11th Grade Book Reviews
When you finish your book, write up a 250-500 word response of your own (we know how to use Google, plagiarizers!) and post it in the comments down below. Don’t forget to check out your classmates’ book reviews for ideas for your next book.
EHHS Reading List 
I chose to do my book review on The Perks of being a Wallflower. It’s a contemporary coming-of-age novel. The book is about thing teens have to deal every day, sex, drugs, heartbreak and just trying to fit in and decide who they want to be.
Charlie is the main character in the book and the books is written through his letters to a random person. Charlie has a disfunctional family and blames himself for his aunt’s death. He starts out in the book as a young teenager starting his first year of high school. He discovers that his best friend has killed himself and most of his friends have changed or left. He quickly befriends Patrick, a student from his shop class and his best friend, and Sam, Patrick’s sister and Charlie’s first love. The rest of the book is about his and his friends experiences, and him trying to decide to live his life how he truly wants to, or to be a wallflower.
I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it. I liked how the author wrote it. He tried to keep things real and didn’t sugar coat anything. It is heartbreaking and funny at the same time. It touches on edgier subjects, like drugs, sexuality, among other things. I liked the realness and bluntness, along with the fact that is was just a good story.
“I love this book I can’t set it down,” I said clutching the book to my chest. “Seems like your married to that book,” my friend Sarah said. Have you ever felt like that well if you have then you will love this book. This book is called the Treasure at the Heart of Tanglewood. In this book there is a young girl around the age of seventeen. She is named Hannah the green. She has some magical powers. There is also a Wizard in this story trying to corupt her mind. Then there is a knight named Foxlith who has jet black hair and is trying to save the Heart of Tanglewood. That the Wizard took to take back to his Sorcerrer Queen.
A special note I could add to this book is, it is very well writen and it is a very interesting book. I think everyone should read it. If you are into mythical and fantasy then this book has a very good story line for you.
I like this book because it is very exciting. It is a page turner once you pick it up you can’t put it down. Also it changes and you can never guess what’s going to happen until it does. Then you start to figure out the puzzle. It is a very good exciting page turning book. For the people of any age.
I would recomend this book to others because it is very exciting like I have said before. It is also very interesting it keeps you on your toes and the edge of your seat. If you are into fiction I would definatly recoment this book. If mystery is your mistress pick up this book and you wont be able to pull yourself out.
I think everyone should read this book sometime in there life. It will give everyone a very interesting and exciting unique exsperience. It will be a thrill of a life time. It will suck you so into the story you will think it is happaning to you and you will want to know what happens to the caracters.
– Darian Nelson Period4 September 30, 2009
Mine’s a little long. Ah well.
The book Ender’s Game, By Orson Scott Card, Is about a kid named Ender Wiggin. In the first chapter of the book I found out that Ender was a third, I thought
maybe that was supposed to mean the third child, but it didn’t. It meant that he was pretty much a Government experiment. They try to see if he is suitable
to run a space ship and save the world from aliens called “Buggers.” They give him a monitor, which is placed in the back of his neck. When the experiment
is over, they take it out and he feels like he is missing something. Kids constantly taunt him about being a third, and a boy named Stilson tries to beat
him up one day after school. But Ender ends up hurting Stilson, very badly. Ender goes home and talks to his Brother and Sister. Their names are Valentine
Peter. They are both older than Ender. All of the children have had the monitor in them, Peter is very rude to Ender. And Valentine tries to be nice.
Peter harasses, and threatens Ender’s life, repeatedly. Next a guy named Colonel Graff comes to talk to Ender about beating
up Stilson. Ender tells the Colonel that he didn’t want to get picked on anymore, so he did what he did. The Officer is somewhat impressed with his courage
and invites him to the Space School. Ender knows that if he chooses to enroll in the school he won’t be able to see his family for ten years, because of the
hard training on his mind, and his body. Ender chooses to go, because he says that’s what he was born for. The Colonel decides that he will give Ender
a little slack, so that his mind is still creative. Ender is in class one day and the student sitting behind him keeps poking him. The kid ends up breaking
Ender’s arm. Ender meets a person named Mick. He gives Ender the basics on how to survive at the Battle School. Ender gets to go into the Battle Room, And in
the Battle Room they test out equipment. All of the students put on Suits and test out Guns. Ender meets Alai, Who is a friend of Bernard, the kid who broke
his arm. They practice the guns on each other and realizes that if you shoot someones foot, it’s paralyzed. Ender plays a video game and kills a giant, he
thinks that his brother would be proud of him. Ender gets transferred to the Salamander Army. Alai kisses Ender, and Ender gets pissed. Luckily, he goes to
his new barracks and meets Petra and Bonzo, Who like his siblings, are hot and cold. Petra is nice to him, and offers to give him shooting lessons before he
goes to his new army. The Rat Army. Petra is a very good shooter. Whenever Ender gets mad he goes and plays his Fantasy game, He keeps winning, and killing.
