After or while reading”The Love of My Life” by T.C. Boyle, what are some of the thoughts that went through your mind? Did it remind you of any other work? Your response should be three to seven sentences long.
22 thoughts on “Blog Post #2: The Love of My Life (Boyle)”
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After reading “The Love of My Life.” I thought that China was overreacting and shocked that she wanted to get rid of her baby daughter. At first, China didn’t want to get rid of the baby so, she was pregnant for nine months; then the next thing she wanted was to get rid of the baby when she was born. I was also confused why Jeremy actually got rid of the baby, but I guess, as some people say, love makes one do crazy things they never expect to do. Overall, I really like the whole twist with the baby and how it has some kind of happy ending.
Just finished reading “The Love of My Life.” I really loved the way the author used the simile in the beginning because i felt like that really connected me to the story. Also i feel like it made me want to read more. However, the story was really gruesome and emotional. I liked the story and it reminded me of a lot of occuring relationship scenarios. Overall, i enjoyed the read.
The way in which the story was written, left me wanting to read more. At first China and Jeremy sounded like a typical young couple, in love and passionate about each other, but the story takes a sinister turn and it showed some of the characters true individual natures. Privilege, immaturity, selfishness, narcissism, unsympathetic, heartlessness, are just some of the words that come to mind when reading about the actions and thoughts of the young couple. Jeremy surprised me the most with his apathetic attitude towards his new born, to see his baby as nothing more than mucus and blood, just a fleshly mistake is a bit appalling. China does not win points either with her “just get rid of it” attitude, they both deserve jail at this point.
Boyle uses such fluid and momentous writing that it is difficult to stop read. The pacing was really impressive. He lays out long convoluted sentences, but they all read so seamlessly. I was also pleased that Boyle made it so easy to picture every scene. I could imagine multiple passages with vivid clarity. I also appreciated that he did not try to resolve the ending with a Disney kind of happy ending. Instead, instead of leaving it with China comforting herself with this “notion” of love playing to the fact that love is an all-consuming and overwhelming agent in life.
I like how you describe Boyle’s writing as momentous, that’s definitely the word I was looking for. However, I think it’s questionable whether or not China was in love, or deeply infatuated. In the story, China seems to think that love should be the way it is in the movies. The couple seems to define love in terms of their actions: kissing, sex, etc. At the end, China testifies against Jeremy, blaming him for her child’s death, but she claims she still loves him as you noted. I don’t think these teens knew what love was and sort of aimlessly threw around the phrase.
I have never read anything like “The Love of My Life” by Boyle. Based on the title I thought it was going to be a typical love story. I was surprised by how the story took such a dark turn. The story definitely touch my emotions with some of the scenes making me cringe and my stomach hurt. I believe it was a very accurate depiction of the irrational thought processes these situations can have on people.
I thought I was reading a cliché romance story with innocent teenagers like Jeremy and China developing their relationship while staying away from their parents. I almost lost interest until the scene when China and Jeremy express their fear and concern when they discuss her pregnancy. When I reached the climax of the book, I realized that the main characters lost their innocence through their crime. The story’s ending in which China sees that she has outgrown her old life as a teenager reminds me of the town evolving in “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner. The narrator observes that the town outgrew the old tradition it followed many years ago. In both stories, these changes occurred after the downfall of the main characters.
While reading the beginning of the “The Love of My Life” I felt that something is going to happen by the end, but I would never have guessed that there will be such a heartbreaking final. I felt really terrible and disgusted while reading the main part and understanding that someone in this life is able to do something similar to what the main characters was able to do. The author showed the teenage characters as helpless, insensitive and thinking only of themselves. I think that the author wrote everything this way to evoke emotions from everyone. He described everything as if it were for real and that’s why it was interesting and horrifying to read.
