Brighton Rock

What a sad book! I kept hoping - again the optimist - that something good would happen in the end. Even the very last with Rose going for confession gave me a glimmer of good, but no. Greene had to dash those hopes by reminding me of the recording. How sad!

After reading these novels this semester, I'm not yet convinced that I really like the modernist movement. Maybe the reality of life is appropriate. I know that I enjoy rose-colored glasses, but the emphasis still seems to be heavy on the negative. I know that life is not perfect. I know that bad things happen. I know that we all face difficulties that are a part of life, but that is not all there is to life. Really great things happen in life, too. I guess that is why I have been frustrated so much with the reading. I want to somehow talk to the characters in the book and be a voice for the positive side of life. That cock-eyed optimistic perspective is my demise. However, when it is all said and done, I'm happier. To be clear, I've had devasting things happen in my life. I have seen my share of tragedy. I grew up in a funeral home - I have seen a lot of tragedy. But, I also realize that life is short and needs to be lived and appreciated every day. Choices are crucial, but life goes on and offers new options. I also have a hope for eternity, so my perspective is very different from the authors I have read this semester. The reading has opened my eyes to the ways that other people look at the world, but it is has also convinced me that I have made some really good choices.