Look at this picture! The body language speaks volumes! Her back is turned away from him and everything about his posture tells of his desire for her. His hands are groping for something to hold on to while her hands are invisible. Almost as if her actions are insignificant compared to his.

While I was reading the Lover I felt like I was lying on a surf board in cold waters waiting for the water to carry me in a new directions or dip me under after lifting me up. Serene and in control at times but never fully able to expect what would come next.

The Lover

I woke up at 8 a.m. this morning to finish the reading for today. I read a few pages then fell asleep for a half hour, read a few more pages, slept for 45 minutes, and repeated this cycle until nearly 11:00! Reading through the mixture of long winding sentences and short curt fragments only to return again to a page long sentence of indecision lulled me to sleep again and again.When I finally found myself in a more awakened state (and positioned more upright on my bed) The Lover pulled me in. The sweeping paragraphs are so beautiful, bobbing in and out of chronological time. Is there a name for the main character? Is she one and the same as the narrator? Who is the "I"? The story of the young girl going home with the wealthy Chinese man struck me as a bit strange. Her desire to be desired is understandable, but how could she speak of love upon their first encounter? But then, I wasn't even sure it was their first encounter, perhaps I didn't read closely enough. Her descriptions of their interactions were so removed, she spoke of her desire as if it were a new sponge she found in her bath tub...

post kitty!

After discussing this short story in class I can see that my reflection of its depth barely scratched the surface... I didn't think much at all about the characterization of the American wife/girl/Signora and how her experience paralleled the cats'. She seems to be at a point in her life where her niche is still hidden from her, she feels alone in a foreign country and her identity is not yet fully formed. She could be a scared little kitty or wench, a wild flapper, a good wife, a mother, or a fat tortoise-shell cat... Hemingway introduces our protagonista to 3 characters with whom she has meaningful interactions that help us to discover more about her. At first she sees everything as a generalized fantasy but as her goal becomes less attainable, she begins to see that everything is not covered in gold. That the maid is unpatient, that the man who works at the hotel is a Padrone, that her hair is too short for her liking... The maid's disgust at her lack of fluency in Italian breaks the American wife's rose colored glasses and she begins to see things in a more realistic and melancholy way... Hmm...

Cat in the Rain

Reading a Cat in The Rain by Hemingway... The depth of detail in this snapshot and the many senses Hemingway played upon astonished me, after reading the story a second time. After the first time i finished it, i was nonplussed and a bit bored but after I zoomed in past the "like" or "dislike" level, I was satisfied. In 4 short pages, Hemingway let's us spy on this intimate scene in a private place with people i would probably never meet. The desire for a pet cat so completely envelopes the young woman's world that we are also pulled into her desire for the cat. We follow her and share her woes and then when Hemingway leaves us, he leaves us with the feeling of having found the cat! We don't have to share the sensation with the annoying young woman, we can have the cat all to ourselves. "See! Look how it feels to have someone do something nice for you and be responsible for rescuing a poor animal from the rain." Experiencing this was strange for me, I was more puzzled that satisfied with my new cat. I wondered why would someone leave me with a cat? What will I do with the cat when I leave the hotel? Now what is the next thing I can worry about because even though i have this cat, I am still so unsatisfied?