91制片厂

91制片厂 lecturer and author Stephanie Harzewski

As an instructor of such undergraduate standards as 鈥淭he Rise of the Novel鈥� and 鈥淏ritish Literature, 1800-Present,鈥� you might expect I鈥檇 take a traditional route when offering up a list of good Valentine鈥檚 Day reads. Charlotte Bront毛鈥檚 Jane Eyre (1847), say, with its humble and plain governess who becomes a heroine through courage, self-possession, and a generous heart, or Jane Austen鈥檚 Pride and Prejudice, whose Elizabeth Bennett is regularly singled out for her independent mind, quick wit, and resistance to marriage offers of convenience.

But when 91制片厂 Today asked me for some selections for its first-ever Valentine鈥檚 themed issue, I couldn鈥檛 help but think of love in its many guises 鈥� romantic, filial, forsworn, taboo. Here, then, is a quintet of narratives that are a mix of traditional man-woman love plots and stories that brought me to the profession of teaching English with their artistry and haunting quality.

Arthur Golden鈥檚 Memoirs of a Geisha (1997) tells the fictional story of a geisha working in Kyoto, Japan, before and after World War II. The novel has a nearly epic scope, and over a span of decades and locations its exquisite narrative voice considers the role of destiny, fate, and the concept of the soul mate. I think the novel offers one of the most rapturous endings of romantic love in contemporary literature 鈥� though Golden and his literary muse and information source, retired geisha Mineko Iwasaki, experienced a less happy ending. After publication Iwasaki sued Golden for breach of contract and defamation of character, and his publisher, Alfred A. Knopf, settled out of court for an undisclosed sum.

The Lover is an autobiographical coming-of-age novella by Marguerite Duras, set in 1929 French Indochina. The story narrates a clandestine romance between a pubescent girl from a financially strapped French family and an elegant, wealthy Chinese man some twenty years her senior. The telling of the story as a flashback, with majestic opening and closing paragraphs, offsets what technically is a tale of pedophilia and economic disparity.
The recipient of the 1984 Prix Goncourt, The Lover has been published in over forty languages.

鈥淭he Red Convertible鈥� (1984), a short story by Louise Erdrich, is about two brothers and their titular Olds convertible. Set in 1974 on a North Dakota Chippewa reservation, this dark spin on the coming-of-age story is a masterpiece of compression. A young Vietnam veteran鈥檚 struggle with post-traumatic stress disorder and his sibling鈥檚 efforts to bring his 鈥榦ld鈥� brother back through the deliberate damaging and restoration of a classic car comprise a moving account of familial love and loyalty in challenging circumstances.

Annie Proulx鈥檚 1997 short story 鈥淏rokeback Mountain鈥� pushes the theme of love between two men into forbidden territory as it follows two Wyoming ranch hands over the course of 20 years. A landmark text of the LGBT movement, this story of tragic love represents for me an exemplary piece of nature writing in its parallels between the weather and the ranch hands鈥� relationship. I found Proulx鈥檚 original to be, if possible, sadder than its well-known Academy Award-winning movie adaptation, its closing a brutal, psychologically realistic portrait of lost love and the high price of homophobia.

The children鈥檚 book Grandfather鈥檚 Journey is based on author Allen Say's grandfather's crossing of the Pacific Ocean from Japan to the United States and back. The 1991 recipient of the Caldecott Medal for illustration, this short tale meets the obvious criteria for romance as its protagonist returns to his homeland to marry his childhood sweetheart, but also examines a different kind of love 鈥� the love of place.

I first encountered Grandfather鈥檚 Journey as a twenty-something on a voyage of my own from Philadelphia to New Hampshire to teach at 91制片厂. While grateful for the natural beauty of my surroundings and the charm of the historic architecture, I missed the tastes and sounds of West Philadelphia; missed, too, my hometown of Staten Island, where my parents have lived since the 1960s. A world away from my personal touchstones, Grandfather鈥檚 Journey had for me the remarkably ability to conjure nostalgia, and the feeling for two places called 鈥渉ome鈥� offers appeal for all ages.

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