I think I was mainly drawn to this story because of the author's name. I don't know anyone named Jamaica, but the thought of someone having the name Jamaica simply intrigued me. So let's talk Jamaica's story "Girl."
The beginning of a story is very important in general, but Jamaica's story doesn't seem to have a distinct beginning, middle, and end. It's simply one big paragraph with important advice of a woman passed down from mother to daughter. In fact, the entire story is basically one sentence with two breaks caused by questions from the daughter. The pieces of advice are separated by semi colons, and there are italics for when the daughter says something.
I thought the story or prose whatever it may be was very interesting and enjoyable. Although it was short, I did read it a few times because these short pieces of advice have so much impact and how so much about the mother and daughter. The reader gets the idea that their poor, that the mother worries her daughter will become a slut, and the mother is teaching her daughter how to become a woman for her future husband. Kincaid seems to want to express what her mother or what a mother teaches her daughter in the country that she came from. She also shows the relationship they have, even though in some points it doesn't seem very nice. Kincaid does a great job at expressing the characters, the settings, and the "plot" of the story through advice from her mother. She also shows the amount of work a young woman goes through with the constant pieces of advice and pressure the daughter carries all through Kincaid's prose.
Friday, February 28, 2014
Sunday, February 16, 2014
Catching Up: Favorite Book
As I look to my bookshelf, an array of books bring back memories, some don't, but for the sake of the assignment, let's stick to those that bring back memories. I look to my recent reads that are stacked on top of the books, due to the lack of space, that have collected dust in an alphabetical row. Some are awesome books, but fit too well within a category I like to call, "mass media reads." You know those books that everyone and their mother's, father's and even dog's have read. So I looked to Lucy Christopher's Stolen. This book was in my purse for the entire summer of 2012. It went with me to work, the beach, and on airplanes. So now, the sleeve is disheveled and is marked by wrinkles and creases, which I don't mind.
The Story: We meet Gemma who is a regular girl going on holiday with her parents, when she is kidnapped by Ty in the airport. Ty is tan, blue eyed, much older than 16 year old Gemma, but still young enough to be considered handsome by her. While reading the book, I always envisioned him to be in his thirties, because he first met Gemma when she was very young at the age of about five. We learn later on in the book, that he has stalked Gemma from that point on, which is why Gemma thinks he looks familiar in the airport. Ty is in love with Gemma, and he wants her to fall in love with him, so he takes her to the middle of nowhere in Australia where there is only heat and sand. Gemma is constantly seeking to runaway, obviously, but soon realizes that there is nowhere to run. Ty never hurts her, sexually abuses her, or anything close to it, he is simply captivated by her, so he makes her his captive. Gemma starts connecting with the nature that she is surrounded by and as she feels less of a captive, she starts believing that she is in love with Ty. Even the reader can fall in love with Ty because he is caring for not only Gemma, but everything around him. He has also had a troubling childhood that the reader is slowly introduced to, which makes us sympthatic for Ty. At times, the reader can forget that Ty is a kidnapper, which is the same situation that Gemma confuses herself with. Eventually, the reader learns that Gemma's story is actually a letter to Ty after she is released and rescued. The lawsuit is just about done, but Gemma wanted to tell her story directly to Ty before he is sentenced.
Mechanics/Dynamics: The entire story is written in second person and past tense. Since we learn that Gemma is writing this story to Ty, she addresses him as "you" during her narrative. She writes from her point of view, which can also make it first person, so I guess it is both first and second person. This causes the reader to become part of the story instead of an omniscient watcher. Christopher is thorough with her vivid details. The reader can put themselves in not only Gemma's shoes, but in the setting Christopher has placed her in. Both characters are detailed well, which makes them come alive, and gives them depth to their personal stories, especially Ty. Also, Christopher's specific details, makes it seem like Gemma has remembered all of them due to trauma as if the details are stuck in head for the rest of her life.
The Author: Lucy Christopher is from Wales, UK, but moved to Melbourne Australia when she was nine. This experience and the adventures in Australia inspired her to write her first published book Stolen. She explains this on her website, "Suddenly I was in a new country I didn’t understand; a place that was simultaneously beautiful and terrifying. I’ve always been fascinated by wild Australian land and, when younger, my favourite memories are of camping in the bush and exploring the overgrown creek at the back of our first Melbourne house. But this landscape scared me too, and I didn’t feel like I fitted in. I used these feelings of being simultaneously entranced and repulsed by something in order to write Gemma’s feelings for both Ty and the landscape he takes her to." Lucy Christopher's About
A Quote: I think the best part of this book is the ending because the reason why Gemma has been writing in second person is revealed, but Gemma also shows herself more. She shows the connection she had with Ty and what it did to her. The reader saw something in Gemma, that is now explained in the end, and that is that she sees Ty in a different light other than a kidnapper.
