Eva's man

          I have to admit that I didn’t enjoy this reading experience. I hesitate to say this because as an English learner, I ought to learn to read all kinds of literatures. But as a reader, I certainly would not choose this kind of book to read if I don’t have to. The story is depressing and fragmental storyline just make it harder for me to understand.

        In another piece which I normally would not read for fun, Sommer talked about the danger of readers wanting to know everything in the story and felt the sympathy while reading. Indeed, when I was reading this piece, the usual tendency to make connection and understand every detail failed because of the author’s special arrangement unique way of narrating Eva’s story. I was annoyed at first because the disconnected plots and disoriented timeline contradicted with the easy-following dialogues. During discussion, we talked about the reasons why the story is the way it is now. We thought that maybe Eva could not remember things clearly and thus unable to tell the story again. When I was reading the piece, I couldn’t cut my thoughts of thinking Eva’s experience as real-life as at least based on some proportion of real-life experience and kept thinking that I want to know more about the Eva’s story. Just as Sommer talked in her article, the tendency for reader to be greedy can be dangerous and jeopardize the reading experience. Well, I still have a ambivalent feelings about Sommer’s opinion, but she is definitely right this time.

       Secondly, I want to express my personal opinion about the plot. I understand it’s not real and just fiction. I have to agree with Rich about silence. It anyone in the story just say something at very beginning, things would not have been so problematic and turned to completely tragedy. I tried to find a starting for her tragedy but I realize that the root of sin is so deep and dated back to time before her birth. I felt really sad for that during her whole life, she was treated disrespectfully by every man she met and since she was a child, no one was there to defend her and show her there is a better of living life. Well, it’s just a fiction and I need to learn to put personal feeling aside when reading.