The Second Bakery Attack, By Haruki Murakami

 The Second Bakery Attack, By Haruki Murakami

Yuna Song

Rating: 8/10

‘The Second Bakery Attack’ has a fast development and intriguing story, which I thought was enough to arouse readers’ interest, including mine. Not only that but also the two scenarios: the underwater volcano scenario and the hunger scenario: developed in parallel with complementary explicit messages were also distinctive.

➤'The Second Bakery Attack'

Another appealing feature of this story was that it connoted various themes: the theme of old society versus modern society, the theme of old industry and craftsmen versus capitalism, the theme of marriage, the theme of passive man and the female muse, and also some magical elements. Different behavior of old baker and McDonald's employees definitely showed the contrast between old and modern society well, and McDonald's workers being afraid of messing the accounts up than the shotgun in front of themselves represented the power of capitalism suppressing people from deep consciousness. Moreover, Wagner’s music and cowboy music played on American Armed Forces radio also well symbolized the old-new contrast and perhaps implied the contrast between Germany and US which are both central countries affecting Japan for a long time.

Like this, I truly enjoyed discovering several themes and cultures of Japan through this story, which I gave 8 out of 10. (200 words)

On Seeing the 100% Perfect Girl One Beautiful April Morning, By Haruki Murakami

On Seeing the 100% Perfect Girl One Beautiful April Morning, By Haruki Murakami

Yuna Song

Rating: 6.5/10

This is the first story I read after finishing James Joyce. It was easier to understand the story itself, but it was still difficult to find the meaning hidden in it.

The first thing that was interesting about this story was the title. First, it is the expression '100%'. If you were to rate people around you as a percentage, could you? At least I would be very awkward expressing my relationship in numbers. In addition, the man in the story refers to an unknown girl as a "100%" perfect girl. It is very unusual to call somebody "100%" who even never shared a conversation. Second, the expression 'seeing'. We often use the word "meet" or "encounter" when we meet people, especially if the other person was the one of "100%" to me, not "see". As such, this story contained various peculiarities.

I also thought that the man meeting a 100% perfect girl might have been not a 'miracle', but rather a 'fantasy'. Not only has the girl's name never been mentioned, but the man seems to have never actually approached the girl. Nevertheless, referring to her as a 100% girl may have been just imagination from his deep loneliness. (200 words)

The Boarding House, By James Joyce (1914)

 The Boarding House, By James Joyce (1914)

Yuna Song

Rating: 7.5/10

It is interesting that in 'The Boarding House', a character who is truly decisive and clear appears unlike in other short stories by James Joyce. Mrs. Mooney opens her own business after separation from her husband, which shows her independence and ability of Mrs. Mooney, which is distinguishing from most other women characters who are used to be controlled or to be dependent on men.

➤'The Boarding House'

Furthermore, due to the point that Polly and Mr. Doran were not married by true love but other external factors, I thought it could be also related to 'The Lady with the Dog'. Just like Gurov and Anna were not satisfied with their specious marriage and ended up having an affair, Polly, and especially Mr. Doran is having their marriage focused on their public life. Living in a place where "everyone knows everyone else's business," social standing overrides emotions like love in 'The Boarding House.' Even if we don't know if Polly and Mr. Doran will live happily together or not, the theme that people prioritize public life over private life, resulting society full of untruth and hypocrisy shared in both stories shows us the problematic atmosphere of Ireland in those days very well. (199 words)

Eveline, By James Joyce (1914)

Eveline, By James Joyce (1914)

Yuna Song

Rating: 7.5/10

I thought that 'Eveline' is a story that shows the central theme of the “Dubliners”, paralysis, very intuitively. Even being beaten by her abusive father, Eveline doesn’t choose to escape with Frank in the end, and this symbolizes the representative concept of paralysis.

➤'Eveline'

What made me feel sorry about Eveline throughout the story was that even her escape with Frank, meaning "release and freedom," was also the way through the reliance on men. In other words, binding and marrying another man was essential for freedom from her father, who is also a man. Therefore, Eveline's paralysis may have been attributed to bounding by a paralyzed environment in which even her mother, who was sacrificed in a family, could not escape from the patriarchal ideology of the family; however, it may be also be interpreted as lethargy resulting from the unconscious recognition that she’ll be under the control of the men no matter what choice she makes.

