The Patchwork People

Rating:
Summary: A Critiuqe of The Patchwork People
Review: In the novel The Patchwork People, Louise Lawrence, a British author, follows a young man's life named Hugh go though many obstacles of trying to keep his head above water. His family is on welfare and is struggling tremendously. Hugh meets this girl in a train station named Helena who is on the higher status pole of life and changes his life forever. In this enjoyable novel, Lawrence does an excellent job of setting to mood and setting in this novel. As she is describing the negative aspects in Hugh's life, the description is gloomy and gray. As on the flip side, Lawrence shows the brighter side of life with awesome mental descriptions of the joyful settings and atmospheres. Lawrence writes about Hugh's home in Helen's point of view, "It was as if Helena had entered another world, and alien world that was all cold and gray and comfortless, a world that Hugh knew she did not. The ugliness was an assault on her senses. Then finally, he led her indoors, into a small, dark interior where a gas fire hissed and a television flickered." Another devise that Lawrence excels in is her use of foreshadowing. One instance is when Helena does not spend the quantity of her time studying for her exams because she thinks about Hugh, and later she does not need school to do what inspires her, which is riding horses and living off the land. This exemplifies that Lawrence tells the reader that she will follow her inspiration before hand. The final ingenious move that Lawrence exerts in her novel is her clever use of characters. Repetitively offering her characters hope for a better life and seizing it away from them proving that substitute solutions are not enough. This idea ties in with the overall message that Lawrence proclaims. Lawrence's message is about hope to everyone no matter poor or rich. It is about freedom, and being able to live how one would like. It is about finding your own pure happiness inside of you, not what everyone else tells you what happiness is.

Rating:
Summary: A Critiuqe of The Patchwork People
Review: In the novel The Patchwork People, Louise Lawrence, a British author, follows a young man's life named Hugh go though many obstacles of trying to keep his head above water. His family is on welfare and is struggling tremendously. Hugh meets this girl in a train station named Helena who is on the higher status pole of life and changes his life forever. In this enjoyable novel, Lawrence does an excellent job of setting to mood and setting in this novel. As she is describing the negative aspects in Hugh's life, the description is gloomy and gray. As on the flip side, Lawrence shows the brighter side of life with awesome mental descriptions of the joyful settings and atmospheres. Lawrence writes about Hugh's home in Helen's point of view, "It was as if Helena had entered another world, and alien world that was all cold and gray and comfortless, a world that Hugh knew she did not. The ugliness was an assault on her senses. Then finally, he led her indoors, into a small, dark interior where a gas fire hissed and a television flickered." Another devise that Lawrence excels in is her use of foreshadowing. One instance is when Helena does not spend the quantity of her time studying for her exams because she thinks about Hugh, and later she does not need school to do what inspires her, which is riding horses and living off the land. This exemplifies that Lawrence tells the reader that she will follow her inspiration before hand. The final ingenious move that Lawrence exerts in her novel is her clever use of characters. Repetitively offering her characters hope for a better life and seizing it away from them proving that substitute solutions are not enough. This idea ties in with the overall message that Lawrence proclaims. Lawrence's message is about hope to everyone no matter poor or rich. It is about freedom, and being able to live how one would like. It is about finding your own pure happiness inside of you, not what everyone else tells you what happiness is.