When I first started “The Love of my Life”, I was intrigued by the romantic picture that the author had painted between China and Jeremy. The language was captivating to me, however I had a feeling that something would go wrong. The author kept mentioning “rain”, it was a reoccurring element throughout the story that made me think something bad would happen. It gave the sweet story an ominous feeling. I didn’t expect the characters to react in such a way to their baby; they were young and afraid but their actions were horrendous.
Although disturbing, the story “The Love of My Life” was definitely an interesting read. After reading the beginning, I did not expect for the story to take the dark path that it did. The immaturity and selfishness of the two main characters China and Jeremy, allowed for the dark turn to happen. They did not believe that their newborn child was even human, calling the baby “it”, and refused care. China and Jeremy decided to take the child’s life because of the burden it would place on them. Even after throwing their newborn into a dumpster ending the child’s life, both characters felt as if they had not done something wrong. Overall, the story was a unique and horrifying take on young love.
The story started off as a heartwarming love story where two lovers, China and Jeremy, are inseparable enjoying the moments they shared together. However, things took a turn when China found out that she was pregnant. Just starting college she is soon to become a young mother and it scared her. Despite this, she only focused on one thing and that was her undying love for Jeremy, which reminded me of almost like a Romeo and Juliet. It all started off well and then things took a turn for the worse, but the whole purpose of the story was to show the strength of one’s love.
I had a lot to think about after reading this. I found myself questioning why did China not simply abort the child if they were going to commit such a hideous crime at the end. It’s one thing to abort the child, but to try and disregard it as if it is trash after it is born is outrageous. I do believe that the decision to abort or not should be at the description of the woman. China should have sought help and counseling or something of that nature before making such a drastic move. However, they were young and scared to reach out for help because they feared what others would think.
I find it ironic that they both were the top of their class but could not use that same intelligence to get through that situation. However, it is understandable considering that most people do not think rationally during bad times.
As for the syntax of the writing, it is clear. I had no trouble following the story. I did not find myself going back and rereading parts of the passage to clear up the confusion.
Reading the beginning of this short story, it seemed like a typical teenager love adventure. Two high schoolers fall madly in love and vow to stay by each other’s side through thick and thin. As the story progresses, it takes a sharp dark turn, the two love birds get into a disagreement over their unborn child. China doesn’t know what to do, but she knows that she doesn’t want others to find out, while Jeremy insisted that she get an abortion. This reminded me of Glee, because Quinn got herself in a similar situation where she got pregnant and she didn’t want it but the father of the baby (Puck) wanted to keep it. He promised her that he will find a way to support the baby but both stories finish with the male character ending up alone and depressed. This take on love story is truly gruesome.
Well this story took a very unexpected and depressing twist. Just like the horror movies that the couple were watching, the story starts off very rosy and upbeat ( a family moving into their new home for a fresh new start in life ). The story then slowly began descending further and further down when Jeremy finds out about China’s pregnancy ( paranormal activities begin occurring in the household ). At last, the final bloody conclusion came with the murder of the baby and the arrest of both Jeremy and China ( when the ghost finally decides to murder everybody in the house ). I thought this story was very engaging and actually kept me interested in the story throughout. I was disappointed to find out that we do not know if China does or does not testify against Jeremy in court.
While reading “The Love of My Life” by T.C. Boyle, I thought their lives were too perfect and I knew something was going to happen to change them. However, I never would have thought the thing that ruins them is their own child. The first time they disagreed in the reading was when China found out she was pregnant and they had different plans on what to do and who to hide it from. I thought about how their arguing leads to them making a decision last minute, where they weren’t thinking but instead acting based on their emotions. I think If they didn’t hide they could have been alright, they would have had time to breathe and make a rational decision.
