I finished the reading of "New Yorkers ─ short stories"; in last journal I have already introduced the reason ─ I chose the book is that I think in order to know a city we should know people of it, a rough gist of the series of stories and some pieces of the author's career. So this time I share some reflections of mine and short digests of stories in the following section. Besides, I choose "Alice's adventures in wonderland" as my next reading matter.
"The Christmas Presents" describes a poor couple, even though both of them didn't have enough money to afford a gift, each of them tried hard to get ideal gifts for the other and hoped the other mate would be happy at Christmas. For that, the wife sold her beautiful long hair to buy a gold chain which matched her husband's treasure watch; the husband sold his watch that been handed down from grandpa to gain a pair of combs for his wife's pretty hair. As we see at the above, we always try very hard to give our lovers the best thing, always bear in mind the interest of her/him, and are willing to do many things that may make her/him happy. However sometimes matter not goes as we expect, we will feel frustrated and down, and we will also forget that just two people get together is a thing which is worth being glad, not necessary to build our happiness on material outer things. It's fine to express our love by sending presents, but the most important is that we should cherish the time we own jointly. Like the end of this story, although they couldn't immediately use the gifts from the other, they could sense the affections of them, and they enjoyed the companies with the other and had a good meaningful Christmas with laughs and tears while they knew they love the other much.
"Soapy's choice" and "A Walk in Amnesia" can view this two stories as comparisons; other two "Tildy's Moment" and "The Memento" also can see as contrasts.
"Soapy's choice" says a tramp wanted to pass cold winter in prison where was nice warm and with food and his friends. He made several plans and carried them out to in sure police would catch him and sent him where he wanted to go ─ the prison. After he throw a stone to brake a shop window, ate a meal without paying, stolen an umbrella from a gentleman, and bother a lady at street, etcetera, police were around the scenes when he did those , he still was not arrested and wandered in the streets. Then he walked near a beautiful church and thought of his old happier days; that made him decided to change his life and be a new man. At the same time, a great irony happened that police arrested Soapy and told him he would stay in prison for three months like his prime expectation. "A Walk in Amnesia" tells a lawyer was busy with his career, who had been warned by doctor that it was likely that he would get amnesia. One day on his way to work, he thought about the doctor's words and felt well and pleased with life. Next, he woke up on a train and found he didn't know who and what he was. He made up a name for himself and began a new exciting life in New York. He met several acquaintances and he told them he was not the man they knew and went away. But another day his wife came and found him with the doctor, at first he still denied who he is, after his wife left the room, he asked the doctor, his old friend, to keep what he said as a secret; actually he had been pretending. When I read "A Walk in Amnesia", originally I couldn't figure out what it happened, after I thought twice, then I got it. There were different leading roles in these two stories, but they told the same thing. That is whoever and whatever we are, poor or affluent, a tramp or a lawyer, we always will have questions to our lives feeling confused or tired about them, and would like to change constant daily lives admiring others' lives. I thought this is common, is humanity. We continuously ask ourselves and discover who I am, what we need, what we want. Sometimes we are not unsatisfied with lives we have, maybe we just need to take a relief. We need some time to take a rest, and then we will get over.
"Tildy's Moment" says a waitress, Tildy, worked in a small restaurant, who was small, fat and not beautiful. In the same place, another waitress, Alien, was tall beautiful and full of live. All customers came to the restaurant liked Alien, they laughed and talked with her, and many customers sent her presents, but no one cared about Tildy. One day a man, Mr. Seeders, who often came to have meal, kissed Tildy after he drank too much beer. It is the kiss changing Tildy's world. She understood that men could like her as much as Alien. Her eyes were bright; her face was pink. She wore bright clothes, did different hair style, and looked nicer. Two days passed from that day; Mr. Seeders came again with a very red face, and he told Tildy he was sorry for what he had done, because of drink he didn't know what he did at that time. After listening that, Tildy cried out loudly. "The Memento" tells an actress, Miss Rosalie, was tired of the kind of life which she performed in theater, was surrounded by men who didn't respect her, and paid a little. She left the town to the country. There, she met and decided to marry a man, Arthur, who she considered as Mr. Right. She didn't tell him she was a actress because she wanted to forget and put that life behind herself. Someday she learned Arthur kept a memento ─ something which belonged to a girl he had loved. She asked him about it, after a conversation between them, she loved him more. She considered he was different from other men, resulting of that even he never met and spoke to that girl, but he loved her and wanted nothing from her. However she got very angry, when she found the memento was one of her garters which fell down from stage in one of her performance. These two stories are about women with love. After reading them, I realized some maters. One, we should be love ourselves, or nobody will like us. Two, the happiness is found by ourselves; we can decide what attitude we take and what way we do. Others can't take decisions for us and can't take the place of us to live our life. If we desire to have happiness, we must pursue for it ourselves and when we found that, we have to enjoy and value it. Don't just wait for it, and when we are conscious of that it is not the thing we want; just let it go. With reluctance, without pleasure.
p.s. I am sorry for the delay of submition.
沒有留言:
張貼留言