social regression but seek a change, a kind of progress. No matter how rough the road is.

How far we can go in the pursuit of spiritual wealth and equality will ultimately determine people's happiness.

Short comments: Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

At the beginning of human beings, nature is good. However, under the temptation of material and desires, people will gradually decay and degenerate, especially when stepping into an environment that is completely different from the previous life, it is inevitable to compare the two, but the superiority seen by the naked eye is not necessarily the real superiority, and may even gradually lose the excellent soul that you really have.

What's more frightening than doing something you're ashamed of is not thinking it's shameful. The protagonist has an unattainable goal, but he doesn't make steady progress toward the goal step by step.

Instead, he takes shortcuts based on opportunities that come by chance, but shortcuts are not necessarily shortcuts, and may even be dangerous ones, which make you lose your way.

You paid more than you said you could give, and by the time you realize it, it may be too late. The protagonist lives in a class society that is not suitable for him lost his true heart and lost his excellent character that cannot be bought with money. But the ending is gratifying.

At the last moment, people grasped their own goodness and returned to their own world.

Conclusion: Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

The literary work entitled "Great Expectations" is a masterpiece with an intricate and multifaceted structure, deeply rooted in themes like social hierarchy, identity, love, guilt, and redemption.

The novel features a coming-of-age story that traces the journey of a young orphan named Pip, who desires to ascend the social ladder and win the affection of Estella.

The narrative style is complex and intricate, demanding an astute and diligent reader.

However, the payoff is enormous, as the novel is a thought-provoking masterpiece, exploring timeless themes that continue to reverberate in contemporary society.

Dickens crafted the novel as a commentary on the insatiable Victorian society, which was obsessed with wealth and status.

It was his opportunity to share his own personal experiences, having pulled himself up by his own bootstraps.

The novel boasts strong female characters who defied traditional gender roles and societal expectations, providing a fresh perspective to readers.

Despite being considered a classic of English literature, the novel has faced criticism for its overly melodramatic aspects and portrayal of women and marginalized groups.

The novel's conclusion sees Pip finding redemption, discovering that genuine happiness is not from material wealth or status but comes from within.

To conclude, "Great Expectations" is an engaging and well-crafted story and one that is well worth the effort to read, for it offers a lot to the attentive reader.

Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen

2023-02-05T18:18:00.046+06:00

"Northanger Abbey" is a novel written by the British female writer Jane Austen. This novel is different from Austen's other novels.

In "Northanger Abbey", Catherine is not A smart woman, but a young woman who has grown up gradually in the process of life experience. Therefore, "Northanger Abbey" is a novel exploring the growth of women.

In British society at that time, social class often determined everyone's social status at that time, and Catherine, as a woman from an ordinary middle-class family, was once slandered by others, but Catherine's growth and awakening were also the whole processes.

At the center of this novel, by exploring the growth of women, it makes a comprehensive consideration of the belonging and evolution of feminism.

The image of the heroine Catherine in "Northanger Abbey" has particularity and universality.

Catherine's innocence is also a necessary process for many girls in the growth process. Therefore, Austin's thinking in "Northanger Abbey" is Also typical.

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Introduction to the author and novel

Jane Austen is an English female novelist, born in a small town in Hampshire, England. She was self-taught and wrote six novels, most notably Pride and Prejudice, Emma, and Sense and Sensibility.

As Austen's first mature work, Northanger Abbey was completed in the late eighteenth century. As early as the beginning of the nineteenth century, the novel attracted the attention of many readers and researchers.

Among them, many scholars pay special attention to the Gothic style in the novel. In their view, the author intentionally imitates and satirizes the Gothic style, and at the same time, the protagonist Catherine is also a woman full of Gothic fantasies.

Especially when she was invited to Northanger Abbey as a guest, due to many unrealistic fantasies, she had a lot of weird ideas, and these weird ideas and behaviors finally made her lose face in front of her beloved Henry. She didn't wake up until that moment.

In the end, she finally understood that the plots in those Gothic novels would never appear in British society at that time, or in real life.

The novel is full of criticisms of the Gothic style, but they overlooked one point: the Gothic style created this unique novel "Northanger Abbey".

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Introduction to Gothic Novels

Gothic novels flourished in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, but the authors and works of this style were attacked and ignored by the literary world.

A common formula in Gothic novels is that the story takes place in a faraway place, and the main character is usually trapped in a small space where ghosts and ghosts haunt.

Love stories in novels are usually accompanied by suspenseful plots and ups and downs. However, the love stories depicted in Gothic novels are definitely different from Romantic novels.

The difference between them is that Gothic novels usually describe mysterious adventure love stories.

The emotional difficulties encountered by the protagonists no longer come from the obstacles of society and family but from an object full of evil power.

Analysis of Gothic Elements in "Northanger Abbey"

(1) The location of the story

Gothic novels usually take place in Gothic castles or monasteries, emphasizing mysterious and terrifying rooms, staircases full of ghosts, dark and hidden passages, and so on.

The location of the story in the novel is brought out by the heroine Catherine's first impression of Northanger Abbey. Catherine is a naive and kind woman. In her eyes, the temple is full of mystery.

Those small windows, melancholic architectural style, colorful glass, and walls covered with cobwebs all inspire her. infinite fantasies.

(2) Rendering of a mysterious and suspenseful atmosphere

Because the protagonist Catherine was deeply influenced by Gothic novels before visiting Northanger Abbey, even normal things and environments will have magical colors in her eyes.

First of all, on their way to Northanger Abbey, Catherine described their journey like this: "It was so quiet and smooth along the way, neither robbers nor blizzards attacked so that our heroes had no chance to play." Usually, when people travel, they hope that everything goes well, but from the above, we can see that Catherine is dissatisfied with their smooth sailing.

In fact, she hopes to encounter disasters such as robbers or snowstorms and be rescued by heroes in disasters. In her eyes, only the occurrence of disaster and salvation can inject a little vitality into her future life. But all her ideas come from the Gothic novels she has read, which are unrealistic.

(3) Description of supernatural phenomena

On the first day Catherine arrived at Northanger Abbey, the author described the weather like this: "The wind blew intermittently throughout the afternoon, but when people separated, it suddenly started to storm." Why such bad weather occurs What about on the first day the heroine arrives? Just a coincidence? Perhaps this hazy weather added a mystery to the otherwise normal Northanger Abbey.

When Catherine was in the room about to blow out the candles, "Suddenly, a gust of wind blew through, and everything suddenly became terrifying. Catherine trembled all over.

Then, her keen ears heard the sound of distant footsteps, outside The door is closed." The sudden blowing of the candle by the wind seemed very strange to Catherine, and at the same time, the sudden wind, the distant sound of footsteps, and the sound of closing doors successfully created a Gothic atmosphere.

About the author: Jane Austen

Jane Austen was born in 1775 in the home of the rector of Steventon, Hampshire, England. She was the seventh of six brothers and two sisters in the family.

This is a lively harmonious family, the father is a graduate of Oxford University. Austin read a lot of books and learned to write with his father's encouragement since he was a child, and the family has a strong literary atmosphere. simple?

Northanger Abbey is a coming-of-age novel and a satire of Gothic novels written by Jane Austen. Austen was also influenced by Charlotte Lennox's The Female Quixote. Northanger Abbey was completed in 1803, the first of Austen's novels completed in full, but was published posthumously in 1817 with Persuasion. Wikipedia

Originally published: December 1817
Author: Jane Austen
Characters: Henry Tilney, Catherine Morland, John Thorpe, Isabella Thorpe, James Morland
Adaptations: Northanger Abbey (2007), Northanger Abbey (1987)
Genres: Novel, Gothic fiction, Romance novel, Satire, Bildungsroman

Austen's six novels are as follows:

Sense and Sensibility (1811),
Pride and Prejudice (1813),
Mansfield Park (1814),
Emma (1816),
Persuasion (1818),
Northanger Abbey (1818).

Northanger Abbey Themes

Novels and the Heroine. From its very first sentence, Northanger Abbey draws attention to the fact that it is a novel, describing its protagonist Catherine Morland as an unlikely heroine.

Sincerity and Hypocrisy
Wealth and Respectability
Experience and Innocence
Loyalty and Love.

Excerpts from the original text

Catherine was deeply ashamed of her lack of knowledge, but this shame was unnecessary. A man who wishes to please others should always show his ignorance. It is impossible to satisfy the vanity of others by being self-sufficient, and sensible people will always avoid doing so. Especially a woman, if unfortunately, she knows everything, she should try to cover up her knowledge as much as possible.
A big pen from a sister writer who once wrote about a pretty young girl who took advantage of her stupid nature. On this issue, in addition to what she discussed, I would like to say a few more words for men in a fair way. Although most frivolous men think that a woman's delicacy can greatly increase their charm, there are also some men who are too sensible and knowledgeable, so they only hope to find a woman who doesn't understand anything. But Catherine was unaware of this advantage of her own, that a beautiful girl with a soft heart and a hollow mind could unless the circumstances are particularly unfavorable, attract the love of a wise young man. ---Quote from Chapter Fourteen

Book Summary: Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen

"Men should always remain ignorant if they wish to associate. To have a well-informed mind means not to satisfy the vanity of others, which a wise man would like to avoid. Especially a woman, if she has the misfortune to know something, You should try to hide it as much as possible."

British writer Jane Austen created the novel "Northanger Abbey" when she was about 22 years old. The translator of this book translated the title "Northanger" as "Northern Anger", which means to reflect the Gothic color of the novel.

This gothic novel with a romantic art style is set against the life of a British squire at the end of the 18th century. It is a story of meeting and knowing each other and falling in love in Beinu Manor. After experiencing some twists and turns, the lovers finally get married. Catherine's heart has grown through tempering.

The novel mainly reflects the rapid development of the capitalist economy at the end of the 18th century and the growing ranks of the urban middle class in England.

The level of social class and wealth determines people's concept of marriage and life, and also profoundly affects the transformation of people's outlook on life. For example, there are obvious money worship and an extreme individualistic outlook on life.

The famous British historical novelist and poet Sir Walter Scott, who was a contemporary of Jane Austen, once commented on her novels: she deals with "only the events, characters and emotions in daily life"; Big thing, yet you read each page and you can't wait to turn to the next page, wondering what's going to happen next—it's not really a big deal, but you keep reading greedily, page after page. A novelist who can do this is one of the most precious gifts in the novelist profession.

Jane Austen's novel embodies her sharp words and full sense of humor. Through the shaping of the main characters, the protagonist's public narration, and the author's intuitive narration voice, it expresses the author's own point of view and reflects social life. , while demonstrating the authority of the author himself.

In this novel, Jane Austen applied the trend of Gothic novels that were popular at that time, reading and discussing Gothic novels with heroes and heroines, and added the classic descriptions of Gothic novels in the development of the storyline of the novel. To expose the unrealistic and repulsive aspects of Gothic fiction through irony can be said to kill two birds with one stone.

When I watched the movie "Northanger Abbey" before, I just thought it was an ordinary British romantic love movie. After reading this novel carefully this time, I have completely different feelings from watching the movie at that time, and there may also be factors of feminist awakening in it.

Jane Austen wrote in a letter to a friend: "Single women often show a terrible tendency to poverty, which is a strong argument for the institution of marriage."

In this novel, the ordinary heroine Catherine Moran gathers the true, good, and beautiful emotions in human nature. She went from a simple and ignorant Fullerton country girl to the market, entered the social world, experienced the setbacks of friendship and love, and finally grew into a strong, mature, and dignified lady, who reaped ideal love and a marriage partner with similar tastes.

The second female, Isabella Thorpe, has a typical gothic color and has gathered many shortcomings in human nature, such as vanity, scheming, hypocrisy, etc., and finally paid a heavy price for her moral corruption. Lost friendship, love, marriage, come to nothing, very dramatic Gothic fate ending.

Henry, the male protagonist who loves to preach and is full of wisdom, courage, and justice, and John Thorpe, the second male protagonist who is arrogant, selfish, false, stubborn, and despicable, are also a pair of sharply contrasting characters.

Jane Austen severely punished the immoral behavior of the second female lead and the second male lead with the Christian moral weapon and deprived them of the power of love and marriage, which reflected Jane Austen's humanity and clear distinction between love and hate.

Another feature of this novel is that Jane Austen reveals a lot of her personal avant-garde ideas in the novel, such as discussions on whether girls should read serious history books, female literacy, writing, dressing, etc., "For most For men who are more frivolous, female stupidity can greatly enhance their own charm; for other men, they are too wise and know everything, so what they want from women is only ignorance."

In this era when a woman's vocation is no longer to marry or to marry because of love or not to marry, by reading this classic love comedy novel at the end of the 18th century, one can also gain their own alternative joy and joy.

As Maugham said, what makes a classic is not the approval of critics, nor the discourses of professors or research in schools, but the joy and harvest that generations of readers have gained in reading.

Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen Quotes

“There is nothing I would not do for those who are really my friends. I have no notion of loving people by halves, it is not my nature.”

"I am delighted with the book! I should like to spend my whole life reading it. I assure you, if it had not been to meet you, I would not have come away from it for all the world."

"If a rainy morning deprived them of other enjoyments, they were still resolute in meeting in defiance of wet and dirt, and shut themselves up, to read novels together."

"Wherever you are you should always be contented, but especially at home because there you must spend most of your time."

"A young woman in love always looks like Patience on a monument Smiling at Grief."

Book Review: Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen

In terms of reading interest (for me), "Northanger Abbey" is not as good as "Emma" and "Pride and Prejudice", and there is no feeling of being unable to put it down.

However, this is related to the writing characteristics of the whole novel. The author has repeatedly used the "alienation" writing technique to allow readers to withdraw from the already slow-paced plot and rationally and cautiously read the content of the novel.

But this book has given me more enlightenment than other Austen works I have read. Authors such as Love, marriage, human nature, status, wealth, reading, writing, women, etc. have explained their personalities, revealing between-the-lines Austenian wit and sarcasm.

1. An atypical heroine

Catherine is an atypical heroine for reasons explained in the first chapter and throughout the book. When she was young, she was not outstanding in appearance, neither talented nor ladylike, and did not have the heroine setting in traditional novels.

However, in the following article, the heroine gradually becomes more beautiful as she grows older, and consciously cultivates her hobbies, so that she also becomes a charming character in social situations.

So since our heroine is lucky after all, why did the author spend a chapter on her ordinary childhood? Perhaps, it is precisely because of her inconspicuous childhood that Catherine did not have the habit of arrogance, so she appeared peaceful, approachable, gentle, and simple.

As for the mind, Catherine cannot be said to be intellectually deficient. It is just that she did not like to study when she was young, which also made her first step into the world seem very simple and unsophisticated.

However, it also made her have no objective understanding of Gothic novels and became obsessed with them. Generally speaking, the first chapter is an exploration of the character's personalities and sometimes promotes the following plots.

Catherine is a simple person, and her integrity has a lot to do with this simplicity. For example, her indignation towards Frederick was commented on by Henry: "You are distorted by the inherent principles of integrity, so you can hardly tolerate it."

Calm arguments with family favoritism can’t contain the desire for revenge.” Everyone has their own views of right and wrong, and the simpler a person is, the more orthodox and singular his views of right and wrong tend to be, so facing the pluralistic world’s survival rules, What they showed was more indignation at the injustice and the sense of wonder hidden in it.

So what are the characteristics of the protagonist in Austin's works? Emma, Elizabeth Bennet, and Eleanor are all smart, independent, and thoughtful women, which is not in line with Catherine. Integrity, sensitivity, kindness, beauty, cuteness, not being artificial, not showing off, and not being worldly are their common characteristics.

In addition, most of them are middle-class squire families with certain properties but not very rich. Of course, in addition to the heroine Austin, there is often a female number two that she admires, such as Elizabeth's sister Jane Bennett in "Pride and Prejudice", Jane Fairfax in "Emma", and "Pride and Prejudice". Elinor Tierney in Northanger Abbey, most of them are also very gentle and easy-going, rational, self-cultivated, and a bit introverted.

They don't give people a warm and friendly feeling when they come up, but as they get along It is only when we go deeper that we discover the beauty of their essence.

So how can the leading actor fall into Austin's eyes? Handsome, well-mannered, thoughtful, knowledgeable, and upright are a must.

At the same time, they all come from wealthy families, and their status is higher than that of the heroine, which also reflects Austin's view on marriage: property and love are indispensable for marriage.

And this also played a dominant role in the Northanger Abbey marriage. Admiral Tilney's attitude towards Catherine was always determined by an estimate of the family fortune.

The Tierney brothers and sisters also inferred that their elder brother Frederick would not marry Isabella mainly from the perspective that she did not have a dowry.

2. How did Henry fall in love with Catherine?

The author's explanation of the above issues is very interesting.

It is mentioned in Chapter Fourteen: "Although most frivolous men think that the stupidity of women can bring out the beauty of their appearance, some of them are extremely wise and knowledgeable, so they don't want women to be ignorant. There are other qualities, too.

Catherine, however, does not understand this advantage in herself, and that it is impossible for a good-looking, tender, affectionate girl who is at the same time ignorant to fail to attract a bright young man."

Ignorance also becomes I don't know if this is the author's helpless satire on human nature because of Catherine's attraction to Henry.

In Chapter 30, the author makes a more specific elaboration: "His love is out of gratitude, in other words, because he believes that she likes him, he seriously considers her."

This kind of mentality is indeed different. Compared with other love stories written by Austin, it is not the typical love routine, but the probability of this happening, in reality, is very high, especially for women, it is very possible to fall in love with a man out of gratitude. And this mentality is very similar to Barney's feelings for Valancy in "Dear Stranger".

3. Austin and the Feminists

The book involves a lot of discussion of the roles of men and women. And most of the opinions are from Henry Tierney.

For example, when it comes to literature: "Keeping a diary is a fun habit. Women generally have a fluent writing style, and the formation of this fluent writing style is mostly due to the good habit of keeping a diary.

Everyone admits that they can write It is a unique talent of women.” Regarding the relationship between marriage and dancing: “You have to admit that in both cases, men have the right to choose, and women have only the right to refuse; Both cases are a covenant between men and women for mutual benefit." Regarding talent: "Perhaps in terms of talent, women are neither healthy nor sharp, neither strong nor sharp.

They may also lack observation, insight power, judgment, enthusiasm, genius, and wisdom." "No one has a higher opinion of women's understanding than I do. I think that women are born with such high intelligence that they really don't need half of it."

Henry is probably a thorough masculinist, the author put these words in the mouths of knowledgeable and positive people, it should not belittle these remarks, but a statement of the author's general views of society at that time.

In Austin's era, men were superior to women and women were still the mainstream, and women always reflected their own value through marriage.

In "Northanger Abbey", women do embody a subordinate status. Henry played the role of Catherine's life mentor, and he was at an advantage in terms of thought and insight. Similarly, Knightley in "Emma" and Colonel Brandon in "Sense and Sensibility" is almost twice the age of Emma and Mariana, and they tolerate their naivety and are in a protective position.

It seems that only the relationship between Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy in "Pride and Prejudice" reflects real equality, and the basis of this relationship is Elizabeth's wisdom and independence, as well as Mr. Darcy's respect for women and appreciation of women's smart minds.

4. What kind of book is valuable?

It is clear that one of the main thrusts of this book is a satire on Gothic fiction, and it shows the evil consequences of indulging in it. But I think the most interesting part of the book is the various embarrassments that happened when Catherine first entered Northanger Abbey.

For historical works, at first, Catherine believed that reading history is a kind of torture, or that "teaching" and "torture" are synonyms. But Henry retorted: "Boys and girls should be tortured. No one who is familiar with human nature in a civilized system will deny this."

The author also complained about the novel: "There seems to be an almost universal desire to Denigrate the power of the novelist, underestimate the labor of the novelist, and despise the product of his creations, which are nothing but spirit, wit, and taste. . . . Appropriate language conveys to the world the most thorough understanding of human nature, and the most appropriate portrayal of various manifestations of human nature, and conveys works brimming with the most vivid wit and humor."

The author believes that the significance of reading novels lies in the understanding of human nature. The writers give them to various characters in the novel through the abstraction of human nature, so that readers can find the correspondence in real life, and at the same time teach people to avoid the annoying behavior of characters in the novel.

In fact, Austen's books are very suitable for young women aged 15 to 25 to read. Many works directly describe the growth of the heroine herself: in "Pride and Prejudice", Elizabeth learned not to judge people with prejudice, "Love Emma learns not to be conceited and control other people's emotional life in "Ma", in "Sense and Sensibility" Marianna learns not to let emotions get carried away by falling in love with playboys, and in "Northanger Abbey" Catherine learns to recognize others' emotions.

You should not be addicted to Gothic novels with a hypocritical face... Readers can learn from them and understand the principles of marriage, love, and life.

5. Austin-style irony

Actually, I have seen a lot of words here, so I am too lazy to write anymore, because the whole article is full of irony, and I can't finish it. Except for Henry, Eleanor, Mr. Allen, and Catherine's parents, almost all other characters are the objects of satire.

One of the very humorous words is: "There are quite a few women in the world. When you know them, you will not have any other feelings, you will only be surprised.

There are men in this world who like them, and if they like them, they will come to marry them." "Sometimes I'm really afraid that, like Austin, he has a clearer view of human nature, or if he reads too much about Austin, will he be too mean to people. . .

I read "Pride and Prejudice" when I was 11 years old. It was probably the first time I finished reading the unabridged version of the world-famous novel. The happiness after reading it is still fresh in my memory.

Before "The Red and the Black", it has always been my favorite novel. If I read "Pride and Prejudice" completely as a romance novel, then "Emma" read at the age of 16 is completely a humorous drama. Didn't leave me much to think about. "Sense and Sensibility" was read on a trip just after the college entrance examination.

At that time, I didn't find it interesting. It was like an ordinary TV drama. At that time, I felt that I should not read Austen's novels again, because the content was similar.

However, I saw "Northanger Abbey" in the library this summer, and I couldn't help borrowing it. Austin is always full of charm to me.

The article with narrative and discussion may not be that the novel itself is much deeper than other works, but that I have some life experience and reading experience, and my perception is stronger.

Maybe in the future, I will finish reading "Persuasion" and "Mansfield Park", maybe at that time I don't have any utilitarian purpose, just an "Austen complex".

Analyzing the Growth of Catherine in Jane Austen's "Northanger Abbey"

1. The relationship between Catherine's female growth and her life mentor in "Northanger Abbey"

The novel "Northanger Abbey" mainly revolves around the woman Catherine, who gradually grows up with the help of Henry, so that she gets rid of the naive idea of being too young, and finally becomes husband and wife with Mr. Henry.

In the novel "Northanger Abbey", Catherine not only has a life mentor like Henry but also has several different life mentors, namely Isabella, Bath City, Henry, and others.

In the process of receiving education, Catherine is actually a process of constantly moving toward society, a process of gradual socialization. This series of processes actually started when Catherine moved to the city of Bath.

In a bustling and fashionable city like Bath City, Catherine is actually a modern consumer city, and the heroine of the novel, Catherine, also begins her social communication activities in this city.

In the beginning, Catherine paid great attention to her appearance and Osaka, and she was very busy almost every day, but behind all this busyness, Catherine was actually wasting her youth and life, such as visiting some interesting places in Bath, or Is to go to the store and so on.

Catherine, a little girl from the countryside, gradually learns how to be a lady in social situations in the city, and also understands the fashion and trends of the whole society better.

In the first half of the novel "Northanger Abbey", Catherine's social communication became an important process of her growth, but in the process of social communication, Catherine was also inspired and influenced by various factors in society.

Isabella is also a woman Catherine met in the bustling city of Bath. It can be said that the social growth education Isabella brought to Catherine is different from the transaction brought by the city of Bath. From a general point of view, Isabella is actually a bad friend of Catherine, and Isabella always reads some Gothic novels with Catherine.

A false friend is not an obstacle to Catherine's growth, but a process of Catherine's gradual socialization. Social corruption is also a very valuable lesson for Catherine.

Under the guidance of Isabella, Catherine gradually became very interested in these playfulness, flirting, and clothing. Although Isabella likes reading very much, Isabella always reads very superficially and always likes to show off indiscriminately every day.

She doesn't know the connotation behind these books at all. Just as in the novel, Catherine wants to discuss the wonderful aspects of the novel "Udolph" with Isabella, but Isabella will always change the topic of discussion to a discussion about men or clothes.

Catherine met false friends, but she really read books. After Catherine grew through reading and social experience, she gradually discovered that Isabella was just a very superficial woman, not a truly educated woman at all. , Isabella just keeps copying other people's opinions.

Therefore, Catherine read books seriously because of false friends, and these also had a very positive influence on her. And Catherine finally resolutely bid farewell to her hypocritical friend Isabella, and Isabella finally became a victim of the patriarchal society.

The third mentor who had an impact on Catherine's life was Gothic novels. Literary works such as Gothic novels are actually due to the development of printing technology in Europe, so many women’s novels are published.

Reading Gothic novels not only gives Catherine spiritual sustenance but also enables Catherine to obtain some rare Social experiences. Catherine grows her personal spiritual world through reading and gradually becomes more pragmatic, and her literacy has also improved.

Catherine's most important life mentor is Catherine's husband Henry. Henry's influence on Catherine is very positive, leading Catherine to mature gradually. Catherine has gradually expanded from learning to appreciate painting to the appreciation of aesthetics.

Discovering the real beauty in the real world can gradually let Catherine let go of some unrealistic fantasies, and finally wake up completely from the dream, with a more sincere heart. Heart.

2. Catherine's Gothic disillusionment and growth in Northanger Abbey

In "Northanger Abbey", Mr. Henry, whom Catherine met in Bath, not only became Catherine's spouse in the end but also Mr. Henry had important enlightenment significance for Catherine to break the Gothic fantasy.

In the beginning, Catherine only saw the appearance of things, but she couldn't understand the true essence of things. And Henry gave Catherine very deep enlightenment, especially the hint at the national level, which is very valuable for Catherine's growth.

Henry was Catherine's first dance partner after she came to the city of Bath, and Henry was very soft-spoken, and even smirked for a while, such common hypocrisy in the process of social interaction in the city of Bath Henry's behavior is displayed in slightly exaggerated way.

Henry's purpose is to remind Catherine that in fact, there are many hypocrites in the city of Bath, and he wants Catherine to be alert enough to the hypocritical society.

After the first dance, every time Henry meets Catherine, he helps Catherine gradually dismantle the Gothic fantasy. Reminded by Henry's hints, Catherine didn't understand how to get rid of appearances and disguises at first, and couldn't see the essence of things clearly. Catherine is influenced by Gothic novels, and she is not deeply involved in the world, so Catherine is actually very blind.

For example, when encountering emotional disputes between Captain Tini and Isabella, she always thinks that Isa Bella is a tangled woman.