He feels he is better than Peter at killing. Ender gets to go back to Earth for his birthday and he sees that he has been gone for a year.
He thinks that Peter is a lot nicer than he used to be, and Valentine thinks that it is all just an act. Peter and Valentine talk about wanting to rule
something one day, And Peter says that he wants to rule something worth ruling, and he is going to work very hard towards it. Ender goes back to the Space
School and continues his training. Another year passes and Ender gets sad, even though he is still the best. The Colonel asks Valentine if she will write
a letter to Ender to help cheer him up, and let him know that he is not as bad of a person as he thinks he is. Ender is better, and gets upgraded to the
Dragon army. He is the youngest recruit ever in that army. He meets Been, a suitable opponent. Ender is a Commander now, and battles the Rabbit army. His
army wins, and he also wins every other battle he fights in. Colonel Graff is very impressed, and talks to Ender. Ender is mad that he keeps winning so easily
Ender talks to Been again, and decides assign Been a toon, and to train five people. Bonzo tries to attack Ender in the shower, but Ender wins and once
again, has to talk to Graff. Ender goes to Earth again and talks to Valentine. She convinces his to love, and not hate. Graff is still so impressed with
Ender and decides to teach him about the ship. Ender is trained so hard that he starts to have nightmares, and finally passes out during one of the
training sessions. Ender doesn’t want to fight the buggers. But he does, and he wins the battle, but destroys Earth in the process. Peter comes up with
a plan to restore earth, and Valentine wants Ender to be Governor. Ender gets tired of his planet and leaves, Valentine goes with him and they go looking
for a place for the Hive-Queen to live in peace. Ender’s game is 1 of 5 books.. I think.
-Austin Robertson
Once again Orson Scott Card steals the hearts and imaginations of young science fiction readers in, “Enders Shadow”. It is the book that came out right after “Enders Game”. It’s a Book about how there is this school for young people, who go up into space to learn to protect our planet from ‘buggers’ (aliens). They play fantasy games and organize their own groups or clans and battle out who is the better group amongst themselves. Ender in the first book saved our planet, along with Beans help from the buggers. “Enders Shadow” is Beans side of the story, how he got into Battle school.
Bean grew up in a rough part of town, Rotterdam. He was the smallest of all the other kids and probably the most helpless. In Rotterdam the adults’ didn’t take of the kids, in fact they were scared of them. But Bean aside from being small had amazing un-natural gifts; he could remember everything and analyzed everything. He played off other people and had a great way at surviving. Although he was six he managed to organize the kids of Rotterdam into “families”. He was noticed by a woman, Sister Corletta, who recognized his abilities and sent him to space.
In Battle School he used his skills and intelligence to really tower in the ranks. He became known as the other Ender. In the end they found out that the games they were playing were not in fact games. But real battles. In the book you also find out that Bean is genetically altered. And the reason he’s so small is because his “creator” made it so his mind and thinking process was much more advanced than ours. So he isn’t going to get normal sized and he will die sooner than other kids.
I really enjoyed this book because its not just a “kids in space” book. These kids deal with larger than life problems. Bean deals with a lot of violence and negativity. His really good friend back in Rotterdam was murdered and found in the water with a missing eye. A lot of kids feel threatened by him in Battle school because of his intelligence and how he gets to help Ender. This book really has so much story and deep character background. Its able to trick you into thinking its not just a book. And that’s why its such a good book.
