How to Read a Book

“On this day I’m thinking of, I am twenty-two years old, on short time that still feels long, and the field is snow covered, bluish, with dead stalks sticking out here and there like cries for help.”

The imagery vividly illustrates the snow-covered area, conjuring up a bleak, desolate landscape. The simile personifies the dead stalks, reflecting Violet’s anguish. The phrase “short time that still feels long” refers to Violet’s short sentence and suggests temporal distortion, emphasizing time as both fleeting and burdensome. The juxtaposition between “short” and “long” highlights the tension between Violet’s youth and the weight of her current lived experience.

“The store had a way of tidying the pitch-and-lurch of his feelings, forcing the past to recede, bracketing his days with the zeal of youth.”

Personification allows the store to “clean up” Frank’s feelings, as it has a calming, organizing influence on his emotions. The “pitch-and-lurch” metaphor describes Frank’s turbulent emotions, which create instability and inner turmoil, as a boat. The alliteration emphasizes him pushing away memories, a deliberate effort to move forward. The store provides structure to Frank’s life, offering a sense of order amidst emotional chaos and evokes a sense of vitality and enthusiasm, creating a rejuvenating effect on Frank and linking his present state to the vigor of his younger days.