In fact, Catherine at that time had no way to clearly distinguish the truth of love. Henry saw such a gothic fantasy situation in Catherine, so he helped Catherine how to get out of the fog of this gothic fantasy. Henry helped Catherine analyze various things and showed these things in a subtle way.

He also hoped that Catherine would not be affected by these superficial phenomena, could truly get out of the confusion in her heart, and rationally analyze the truth of things.

Although Catherine has begun to realize that Isabella's ups and downs are an important source of Captain Tini's emotional swings, at that time Catherine still trusted Isabella too much, so she didn't see the truth of the whole thing.

In the first half of the novel "Northanger Abbey", Henry has been helping Catherine to get out of the confusion of life since the first meeting, but this kind of help is obviously still limited, and Catherine was I was still influenced by some Gothic novels, especially the blind trust in Isabella, a hypocritical friend, so I haven't really awakened yet.

In the second half of Northanger Abbey, Catherine is gradually awakening in her life in Northanger Abbey. Catherine originally thought that Northanger Abbey was a very classical place, and was even reintroduced into Gothic fantasies by a weird old box, but Catherine soon discovered that such Gothic fantasies are very Unrealistic, the old old box was just a white bed sheet, and no mysterious manuscript of the Gothic novel was found in any drawer.

Although fantasy dominated Catherine for a time, Catherine also found that Northanger Abbey did not have any Gothic elements. This process made Catherine gradually wake up rationally.

Catherine finally gave up the Gothic adventure and met Henry in Northanger Abbey. Henry also knew the real purpose of her coming out from her tone and understood that Catherine still retained a certain amount of Gothic fantasy. , there is also the use of Gothic values to understand the world.

Therefore, Henry no longer used hints to tell Catherine, but directly preached directly to Catherine. Catherine began to understand that all her doubts and fantasies were actually terrible, and some of the conclusions were fantasies.

The purpose of her education was not for adventure, let alone for mutual revenge and massacre, but for moral and moral integrity. Things that are allowed by law.

At this point, Catherine's ignorant Gothic fantasy has been completely shattered. Catherine also began to undergo rigorous reflection and self-blame. She began to understand that she should give up some unrealistic fantasies and devote herself to real life.

So when Isabella wrote again and asked Catherine to help her persuade James to get back together, Catherine was no longer superstitious about Isabella's rhetoric and replaced the gothic novels that she had been living in the past with a real Catherine.

In the fantasy, Catherine, a young girl, finally, under the inspiration of life experience and life mentor, let go of the ignorance of the past, and finally becomes a person who truly faces life.

Jane Austen's Book List

Jane Austen is a beloved author of classic literature, known for her wit, irony, and commentary on societal norms and expectations.

Here is a list of her most well-known books:

"Sense and Sensibility" (1811) - Good at banter, not abusive, Austen is kind after all. The reunion of gifted scholars and beauties, but anti-romance in their bones, the tragedy of Eliza's mother and daughter hovers in the background like ghosts and ghosts. On the road to happiness, emotions are not only guarded by reason but also guarded by family affection. It’s just that Mrs. Dashwood’s mother and daughter are so emotional, that every time Elinor confesses to Marianne, I’m afraid she will suddenly say, “Who do you think I am, I’m also a naughty one.” eat it. (reread in three months).

"Pride and Prejudice" (1813) - The ridiculous Mrs.Bennet is actually very loving. Although she is stupid and vulgar, she really loves her daughter; Lydia is a rebellious character, but her and her husband's "sin" is nothing in modern times, and I think it is quite personal. of. The story itself is very plain, but its strengths lie in 1. The character's mood changes and growth; 2. The artistry of daily life is explored and organized into a story; 3. The contrast between clowns and gentlemen and British humor; 4. Simple and clear language, no Regardless of description and lyricism, the language is restrained.

"Mansfield Park" (1814) - In a sense, it has created the standard of Cinderella-style otome novels/games (like the Count of Monte Cristo for the revenge-style), the selection of limbs and the targets of the strategy are clearly arranged, the prodigal son and the childhood sweetheart. What I find interesting is that it can show some of JA's views on things outside the countryside, seeing her tentacles slightly dipped into the lower society and then withdrawn in panic.

"Emma" (1815) - The aristocratic society described by Austen is too far away from me. I can only read it quietly as a bystander, without strong shock, and read it very leisurely. Every character is fully portrayed, Emma who has no worries about food and clothing, Mr. Woodhouse who is overprotective, Mr. Knightley who is very gentlemanly, and Miss Harriet who is lovely... I just feel that the ending is a little bit, a little bit strange and enjoyable.

"Northanger Abbey" (1817) - This book is written in a special way. What's interesting is that the whole book is complaining about Gothic novels and sentimental novels. Austin's satirical skills are still very strong. The male and female protagonists are the most unattractive book. The heroine is naive and ignorant, and the male protagonist is a perfect foil.

Reading Notes

Whether she thought of him so much, while she drank her warm wine and water, and prepared herself for bed, as to dream of him when there, cannot be ascertained; but I hope it was no more than in a slight slumber or a morning doze at most; for if it is true, as a celebrated writer has maintained, that no young lady can be justified in falling in love before the gentleman’s love is declared, it must be very improper that a young lady should dream of a gentleman before the gentleman is first known to have dreamt of her. --- Chapter 3

“I do not pretend to determine what your thoughts and designs in time past may have been. All that is best known to yourself. A little harmless flirtation or so will occur, and one is often drawn on to give more encouragement than one wishes to stand by. But you may be assured that I am the last person in the world to judge you severely. All those things should be allowed for in youth and high spirits. What one means one day, you know, one may not mean the next. Circumstances change, opinions alter.” --- Chapter 18

“My dearest Catherine,” continued the other without at all listening to her, “I would not for all the world be the means of hurrying you into an engagement before you knew what you were about. I do not think anything would justify me in wishing you to sacrifice all your happiness merely to oblige my brother because he is my brother, and who perhaps after all, you know, might be just as happy without you, for people seldom know what they would be at, young men especially, they are so amazingly changeable and inconstant. What I say is, why should a brother's happiness be dearer to me than a friend's? You know I carry my notions of friendship pretty high. But, above all things, my dear Catherine, do not be in a hurry. Take my word for it, that if you are in too great a hurry, you will certainly live to repent it. Tilney says there is nothing people are so often deceived in as the state of their own affections, and I believe he is very right. --- Chapter 18

Conclusion: Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen

The novel "Northanger Abbey" is an important work of Austen. In this work, Austen captures the various difficulties that women may encounter in the process of growing up, including the emotional difficulties in life. evolution etc.

Catherine's growth is actually a process of constantly coming out of Gothic fantasy and gradually becoming a mature woman in the process. In the process of facing the evolution of their own lives, women often have no way to independently choose their own life direction.

Gothic fantasy is a kind of spiritual sustenance for Catherine in the face of the situation that she has no way to make independent choices in her life, but this kind of spiritual sustenance is actually serious harm to Catherine, especially when she faces real life.

In life, I often fall into a lot of fantasies and predicaments, and there is no way to really get out of the fantasies, which affects Catherine's normal life.

However, Austin gradually freed Catherine from the collisions and fantasies of life, so that Catherine could face her life more clearly and become a real person.

Illusion is actually a problem shared by all human beings, only a small number of people can stay away from this upside-down and changing illusion, but Catherine's growth has fully demonstrated that if one does not control one's own illusion, it is very likely that people will fall into Once in a predicament, there is no way out.

Catherine's growth also fully reveals that women cannot be immersed in fantasy, and must dare to face the reality in life, so as not to be misled by fantasy and finally immersed in blind traps. Therefore, Austin's "Northanger Abbey" has very profound ideological value.

Persuasion by Jane Austen

2023-01-11T00:20:00.049+06:00

"Persuasion" is the last complete novel by the British female writer Jane Austen. It is written with more thought and emotional depth than the previous works and is regarded by many critics as Austen's best work.

The author lashes out at the hypocrisy and snobbery of the middle class with humor and irony. The structure of this book is rigorous and the style of writing is exquisite. There are many detailed descriptions in the novel.

At first glance, it seems plain, but after careful understanding, it has an endless aftertaste.

What does persuasion mean - a firm belief or the action of persuading someone to think something else? Anne Elliot is one of Austen's quietest heroes, but also one of the strongest and the most open to change.

She lives at the time of the Napoleonic wars, a time of the accident, adventure, and the making of new fortunes and alliances.

A woman of no importance, she maneuvers in her restricted circumstances as her long-time love Captain Wentworth did in the wars.

Even though she is nearly thirty, well past the sell-by bloom of youth, Austen makes her win out for herself and for others like herself, in a regenerated society.

"Persuasion" is Jane Austen's last novel, and it created one of the noblest characters in her works.

Time is passing away from Anne, and when she was in her prime because she accepted the "persuasion" of others, she finally parted ways with her beloved Captain Wentworth.

Although she is not young and is indifferent to her vain father and sister, her nobility and kindness make her the most popular among her relatives and friends. The two met again eight years after they broke up.

The colonel could not let go of his resentment and pursued others against his will, and Anne almost accepted the marriage proposal of her hypocritical cousin.

In a series of contacts caused by family affairs, the colonel further discovered that Anne's selflessness and steadfastness were unmatched, and Anne also found the courage to love through self-persuasion time after time.

They found that being reunited is happier than falling in love for the first time, so they, who have been through the test, are no longer inseparable and begin to recall and confess to their heart's content.

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About the Author: Persuasion by Jane Austen

Jane Austen (Jane Austen) was born in Steventon, Hampshire, England in December 1775, with eight brothers and sisters.

Although Austin did not go to a formal school, the excellent family conditions and reading environment gave her the conditions for self-study and cultivated her interest in writing.

She started writing at the age of thirteen or fourteen, showing her talent in language expression. In 1800, his father retired, and the family moved to Bath, where he lived for about four years.

He died there, so Austin, his mother, and his sister moved to Southampton, and then to Jordan in 1809. At the beginning of 1816, she fell seriously ill and became weaker and weaker.

She was sent to Winchester for treatment in May 1817, but the treatment was ineffective. Unfortunately, she died in her sister's arms on July 18 of the same year. She never married and is buried in Winchester Cathedral.

When Austen was 21 years old, she wrote her first novel, titled "First Impressions". She contacted a publisher to publish it, but there was no result.

This year, she began to write "Elinor and Marianne" again, and later she wrote "Northanger Abbey", which was finished in 1799. More than ten years later, "First Impressions" was rewritten and renamed "Pride and Prejudice", and "Elinor and Marianne" was rewritten and renamed "Sense and Sensibility" and were published respectively.

As for "Northanger Abbey", the author did not publish a book during his lifetime. The above three works are Austen's early works, written in her hometown of Steventon.

Her later works are also three: "Mansfield Park", "Emma" and "Persuasion", all written after the author moved to Jordan.

The first two were published successively, and only "Persuasion", which was completed in 1816, was not published because the author was not satisfied with the original ending and wanted to rewrite it.

After she died of illness, her brother Henry Austen was in charge of publishing "Northanger Abbey" and "Persuasion", and for the first time used the real name of Jane Austen.

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Persuasion by Jane Austen Summary

"Persuasion" is the last novel that Jane Austen completed in her life. At that time, she had gone to the Bath area for mineral water treatment due to some chronic terminal illness of unknown cause, but the mineral water was not effective, and she was only forty years old when she died.

So parts of "Persuasion" take place in Bath, and there's something alive in the loud and noisy world of Bath, she said.

There are three daughters in a declining quasi-noble family. The protagonist's second daughter, Anne, is noble in character, quick-witted, and full of curiosity about people, but reserved. When she was nineteen, she fell in love with Wentworth and became engaged.

At that time Wentworth had no inheritance and no foreseeable and secure career prospects. From the perspective of love and personality, these two should get married, but from the secular point of view, it is better not to get married, lest the future life is not guaranteed.

Under the pressure of the environment, after careful consideration, Anne chose the conservative path and let go of Wentworth. Since then, she has been celibate for a long time and reviewed her original choice step by step in her celibate life.

While Wentworth thought that Anne was too weak, he worked hard in his career and became an outstanding professional naval captain.

When he met again seven years later, he found that he loved Anne as much as ever, so the two noble and sensitive Neixiu's hearts endured a long pain until they met again, shook hands, and stayed together.

The title of the book is "Persuasion". What kind of persuasion is that and who is persuading whom? Could it be that the elders persuaded Anne to give up Winkworth for the sake of her future? Is this the so-called persuasion? Annie found happiness in the end, so how could it be the result of the elders' persuasion?

The title of the book, persuasion, originally meant "successful persuasion". If the word "guidance" of persuasion is added, it implies top-down command and obedience, which greatly distorts the semantics.

What's more, how could Annie, who has independent thinking ability, a strong personality, and extensive experience, be persuaded by someone to live her whole life? Had she ever had anyone's opinion before the end of the book came?

Yes, the only person Annie needs to convince is herself. She needs to accept a love that has been delayed because of her fault and deny the life concept she has held for a long time. Even if such persuasion is painful, she will not hesitate.

Why did Austen himself write a thin, simple novel when his health was failing and his life was dying? And give it an unusual name?

Reading through the biography, we will find that the most important part of Austen's emotional life is surprisingly similar to this book-she rejected a relationship with no future guarantee, the man returned to Ireland, and the two never saw each other again.

If it is indeed based on this experience, we can assume that Austen made a serious and cryptic summary of his emotional life in this book. And Anne is herself.

There are many small plots in the first half of the book, which must be experienced by those who have experienced it: "When she was young, she had to be cautious, and when she was older, she understood what romance is."

In contrast, the lovers in the last two chapters of the book express that The description after the heart trace is relatively weak, such as "Annie is finally home again, and her happiness is unimaginable by anyone in the family." This may be related to the author's lack of life experience.

Austin has a comment on relationships, which is about her reflection on her relationship experience.

In Chapter 4 of this book, Annie says that if young people in the same situation come to counseling again, she will tell them that family objections to financial insecurity should not influence their decision: “…she feels that insisting on It is happier to be married than to give it up.

Even though they will experience the usual, even supernatural worries and uneasiness, she is sure of this." Austen, who has a reserved personality and lived a life of peace and stability, finally pretended to be Anne.

Thought: If love comes back again, she will choose to take risks and persevere instead of giving up.

The low-key and resolute Annie spent seven long years thinking and waiting. Austin didn't want to see Annie go the same way, so he let Wentworth return to Annie's fate and gave her a chance to choose again.

I think Austin should have spent a long time doing the same thinking and waiting. With her sharp and ruthless observation, it is impossible not to know how much she respected reality in her original choice, but she finally convinced her in the final stage of her life.

I myself wrote the final chapter in which reason obeys emotion. It's a pity that at that time, she no longer had any chance.

A serious and keen soul sometimes takes a long time to convince himself. Even if the process of persuasion cost her all chances of happiness in life, it must not detract from the value of her soul.

Book Review: Persuasion by Jane Austen

Jane Austen's "Persuasion" There is always a moment in a person's life when he needs to stick to his decision

British novelist Jane Austen was "the first novelist who realistically depicted ordinary people in everyday, ordinary life. Her wit and wit, realism and compassion, elegant prose, and ingenious story structure enabled her novels to Engage readers for a long time."

At that time, "sentimental novels" and "Gothic" novels were the most popular novels in Britain, but Austen's novels were unconventional, such as "Two Inch Ivory Carvings", which peaked at the entire social form and sophistication from a small window, fully showing the British countryside.

The daily life and pastoral customs of the middle class have a link between the past and the future in the development history of British novels, and are known as writers whose status is "on par with Shakespeare".

For two hundred years, Austen's novels have never lacked readers. Even George IV, who was still the regent at the time, was obsessed with her works. A tribute to women writers around the world.

"Persuasion" is Jane Austen's last novel. Compared with the previous "Pride and Prejudice" and "Sense and Sensibility", it is written with more thought and emotional depth, and the writing is humorous and humorous.

The unique and delicate brushstrokes create a touching story. A deep love story, regarded by many critics as Austen's best work.

"Persuasion" was written by Austin for the last time in his life. It describes the love story of the reconciliation between the heroine and her ex-boyfriend.

The plot of the novel is tortuous, with restrained emotions, self-control, sincerity, and beauty, like a beautiful classical song Le, somewhat rational but with a heart beating like fire, let the rich and delicate noble emotions of loving only one person in a lifetime flow slowly throughout the novel.

This novel is like a boy's first love. The structure seems small, but it is simple and beautiful. It has touched the hearts of readers time and time again in the past century.

It is worth mentioning that the story in this book is somewhat similar to Austin's emotional experience in his youth, but the happy ending only happens in the book.

Maybe Austin arranged a happy ending for the novel in order to make up for the regret of losing love due to "persuasion" when he was young. After all, the unswerving loyalty that cannot be obtained in the world can only be realized in the fictional world in the end.

So, how does "Persuasion", a novel about Austin's love experience, make the protagonist Anne not listen to the persuasion of those around her at the most important moment in her life, stick to her decision, and reap a lost and recovered sweet love? Let's interpret it from three aspects.

1. Persuasion when young: Excessive consideration of other people's feelings is a kind of disapproval of oneself

The story content of the novel

When the noble lady Anne was nineteen years old, she fell in love with the young officer Wentworth and made a marriage contract.

However, her father Sir Walter, and godmother Lady Russell disliked Wentworth's humble background and no property, and strongly opposed the marriage.

Anne accepted Mrs. Russell's persuasion and reluctantly broke the engagement with her sweetheart.

Eight years later, Wentworth, who was promoted to colonel due to his outstanding performance in the war, returned to his hometown.

Because of the chance that her brother-in-law, General Croft, and her sister became Sir Walter's tenants, Anne and Colonel Wentworth reunited.

In the subsequent exchanges, Captain Wentworth once again found that Anne's selflessness, kindness, and steadfastness are unmatched, and Anne also found the courage to love through self-persuasion time and time again.

In the end, they found that meeting again was happier than falling in love for the first time, so they finally got together after many tests.

A person who always lives in the eyes of others means that he never existed

The heroine Anne in "Persuasion" combines beauty, wisdom, status, and wealth. She is assertive and understanding in her work, sincerely caring for others and tolerant, persistent in dealing with feelings, and firm and gentle.

But eight years ago, she was a person who lived under the persuasion of others and had no independent opinions, so she missed her lover.

Anne fell in love with Wentworth at the tender age of nineteen and made a marriage contract. But his father thought he was born into a humble and poor family, just like his own mother's godmother, Mrs. Russell, who worried about their embarrassing life after marriage.

When we were young, we didn't understand love, let alone how to grasp the happiness in our hands.

Anne is gentle and kind because she doesn't want to hurt her relatives and friends, she doesn't resist or struggle but obeys their persuasion, so she loses her young love and hurts Wentworth who really loves her.

Although Anne felt remorse immediately, the injured Wentworth had already gone far away, and there was no news of her...

In the eight years since then, Anne has almost completely closed herself off, because of her unforgettable first love and the sad state of being frustrated.

Anne's unfortunate love history with Wentworth was precise because she obeyed the advice of her confidant elders and endured humiliation.

How prudent is one must live in order to have no regrets for life? How can a person not blindly follow persuasion, and finally listen to his own heart?

Anne was passive in her innocent years, and her first love was entangled with many objective factors. Most of the time, Anne did not take the initiative to fight, and she herself thought that leaving Wentworth would be beneficial to him.

Therefore, Anne's judgment based on speculation may not be correct, and following her godmother's kind persuasion almost caused Anne's misfortune.

"When you are thinking about 'what others think' in everything you do, you are actually giving up on yourself."

When you consider other people's persuasion, not only will you lose your lover, but perhaps even more, you will lose yourself in the years. Then how can you maintain your persistence in love and life in the days to come?

When the lovers who have been separated for eight years meet again, Annie escapes, is disturbed, embarrassed, and panicked. The rejection of the year has become a barrier that the two cannot overcome. How will the story develop?

2. Self-persuasion while waiting: May all the treasures of the rest of your life be understood without loss

If I ever see you, it will be years. How can I congratulate you with tears and silence? ——Byron "The Spring Passes"

As time goes by, the past slowly settles into a dim photo. Perhaps, there will be such a moment, and the years will always make the missed lovers meet again.

"The immediate pain is unquestionable, while the long-term benefits are elusive."

These are Anne's words. It can be imagined that during the eight years of separation, Anne suffered from infatuation and remorse. In her mind, no one could compare with Wentworth. She regretted following other people's advice and Letting herself bear such regrets, she lost her youthful beauty and interest prematurely, and even her father felt that she was haggard.

Facing the old love, how do they feel when they were in love

Thinking of seeing Wentworth again, Annie felt uneasy and avoided embarrassment. It was she who decided to give up back then, and then she was the one who persisted, and she was the one who guarded her heart, which made people feel distressed.

When the two met again, Wentworth was courteous to the others, but not to Anne. When I heard my sister Mary talk about Wentworth's opinion of herself: "You have become so unrecognizable to him", Wentworth's indifference made Anne sad, but she still had infinite nostalgia for this relationship. regret.

They used to have nothing to say when they were together, and they used to be so happy with each other, but now, "they have become strangers; no, they are worse than strangers, because they will never be able to make friends. This is an eternal estrangement."

After reading this, even our hearts are sad.

Eight years later, the emotional changes after the two reunited

Annie

After the reunion, although Anne was disturbed, she still played the piano peacefully during the party for half an hour, accurately.

At this time, Annie's self-control, quietness, and forbearance came out: "In the worst mood, they are still self-disciplined as before. Such a person is a person who can handle things." Annie is a person who can handle things.

During the eight years, parting and waiting took up one-third of Annie's life, and the years and fleeting years gave her a special brilliance. Bad things will develop in a good direction through her hands.

Annie's intelligent and gentle personality makes people around her feel like they are in the spring breeze. Her independent personality and tough character enable her to control her emotions well. Under such a perfect appearance, she is actually doing everything well. talkative person.

Annie's cautiousness and perseverance, pride, and romance made her persist in looking for someone who is compatible with each other in the past eight years, and she was unwilling to compromise and settle for a seemingly stable and reliable marriage, so she rejected marriage with good financial conditions. A marriage proposal from Charles, who later became her brother-in-law.

At the same time, there is Mr. Elliott, the handsome cousin of the family property heir who has a sincere affection for her and pursues her passionately. The modest gentleman given to him has evil intentions. Anne considers his character and the "persuasion" of her godmother and finally rejects his marriage proposal rationally.

Perhaps, it was Anne who experienced the seemingly sober choices in her youth without real decision-making power or wisdom, soberly knowing eight years later that the real wisdom is to gradually reflect on and be kind to others in a long lonely time. Germinated under watering.

Wentworth

Wentworth who came back has become the captain of the navy, still young and handsome. He thinks that Anne abandoned him in order to accommodate others to cancel the engagement. This is the result of forced persuasion, weakness, and cowardice. A self-confident character is intolerable.

but Anne still loves him as ever. For the sweet first love that he has been looking back and reflecting on for eight years, Wentworth showed courteousness to the little girl in front of her and sneered at her from time to time, which was undoubtedly cruel to Anne, who was aging and withered.

However, what moved Anne most was her performance during this period. Although she still loved Captain Wentworth, although she was depressed and regretful, she tried her best to restrain her heartbreak, insisted on her pride rationally, and silently Watched Captain Wentworth.

While Anne may seem to be the loneliest and most silent person in the crowd at the party, she is also the most mature, sane, and insightful.

Her excellent qualities of gentleness, kindness, helpfulness, decent social skills, calmness, and judgment in the face of accidents unknowingly continued to attract Captain Wentworth who wanted to resent her.

Put your eyes on her, care about her, and unconsciously envy the outstanding man who appeared beside her. If it is said that Captain Wentworth still loves Anne unchangingly for eight years, it is better to say that he is still in love with Anne eight years later. Captain Wentworth fell in love with Anne again.

The novel arranges a happy romantic ending for the protagonist, but that is not the most important thing. The key lies in the fact that there is happiness in waiting because, without a heart of waiting, one will not see the day when happiness will come.

3. One must follow one's own heart in order not to blindly follow others' persuasion

We often believe in everything we do, only to suddenly realize that our eyes are being blindfolded and that everything we thought was right is actually all wrong. - Martha Batalia, My Hidden Life

In this life, it is easy to listen to other people's advice, but it is difficult to listen to your own advice

Perhaps, everyone needs to go through a long wait to tell their own hearts. What you need most is to listen to your own persuasion, just like Annie's long wait, and finally wait for your heart to bravely pursue love.

In fact, the most touching thing in "Persuasion" is not the happiness and happiness of the two in the end, but Annie's restraint in the face of heartbreak, her strength to live with heartbreak, her caution and persistence, her pride and romance, her self-growth, this is what is really touching.

There are always some regrets in life. You have to exchange your innocence and simplicity for the courage to grow up. All the truths have to be practiced and experienced by yourself. After falling and falling, you can understand it.

Some truths are true, and some persuasion is the truth. Belongs to you, otherwise, it is just talking on paper, not deep experience.

Sometimes the so-called persuasion of others and our own rationality may cause us to miss many people who we should cherish together.

Anne in "Persuasion" was lucky. Eight years later, she quickly realized her feelings for Captain Wentworth and actively seized any opportunity to face him later.

Austen portrayed the cautious temptation and encouragement between them in a nuanced style. Anne first understood Wentworth's heart, so she no longer silently endured pain and self-restraint, and she began to actively pursue her own happiness.

Anne's courage comes from the longing for love inspired by the sadness eight years ago because at this time she has understood that the real miss of true love is that love has come, but she dares not take the initiative to fight for it.

Therefore, the complete story unfolded just right, and Anne returned to the life of Captain Wentworth step by step.

Eight years later, Annie's thoughts are quite different from those of a nineteen-year-old under the "persuasion" of others. She didn't blame her godmother, Lady Russell, or herself for taking Lady Russell's advice.

And, Anne felt that if any young man in the same position should come to her for advice, he would never hear such advice, which would inevitably lead to immediate misfortune, and which would leave no guarantee of future happiness, so:

"She wished with all her heart to support the first loves of young people, to look to the future with confidence, and without undue apprehension and prudence, which would hinder the efforts of men and go against the destiny. When she herself was young, she had to be cautious; To know what romance is—the inevitable consequence of a deformed beginning."

This is Annie's self-persuasion brought about by her own experience. Eight years ago, Anne accepted "persuasion" and gave up the person she loved. In the next eight years, she began to fight in another way, accepting self-persuasion to hold hands with her beloved again.

These two seemingly passive choices have different moods, so the choices are also different. The first time I listened to "persuasion" to give up love, and the second time I chose love firmly until I had happiness.

In conclusion, I am often asked, what kind of life do you like best? There is a song that sings like this: "You say life is like a dream, but I say life is like a show."

In fact, everyone is not only the protagonist of their own life but also the master of their own life. If life requires us to follow the advice of others, then we must also learn to not be managed by others after countless hesitation.

