Gooseberries by Anton Chekhov

Gooseberries by Anton Chekhov (1898)

Rating: 8.5/10

"Behind the door of every contented , happy man there ought to be someone standing with a little hammer and continually reminding him with a knock that there are unhappy people~"

 This phrase is basically what Chekhov is trying to say through this story. I couldn't 100% agree with Ivan's saying, but I liked the theme of this story. The part that Ivan said "there is no happiness" seems contradict, because even Ivan looks happy when he swims in a river. However, it is true that people these days sometimes forget how we are enjoying this freedom. They just focus on their own happiness and ignore others' pain, like Nikolay did. 

 When I first read this story, I thought Ivan was too pessimistic. People tend to focus on my happiness, not other's pain behind the happiness. However, I realized that the happiness is from the invisibility or silence of those who are unhappy. There are lots of people behind our happiness and we have to help them. We have to be a selfless person, not selfish.

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Reading journal [The Student] By Anton Chekhov

The Student, By Anton Chekhov (1894) Rating: 8/10 H.W: Tests, Allies, Enemies in "The Student" Cold wether and Ivan's poverty is a test to himself. Also, in the story that Ivan told, Peter and Judas are the enemies to Jesus.  Ivan, the student who is reflecting the author's willing, is the protagonist in the story. Anton Chekhov wrote this story in Russia, and tried to show Russia in the story.   Ivan is a poor student who is experiencing poverty and hunger. In the first paragraph, we can find out that  Ivan doesn't like Russia because it's too cold and nothing has changed compared with the past. However after he saw the widows crying, he figures out that the present and the past is connected with invisible chain, showing similarity between the past and the present. He became more joyful and optimistic after he finds out the lesson. First and last paragraph's mood is completely opposite as Ivan decide to think positive. He learned that one day he will cert...
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The lady with the dog, By Anton Chekhov(1899)

 The lady with the dog, By Anton Chekhov (1899) Rating: 7/10  This story is basically about an affair between Anna and Gurov. This is why I gave 7 ratings. Even though the author tried to show the pathetic relationship between Anna and Gurov, anyway they are having an affair. In the story, it is said that Gurov is married at a young age but he calls his wife unintelligent, narrow and inelegant. He was tired of the marriage and kept meeting other girls.  It was same for Anna. Having love with an unknown girl, was quite interesting for Gurov. They began to know each other for a long time and Anna suddenly felt guilty for herself and for her husband. She cried and cried, saying that she is a bad, low woman.   A long time passed and they continued meeting and leaving. The last time they met in Moscow, the story ends in an open ending. Like 'The student', Chekhov's other story, he did not make a clear conclusion and let readers think of it. For me, I think Anna and G...
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Eveline by James Joyce(1914)

 Rating: 9.0/10  The story 'Eveline' well shows the inner conflict of many women in early twentieth-century especially in Dubliners. Eveline Hill, who represents many women at that time, conflicts between her domestic life and her desire to go abroad. She first wanted to go Buenos Ires with her lover, Frank, but soon realizes the promise she had made with her dead mom and refuses Frank's calling. She's tied up in the past and gave up her desire. She only thinks about happy memories with her dad, which is clearly less than his cruelty. Most women at that time, would have act like Eveline. They are powerless and too faithful for their family. It was a 'moralful' story that made me think again about women's earlier life. 
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