I recommend this book for anyone who has patience, who is a good reader, and who has an imagination. Its one of the books that is kind of harder to read if you’re not used to reading something with so much depth and doesn’t quite spoon feed you the story. That’s also why I say you need patience. It has great detail and it drags out in some places. And the more imagination you have the better the book will be. Its exciting, Adventurous, Mysterious, and in a weird way its dirty. It’s a good book and I would recommend it.
“I feel infinite”
My book review is on The Perks of Being a Wallflower, and as I know quite a few other have also chosen this book, which makes me want to stand out with what I say.
Why I chose to read this book was because for years I’ve heard quotes from the book, I’ve heard people talk about it, and my friend Charlie (who also shares the name of the main character form the book) really got me interested to read it.
This book talks about a young boy with many problems coming into high school for his first year. He’s writing letters to someone he doesn’t know at all and has never met, he just has this feeling about them, that they are a good person, and he’s sharing the story of his first year in high school as the year progresses.
It brings up common High School situations that we some or many may come across, but I find that very boring to talk about because this book meant a lot more to me than reading about situations I may relate to. I found Charlie to be a very special unique person that I could identify with, he’s a beautiful.. fictional.. person. He, Charlie, opened my mind.
I reccomend this book to my classmates because I stayed up until 4:00AM to finish this book the day I started. It’s innocent, emotional and perfect. It’s honest.
This book was very special. Maybe I think so because I found my own meaning in it.
-Gabriella Killpack
Gabrielle Gioffre
Book Review #1
Matt Thomas English 11
4th Period
To Kill a Mockingbird
I read To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. It was published in 1960, and takes place in the early 1930’s. I chose this book because I am interested in classic American literature, and this book is infamous, I was interested and pleased with the outcome.
This book is about the Finch family living in Maycomb County, Alabama. It is told by Jean “Scout” Finch, the youngest member of the Finch family. Scout is very different from most girls you’d find in this time period, she wasn’t very lady like at any age, and always took too much influence from her older brother Jem Finch. Jem is a normal child, polite, but thinks he knows everything, he daring, loves an adventure. Atticus is their father, he is a lawyer, but not too successful. The Finch’s are poor, they just get by. They have help from Calpurnia, who is more than happy to watch the Scout and Jem, cook, and clean for the Finch’s.
To Kill a Mockingbird exposes a part of this time that is not very often talked about: the racism, the sexism, and the hard times. This book is fiction, but it did give me a lot of insight of the history of that time period. You learn in this book what was accepted back then, and what wasn’t, which seems like everyday things now that you normally wouldn’t expect to be ‘radical’. I think this is part of the reason it’s so popular and famous, it brings out a side of that decade that you’d be surprised to hear. The characters are the kind of people who weren’t really accepted then.
I really enjoyed reading this book; it was amazing to read about how people lived back then. It’s odd reading about how you couldn’t just pick a phone and dial a number anyone in the world. When I first started reading it, it seemed like any other book, not really as noteworthy as it is, but when I got about 15 pages in I was hooked. This book isn’t subtle at all, and I’m glad. It’s almost historic with all the facts and scenarios that go on through it. I would think that this book wasn’t accepted when it was published.
I loved this book, it’s one I would recommend to people who like reading in general, and who are interested in books that have made such impact on society such as this one. To Kill a Mockingbird is a powerful book that that has historical features while still remaining a fictional book, it has characters that were a burden to the current ways of life, and characters that were the accepted kinds of people in this time.
For book review numero uno, I decided to read The Perks of Being a Wallflower. It was written by Stephen Chbosky, who graduated from the University of Southern California’s Filmic Writing Program. I really like the style he chose for this particular book, the main character, Charlie writes a series of letters to a stranger about his new life as a high school student.
He meets and becomes friends with Patrick and Sam, who later become very close to him. They introduce him to a whole new world filled with drugs, sex, parties, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show. He’s also pretty smart, so his teacher, Bill, makes him read and write reports about classic literature such as Walden, The Catcher in the Rye, The Fountainhead, etc.
The thing that makes Charlie’s story unique is that he really isn’t connected to the outside world. Usually sad things in a book don’t get to me, but some of the things Charlie talks about made my stomach hurt with nervousness. I really thought it was interesting how it had such an effect on me. He just watches, waits, and listens. Like the title says, he’s a wallflower.
