Paul’s Recommendations
Paul Rozenberg
Period 2
1) Tammy Oung, junior
The Glass Menagerie, by Tennessee Williams
Q- Can you give a brief plot overview?
Tom is the narrator. Laura, a cripple, is extremely timid and shy. Amanda, the mother, is imposing; she prevents Tom from pursuing his dreams and she tries to control Laura’s life. Tom works in a warehouse and he wants adventure in his life. Their father had left without a warning years ago, so Tom has to provide for his family. However, every night Tom chooses to go to the movies, causing conflict between him and his mother.
Laura chooses to keep to herself, and plays with her glass menagerie. Amanda had wanted her to go to business school, but Laura could not handle the stress, and she walked around instead of attending class. After finding out, Amanda thinks that there is no other option besides finding a man for Laura. Thus, she asks Tom to bring a “gentleman caller” from the warehouse—
Q- Thanks. Did you identify with any of the characters? Will readers be able to understand Laura’s struggles?
I identified with Laura the most because of her timidness and because of her nervous behavior. Readers, especially the more introverted ones, would be able to understand Laura’s struggles because her struggles stem from her lack of self-esteem and because she is self-conscious about her disability.
Q- How important is it that this work is a play, versus a novel or short story?
It is important that this work is a play because there is more emphasis on character dialogue and character interactions. There is less narration and description, so the dialogue sets the scene for the play.
Q- What is the setting for the play (time period)? Is this significant to Laura’s search for a job?
The time period is the 1930s. This is significant because this was probably during the Great Depression, so everyone was trying to get a job. The family is in bad financial shape.
2) Michael Ruan, Junior
Invisible Man, by Ralph Ellison
Q- Can you give a brief plot overview?
A young black man goes to a black college, but is expelled for his naivety. He goes to Harlem, New York and becomes a leader of a section of the Communist Party. He realizes in the end that the party took away his individuality and to express his freedom, he leaves the Communists and lives in a manhole.
Q- Is he a troubled character? Do you think some people will identify with him?
Yes he is. He is struggling to find his own identity and is constantly being controlled by others throughout the novel. I think people would identify with him because this is a bildungsroman.
Q- What do you think is the social message of this novel? What does Ellison think of the Communist movement?
There are a lot of social messages in the novel. Most of it is against racial injustice and the inefficient Communist Party. This novel was written in the 1950s or 60s, so it was during the Civil Rights Movement and the Cold War.
Q- Did it change the way you personally thought about any social issues?
I already knew about these issues, it made me think more deeply about them. Being exposed to them in literature was interesting, and I had not really done that before.
Q- Was this an enjoyable read, or burdensome to get through?
I read it for class, so we read at a fast pace, that made it a little harder to absorb. If I were to read it again I would enjoy it more. The novel has plenty of humor, and in general, it is very readable.
Q- Would you recommend this to someone looking for social commentary, or for a novel about a complex character?
I would recommend it to both. The protagonist has no name, he is very complex.
Q- Would you like to make your own question?
Does the main character or narrator change throughout the novel? Yes he does. He becomes mentally insane. At first he was naïve and thought he could become an equal with the whites. Then he went through a mental institution, had a prefrontal lobotomy, and was brainwashed by the Communists. It is a powerful transition, and it becomes emotional to read.
Q- How does the protagonist interact with the supporting characters—or is this a story of a lone man? Also, I already read The Invisible Man, is that the same thing?
There are many villains: Dr. Bledsoe, Burnside, Mr. Emerson, Broadway, Brother Jack, and Mr. Norton. It’s quite a cast. And no, you should know that, Paul.
3) Harrysh Indranathan, junior
The Moonstone, by Wilkie Collins
Q- Give a brief plot summary (include genre, setting, etc.)
The moonstone is a fairly large diamond that was originally worshipped by Hindus. However, throughout history it has been constantly stolen and dedicated Hindus followed it generation after generation. Eventually, it came into the possession of Rachel, a very wealthy British woman in the Victorian Era. One day the diamond is stolen and Blake, who has strong feelings for Rachel, conducts as investigation with the help of Sergeant Cuff. However, it turns out he stole it under the influence of opium, this explaining why he wasn’t even aware of the crime.
Q- Was this one of the first times you read detective fiction? What do you think of the genre?
I began reading detective fiction around this time. It wasn’t my first but certainly among the first. The genre is surprisingly diverse. There are many different sub-genres—I find some extremely boring while others are very intriguing. As a whole, the genre is worth exploring and I am glad that I chose to do so.
