I decided early on that my last reading reflection would be done at the end of the semester, and looking back, I would choose my favorite work. I have read over the syllabus three times, and nothing has jumped out at me. I enjoy poetry, but the type of poetry at the beginning is the type of poetry that I don’t always get but I like it just the same. The non-Hemingway short stories were nice reads. I like Hemingway’s short stories much better than his books, or at least the ones I have read (or more like attempted to read). None of his stories stood out as different from the rest though. I really enjoyed reading Billy Collin’s poetry but I don’t know if they were more moving or just entertaining. Because of this, I have changed my mind. I am going to read pieces from the first reading assignment and see if I feel any differently about them.
Here is a quick synopsis of where I am before rereading them. “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place” by Hemingway: I had never read it before, so it was new to me. It was simple. I did not have to read too much into it. It’s a story about life. Things happen. “The Second Coming” by Yeats: I read this before reading Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, which I loved (But I can narrow that down to two likely causes- 1) It was about Africa and 2) it was an easy read). It was really confusing until I had it explained to me, and then it was only confusing. “The Psalm of Life” by Longfellow: New and juxtaposing, quite uplifting in relative terms, of course. So shall we begin?
Hemingway. This is a story of judgments and self-righteousness. The assumptions of the situations of others are unbelievable. One man thinking he is better than another man. He deserves to have what he wants, not even taking a moment to consider it from someone else’s point of view. It is all about perspective. Maybe that was a little too harsh? Location is key. We all have our favorite spots that we like to go, a place for quiet, a place for studying, a place for reading, a place for something. There were two lines that stuck out to me, “he felt the difference,” and “‘I wouldn't want to be that old.’” I chose these because in the first one for the feeling of intangible things. There is no way that it is literally felt, but it is. I like the second one because I totally agree with it. I don’t ever want to be old.
Yeats. It is still confusing, and it is a lot to take in at once. It is like reading the book of Revelation. The images are so unfamiliar and unimaginable that one just does not even know where to start in order to see the whole picture. Let’s try and take this in smaller pieces. “Turning and turning” like a night you cannot fall asleep, when insomnia hurts. “Things fall apart” so better things can fall together. “The best lack all conviction, while the worst/ Are full of passionate intensity.” It seems so fundamental. Then the crazy images come, and I feel un-relatable. It is scary, yet sublime.
Longfellow. It says this is from the heart of a young man, and I believe that because I see it as a heartfelt message. There is so much to do in this life, so why waste time thinking about thing we cannot change. Let things go, do not worry about death, and get out to live. It makes me think of the saying, “Not all that are alive have lived.” It gives a lot of advice. Some things that people may need to hear on a regular basis. Use your life to shape others. It is important to not take things for granted. Things do not always come easy but just keep on trekking.
It has been an interesting, up and down last three months. We have seen sad, depressing, weird, shocking, deceiving, and thought provoking. Reading it again, I have gotten a new perspective. Look at it this way. Then look at it that way and see something different. Next time, you’ll see something new. Oh, you know, it’s just art.
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