I would recommend this book to any high school student. Some adults might enjoy it as well. It’s pretty relatable, sometimes to the point that it’s scary. The only thing I didn’t really “get” was how Charlie pulled off a 4.0 with all of the drugs he was involved in. Not fair.
**********************
Wouldn’t that be funny if they had a Reading Rainbow type of show for teenagers? I pictured myself talking about my book as a child on television urging seven-year-olds to read this book. That’s probably a bad idea…
I choose to read and do my book review number one on The Fellowship Of The Ring written by J. R. R. Tolkin because everyone talks about lord of the rings and everyone has at least heard about it so i thought id figure out what all the hype and excitement was aboutthat EVERYONE ould hear about it.
it starts off with Bilbo dissappering after his speach and he gives the ring to Frodo Baggins and Gandalf warned him about the danger and the Ringwaiths trying to get that ring and it should be distroyed so it cant fall into the hands of evil. Frodo decided to sets off on his journey without Gandalf cause he never showed up. so some friends took the last of his stuff and two others leave to there adventures making friends to fallow with them.
some facts? well i found out the authors English and well there whole map of where they travel is alll fitional and made up i think thats pretty cool 🙂
i like the chariters in the book there very creative and different i like how theres hobbits, eleves, oricals, striders, and all the pictures that get painted in your head while reading this book.
if your a good reader and can handle long books its deffenetly worth reading even though im probably not reading the secound one i need to swith it up a bit and read something not so serious
The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a coming-of-age story of sorts. The book is about a young boy who uses the alias name of Charlie as he writes about his first year in high school. He tells his story through letters sent to an unknown person. These letters, more intimate than can be expected, gives us a look into the world through Charlie’s eyes. The letters show his wide range of emotions, from utter bliss to devastation.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower is controversial to say the least. It focuses on the topics most books try to stir clear of. There are moments almost to hard to get through, but that’s exactly what makes the book so genuine. It may be about a teenage boy going through that awkward teenage stage, but this book surely isn’t just for the kids. It deals with things we all know, but never really talk about.
This is one book I enjoyed reading. The author gave Charlie a voice that was both simplistic and passionate. The story of his growing up is relatable, that’s important to any reader.
It felt like I knew Charlie; I began to believe those letters were written strictly for me. It wasn’t just Charlie I felt for; it’s all of the people in his life that he writes about. He has the ability to describe them with such detail, you feel like you know them all as individuals.
Charlie is perceptive. He develops this skill after his best friend commits suicide. It’s one of the first things he writes to us about. He tries to understand why his friend would take his own life, but he’s gone and he’ll never really know why. Trying to understand makes him less self-involved compared to most other people. From then on, it’s easier for him to become an introvert, a wallflower. He starts to see things no one else cares to see. It becomes his way of life. Being as selfless as he is, when he finally becomes more social, he unintentionally lives is life for those people. He disregards his feelings for theirs. The one thing Charlie doesn’t see or understand is himself. That’s what makes his character so beautiful. The reader has the chance to observe him—we’re given the chance to see him, as we’d like—as he tells us about his observations of others.
Everyone can take a little something from this book. I personally looked closer at my actions and tried to figure out why I do what I do and why I live the way I do. This book isn’t about surviving high school; it’s about surviving in general. It’s about living life for yourself and having your own experiences. It teaches you that life goes on even when it seems unlivable—that is, if you let it.
“At that moment, I swear we were infinite”. What Charlie’s trying to say is that, at moments like these, life is completely worth living. Allowing yourself to become a part of something instead of just looking from the outside in, well, that’s what it’s all about. When you understand the world around you, when you understand yourself; even for a few precious seconds you feel complete, whole—infinite.
The alchemist is about this boy who’s a Shepard and he travels around the world with his sheep. He has a dream about these kids playing with his sheep and then one of the kids grabs him by his hands and transports him to the Egyptian pyramids and the kid tells the Shepard that if he comes to the Egyptian pyramids that he will find a treasure and before the kid shows him where the treasure is he wakes up. He has this dream twice and he feels like it means something so he goes to this gypsy chick and she tells him that he needs to go the pyramids of Egypt and when he gets his treasure she wants one tenth of it. He doesn’t believe that there’s a treasure so he continues on with his traveling. He meets a king that tells him the same thing the gypsy told him and much more, they talk about personal legends and languages of the world and the king gives him these two stones that will help him along his journey. The boy continues to travel facing a lot of challenges and things that get in his way but he continues on and doesn’t give up even when I wants to.
