Angelica's A-POP Blog

1. A Temporary Marriage
   1. P. 1
      1. But now that she had arrived, she saw that the…and the living room, Mr. Rhee’s bedroom.
         1. Always make sure you see before you buy or rent. It’s too late once you’re already there.
   2. P. 2
      1. Even after the shame of her husband’s departure…had not allowed herself public displays of grief.
         1. I can relate to Mrs. Shin in these moments. I tend to keep a tight guard up in times of grief or depression.
   3. P. 9
      1. Still, she assumed he called his wife jip-saram, literally houseperson.
         1. A degrading term from an overbearing man.
   4. P. 15
      1. She remained on her knees. “You should slap me…slowly. “I only asked for what I deserved.”
         1. I’m really proud of Mr. Rhee for not hitting Mrs. Shin. Violence should never be promoted in a relationship, even one as complicated as theirs. 
2. At the Edge of the World
   1. P. 28
      1. His new purple cape flared behind him as he ran…especially requested with the frosted letters to SAY NO TO PLASTIC.
         1. A very progress cake choice for a child to make.
   2. P. 29
      1. They found a place to sit despite his mother’s habit…”Even animals don’t waste!” she’d said.
         1. My mother has this same behavior with garage sales. Finding as much as she can whenever she spotss a sign.
   3. P. 32
      1. At night he couldn’t sleep. He considered stabbing…note would have to be read at his funeral.
         1. I mean…I get insomnia, too, but not to the point where I imagine killing myself in order to sleep.
   4. P. 39
      1. She brought icy cans of Coke from the kitchen…union leaders, Mark pretended it was delicious.
         1. I never really enjoyed drinking Coke that much growing up, but now I feel a bit gently for loving Fanta.
3. The Pastor’s Son
   1. P. 51 – 52
      1. Our recently widowed father was forced…meant that she would have nine children.
         1. I think my uncle went there this same ceremony based on the pictures I’ve seen from the wedding.
   2. P. 54
      1. Instead I spent all my time running…not to think about my mother.
         1. Just the causal thoughts of a future school shooter.
   3. P. 57
      1. God, my father liked to say, had punished New Mother with her face.
         1. Is he really calling his stepmom a butterface?
   4. P. 66
      1. I was straining to see when I spotted…over as he released her into the water.
         1. It saddens me to say that I had a grandfather just like him. He’s dead and gone now and so is she, but luckily, time killed her, not him.
4. The Goose Father
   1. P. 75
      1. He had relinquished so many possible selves to…deserved better than this mockery!
         1. I hope one day his children will appreciate how much stress was lifted off of them and courage it takes to go to another country for your family.  
   2. P. 79
      1. The boy became radiant. “She’s not a goose, she’s my…is finally a goose, no matter what you want it to be.”
         1. Usually telling someone that their delusions or false information is wrong, it tends to lead them to believe that they are more right. Gilho is more or less wasting his time during this whole conservation. It would be better for him to just walk away.
   3. P. 82-83
      1. He found himself staring at the rosy flesh of the boy’s…and out of the noraebaang, as graceful as a bird taking flight.
         1. I feel bad for Gilho in this situation. He’s lonely and only around Wuseong. Perhaps he reminds him of an old crush or unspoken desires. Regardless, there’s something hidden there. 
   4. P. 85
      1. They ate small chunks of roasted pork straight off the charcoal grill with garlic and wrapped in lettuce leaves.
         1.  When my aunt would make Korean barbeque, she would place a whole garlic clove in between her meat and lettuce. Very overpowering and more garlic than anything that she would serve us.
5. The Salaryman
   1. P. 94-95
      1. Children are expensive. Rent is expensive. She said…that she had unreasonable shopping habits.
         1. I’ve found that people who have never lived in poverty or have been out of it so long forget what it means to be hungry and the value of money itself. “Handouts,” shouldn’t be a disgusting word.
   2. P. 96
      1. “You know I’m like an older brother to you, but…for a man whose future he has just erased.
         1. When professors started to get laid off for budget cuts, the scariest thing to me was thinking that my favorite professors might be next. Unfortunately, the professor that was asked, had one of the longest histories at Evergreen. 
   3. P. 99
      1. At sunrise you queue behind hundreds of other men…though you are told not to be too hopeful.
         1. I’ve found staffing agencies to be rather useless in my experience. The best jobs I was ever offered lasted two to three weeks at best. No solid jobs, just more to keep you behind and have a little pocket money.