Life is full of variables, and choosing someone who can spend your life with you is undoubtedly the most important decision.

If you lack independent thinking, you will drift with the flow, or even become a puppet under the will of others, being pulled up and down, coming and going; Courage, resisting the control of others over oneself, so as to live out oneself.

In short, Jane Austen did not describe love purely on the spiritual level in "Persuasion", but placed the development of this kind of love in the secular, recognized herself through the secular, and drove Anne to achieve self-transformation.

This realistic feature allows her female characters to embody the model that Austin advocated under the class conditions at that time, and also shows what Austin believes is the most appropriate appearance for women at the moment.

Jane Austen's "Persuasion" let us understand that if we are in love, even after the longest separation, we will still be together in the end. More importantly, there are ups and downs in all directions of a person's life.

At a certain moment in life, a person needs to stick to his own decision. In this secular world, he desperately defends a complete and real sunny world for himself.

Analysis of the Characters

"Persuasion" follows the story of two main characters: Anne Elliot and Captain Frederick Wentworth. Anne is the eldest daughter of an aristocratic family who is persuaded by her father and friends to reject Wentworth's proposal of marriage eight years prior to the events of the story.

Wentworth is a naval officer who, after Anne's rejection, rises to the rank of captain and becomes successful in his career, but still harbors feelings for Anne.

Anne's character development is a central theme in the novel. At the beginning of the story, Anne is depicted as meek, self-effacing, and overly influenced by the opinions of others.

She is resigned to her single status and the societal expectations placed on her as a woman. As the story unfolds, Anne begins to assert herself and reclaim agency in her own life. She becomes more confident in her own convictions and is willing to stand up for herself and her beliefs.

Through her interactions with Wentworth, she begins to confront the regrets of her past and ultimately makes the decision to fight for a chance at a different future.

Captain Wentworth, on the other hand, is initially depicted as proud, passionate, and deeply hurt by Anne's rejection. He is determined to make a success of himself, both financially and socially, in order to prove to Anne and society that he is worthy of her love.

As the story progresses, Wentworth's character develops in a more subtle way. He is more measured and strategic in his interactions with Anne and shows a more refined and mature approach. He also becomes more self-aware of his own feelings and weaknesses.

The relationship between Anne and Wentworth is one of the key elements of the novel. Initially, they are depicted as being deeply in love but separated by their respective societal roles and the expectations placed upon them.

As the story unfolds, their interactions become more complex and nuanced, as they both confront their past decisions and try to navigate the societal obstacles that stand in their way.

Despite the years and societal expectations that have separated them, Anne and Wentworth's shared history and deep understanding of one another allow them to evolve and grow together in a way that ultimately leads to their reconciliation.

Both Anne and Wentworth's characters are affected by their past choices and societal pressures, but through the story, their perspectives and attitudes are changing.

Persuasion tells a story of how two individuals grow and change to ultimately come back together, not only in their relationship but also in their inner selves.　　

Persuasion by Jane Austen Quotes

"Persuasion" by Jane Austen is a classic novel that is known for its thought-provoking themes and witty writing style.

Throughout the book, Austen uses a number of memorable quotes that capture the essence of the story and its characters.

Here are a few notable quotes from the book:

"I hate to hear you talk about all women as if they were fine ladies instead of rational creatures. None of us want to be in calm waters all our lives." - Anne Elliot

"It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live." - Captain Frederick Wentworth

"I have been used to consider poetry as the food of love." - Anne Elliot

"A woman, especially, if she has the misfortune of beauty, should never hang back.” - Lady Russell

"There is safety in reserve, but no attraction." - Anne Elliot

"We think too little and feel too much." - Captain Frederick Wentworth

These quotes give a glimpse of the character's feelings, thoughts, and personalities and also the themes of the book.

Anne's quotes are reflective of her growth and her journey, while Wentworth's quotes reflect his passion and determination.

Each quote is a perfect representation of the characters and the story, and they can give readers a deeper insight into the book.

"Persuasion" is a novel that is filled with memorable quotes that capture the essence of the story and its characters.

These quotes provide readers with a deeper understanding of the novel and its themes and also add to the overall enjoyment of the book.

They help readers to connect with the characters, and to understand the motivations of the characters and the story.

Jane Austen's Book List

Jane Austen is a beloved author of classic literature, known for her wit, irony, and commentary on societal norms and expectations.

Here is a list of her most well-known books:

Books Similar to "Persuasion"

If you're a fan of Jane Austen's "Persuasion" and are looking for similar books to read.

Here are a few recommendations that are not written by Jane Austen:

"Evelina" by Fanny Burney - Fanny Burney is one of the authors who influenced Jane Austen. The book may not have that high literary value that will stand the test of time. The letters that were popular in that era are not very natural. More like a diary storyline and simple. Primitive but still very good-looking. The life of the high society in London in the 18th century is vividly described, with some cute little humor in the middle.

"The Age of Innocence" by Edith Wharton - After reading the novel, I glanced at the movie version of Martin Scorsese on Youtube and found the overwhelming romanticism in the comments: what is the epic love after Pride and Prejudice, it is not enough to watch it five times. Isn't this book about a group of arrogant and pretentious New York upper-class people who can't die if they don't work? Archer Newland's pseudo-feminism, May Welland is a typical example of a silly and sweet. She also dislikes the poor and loves the rich, so the heroine will not approve of her, after all, she is still a victim of domestic violence. If you can't make fun of New York people, it's useless.

"The Portrait of a Lady" by Henry James - This book is my literary enlightenment. Henry James is my eternal literary hero, and his Isabel will always be a model of free women in my mind: she bears the bitter fruit of pursuing freedom and wears the crown of thorns of conspiracy. She lives in a fantasy dream of British and European civilization, but the Europeanized American expatriates she meets overseas only want to calculate her inheritance, without the slightest aristocratic style. But even so, Isabel stood up for her ideals and persisted until the end without breaking her promise. She behaved impeccably, in the manner that made Gilded Age America triumph over Old Europe.

"The Tenant of Wildfell Hall" by Anne Bronte - Anne's words and sentences are more complicated, and it is much more difficult to read than Jane Austen's. The first half is unfolded from Gilbert's perspective, with a subtle sense of gender dislocation, and it is even more enjoyable to read Helen's diary in the second half. I don't quite understand Helen's choice, and I don't understand what is so attractive about Gilbert. In my opinion, he and Mr. Hagrave are mutually exclusive.

"The Remains of the Day" by Kazuo Ishiguro - Once again, a good novelist must have extraordinary patience. Just like an embroiderer, who seems to be careless, but actually shuttles like flying, thinking that he has finished embroidery, but turns back to outline inadvertently, which is completely different from the previous picture. The two "memory mixed cuts" standing outside the door of Miss Kenton are extremely powerful and full of stamina. Two major events in his life happened at the same time as Lord Darlington's two meetings, a wonderful arrangement. At first, I didn’t like the ending of bantering, I thought it would be beautiful to stop in the evening is the best part of the day, but I think the author might want to express an optimistic hope, a kind of non-stop pursuit. Instead of lifting his feet and enjoying the night of his life, the end of his life is the dignity in keeping with his position.

"The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society" by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows - In the form of letters, this book describes the life of Guernsey, a small British island that was occupied by the German army for five years during World War II from various characters and angles. The whole novel does not seem to have a very coherent storyline except for trying to restore the Elizabeth known by other people. The opening part, in particular, is confusing. However, if you calm down and read it slowly, it will become smoother and smoother, and gradually form a "small island·World War II·impression". In the form of letters, I feel the tragic impressions of killing, captivity, hunger, etc. during wartime; at the same time, I also appreciate the friendship and love between people, as well as the love between the enemy and ourselves. The overall reading process is relatively peaceful, and even a little delightful (for example, sharing adventures with hungry neighbors on curfew night to hide, making roasted pigs, and witty dealing with German patrols.)

"The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald - The Great Gatsby is a poetic novel. The writing is as beautiful as the long-standing Silk Road, where countless beautiful or noisy people and things meet. At the same time, the character of Gatsby carries a lot of meaning for me, and his unconditional love for Daisy also makes me understand our Lord's unconditional love for us better.

"The Light Between Oceans" by M.L. Stedman - The background is that after the end of the First World War, in remote Australia, a German who died innocently, a combat hero Tom who just returned from the battlefield, and the two families are entangled in their lives because of the little baby Lucy. Tortured by war trauma, Tom chose to keep the lighthouse alone for peace of mind. Fortunately, he met Isabel; Isabel went to the island with Tom for love, and the best time was meeting and meeting.

"The Bridges of Madison County" by Robert James Waller - This is my one and only favorite book. Maybe I fell into it a bit early in my uni life, but years after when such profound love occurred around, I found more in this book, I cannot help to read it over and over again to see how FJ and RK dealt with their love. Something poked my stomach every time when I carefully experience the lines.

"The Notebook" by Nicholas Sparks - I watched the movie first and then read the novel. The novel depicts a beautiful picture with simple words and is easy to read. But the first half of the content was read very vigorously, and the story of Noah and Allie being together that summer was also skipped hastily, and I gradually lost interest later on, feeling a bit long-winded, and the ending was good. I think the movie is better.

"The Time Traveler's Wife" by Audrey Niffenegger - Not as good as expected. The editing of the film makes love more exciting. As a book, if you can understand "Cause and Effect", "the fact that what happened has already happened and everything within the course of life and time is determined and unchanged", "there probably is a flat plate on which every second, everything is Happening at the same time" as philosophical and metaphysical thinking will be more in-depth.

These books like "Persuasion" by Jane Austen, explore themes of love, societal pressure, and self-discovery.

They also delve into the complexities of human relationships and the power of memories in a subtle and nuanced way, making them great choices for readers who enjoy romance novels with a deeper meaning.

Conclusion: Persuasion by Jane Austen

"Persuasion" is a clever and witty novel that explores themes of love, forgiveness, and second chances. It is a portrayal of societal expectations and pressure that individuals face, and how it affects one's decisions and regrets.

The main characters, Anne Elliot and Captain Frederick Wentworth have an intricate and dynamic relationship that evolves throughout the story. Jane Austen's writing style is masterful, as always, and makes the novel a delightful read.

It is a mature and evocative novel that explores serious themes in a subtle and humorous way.

David Copperfield by Charles Dickens

2022-11-10T20:15:00.011+06:00

Introduction: David Copperfield by Charles Dickens Book Review

David Copperfield is the story of a young man's adventures on his journey from an unhappy and impoverished childhood to the discovery of his vocation as a successful novelist.

Among the gloriously vivid cast of characters he encounters is his tyrannical stepfather, Mr. Murdstone; his formidable aunt, Betsey Trotwood; the eternally humble yet treacherous Uriah Heep; frivolous, enchanting Dora; and the magnificently impecunious Micawber, one of literature great comic creations.

In David Copperfield, the novel he described as his favorite childDickens drew revealingly on his own experiences to create one of his most exuberant and enduringly popular works, filled with tragedy and comedy in equal measure.

About the author: Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens composed this passage between 1845 and 1848 referring to the dark times of his youth when his family moved to London in the early 1820s. The imprisonment of his father forced the family to send the twelve-year-old Dickens to work in a blacking factory.

This disruption to Dickens's childhood and education remained a source of intense grief throughout his life. Dickens found these memories too painful to continue his autobiography; in fact, he jealously guarded the facts of his London youth.

It was only after his biographer John Forster published his Life of Charles Dickens in 1872 that readers learned of Dickens's difficult youth and of the autobiographical nature of one of his finest creations, David Copperfield.

Originally published in serial form from May 1849 through November 1850, David Copperfield is the first of Dickens's novels written entirely in the first person. Converting his autobiographical impulse into fiction allowed Dickens to explore uncomfortable truths about his life.

David Copperfield's time at Murdstone and Grinby's warehouse, his schooling at Salem House, and his relationship with Dora all have their bases in Dickens's own life. But, it may be Dickens's most autobiographical novel, David Copperfield a work of fiction.

Book: David Copperfield by Charles Dickens

Author: Charles Dickens
Part of: Mint Editions
Binding: Paperback

Excerpts from the original text: David Copperfield

Oh my god! At that time, if he gave me a good word, then I might have changed for the rest of my life, or become a different kind of person for the rest of my life; at that time, he only had to say a word of encouragement and a word of reason, Say a pity for my ignorance when I am young, a welcome me home, and a word that makes me feel relieved that the price is really my home: as long as I say such a sentence, then I can not only do not have to pretend to be outside to perfuse him.

And on the contrary, we must be filial to him, not only not hate him, but on the contrary, we must respect him. I knew at the time that my mother was so trembling and silly when she saw me standing in the room.

After staying for a while, I sneaked up to a chair, and when she looked at me with her eyes, she looked sadder than before—because she couldn’t see the lively and natural way of a child walking on the road. Footsteps. But no one said that at the time, and the time to say that was fleeting.—— Quoted from page 55

David Copperfield Book Summary

David’s childhood was unfortunate, but as the old saying goes, when God closes a door for you, he will surely open a window for you. In misfortune and despair, the old nanny’s meticulous love for him made David’s character lacking. Distorted, still a brave and strong child.

After that, whether it was Aunt, Agnes, Dr. Strong, etc., they all played a positive role in David's. Although there are constant setbacks throughout his life, every setback can be turned into motivation by him, which is worth learning.

Therefore, whether it is friendship or love, the criterion I have always adhered to is whether the other party has a correct character and a positive character.

David Copperfield Book Review

David Copperfield published in 1850 is regarded by many readers and critics as the best novel of Charles Dickens. It is not easy to comment on a big book. That kind of spiritual intoxication, beautiful words, and shocking thoughts are difficult to write one by one. The thoughts I want to organize are only part of it.

This is an autobiographical novel that incorporates Dickens' own life experience. In addition to the hardships that David endured in the early days, a large part of it discusses family, marriage, and marriage trivial matters.

There is no trivial matter under the sun. I used to see him describe housework irrespectively, and I felt it was unnecessary, and I felt it could be deleted, but now I realize that those little things are affecting people's life trajectories and emotions.

According to the order of appearance and the date of marriage, the couples appearing in the book are as follows:

Mrs. Copperfield and Mr. Murdstone
Peggotty and Barkis
Mr. and Mrs. Micawber
Doctor and Annie
Steerforth and Emily
Besty (Aunt)
Copperfield and Dora
Copperfield and Agnes
Traddles and Sophy

1. Mrs. Copperfield and Mr. Murdstone

Mrs. Copperfield is also David's mother. As soon as he appeared, David was the child who lost his father. His beautiful but weak mother finally gave birth to him. Later, his mother met Mr. Murdstone, and she did not know whether it was out of love or to find a father for the child, so the mother remarried.

This was the first combination David encountered in his life, but this was an unfortunate combination. The stepfather was not good to David, indifferent and overly harsh. The mother felt pain when she saw her heart, but she did not dare to offend her husband.

David's mother has the advantage of being kind and gentle, a typical little woman, but her character becomes a weakness when met with a selfish and indifferent husband. She was unable to stand up to protect the child but was tortured by the love of motherhood all the time. Day after day, the mother gradually lost weight and finally died.

The mother’s ending implies that once a woman’s devotion to love is contrary to her gentle motherhood, it will fail; the weak will become slaves to the cold-blooded, and the result of a well-intentioned union is fatal and not good for oneself. It is even worse for children.

2. Peggotty and Barkis

Peggotty is David's nanny, and Barkis is David's groom, both of them are ordinary working people, and their combination is very simple. Barkis asked David at the beginning whether Miss Peggotty did a good job as reportedly.

Later, Barkis fell ill in bed and said to David: My good wife, the bread is really as good as the rumors, and it has been very good. There is no romance or sweet talk at all in the marriage of the two. They are ordinary couples, but they never leave and respect each other.

After Barkis fell ill, P never left to take care of him, and the husband often found out the few coins, hoping that his wife would not be so struggling. In David's view, although this marriage is not brilliant and dramatic, it reveals respect in every stroke.

3. Mr. and Mrs. Micawber

The couple is a vivid character described by Dickens. Mr. Micawber's business failed and led to bankruptcy, and he has been in a state of failure since then, but Mrs. Micawbert believes that her husband has extraordinary talents, and his repeated trials and failures prove that it is not his lack of ability, but social problems.

She emphasized time and time again that she would not abandon her husband, and that she would keep her promise of marriage to death. This little woman was stubborn and a little too focused on her husband, but she had to say she was loyal and embarrassing.

After hard work, the couple finally had a good turn for the better, gaining dignity and status on Australian soil that they could not get in Britain. Dickens always ridiculed his description of the couple and gave a good ending, probably because he intended to make good people get rewarded.

But in reality, such a family has no money and has many children, fails but does not admit failure, repeatedly takes on debts, and repeatedly complains about society, which is often a tragic ending.

4. Doctor and Annie

are young and old. When Annie married Doctor, she had just lost her father and was young. Annie has always shown love and respect for the Doctor, but others faintly feel that Annie is not happy.

Later, Annie confessed that she was very unhappy and thought she fell in love with a young man who grew up playing with her and almost cheated. But slowly, she felt the Doctor's affection and incomparable care and consideration. Apart from remorse, she was determined to truly love her husband.

Others pointed out to the Doctor that Annie’s possible infidelity did not arouse his anger. On the contrary, he felt that Annie had become a wife at such a young age and could not get the happiness of a girl she should have, nor did he get enough guidance. His misfortune was caused by him.

He still loves her very much, and his love does not change whether his wife loves him or not. What Annie said also revealed the shortcomings of the old and the young: a man who is like a father becomes a husband, then he loses a person who can guide and talk to him.

The young wife becomes very lonely, her character cannot be fully formed, and she lacks the guidance of her elders. It is easy to suspect that she is in love with another man, and it is easy to make mistakes. The role of the father is irreplaceable.

5. Steerforth and Emily

This unfortunate combination is the climax of the book. The beautiful Emily was already engaged to Ham, but seeing the handsome and rich boy Steerforth rekindled Emily's desire to be a Lady. The two had a private relationship and finally eloped. Emily's nature is good.

Her missteps are, on the one hand, being overloaded by too much care since she was a child. On the other hand, she has an extraordinary appearance, and beauty always leads to vanity. She wants to be a high-class woman and get rid of her birth. The insufficiency. But in the end, Steerforth left Emily, Emily lived in London, and was fortunate to be re-accepted by the family; but Steerforth died in the sea.

Dickens did not criticize this relationship, David said that he still thinks about them as best as possible. But did Dickens imply that abandoning one's relatives and impulsive feelings is not a good end?

6. Besty (Aunt)

adopted David's aunt, who has always appeared in front of readers as a single woman. But after a mysterious man appeared, people knew that Miss Besty was already married. There are not many descriptions of this relationship. Besty's husband is not known what his name is.

The only thing we know is that Besty is heartbroken, but he is not cruel to this husband. She shed tears and said: When I married him, he was still a fine-looking man. How can old love be so forgotten? But the old relationship shouldn't continue, Dickens let this obscure husband die.

7. Copperfield and Dora

David himself had two marriages. The first marriage was with Dora. Dora comes from a very good background, has been doted since childhood, and knows nothing about world affairs and vulgar things. Later, when David learned that his aunt was defeated, he tried to get Dora to learn how to cook and pay attention to the housework at home so that the two can be thrifty and keep the house.

But Dora cried and acted like a baby, thinking that David had made her study too cruel. Dora's father learned that the relationship between the two of them was of course opposed, but soon he suffered a heart attack and fell off his horse. It was only after death that there was nothing left in the house, and Dora was taken care of by two aunts.

This made it possible for the two to marry, and indeed they got married. But this marriage is always a little flawed. Dora is beautiful and cute, but he doesn't know any housework. The house is messy like a garbage post, and he is taken advantage of by the servants.

David felt that his wife should learn to manage the house, but Dora objected, cried, and fainted. Later, he tried to learn, but he couldn't write two words with a pen. Dora asked David to call her Child-wife, which was really appropriate. David knew that there was no hope for his wife to learn, so he had to get used to accommodating himself.

However, the dissatisfaction in the heart is difficult to eliminate with affection, and I faintly feel that his wife is holding him back. Dora felt this and was also annoyed that she was stupid and could not learn. Later, her body got worse and worse, and she died.

Before his death, Dora said that if they had loved and played like little girls and boys, and then forgot to see each other, it might be better. Most of Dora's shortcomings come from the lack of education. Since she was spoiled as a doll, her mind will never grow up and she will not be able to adapt to the role of his wife.

This marriage also reminds me of Copperwood's marriage in Dreiser's writings. A man's love for a woman is first aroused by the beauty of his appearance, and he will not consider whether a woman is a wife or not.

However, after getting married, I gradually feel that having a good wife can not only promote me to achieve greater achievements but also open a way for myself in the social world. The child-like dress of a coquettish and beautiful woman is charming at first but becomes tired after a long time.

Because marriage, in the final analysis, is a return to life, life rather than a sexual impulse. The love between David and Dora is beautiful, but the marriage is not so good. Dora also knows that if she is like this, her husband's love for her will one day be exhausted. It would be better to die when she was young and when her husband still loved him.

8. Copperfield and Agnes

David and Agnes lived and studied together when they were young, and they were close friends with deep affection. Agnes has always encouraged him and can always guide and promote him to improve and be a better version of himself. David needs this spiritual power and has been encouraged by Agnes in difficult situations time and time again. He said: His imperfect marriage with Dora was also perfect because of the existence of Agnes.

After Dora's death, David spent three years in a boat. In loneliness, he saw his past experience clearly and found that he loved Agnes. In the past, he only thought of this incomparably warm emotion as the emotion of family members, but after more experience and experience, he knew that this emotion was much stronger and more lasting than the emotions of brothers and sisters. And Agnes is the woman that she has been looking for and is the most suitable for her.

Seeing Agnes again, David heard from his aunt that Agnes may already have a lover, so he suppressed his emotions, hoping to maintain this precious emotion with a brother-sister relationship. But Agnes said to David in tears: She doesn't have a lover, she has loved him since the beginning. After that, there was nothing to say, the prince and princess lived happily and gave birth to a bunch of children.

People always have to go through many, many things, and only when they are no longer young do they know what they need. After experiencing so many lovers, I realized that the one who has been supporting me is precisely the life partner I have been looking for. Love is never too late. Only couples who are intellectually, mentally, and emotionally comparable can maintain a marriage for a long time.

9. Traddles and Sophy

The whole book of Traddles and Sophy ends with the combination of this pair of lovers. Both of them are ordinary people, struggling from the bottom. They have been in love for a long time but got married after a long delay.

For them, marriage is just a form, in fact, the two have already agreed on life like a husband and wife. Sophy is willing to wait for Traddles and will wait until he is eighty. Traddles has always loved and respected Sophy. Whether poor or rich, he loves this ordinary-looking woman.

Did Dickens end with the marriage of the couple? Does it imply that sincere and loyal feelings will have a good ending?

Study notes: David Copperfield

From the moment of this girl's birth, child, I intend to be her friend. I intend to be her godmother, and I beg you'll call her Betsey Trotwood Copperfield. There must be no mistakes in life with this Betsey Trotwood...

She must be well brought up, and well guarded against reposing any foolish confidence where they are not deserved. Miss Betsey Trotwood has a strong Pygmalion plot like Miss Havisham. I want to create a young self and start over...

Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

2022-05-01T00:50:00.035+06:00

Book Review: Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

One of the most complex emotions in human nature is love, and "Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell" uses the image of the protagonist Scarlett very well to describe the love story that happened during the American Civil War, which is thought-provoking. A book that can be regarded as a world-famous book has its own unique and irreplaceable charm.

The first great thing about "Gone with the Wind" is that it creates a flesh-and-blood image. The main characters are Scarlett O'Hara, the eldest lady of Tara Manor, and two men closely related to her life - Rhett Butler, Ashley Wilkes, and Ashley's wife Melanie Halton.

Rather than centering on traditional heroic beauties, the novel is anchored in rebels Scarlett and Rhett, leaving Ashley and Melanie pale and anemic by comparison.

Scarlett and Rhett dare to challenge the myths of the ancient South and enjoy the comfort brought by the social system, but they are determined not to allow social ethics to interfere with their personal freedom of action.

The experiences of the four main characters before, during, and after the American Civil War are closely related to their characterization. Ashley represents an ancient social tradition. In the end, Melanie died of illness and Ashley had a mental breakdown.

The conceited Rhett set off to Charleston to reconcile with the real world, while Scarlett, who refused to bow to her fate, planned to return to her family in Tara's arms to recuperate and make a comeback.

In the whole book, the most successful person in shaping the image is Scarlett. She is beautiful, scheming, selfish, and never compromises in life.

Her love for Rhett is worth a taste: Scarlett's love for Rhett began with affection, and this relationship began with disdain and hatred, and when Rhett left her in the end, Scarlett regretted it too much. Scarlett's character is portrayed by the things and people around her.

Reid said to Scarlett, "You are not a lady, and I am not a gentleman. We are a natural couple."

Ashley told Scarlett Carrie said: "I love you because you have passion and freedom that I don't have, but you are too young for marriage."

From the book, we can see that Scarlett is a person who dares to love and hate. She has been transforming. Life pushed her into the wind and waves, and she jumped. Scarlett is great.

When Melanie was giving birth, Scarlett stayed by her side, and when she returned to Tara, she faced the death of her mother, her father was demented, her home was destroyed, and most of the servants fled.

In the chaos, she did not choose to dream, but stood up, and even went to work in the fields herself, shooting deserters who wanted to steal her mother's accessories, which showed her courage and courage,

and Scarlett's negative personality also existed, Such as her wanting to run away with Ashley when Tara was the most difficult, wanting to leave all burdens and everyone to go far with Ashley, and her hatred for Melanie who took Ashley,

Marrying a man who likes her sister for money, but this just proves that she is a real person, no matter how strong she is in the eyes of others, whether she takes her mother to the jailed Rhett to borrow money,

or ignores others Against running a lumber mill, she is still a woman who needs to be cared for, and there are indications that her best mate is Rhett, but she is deeply in love with Ashley.

In the end, Scarlett didn't get the person she wanted and lost the person who loved her deeply. This is the art of literature.

The second great thing is the description of the story. The novel is romantic and nostalgic, full of affectionate nostalgia for the hometown and exciting events. The brushwork is delicate and vivid.

Goodbye to the life of Georgia during the Civil War and Reconstruction. Readers can learn about the customs, social fashion, religious beliefs, and other characteristics of the American South.

All of this, together with realistic characterization and broad vision, shows the collapse and disintegration of a traditional society, and how people cope with the arduous process of this great social change.

There is a very delicate description at the beginning of each event. For example, before the picnic, the reader can be in a carriage like the characters in the story, smelling the smell of flowers, trees, and other plants on the roadside.

The air was filled with the smell of barbecue, the war had not yet happened, and the people were still in the beauty of the Georgian era, and did not realize how miserable they would be in a while.