I think this whole book is extremely unique. It teaches you things and opens your mind and makes you think, but it doesn’t get boring, somehow it stays really entertaining throughout the whole book. Paulo Coelho has a other books about wisdom, faith, courage, obsession, hope, love, redemption, temptation and forgiveness. I like that he writes about things that are deep and meaningful and not stupid and superficial. I’ll probably read more of his books.
I liked that this book made me think about my life and the direction its going and what I can do to change it and create it. I liked being able to relate to parts of it and make connections between my life and the Shepard’s life and things he went through. There was also a good message and some good quotes and things. I also really liked that he went through so much and there were so many times that he was so close to giving up but in the end he accomplished what he needed to accomplish and he learned what he needed to learn and everything kinda just came together. I feel smarter after reading it and I liked the way it made me feel when I read it.
I defiantly recommend this book because as corny as it sounds it makes me want to be a better person, it makes you want to figure your life out so that you to can find your personal legend and achieve it and find your treasure at the end. It makes me want to live every day to its fullest and it definitely makes me want to read more books like this. I think anyone who reads this book would love it because it’s inspirational, it’s got a good message, it keeps you guessing, and it’s a pretty easy read and if you like books that make you feel good then you will defiantly love this book.
Interview with the Vampire
by Anne Rice
Review by Jonathan Aspittle
‘“Drink from me, and live forever….” the words are whispered in the dying mans ear. Sure, he had asked for this, spent years praying for the day death would take him, and yet now; staring into those pale blue eyes, the icy flesh upon his skin, fear takes hold. The man holding him lifts his wrists to his mouth, a smile flashing for an instant across those cold lips and he bites. Blood flows as water over the ivory of his arm, as he lowers it to Louis’ awaiting mouth…’
The journalist stops, looking toward the thin man sitting across from him. The recorder recording the silence in anticipation. “ go on…. please” the vampire smiles. He had followed the boy to this room. He knew what would become of this night. He would tell his story, he would let the world know.
His tale unfolds in front the the young journalist, starting on a plantation in New Orleans in the mid 1800s with the death of he, Louis’, brother. In his pain, he begins to long for death, praying for the day he would die. He becomes reckless, stupid…. in his lowest point who should find him? Lestat, the vampire. He gives to Louis the ‘dark gift’, and with it a new look at the world. The years pass and they bring into their little family of immortals a girl: Claudia. But there is a flaw in this action, she never grows older, she becomes an adult stuck in the body of a child… tensions between she and Lestat grow as Louis learns that immortality is not all that it seems, he pines for his human life… he begins to feel trapped. Both he and Claudia know what caused their misery….Lestat.
After an attempt to kill Lestat, the two flee the country to Europe, where they eventually find Il Theatre du Vampire. A play house run by Immortals and their leader Armand. Louis is wary of their way of life, but he can not ignore his growing love for Armand. So they stay near by the dark playhouse in Paris. Now there are a few rules among the immortals, one of which is to never give the dark gift to a child… the vampires at the theater saw Claudia, and knew she must be destroyed. However they stayed their death blows due to Armand’s word……. but how long would that hold power over them?
The historical landscapes in ‘Interview with the Vampire’ are stunning. Rich in texture and accuracy, it’s descriptions of the times and attitudes and fantastic, believable, and really get you thinking about what really goes into an eternity. Not only do you read about the changing emotions of the main vampires, but of the country, a people on the brink of the industrial revolution. Truly a gorgeous read all around.
Anne Rice’s descriptions are beautiful. Each word flowing into the next like poetry, idea to idea, the perfect word choice to completely ensnare the mind and paint fantastical dark vision of immortality. But one thing in particular that I really quite enjoyed, were her thoughts on love. The openness of the vampire to love anyone and each other, regardless of sex. A good example of this is the love affair between Louis and Armand, even though Louis was once married to a woman in life. . “ No one else would love us, knowing each other like we do, but still you love me” whispered in the darkness, Louis and Armand. The lesson? Love is not blind, love is accepting. And Of the fatherly love he has for Claudia, how it breaks his heart in the end not to have her with him for the eternities
So pray, give this wonderful novel a try. It really gets you to think the nature of immortality, what is love? What are it’s limits, if any? Is the loss of humanity really worth living forever? Or even better, must you lose your human self to achieve that?
