Lessons Learned in Kate O’Brien’s Land of Spices
Kate O’Brien’s Land of Spices is a good read especially if the bookworm is from a catholic school upbringing. The story’s contents complete with the antics of the girls and the lack of patience in the sisters is recognizable from memories drawn on similar events. The nuns’ softer emotions were hidden away from the students and only their hard-heartedness evident in the school’s classrooms. In sixth grade during the fall of 1963 after President Kennedy was shot and killed in Dallas, Texas, a Dominican sister was seen at school with tears in her eyes. At this moment the realization descended upon the enrolled that there was flesh and blood under that habit and not an alien being. O’Brien addresses Catholicism, homosexuality and love in her novel with creativity and realism for the times. On a negative note, the liberal use of the French language is a reminder that this book was written with the rich and cultured person in mind and becomes aggravating to this unenlightened one.
In reading the excerpt from The Land of Spices by Kate O’Brien contained in “The Penguin Book of Irish Literature”, this reader is at once aware of the descriptive words with which Helen (the eventual Reverend Mother of the novel) depicts her father, Henry Archer. She presents him in the passage as a man who is “very beautiful…different from other men…with curly, silky hair and eyes that shone like stars” and goes on further to say that “his face grew more beautiful as one drew nearer to it”. 1[1] Perhaps, this feminine portrayal is a less than subtle hint into Henry Archer’s being for in revealing him as a man with a feminine countenance and inevitably finding him locked in a loving embrace...
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...ontrol to temperance to love. Despite the rocky relationship between Helen and her father she inadvertently learned patience from him as he continues to love her despite her attitude and she in turn awaits Anna’s realization of her interest and love. Helen and Anna learn temperance in their everyday dealings with Mother Mary Andrew. The greatest lessons are those of dedication and commitment as Helen in the role of Reverend Mother becomes the best nun she can be despite a decision made under duress.
Notes:
[1] From The Penguin Book of Irish Fiction p. 475.
[2] From The Penguin Book of Irish Fiction p. 475.
[3] From The Penguin Book of Irish Literature p.485.
[4] O’Brien, Kate. The Land of Spices, p.20.
[5] O’Brien, Kate. The Land of Spices, p.252.
[6] O’Brien, Kate. The Land of Spices, p104.
[7] O’Brien, Kate. The Land of Spices, p. 110.
Although Rivka Galchen’s “Wild Berry Blue” and James Joyce’s “Araby” have some differences, there even more similarities. The narrators, their journeys, and their conclusions at the end of their journeys are analogous. Both attempt to win over the object of their affection through a gift, and yet thorough the purchase of that gift they realize their folly in love. As Joyce wrote “Araby” in 1914, yet Galchen did not write “Wild Berry Blue” until nearly 100 years later, Galchen may have written “Wild Berry Blue” as a modern retelling of Joyce’s classic short story.
At present there are numerous regulations and restrictions on firearms imposed by the government. However there are no national mandated requirements or all encompassing legislation. The laws in place vary from state to state and are in some cases are poorly enforced. Hard evidence as to the effectiveness of these present regulations is ambiguous. The question as to how the government and society deals with gun control is unique to the USA. In a complex issue such as gun control both sides of the equation have valid arguments to be h...
Included within the anthology The Penguin Book of Irish Fiction,1[1] are the works of great Irish authors written from around three hundred years ago, until as recently as the last decade. Since one might expect to find in an anthology such as this only expressions and interpretations of Irish or European places, events or peoples, some included material could be quite surprising in its contrasting content. One such inclusion comes from the novel Black Robe,2[2] by Irish-born author Brian Moore. Leaving Ireland as a young man afforded Moore a chance to see a great deal of the world and in reflection afforded him a great diversity of setting and theme in his writings. And while his Black Robe may express little of Ireland itself, it expresses much of Moore in his exploration into evolving concepts of morality, faith, righteousness and the ever-changing human heart.
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Cisneros, Sandra. "My Friend Lucy who Smells Like Corn", "Barbie-Q", "Mericans." The Norton Anthology of American Litertature. 6th Ed. Vol. E. Eds. Nina Baym. Et.al. New York: Norton, 2002. 2556-2561.
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Kinnell, Galway. “After Making Love We Hear Footsteps.” The Norton Introduction to Literature. Portable 10th ed. Ed. Alison Booth and Kelly J. Mays. New York: Norton, 2011. 490-491. Print.
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