While reading 'Eveline' and doing some research, I found out that there are truly diverse analyses possible regarding it. Each perspective had its own validity, so it was fun for me to read stories from different perspectives, which I gave 7.5 out of 10. (200 words)

Anton Chekhov and James Joyce

Anton Chekhov and James Joyce

Yuna Song

It is undeniable that Anton Chekhov and James Joyce are both virtuoso of writing, and I came to admit this more strongly by reading their works in class. However, the overall mood of their work was clearly different, and the way they communicated the theme of their story and the writing style seemed to have the main difference. 

The first difference I felt between the two was the relationship between universality and specificity. The works of Anton Chekhov and James Joyce both reveal universality and specificity through their stories. However, Anton Chekhov seemed to convey special and specific messages such as religion, private life and public life, and happiness by describing very general and sufficiently realistic events based on realism-based descriptions. On the contrary, James Joyce describes the characters' stories in a relatively dense style in a special context of Ireland, but in conclusion, he conveys implications that can be applied regardless of time or different groups of people. The reason why I was always confused about what James Joyce was really trying to say through his story after reading his writings was maybe also because he wanted to convey a very broad and universal theme to the readers, allowing them to interpret and apply the message in their own perspectives.

On top of that, just as mentioned above, Anton Chekhov's writing seemed to be more straightforward compared to James Joyce's writing. The range of interpretations possible was much broader in Joyce's stories. However, from the perspective of writing style, I liked James Joyce better since Joyce seemed to be better than Chekhov in terms of precision, detail, and expressiveness in developing the story. 

In conclusion, these are the differences between Anton Chekhov and James Joyce I thought of. However, in that they used 'symbols' excellently and included numerous symbolic elements in the story, both writers also share big parts in common. Furthermore, the fact that it made me feel the joy of literature in the process of interpreting the symbols they hid may also be a commonality between them. (340 words)

Araby, By James Joyce (1914)

 Araby, By James Joyce (1914)

Yuna Song

Rating: 7/10

In Araby, the main character, the boy and the sister who he is in love with do not have their names. This allowed the story to gain the universality of the theme inside the particularity of the plot and also made me wonder when was I had lost my innocence and childhood. 

➤'Araby'

Through the story, the boy experiences the transition from childhood to teenagehood.

In our lives, when experiencing the loss of innocence, we tend to undergo both growth and decadence of ourselves. And I thought that the 'epiphany' boy gained through his hero's journey was also double-sided: obtaining both growth and irreversible escape from pure childishness.

Before reading this story, I had a kind of stereotype that elixir or epiphany characters get through the hero's journey is always the positive ones. However, Araby made me realize that epiphany can be also bad, and mostly be a double-edged sword.

Overall, I loved the various motifs hidden in the story and some details seeming to represent the criticizable Irish culture. However, the message Araby gave to me did not touch my heart very much, and was somewhat common, so that's why I rated 7 out of 10. (196 words)

The Sisters, By James Joyce (1914)

The Sisters, By James Joyce (1914)

Yuna Song

Rating: 6.5/10

"The sisters" gives off an ambiguous and abstract image throughout the story.

Even if I couldn't understand exactly what the author meant to say, I felt like the death of Father Flynn and the reaction of the characters towards it has well-implied the Irish culture and problem of the Irish period of time. 

Mysterious description about Father Flynn's death, paralysis of not only father Flynn but also actions after his death in church, kind of foolishness of sisters understanding Father Flynn's madness as God's punishment for him having broken the chalice, and a whole bunch of dot dot dots, representing indirect communication could all have shown the characteristic of Ireland that James Joyce wanted to reveal. And perhaps it was more meaningful in this story by setting a young boy as a narrator, allowing vague but still pure and instinctive description. 

What was disappointing about this story was that the range of the interpretations possible was too broad that the theme author wanted to convey could be blurred in the process of interpretation. However, maybe the heavy, gloomy, and mysterious mood of the entire story itself may have been the message that James Joyce has concealed. (196 words)