The Number Two Is Important, and Girls are Better Than Boys
So last post was just kind of an exposition and sweeping summary of the book. I think from here, I’ll alternate between themes and more plot/cultural stuff, which is also really interesting. (By the...
View ArticleLove Comes in Many Varieties, and Values Change Drastically Over Time
This would’ve been a good post for Valentine’s Day, but now works just as well. I mentioned before that Dream is part love story and part growing up story. As with most growing up stories, there is...
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Love is Lust, and Lust is a Folly
Disenchantment’s little sister with whom Baoyu has his intimate tête-à-tête is named Ke-qing. She is sent to Earth as Baoyu’s nephew’s wife, Qin Shi, the sister of best friend Qin Zhong. (I just...
View ArticleSchool is a Burden, and Growing Up is Worse
Baoyu’s father, Jia Zheng, is a hard worker who takes his job very seriously (his son thinks of him as a “career worm”). As such, Jia Zheng wishes his eldest (living) son would do better in his studies...
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Mythical Beauties are Remembered Through Holidays, and Historical Beauties...
Since we’re just coming back from spring break and midterms are still hanging over our heads (or at least mine), I think I’ll just do a really laid back, fun post today. Well I think it’s fun anyway. A...
View ArticleAge is a Cause for Greed, and Money is a Source of Corruption
I just remembered that I said I would talk about greed two blog posts ago and then talked about something else last week. Whoops. Anyway, Dream has a lot of political things to say about the wealthy....
View ArticleGood Things Come to the Virtuous, and Bad Things Come to the Corrupt
Karma is an important part of the Buddhist principles espoused in Dream. The Jia family, because of its corruption, quickly finds itself in deep trouble. First of all, recall that Xifeng has been using...
View ArticleReal Becomes Fake, and Fake Becomes Real
We’ve finally gotten to Dream‘s most important theme, namely that life on earth is an illusion, just a dream. This idea is scattered throughout the book in myriad ways. Disenchantment’s home is called...
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Dream is Retold in Many Forms, and a Year of Blogging Draws to a Close
For this last post, I think I’ll just talk about any resources or fun facts for anyone interested in Dream. Even if you found this blog dry (or didn’t read it), give the book a chance. I don’t know if...
View ArticleBest of Blogs
Best of Passion Blogs: Michael’s blog on the Supreme Court is pretty informative since I think it’s a topic not many people know about. I like this post especially because I hadn’t known about Chief...
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