All in all, an amazing read, I could not put it down, and to this day, it remains near the top of my list of all time favorite books.
1984
The book I choose to read was George Orwell’s 1984. This book is about a guy named Winston who is living in Oceania a dystopia controlled by a dictator named Big Brother. Big Brother controls what you think, say and what you do; the people of Oceania are controlled by a constant fear of Big Brother and the party which contains smaller ministries. One way that they are controlled is by a device called a telescreen which is like a television the big difference is that it can see what you are doing and it is not able to be switched off.
In the book Winston goes on a quest to destroy the corrupt government that controls the world he lives in now. Along the way he meets a few friends that wish to join him, the first friend is a girl named Julia who has secretly been slowly destroying the party. The other friend of Winston is a Party member who has gone bad, he is part of a group of rebels that spread the truth about the party to the citizens of Oceania.
I love this book, if you like to read about danger, treachery, and the thought of a good government gone bad then this is the book for you. I would highly suggest that you read it, if not for the great story that it tells, then for the bragging rights and self accomplishment that it gives you. Many great people have read this book, and if you want to be great like them, and sound intelligent then read this book.
-Logan Mouritsen
Running with Scissors
Augusten Burroughs
I chose to do my book review on Running with Scissors because for me, and many others like myself, it’s difficult to find a book with an interesting enough plot to keep me reading. Augusten Burroughs has a different way with his words. The details he adds and the way he describes situations is humorous, yet thought provoking. He’ll make you picture what’s going on, even if you would prefer not to. In this memoir, it tells about Augusten growing up with an alcoholic father and self-proclaimed famous poet of a mother. Over a few years of therapy, and dealing with his parent’s divorce, he ends up living with his mother’s therapist and his free spirited family. As a pre-teen he copes with more than the average kid’s struggles; being gay with a 30 year old lover, having a father that wants nothing to do with him and a lesbian mother who can barely take care of herself, let alone her son that has never had any interest in his schooling.
I would highly recommend this book to those who have trouble staying enthralled in reading, and even those who love to pick of any book and have an adventure. I’d read it again and again. To my benefit and hopefully yours, if you enjoy Running with Scissors, there’s a sequel, Dry.
Before midnight. 😀
I decided to do my book review on The Joy of Living (Unlocking the Secret and Science of Happiness) by Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche. Well that was quite a long introductory sentence. Anyhow, I chose this book, because I am a Buddhist, the only one in my family in fact. Also, because I admire the teachings of Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche. Rinpoche is a well known Tibetan master, that is internationally known, and known as “the happiness man in the world.” In this particular book, Rinpoche teaches the key to happiness, through idealistic Buddhist philosophy.
In The Joy of Living, Master Rinpoche tells us of his path to happiness through learning whathis mind was, and what he must do to experience happiness. Since Rinpoche can remember, he has felt nervous around people, scared of experience. He lived with his mother and father in a Tibetan village that was occupied with monks and nuns. He would watch them meditate and felt the peace upon their countenance. Seeking to experience peace himself, young Yongey meditated at the tender age of six. Many more experiences fallow, that turn Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, into Master Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche. He explains that when we fully understand our minds, further than the general concept we already have, far enough that you completely understand, accept it, then you will achieve nirvana, and be a complete person. You must suffer to obtain happiness. The concept of you can’t feel warm, if you have never felt cold.
I recommend this book for anyone who seeks happiness in their life, for people who want to know exactly who they are. This isn’t a good read for only Buddhist, but any one at all. I honestly enjoyed this book, and hope to obtain complete nirvana, if not in this lifetime, then in the next.
Kerry Thomas
Matt Thomas
Due 10/7/09
The Virgin Suicides
Have you ever wanted to commit suicide? Have you ever been in the thoughts of someone who has wanted or tried to commit suicide?