"You told me once of the plants that lie dormant through the drought, that wait, half-dead, deep in the earth. The plants that wait for the rain. You said they'd wait for years, if they had to; that they'd almost kill themselves before they grew again. But as soon as those first drops of water fall, those plants begin to stretch and spread their roots. They travel up through the soil and sand to reach the surface. There's a chance for them again.
"One day they'll let you out of that dry, empty cell. You'll return to the Separates [Gemma's nickname for where she was held captive due to the landscape of the mountains], and you'll feel the rain once more. And you'll grow straight, this time, toward this sunlight. I know you will."
The story itself is beautifully written, but it is also an interesting plot because we see a kidnapper, but also a possible romance blossoming. The book is not a personal Stockholm syndrome story because I felt like if Gemma and Ty met on different circumstances, they would have truly been in love.
The Story: We meet Gemma who is a regular girl going on holiday with her parents, when she is kidnapped by Ty in the airport. Ty is tan, blue eyed, much older than 16 year old Gemma, but still young enough to be considered handsome by her. While reading the book, I always envisioned him to be in his thirties, because he first met Gemma when she was very young at the age of about five. We learn later on in the book, that he has stalked Gemma from that point on, which is why Gemma thinks he looks familiar in the airport. Ty is in love with Gemma, and he wants her to fall in love with him, so he takes her to the middle of nowhere in Australia where there is only heat and sand. Gemma is constantly seeking to runaway, obviously, but soon realizes that there is nowhere to run. Ty never hurts her, sexually abuses her, or anything close to it, he is simply captivated by her, so he makes her his captive. Gemma starts connecting with the nature that she is surrounded by and as she feels less of a captive, she starts believing that she is in love with Ty. Even the reader can fall in love with Ty because he is caring for not only Gemma, but everything around him. He has also had a troubling childhood that the reader is slowly introduced to, which makes us sympthatic for Ty. At times, the reader can forget that Ty is a kidnapper, which is the same situation that Gemma confuses herself with. Eventually, the reader learns that Gemma's story is actually a letter to Ty after she is released and rescued. The lawsuit is just about done, but Gemma wanted to tell her story directly to Ty before he is sentenced.
Mechanics/Dynamics: The entire story is written in second person and past tense. Since we learn that Gemma is writing this story to Ty, she addresses him as "you" during her narrative. She writes from her point of view, which can also make it first person, so I guess it is both first and second person. This causes the reader to become part of the story instead of an omniscient watcher. Christopher is thorough with her vivid details. The reader can put themselves in not only Gemma's shoes, but in the setting Christopher has placed her in. Both characters are detailed well, which makes them come alive, and gives them depth to their personal stories, especially Ty. Also, Christopher's specific details, makes it seem like Gemma has remembered all of them due to trauma as if the details are stuck in head for the rest of her life.
The Author: Lucy Christopher is from Wales, UK, but moved to Melbourne Australia when she was nine. This experience and the adventures in Australia inspired her to write her first published book Stolen. She explains this on her website, "Suddenly I was in a new country I didn’t understand; a place that was simultaneously beautiful and terrifying. I’ve always been fascinated by wild Australian land and, when younger, my favourite memories are of camping in the bush and exploring the overgrown creek at the back of our first Melbourne house. But this landscape scared me too, and I didn’t feel like I fitted in. I used these feelings of being simultaneously entranced and repulsed by something in order to write Gemma’s feelings for both Ty and the landscape he takes her to." Lucy Christopher's About
A Quote: I think the best part of this book is the ending because the reason why Gemma has been writing in second person is revealed, but Gemma also shows herself more. She shows the connection she had with Ty and what it did to her. The reader saw something in Gemma, that is now explained in the end, and that is that she sees Ty in a different light other than a kidnapper.
"You told me once of the plants that lie dormant through the drought, that wait, half-dead, deep in the earth. The plants that wait for the rain. You said they'd wait for years, if they had to; that they'd almost kill themselves before they grew again. But as soon as those first drops of water fall, those plants begin to stretch and spread their roots. They travel up through the soil and sand to reach the surface. There's a chance for them again.
"One day they'll let you out of that dry, empty cell. You'll return to the Separates [Gemma's nickname for where she was held captive due to the landscape of the mountains], and you'll feel the rain once more. And you'll grow straight, this time, toward this sunlight. I know you will."
The story itself is beautifully written, but it is also an interesting plot because we see a kidnapper, but also a possible romance blossoming. The book is not a personal Stockholm syndrome story because I felt like if Gemma and Ty met on different circumstances, they would have truly been in love.
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