Yoonho Lee World Lit Journal

Revelation, By Flannery O'Connor (1964) Rating: 7.5/10 Revelation is a bit boring if you don't know the humor of admonishing a fool and have background knowledge of the bible (book of revelations). Thankfully, I do fulfill those requirements, but still, I did not enjoy the story as much as other famous short stories. The strength of <Revelation> type of short story is that it emphasizes the given cliche lecture with details, in this case, the counterexample shown by Mrs.Turpin's behavior. And other short stories usually don't directly give the lecture or the theme, and sometimes they don't even give you a clear conclusion. The zest of other short stories is that you are given the reader's space to imagine and deliberate on your own. However, for <Revelation>, I believe the disadvantage was that it doesn't give you space to interpret, which is the reason why I did not enjoy the story. For these reasons, I mark the <Revelation> 7.5 out of 10.

Caring for Plants, By Hye-young Pyun (2017) Rating: 9/10 This was the first Korean literature to read in class and I could clearly notice the difference in the degree of understanding compared to other foreign literature we read so far. Since I own knowledge about the cultural background of the setting, I was allowed to relate to each character with much depth. The hospital where Oghi was situated, the figure of the pastor, and the, relationship between the mother-in-law and her son-in-law I have seen those cultural elements in my actual life experience and that meant I could imagine how this story is happening not only through words but by real imagery.  Thus, this story taught me the importance of being a good reader. By having knowledge of the cultural and historical background of the story, we are given the opportunity to relate to the author's intention.

A Manual for Cleaning Women, By Lucia Berlin (2015) Rating: 7.7/10 I was able to find two major points from this story. First, the diversity of characters, and second, the manual format of developing the story. But I don't believe that these two points were successful in their task of attracting the readers into the story. I enjoyed how the character is set as a cleaning woman who goes through different houses that carries different stories. But taking the format of a manual actually lessened the impact of the diversity concept of the story. A manual is a generalized instruction given to act accordingly and choosing a manual format to express the diversity of each family back in the time was paradoxical from a certain perspective. As a result, the overall story plot didn't intrigue me as much as other stories so I give 7.7 out of 10.

The Swimmer, By John Cheever (1964) Rating: 9.3/10 I personally think these kinds of stories are what short stories should be like. Very easy to understand, direct, and clear, but also a very unusual way of unfolding the plot compared to other stories. The main character was similar to Blake from The Five-Forty-Eight, they both represent American white men during the era. The devices like alcohol, pool, and season were implemented in a very enjoyable way so that readers can follow them like a clue and reach the conclusion. What I notice from recent stories we've read is that we don't whether the main character changes or not, it's always an open ending, however, we see their environment changing as a consequence of their prior actions. Overall very amusing and I wished I had the ability to write stories like this that can closely touch the readers.

Bullet In The Brain, By Tobias Wolff (1995) Rating: 9/10 I think I personally enjoy short stories that don't follow any chronological order or series of events. Just like The Swimmer, this story was unique in its own order of sorting out events. This story is really 'short', not complicated, direct, and clear. A bit weird as we see Anders just die saying "They is... They is", but I didn't find it uncomfortable. It's quite funny because I rated The Five-Forty-Eight with a very low score because I couldn't find any message from the ending. Well even though Bullet In The Brain ends doesn't like a normal ending, I recognized the build-ups before the conclusion. Anders starts off by getting shot and for that slight moment, when his whole life and events that he remembers pass by, Unlike other main characters from recent stories we've read, I found Anders quite humorous and even felt sad with the fact that he died. Overall, the story was very light b...

The Five-Forty-Eight, By John Cheever (1954) Rating: 7.5/10 Well, after reading The Swimmer by the same author, Cheever, this story looks as if it was written by a different author. There are some similarities that exist between these two stories, the narrator in the story is somewhat representing the typical problematic figure of man during that society. Both of them do morally wrong things like committing adultery. However, unlike The Swimmer, which had many devices and a creative plot to interest the readers, I didn't really find anything from The Five-Forty-Eight. You could say that instead of symbols, this story had one more important figure, the woman. However, I couldn't find any message delivered from an additional character. Is it that revenge always follows? or You should behave kindly to your neighbors so that you can get help when you're threatened with a gun?. Even the ending which shows how the woman seemed satisfied and forgotten about Blake did not give me a...

Afternoon in Linen, By Shirley Jackson (1943) Rating: 7.5/10 This story was very light in its own way, but at the same time, very serious. I had never seen an entire story focused on the view of a child. I could notice how the flipping of hierarchy has made this story much more amusing and attractive. There are many upside-down points of view shown throughout the story. The first would be the initial purpose of this setting, Mrs. Lennon and Mrs. Kator only decided to meet as a formal call just because they live on the same block. The second point is Mrs. Lennon complimenting Howard, but at the same time, trying to upstage him as well. There are more points and the flipping of the hierarchy is part of them. It's emphasized the most when Harriet lies that she plagiarized. The readers know that it's a lie, but other characters in the story believe it completely. Again, these upside-down points acted as an interesting device for the readers and it was pretty fun to follow it throug...