Hyunyong's Blog

 The Lady with the Dog, by Anton Chekhov (1899) Rating: 7.5/10 By reading Anton Chekhov's well-known short story "The Lady with the Dog," I was able to realize that love can change a person totally. The protagonist Gurov was married and had offspring, but he was discontented that he wandered Yalta, where can meet lonely men and women. Until he encountered the lady with the dog(Anna Sergeyevna), he was never serious about his meetings. However, he was fascinated by her, even though she also had a husband. So their secret love affair. He loved Sergeyevna so much that he visited her residence recklessly. Gurov never showed that much passion to women.  "so he had unintentionally deceived her..." Chekhov described Gurov deceived Sergeyevna because Gurov acted very different from his ordinary behaviors, the Gurov image she had was not his past reflections. I know this because I've seen my friends act unfamiliar with hanging their girlfriends. They just like their ...

 The Student, by Anton Chekhov (1894) Rating : 6.5/10 I think there are no <Call to Adventure>, the 2nd stage of hero's journey, in "The Student." First, I don't think Ivan Velikopolsky is a hero. Maybe, while returning home, encountering two widows might be the <Call to Adventure> because that's the beginning of his contemplation about bible. However, since Ivan is a devout man who skip meals in the Good Friday, I think he meditated on Jesus often, so it is not really a start of adventure. Also, I don't think the muse in "The Student" is really a adventure.  To say frankly, the story was so hard for me to empathize. I don't believe in Jesus, and I'm not familiar with bible either, so it was hard for me to assimilate Ivan's profound muse. Though, I like Chekhov's expressions of emotion. Despite the fact that I couldn't understand every religious reference, Chekhov's expressions like " life seemed to him enchan...

 A Sound of Thunder By Ray Bradbury (1952) Rating : 7/10 I felt frustrating about Eckel's behavior. He took hard time to accept that they should avoid touching anything which can influence enormously, stepped backward because he was overwhelmed by dinosaur's appearance, and denying reality of his mistake contacting the dirt in the past. Since I hate characters who bring troubles to others, I was uncomfortable reading about his story. However, I liked the message of the short story: the butterfly effect. In this story, author conveys message that one's small, minor act can affect huge stir by Eckel's inconsiderate behavior. He received many cautions not to touch anything except red painted dinosaurs, even small insects because it can cause extinction of species. He kind of knew it but he didn't recognize it severely, so lots of things have changed after the time travel.  By this short story, I want people to think prudently about their single behavior before acting. ...