   4. P. 109
      1. Sometimes you prowl large discounted stores and…even like Daehoon when you’re drunk.
         1. My city did a news story a few years back stating that some of the homeless population would steal more cars or possessions so they could be locked up for the holidays. If they weren’t homeless than it was released felonies that felt at home in jail and it’s their way of, “spending the holidays at home.”
6. Drifting House
   1. P. 114
      1. For the school textbooks stated that a swallow had…order to everything. Or there used to be.
         1. So much influence from the Bible.
   2. P. 115
      1. Reminded himself again how impossible it would…did not let go until she stopped moving.
         1. Even though its a misery killing and a better death than letting her die in the cold, it’ll haunt Woncheol for the rest of his life.
   3. P. 123
      1. “Do Chinese people really eat children’s brains?”
         1. One of the most degrading comments I’ve ever heard!
   4. P. 127
      1. She did not want him to leave her to become one…her, so he extended his hands toward her ruined body.
         1. Never forget where you came from and what you left behind to escape.
7. A Small Sorrow
   1. P. 130
      1. She would not descend to the pathetic tirades…won would say, and Eunkang agreed in theory.
         1. If monogamy is unnatural and you’re fine with adultery, then why get married in the first place?
   2. P. 131
      1. Seongwon was excited by her openness to a sensual…had only trusted in a vision of happiness.
         1. Marrying with experience or an understanding of a life without a legacy is very careless and usually tends to fail after a few years. Monogamy may seem unnatural to her, but without a future planned, then who knows what could happen if a mistress shows up with his child.
   3. P. 136
      1. “Mina paints, too. My very gifted apprentice.” He…imagining Mina the way Seongwon might.
         1. Again, why bother getting married with no experience. One man can’t be your whole world and your whole world clearly does not matter to this one man.
   4. P. 145
      1. “I want to be the universe for you.” She tapped the thin fuzz on his scalp with the fat end of the chopstick. “That’s impossible.”
         1. Finally standing up for herself towards the end. My only hope is that she doesn’t make the mistake of marrying another man for a while, while she still discovers herself.
8. The Believer
   1. P. 147-149
      1. That was when Jenny saw an arm in the sink…in the pooling blood and, for the last time, prayed.
         1. Literally, how can someone walk calmly into a setting like that and not scream their head off at the sight of a dismembered child?!
   2. P. 150
      1. As for Jenny, she felt like an intruder in the home she…him, so she did not correct his assumptions.
         1. In times like these, turning away or blaming God is the most damaging. Community and love are the best ways to heal and she’s leaving that instead.
   3. P. 155
      1. “We can make her better,” her father said and hit…her. “But I never hear anyone but me, singing.”
         1. As painful as it may be for some family members, these wards really are the best place for them. In some cases family who take their loved ones out too early or without treatment end up being the next victims or feeling all the more guilty if they escape and kill again.
   4. P. 160-162
      1. She sat up. His pants were pushed past his thighs…as they were purified, washed in the blood of the lamb.
         1. Seeing a dead child, her mother in the psych ward, leaving school, and now having sex with her father. I’m not sure if I’m more disgusted or curious to see if she gets pregnant now.
9. Beautiful Women
   1. P. 170
      1. How can her mother trust a man who irons his collar crisp but overlooks what must be dirt and moss under his fingernails?
         1. Appearance over personal hygiene. I’ve met people who keep their clothes clean, always smell good, but then have rotted food in their fridge and leave trash all over the place.
   2. P. 172
      1. They had smirked hello after Mina’s father, Sergeant…smiling and say, “That’s none of your business.”
         1. Hiding from his past or only keeping to his second family. Why so many secrets?
   3. P. 174
      1. Disappointed by the two sons the vendor has raised into…snatch the girl up in her arms, but is too late.
         1. Kidnapping is horrible and the vendor should be more grateful that she even got to have sons.
   4. P. 181-182
      1. Don’t cry! Mina says, her face deep in the folds…fool. You think your daddy’s coming back for you?
         1. Being lonely and handling abuse in place of loneliness are two negatives. It’s better to be lonely and date occasionally than to bring abuse into your house and risk your life or the lives of your children.

~ by Angelica Perez on May 14, 2019 . Tagged: Assignment, Talking Points