A review of A Christmas Song

 

The main character, Clara, is a talented music teacher, who sells sheet-music and records in a music shop. Her wealthy neighbours, The Williamsons, are fond of giving parties several times a year, and Clara and her family are always invited. But this Christmas Eve, she decides not to go. However, one of the Williamson sons, Freddy, goes to her place and persuades her to go. Before they set off, a young man comes to the shop. He came earlier in the day and tried to find a love song to surprise his girlfriend. Eventually she found the song for him and now it is echoing in her mind. When she stands in front of the Williamsons’ house, she thinks of the song again.  

Clara probably feels her life in the town is dull: the scenery, the few songs that people want to know, the Williamsons’ parties and the crass behaviour of the guests. This winter she longs for snow; perhaps this means she wants more a colourful life. When she meets the young man, she might be attracted to him by his shyness, his romantic quest, or his interest in music. We get the impression the song is a metaphor for the life Clara wants; it seems to be within her grasp, but then it floats away. In the end, the frost crackles under her feet. Perhaps this represents the end of her dream of finding a more interesting way of life. It is hard to move somewhere else, so she asks herself what her future holds in terms of her prospects and her love life.

A review of The Jilting of Jane

The main character, Jane, is a servant. She has been engaged to a young man, William, for three years. She considers his behaviour, his prospects and his family background, and she believes he is a very good match for her. William is second porter in a draper’s. However, when he is promoted to head porter, he finds a new girlfriend, a milliner. Jane follows the new lovers a number of times and tells the milliner that she is William’s fiancée. But in the end, William marries the milliner and when they come out of church, Jane throws a boot at the bride, but it hits William’s eye instead. 

 

The author, HG Wells, uses the story to criticise class divisions. The narrator, the master of the house, keeps his distance from his servants, and he probably does not talk to them. Jane is a servant and an orphan, so she needs to find a man who has prospects. She has social ambitions and she is a snob. Since Jane believes William is a respectable man, and his relatives are not labourers, if she married William, it will give her a little bit of security and improve her social status. But, she does not see William as a social climber; he keeps up his good work, reads a self-help book to improve himself, and dresses up to improve his appearance. He also joins a religious group which his employer also belongs to. Eventually, he probably thinks a milliner is better than a servant; the milliner might make hats for him or he may be able to set up a business selling hats, whereas Jane buys him a tie so far.

A review of A Shocking Accident

The main character, Jerome, is a boy of nine, who is told that his father had been accidently killed by an overweight pig falling from a balcony. When he grows older, he realises people are unable to suppress their laughter or amusement at the comic aspect of the story of his father’s death and this makes him reluctant to tell the story. In the end, he dares not tell it to his fiancée, Sally, but his aunt does. To his surprise, Sally does not laugh, but she feels it is a horrible accident.

When People usually hear about somebody’s death, they feel sad, and sympathise with the relatives. The author, Graham Greene, is good at observing human nature and this can be seen in the story; when people hear about Jerome’s father’s unusual and unexpected death, they react in different ways. The reactions are very believable and you might think if you heard a similar story then you would react in the same way.

The author uses the characters in the story to show that there are many ways to tell the story of Jerome’s father’s death. He contrasts serious and comic aspects of the story, in particular the serious idea of death with the ridiculous way in which it occurs.

A review of Bliss

The story is set in London. The main character, Bertha, is a married woman of thirty, who thinks she has a perfect life. She is going to hold a dinner party for some friends. She is secretly attracted to one of the guests, Miss Pearl Fulton. As Bertha is always attracted to beautiful women who have something strange about them. In the end, she discovers her husband, Harry, is having an affair with Pearl.

The author, Katherine Mansfield, uses the main character to criticise social conventions. Bertha is inhibited by conventions, and wants to get rid of. Although she struggles against them, this is not easy for her. She can’t follow her impulses to run and dance in the street and she asks herself why you are given a body if you keep it in a case like a rare fiddle. Babies usually are looked after by nannies, and their parents do not want to spoil them, so, she thinks it is not appropriate to tell a nanny that a baby clutching a strange dog’s ear is rather dangerous. When the nanny refuses to give her baby to her, she asks herself again why have a baby if it was held in another woman’s arm like the rare fiddle kept in the case. She can’t express her feelings to Pearl, not even to her husband. On the other hand, her husband and other guests are less inhibited and more easy-going; they criticize and make jokes about other people.