Book: Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

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About the Author: Margaret Mitchell Marsh

Born in Atlanta in 1900, Margaret Mitchell grew up surrounded by relatives who told endless tales of the Civil War and Reconstruction. She knew those who were relics of a destroyed culture and those who had put aside gentility for survival.

Her mother instilled in her that education was her only security. She attended Smith College but had to come home when her mother fell ill. After her mother's death, Margaret resolved that she had to make a home for her father and brother, so she left college and returned to Atlanta.

In 1923, she became a feature writer for the Atlanta Journal, and in 1925, she married John Marsh, a public relations officer for Georgia Power. She found most of her assignments unfulfilling, and she soon left to try writing fiction more to her own taste.

Her own harshest critic, she would not try to get her work published. She began to write Gone with the Wind in 1926 while recovering from an automobile accident. Over the next eight years, she painstakingly researched for historical accuracy. She accumulated thousands of pages of manuscripts.

Here is how she later described her life's labor: "When I look back on these last years of struggling to find time to write between deaths in the family, illness in the family and among friends which lasted months and even years, childbirths (not my own), divorces and neuroses among friends, my own ill health and four fine auto accidents ... it all seems like a nightmare.

I wouldn't tackle it again for anything. Just as soon as I sat down to write, somebody I loved would decide to have their gallbladder removed. ... "

In 1934, an editor from Macmillan's Publishers came to Atlanta seeking new authors. He was referred to by John and Margaret Marsh as people who knew Atlanta's literary scene. She steered him to several prospects but didn't mention her own work.

A friend told him that she was writing a novel, but she denied it. On the night before he was to leave Atlanta, she appeared at his hotel room door with her still imperfect, mountainous manuscript and left it with him for better or for worse.

The rest of the story is well-known --This text refers to an out-of-print or unavailable edition of this title.

Book Summary: Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

This is a textbook about survival and life, self-improvement and struggle, friendship and love, tolerance and loyalty, many of which can be answered from the book.

I have seen too much rhetoric about Scarlett being brave and strong. I don’t want to be a maverick. I understand Scarlett, including her arrogance and selfishness, because I understand everything she has encountered, but I don’t want to praise her bravery or strength.

Indeed, in the face of life, she is a warrior. I admired her intransigence, from the night she rode back to Tara with Melanie, who was pregnant, through fire and cannonballs, from the moment she resolved to rebuild her homeland even with her own hands. She faced adversity head-on, indomitable, and her whole body shone with inexhaustible energy and courage.

At that time, her bravery, her strength, and her desire for money were all just right, and it was a thriving and lovely spirit. But later, when she is too obsessed with shrewd calculations and business gains and losses, she is not so cute.

In fact, it can be said that it is close to snobbery, greed for vanity, money first, and neglect of family affection. She is so determined to go all the way north, until becoming a downright realist.

Her bravery and strength, her daring to love and hate, are partly due to her innate Irish blood, and a larger part is due to the compulsion of life, war, poverty, hunger, and misery, forcing her to be realistic. She is very brave and strong, but it is not enough to magnify what we think of her.

At least I think it is biased to use such purely positive words to describe her. The character she showed later is controversial. If there is only one word to describe it, I would rather choose a neutral word like realistic.

In the face of feelings, she is ignorant. She has been married three times, but she doesn't really understand her feelings. I can't bear to say that she is a fool with 0 emotional intelligence. Maybe only as Rhett said, emotionally, she is just a child.

Why not, only a child will forever clamor for a pair of beautiful crystal slippers even if it doesn't suit them in the end; only a childish behavior will rush home and make a clear cut with her husband just because of a hot-headed conversation with an old lover Boundaries are used to show loyalty; only a childish person thinks that a sorry sentence can make up for years of faults and injuries, even if it is a foregone conclusion.

And the two most perfect and inclusive characters in the book: Melanie, a seemingly weak but always loyal friend who can fight for her at any time and even against the world; Rhett, a person who fully understands her and loves her with all her might She tolerates her man - the former, she despises and even disgusts, the latter, she enjoys it with peace of mind but arbitrarily spoils his love.

When trampling and hurting accumulate to a point, no matter how deep the love is, it will wear out. How pitiful Rhett is, you will never be able to beat her young dream lover, because it is a beautiful dream woven in her heart, and how can you beat a dream, she, by the dream How can you see the real world when you cover your eyes?

It wasn't until she lost them on the same day that she finally woke up, but it was too late. As Rhett said at the end, "When something is broken, it is broken—I'd rather remember it as it was at its best than fix it and watch it break for the rest of my life." Rhett, always It's a simple and straightforward way, to tell the truth.

When the phrase "Tomorrow is another day", which is used as a motto by many people, appeared at the end of the full text, I realized was not an inspiring force. If she faced any hardships in the past, she often used this sentence as a

The magic weapon encouraged me and then I survived, so this time, I seemed to smell a hint of helplessness: what can I do? It's so difficult today, let's talk about it tomorrow. Since then, without Ashley blocking her vision, the world will be clearer before her eyes, but after losing everything precious, can she get a new world.

But fortunately, she is a warrior, an uncompromising warrior. She is still young, and the author has given her such a huge life experience that we forget that she is only twenty-eight years old, and there are many possibilities tomorrow, so she is actually lucky if all of us can live in our twenty-eighth When you really understand these things at the age of eight, life is just the beginning.

Ps: Compared with tomorrow being another day, I prefer these two paragraphs: the first paragraph is the casual remarks of Mrs. Fontaine when Scarlett's mother died when she was comforting her. When I saw this, I repeatedly read the text a lot. Over and over, I'm sure it's true even now.

"It is very unfortunate for a woman, child, to have to deal with a situation that is worse than she might be because once she has dealt with the worst, she has nothing to fear.

But if a woman has Don't be afraid of anything, that's bad. You think I don't understand what you just said - what you've been through? No, I do. I'm your age, . . . um, yes Yes, as I said, that was fifty years ago. Since then, I have not been afraid of anything or anyone, because I have seen the worst possible situation.

Fear robs me of a great deal of happiness and causes me a lot of trouble, and God intends to make women timid, so a woman who is not afraid is always a little bit abnormal... Scarlett, you should keep something Let yourself be afraid—it's like keeping something to cherish..."

Another passage is what Rhett and Scarlett said when they were discussing the issue of making money. I like Rhett's calm and rational head and insight into problems. and foresight.

Scarlett: "I feel like I'm rowing a fully loaded boat in a storm, and it's not easy to stay on the water. How can I care about things that don't matter, things that are not a pity to give up, like decency, and—and this type of stuff, I was so afraid that the boat would sink, I threw away everything that seemed least important."

Rhett: "Self-respect, decency, sincerity, purity, Generosity," he enumerated cheerfully. "You're right, Scarlett! These things are important when the boat is going to sink, but look at your friends around you who either row the boat safely to shore with the cargo intact, or I'd rather be swept up and down."

Scarlett: "They're a bunch of big idiots," she said angrily. "Now and then, when I have a lot of money, I will be as good a person as I said, and I will be an honest and loyal person. At that time, I will be an honest person."

Rhett: "You can do it now—but you don't want to do it. It's hard to salvage a cargo that's fallen into the water, and even if it is salvaged, it's often damaged beyond recognition and can't be restored to its original shape. When ability salvages the decency, purity, and generosity that you have thrown away, you will find that they have changed a lot in the sea, but I don't think they have become full and novel."

Quoted from the original text: Gone with the Wind

What I love is a person I made up by myself, a person as lifeless as Mei Li. I made a beautiful dress and fell in love with it. When Asili came over on his horse, he was so handsome and so different, I just put that dress on him, whether it fits or not. So I can't see what he really looks like. In fact, what I have always loved is that dress, not him at all.--- quoted on page 834

We are a natural couple because you are just like me, cold, greedy, and unscrupulous. Of all the people who know you, I am the only one who will love you after seeing your true face. . I fell in love with you because I wanted to try my luck.--- quoted on page 862

Book Review of Gone with the Wind

The words are written on the front: There is nothing new in the world. If you don't look at "Gone with the Wind" as a romance novel, I would like to think of it as a reflection on culture.

It tells the story of what happens to the culture that accompanies it when a system collapses. The feeling for culture is perhaps the most complex one among many things in the history of human development.

While accumulating huge energy, human culture also accumulates huge loads. On the rough road, do we abandon it or draw strength from it? For us, is it destruction or salvation? There is never an answer to this question, we just make a choice.

About Gone with the Wind: The quickest and clearest way to figure out the context of a story is through its main characters. As important characters in the book, Ashley, Scarlett, Bradley, and Melanie each pinned the author's complex emotions on the South that has experienced glory, grace, suffering, and rebirth. From them, you can read the author's feelings about the past era. Affectionate contemplation.

Ashley: A Grey Sigh Ashley is a grey elegy sung by the author of the Southern Civilization Gone With the Wind. He carries the ideas, traditions, way of life, and everything that once seemed beautiful but out of place.

It's all like everyone else, beautiful and elegant but at a loss and useless in the new environment. Ashley represents that part of southern civilization that has been abandoned by the times.

Although they were once a symbol of Southern civilization, they remember the beauty of the past - if Southern civilization is an idyll, they are the most touching. Tones, if Southern civilization were a picture, they were the most poetic lines on it, and they were enough to play the tenderest part of the memory of the South.

However, although all this decorates the South, it is not the vitality of the South. At a time when the South was battered and bruised and needed a tenacious rebirth, they had clearly become a burden and burden to the South. The author is clearly negative about Ashley and what he represents, cutting this off from her sentiments about Southern civilization.

Through Ashley's gray eyes and the cold wind blowing through Tara Manor, we seemed to hear that low sigh. Such sighs and feelings are the main tones of the sentimental mood in the book, and it is them that are truly Gone with the Wind.

Scarlett: It's an interesting irony that Scarlett, the primary color of survival, and yet in love with Ashley, is a complete betrayer of that old age.

Scarlett's appearance, behavior, character, and thinking are all out of step with the traditions of the South. She even felt that she didn't have any feelings for southern civilization, which was different from Ashley, Melanie, and Bradley, and she didn't love it, whether it was its bad aspects or its good aspects.

Of course, she also missed the fragrant temples and quiet life of the past, and she also longed to be a woman like her mother, but when that old era passed, she did not hold back at all, and She is quickly thrown into the new environment and life, and the past civilization has little influence on her.

At the last moment of the war, Bai Ruide's stood up to fight for the South and painstakingly paved the passage for his daughter to reach the mainstream society in the South.

This shows the return and recognition of the Southern civilization, and these are all invisible to Scarlett. Reid, who kept mocking the virtues and qualities of the South, didn't really "let go", and Scarlett was a complete betrayal of the past.

In Scarlett, the author tries to cast aside all traditional and moral constraints, which seems like a total negation, but this negation has gone beyond the level of moral judgment and returned to a primary color, this primary color is to survive. Under the weight of survival, Scarlett has no extra strength to love her family, and no extra ability to show love and generosity.

Of course, this is also related to her selfish, shrewd, bold, and passionate nature. Choosing such a person To deduce the theme of survival, perhaps it is the kind of purity that the author wants to express. Scarlett is the most primitive survivor, her eyes are always forward, and anything that gets in her footsteps will let them go without a second thought.

And in those days, for the scarred South, there was no simpler and more immediate need than survival. In the face of primitive survival needs, elegance, civilization, virtue, tradition, norms, etc. become so weak, useless, and cumbersome at a certain moment, but the theme of survival highlighted at this time is cruel and strong.

What connects Scarlett with the southern blood is the red earth under her feet. Scarlett can ignore the norms of the South, abandon the virtues of the South, and be a complete betrayal as easily as she shrugs her shoulders, but she can't let go of the red earth with the same fiery color as her.

The red earth is the incarnation of the South, symbolizing the most primitive and wild vitality of the South under the appearance of civilization. Such vitality allows the South to grow and prosper, and it also allows it to fight desperately when it is cornered. Scarlett lying on the red earth of the Twelve Oaks The ground swore to live, and this was the roar of the revival of the feral survival in the south.

Only by standing on the red earth can Scarlett bravely tell herself "Tomorrow is another day" again and again. At this time, under the blood-red sunset of Tara, she is one with the South.

This is survival. The theme of survival is undoubtedly the strongest rhythm that reverberates throughout the book, and Scarlett is the brightest symbol in this rhythm. For Scarlett's indomitable and unscrupulous vitality, although the author sincerely praises it, it is by no means completely affirmative.

Scarlett has too many shortcomings: she is selfish, superficial, not good at thinking, and ignores all morals and virtues. From here, she reflects on the blindness of existence.

This is a kind of wild growth, vigorous but destructive, and it is its advantage and its biggest flaw without any scruples. This flaw is reflected in Scarlett, she doesn't realize that she loves the South, she loves Melanie, she loves Reid, she only pursues her own desires, pursues what she can see, so she will lose a lot of important things; she The way to pursue the goal is simple and rough, and it is often easy to fall into the misunderstanding of the opposite.

Likewise, for Scarlett, she is unaware of the virtues of morality, so she can abandon it without regret and nostalgia, and this sheer decisiveness can be extraordinary courage when struggling to survive, and when change and innovation are needed It can also be extraordinarily clean and thorough at times - however when the South needs direction and the support of a huge moral civilization to continue to move forward, her shortcomings will inevitably be exposed.

So Scarlett was incomplete on the deep subject of the Southern "freshman," and she needed Melanie's complement. Scarlett is loyal to the ancient and solemn proposition of "survival", and Ashley is a deserter under this proposition. Scarlett and Ashley, one positive and one negative, the contrast is stark.

Under the huge historical curtain, one figure is lonely and desolate, walking heavily, the other figure is tenacious and brave, eager to try; one figure retreats to the past, and the other figure steps into it. the future.

At the junction of the old and the new, they are drifting further and further apart. The wheel of the times ran over this desolate background, and there was a deep echo, and the lingering sound was endless.

Reid Brad: In the Pain of Return For the Southern civilization, Ashley represents following the trend, Scarlett represents total denial, and in Reid, the author's attitude has turned a corner, and it seems to become contradictory and unpredictable.

On the surface, this attitude is full of ridicule and criticism, but in reality, Reid, like Scarlett and Melanie, is deeply in love with the South. However, there is still deep pain in this love. Gradually, I felt that it was not Scarlett, but Melanie, who resembled Brad the most.

The similarity between Scarlett and Reid lies in rebellion, ego, enthusiasm, shrewdness, and even greed, cunning, and unscrupulousness. This is a betrayal of the mainstream civilization in the South; the similarity between Melanie and Reid lies in their love for this civilization. Melanie's love for Southern civilization is manifested in her insistence on it, while Bradley's love is manifested in criticism.

He and Melanie are like two sides of the same coin, seemingly completely different, but both share the same purpose. Bai Ruide's eyes are sharp. He has already seen all kinds of backwardness and inappropriateness in the stagnant South, so he betrays, criticizes, and even thinks he has drawn a clear line with it - but the influence of spirit and civilization is silent, This subtle influence is often more surprising once it becomes apparent.

In the blaze of fire in Atlanta, Reid clearly saw his heart and saw his inseparable complex with the South. This kind of complex is also fiery and strong, it made Bai Ruide throw away the cloak of betrayal in an instant and obey the call of his heart.

The author uses this character to convey her other attitude toward Southern civilization and express her most complicated feelings towards Southern civilization. On the surface, Reid and Scarlett are both traitors, but Reid's betrayal has a different color.

He considers himself despicable, mocks virtue and scoffs at the hypocritical defenders, but he truly respects and loves Melanie, the true moral keeper. He was proud of his status as an elite class in the South.

For his most beloved daughter, he abandoned everything he had pursued in the past and devoted himself to seeking a place for her in the upper class of the South.

Therefore, unlike Scarlett, Reid's betrayal has a color that should be returned. Unlike Scarlett and Melanie, the two male protagonists Ashley and Reid are not portrayed in separate ways.

There is almost no single description of Reid, and there is no narration-style language about his heart, and his footprints in the book also appear in relation to other characters.

We cannot directly know what role Southern civilization played in Bradley's fate, but since he is in this complex background of the alternation of old and new, it represents the author's attitude towards the South. Then he will never be just a functional role in Scarlett's love. Southern civilization should have fate, cause, and effect for Bai Ruide.

The love between Scarlett and Bradley can be said too much, a story about love and regret (now thinking about it, too many misunderstandings and misses can be said to be missed, and the real name of missed or just called inappropriate - like It is a subconscious avoidance of each other, nothing to regret.), this time I want to bypass it for the time being and analyze our Bai Ruide from the perspective of civilization.

He should have experienced the double loss of cultural identity and love pursuit. The tragedy between Bradley and the Southern civilization is that he can neither "blindly" stick to it like Melanie nor completely abandon it like Scarlett.

We know from life that love alone cannot defeat a person (except for some mindless romance novels.), especially for a person like Bai Ruide, if a person is really defeated by love, he will be hit It must be one of his weak spots.

This weakness of Reid should be the "south". In fact, Bai Ruide has always been lonely. In the southern culture that originally nurtured him, his critical attitude was not recognized.

As a subordinate to southern civilization, he disdains to associate with despicable and frivolous adventurers and speculators and looks down on them from the bottom of his heart. ——Maybe also despise the self who is similar to them.

A person who keeps denying or questioning himself verbally and in his heart should be suffering in his heart. His success in betraying Southern civilization cannot make him truly happy. His love for Scarlett is a kind of consolation in his life.

He loves Scarlett, perhaps not just because her boldness, shrewdness, and rebelliousness coincide with his own, but also because they are all from the same class in the South, and from her, he can expect to see the same as his own. The same feelings of love and betrayal are intertwined in the South.

Perhaps the combination of these two points is the real "similarity" between him and Scarlett. He said to Scarlett, "It's rare to see a girl like you out of a thousand girls." Although he expressed his appreciation for Scarlett, from another point of view, he didn't reveal his loneliness.

However, this love was ultimately lost, which became the last straw that crushed Bai Ruide. The last impression that Bai Ruide left us was a figure sitting alone at one end of the long dining table, the shadow of the back of the chair cast on his face, and he whispered that after the loss of love, he might go to talk to his family who parted ways.

Harmony's words——Briette at this time, just like the moment when he buried his head on Melanie's knees weakly and helplessly, it is amazing and pitiful.

Melanie: The sober watcher Scarlett represents the purity of existence, Ashley is a gorgeous and unrealistic burden, Reid returns from betrayal, and Melanie is the soberest standing in the dust of history People if Scarlett is the most tenacious vitality in the Southern spirit, Melanie is the most core cohesive force and the strongest pillar of the Southern spirit.

Melanie's sobriety lies not only in the fact that she holds the most precious part of the Southern spirit, bravery, loyalty, industriousness, honor, etc. but also in the fact that she has clearly realized that the South must accept change before it can be changed.

Can continue to move forward tenaciously. She strictly adheres to the core of the southern spirit but is not pedantic and self-contained, which is why she can be loved by the most conservative southern aristocrats, and at the same time, Scarlett and Bradley, who are despised by the old aristocrat Reason for finding a balance between a pair. Melanie loves Scarlett and respects Reid.

On the surface, it seems that they helped her and Ashley. The deeper reason is that she knows that only their brave, enterprising, and fighting spirit can save the South and inject it into the civilization of the South.

Fresh blood supports that stormy world. Reviewing the whole article carefully, behind many of Scarlett's and Reid's rebellious and daring words and deeds, there is silent support from Melanie.

Facing the change, Melanie did not hesitate: she needed to work, she put down her former figure and worked hard; Scarlett shot the white guy, dragged her weak body, and stood firmly behind her to support her; Scarlett ignored her Public opinion runs the lumber business by herself, and she stands by her side to defend her, telling the conservative wives that that is what Scarlett "should do."

In the face of change, her bravery is no less than Scarlett's. She and Scarlett, one is bright and one is dark, one is warm and unrestrained, and the other is deep and firm. Throughout the entire chapter, Scarlett's image, no matter how passionate and dazzling, can't hide Melanie's brilliance.

She and Scarlett complement each other: Melanie knows that the South needs to change and that she needs a fearless and courageous spirit like Scarlett's; for Scarlett, Melanie is like the eternal red earth under her feet, and she can only feel her support. Work up the courage to move forward.

As a woman, the author is undoubtedly partial to her two heroines. If Scarlett is the force going south, Melanie is the force going south. The mutual echo between her and Scarlett is the perfect interpretation of the new life problem of the South standing up in the ruins of reality and mind.

This is a story of the South, of destruction and rebirth, of strength and hope. The four protagonists represent the direction of the author's four emotions and thoughts. No matter where they extend, they eventually converge in one direction, where the vitality and hope of the South continue to continue.

After reading the famous novel "Gone with the Wind"

After carefully reading a famous book, I believe that everyone has gained a lot of knowledge.

The following is the feeling after reading "Gone with the Wind" compiled by me for you. Welcome, to read and you are welcome to share.

“There was a land of Cavaliers and Cotton Field called the Old South…
　　Here in this pretty world Gallantry took its last bow.
　　Here was the last ever to be seen of Knights and their Ladies Fair, of Master and Slave…
　　Look for it only in books, for it is no more than a dream remembered.
　　A Civilization Gone With The Wind…" ——quoted from the movie "Gone With the Wind"

Unlike most female readers, I used to love Ashley very much.

The love in middle school is also very simple. He is clean, handsome, gentle, refined, and learned. Especially compared with the uncle who has a beard, the image of Prince Charming is more distinct.

Even his troubles sounded so advanced: others' troubles extended to how much less cotton this year was harvested than last year or finding a matching mare for his own stallion, and his world had poetry and poetry Painting, he is troubled by the unfathomable problem of the collapse of civilization and the demise of a way of life.

What more could such a perfect man ask for? So I have expressed a high degree of understanding and deep sympathy for Scarlett's continued infatuation for more than ten years.

Later, I learned that perfection is conditional, and there are very harsh conditions.

Beautiful, kind, and simple girls can easily be perfect when they study in school every day, just like the heroines of countless novels, but after leaving school and facing the requirements of financial independence, it is difficult not to get a little bit of worldly life.

If she is still as slender as a poem, as refined as a dream, and as graceful as a painting, I am afraid that she will be shot to death on the beach by the tide of life sooner or later.

So does the elegant gentleman. In the lazy sun in the lazy town, in the rustling of leaves, in the life of boys riding horses, drinking, playing poker, and girls chatting, how could the perfect smile of an elegant gentleman not capture the hearts of girls to be married.

And the beacon fires are in the sky, and there is no need for elegance in the years of chaos, and the new life waiting to be revived after the war does not need elegance.

Graceful as Ashley, his radiance in the peaceful years of the previous chapters have been exhausted. After many years when grace was no longer needed, he was still as graceful as Big Ben reluctantly.

The nigger ran away, the fence on the farm needed to be chopped, and he couldn't chop well.

Need money to use, the business of the timber shop is handed over to him, and he can't make money.

Scarlett was blackmailed by the Northerners who asked him to discuss it, and he just kept saying, what should we do, what should we do with all the Southerners. The leisurely life we once had is no more.

Scarlett had no choice but to marry an old man with a little spare money to hand over the ransom. Rhett later knew angrily and said that if he really loves you, even if he steals and robs you, he can't let you do it.

He hugged Scarlett and was seen by his own sister, convinced that his wife used her immaculate reputation to suppress all doubts, and he remained silent, even as she watched her painfully accuse his own sister of lying and slander.

Scarlett always believed that he was in love with her spiritually, even though he was always by his wife's side.

Maybe it's because every time she asks him, do you love me? He was silent. So do you love her? He remained silent.

Although her wife is deeply in love with him. She knew exactly what he was, and knew that he couldn't be strong, but she always stayed by his side with her ability, perseverance, and kindness.

And Scarlett loved him too. She used her own incomparable vitality and fighting spirit to grit her teeth to survive the difficulties one after another after the collapse of her elegant life. No matter how difficult it was, she did not hesitate to help him as much as she could.

Without these two strong women who love him, he would have long since slept with the elegant life he loved that he couldn't leave. And he always bound his soul to the souls of these two women, neither changing nor fleeing, but weak.

Although he always looked handsome, tall, refined, and well-mannered.

In the end, the perfect wife who was carrying his second child died because of his fragile constitution and dystocia.

After spending more than ten years of youth, Scarlett finally accepted a very simple fact: he didn't love her, he was just too weak to reject her.

Rhett was finally completely tired of this long love race and left with a tired heart.

And Ashley's life, with the departure of the two women, was finally empty.

Even his own sister, in order to preserve his false professional reputation, was forever slandered.

From start to finish, he was a good and honest man. However, the dilapidated reality finally told him that it is not bad that is the poison. Weakness itself is enough to become a sharp weapon to hurt people.

It breaks the hearts of those who love you, it robs you of love and the ability to love, and it leaves you in the end, with nothing left but alone.

Yes, remember, weakness is a sin.

And, the weak are often men.

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

2022-04-21T17:10:00.017+06:00

Book Review: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

"The Great Gatsby", the top work of American writer Fitzgerald, has long been a world classic and has been respected by a group of famous writers such as Haruki Murakami.

The reason why it has become a classic is that there must be a cautionary truth that transcends time and space. He warns us not to indulge in the illusions brought about by the world of flowers so that every reader can become a "great Gatsby".

When reading this book for the first time, we may not be able to discover the greatness of Gatsby, but this is precisely the core of this book - to maintain the spiritual pure land of the prosperous city by discovering the "greatness".

When the First World War had just ended, the United States, as the victor of the First World War, successfully surpassed the old capitalist countries to become the first capitalist power.

So far, the international status of the United States has improved unprecedentedly, and at the same time, there has been a prosperous situation with economic development. As social life tends to be peaceful and stable, the American people believe that the center of life should turn to freedom and enjoyment.

In particular, young people are indulging in infatuation with money and money, and some people even abandon their ideological and moral consciousness in pursuit of money and even love.

Therefore, the economic prosperity of the United States is accompanied by the decline of the world on the ideological and moral levels. The book The Great Gatsby is based on this background.

The American Dream of Gatsby

Gatsby is a young man who has a great yearning for the American Dream. In the beginning, the connotation of the American Dream was that if people want to get the life they want, they need to achieve it through the efforts of their own hands. In other words, as long as we work hard towards our goals, we can definitely achieve our dreams.

However, after the First World War brought unprecedented prosperity to the American economy, the connotation of the American dream has undergone a certain change, and the motivation for people to pursue their dreams lies in obtaining money.

In order to pursue the girl he likes, Gatsby chooses to take risks and sell bootleg wine to accumulate wealth. After gaining a certain amount of wealth, he spends a lot of time, holding banquets and inviting guests to attract the attention of the girl he likes. And Gatsby's guests are often in a relationship of exchange of interests with him, rather than friends in the true sense.

