The Metamorphosis

The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka

                This story made me feel all icky and gooey probably because the story focuses on a human-sized bug. Throughout the entire book I felt Gregor’s hunger, neglect and inconvenience in the body. The entire story had this misery to it; be it from Gregor or his family. It was only until the end of the story when Gregor died that everyone was so suddenly happy with blue skies and sunshine shining over them. This extreme joy made me pity Gregor. His death was actually the cause of celebration to his family. It made me wonder though what the human Gregor was like with his family. There seems to be a great distance between him and his family – he locks himself  in when he arrives home and wakes up early for work. I also wanted to know why Gregor was turned into a bug in the first place; all these questions in a 50-or-so-page novel. 

Seek Ye Whore

Seek Ye Whore by Yvette Tan

                Who would bother to have sex with half of a woman’s body every night? Apparently Foster does. One of the more bizarre selections in the set of short stories in Lit 13, I have to say. From the blood-red bathwater to the silently laughing torso of Luli to the repulsive yet happy Donovan at the end of the story, the use of imagery was so great that it all felt so horrific. It makes me wonder why a lot of the characters here bother to have a wife “mailed” rather than just looking for a wife “the normal way” like everybody does. It was also weird for me that these guys find an incomplete body attractive, especially a moving incomplete body. These guys were just as weird as these shipped-by-installment brides. It also made me wonder what life in Siquijor is actually like, with all the witchcraft and paranormal stuff that surrounds it.

The Elephant Vanishes

The Elephant Vanishes by Haruki Murakami

                This was one of those stories that were so deep one had to read it over and over. From the surface, the story was just about a man reading the newspaper and finding out that an elephant was missing. He then tried to figure out why or how it vanished, but to no avail. This elephant fiasco made him feel empty for some reason, unlike everyone else who seemed to just accept the disappearance. The narrator was such an odd character with this elephant obsession of his. He also seemed really lonely: waking up (presumably) alone in his house and having bombed a date with a lady editor which was weird because he was supposed to be the Public Relations man in his company. Weird or not, I myself wanted to know as well what actually happened to the elephant, or why the Lady Editor was in the story in the first place. I guess, like most people in the story, I just accepted the fact that the elephant was gone.

Harrison Bergeron

Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

“Everyone’s special, Dash.” – Elastigirl

“Which is another way of saying no one is.” – Dash

(“The Incredibles”, 2004) 

               

                Stories set in the future always catch my attention; things always get so bizarre. “Harrison Bergeron” was no different. In the Year 2081, every individual was “finally equal.” Finally. This may be poking fun at the concept of equality that most people wish to achieve. In this short story, equal meant being weird. The more advantages you have over others, the more things were placed on you. For George Bergeron, Harrison’s father, for instance, he had an earpiece that disrupts his thinking as well as a bag of heavy lead that he has to carry around with him. Hazel, George’s wife, wasn’t wearing anything; she doesn’t need to wear anything – the story portrays her as someone who is rather stupid.  For some reason, they both have something weird about them; it’s probably the way they talk or the fact that the story already starts off with the “bizarre future” theme.  Harrison then breaks out of prison and is revealed to have lots of these handicaps that make him look clownish and scarily strange; and then was killed upon trying to rule the otherwise equal people. The story then ends with Harrison’s parents forgetting about their son’s death with Hazel continuing to be brainless; which left me scratching my head.

A Clockwork Orange

A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess

                This book was rather horrorshow with all its unique slovos that really got me all interessovated and made me itty on reading the entire vesch in two days. What engaged me and probably most readers is the language that Alex and the nadsats (teenagers) his age used. At first, it all felt like some secret code that one wanted to decipher. Aside from the clever and creative slang, the story was so notorious that I myself actually felt unsafe walking around the streets for some time. All that bloody red action was masked though by the colorful lingo that these teens use. The government, who tried to remove Alex’s violence, underwent a treatment which was violent and creepy as well. Everything was just violent; and the wickedness of it all makes it such a fun read.

Snow, Glass, Apples

Snow, Glass, Apples by Neil Gaiman

“I'm awfully sorry. I didn't mean to frighten you. But you don't know what I've been through. And all because I was afraid. ” – Snow White (“Snow White”, 1937)

                What a dramatic change this story was from the all-smiles fairytale movie adaptation from Disney. It was interesting enough to have the stepmother queen’s point of view for a change. She still wanted to kill Snow White, but this time it was the Queen who was the good girl. Snow White was portrayed as a blood-sucking and sex-loving monster whose body and heart is as cold as ice – as cold as snow. As a huge Disney follower, this stirred my spirit a little; but the darkness and raunchiness of this story just made me appreciate it more. Having learned that the real Snow White actually had these rather wild themes makes everything more tolerable than repulsive.