The author also uses Bertha’s point of view to show that the main character does not fully understand herself and her feelings. She misinterprets her feelings for Pearl; they are not her own feelings of bliss; they are Harry’s. He has a perfect life, always loves beautiful women, and falls in love with Pearl. Once Bertha discovers she has been betrayed, her feelings towards her husband change. Before she thought Harry had many good characters, at the end of the story, he becomes roughness and his face becomes ugly.

A review of Second Best

I have read a short love story, Second Best, by D H Lawrence.  Lawrence is good at using words to describe the scenery, animals and the relationships between men and women in great detail.

The Story is set in the British countryside in high summer.  The main character, Frances, is unhappy that she can't get the man of her choice, Jimmy, who is well educated but is a snob, and has got engaged.  So, she decides to go out with Tom, although he is her second choice.  Anne is Frances's younger sister, and thinks Tom is much better than Jimmy.

During my first read, I thought there were too many detailed descriptions of the natural surroundings and an incident in which Frances's sister kills a mole.  These did not interest me.  After I reread it, I realised the surroundings and the mole are used as a metaphor for Frances's feelings.  I did not only admire the author's use of language, but I was also interested in the plot.

At the beginning the author uses the weather and the colours of the scenery to describe Frances's mood, which is bad.  When she looks at the surroundings, which are strange and unfriendly, she feels alone and that she does not belong there.  When she decides to forget Jimmy, she has mixed feelings, both sad and cheerful.  Later, she meets Tom and the description of the scenery changes subtly to emphasize the practical aspect of landscape.

The mole represents Frances's blind love for Jimmy.  When the mole struggles, this represents her internal struggle to forget Jimmy.  The animal opens its mouth uncontrollably and bites her sister.  This represents Frances's anger but she does not know what to do or want to talk to anyone about her feelings.  The mole escapes briefly but does not know which way to go and at the same time Frances wants it to be gone, showing she wants to free herself from the memory of Jimmy but she can't.  If the mole had escaped, she could have secretly continued to love Jimmy.  In the end her love for Jimmy dies and she gives her love to Tom.

I would like to recommend this story to everyone, as it shows how the author uses words to paint pictures.

A rain of white cotton

April 2013

A small park at Mosco, 2013.

We had a long drive between two tourist attractions in Moscow, so our driver needed a break for a cigarette.  We stopped at the side of the road and got out of the coach to stretch our legs and take some fresh air.  There was a small park with a concrete path, which was covered with white cotton. At first I thought it was snow, but then I realised it couldn't be snow as it was spring!  The cotton was light and soft. Most of it had collected along the sides of the path.  I wanted to step on it, but it floated away when I got near it.  My guide saw me so he showed me a trick that amused me and put his lighter to the cotton.

At first I tried to stop him as I was worried he would set the park on fire. But he knew what he was doing. The cotton burned with a small pretty flame, red in the centre, then yellow, and blue at the edges. It only lasted a few seconds since the cotton was not spread equally over the path and where there wasn't much, the fire went out. When he saw this, he pushed more into the fire with his foot. It didn't burn for long and the tiny flame looked harmless, but I thought it would be unwise to touch it.

My guide told me the cotton was part of the seed of a tree, but I forgot the name. I could only find it was called a poplar tree on the Internet.  So I still not sure the name of the tree.

On a windy day, you can see cotton blowing in the wind.  It looks more like driving rain than snow, although it's white. Great clouds of it are blown along.

I enjoyed seeing this while I was sitting in the coach, but when I was walking along the street, I had to cover my nose and mouth.  Some of the cotton bolls occasionally stuck on my head, my shoulders and clothes.  I wondered how long it would take before I was completely covered with cotton if I lay on the ground. 

 

 

Cake buildings

April 2013

Every morning in Moscow, my guide told us where we were going.  When I heard we were going to see skyscrapers, I thought he probably had not been to Hong Kong (HK); tall buildings are everywhere in HK, I did not think I wanted to see more.  While I almost stuck my tongue out, I held it, because I was told they were in the Stalinist style and looked like a layer cake.  So I licked my lips and went on this sightseeing tour.

 




Hotel Ukraine, 2013

Kotelnicheskaya Embankment, 2013

There are seven skyscrapers in the city, so they are also called the seven sisters.  The tallest sister is Moscow State University, the next one is Hotel Ukraine, and then Kotelnicheskaya Embankment building.  They are enormous and magnificent, bigger than a castle.  I had to stand far away from them, otherwise I could not see the whole building.  If you played hide-and-seen in one of them, even if it was empty, you might never find your friends.