They don't really wish each other a better life. Instead, driven by the mentality of comparison, they always hope that they are better than others. From this aspect, it can be seen that the seemingly prosperous economy of the United States on the surface is actually prevalent in the wind of comparison and luxury.

People from all strata of society have the same characteristics, that is, they will do anything to pursue real money, and spend money wantonly for pleasure, and even the poor want to borrow money in pursuit of money pleasure. Behind this false prosperity, it foreshadows that the subsequent capitalist economic crisis will lead to World War II, and the American dream will be shattered.

The Fall of Daisy's Human Nature

The heroine Daisy in the story is actually a typical representative of the degeneration of human nature. In the name of love, she actually pursues money. As a courtesan, soldiers come to Daisy's house every night for a banquet.

In the beginning, Daisy chose Gatsby because Gatsby tricked Daisy into being rich. When she found out about Gatsby's poor status, she turned to the rich and powerful Tom as her husband. Being a wife didn't change Daisy's mind, she was still after money, so when Gatsby came back rich, she turned to Gatsby.

A class of women represented by Daisy takes love as the slogan, regards men as their wallets, pursues a life of luxury and enjoyment, and takes the pursuit of money as their only life goal and pleasure. This is essentially a degeneration of human nature and a lack of spirit.

A dream of a material world, a dream of a vacuum of value, the world in which it exists and the world it presents, and a warning for those who come after us today, especially today's youth. This enlightens us to find our true meaning of life in our life and work hard towards worthy goals, instead of comforting our inner emptiness with a "noble" ideology.

Desires need to be restrained and awakened.

Book: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

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About the Author: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald (September 24, 1896 – December 21, 1940) was an American author of novels and short stories, whose works are the paradigm writings of the Jazz Age, a term he coined himself.

He is widely regarded as one of the greatest American writers of the 20th century. Fitzgerald is considered a member of the "Lost Generation" of the 1920s.

He finished four novels: This Side of Paradise, The Beautiful and Damned, The Great Gatsby—his most famous—and Tender Is the Night. A fifth, unfinished novel, The Love of the Last Tycoon, was published posthumously.

Fitzgerald also wrote many short stories that treat themes of youth and promise along with despair and age.

Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby" Quotes

All the glamorous beauty is no match for time, and it will never return.
The world doesn't care about your self-esteem, people only see your achievements. Don't overemphasize your self-esteem until you have achieved nothing.
All beings in the world are either pursued by others, pursued by others, or busy or overworked.
All great novels will eventually point in one direction, nothingness. All life has a common result, broken dreams, and death.
Don't complain when you get into a man-made predicament, you can only learn lessons silently.
In the long dark night of the soul, every day is three o'clock in the morning.
Whenever you feel like criticizing someone, you must remember that not all people in this world have the conditions you have.
Society is full of injustice. You don't want to change it first, you can only adapt to it first. (because you can't control it).
People are not born equal, and people's feelings of good and evil are also different.
You cannot repeat what happened in the past.
The loneliest moment in everyone's life is when they watch the whole world crumble, and all they can do is stare blankly.
A real skill will make life much more successful.
I am both in and out of it, and I am both intoxicated and disgusted by the ever-changing nature of life.
There is no confusion in the world that can compare to the confusion of a simple-minded person's mind.
Hope is leaving us, but it doesn't matter. Tomorrow we will run faster and stretch our arms farther. One day, we will continue to sail hard. Going against the current, I was pushed back and forth until I returned to the past.

Book Summary: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

In the history of American literature, if we want to say a well-deserved classic, we have to mention the book "The Great Gatsby".

This book is regarded as the national reading of the United States and has been selected as the must-reading list for American teenagers. "The Great Gatsby" ranks second in the list of the 100 best novels of the 20th century in the United States.

The New York Times rated it as a peculiar book, a mysterious and flashy story. Writer Haruki Murakami gave this book a lot of praise:

"If I were asked to choose only one book I must read in my life, I would choose The Great Gatsby without hesitation. I flipped through a page and read the previous paragraph. It never disappointed me once, and not a single page made anyone No interested. What an incredible masterpiece!"

This shows the status of this book in the history of literature. So what is the story of this critically acclaimed book?

The book "The Great Gatsby" is not long, and the translation is only 100,000 words. But it is such a thin book, but it accurately and ruthlessly portrays the glitz and confusion of the characters of that era.

It mainly tells the story of Gatsby, an officer from a low-level background, who broke up with his first love, Daisy, when he was young, because of the opposition of Daisy's family.

So in order to regain Daisy, he devoted his whole life to this obsession, doing everything he could, and even became a wealthy person in the upper class through illegal means of making money, trying to get close to Daisy, just to relive the old dream with her.

At the end of the story, he is even willing to take the blame for Daisy's murderer. I thought that Gatsby's affectionate efforts would lead to a fairy tale ending for the two of them.

However, flashy and fragile bubbles cannot stand the test of reality. Gatsby didn't exchange for Daisy's tenderness until the moment before his death.

Gatsby's tragedy was doomed at the beginning of the story. The author also denies the American flashy dream of that era through Gatsby's personal experience and fate.

The author of this book is the American writer Fitzgerald, who is the Bole of Hemingway, the author of The Old Man and the Sea, and the king of short stories as famous as O Henry.

He is the spokesman of the American "Jazz Age" and an important writer of the "Lost Generation". Hemingway commented on Fitzgerald: His talent is like the colorful patterns on the wings of a butterfly, it is innate.

I believe this story from the 1920s can still arouse our resonance and thinking when we read it today. We also see our own shadow in the illusory outline of the foam. Or that we are nothing more than one of many "21st century Gatsby", often immersed in what we call an ideal life. Those ideals are gorgeous, but they are out of touch with reality.

Daisy, the old love Gatsby pursues in the book, is not just a simple character, but a symbol of all kinds of ethereal, flashy, vulgar, fake exquisite, or koi-like in our real life. There are so many things that are contrary to reality.

In this article, I will analyze the three truths of the book from the following three points through the encounter and fate of the protagonist Gatsby's long-cherished wish.

In the pursuit of the so-called "high-class sense of high society", but lost his most authentic self.
The deep affection for carving a boat and begging for a sword can't touch anyone
A strong heart should come from self-approval, not external admiration and flattery

1. Blindly pursue a sense of luxury in the upper class, but lose the most authentic self

Gatsby spent his whole life pursuing what he thought was a long-cherished wish, but at the same time, he lost the most precious thing, which is his true self.

There is such an intriguing story in the history of entrepreneurship in the United States. It is said that a young man was stopped by a question from his father.

Dad asked him, "Do you know what is the cheapest and what is the most expensive in this world?" I think most people are like this guy, shaking their heads and unable to answer.

Dad told him that if you want to buy roses on Valentine's Day, then roses are the cheapest because a rose is only a few dollars.

So what is the most expensive? Your obsession is the most precious. Because the girl you want to send flowers to is the most important person, and once you choose the wrong person, all your life and wealth will be in this relationship, so it is said that your obsession determines everything, and obsession is the most expensive, but your subconscious is often unaware of this truth.

This is the case with Gatsby in the book. He thinks that Daisy married someone else because he was poor, so as long as she gets rich, Daisy can come back into his arms again. Gatsby spent his whole life with this obsession and for this unsolvable knot. He even gathered wealth through illegal means such as alcohol trafficking. He wanted to be in the upper class, just to get close to Daisy.

Gatsby lived for this long-cherished wish all his life, paying for a scene he imagined. Beyond that, his world is blank.

But Gatsby ignored the truth, the Daisy of today is no longer the Daisy of the past. Daisy in those days liked to be passionate, to fight for the country, to be brave and true to Gatsby. Today's Daisy is completely indulged in the 360-degree paper drunk, the electro-optical illusion of the rich. Nowadays, in order to pursue the upper class, Gatsby is no longer a hot-blooded teenager, and he has also lost his truest self.

The two of them are no longer on the same channel. To describe it in mathematical terms, in two completely different times and spaces, two parallel lines cannot intersect, they will only drift apart!

No matter how powerful a person is, it is impossible to turn the clock of history back to the past. And Gatsby mistakenly thinks that a lot of money can make everything go back to the past. This is Gatsby's most innocent, but also the saddest.

Disregarding reality, Gatsby blindly indulges in his own made-up dreams in order to find the love lost due to poverty. But in the process of chasing his dream, he lost the most precious obsession and lost his truest self, which is the root of his tragic end.

2. The deep affection for carving a boat and begging for a sword can't touch anyone

Gatsby's deep affection for Daisy is tantamount to the love of the sword. No matter how deep the engraved mark is, it cannot stop the ship from moving forward.

At that time, Daisy abandoned herself and married someone else, leaving a mark on Gatsby's heart, which became a knot in Gatsby's heart that could not be solved. So Gatsby kept that day, that moment, that scene in his heart. He began to struggle, imagining that when he returned triumphantly, he would be able to relive his old dream with Daisy.

Gatsby's mentality is like the text he learned in elementary school - "Crawling a Boat and Looking for a Sword". Gatsby is like the person who engraved the mark, he has always stayed in that picture, and the mark has kidnapped him for a lifetime. He thought that when he became rich and found the mark of the year, he could rewrite the fate of himself and Daisy. However, the truth is that no matter how obvious the mark is, it cannot change the course of the ship. Daisy is just like that boat. Although there are marks on the hull, the area where Daisy stays now is no longer the sea area where the sword fell.

Gatsby's self-confessed affectionate romance only touched himself, but not Daisy. He was immersed in romantic memories and fantasies, but the romance belonged only to himself, not Daisy. That long-cherished wish was imagined by his own infatuation.

However, the cold reality and the ruthless Daisy wiped out Gatsby's last trace of romantic fantasies.

After Daisy was double-fed by Gatsby and her husband Tom, she was confused and killed her car. Gatsby resolutely decided to take the blame for Daisy. But I didn't expect Daisy's husband Tom to blame all this on Gatsby. In the end, Gatsby was shot as the real murderer.

The reason why Gatsby's last bit of romantic fantasies is also wiped out is that before Gatsby died, he was still waiting for Daisy's call. The better they eloped together. It's a pity that Gatsby didn't know at that time that Daisy, whom he was thinking of, was already packing at home and was about to escape from New York with her husband Tom.

Daisy has an instinctive ability to judge the situation. He doesn't need to be too brainy to do things, and he can always make the most appropriate choice. He had no guilt about Gatsby taking the blame for himself, and she left New York with peace of mind. Perhaps at the bottom of Daisy's heart, she always believed that she and Gatsby belonged to two different classes. Gatsby was from the lower class, and it was right for her to take the blame for herself.

Woohoo! Gatsby's long-cherished wish and his life came to an end forever at this moment. His funeral was very quiet, in stark contrast to the hustle and bustle of his home. Of course, this is not the point. Gatsby didn't care about the concerns of those alcoholic and meaty friends. The point is that Daisy, who Gatsby cares about most, has never even delivered a bouquet of flowers or a single greeting.

Gatsby thought that his soulful quest for a sword could not move anyone, nor could he rewrite anyone's fate.

3. A strong heart should come from self-approval, not external admiration, and flattery

The more high-profile Gatsby became, the more he showed his inferiority complex. People who are bluffing are generally people who are extremely inferior.

Even after Gatsby became rich, his inner inferiority complex was never eradicated, as can be seen from his psychological activities in many places in the book.

There is a description of Gatsby in Chapter 10 of this book:

He never spoke again, and the closer he got to the city, the more reserved he seemed.

In Chapter 13 of this book, Gatsby looks through the autumn waters and looks forward to meeting Daisy, but the night before meeting Daisy, he is nervous and has insomnia, and he is worried that this meeting will not save the situation. When Daisy actually appeared, he hesitated and avoided meeting.

It can be seen from these that Gatsby still feels inferior to others from the bottom of his heart. In front of Daisy and other nobles, he would never be able to show the same natural confidence as their nobles. On the contrary, he needs external decorations, such as a house, car, and money, to bless his self-confidence.

In addition, he changed his name, pretended to be an Oxford graduate, and fabricated the identities of various noble relatives. These seemingly mysterious and curious rumors all reflected his inferiority complex from the side. He needs to decorate himself deliberately so that he is not looked down upon by others and can maintain the confidence to talk to the upper class on an equal footing.

Gatsby's high-profile approach to Daisy reflects his low self-esteem and lack of confidence. So he bought the villa opposite Daisy's house just to make Daisy look up to him. In addition, the illegality of his source of money was also an important reason why he dared not face himself. A person with a truly strong heart does not need to deliberately show off decorations but only needs to behave normally.

From Gatsby's story, we realize that money or status can make people powerful for a while, but they cannot withstand the long-term test of reality. Even if others look up to me in a broken way, but I can't recognize myself in my heart, I still can't escape the torture of inferiority. Self-confidence and inner strength should come from a person's inner approval, not the admiration and flattery of the outside world.

Book Reviews by The Great Gatsby

Hemingway bluntly stated in "The Feast of the Flow" that F. Scott Fitzgerald was ruined by women. This is unfair. Women made him and women ruined him. A great man is always destroyed by what made him, without exception; and most people are obscure only because they have not encountered what made them.

Seineva begged him repeatedly: "Please, don't idealize me..." And the only thing he could do from the New Year's ball at the age of eighteen was to enshrine her on the highest unattainable altar.

Ten years later he had a great name for who he was: Jay Gatsby, and the streets he and she had walked through when he fell in love formed a ladder to a treetop The secret place - he can climb up, and if he climbs alone, he can suck the sap of life as soon as he goes up.

Then, on the highest unattainable altar, "her white face was close to his own, and his heart beat faster and faster. He knew that as soon as he kissed this girl, he would bring his indescribable longings to her for a short time. Her breaths of her are forever united, and his mind will never run as freely as the mind of God.

So he waits and listens a little longer for the tuning fork that has struck a star. Then he kisses her At the touch of his lips, she opened to him like a flower, and the incarnation of the ideal was complete."

Gatsby kissed Daisy, but Fitzgerald never kissed Geneva, because she didn't, she was flawless. She's not just Daisy, she's Isabella, Roslyn, Gismin, Judy, Minnie, and Josephine.

The women who are supremely favored in the love stories are all Sanneva in his fantasy, and the title page of the story is always dedicated to another woman, his wife, "to Zelda", "to Zelda again" up”. In The Great Gatsby, Daisy said sadly to Gatsby, "I can't say by myself that I never loved Tom. That wouldn't be true."

Likewise, even if Fitzgerald Rad spoke to Seineva alone, he couldn't say he never loved Zelda. On the contrary, he loved Zelda far more than Seineva, because he married her because watched her grow old because he hated her because they killed each other.

1. "I only record the moments that shine."

After he broke up with her, he asked each other to destroy all correspondence, which she did, but he didn't. At the age of forty-four, he died of a heart attack caused by excessive drinking, near bankruptcy, and his wife was in an insane asylum. His only daughter, who was 19 at the time, sorted out her belongings and found 227 typed pages in a folder marked "absolutely private", all letters from a man named Ginevra King.

His only daughter sent the letter to the original owner, a longtime wife and mother, and her husband, a Chicago department store tycoon. Shan Neva put the letters in the corner of the closet, which was full of luxurious evening dresses. Every night, she chose one from this closet and appeared at the dinner table dignifiedly and beautifully. the queen.

In this high-ranking wealthy family, only the most beautiful women in each generation are named Sineva, Sineva, the famous painting by Leonardo da Vinci, Ginevra de'Benci, the noble lady of Florence, graceful, pure, and wise. Her grandmother's name is Sinewa, her mother's name is Sinewa, her name is Sinewa, her daughter's name is Sinewa, and the most beautiful of her granddaughters is also called Sinewa.

Many years later, Seineva would ask her eponymous grandmother, "Grandma, what's locked in this box?" Her heavily dressed grandmother shook her head mysteriously. It was not until the day she died that people discovered the 227 pages of letters in the box.

There was a diary on top of the letters. The words written by the girl in the vertigo of passionate love were written on the title page of the diary: "I only record the shining Moment."

The little finger of Seinewa's right hand shone brightly, a rose gold ring with "Big Four 1914" engraved on it. In 1914, the 15-year-old Seinewa was the crown of Chicago's "Four Golden Flowers", the four most beautiful, richest, and most social girls. This is not a flower name chosen privately by the dandy children, but a self-proclaimed title of Seineva and her three friends who are close to each other.

They have a pretentious attitude to making rings especially and wear beautiful dresses for a group photo. Probably only the best and most beautiful woman can have such self-knowledge and self-confidence, and Seineva has both. Her father was a successful securities dealer and her maternal grandfather was a construction tycoon.

She was round and boneless, with small, delicate hands, long, thin legs, dark, curly hair, and dark brown eyes that were always shining. Her voice was low and hoarse, and she kept changing her tune as she spoke loudly, as if singing, "singing every word with a meaning that it never had before and never will ever have again."

On January 4, 1915, at a New Year's party in St. Paul, Minnesota, eighteen-year-old Fitzgerald met sixteen-year-old Seineva. The Seine was originally a visiting classmate who stayed in Sao Paulo for a while. Fitzgerald, who was a sophomore at Princeton at the time, went home for Christmas. He had heard the good name of Sine for a long time.

When someone asked him if he would go to the party on January 4, he said to his circle of friends, " If Geneva goes, I'll go." She went, he went, he saw her in a crowd of boys and girls, and he said a few words before and after. And these hurried conversations had captured him. He should have taken the train back to school the next day, but decided to postpone it for a day so that he could dance with Seineva at the next day's ball.

On the night of January 5th, they danced all night, at eleven o'clock he was going to catch the train, and she took him to the door, surrounded by acquaintances, they didn't kiss out of shyness, they held hands, he said he would write a letter, she said she would reply. In her diary that night she hurriedly wrote: "Scott was perfect...he left at 11 for Princeton--oh!"

Eighteen-year-old Scott Fitzgerald is perfect, as long as his studies and his father are not mentioned. When he was in high school, he was the last in the school. It took a lot of human connections to get into Princeton.

At the end of his freshman year, all subjects were poor. He was not stupid, but he was too lazy to be driven by others. His mother's family was very wealthy, but unfortunately, his grandfather died early, he had many children, and the huge family property was not much left when Fitzgerald was young.

His father's business failed and he supported his family by working as a grocery seller for his brother-in-law's company. Although he was well-fed, according to his father's status, he didn't have the chance to enter the social circle of upper-class children. He was just thinking of his grandfather's face, and he was often invited to play with him at every party.

And as long as school and father are not mentioned, Fitzgerald is perfect. He was extremely handsome, the contours of his face even more beautiful than a woman's, his lips were sensitive and soft, and his pale blond hair was parted and carefully brushed back. During years of his adolescence, he had developed a demeanor of his own, speaking with wit and sincerity.

Ten years later he would describe himself in "The Great Gatsby": "He had a knowing smile—and more than that. It was a rare smile, with an expression of lasting kindness that you'll never see in a lifetime. Two or three times. It faces—or seems to be facing—the whole world of eternity for a moment, and then focuses on you with an irresistible preference for you.”

This poetic description is naturally Exaggerated but appropriate. Years later Fitzgerald fell out with all their friends in the world, including his old friend Hemingway, and his editor Maxwell Perkins... but all these friends are still in the memoir He talked about his natural demeanor and heroic spirit, and on the night of January 5, 1915, Sineva also felt the kind of preference that was focused on her in the face of the whole world.

On January 5, Fitzgerald returned to Princeton, and the Seine returned to Westover, Connecticut. On January 7, his first letter was expressly delivered to Seineva, signed "Temporarily Devotedly Yrs.", and her first reply arrived on January 11. In his hand, it was signed "Yours Fickely sometimes but Devotely at present" (Yours Fickely sometimes but Devotely at present...)

In the two years since that day, they exchanged hundreds of letters. She has many admirers, and there are many female companions by his side. This is a game of love and wishes. Show off stacks of letters to friends to show how popular she is. But I don't know who's since then:

January 20: "Scott, a few years ago I was happy to be called a 'quick shooter'. Of course, it was crazy but I was too young then and I am now But sixteen...everyone says I'm the same, but I don't. I talk with a lot of heart, but no one believes...how alike we are, you know I'm much more than what other people talk about."

January 25: "I'm sentimental tonight. How I wish we were home now. Oh, how I wish, Scott, I just stayed in the mood thinking about that night in St. Paul Until tomorrow morning. Scott, don't think I'll forget you when you're not here, I've been thinking about you."

On February 20, Fitzgerald decided to go to see her at Seinevar's school. The strict girls' school only accepts visitors every Saturday from 4 to 6 pm. Fitzgerald got up early and took the train from Princeton to Connecticut via New York. After getting down in a nearby town, he took another trolley to reach the girls' school.

He was taken into a small room with four sides of glass, and Seinewa sat in it, wearing a school uniform and no make-up, with a surveillance escort beside him. For an hour and a half of the visit, they just held hands and talked, while Sinevar wrote contentedly in his diary, "Oh, it's so nice to see him again. I love him madly."

On June 8 Sinevar's mother Came to pick her up for the summer vacation and invited Fitzgerald to dinner while passing through New York. Fitzgerald will never forget that dinner in the garden on the top floor of the Ritz Hotel and recalled in prose years later that "the passing figure of Seineva illuminated the whole roof of the Ritz..."

Geneva once wrote in a letter: "I tell you, we meet for exactly fifteen hours in total!"

And she kept fantasizing, "If there is a perfect hour, on a certain day, in a certain place, only The two of us, that would be great."

Seineva wanted to use the perfect hour to listen to his sweeter and bolder words, and Fitzgerald wanted to use the perfect hour to make up for his kiss. But this hour never appeared.

They kept looking forward to seeing each other in a hurry in different places, but every time they were surrounded by too many surveillance eyes. Gradually, he realized that the Perfect Hour only exists in the fictional world, and he began to write short stories, the first one called "The Perfect Hour", which he sent to Seineva to make her happy.

A month later, Seineva replied with a story of her own, also called "Perfect Hour", about the heroine who married into a wealthy family but had an unhappy marriage and met her old lover a few years later. The heroine's name is Seineva King, and the old lover's name is Scott Fitzgerald.

Even in love, she is alert to know that he is not worthy of her. He probably knew it too, so he loved Seineva's story out of self-deprecation. He rewrote the story many times in his life, the last time in "The Great Gatsby" ten years later, the heroine's name was Daisy Fay and the old lover's name was Jay Gatsby.

In August 1916, when he went to Seineva's house for the last time, her father told him: "Poor boys shouldn't think of marrying rich girls." This sentence ended the relationship, It also brought an indelible shame.

2. The Princess of the Barbarian

In addition to Seineva, there was something more worthy of Fitzgerald's worries that year. At the end of the fall semester of 1915, he was temporarily dropped due to poor grades. On Christmas Day 1915, Princeton's Triangle Club toured the United States, as usual, performing the comedy "Evil Eye", but Fitzgerald, the script and lyricist, was banned from performing with the group for academic reasons.

At two shows in Chicago, "three hundred young ladies occupied the front row of the theater. At the end of the show, they stood up and threw bouquets at the actors." Fitzgerald, who deserved the bouquet and compliments that night Sitting in a gloomy home, De was disappointed and angry and began to write another story about Juneva.

In the spring of 1917, the United States announced its participation in World War I, and tens of millions of young people signed up to join the army. Fitzgerald has been suspended for a year and is destined not to graduate from Princeton. He joined the army following the crowd, and joining the army gave him an honorable excuse to formally drop out of Princeton.

He had sensitive fantasies that he would die on the battlefields of France, and throughout 1917 and 1918 he was trained in different training camps, writing his first novel, "Romantic Egoists," every night at the officers' club. Egotist), before he was sent to the battlefield, the First World War was over.

For that generation of American youth, the First World War was a sad and harmless dream from beginning to end, and the vivid cries of fighting were echoed in their ears, and thousands of people fell— But never them.

The upper-class youth of the Northeast, adorned with straight officer uniforms and slender sabers, now have a new glory in addition to the fortunes of their fathers.

They were transported to the "Wild South" for training, and everything was so fresh: wild crops; naked blacks; towering hay; unbridled alcohol, and tobacco. In the midst of this natural primordial, eighteen-year-old Zelda Sayre walks onto the dance floor in every village and town like a barbarian princess.

"If Zelda comes, the other girls will just go home." "She's here, don't expect to dance tonight." "The firmest nose, the firmest little chin." "Alabama and the most beautiful girl in Georgia." Zelda Shar is a work of art; in her family's education, femininity is treated as a work of art and often misunderstood as life the full meaning.

She grew up in the most comfortable family in Alabama, the youngest daughter of an Alabama Supreme Court justice, and was doted on by her family. The wild outside world nourishes her uninhibited heart, just as the comfortable home life nourishes her amazing beauty. The best dance teacher taught her ballet, the best grammar teacher taught her French, and she was encouraged to read and write poetry.

She recalled her girlhood in her twilight years, "I never felt inferior or shy or suspicious, and I didn't have any moral standards." At eighteen, she had just graduated from high school and was the dream of all southern teenagers. Even—not just a dream lover, she's bold enough to have unofficial engagements with many men, although none of them get the final word.

She had long learned to smoke and drink, cut her hair as short as a boy's, and half-jokingly said, "I've kissed thousands of people, and I'm going to kiss thousands more."

In early July 1918, First Lieutenant Fitzgerald met Zelda at a country dance in Montgomery, Alabama. It was almost the same beginning as Seineva, surrounded by too much love for the princess. By. In The Romantic Egoist, written the same year, he would arrange a more private encounter for his imaginary self, where on a stormy evening, behind a haystack, his princess recites Verlaine's "Autumn Song", and then The princess sensed him: "Who's there! Who are you? Manfred, St. Christopher, or Queen Victoria?" In the novel, he exclaims, "I am Don Juan!"

July In the middle of the day, he received a letter from Seineva that she was about to get engaged to the son of her father's business partner the next day. She said excitedly, "Even to say that I am the happiest girl in the world is too modest!" He received another wedding invitation from Seinewa, but he did not attend, but the wedding invitation was pasted on a scrapbook of the permanent collection.

The second page of the scrapbook was the Chicago newspaper's report on the wedding. The profile of the newspaper takes up an entire page of the newspaper. On September 4, 1918, Sineva King was married. On September 7, 1918, Fitzgerald wrote in his notebook, "Seventh, fall in love." This time, with Zelda. In late 1918, with the end of World War I, Fitzgerald returned to New York. He asked Zelda to be engaged to him, and she agreed, of course like many other engagements she had agreed to, only informally.

Zelda reiterated, "Material is meaningless," but after a while, she said, "It's terrible to live a humble, monotonous life." She can sacrifice material things for romance, and her romance is when countless things come into her life precisely at the right time. Fitzgerald had to make a lot of money to marry Zelda, and the only job an underachieving college dropout could find was writing insignificant ads for an obscure agency.

In June 1919, Zelda in Alabama lost her patience and ended the engagement. A few days later, a frustrated Fitzgerald resigned from the company and returned to his home city of São Paulo. No degree, no job, no lover.

