kelvin

A visceral, raw, and deeply honest look into the lives of low-class southern Americans living in a dark 1950s South Carolina, Allison paints a reality that what seems like a conventional, tightly knit family has trudged through for countless generations. I have many mixed feelings about the writing of Allison and her intensely detailed depictions of Bone's experiences. It is incredibly important that often avoided issues such as sexual assault, domestic oppression, and classism are discussed more openly and without inaccuracy or misrepresentation. Efforts to censor or block such content are directly harming already narrow perceptions of what are very prominent, widely-affecting issues.

However, countless scenes in the novel deserve a strong content warning, and not every reader is in the right place to read Bastard out of Carolina. I believe that there definitely is also harm posed in reading sensitive content unaware. In this aspect, Allison unintentionally alienates a portion of her audience and also antagonizes her own self through their lens. In the environment of a university-level literature class, I observed varying degrees of discomfort among my peers regarding the content of this novel. Contrary to Allison's noble intentions, I felt as if many students may further disregard issues like sexual assault and connect them with feelings of uneasiness and embarrassment due to this.

In the end, Bastard out of Carolina is absolutely a literary milestone for not only the American social landscape but on a global scale as well. The censorship in schools which it faced upon its release only serves as a testament to that. As Allison explains herself, “that was what my book was about; telling a story that made sense of what did not make sense...[for] anyone who wanted to point to it and say “that's my story” (314). Bastard out of Carolina's ability to bring people out of the shadows and express their traumas and past experiences with beautiful rawness is in itself profoundly beautiful.

Allison explains the reasoning of ending the novel the sort of angry way she did in her afterword. “I can change so much; how people think about rape and child abuse, and working-class families and the nature of resilience, and even perhaps something about how love can both save us and not save us...” (319) I love this!!

“I am not an angel,” I asserted; “and I will not be one till I die: I will be myself.” ― Brontë, Jane Eyre
“Are not all [things] strange to those who stand outside of them?”

Kafka on the Shore is unlike any novel I've ever read. Murakami's incredible writing, his frequent shifts from melancholic poetry to absurdist realism, had me submerged in so many different emotions throughout. The dynamic between Kafka's world and Nakata's was also beautiful–though they and their respective supporting characters never meet, I felt as if they had known each other for a long, long time.

Murakami, through the various characters and their interactions, asks the question, “what do dreams and memories mean?” The philosophical aspect of the novel was deeply provocative, prompting me to question my own beliefs about my own self and the metaphysical. The conversations between Kafka and Oshima seemed more like Murakami asking me questions, offering answers, and contemplating over his own thoughts.

Kafka on the Shore has had a large impact on me. From the characters' perspectives on their everyday lives to the experiences which they find themselves going through, I've found myself thinking about the novel even while I wasn't reading it. Kafka on the Shore has certainly sparked a love for Murakami's writing, and I'm excited to read more of his work.

Thank you, Haruki Murakami, and Evynn <3

Ishiguro's Klara and the Sun is a beautiful exploration of what it means to love. Through the eyes of Klara, I experienced an intimate coming of age; the inevitable separation of two childhood friends and their deep love for each other; and the solemn beauty of a person falling and getting back up again.

I kinda want to get obsessed with convenience stores like Keiko

Fiesta, at its heart, is an introspective look into the social life of the young yet aging expatriate in a wealthy postwar 20s. Pain is a major theme–from the passionate yet strained relationship between our main characters, to Brett's various romantic interests littered throughout her story, all of the characters experience pain on various different levels. It's a testament to the hopelessness that those who lived during the first world war felt, but also to their deep resilience and yearning for better life.

Hemingway writes in such a sharply beautiful yet cohesive way. His descriptions of the life and and atmosphere in both Pamplona and Paris are not only deeply immersive but also describe the thoughts of the characters. The scenes in the countryside of Spain were most beautiful to me, though I think the entirety of the novel is incredibly pretty in a way that I don't think I'll ever see again.

**

It was very hot and bright, and the houses looked sharply white. We turned out onto the Gran Via.

‘Oh, Jake,' Brett said, ‘we could have had such a damned good time together.'

Ahead was a mounted policeman in khaki directing traffic. He raised his baton. The car slowed suddenly, pressing Brett against me.

‘Yes.' I said. ‘Isn't it pretty to think so?'

(216)