After reading the short story by T.C Boyle, I had mixed feelings as to how the story was twisted. At the beginning of the story, the couple seemed great and their relationship was perfect as they loved each other. This started to change as they were expecting a baby. It was interesting to see how a bad situation turns everyone against one another as they wanted yo blame each other for the death of the baby and even refusing the fact that they had anything to do with the baby. I think that the decisions the China and Jeremy made were dumb as they should have consulted with a doctor or their parents about their situation. They were both irrational when they were expecting the baby and I think that Jeremy should have done something even if China disagreed. Both the students were top of their school yet they made a terrible decision that changed the course of their lives. I think this story was a tragedy and that the decisions will always haunt them in the future,
While reading the story “The Love of my Life” by T.C Boyle I felt that although they made rash decisions, everything happened to be in the moment aside from the pregnancy. It seemed as though they wanted to figure everything out themselves which led to repercussions. The fact that they had not told anyone was a mistake and especially something as impactful as a pregnancy was irrational. The pregnancy turned China and Jeremy’s relationship completely, as what used to be perfect had turned into a nightmare on both ends.
After reading “The Love of my Life” by T.C. Boyle, I commend the author. Boyle undoubtedly captured the reader’s attention and managed to maintain it. At first, it is difficult to discern what the plot will be, and Boyle dwells on several scenes. However, things take a rampant, dark turn. In a way, this reminded me of Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time,” the original slow pace of the movie was juxtaposed by a dramatic ending. “The Love of My Life” left me questioning love vs. infatuation, and thinking about issues like abortion and teen pregnancy. Despite the fact that it was a fiction piece, the story discussed prevalent societal matter. Boyle left me wanting more, wondering the fate of China’s case.
While reading” The Love of My Life” by T.C. Boyle, I thought about what the conflict could be with such a pleasant opening right from the beginning. I was curious to see what their struggle would be and how they would overcome it. It was sad to read how easily their issues could’ve been avoided if only they prepared enough before their trip. However, it speaks true to life how a little lack of prep can lead to catastrophic consequences as my father was in a pretty similar problem. As for other works, it didn’t remind me of anything BUT I got the reference to “The Scarlet Letter” so that’s something I found to be happy about.
This story was horrifying, but something that really did not make sense was when china said she wanted to keep the baby but she didn’t want to seek any medical attention. It shows how she was still in denial about being pregnant, the instinct that the mother has for her baby was not present in her mind. However, when she would call Jeremy and cry most of the time and she asks Jeremy about the characteristics of her daughter and wanting to see the grave was awful to read. This story is a good example that shows people should really think before doing anything risky, especially when it comes to having sexual intercourse because if they are not planning on having a baby unprotected sex can turn their life upside down.
This shows the strong need for sex education and proper abortion services. Although this is just a fiction, no doubt many many stories like this can happen in real life. Too many young people who have not completely finished developing mentally make mistakes that would make them regret for the rest of their lives, from having unprotected sex, reckless driving, eating tide pods etc. It is sad to see so many people’s lives are ruined one way or another.
This also shows the way that different genders deal with this topic. The boyfriend as he is not the person that have been carrying this child for a long time, was calling the child ‘it’, while the girlfriend called the child ‘daughter’. This can be reflected in the different meaning of ‘fathering’ and ‘mothering’, one means being the father of a child and the other meaning being the mother of a child and caring for it. Many many young girls suffer dramatically due to young, unplanned pregnancies while the young boy can essentially, walk away free, regardless of whether they chose abortion, giving birth, or other options. The inequality between genders is staggering even if we just look at this one single aspect of life.
I think the author T.C. Boyle is trying to do much more than just create a romance with a disturbing twist. In the story, he shows a couple who love each other more than they love themselves. Throughout the story, we see the couple go out their way to do even the most appalling acts, just to please their partner’s wishes. For example, they birthed a baby on their own and even disposed of the live body, because they were asked to do so by each other. T.C. Boyle also tried to convey the message that society makes even the most normal people commit heinous acts. In the story, the author gives clues throughout the story to show that China will get pregnant and will not be content with it. For Instance, the couple brought two condoms on a five-day trip and China insults young pregnant students by calling them “breeders”. The song “Brenda’s Got a Baby” by Tupac Shakur reminds me of this story because it’s also a story about how a young woman chooses to have her baby thrown in the dumpster due to concern over society’s judgmental nature.