Q- This sounds like a suspenseful read. In the detective genre, you know that there will be a mystery that will be solved by the end—does this add to the suspense, versus the climax of a regular novel?
Surprisingly, no. In this novel, the mystery of who stole the moonstone was solved quite early. For most of the novel the story revolves around how it was stolen and why Blake has no memory of stealing it. The book transformed from a who-dunnit to a how-dunnit. While other detective fiction novels were pretty suspenseful, The Moonstone was pretty dull. It consisted of a series of accounts by different characters.
Q- Would it be a good idea to adapt this into a movie?
It would take a pretty good producer to make it interesting. I am not sure if there is a movie about it already but I think it would be pretty boring. Of course I’m just the type of person who enjoys a lot of action. However, I’m sure a lot of people would like it if the scenes were constructed carefully. It would be a challenge to keep the viewer interested.
4) Alan Wu, Senior
Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte
Q- Plot summary?
This is essentially about a young girl’s growth into a woman. It is a bildungsroman, where the girl starts off as a helpless orphan bullied by her stepsiblings and aunt. As she is sent to a boarding school, she is further tormented by the school officials and poor conditions. Jane applies and gets a job as a governess. At this manor she meets a man—he has a dark secret that threatens to destroy her hopes of love. However, the book ends up happily ever after as his wife commits suicide.
Q- How does Jane Eyre develop from a girl into woman—due to what factors?
In the beginning, she is a poor orphan dominated by her aunt and cousins. When she is sent to school, she is tormented even more, but through the rigors of education, she is refined and civilized. Mr. Rochester falls for her because of this.
Q- You told me this book taught you something. What was that again?
This era does not relate to me that much. But through the fictional world, I saw that romance is not one sided and females are complicated people that have impulses that influence their decisions. I learned a few things.
Q- Could this have been written as a play? Would there be negatives to this?
I do believe that it could be written as a play, as there is sufficient dialogue to draw from. However I don’t think that the play form could fully convey the person’s thoughts and would cut out details in the environs, the personalities of the characters, and important details.
Q- Is this an easy read, or a dense Victorian book you have to plow through?
It’s something you have to plow through if you are not a literary buff. It’s Victorian language.
Q- Did this novel interest you in Victorian English culture? I’m guessing no.
The story takes place in the country, not really the cities. It showed more of peasant culture, not life in London or Liverpool.
5) Aidan Bonner, Senior
Gravity’s Rainbow, by Thomas Pynchon
Q- Can you give a brief plot summary?
The plot is kind of really hard to summarize, it is very complex. the novel revolves around Tyrone Slothrop and his quest to find a secret V2 rocket in WWII Europe.
Q- How did the structure affect your enjoyment of the novel?
The plot structure made the plot much harder to follow, but made the book ultimately more rewarding.
Q- Is it difficult to build a connection with the main character because of the structure?
No, since the main character seems to react in the same way we all do when thrust into surreal dreams.
Q- How does this compare to the other things you have read by Pynchon?
Its scope and scale is much grander, but it has the same soul as other Pynchon works.
Q- Why do you think Pynchon writes these books?
Pynchon writes this sort of book as an attempt to plumb deeper into the depths of the psyche.
6) William Gorelick, senior
A Canticle for Leibowitz, by Walter Miller
Q- Give a brief plot summary (include genre, setting, etc.)
The story takes place after the “Flame Deluge,” or WWII basically, in which the countries’ leaders nuke each other in an attempt to grab power. The first part of the connected trilogy occurs no more than several centuries after the war and is centered around a monastery dedicated to Leibowitz, the one who protected important scientific documents from the Simplification.
Q- Which is what?
An event that occurred after the deluge in which mobs burned everything of importance in a frenzy to see the world anew (compared to the genetic mutants of the day). The book continues with sections that take place further in time and plays with the idea of Armageddon.
Q- Does this novel have the standard sci-fi themes, or are there some unique themes developed here?
I believe that it does use standard sci-fi themes. The possibility of Armageddon was toyed around with a lot during the Cold War and in such films as “Dr. Strangelove.” As for babelfish, outer space, and the life, it is definitely common.
Nonetheless, there are interesting twists on the story—for example, telling the story from the perspective of abbots and other religious underlings.
Q- How do the characters develop throughout the novel? Do they develop by fighting forces outside their control?
The author cycles through the lives of two abbots and Francis, concentrating on each until he moves on (or until Frances dies). They attempt to preserve manuscripts and works of scientists and wise men, but many others are more interested in looting or, in the case of the generals, in conquest.
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