Yoonho Lee World Lit Journal

The Student, By Anton Chekhov (1894) Rating: 8.5/10 When I first read this story, I wasn't sure whether The Student is full of unnecessary elements that only confuse the readers or some literary devices that actually entail a message that connects the whole story. But as I read it over and over again, I found out that this piece of hard literature actually does contain deep meaning. It was fascinating to find out that the weather descriptions at the start and the end of the story show the mood. And what was even more impressive was the fact that the author implies a deep message in such normal daily events. Also, as a Christian who had heard of the Peter story since I was young, I have always taken the story as just a moral story that tells you to never lie. But in The Student, I was able to imagine different aspects of the story. Overall, I thought that these kinds of literature should be read over and over again. 

Eveline, By James Joyce (1904) Rating: 8/10 The feeling that I have towards dystopian literature is that it always carries a gloomy and depressing atmosphere. So as I experienced these typical atmospheres when I read Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, I thought that this story would also carry the mood as well. However, The Sound of Thunder had a very impactful and concise flow of the story. First of all, the concept that expands the reader’s imagination to the past and future intrigued me the most. Also, other special features that the author uses make the flow of the story very intense. For example, the butterfly effect and the fact that Eckels is not the typical hero that we usually imagine. The story doesn’t show fancy and colorful events, but I think that the elements that I’ve mentioned fill up the background, eventually creating a concise, well-written short story. Overall, this is my favorite dystopian story from what I have read so far. (155 words)