Reading Log - 4
Title: The World Before Us
Text Type: Novel
Author: Aislinn Hunter
The World Before Us by Aislinn Hunter, is a story told in the past and the present day, through third person - or people. This novel sees multiple scenes; an asylum for the mentally damaged, Jane as a 34 year old woman working as an archivist in London, and young Jane, when she was only 15 years old. Reading this felt more like seeing it. Seeing myself in the same position as Jane.
Young Jane, was asked by William Elliot to join him for a walk around the gardens to mind his daughter, Lily, for a few hours while he focused on his research on the plants. The second day of doing this for William, him along with Jane and Lily had lunch together; Jane hoping that this is a way of getting to know her better. During this sitting, William and Jane, held what Jane felt was a very intellectual conversation. "'Did your father put you up to the cello?' He'd asked. 'No. Well, sort of.' 'It must be difficult - the expectations people have'" which I have to agree with William about. Expectations which people in our society have on others can be hard to come to terms with. Society nowadays makes us feel obliged to follow a particular system of how we act, look or what things we should or should not do. It feels as though that some of these standards are too high to reach. Being in Jane's position, I feel as though there would be a lot more pressure weighing down on her to be who her parents want her to be and live up to their expectations. I'm very thankful that my parents have never forced me into a hobby I wasn't interested in, however, society is a whole other thing.
Something in this novel which I feel is something I could relate to. Scared of what the past can bring into the present. In Jane's situation, when she was minding Lily - the same day as the previous paragraph. While playing a game to keep Lily entertained, Jane let Lily escape from her vision for a split second, and the 5 year old daughter of William Elliot was never to be seen again. Now, as a 34 year old woman, Jane is meeting up with William for the first time since the traumatic incident and she is ever so nervous and anxious as to how this situation goes down. I feel that I could relate to Jane's feelings in this case, except not quite to that extent. I feel as though sometimes I need to be more aware of things I do or say, because you never when these things may or may not come up at some point in the future. At times, when I know I have done something small which I regret saying or doing, it makes me cautious of what to do if that was to have any impact on my future self, even it may be a little thing,
I feel that I can relate to Jane, although, her situation definitely seems more in depth. Losing Lily would've been a horrible experience, and reading this novel made me feel the way Jane would when she was waiting to meet with William after so long. I also feel as though the whole 'expectations' thing is something I could relate to. Not in the sense that my parents force me to do something which I would prefer not to, but society nowadays makes a lot of people, including myself, feel obliged to do their absolute best to reach standards which are completely made up. Jane is seen as just a normal person, living in our normal world.
Text Type: Novel
Author: Aislinn Hunter
The World Before Us by Aislinn Hunter, is a story told in the past and the present day, through third person - or people. This novel sees multiple scenes; an asylum for the mentally damaged, Jane as a 34 year old woman working as an archivist in London, and young Jane, when she was only 15 years old. Reading this felt more like seeing it. Seeing myself in the same position as Jane.
Young Jane, was asked by William Elliot to join him for a walk around the gardens to mind his daughter, Lily, for a few hours while he focused on his research on the plants. The second day of doing this for William, him along with Jane and Lily had lunch together; Jane hoping that this is a way of getting to know her better. During this sitting, William and Jane, held what Jane felt was a very intellectual conversation. "'Did your father put you up to the cello?' He'd asked. 'No. Well, sort of.' 'It must be difficult - the expectations people have'" which I have to agree with William about. Expectations which people in our society have on others can be hard to come to terms with. Society nowadays makes us feel obliged to follow a particular system of how we act, look or what things we should or should not do. It feels as though that some of these standards are too high to reach. Being in Jane's position, I feel as though there would be a lot more pressure weighing down on her to be who her parents want her to be and live up to their expectations. I'm very thankful that my parents have never forced me into a hobby I wasn't interested in, however, society is a whole other thing.
Something in this novel which I feel is something I could relate to. Scared of what the past can bring into the present. In Jane's situation, when she was minding Lily - the same day as the previous paragraph. While playing a game to keep Lily entertained, Jane let Lily escape from her vision for a split second, and the 5 year old daughter of William Elliot was never to be seen again. Now, as a 34 year old woman, Jane is meeting up with William for the first time since the traumatic incident and she is ever so nervous and anxious as to how this situation goes down. I feel that I could relate to Jane's feelings in this case, except not quite to that extent. I feel as though sometimes I need to be more aware of things I do or say, because you never when these things may or may not come up at some point in the future. At times, when I know I have done something small which I regret saying or doing, it makes me cautious of what to do if that was to have any impact on my future self, even it may be a little thing,
I feel that I can relate to Jane, although, her situation definitely seems more in depth. Losing Lily would've been a horrible experience, and reading this novel made me feel the way Jane would when she was waiting to meet with William after so long. I also feel as though the whole 'expectations' thing is something I could relate to. Not in the sense that my parents force me to do something which I would prefer not to, but society nowadays makes a lot of people, including myself, feel obliged to do their absolute best to reach standards which are completely made up. Jane is seen as just a normal person, living in our normal world.
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