“Trumpets Sound No more” by John Redfern is a novel set in the 1840’s and takes place in London, England. The protagonist of this story is Inspector Owen Endersby who is part of the London detective police force. The inspector was chosen along with others to solve a mystery murder that happened on Saturday the 19th of December on 46 Doughty Street. The person who was murdered was the owner of the semi-successful Coburg Theatre. The young man’s name is Samuel Cake, the autopsy stated that he had been beaten over the back of the head. The case would go on over a five day period where the inspector would investigate different parts of London trying to catch the murderer, submit him to superintendent Bourne, and solve the mystery that plagued the London Theater District.
I feel as though JohnRedfern’s description of London, England during the Victorian area was well portrayed and accurate. One of the most evident points in the book is described here, “…They have their mighty towers and their hovels, their heroes and villains. In all men's hearts, regardless of station or purse, one thing remains immutable: the desire for merriment, On his way there in the hansom, as streets pulsed with voices and laughing children, he reflected on the grand theatre…”
In John Redfern’s “Trumpets Sound No More” there are three characters in the novel that seem to match up well with certain characters used in “Great Expectations”. An example of this would be Pineapple Pol and Mrs. Joe. They both have very short tempered and are tough. Both of them are also in lower class by financial standards. Some differences between them are Mrs. Joe doesn’t have her own child to raise where as Pineapple Pol does. Another set of characters that match up is Mr. Jaggers and Inspector Owen Endersby. They are similar in the fact that Mr. Jaggers and inspector Owen Endersby both deal with the law and criminals. They are different in the sense that Jaggers is a more boring and plain character where as Endersby is more lively and likes to feel the thrill of it all. One last set of characters that stands out is Pip and Betty Loxton. They are both similar because when Pip is younger and is still lower class he has dreams to become a gentleman and is content on making it happen. Betty dreams in the same way to be successful and be in upper class. The difference between the two is Betty never gets to see her dreams fully unfold because she gets into an accident. In Pip’s case he does get to see his dream in front of him.
Three themes that seem to be predominant in the novel is crime, ambition, and guilt. All of these themes played a key roll in “Great Expectations”
What surprised me most about Redfern’s depiction of the Theatre world in London England was the fact that the image he depicted in my mind was so vivid and well thought of. He made the novel more enjoyable by using his skills of portraying the Theatre world to a great extent and it paid off.
One symbol that comes up in the book is the wooden puzzle that is used by Inspector Owen Endersby to help him and his co-detectives find their next clue making them closer to success. The second symbol would be the glove dropped outside of Cake’s residence and would be a very important clue to the preservation of the criminal.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Good Soldier
“Good Soldier” by Ford Madox Ford is a novel that is divided up into four parts describing the events of what happened to a couple, John and Florence Dowell when they were acquainted with another couple, Edward and Leonora Ashburnham. In Part I we see the two couple meet in a health spa where they begin to establish a friends ship that would last for nine years. Leonora realizes that Florence and Edward are having an affair but later we discover he had many affairs in the past. At first John thought it wasn’t true be cause he wasn’t aware of Edward’s past but soon he’d realize that it was and their friendship would be over between the couples. Leonora brings along Mrs. Maiden so that Edward would have a good mistress but when she finds out she dies of a heart attack because of how disgusted she is with what is happening.
Part two begins with a brief flashback about John and Florence’s meeting and marriage and their trip to Europe. While they are in Europe Florence begins to develop a fake heart condition which would lead to them staying in Europe. John begins to explain how Florence had an affair that he didn’t know about with an artist named Jimmy. After this affair a couple years later when Edward and Leonora met with the Jimmy and Florence their friendship became tainted because Florence was having an affair with Edward for the whole nine years the couple were friends with one another. When we get back to present time Florence was planning on divorcing herself from John but she saw Edward courting a girl named Nancy in a park. She immediately ran home then poisoned herself because when she got home her husband John was informed of her affair with Jimmy.
Part three is describing how both Edawrd and John are trying to make Nancy fall in love with them after Florence’s death. Leonora, Edward, John, and Nancy all go to Branshaw Manor in England where Leonora would break down and make an educated guess that Edward is in love with Nancy. We learn that Leonora had been putting up with Edwards unfaithfulness but after his last affair with Florence she claims that their love is dead.
In the Last Part of the book Nancy breaks down and tells Leonora that Edward is a horrible husband and that he was trying to get with her even thought that the Ashburnham’s are her ward. John tells Nancy and Leonora to torture Edward and he suffers so greatly that he sends Nancy back to India to live with her father in hoping that she will miss him. When he finds out he is wrong he commits suicide. Leonora meets someone knew who she claims is the perfect man and marries him and when Nancy goes psychotic John takes her in to live with him in the Branshaw Manor permanently after he buys it.