3. This side of heaven

In the summer of 1919, at his parents' house in São Paulo, the only thing Fitzgerald owned was his long autobiographical novel The Romantic Egoist, which had been twice returned by Scribners.

The older generation of editors at the publishing house thought the manuscript was chaotic and unintelligible, but the younger editor Maxwell Perkins saw the author's potential and encouraged him to rewrite, "now there is no substantial end to this story", "Neither the experience nor the character of the protagonist pushes the ending to a climax."

In the sweltering attic of his home, Fitzgerald rewrote the novel at Perkins' suggestion, and on September 4 he sent the revised draft to Berkins. Kings, renamed This Side of Paradise,[10] based on his Princeton life and two romances. This is his last bet.

He wants to use this novel to enter the literary world, gain fame, make enough money, and retake Zelda... I am afraid everyone will say that he wants too much.

On September 16, 1919, he received a reply from Perkins: "I am very pleased to tell you that we are going to publish your book." On March 26, 1920, "This Side of Heaven" was published, which is a youth novel with many spelling mistakes that have infected readers with its vibrant sense of the times.

On March 29, the first edition sold out. On March 30, Fitzgerald telegraphed to Zelda, "The book is selling well, come to New York." On April 3, Fitzgerald and Zelda were at the famous St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York. marry. By 1921, This Side of Heaven was reprinted twelve times.

Fitzgerald became famous overnight, and everything was like a dream. In his essay "Echoes of the Jazz Age", he wrote: "This is the age of miracles, this is the age of art, this is the age of excess, and this is also the age of satire." The 1920s is also known as the "Jazz Age".

Over the next decade, the Fitzgeralds were the definitive voices of the Jazz Age, selling his short stories for $4,000 apiece and film rights even more. Zelda's photos and interviews often appear in various tabloids, always beautiful and elegant, always maverick, more people praise her, as "a goddess", a "born queen".

They are the guests of all parties, the regulars of all the fancy shops and bars, and the crazy travelers who never close their suitcases. In New York, Paris, and the Cote d'Azur, their villas are like Gatsby's house.

There is a very lyrical plot in "The Great Gatsby": Years later, the poor boy Gatsby became famous and bought a huge mansion on the other side of Daisy's villa on Long Island, New York. He didn't dare to visit Daisy rashly, he just held a luxurious party every day, hoping to attract Daisy's attention one day, but Daisy never came.

As it approached midnight, Gatsby came out of the lively party and looked at Daisy's house. "He stretched his arms out towards the dark water, and it was so odd, even though I was far away from him, I could swear he was shaking. I couldn't help looking out to sea too - couldn't see anything but a green light, small and far, maybe the end of a pier."[12]

At the party, he also fantasized countless times about the small and distant green light that doesn't exist at all, and Seinewa is behind the light, maybe one day he will actually appear at these parties along with the laughter... He must miss her a lot as he continues to miss her in all his creations and uses the money he makes to support his and Zelda's indulgent lives.

Let time stop at this moment, and let the halo of the golden age always remain on their young and proud faces, because this moment is too dreamy to add, and everything will be terrible and cruel after this.

How happy they were at this moment, they kept playing with the revolving door at the entrance of the hotel on their honeymoon, rolled over like no one else in the hotel lobby, rode on the top of the taxi, they jumped into the fountain of the Plaza Hotel, and got wet again Dancing on the table, they went to the theater to see comedy, and they agreed to laugh at the least funny places...

And then the madness of joy turns faster and faster, throwing all the joy away, only madness—she has a natural inspiration for words, and he appreciates her talent and encourages her to write. And then - he persuaded her to publish short stories under his name because it paid more.

He began to plagiarize her diaries and letters in large sections of the novel, and he did not take it seriously. In just a few years, his drinking habit became deeper and deeper, and he often stayed home late at night. Even at home, he was very drunk.

Her life was empty and boring, and she began to resume ballet. She was twenty-seven years old and could never become a professional ballet dancer again, but she trained herself even more frantically, practicing eight hours a day. In 1930, she was diagnosed with schizophrenia after intense ballet training induced a nervous breakdown.

And then—in 1932 when she finished her only novel, the autobiographical Save Me the Waltz, Fitzgerald forced her to cut out episodes related to her psychiatric history, not because he wanted Privacy, but because he used the same plot in his upcoming novel Tender Is the Night. He once said to Zelda in front of a psychiatrist: "Save yourself, you a third-rate writer and third-rate ballet dancer."

Then - alcoholism seriously affected his writing, and magazines and newspapers interrupted his relationship with him one after another. Appointment. Until one day, Fitzgerald could no longer find his book in any bookstore, and any bookstore salesperson said that he had never heard of such a writer.

Because of Zelda's illness, their marriage has been in existence since 1933. No one believed that Zelda would be cured, and she moved from one mental hospital to another, with worse facilities and dirtier rooms.

On December 21, 1940, at the age of forty-four, Fitzgerald died of a heart attack caused by alcoholism. His funeral was as shabby as Gatsby's in his novel fifteen years earlier, he was bankrupt before his death, and his will called for "the cheapest funeral."

He once held parties like Gatsby with his doors open every night, but only a few friends and family attended the funeral: his daughter, his editor Perkins, and his friend Dorothy Parker, the poetess. Zelda was trapped in a mental hospital and unable to attend the funeral, and the newspapers described Zelda as "his illegitimate wife", although he wrote to Zelda about her daughter two days before her death.

Dorothy Parker burst into tears at the funeral: "This poor son of a bitch." At Gatsby's lonely funeral, an attendee said exactly the same thing.

In the early morning of March 11, 1947, the mental hospital where Zelda was caught fire. Zelda was trapped on the top floor and burned to death at the age of forty-seven.

When Fitzgerald went from bad to worse in the 1920s, friends in literary circles scolded Zelda for ruining him. "Zelda's life is so extravagant that he has to write lousy novels to make a living." "Zelda is so weird, so changeable, he's so soft-hearted."

Fitzgerald was commented on in the 1960s The world has rediscovered that all kinds of academic research are flourishing, and feminists have set off the research on Zelda fever. Ruined a talented writer, painter, ballerina."

He ruined her, and she ruined him, but this is far from the deepest understanding and conflict between him and her. He couldn't help copying her brilliant diary into his own novel, and she couldn't help finding an identity for herself other than the writer's wife. He and she were confused about which part of their life was theirs and which part of their lives belonged to each other.

Even on her wildest and weakest days, they exchanged fiery love letters. She said to him: "The moon is like a lost coin falling into the mountains, the grass is gloomy and pungent, I want you to come close, I touch you, like the calm of autumn, even with a little summer's last echo." He said to her: " You are the most delicate, lovely, gentle, and beautiful person I have ever met, and even that is beyond words. No one else can endure what you have endured..."

Regarding death, Zelda wrote to her fiancé Fitzgerald in the spring of 1919: "Today I went to the cemetery - you know, it wasn't a cemetery - I wanted to open the iron in a rusted basement on the other side of the mountain. The door. It's washed white and covered with teary blue flowers that may have grown out of dead people's eyes and tasted sticky and disgusting...why do cemeteries have to make people feel empty?

I've heard too much about that, and Mr. Gray's words are convincing, but I don't find anything that ever grows hopeless - all the broken pillars and clenched hands And doves and angels symbolize romance, and then a hundred years from now I want younger people to guess if my eyes are brown or blue - neither of course - I want my tomb to look Like it's been many, many years - how strange, that row of Confederate soldiers' tombs, there are two or three that would make you think they were dead lovers or dead loves - they look exactly the same, even yellow on them The same is true of the moss. The old death is beautiful—truly beautiful—we will die together—I know—sweetheart—”

They didn’t die together, but they were buried together in his father’s hometown of Maryland State. His first love, Neva, lived forty years longer and witnessed the rise of grief after Fitzgerald's death.

The reprint of "The Great Gatsby" was regarded as classic American literature, but she kept it all her life. Back then, the love letters and diaries were locked in the corner of the closet, and I never thought to stand up and say, "I am that Daisy."

The Great Gatsby After Reading Notes

After reading a famous book, I believe that everyone has gained a lot of knowledge. I believe that you must have a lot of gains worth sharing. At this time, you need to make serious records and write down your feelings after reading.

So how do we write the afterthought? The following is the Great Gatsby after reading what we had collected for you. You are welcome to learn from it and refer to it. I hope it will be helpful to you.

"We fought our way forward, sailed against the current, and were pushed back constantly until we went back to the old days."

　　This is probably the case when reading when one unexpectedly encounters an extraordinary chapter, which makes people always worry about it, and reluctant to forget it. This is the last sentence of "The Great Gatsby", and it is because of this sentence that I found a book to read.

Although it is a different translation, it is the same good. I believe that many people came into contact with this book because of Haruki Murakami. After reading it, you will know that neither Murakami nor Fitzgerald has been disappointed.

　　Anyone who relies on words for food will always be careful about the language of their writing. It doesn't matter if they are beautiful or not, but they must be expressive.

In private, I feel that there are two kinds of good language: one is good to make people slap at the table and applaud; the other is to get into your arms, so warm and gentle, so good that people forget their feelings and forget their words. . The Great Gatsby occupies both, but especially the latter.

　　Leaving aside the major elements of the official novel, just as far as the text of this book is concerned, it can be regarded as extremely magnificent. If there are text fans who want to make excerpts, even if they are copied from the beginning to the end, it will not be a loss at all.

However, this is not Fitzgerald's quip, intended to surprise readers. What he did was not a simple stacking of ornate words, thus avoiding the pompous and empty end. Many excellent novels are very skillful in language. They are obviously teaching the big truth of life, but they are so precise and witty.

When I read them, I feel the blood rushing to the skull, which is called a strong resonance. There are also experienced novelists who can use deep words to write the emotions in the story into the reader's body and truly empathize with it. "The Great Gatsby" is a little different, Fitzgerald is more poetic language to describe a delicate emotion, it is unclear, but it evokes a lot of tenderness.

　　"My monthly season ticket was handed back to me with black sweat stains on his hands. In this scorching hot weather, who cares whose red lips he kisses or whose head wets his Pajama pocket on the chest."

　　Maybe the reader can follow the eyes of the characters to observe and touch, but it stops when it comes to imagination. Thoughts dispersed in the steaming heat and accumulated into another vague and charming story. There is another movie playing in the movie.

Although it is out of reach, they are willing to admit its beauty, which seems to be more than beautiful. Like a nephrite jade full of warm fragrance, love is infinite, but when you look up, you can see Feiyan's lightness and a baptism-like spiritual penetration on her forehead.

　　Having said so much language, finally, I have to talk about the background and story of the novel. The Great Gatsby is multifaceted, and even the plot and characters alone are wonderful. Rather than love as the main thread, the story is more about the individual's attitudes and feelings about everything they have, and it is these that tie the tasks together, and the love stretches from here.

When Gatsby is pursuing his love with Daisy, what he may be pursuing is only his own dream. In the dream, there is beauty that Gatsby would like to see, and he will keep chasing it. It's like a drunk person, who recognizes the bliss in the fantasy in front of him, can't wake up, and refuses to sleep.

Just like the green light on the pier of Daisy's house that never goes out all night, Gatsby believes in it, but it cannot last forever in his arms. Maybe we can foresee the disappointment after the people leave, but before that, those who understand and do not understand will be intoxicated, singing and dancing, and having graceful posture.

As a piece of jazz, it's slow and frankly erotic, yet graceful. It's golden and rosy as well. Fitzgerald called it the "Jazz Age", indulging in sensuality, with the mellow aroma of red wine entangled in his fingers, and even the air like a woman's fat powder.

The so-called "joys and sorrows of the floating world", and "The Great Gates" turned over and used those joys and sorrows that rose and fell as the background, but it was this flashy world that held up.

　　Fitzgerald was drunk, cleverly drunk. Hemingway once commented on Fitzgerald, "Since he can write a book as good as "The Great Gatsby", I believe he can write a better book."

Hemingway is always harsh, and such evaluation is not easy. But what is better, it will be stumped for many people. When we are faced with a truly good thing, to the point of being full of joy, there is absolutely no way our intellect can think of where it can be improved.

The Great Gatsby is such a book for me. There are too many remarkable points in it, and I am afraid that it is longer than it is to write it. It is impossible to avoid omissions. Here are just a few. Go read it, you won't be disappointed.

What do you think of The Great Gatsby?

Gatsby spent his whole life with his obsession and did not get a single tear from Daisy. Although this long-cherished wish sounds very affectionate, it is divorced from reality and is destined to be a tragedy. Maybe all this was wrong from the very beginning of the obsession. Gatsby's death also heralded the disillusionment of the young Americans who blindly pursued their dreams at that time.

"The Great Gatsby", which has been washed over the years and has been revived with timeless charm, tells us:

Truth 1: Don't lose your true self when choosing your dreams
Truth 2: The pursuit of dreams in a boat-and-sword style is pure self-deception
Truth 3: A strong heart does not need to rely on the admiration and flattery of others, but comes from inner approval

Finally, a reminder that our contemporary youth should not repeat the mistakes of Gatsby, such as that false sophistication, excessive consumption, and various loans in life. Those who look gorgeous, in fact, are full of hidden dangers. Only by being down-to-earth, following our heart, not forgetting our original intention, and pursuing some practical ideals can we achieve success. I hope that every dream of yours will not be let down by the times!

Emma by Jane Austen | Review, Summary, Quotes & Analysis

2022-04-14T02:00:00.053+06:00

Emma by Jane Austen Book Review, Quotes, Summary, Characters, and Analysis.

EMMA is one of the most influential classic novels of the 19th century, edited by the famous British writer Jane Austen.

The protagonist Emma is a beautiful, intelligent, and wealthy girl, and she is also a visionary. She zealously follows the romances around her, but stubbornly believes she'll never get caught up in them.

She took it upon herself to direct love after love for the orphaned daughter Harriet. When Harriet mistakenly thinks she is in love with Mr. Knightley, the magistrate, Emma realizes that she is also in love with Mr. Knightley.

Although this was contrary to her vow of never marrying at the beginning, she had to give up her innocent vow when she fell in love. The work has been brought to the screen many times.

Book: Emma by Jane Austen

Emma is a novel written by Jane Austen. It is set in the fictional country village of Highbury and the surrounding estates of Hartfield, Randalls and Donwell Abbey, and involves the relationships among people from a small number of families. ---Wikipedia

Originally published: December 23, 1815
Author: Jane Austen
Characters: Emma Woodhouse, George Knightley, MORE
Genres: Novel, Romance novel, Fiction, Comedy, Reference work, Comedy of manners, Novel of manners
Dewey Decimal: 823.7

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About the Author: Emma by Jane Austen

Jane Austen (1775-1817), was a famous British female writer. This book is one of the author's main works and is considered to be his most mature work.

Jane Austen was born on December 16, 1775, into the family of a parish priest in Steventon Township. Received a better family education, the main teaching material is the father's literary collection.

The Austins loved to read popular novels, mostly vulgar pastimes. Her teenage studies were parodies of such popular novels, thus forming the ironic tone of her work.

Her six novels, "Sense and Sentiment" (1811), "Pride and Prejudice" (1813), "Mansfield Gardens" (1814), "Emma" (1815), and "Northanger Abbey" were published after the author's death (1818), and "Persuasion" (1818), most of which took the daily life of the middle class in towns and villages as the theme, and reflected the style of British society at the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century through conflicts in love and marriage.

The works often ridicule people's stupidity, selfishness, snobbery, blind self-confidence, and other despicable and ridiculous weaknesses through comic scenes.

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Quoted from Emma by Jane Austen

"Don't be afraid, my Harriet, even if I become an old girl, I will not be poor. Only poor and single women are despised! A single woman, if she has not had enough sources of life, will be Irritating and ridiculed! Be the laughing stock of young men and girls, but a rich single woman is respected, can be as knowledgeable as everyone else, and people will like her! The difference seems It seems to violate the ideology of normal people, but this is not the case! Due to the lack of security in life, people may become petty and eccentric. Some people with just enough income mostly live in very small and belong to the lowest class. and can become both narrow-minded and rude. But Miss Bates is not such a person. To be sure, people like her, although she is single and not rich. Poor. It didn't make her stingy. I'm sure if she only had a shilling she might be able to take sixpence and give it to others. And no one is afraid of her. It's a good thing to have." "Oh! What are you going to do? What are you going to do when you're old?" "Harriet, if I know for myself, I still say this, my beating heart is aggressive. How can I not understand Why can't people in their 40s and 50s do things the way they did in their twenties. What a woman can do with eyes, hands, and wisdom, I will do when I am old. It can also be said that there will be nothing Different. If I draw less, I can read more books! If I don't like music, I'm weaving rugs. And whether there is someone I like, and whether I have feelings for it, this is really a problem that can't catch up with other people. Really, The biggest disadvantage of not getting married is that there is no such person. These are not my problems. I can take care of those lovely nephews. With so many children, I can find the object of sustenance, although they will have various Expectations and all kinds of worries. Even if I don't give these nephews a motherly love, I feel that it can satisfy me with some strong blind love." --- Quoted from page 10

"I have a general rule, Harriet, that if a woman can't decide whether to accept a man's proposal, of course, she should reject him. If she hesitates to say 'yes' If you decide, then she should say 'disagree' outright." --- quoted on page 52

Emma by Jane Austen Summary and Analysis

Emma may be a character conceived by Jane with a little vanity. Jane created the intelligent Elizabeth before Emma, the steady and reserved Elinor, the unrealistic Catherine, and the pitiful Fanny.

These characters have their own There are also many shortcomings that cannot be made up for their outstanding qualities, and the biggest weakness that each of them has in common is that they have neither property nor status.

After fighting for these women, Jane finally couldn't hold back her little extravagant hopes. Why didn't she create a female character who lacks everything, can control her own destiny, and has the ability to influence others?

As a result, a talented and beautiful Miss Emma was born. This character combines the advantages of the four female characters that Jane wrote before humorous, stable and intelligent, independent personality, and beautiful; in addition, Emma has been endowed with an unparalleled advantage, her wealth is quite Feng, it can be said that Emma is the only rich lady who jumped out of the predicament below the middle class and rose to the bourgeoisie.

Jane poured herself into Emma what she could not achieve and achieve. If she also had a prominent family background, what would her life be like?

Jane is also speaking out for all the wonderful, but unfortunately worthless women in the world: we have a good upbringing, good looks, unique ideas, and we have a lot of excellence; but we can't hold a show with Luxurious balls, inability to live in luxurious manors, inability to live a decent life in the upper class, and inability to marry a gentleman whom we admire, just because our property is pitiful.

The length of Emma's book alone shows how much Jane is devoted to the novel and the characters, as it is the longest book outside of Mansfield Park. The content of this book reflects Jane's care and attention to Emma's portrayal everywhere and strives to show her superiority and perfection over other heroines.

Like Emma, Jane Fairfax and Frank Weston (later renamed Frank Churchill), who lost their mother at an early age, had a very different fate than Emma. Soon after their mother passed away, they were sent to other people's homes for foster care because the family could not support them.

Since then, they have lived a life of dependence. Emma, on the other hand, was spared the fate of being sent away because of a father who was worried about everything and overly doting on the child, and there was a Miss Taylor who took care of her like a mother. Year-old lady.

The description in the first paragraph at the beginning of the book is the most direct proof of Jane's love for Emma: Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever, and rich, with a comfortable home and happy disposition seemed to unite some of the best blessings of existence; and had lived nearly twenty-one years in the world with very little to distress or vex her.

To effect: Emma Woodhouse, beautiful, intelligent, rich, with a comfortable place to live and her own optimistic personality, all seemed like she was the luckiest existence; and in nearly 21 years, nothing has caused her pain and distress.

In the middle of a picnic with everyone, Mr. Weston came up with an anagram for everyone to guess. The meaning of the anagram is: Which two letters represent perfection? The final announced answer is M & A, after reading it, it becomes Emma. In the eyes of others, Emma has become synonymous with perfection.

Mr. Knightley scolded Emma after the picnic for her previous rude remarks to Miss Bates, a few of which were: If Miss Bates was of the same background as you and still behaved like that, I wouldn't be right now Blame you for taunting her; the truth is, Miss Bates, she's poor, poor!

She doesn't have the qualifications you have to train herself to be a lady, and you can't laugh at someone from a lower background than you. These scoldings also reflect the superiority of Emma's background.

In addition to the above points, there are many small details that can be seen that Jane's setting of Emma is superior.

For example, Emma's family is the most famous in the area; she can pick and choose from the prom invitations sent; Mr. Knightley of the also famous Knightley family is her family friend; Emma always brings a lot of food to visit the local poor. Emma's appearance is always the most noticed and respected everywhere.

Miss Jane's love for Emma is very good, and she exerts the ultimate influence on Emma influencing the people around her.

The book begins with Emma's passion for matchmaking, and her interference in the choice of the other half of Miss Harriet, whose background is unknown, which has become the mainline of the story.

From Mr. Martin, the "peasant" to who Emma made Harriet refuse to propose to her, to Mr. Elton and Harriet, and finally to encourage Harriet to pursue Frank Churchill (Frank Weston), who is much better than her; Lianchuan's interference behavior reflects Emma's dominance.

Although Emma always believed that Miss. Harriet was a lady with a good life experience, she always believed that she was lower than her status, so she would constantly influence Harriet's decisions.

In addition, Emma belongs to the party of choice when it comes to choosing a mate. It is not a man who chooses a suitable wife, but a woman who chooses a husband who is worthy of her. Emma and Elizabeth (Pride and Prejudice) were both proposed by the pastor.

When Lizzy's rejection was understood to be ignorant, Emma had the right and reason to refuse; the reason is very simple, Lizzy and the pastor are Lizzy high, while Emma and the pastor are It is the pastor who has climbed high.

The character Emma represents the phenomenon that, when a well-bred lady happens to have a considerable fortune, she becomes a beloved and respected lady, endowed with many additional powers and advantages, of course.

Being eligible to choose a husband is also one of the powers; and for a well-bred lady with meager property or even no property like Elizabeth, then her situation will be very different from what she was before, no matter how good she is, she can only Marry a "non-gentleman" next.

Emma has everything that no other Jane character has ever had, and such a perfect character can only be created once. In this regard, Emma represents the perfect woman in Jane's mind.

She seems to be a symbol of victory for women who have been disadvantaged for a long time; if there are more of the same Emma, it can only be said that Jane's works are not out of The ridicule and criticism of the secular concept of class at that time was just her escape from reality.

Therefore, it is such a one-of-a-kind, Emma who has everything, everything is good, and has become Jane's favorite character and the first female image in the hearts of many Jane fans.

Book Review of Novel Emma by Jane Austen

The most perfect person in the world is no match for the imagination, and the most perfect imaginary in the world is no match for the girl's reverie of Mr. Right. Austen wrote about the expectations of young girls who are worried about marriage for prom, social interaction, or new arrivals.

This includes her deep appreciation of the longing and self-examination of herself as a female writer when a girl is pregnant. It also eloquently tells how many grievances have been made in a marriage era that depends on blood, property, and family, and how many lovers in the world have been separated.

In her six works, Emma has always been very fond, and the opening of the novel is filled with the enthusiastic laughter of this young, beautiful, intelligent rich lady when the other heroines in Austen's works are worried about what to wear to the prom.

Our Miss Emma professed that she had never considered marriage: her mother died early, her sister was married, her father and governess adored her, and nowhere was she as free to be a mistress as her home in Hartfield.

Emma is so blessed, she "seemed to unite some of the best blessings of existence" as written in the book. Of course, she is not perfect, but only one person can see and point out her shortcomings: Mr. Knightley.

Whether in movies or novels, the fictional character I respect and love the most is Mr. Knightly. When I ask my girlfriends what the ideal spouse is, I still think of Mr. Knightley.

Mr. Knightley was thirty-seven or eight years old when he played, sixteen or seven years older than Emma. His younger brother married Emma's sister, he inherited all the family business as the eldest son in the family, and he was highly regarded as the local administrator.

But none of this is what got me hooked on this character. What impresses me is the details of his gestures, and the observation, that every time Mr. Knightly appears, he is so powerful and makes people look at him differently.

He is more kind than Darcy, not only in material support for others; it is also in a kind of spiritual equality. His own well Abbey is rich in apples. When he heard that Jane Fairfax likes to eat it, he took the initiative to send another bag of good ones.

Then we learned from the servant's chatter that he gave Jane all the apples he had stored for winter consumption. none left. This is a small stroke, flanked by Jane's aunt, Miss Beth, and here it conveys the message that Mr. Knightley is not generous to others because he is superfluous, in his belief, the satisfaction of the weak is basic cultivation.

The same thing happened before a dance, Emma's carriage and Mr. Knightley's carriage arrived at the same time, she wondered why he was used to walking this time, he chose to come by carriage this time, after talking with her tutor Miss Taylor, she Understood, because Miss Beth and Jane can only walk in the carriage, and he actually came in the carriage to pick them up.

In this regard, he took into account the fatigue of the journey, and he also took into account that all the ladies who came had carriages, and Jane No, he solved the little problem very gentlemanly.

What is a gentleman? If there is one person who can measure this word, it must be Mr. Knightly. One of the important aspects of whether a man is a gentleman is his attitude and manner towards women.

In this novel, I see Mr. Knightley as a man who behaves reasonably in front of any woman in any situation. The novel tells about three marriages, three young ladies, in addition to Emma, Harriet, a beautiful and gentle boarding school, and Jane, a talented but lowly born.

Harriet is gentle but simple-minded, and Jane is dignified but reserved. Emma wanted to marry Harriet to a priest Elton, but Elton actually took a fancy to Emma; while Jane, Emma was annoyed by her indifference, and on the other hand, she was ashamed of her cultivation and talent.

In the text, we can see that Mr. Knightley has a very high evaluation of Jane, and at the same time gives her care and favor in many aspects, which makes the readers and readers outside the book think that he likes Jane very much.

But no, Mr. Knightley is Such a very unique man, he will not cloud his rational judgment because of emotional impulses. He loves Emma and has always loved Emma, but what we see is that he keeps accusing Emma of mistakes and shortcomings.

There are some It's cold, but it can really help a proud and conceited girl like Emma. And he took care of Jane because he thought that Jane would be better than Emma if she had the same wealth and status as Emma.

This inequality of origin hides the luster of this webbed jade, and he wants others to see the dazzling beauty of this precious jade. This kind of praise and praise is not because of emotion, but because of sincerity.

In fact, in British novels, many gentlemen have more or less a reputation for hypocrisy, but he is synonymous with sincerity from beginning to end.

If the care for Jane is the intermittent highlight of the novel, the depiction of Harriet and Mr. Knightley is a dramatic conflict at its peak. Mr. Knightley began to think poorly of the girl, he thought the friendship between her and Emma was not good for each other, because the girl revolved around Emma all day,

"She doesn't know anything about herself, but she thinks Emma knows everything "Especially over the fact that Mr. Knighltey had a conflict with Emma over the fact that Emma wanted to make her and Elton's marriage possible, but gave up her original suitor.