For my first book I read The Virgin Suicides by Jeffery Eugenides. There is really nothing to give away that isn’t described in the title. It starts out with just one of the six Lisbon girls trying to commit suicide without success. As time moves forward she makes it happen. That’s what triggers every other event in the book. The time spans for one year from the attempted suicide of the first Lisbon girl. The perspective is from a few boys that the Lisbon girls grew up with. They can’t tell their own story because they are dead.
Jeffery Eugenides is just an average guy. He writes the occasional short story and the occasional good book but after that he is an average guy who made a good start at being an author. He has won awards for this or that but there is nothing truly notable about him other than he wrote a decent book or two. I think the book shows a true light on suicide and it gives a real take on life. It’s hard to find a fictitious book with non-fiction edged into it.
I like the book because it was simple. It had no underlining story it had no complication. It was simple and true to life. I liked it because it was a good story. It didn’t have all of the tension in it because the title gives everything away. There is no false hope to hold on to. The ending was as expected but it was beautiful in its own miraculous way. If I had to pick a word I was say stunning because it was stunning to me that you can make such a great story out of so little material, out of just the facts of life.
I recommend it to anybody who wants a real story. It’s good for anybody who isn’t looking for a happy ending or a prince or a fairytale. It’s very simple, not very long, and it keeps you interested even at points that aren’t interesting. I loved it so much that I might even read it again. That doesn’t happen very often.
The Darkangel
By Meredith Ann Pierce
Review by Mikaela Carroll
The Darkangel is the story of a Vampire that takes away a girl, the normal thing you see with it vampire books. But instead of the normal charming vampire, this one is kind of self conceited and rude. The characters personalities seem very easy going. I would be upset if a hot guy called me ugly, but Aeriel is not offended by this, which I find not realistic. But I guess you could say this book is not realistic at all.
Aeriel is the main character and is a slave to her mistress Eoduin. Aeriel is loyal type of person and really dose care about her companion Eoduin. She goes after her when she gets picked up and flown away to the Drakangels castle. Aeriel is defiantly not the best looking girl. She has thin yellowish, silver hair and a bad tone to her skin but Eoduin is beautiful with a thick back hair. They have known each other since they were youngsters. They have a, what seems, a good friendship even though Aeriel is the slave.
One evening the two went out to pick flowers for some event and that is when Eoduin got captured by the Icarus. When Aeriel returned home, people blamed her for what happened and were about to sell her for it. She felt empty and really lonely without her mistress. So she decides to go after the Vampire, wanting to kill him. But when he shows up he takes her away also to become the slave for all his of his wives he has took away. But she needs to find a way out and save the wives before it’s too late and he gets the last wife he needs. This is a strange adventure she is about to go through.
The book is odd but not a bad odd, especially in the wording she used. It relates a lot of Greek mythology. I found that the book actually taught me something because I had to look up what words to find out what they are talking about. The other interesting thing I found was that it has most of the same story line as other vampire books except there is a twist. You see, in other books when a woman gets captured a man has to come and save her or she falls deeply in love with the man that is the evil one and can’t save herself from her temptation. But in this Aeriel seems strong, even though she may have her weak moments, but she sticks through it and fights for what she believes. I find it empowering for women and that is something that love about the book.
I think the book is interesting and I did enjoy it because it did teach me some things. It does have some points you have to think about when you are done reading it. Like the empowerment for woman thing. After I was done I had a hard picking things I liked about the book in general, so I look a little deeper and found some points it made.
So I’m leaving you with my honest opinion about how I feel about the book. Even though it is a fast read and did teach me some things, I would not read the series. The reason for that is, I am not much into the vampire craze and I really didn’t absolutely love the book. There are other books that I want to read. But if you do like Vampire books and are somewhat feminist, you probably would love this book. If you are looking for something fast and that will keep you entertained, you would like this book. But if you are not much interested in fantasy and big adventures don’t read it.
for the first book report of this year i read and now am going to report on the book Breakfast at tiffany. this was a vary short but good book. ive heard that it was plotless and has no point to it but i dont think so. it was a vary intreaging book.
this book is about a woman named holiday golightly also known has holly. who climes into the window of the narrater window who is a expring wrigter holly t has spent her live basiclly stealing money from rich older males. the narrater lives in the flat above her. she likes to stun people with carefully selected tidbits from her personal life or her outspoken viewpoint on various topics, slowly reveals herself to the narrator.she ends up screwing over her friends so that she can end the quest to find all the money she could want and a place to all home.