 

The last one I saw was the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.  We walked down one side of the building to get to the front.  It was quite a long way.  The wall was plain and there was nothing to see, I wished I could finish this long boring walk quickly.  At last, I turned the corner and stood in front of the building.  It looked like a huge robot, a transformer, in the film.  It looked as if it had been kneeling on the ground, and had suddenly stood up and showering dust all around.  The wings of the building were its hands and these were armed with heavy weapons.



The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 2013

Although the idea of a building that changing into a robot may have been filmed before, if the story is good enough, the tickets would sell like hot cakes.

Mind your step

 

April 2013

A corner of the restaurant, 2013

After dinner at a luxury hotel in Moscow, a member of my group was unlucky and had an accident.  I heard about this the next day.

 

Just outside the restaurant, there were three steps covered with a creamy carpet.  A bit further on, there were another three marble steps.  Perhaps she did not see them, or perhaps, she was talking to her friends and not looking where she was going, or perhaps, she tripped and fell down these steps.

 

She was in pain and could not sleep at night, so the guide took her to hospital while we were sightseeing at Saint Basil's Cathedral and Red Square.  When we finished the sightseeing and waiting for our guide, they appeared and we found out what had happened to her. 

 

A model of Moscow, 2013

She had cracked a bone in her arm, near the elbow.  Her arm was in plaster, and she had a medical report for her insurance claim.  She also needed an x-ray, but she could not wait any longer, so she had to go back to hospital next day. 

 

She looked as if she had lost one and a half teeth in the accident, but I did not dare to ask.  I thought she did not want anyone to see it and I had better mind my step.

While I was waiting, I went to a supermarket to bought these kind of snacks. 
They were sweet, Moscow, 2013.

 

Onion domes

April 2013

 

Before I was in Russia I imagined there were lots of big onion domes of different colours everywhere.  In fact, I saw several beautiful churches with the onion domes.  The churches I liked most were Saint Basil's Cathedral in Moscow and The Church of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ in Saint Petersburg.  I wanted to climb up to each of the multi-coloured domes and look at the details to see how they were built and painted. 

 

Saint Basil's Cathedral, Moscow, 2013

The Church of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ,
Saint Petersburg, 2013



The Church of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ,
Saint Petersburg, 2013

Both of these churches are quite similar, they are red-brick building.  The latter is reddish-brown, so it is darker.  There are many ornaments, floral patterns and coloured bricks, they are finely decorated on the surface of the building.  I admired the architects who produce on such elaborate designs. 



Saint Basil's Cathedral & the Kremlin, Moscow, 2013

 



Red Square, Moscow, 2013

The most famous church with onion domes, Saint Basil's Cathedral, is bigger than the others and stands beside the Kremlin and on Red Square, so people can find it easily.  While the large open area of Red Square which gives it a relaxed atmosphere.  I very much liked the shape of the building; the towers were all of different heights.  It was superb.

 

I do not know why but when I saw this church I immediately thought of Aladdin.  I looked up expecting to see a flying carpet and hopefully find the Aladdin's lamp, which he might have left on the floor.  Actually I was stupid enough to mix up the religions; Aladdin is set in Persia (now Iran) and they believe in Islam, Russians are Orthodox Christianity.  But I stubbornly kept on looking for a flying object in the sky.  Of course, I finally found one, a plane.

The Kremlin

April 2013

 




Churches, the biggest cannon & cannon balls in the Kremlin,
2013
 

The Kremlin is the ancient sit of government in Russia and a popular tourist attraction.  Inside there are lots of historical things, such as churches, cannons and cannon balls, a broken church bell, etc.  They are remarkable, but what I remember most is the rules and regulations. 




A broken church bell, 2013




A metal inside the bell, 2013

When my group stood in front of the entrance gate, the guard sternly asked where our guide was.  Once he knew that our guide was not around, he asked the same question again and again, saying something we did not understand, and pointing to the long queue.  He held up his hand and indicated at another group to go in first.  When our guide got back, they talked together and the guard softened his tone a little.  I did not understand why he was so angry.  He just asked us to step aside and wait for our guide.  Then, we had to wait in another long queue for the security check. 

 

The next thing was you were not allowed to stand in the road that ran through the Kremlin.  A man was standing at the edge of the pavement, taking pictures.  A soldier stared at him, and got ready to whistle, if he step in the road.  As soon as he did, the soldier whistled loudly and pointed at him.  If you did not hear his whistle and get back on the pavement, he would whistled again until you did.




The road run through in the Kremlin, 2013

 

This road is lined on one side by historical buildings.  On the other side by plain blocks of old building that are not open to public.  From time to time a squad of soldiers marched and military vehicles drove passed.  Since it is part of their office, they made us play by their rules and we had to obey them.