He pointed out that a shrewd man like Elton would not marry a penniless girl like Harriet, and Emma's instigation directly ruined the girl's happiness - she gave up her original suitor. Later it turned out that Mr. Knightly was right.

For such a prophecy, he did not feel complacent about his own brilliance but came to help this girl find the lost happiness that she deserved. This is a very valuable quality. Most older gentlemen are very conceited.

They may not look down on people with poor minds, but they will definitely look down on people who fall for their own stupidity. But Mr. Knightley was an exception.

At one dance, Elton, in retaliation for Emma's refusal, turned his ire on poor Harriet, blatantly refusing to ask her to dance. At this time, Mr. Knightly, who never entered the dance floor and usually stood by to watch, was provoked. He got up and asked Harriet to dance.

I can imagine why Harriet would fall in love with him later. He saved her with a knightly demeanor. , let her get out of her humility, yes, there is no honor that can compare with a gentleman like Mr. Knightley to dance to a song, not to mention the gentleman who once spoke poorly of her and later said, This girl had advantages he hadn't seen before.

He was a man who never wanted to put himself in the position of savior to solve the plight of others. Likewise, he knows which faults are forgivable and which virtues are at the same time illusory.

Next, I want to say candidly. When Darcy fell in love with Elisabeth, he was still not honest enough, and his self-confidence made him feel that it was a difficult thing to court such a girl; in "persuasion", when Frederick faces his love again after eight years.

Anne, he was also not candid. His feigned indifference and neglect seemed to hold a banner of "I don't love you anymore". And in other chapters, there is just too much dishonesty.

Here, the frankness I emphasize is not that the hero has the courage to say frankly to the heroine: I love you. But as a man, he was able to say frankly: I don't love the woman you're talking about.

Only Mr. Knightley, only he did it when everyone thought he would fall in love with Jane, he said frankly: Yes, Jane is talented and beautiful, I have a high opinion of her and give her special care.

I like to chat with her, but she lacks a kind of temperament, which is a must for the person I love... So frankly telling I can't stop admiring this man's uprightness, everyone will face rumors of Gossip and his attitude toward gossip, but this sensible man's way is: it is better to clarify in a timely manner than to clarify.

Mr. Knightley, such a man, I am afraid that only in the book, there will be. He is rational, mature, devoted, honest, considerate, humorous, wise, and visionary... When Austen created this character, he seemed to make him an idol that women admired and admired and men were ashamed of.

Reading Notes: Emma by Jane Austen

After you understand yourself, read other people's stories. Otherwise, it is easy to take people who are closer to the imagined people, but they are actually dealing with their own problems in other people's ways. The inevitable failure of imitating Steve Jobs is the truth. Every unique life cannot be duplicated.

The magic also happens to be here, every life has its own confine, and there is just another life among all living beings to refine his confine!

Does love make sense? Maybe not. If two individuals can produce love, it is likened to whether two people can have a chemical reaction. Start with how many system variables there are. Unfortunately, there are too many variables to be exhausted.

Status, talent, wealth, origin, taste, appearance, family education, childhood trauma, parental emotional demonstration, parental character, and so on. What's even more frustrating is that the weights of each variable are arranged differently in everyone's mind!

The conclusion is how can a chemical reaction be derived by finding a formula and inputting the above variable logic?

So clever chemists invented catalysts to help two individuals that do not react or react relatively slowly to react. Seeing this, you have to sigh, there is a medium word. The chemical reaction between the material world and the spiritual world requires a medium.

What would the incomparably complex spiritual world look like? Look at Austin's Emma for a good example.

A smart Emma seems to have all the advantages, status, talent, wealth, birth, taste, etc. It is especially rare that Emma has kindness, compassion, and love for the poor at the same time.

It seems to be close to perfect, but from her jealousy towards Jane from time to time, it can be seen that she has a kind of confinement in her heart, but she doesn't notice it, but who can help her refine it? There are answers at the end.

If there are any deficiencies, for example, the school playing piano, reading, and painting skills make it difficult for her to touch the pure essence of beauty, pure is a natural one. And this happens to be the reflection of Emma's inner confined on the outside.

But that didn't stop her from being confident that she knew what kind of man all the girls in town should be looking for! So this appearance looks very much like Miss Bai Fumei Emma in the current society and hopelessly fell in love with the matchmaker.

why? In her opinion, every pair of men and women needs a "catalyst" to develop love. The chemical reaction is called "catalysis", and she happens to be a smart bystander. Conditioning variable for the female smith, she even has a feeling that she can have chemistry with all the men in town! ridiculous!

But the subtle thing is that Mr. Knightley, played by Jeremy Northam, an absolute standard British gentleman around Emma, points out that Emma is wrong every time.

It was at this time that she made a new friend—the beautiful and gentle Miss Smith. Miss Smith was an illegitimate daughter who didn't even know who her biological parents were.

In the society at that time, such a woman had no status. Miss Smith and Farmer Martin had fallen in love with each other. But Emma, because of her love for Miss Smith, decided that Miss Smith must be the daughter of a gentleman, and kept instilling this idea in Miss Smith so that Miss Smith also thought that Martin, a farmer, was not worthy of her and that she should Marry a gentleman, and reject Martin's proposal.

Seeing this, perhaps most people will hate Emma a little - why are you so self-righteous, look down on the farmer, and break up other people's marriages. But if you think about it carefully, on the one hand, as a young lady from a wealthy

family, Emma has been pampered since childhood and looked down on farmers. On the other hand, although she broke up with Miss Smith and Martin, she had no malicious intentions, and her intentions and wishes were actually good - hope that her friends would get a better home.

That's why I have always liked Emma. She is kind because she has a lot of shortcomings in coddling. She is a very real character, and when she knows she is wrong, she will try to correct her to make up for it.

I believe that many girls are in her. and will see their own shadows. Going back to this episode - when Mr. Knightley learned that Miss Smith had rejected Martin's marriage proposal because of Emma's influence, he was very angry, thinking that Emma had made Miss Smith lose a perfect chance to be happy, so he was very angry. Argue with Emma.

I really like Mr. Knightley in this scene, calm, rational, and analytical - although I think he's also a bit too demeaning to Miss Smith, I have to admit he's telling the truth. I really like Mr. Knightley's unsmiling expression.

After seeing such an expression, when I look back on his kindness, I realize that he was actually equally charming at that time. I also like Emma's dress-up in this episode. It seems to be the prettiest and cutest time in the whole play.

And I also have to admit that in terms of visual effects, such as character costumes, surrounding environments, etc., the 96 version seems to be a little more attractive than the 97 version.

There is also an interesting detail: Emma told Mr. Knightley that Miss Smith had rejected Martin. At first, Mr. Knightley was a little disbelieving, so Emma said that she had seen Miss Smith's reply to Martin; hearing this, Knight Mr. Leigh stared at Emma and said, "Emma—" So Emma was like a child whose lies were exposed immediately, and did not dare to look Mr. Knightley in the eyes.

I couldn't help laughing when I saw these two shots, Mr. Knightley knew Emma so well that he knew it was Emma's good work—she must have written the reply for Miss Smith; and to Mr. Knightley, Emma looked like a young man child. "

What's even more exciting is that the famous book is really a famous book. Under the seemingly natural plot, there are a lot of refined Emma's efforts hidden!

I really applaud the author's good intentions but it seems that he doesn't focus on it! Good work is really a complete and rich person. I suspect that Austin perfectly interprets her own inner confine, otherwise, it would be impossible to write other people's stories so seamlessly. What's under the iceberg is what matters, not what's on the water!

This smart girl, Emma, of course, understands what kind of man she needs. This person is by his side, but compared to Emma's unrestrained childhood, he has created a cute naughty, including the process of matchmaker, which seems to be rationally analyzed, but the results are all in vain.

I muttered to myself, every time I matchmaker, I seem to lose something! Fortunately, Mr right Knightley has insight into Emma's mind, and every time she points out that she is doing a ridiculous thing.

Every time the matchmaker fails, it happens to be the process of the chemical reaction between Emma and Knightley. This process is natural, and the love of the two is revealed in every detail. Ironically, there is no catalyst for this process.

True love happens, but it doesn't need catalysts. hint an interesting thing, every individual has a confine until meeting MR.RIGHT in her life to helping her refine. The one who understands one's own heart can be someone else, but the perfect one who helps oneself must be the other half of the soul.

"Emma": See these 4 truths about marriage

In the UK, Jane Austen is everywhere.

The 19th-century female writer who never married but wrote about love all her life was evaluated as: "If Shakespeare is the sun, then she is the star."

However, what this legendary female writer dreamed of most was the woman in her writing who was " dignified and refined, quick-witted, happy in nature, and well-off, as if God had concentrated the best gifts on her ".

This woman's name is Emma.

She is the protagonist of Jane's last novel before her death.

This arrogant and conceited Bai Fumei will use her growth history to tell all girls that true love is related to money and self.

You can be single, but you have to be rich

Some people say that in a woman's life, she will either have a lot of love or a lot of money, or at least occupy one of them, and then she will live a comfortable life.

Our protagonist, Miss Emma Woodhouse, has lived in this world for nearly twenty-one years and rarely encounters distress or sadness. The biggest reason is money.

She is the daughter of the richest man in Highbury. She has no worries about food and clothing and has many servants. Although she lost her mother at a young age, her father spoiled this little daughter.

When the girls of the same age were anxious to find a sweetheart, Emma was strolling leisurely between the ball and the garden, and she clearly stated that she liked being single and did not want to get married. The reasons were clear and profound:

"I don't need property, I don't worry about having nothing to do, and I don't worry about being looked down upon by others.

I believe that few married women have half the authority in their husband's house as I have in Hartfell's house, and in the eyes of any man I am not like my father's perpetual first place, which is always correct. "

Facing the exclamation of her friend Harriet: "In the end, you will become an old maid, which is really scary!"

Emma threw out a famous quote that has been regarded as the "Bible" by many girls until now:

"A wealthy celibate woman is always respected, as rational, and as pleasant as anyone. Only poverty makes a celibate subject to public contempt!"

Emma's confidence is given by her family's wealth of 30,000 pounds a year, and she is also given by her well-informed heart. She doesn't need to be tied to others, or to be married to help make it easier or better.

In this world, how many women are looking forward to marrying in love, but in the face of the risk of being single, the pressure of life, and the public opinion of society, they have lost the determination and casualness of being single when they want to be single and getting married when they want to be married.

Too late to wait for true love to come, and hurriedly bury love into the upcoming marriage.

But Emma has long since released her personal hobbies and emotional sustenance from her marriage. She can make her life always rich and vibrant:

"I'm a flexible, brainy person with a lot of ways to deal with it."

It is a joy to be alone like this.

When money is enough to pay for your hobbies, it can offset the fear of growing old alone.

We always think that there are many possibilities in life, but in fact, these possibilities will only exist when we have money;

Our love will often encounter some choices, but the cruelty of reality will make us "have no choice".

Therefore, the richer a woman is, the freer she can live, and the ability to always put herself at the top of making money can make her more confident no matter how she lives.

It's a disaster to put your feelings on others

Of course, Harriet could not have imagined the happiness of Emma being rich and single.

Because Miss Harriet Smith was a lowly-born bastard.

Rich women choose love, and poor women are chosen by love.

For Harriet, "marriage is the second reincarnation".

She is obedient and grateful, looking forward to Emma, who is at the top of Highbury's social circle, guiding her in life.

Emma is very happy. Emma, who grew up in a greenhouse, naturally thinks that marriage is a transaction. Although she is not married, she likes to be a matchmaker and even enjoys saving a poor girl as a savior and introducing her Upper class.

When Harriet received a letter of proposal from Martin, a tenant who truly loved her, she hurried to ask Emma's opinion: "Please, dear Miss Woodhouse, tell me exactly what to do."

Seeing Harriet's complete lack of opinion, Emma hits the nail on the head: "If she hesitates when she says 'yes', she should just say 'no'. It's dangerous to go into that attitude with suspicion."

Harriet relied on Emma to make decisions for herself, and Emma rejected Martin without hesitation, and instead strongly recommended Elton, the handsome pastor.

Emma, who is dispensable for marriage, believes that love is just the weight of marriage.

If you can't overweight yourself, it's better to find a good marriage and live a better life.

Emma tried her best to match Harriet and Elton and even went too far. She guided Elton to do some things to express her love, while she kept saying good things about Elton to Harriet.

Harriet completely listened to Emma, nothing happened in reality, her heart was already turbulent, and she indulged in the fantasy of marrying Elton all day long, but it turned out to be an unrealistic dream.

In fact, all Elton did was covet the rich Emma, and he bluntly stated that his status was far from Harriet:

"I don't have to despair enough to think I can't find the right match, and I have to lower myself to accept Miss Smith."

Immediately after being rejected by Emma, she chose another rich woman.

"A weak mind and vanity can only lead to all kinds of misfortune."

This humiliating relationship, on the surface, seems to be Emma's mess, but the root of the failure is that Harriet's inferiority and timidity almost make her unable to think independently, and she completely entrusts her marriage expectations to others.

But different classes and environments made Emma a natural barrier between her and them, so how could she consider her situation?

Love, or life, has always been fought and fulfilled by oneself.

It's not other people who really make you fail, it's your dependence on others.

Emotions can't be rational, but introspection makes people grow

Before this matchmaking, Emma had always believed in her own vision and mind.

When she was only one year old, she was able to answer the questions that stumped her sixteen-year-old sister. After her sister got married, at the age of 12, she assumed the role of the mistress of the family.

She's a savvy reader, an avid socialist, and has the confidence to take control of her life.

It wasn't Emma's intention to ruin people's marriages, but the whole thing started because of her, which made her reflect on herself for the first time—

"It's too risky and self-righteous to see things that should be serious as insignificant and things that should be simple as tricks."

In fact, the eldest lady who has never been in contact with the poor and has never really been in love, how can she understand the situation and troubles of ordinary people?

Love seems to come to the door quickly, and Frank, who is humorous, handsome, and rich, suddenly appears in Highbury.

His cheerful and active disposition is likable everywhere, and he is the Prince Charming that everyone praises.

Emma enjoys Frank's flirtation very much. She regards the ambiguity with Frank as an affirmation of her own charm and confidently regards him as a potential suitor. She also stands on the height of sympathy and "kindly" wants to "let" him to Ha Ritter.

This time, however, it was Emma herself who fell into a fantasy.

In fact, Frank and Miss Jane Fairfax had long been secretly engaged, secretly engaged, and carefully concealed everything because of the objection of the Frank family.

His affair with Emma is nothing but a shield to hide the secret, and the truth of the relationship is revealed after the death of the opponent.

Emma, who always prided herself on being sober, couldn't see any clues in her self-righteousness, and she was the object of everyone's sympathy in an instant.

After learning the truth, Emma regained her lost sanity, reflected on her enjoyment of ambiguity, and made arrangements at will, probably because Frank satisfied his vanity:

"I was too frivolous and indulgent because I was proud of myself because I was young and beautiful, and I was very smart. I was careless about people's hospitality, I didn't pay attention to the hidden relationships around me, and I didn't analyze everything rationally and carefully.

Just like this, I threw myself into it and enjoyed the pleasure of being used. "

Heine said:

"Reflection is a mirror, it can clearly reflect our mistakes so that we have the opportunity to correct them."

Projection is the same emotionally.

Every failed relationship means not only the experience of paying for the impulse but also the process of recognizing ourselves.

Introspection is the only way to grow.

Only by recognizing yourself in introspection time and time again can you gradually gain the ability to judge and master your emotions, and finally find the most suitable emotion for you.

There are thousands of loves in life, and the most difficult to understand

Emma grew up in frustration and self-reflection. There was a person who seemed to be watching from the sidelines but kept quietly guarding her side.

He was Mr. Knightley, brother-in-law of Emma.

Knightley, who has watched Emma grow up, is familiar with her personality, not only understands her independent and confident thoughts but also sees the shortcomings of her willful self.

While Emma whimsically pointed fingers at Harriet's marriage, Knightley objected and warned against Emma's triumphant matchmaking:

"If you teach her that she can only be satisfied by marrying a powerful and rich man, she might spend her life as a boarding student at Mrs. Goddard's school."

When Emma casually calls Miss Bates an "old girl," Knightley will criticize her bluntly:

"I see you doing something wrong, so I can't help persuade you.

How can you be so arrogant and rude to a woman of her character, age, and situation? "

Emma, who was accustomed to thousands of pets and flattery, thought to herself, "I'm conceited by nature, will I admit that I've done something wrong?"

But when he went his own way and got into trouble, Knightley dotingly helped her clarify the facts and help Emma avoid embarrassment and difficulties:

"It's not your conceit, but your seriousness.

If your former nature leads you astray, your latter spirit will point you in the direction. "

Tagore once said, "Love is another name for understanding and consideration."

Love is not a random encounter, but finding someone who knows how to tolerate oneself.

What moved Emma most Knightley was her spiritual concern. This was a lack in Emma's life no matter how much material was given, it was a love that could not be exchanged even with her father.

This made Emma feel like a spring breeze, and it also allowed her to regain her self-confidence and introspective growth despite her setbacks.

Emma finally realized that she had fallen in love with the mature and stable Knightley.

Finding her own mind, she began to panic, afraid of being replaced by others, she even said in a small voice: "No one can marry Knightley, only me!"

And this time, the right love really came. Knightley confessed to Emma loudly. He, who has always acted as Emma's "life mentor", said the most touching love words:

"Emma, I have my faults too.

Always pick your faults.

And you can bear my accusations. Maybe we all have flaws that make us a better fit. "

Love is tolerance rather than indulgence, caring rather than obedience.

Knowing each other is undoubtedly good medicine for catalyzing love.

People who know themselves are mostly people who are evenly matched with themselves. Only by standing side by side with themselves in the same line of sight can they know their strengths, accept their weaknesses, appreciate everything about themselves, and let their body and mind be able to land softly.

Fortunately, Emma and Mr. Knightley met each other, and they not only matched each other but knew each other better.

Such a congenial love lets two people who used to believe in singleism join hands in marriage.

Some people say that Emma, who has the identity of Bai Fumei, will have a perfect love ending no matter what she does.

Even Jane Austen once said: Emma is a heroine no one will like but myself.

Emma has everything that all girls envy, but she is not perfect. Her selfishness and conceit, her prudence, and cleverness make her frequently embarrassed and regretful, and she is also criticized from time to time.

But it is undeniable that her perfect love has never been to find or wait for Prince Charming's rescue, it is to always remain independent, kind, and sober, and then join hands with people who suit her as she matures.

So in real life, every girl has the potential to be Emma, and she doesn't have to be perfect in her growing up, and she should be allowed to make mistakes.

But more importantly, to take the future and happiness into your own hands, you have both the confidence to be single and the courage to get married.

In the end, I still hope that everyone can meet someone who understands themselves and have their own warmth in this lonely life.

Educated by Tara Westover: Summary, Review & More

2022-04-07T23:00:00.056+06:00

Discover the captivating true story of Tara Westover and her journey to self-education. Explore thought-provoking questions, insightful summaries and reviews, and fascinating insights into the most interesting things I learned from the inspiring memoir of this book.

Can someone who has never been to school since childhood get admitted to Cambridge University? And also become a Ph.D.

Introduction of Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover. Reality can bewilder and be more inspirational than you think. When you are sluggish, full of complaints about life, full of disappointment in life, you can read this powerful and shocking autobiography called a miracle, the author Tara Westover is not a celebrity, but her experience is more legendary than any contemporary celebrity, This book tells about the author's own real life.

Because she was born into a Mormon family, she never went to school or went to school before the age of 17.

However, she insisted on not giving up, and finally, through self-study, she was admitted to Cambridge University Philosophy at the age of 23. master. 28 Earned a Ph.D. in History from Cambridge and changed his life.

As soon as this book came out, it topped various bestseller lists in the United States for 80+ consecutive weeks.

Bill Gates made a special recommendation on his talk show, and the world's richest man said: "This book will be enjoyed by everyone, it's better than what you've heard."

Tara Westover was also named "Influential Person of the Year" by Time Magazine for this book.

Book: Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover

Educated is a memoir by the American author Tara Westover. Westover recounts overcoming her survivalist Mormon family in order to go to college and emphasizes the importance of education in enlarging her world. --- Wikipedia

Originally published: February 18, 2018
Author: Tara Westover
Genres: Biography, Autobiography
Pages: 352 pages
Audio read by: Julia Whelan
Awards: 2019 Alex Award

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About the Author: Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover

Tara Westover is an American author living in the UK. Born in Idaho to a father opposed to public education, she never attended school. She spent her days working in her father's junkyard or stewing herbs for her mother, a self-taught herbalist, and midwife.

She was seventeen the first time she set foot in a classroom, and after that first taste, she pursued learning for a decade. She graduated magna cum laude from Brigham Young University in 2008 and was subsequently awarded a Gates Cambridge Scholarship.

She earned an MPhil from Trinity College, Cambridge in 2009, and in 2010 was a visiting fellow at Harvard University. She returned to Cambridge, where she was awarded a Ph.D. in history in 2014.

Check out what Tara Westover, the author of this true story, said herself:

People only saw that I was different, a mountain girl who had never set foot in a classroom before the age of 17, but she was shining brightly in a Cambridge top hat.
But only I know who I am. My childhood was made of scrap copper and iron in a junkyard, where there is no reading sound, only the roar of machines. It is education that gives me a new world and infinite possibilities in life.
Education means gaining different perspectives and understanding different people, experiences, and histories.
If people are educated, they should become less certain, not more certain.
Educated people should listen and see more, be passionate about differences, and love ideas that are different from theirs, not rigid.
As women, we need to be freed from subterfuge and prove ourselves as independent people.
Express opinion, take action and defy compliance. I have lived my whole life being told by other people. Their voices were sonorous, authoritarian, and absolute. But I never realized before that my voice could be as powerful as theirs.

This autobiography is recommended in the 2018 book lists of The New York Times and The Economist. The first book on Bill Gates' favorite book list in 2018 is this book "Educated".

This excellent memoir, with unbearable sourness and unremitting efforts, is a manifestation of courage and self-help, and a manifestation of the powerful power of education.

Reason for Recommendation: Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover

This is a very powerful autobiography. The content in the book is derived from the author's real life. It tells the story of the author who was born in a Mormon family and did not have the opportunity to go to school since childhood but eventually changed his life through education.

One of the most shocking books I have read this year. This year's annual book lists of The New York Times and The Economist include Tara Westover's autobiography, Bill Gates' 2018 favorite book list The first is Educated by this unknown author.

10,000 story background, the most satisfying reading experience, unbearable sourness. This brilliant memoir is a manifestation of courage and self-creation and the silent power of education.

Book Summary and Experience of Reading "Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover"

What kind of book is Educated?

At the end of the year, major media will generally select the must-read books for each year. If you pay attention to this year's list, you will find that there is a book that appears on almost all annual book lists.

The author of the book is not a celebrity, but an ordinary girl from the mountains of the United States, but this book has become a phenomenon since its publication in February this year and has received a lot of praise from the media and celebrities.

Bill Gates even wrote a long review of the book on the book community Goodreads. The name of the book is Educated

Educated is an autobiography by Tara Westover who was born into a devout Mormon family in the mountains of Idaho and has seven siblings. Her father, a survivalist, believed that the end of the world was imminent, so he went to great lengths to stock up on food and daily necessities.

He doesn't trust the government, doesn't give birth certificates to his children, doesn't send them to school, and doesn't even believe in modern medicine - every time someone in the family gets hurt he asks Tara's mother to treat it with traditional herbal medicine instead of taking it to the hospital.

This family environment makes Tara seem to live on an isolated island, and can only understand the world through the perspective of her parents, and think that this is what the world is all about.

The transformation happened when she was 17 years old. Tara's older brother, Shawn, has an abusive personality. After Tara was beaten badly by him, her other older brother, Tyler, persuaded her to go to college to leave the family and helped her with algebra.

Although Tara had not attended school before, she miraculously passed the ACT test with her strong self-learning ability and was admitted to Brigham Young University in the United States.

It wasn't until she went to college that Tara realized how limited her previous education was, common sense that many of her peers knew, such as the Holocaust and the African-American civil rights movement, she had never heard of.

At university, she studied extensively in psychology, history, political science, and philosophy, and began to look at her father's mental illness and her entire family upbringing with fresh eyes.

Her family tried to prevent her from continuing her education, but she resisted and traveled across the ocean to study at Cambridge University, where she eventually earned a Ph.D. At the same time, she and her family of origin have also drifted away and are heading for a break.

The title of the book Educated does well because it accurately encapsulates the author's struggle to educate himself and regain his life. Academically, Tara Westover is an extremely gifted student who can learn almost anything through self-study.

In the book, the author once told a story: When she first went to college, she failed the midterm exam, which meant she would lose her scholarship. She interceded with the professor and received a promise from the professor that as long as she got full marks on the final exam, her mid-term exam scores would not be included in the total score. To this end, she started self-study and successfully got full marks in the final exam.

More valuable than academic achievement is her ability to self-dissect and educate herself. The author grew up in a family environment that had a huge impact on her, including a lack of common sense, limited vision, and fear of intimacy, but she struggled to get rid of these influences through self-education step by step and eventually returned to her family of origin. separate.

It was undoubtedly one of the hardest decisions she had ever made, but it was a path she had to take to grow up, as the book says:

“You can love someone and still choose to say goodbye to them,” she says now. “You can miss a person every day, and still be glad that they are no longer in your life.

For the author, everything she has done and the painful struggle she has experienced is ultimately to pursue more truth, to have her own independent thoughts, and to build her own independent world. This is also the essence of education:

Everything I had worked for, all my years of study, had been to purchase for myself this one privilege: to see and experience more truths than those given to me by my father, and to use those truths to construct my own mind.

I had come to believe that the ability to evaluate many ideas, many histories, and many points of view, was at the heart of what it means to self-create.

It is recommended that interested students read this book and realize self-education and growth in the new year.

Reading Experience: Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover

I read this memoir with strength and hope at times, but powerlessness and heartbreak at times.

Tara Westover was born in 1986 to a Mormon survivalist family in the mountains of the United States (Idaho). With no birth certificate, no hospital visits, and no school day before the age of 17, Tara was wrapped in a dead body. In the isolated and closed space, she can only see the world through the perspective provided by her parents, thinking that this is all.

As she moved out of her hometown to get an education and eventually a Ph.D. at Cambridge, her relationship with her family was slowly torn apart.

This book does not describe too much the complex cultural beliefs and family factors behind it, but focuses on describing Tara's personal struggles and growth, how she struggled between the "concepts instilled by her native family" and the "current educational views",

and how she struggled with The tear of the original family, how to self-exploration self-analysis, self-education, and finally, to change herself and build her own independent world, and the author's precious courage to face the suffering time and time again.

