"The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin --- Review

"The Story of an Hour" is a short story written by Kate Chopin in 1894. The author explores in the story a concept of happiness. The main idea for ​​the story is - a marriage without love for a woman - it is like being in a prison.

The title emphasizes the idea of fate, where the main events can occur in a short time, in this case - in an hour.

The reason for happiness in the story is the loss of a loved one - a husband. Here the source of happiness is negative emotions and events. 

The heroine realizes that she can’t hold in her tears when she is imagining the body of her husband, who loved her. The most important thing for her is that she will have the years, which will belong only to her. Freedom is what she is aware of.

The culmination of the story was her husband returning, alive, and safe. After that, the heroine suddenly died. 

Are her thoughts sinful?  Is her husband guilty for her death? These are questions for readers and a subject for discussion.

Here is the link to the text of the story:

https://litfit.webs.com/u4_storyofanhour_se.pdf

My First Goose by Isaac Babel --- Review --

The main character of the story "My First Goose" by Isaac Babel is an intelligent person who described one episode of his life. It occurred during the civil war in Russia after the Russian revolution. The hunger held back for one evening for a group of people.

The main character was the only person who was literate. He read aloud the article of Vladimir Lenin in the Soviet newspaper that right now there is a shortage of everything. The fighters listened to the reading with great attention with great respect toward Lenin.

As the narrator said after that: "... and then we went to sleep in the hayloft. Six of us slept there warming each other, our legs tangled, under the holes in the roof which let in the stars." What thoughts were hidden by the author in this short story - readers may only guess.



This is a link to the text of the story:
https://www.shortstoryproject.com/story/my-first-goose

The Old Man at the Bridge by Ernest Hemingway -- Review

The idea of war as a total evil was described by Ernest Hemingway in the story “The Old Man at the Bridge”.

The civil war in Spain. Difficult days have come for the Spanish Republic. On the roads and crossings of Catalonia, Hemingway saw a stream of refugees. According to a fresh impression, E. Hemingway writes an essay “Old man at the bridge”. It shows the tragedy of the civilian population of Spain, driven out of their homes.

The plot of the story is simple: an old man left the place where he lived before the war. He sits at the bridge across the river. He is tired, nobody pays attention to him. Only the narrator, the military man who monitors the crossing, casually asks the old man about his life. 

Hemingway uses interesting techniques to attract the reader’s attention. At the beginning of the paragraph, it is noted that the old man had very dusty clothes and later it was described that the peasants plodded along in ankle-deep dust. This description created a black and white picture of the place and people who were tired.

This story didn’t follow the traditional structure for stories. The story ends as the military man leaves whereas the old man remains sitting at the bridge.

Here is the link to the text of the story:

http://rauschreading09.pbworks.com/f/The+Old+Man+at+the+Bridge+packet.pdf

A song "Tripping" by Robbie Williams -- Review

"Tripping" is a song recorded by British singer Robbie Williams in 2005. According to an urban dictionary, tripping means acting like a fool and thinking crazy thoughts.

The composition was opened with the famous statement  “First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you and then you win.”.

This slogan was used in 2016 by Donald Trump who was a Republican presidential candidate. He said in his Instagram, that this is a quote of the Indian public figure Mahatma Gandhi. Some sources denied this fact.

Here are three paragraphs of the lyrics: 

First they ignore you

Then laugh at you and hate you

Then they fight you

Then you win

When the truth dies very bad things happen

They're being heartless again

I know it's coming and there's going to be violence

I've taken as much as I'm willing to take

Why do you think we should suffer in silence?

When a heart is broken there's nothing to break

You've been mixing with some very heavy faces

The boys have done a bit of bird

They don't kill their own

And they all love their mothers

But you're out of your depth son have a word

The main idea of the song may be the position of a person who is in a cruel society.  Feelings of loneliness were presented through the prism of a nightmare. The rhythm of music here is quite remarkable and memorable.  

This is a link to the video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g52Uh9wmqZg

Young Arthur Medieval Legend by Robert D. San Souci - Review

The American writer, Robert D. San Souci, is famous for his books for children. His most important works were about The Legends of King Arthur.

The legends are probably based upon a real-life person who lived in Britain around A.D. 500. Despite the fact that the time of the knights was much later, thanks to many legends and novels, this epoch is now well known as the era of King Arthur And The Knights of Round Table.

The author described how vulnerable the dynasty was during that time. He wrote about the enemies of a king who wished to take over his kingdom. He also wrote about how his enemies might try to kill his son. The stories about King Arthur speaks of how the young king came into his royal power, with the help of a savior and magical events. Those events were described by the author as if they were true. Readers who like historical books would find this narration interesting and instructive.


Here is the link to the text of legend:
http://www.midwayisd.org/cms/lib/TX01000662/Centricity/Domain/856/u6_frm_youngarthur_se.pdf