2nd Reading Response "Stone Carvers"

Throughout the novel so far I remain perplexed at how the author is able to capture very fine details of character even when the scope of characters is large. On top of this she is able intertwine all of their pasts and personalities together to create a very effective story. During the second quarter of the novel we have moved past Father Gstir and have now turned to Klara Becker and her coming of age story and her influences from Eamon (boyfriend).

Although there are a variety of ways the author has captivated Klara's unique story there are a few that stood out to me. The first of these methods are how her grandfather notices a reflection of Klara's emotions through the abbess (superior of a convent of nuns) she is carving. In the novel he notes, "This abbess, he said, is too young. And far too cheerful. She looks as if she has spent most of her short life dreaming in a field of flowers. No man would accept advice from her. No pope would listen to her for one minute!" By doing this we see that her emotions are so passionate that they are reflecting into everything she does, whether it be a conscious action or not. However, this is not the only time her grandfather comments on the abbess. He also makes note of an anger in the abbess as well as her being too resolute. The authors subtly to convey this emotion based from her grandfathers observation I felt to be very effective. It helps you as a reader to grasp the magnitude of her emotions. The second method takes on a similar shape in the way that as news arrives that Eamon is MIA Klara pulls her hair back and takes on the attitude of a spinster. This metonymy the author used was helpful as it showed (without directly stating in the text) Klara's emotions and state of mind. The relation to spinster being that they often do not seek help and feel as though they can accomplish everything on their own, and refuse any outside help. Again this subtle step taken by the author really helps when in combination with everything else, to better connect with the characters and in this case Klara's emotions during her adolescence.

1st Reading Response "Stone Carvers"

During the first section of the novel only one main character has been introduced to us, this characer being a Bavarian Priest. Immidiately our priest's reputation is being tested as he is forced to move to Canada to start a new Convent where there  is hardly even a community to begin with. By doing this the author has immersed the character in an entirely new setting where he is forced to deal with problems that bring out his true personality. Rather than the oh-so-common tedious listing of character traits and flaws at the beginning of the novel, the author has instead created a sophisticated delivery of real emotions and attributes within the priest. I felt that this method was very unique and effective as you felt compelled to make associations with the character and become more connected rather than assuming the regular reader viewpoint/perspective. To accomplish this the author contrasted the two very different settings through the priest's feelings of his new world (Canada) to that of his old (Bavaria). As a result the main character has not only been well developed, but also without realising, you have been introduced to the setting as well. 

What I personally liked about one aspect of the authors' explanation of setting was that it was very informative to what our country was like while it was being settled. It gave various accounts about different industries as well as feelings from local settlers. This (when meshed together) led to an intriguing reality of the time. Through the priest's narration you were able to grasp the conflicts present at the time when Canada was being settled. Due to this it creates a great foundation for the story to build upon. An example being that a lot of time was spent clearing the land, as a result this showed why very few settlers hardly knew there neighbours, or why there was no religion present in this sheltered community. Although this seemingly simple text isn't much be itself, together it paves the way for a greater understanding of concepts.