Despite the hardships and the serious shadow of the original family, Tara never gave up, insisted on studying, reading, and thinking, and finally no longer self-doubt and became a new, independent, and powerful self.

As described in the book:

The decisions I made after that moment were not the ones she would have made. They were the choices of a changed person, a new self. You could call this selfhood many things. Transformation. Metamorphosis. Falsity. Betrayal. I call it education.

What makes this book shocking is that the author was not born in a previous era, but almost the same age as us. The awakening of the author's independent personality and education gave her a new perspective on her family and the world.

She re-examined her father's mental illness, her mother's cowardice, and her brother's violence against her. A world is torn apart, growing through trauma, reconciling with myself.

The world is too big and too complicated, there are too many unknowns and differences beyond imagination, but education allows us to learn to think deeply, learn to be compatible, and also subtly reshape us.

Here are 3 of the most interesting things I learned from this book:

Tara Westover grew up in Idaho in a survivalist family with little education.
Slowly, she overcame her childhood setbacks and entered college, where she had great opportunities.
In the end, she had to make the tough decision to distance herself from her family and finish school.

Are you ready to hear an interesting story? This story will inspire you to appreciate all that you have. Let's go!

Lesson 1: Tara grew up on a fundamentalist farm with little homeschooling or real-life experience.

Tara was born into an isolated family in the Idaho Mountains. Her mother raised children and was well-versed in herbal medicine, and her father ran a farm and was the head of the family. Her father's thoughts were extreme and often dangerous.

He argued that the public school simply brainwashed the child so she and her siblings were "homeschooled". This is a bit of an overstatement because while her mother did teach her some history and math in a few places, most of what she learned was by reading books and trying to solve problems on her own.

That's not the only weird part of her family life, though. Her father was extreme in many beliefs. Because he doesn't believe in hospitals and modern medicine, Tara never saw a doctor and was born at home. Family members suffer from all kinds of pain, from concussions and even blast burns, with only herbal remedies.

She has a good relationship with some of her siblings, though one of her brothers, Shawn, sometimes attacks her verbally and physically, and her parents won't intervene. Another older brother, Tyler, took the time to study and was able to get into college. It was her brother's example that sowed the seeds for Tara's own hard work.

Lesson 2: When she enters the real world, she finally leaves her abusive home and has an excellent educational opportunity.

Tara grew as she got older, and her goal was to go to college, despite her father's strong desire for her to get married. She tirelessly taught herself grammar and math to get a good enough ACT score to get into Brigham Young University. When she was admitted, her father tried to stop her, but Tara had made up her mind.

Note: Tara's efforts are not in vain, the more difficult it is, the more she has to persevere. Self-help, God help!

For her, college life is like opening another window. Unlike rural life in Idaho, Provo is a fairly large city. She was surprised to see roommates doing things like wearing off-the-shoulder clothes or shopping on Sundays.

It was here that she went to the doctor for the first time in her life, and she was surprised that it wasn't such a scary place as she had been taught by her father. These experiences made her realize how far apart her previous reality was from the rest of the world.

But another thing that surprised Tara was how hard college life was. She struggled, even remembering how her professor stared at her in disbelief when she asked what the Holocaust was. But she didn't give up. Tara continued to study hard, started getting good grades, and even started to impress her professors.

Her efforts paid off and she was offered the opportunity to do research at Cambridge University. There, she impressed her professor so much that he even guaranteed her a spot in the Ph.D. program there.

She was forced to make the difficult decision to cut ties with her parents in order to complete her studies.

Tara is very popular at Cambridge University.

She enjoys learning, especially about feminism and the many radical beliefs that grew up with her. Tara was taught from an early age that women should be submissive, so she was always uncomfortable with being a woman. But she made a lot of friends and started to relax because she finally felt like she belonged.

Domestically, however, the situation is deteriorating. Her sister wrote to tell Tyra that their brother Sean had violently attacked her and that his threats were getting worse. But their parents did nothing.

When Tara was awarded a visiting fellowship at Harvard, her parents seized the opportunity and made one last aggressive attempt to control her. They came to live with her in her dorm, and her father gave her a choice: go home or be seen as a threat to the family.

Her dad says it's the satanic demon controlling Tara, and he needs to get him out with a blessing. If she receives the blessing, her worldliness will be washed away. If she accepts, she knows it shows she accepts his twisted reality, but she can't and doesn't want to do it anymore. So she refused.

The decision was so frustrating for her that she had a nervous breakdown and could barely finish her dissertation. But she eventually found the strength and focus to get the job done. Dr. Westover has not spoken to his parents for many years. But she eventually felt like she had found herself and remained close to her family.

Book Review: Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover

What would you do if there was such an American girl, born into an ordinary family without power, who never went to school before the age of 17, but was admitted to the university through self-study, completed her Ph.D. at Cambridge, and became a visiting scholar at Harvard, what would you do? Evaluate her life?

"Oh, it's another life-changing story of education."

Many people may have a similar reaction to the above, thinking that this is a rather inspiring experience of counterattack. It is not easy, but it is also very common. It just confirms the possibility that children from poor families can successfully turn over and achieve class jumps through education.

But for Tara Westover, the protagonist of the story, in addition to inspiration and counterattacks, there are also unimaginable cruelty and abandonment. The meaning of education to her is far more than "change" fate".

All this is because she was born into an extremely religious family. Her childhood was full of various teachings and even violence. She did not receive a school education because her family did not allow her;.

Fortunately, Tara came out, and she also wrote her autobiography "Educated: A Memoir" about her disgraceful past and her escape from life. Behind the popularity of the United States and touching thousands of readers, is a girl who uses education as a weapon to fight ignorance and find herself.

Childhood covered in madness and violence

In September 1986, in the peaceful and peaceful mountains of Iowa, a poor family welcomed the birth of a baby girl, Tara. Before she was born, there were five older brothers and one older sister in the family.

From the surface, this family was no different from any other family in the area. Although the family of nine was embarrassed, they supported each other and worked hard to live a small life.

But what is different is that Tara's father is an extreme Mormon, he adheres to the strict and perverted canon and uses this as the norm of husband and wife and family education.

As the world's largest emerging religion, Mormonism, which was born in the early 19th century, shares the same beliefs as Christianity but advocates returning to the earliest and most primitive state.

The extreme Mormons, on the other hand, live devoutly ascetic lives and regard preaching and faith as the top priority in life.

In Tara's memory, she was not allowed to drink Coke since she was a child, she was not allowed to dress revealingly, and she was not allowed to go to the hospital when she was sick or injured, "because she had to wait for God to heal herself."

The father, the head of the family, is also the unquestioned authority of the whole family. This man who makes a living by recycling and disposing of scrap metal keeps brainwashing his wife and children, trying to convert them into religious believers as crazy as himself.

If it's just strict adherence to the teachings, that's fine; the bad thing is that Tara's father is also a "dangerous" anti-governmentist who, in short, doesn't trust any government agency and insists on dealing with them To the kind of people who do it.

He believes that the media serving the ruling group is full of lies, and simply throws out radios and televisions, refusing to "brainwash";

He doesn't trust the police, he thinks they are watching him all the time, and he will be shot dead if he is not careful;

Not to mention hospitals and schools, doctors and teachers are all spies sent by the government and are absolutely untrustworthy.

When his father was at his craziest, he once declared that doomsday was coming, and then hoarded food and guns like an obsession, thinking that only in this way could he survive smoothly. In Tara's words, the weapons that my father bought at that time "could shoot down helicopters", and the whole family lived in fear all day long.

Growing up in such a family environment, Tara, the happy family, the friendship she met on campus, and even the playground and lollipops all seemed like a distant dream.

Her life was under control - what to wear, what hobbies, and what kind of social life were all limited, it was a difficult and rough time, home was like a very paranoid and lonely boat on the ocean, Her childhood was spent on horseback in the mountains, helping her father pick up trash...

However, spiritual poverty is accompanied by physical torture.

Children who have been under the dictatorship of their fathers for a long time are often in deep pain and unable to vent. Tara's second brother, Sean, found a channel to vent his anger in extreme depression - beating his sister.

Tara still vividly remembers the horror to this day.

The second brother was talking to you with a smile one second, but the next second, he would grab your hair, slam your head against the wall, press down on the toilet, and curse words like "prostitute" in his mouth.

In fact, Mormonism has always had a tradition of "preference of sons to daughters". Polygamy was once allowed, but it was only abolished in 1890. For Sean, beating women is not contrary to the teachings instilled by his father, so he has become more and more reckless and violent. for pleasure.

One day when Tara was 16 years old, the second brother started punching and kicking her again as usual. She slumped to the ground weakly, the corner of her eyes swept away the indifference of her father and the cowardice of her mother.

In my life, I will probably only be accompanied by despair, Tara thought, letting tears fall from the corners of her eyes...

The university entrance exam, a glimmer of hope in despair

The turning point in Tara's life came from the third brother, Taylor.

Of the children in the family, Taylor was probably the most restless. When he became an adult, he did not follow his parents' arrangement and found a physical job near his home. Instead, he completed his high school courses in private and managed to apply to the largest religious school in the United States, Brigham Young University.

As far as the educational level of the siblings is concerned, they are actually similar. Since they have not attended primary or middle school, they are basically supported by the basic reading and writing skills taught by their parents when they were young.

Tara learned the news of the third brother's admission, and she has a deep understanding in addition to worry - when you know that this may be the only way for you to escape from your family, why not work hard?

Of course, the third brother's rebellion also greatly angered his father. He was so angry that he cursed, threw things, and threatened Taylor, "If you dare to go out, you will never come back!"

In the face of his manic father, Tyler walked away without looking back, the road of hope was at his feet, and it was absolutely impossible to give up.

Before leaving, he told Tara that if he had a chance, he must see the outside world. "Once you leave your father, you can see the real world."

These words were like seeds, planting a trace of life in her heart.

At the same time, Tara was also tormented by an extreme lack of self-confidence - she didn't even go to elementary school. How can she go to college, get an offer, and make a way out like her third brother?

After many inquiries, Tara learned that the key to college is the ACT. You have to pass this exam before you have the chance to apply.

With the hope of "escape from life", Tara bit her head and bought exam preparation books with the change she had saved from her part-time job. Pull up to seize every opportunity and study hard.

After the lights went out late at night, before getting up to work, Tara desperately compresses her rest time and her desire for knowledge lights up the night.

Under the dual effect of God's reward for diligence and her own intelligence, a year later, Tara also received an offer from Brigham Young University like her third brother. She never went to school but created a miracle.

Perhaps the break between the third brother and the family set a precedent. When the news came, the father just snorted coldly but no longer prevented Tara from going to school.

However, when he met others, he still took the story of his children who had never been to school but could be admitted to the university as a case to demonstrate the correctness of his religious beliefs and political ideas.

At that time, Tara had no time to take care of her father's ignorance and stubbornness as always. She was immersed in the joy of finally being able to go out, but she didn't know that the real test had just begun.

Self vs Family

Education has become her greatest strength

Before the age of 17, Tara thought that her life was already fixed, she would get married early, marry a worker or a farmer under the arrangement of her parents, and then have children and spend the rest of her life in the mountains;

But at the age of 17, when she was admitted to the university, everything changed drastically. She went out and came into contact with a whole new world that she didn't understand before.

This world is completely different from the world she was born in. In the pull between the new and the old, she was once "split".

Tara came to the classroom for the first time and felt a completely different way of education from her father's brainwashing. She was also surprised to find that drinking Coke would not die, and it was their right for girls to wear cool clothes in summer. Many of our teachers are not so-called "spy agents", but good people who are diligent and down-to-earth.

At the same time, she also felt out of place.

In the past, she did not wash her hands after going to the toilet, and she was used to the house being full of rubbish without cleaning up. She didn't even know what "Europe" and "Renaissance" were. Decades of closure and limitations.

When Tara innocently said in class that she didn't know what "massacre" meant, the whole class fell silent. A friend who was close to her stared at her and said slowly, "This joke is not funny at all."

Because of similar ignorance, Tara was embarrassed. Every time she ran to the library to look up materials, she learned a lot of things that she had never heard of or understood at all.

It was education that opened the door to a civilized world for her.

It can be said that in her school years, Tara spent all her time studying, with an almost greedy desire for knowledge, she relentlessly explored the world as it was.

who I am? What is my society like? What is my role here? The unique experience makes studying without the slightest utilitarianism, but full of true torture of individuals and education.

In this way, Tara graduated from Brigham Young University with excellent grades. When the professor read her graduation thesis, she was also amazed by her simple thinking and down-to-earth attitude, which made Tara's thesis one of the most outstanding from what she has read over the years." the best one".

And Tara is also walking down the road of learning.

Under the recommendation of the professor, Tara applied for a full scholarship established by Bill Gates and went to Cambridge to study for a doctorate in history. During this period, she also went to Harvard as a visiting scholar.

She is no longer the ignorant little girl in the mountains, but with the abundance of knowledge and in-depth research, she strives to climb one academic peak after another. She became Dr. Tara.

The process is sweet and painful.

Every time she comes into contact with more and fresher knowledge, she transforms into a new self, and at the same time, the past self is abandoned once. She was becoming more and more unbearable when she stayed home during the winter and summer vacations. It was the most intense moment when the old and the new collided. Neither she nor her family could convince anyone.

Later, Tara described this ambivalence in her autobiography:

"What happens when one's obligations to family conflict with obligations to friends, society, and individuals?"

No one can make decisions for Tara, only herself.

The summer after Tara got her Ph.D. from Cambridge, she went home and thought about a problem she had been thinking about over the years.

She said in front of her parents that she was beaten by her second brother Sean in adolescence, and she needed an apology.

Facing her daughter's request, the timid mother was silent, the father was furious, and asked her daughter if she wanted to put her brother in jail before giving up. Sean walked out without saying a word, and when he came back, he handed his sister a gift. A bloody knife.

Sean told his sister that he had just killed the family's pet dog "because he was disobedient" and warned Tara that if she was smart, she should kill herself.

Amid the death threat, Tara felt sad and ridiculous. She finally realized that she had no ability to change her father's stubbornness, her mother's weakness, and Sean's cruelty. The only thing she could do was to choose her own position.

Tara left, broke with the Westover family, and waved goodbye to the little girl from the past. Between the family and the individual, she was still forced to choose to be loyal to herself.

Many years have passed, and Tara has no contact with her family of origin and has not seen her parents for a long time, but she is not unhappy - at least, she has achieved great academic achievements and gained more teachers and friends. The most important thing is that she has finally become herself, a self who is no longer at the mercy of others.

Family, which should be the warmest harbor, brought Tara the deepest harm. In the process of going out, she constantly reflected on her own growth experience, constantly experienced self-doubt, and in the conflict and tear with her family, she jumped up and down, finally accepted her true self, and gained inner peace.

Although the ending was not "happy for all", Tara has not yet obtained "understanding" from her parents, but she wrote:

After that, my decision was not what they expected.

These decisions don't belong to "she" in their eyes but come from a changed person, a new self.

You can put many labels on it, such as growth, transformation, hypocrisy, and betrayal...

But my description is

- This is my "education".

Tara Westover

Interview with Tara Westover, author of "Educated"

Education is not about vocational training in the narrow sense but about self-creation

Tara Westover, American historian, and writer. Born in 1986 in the mountains of Idaho. Having never attended school before the age of seventeen, he was admitted to Brigham Young University through self-study and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 2008.

He was subsequently awarded a Gates Cambridge Scholarship and obtained a Master of Philosophy from the University of Cambridge in 2009. In 2010, he received a scholarship to study at Harvard University.

He received his Ph.D. in History from the University of Cambridge in 2014. In 2018, her debut novel "You should be like a bird flying to your mountain" was published. In 2019, the book was named "Influential Person of the Year" by Time Magazine.

The following is compiled from an interview with author Tara Westover by Bill Gates

The Oprah Show, and Forbes Magazine.

Q. Why did you write this book?

One of the reasons I do is because when I was going through the process of losing my own family, I became very sensitive to the stories I was exposed to, in film or in novels, or even in advertising.

And it seemed to me that stories were very important because what they did is they told us how we were supposed to feel when we were supposed to be proud and when we were supposed to be ashamed.

And I was going through this process, I was losing my family and I didn't 't know how I was supposed to feel about that. I didn't know how I was supposed to believe that I was a good person when my parents didn't. When I had confronted them about my brother's violence they had decided that I was lying.

And they had taken it to such an extreme that they had begun telling people I was possessed. And II didn't have a story for how I was supposed to feel about myself when my family felt like that about me.

so I wanted to write a story that was about family loyalty. I felt like we had stories about family loyalty but I didn't know if we had stories about what to do when loyalty to your family was somehow in conflict with loyalty to yourself.

I felt like we had stories about forgiveness but I wasn't sure that we had so many stories that didn't conflate forgiveness with reconciliation or didn't treat reconciliation as the highest form of forgiveness.

In my life, I didn't know if I would be able to reconcile with my family or not but I needed to believe that I could forgive them regardless of that.

Bill Gates in conversation with Tara Westover

Q. What do you think of the family of origin?

You can love someone and still choose to say goodbye to him; you can miss someone every day and still be glad that he is no longer in your life.

For a long time, I wondered, just because I love my family, am I making the wrong decision? Also, because I miss my family deeply, I have fallen into self-doubt many times, and there is a voice in my heart that keeps repeating: "Because I miss them, I must have done something wrong."

It took me a long time to realize that yes, love is simple. The last time I saw my dad, he gave me a stiff hug and said, "You know what, I love you so much." I replied, "Of course I do, that was never the problem." I've always known that Dad loved me a lot, and of course, I don't think Dad did it because he didn't love me.

But when we try to control and change others in the name of love, that love turns sour. This is not the true meaning of love. If you love others, you will love unconditionally and give back to your loved ones the right to choose themselves.

If you say, I must change the people I love so that I can possess them forever, then that is not loved at all, nor the value and power of love. So I want to say to my family that I still love them now.

Even though half of my family has been cut off from me, even though I have to accept that they have to change to come back into my life. Whether or not they will change is beyond my control.

Q. How did you decide to stop living by the framework your dad set for you and find your true self?

I look at it all from a different perspective, rather than sticking to what's going on right now. For me, if my future is doomed without the participation and support of my family, I would rather choose to leave first.

I think everyone is like that. We grew up in our own families, we were shaped into what we were, and we always thought we could break free and reinvent ourselves.

But once we go back to the old environment, it will go back to an endless loop. Or worse, children who grow up in unhealthy home environments will seek out people in the outside world who can repeat the cycle with us, many of whom will never break free for the rest of their lives.

I love a quote from the Bible: "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." The beauty of faith is that it makes people believe that there is a better world, a World, that believes that we can live a different kind of life and experience the love we have never experienced before.

But to abandon the past and imagine the future requires a combination of faith and education. Only when the two complement each other can we meet the unknown life and expect different changes.

Oprah in conversation with Tara Westover

Q. Why is the book named Educated?

The education that my story wants to refer to is not vocational training in the narrow sense, but self-creation in the broad sense. I worry that our conception of education has become too narrow and too focused on job skills.

My education changed me. Ultimately, it gave me a new perspective and confidence to stand up for myself in a way I never could. If you taught me Excel or how to program, I don't think it would work that way.

With the development of automation and globalization, the competition for jobs is becoming more and more intense. The jobs crisis is something we have to take seriously, but education is another. Ideally, your education does prepare you for a job search and success.

But education doesn't solve these big problems of globalization or automation. It will not solve our inequality crisis. When you put pressure on education to solve huge economic and historical problems that education can't really solve, the things that are supposed to help individuals live more fulfilling lives are taken away, leaving them to be good employees, to make Something that benefits employers.

Q. What do you think the role of a teacher is? How did you become completely self-taught?

Ideally, you really want to learn, and you have the opportunity to reach out to a Nobel Prize winner who can tell you how to learn. But if you're a kid who doesn't want to learn, you'll gain nothing from having a Nobel Prize winner teach you compared to kids who really want to learn. You can't force people to think, and you can't force them to learn.

I like to think of teachers as advisors, as a resource. Education has never been a discipline for me or something I do every day without thinking. My education is completely in my own control. If I came to design the education system, I wanted to attract the best teachers and I would have confidence in them.

I want to at least give kids the belief that they can take control of their lives and make them feel that what they learn is in a sense their own responsibility and decision.

Q. The uneducated members of your family still maintain the original values, while you and your two older brothers chose to leave home to go to college and have achieved very good results. Do you think this polarization is a problem?

I do see this differentiation as a problem, and that is the fact that social fault lines are becoming more pronounced with the level of education. So the educated people think this way, the uneducated people think that way, and then there is quite a bit of animosity between the two groups.

People originally just disagreed on things, but now they suddenly change to think that the other party has ulterior motives, and they don't even think of the people on the other side as human beings.

I find it really disturbing because education has been part of the reason for this. We say that education is a universal right that everyone should have, but it's not. Some people have access to a lot, while others have little access.

I think education is really just a process of self-discovery, developing self-awareness and ideas. But the more we get together with the same kind of people and make schools a reflection of people's homogenization, then I think schools become a tool for crowd differentiation.

I think education is a great mechanism for connecting and balancing resources, and when it becomes a tool for differentiation, the consequences can be a little dire.

Tara Westover on Education

Q. Your education has set you on a path that changes your worldview. Do you think this is inevitable?

I don't think it's possible for anyone with multiple perspectives to have the same worldview. This is true whether you grew up in a very conservative or very liberal environment.

I think education means gaining a different perspective and understanding different people, experiences, and histories. If all of this doesn't change your mind, the problem might be you.

Q. How can education help people listen to each other more deeply?

I want to say to people: Get an education, but don't let your education rigidify into arrogance. Education should be the expansion of your mind, the deepening of empathy, and the broadening of your horizons. It shouldn't make your prejudices more stubborn.

If people are educated, they should become less certain, not more certain. They should listen more and talk less. They should be passionate about differences and love ideas that are different from theirs.

Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery | Review, Summary & Facts

2022-04-02T20:40:00.048+06:00

Book Review of "Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery" A World Classic Every Girl Should Read

Introduction of Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery. A children's literature for all ages, it tells the story of unmarried siblings Matthew and Marilla living in Green Gables who adopt an orphaned daughter Anne Shirley.

The thin book Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery has only 145,000 words, and vividly and delicately describes Anne's happy growth in Green Gables.

On the whole, it is very warm, making people feel that the romantic imagination will never be extinguished and that tenderness and beauty will always exist.

Use the most common and vivid descriptions of children's language and actions in traditional children's literature, and set off a typical environment.

However, it is the successful combination of these traditional writing techniques that have made this work a world-famous classic of children's literature, and "Annie" has become "the most moving and beloved image after Alice".

In this novel, Montgomery uses concise and fresh language to vividly depict the landscape, flowers, and plants, with scenes and emotions, which can not only cultivate children's temperaments but also satisfy children's various aesthetic needs. With the help of Anne's eyes, the novel presents the beautiful and unusual natural environment one by one to the readers.

Literary Criticism Writing Perspective: An Interpretation from the Female Perspective of "Anne of Green Gables"; Appreciation of the Application of Artistic Techniques in "Anne of Green Gables" (Language Art)

Literary Appreciation: Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery

"Anne of Green Gables" is a coming-of-age novel. From the upbringing of the protagonist Anne, we can see the author's ecofeminist consciousness beyond the age: the world is a diverse community; man is a part of nature, and all things Form an inseparable web of life, people should treat other creatures equally;

People should love and help each other. Only in this way can human beings get rid of the various crises they face, achieve a happy life, and build an ideal society in which humans and nature coexist in harmony, a "free society that can regulate the relationship between humans and nature."

When Montgomery wrote "Anne of Green Gables", she did not use any special techniques. She just chose comedy events that are close to life and conform to children's age and psychological characteristics, using the most common in traditional children's literature. The vivid descriptions of children's language and actions are complemented by typical environments.

Book: Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery

Anne of Green Gables is a 1908 novel by Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery. Written for all ages, it has been considered a classic children's novel since the mid-20th century. ---Wikipedia

Originally published: June 1908
Author: Lucy Maud Montgomery
Characters: Anne Shirley, Gilbert Blythe, Marilla Cuthbert,
Genres: Novel, Fiction, Children's literature, Bildungsroman
Adaptations: Anne With An E (2017),
Cover artist: George Gibbs

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Anne of Green Gables Creation Background

1. Background of the times

Canada in the late 19th and early 20th centuries was in a period of slower economic development. Prince Edward Island is the smallest, least populated, and least densely populated province in Canada. The Avonlea Village in the novel is a small village on the island, which is located in a remote location and has extremely inconvenient traffic.

The economic and living conditions of the residents in the village are mostly unsatisfactory. Montgomery uses the brushstrokes of women to describe the peaceful and harmonious rural life and magnificent ocean landscape on the island.

On the one hand, it can be seen that the ecological environment of the island is good and not polluted; on the other hand, it can also clearly reflect the remoteness and backwardness of this place. , the wind of the development of external material civilization has not yet blown to the small mountain village. In this context, the originality of the local people's livelihood structure has hardly been damaged much.

2. The creative process

Montgomery was already a well-known writer by the time she married. Her creative secrets come from daily trivial chores, and she always has a small notebook in her apron pocket, where inspiration strikes and she immediately records.

While browsing the small books, she found a message that sparked her creative inspiration: "An elderly couple applied to an orphanage to adopt a boy, and by accident, a girl was sent over". It was from these words that Montgomery assembled her first novel, published in 1908 as Anne of Green Gables.

About the Author: L. M. Montgomery

Lucy Maud Montgomery was born on the most beautiful Prince Edward Island in Canada. She lived with her grandparents in an old-fashioned farmhouse surrounded by apple orchards. A lifelong love of nature. Lucy started writing poetry at nine, contributing at sixteen, and married at thirty-seven to a priest.

In the long years of busy and hard work, she squeezed in a few hours every day to insist on reading and writing, and she has achieved fruitful results. Her coming-of-age novels for girls have been selling well in English-speaking countries for nearly a century and have been translated into dozens of languages.

Emily's series of novels show the plump growth of a girl in an exotic place with charming artistic charm. Emily insists on her beauty-loving nature and pure feelings, and through her good behavior, becomes a dream girl with a sunny personality and romantic feelings in people's minds.

"Anne of Green Gables" Classic Quotes /Famous Quote

The "Anne of Green Gables" classic quotations/excerpts included in this article are sorted by popularity. Through these "Anne of Green Gables" quotations, you can understand the characteristics of the famous "Anne of Green Gables" quotations.

One day, I will also grow old. Time covers my enthusiasm, devours my innocence, and takes back my childishness, but it cannot erase my happiness. My wish is: "Now be a happy Girl, be a happy aunt in middle age, be a happy old woman in old age—in short, have a happy life."