In Good Soldier there are two main themes that stick out normality and reality. Throughout the novel John, the narrator of the novel judges people as either normal or abnormal. He talks a lot about what normal really is because something normal to you may not be normal to someone else. This theme seems to stick out the most and the theme is reality. In Good Soldier John thinks to know the people around him very well and gives people trust but in reality they aren’t what he thinks, for example he trust Edward enough to leave his wife with him but secretly he’s having an affair with John’s wife.
The author’s language was easy to comprehend but still had a good vocabulary. The book was written in a first person narrative in the life of John Dowell and it gave me a good sense of the emotions he felt and others as well in great detail.
There were many issues in this book that pertain to adolescents but one that stands out the most is faithfulness in relationships. In “ Good Soldier ” a lot of the book is about affairs in relationships. Dating in relationships first begins in the adolescent stage of a person’s life. Since people are young, inexperienced, and ignorant some people chose the path to be unfaithful and there are consequences, which are evident in this book.
I have not noticed any similarities thus far with our completion of this course.
I found that the author did a great job of writing this novel and the only way he could have improved his novel is if he gave more points of view rather than just John Dowell’s. I would recommend this book to many teenagers because it demonstrates how severe the consequences can be of being unfaithful and dishonest.
There is plenty of evidence of symbolism in this book and the two most obvious ones are “shuttlecocks” and Martin Luther’s protest. Shuttlecock means to be tossed back in forth like a badminton birdie and when Nancy loses her mind that’s all she can say is “shuttlecocks”. The symbolism behind this is throughout the book many characters go through emotional ups and downs and goes back and forth like a shuttlecock. Florence begins to talk about Martin Luther’s protest and how it represents soberness, honesty and industrious. It is symbolic because Martin Luther’s speech separates two different groups of people just like how Florence is separating herself and Edward from Leonora and John.
Part two begins with a brief flashback about John and Florence’s meeting and marriage and their trip to Europe. While they are in Europe Florence begins to develop a fake heart condition which would lead to them staying in Europe. John begins to explain how Florence had an affair that he didn’t know about with an artist named Jimmy. After this affair a couple years later when Edward and Leonora met with the Jimmy and Florence their friendship became tainted because Florence was having an affair with Edward for the whole nine years the couple were friends with one another. When we get back to present time Florence was planning on divorcing herself from John but she saw Edward courting a girl named Nancy in a park. She immediately ran home then poisoned herself because when she got home her husband John was informed of her affair with Jimmy.
Part three is describing how both Edawrd and John are trying to make Nancy fall in love with them after Florence’s death. Leonora, Edward, John, and Nancy all go to Branshaw Manor in England where Leonora would break down and make an educated guess that Edward is in love with Nancy. We learn that Leonora had been putting up with Edwards unfaithfulness but after his last affair with Florence she claims that their love is dead.
In the Last Part of the book Nancy breaks down and tells Leonora that Edward is a horrible husband and that he was trying to get with her even thought that the Ashburnham’s are her ward. John tells Nancy and Leonora to torture Edward and he suffers so greatly that he sends Nancy back to India to live with her father in hoping that she will miss him. When he finds out he is wrong he commits suicide. Leonora meets someone knew who she claims is the perfect man and marries him and when Nancy goes psychotic John takes her in to live with him in the Branshaw Manor permanently after he buys it.
In Good Soldier there are two main themes that stick out normality and reality. Throughout the novel John, the narrator of the novel judges people as either normal or abnormal. He talks a lot about what normal really is because something normal to you may not be normal to someone else. This theme seems to stick out the most and the theme is reality. In Good Soldier John thinks to know the people around him very well and gives people trust but in reality they aren’t what he thinks, for example he trust Edward enough to leave his wife with him but secretly he’s having an affair with John’s wife.
The author’s language was easy to comprehend but still had a good vocabulary. The book was written in a first person narrative in the life of John Dowell and it gave me a good sense of the emotions he felt and others as well in great detail.
There were many issues in this book that pertain to adolescents but one that stands out the most is faithfulness in relationships. In “ Good Soldier ” a lot of the book is about affairs in relationships. Dating in relationships first begins in the adolescent stage of a person’s life. Since people are young, inexperienced, and ignorant some people chose the path to be unfaithful and there are consequences, which are evident in this book.
I have not noticed any similarities thus far with our completion of this course.
I found that the author did a great job of writing this novel and the only way he could have improved his novel is if he gave more points of view rather than just John Dowell’s. I would recommend this book to many teenagers because it demonstrates how severe the consequences can be of being unfaithful and dishonest.
There is plenty of evidence of symbolism in this book and the two most obvious ones are “shuttlecocks” and Martin Luther’s protest. Shuttlecock means to be tossed back in forth like a badminton birdie and when Nancy loses her mind that’s all she can say is “shuttlecocks”. The symbolism behind this is throughout the book many characters go through emotional ups and downs and goes back and forth like a shuttlecock. Florence begins to talk about Martin Luther’s protest and how it represents soberness, honesty and industrious. It is symbolic because Martin Luther’s speech separates two different groups of people just like how Florence is separating herself and Edward from Leonora and John.
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