what i liked about this book is the way it was written i could understand all the points in the book it all just clicked you could say i also like the way that holly the main chariter slowly reviles herself it keeped me interested the whole time.
i think that kids at east hollywood high should read this book cuz its not vary hard and it keeps you interested tell the end of the book
THE HOBBIT
BY: Zachary Keller
This book was written by J.R.R. Tolkien it is the enchanting and exciting prelude to the Lord of the Rings trilogy. The Hobbit, is about a hobbit named Bilbo Baggins, who like all hobbits loved peace, quiet, smoking, the Shire, his home and, probably the most FOOD! They hated outsiders and, adventures; they were peaceful and didn’t want that to change. In the book Bilbo is part Took, which is a family that has strange and exciting experiences.
Bilbo was a hobbit that wanted to be left alone, but then the wizard Gandalf came along looking for a burglar to take part in a adventure with dwarves to reclaim their fathers gold from the dragon Smaug at the Lonely Mountain of the Misty Mountains. On his adventures Bilbo meets a lot of strange friends, such as Elrond the elf.
This is not the first book about Middle Earth. Tolkien wrote a lot of books about the subject in his life. Like a lot of people in his time he was religious. He based Middle Earth on religion. Tolkien was good friend C. S. Lewis; they met at a local pub and got ideas for books from each other.
I liked that Tolkien stayed focused on the story and did not drift into the Lord of
the Rings. He described the characters so well I almost thought of them as good friends
if not brothers or fathers. He combined several adventures into one book. The ending is
the perfect ending to this book.
I hope you read this before The Lord of The Rings, it will help you understand
more of the trilogy. The book sucks you in it is so good you will think “I wish I could do
this”! Two thumbs up from me, I got excited at parts and that hardly ever happens when
I read.
I chose to read In Cold Blood by Truman Capote is the story of a family of four in Kansas, murdered by shotguns. The murderers had no apparent motive and left hardly any clues. In Cold Blood details the crime, investigation, arrest and execution of the murderers. This book gives a unique look into the minds of the killers and the different sides of this horrible event.
Herbert Clutter inspects his ranch on the morning of November 14, 1959. That same morning, on the other side of Kansas, Perry Smith meets up with Dick Hickock. While the Clutters go about their daily business, running errands and baking apple pies, Hickock and Smith are tuning their car. After a long drive, they pull up to the Clutter home with a shotgun and knife in hand. That morning, the bodies are discovered by Susan Kidwell and another of Nancy’s friends. Initially, the police are baffled. Bobby Rupp is a suspect until he passes a lie detector test. Alvin Dewey, the KBI agent in charge of the investigation, thinks that the killer must be someone close to the family.
The investigation of the Clutter murders seems to be heading nowhere. However, a man in the Kansas state prison at Lansing, Floyd Wells, hears of the murder case. Sure that Dick Hickock is responsible, he begins to think of talking to the authorities. Meanwhile, Dick and Perry are hitchhiking in the American desert. Floyd confesses and Dewey and his team are begin an elaborate manhunt.
When the men are caught Dick confesses after intense questioning, and Perry follows suit. The trial goes smoothly, and the two are condemned to death. Now don’t think I just spoiled it for you because it does in fact say on the back of the book that the story does contain the execution of the murderers, however, I did not tell you how they got caught.
I liked that In Cold Blood reads almost like a fiction novel, yet is a factual work. Because Capote paces himself and uses so much detail, he creates a sort of suspense, which you might expect in a fiction novel. Yet it’s slow and detailed. Capote takes his time describing the people and places involved in the murder, which at times can drag on annoyingly but is rewarded with amazing visual thoughts that can be picked up from the writing.
Capote also allows different voices to tell the story, creating an intimacy between the readers and the murderers, the readers and the victims, and all the other players in this event–townspeople, investigators, friends of the family. This intimacy leads to sympathy, which can sometimes be disturbing. (How can I be so disgusted by this murder and yet still see the humanity in the murderers?)
I would not, however, say that all people would enjoy In Cold Blood. (Enjoy, perhaps, is not the righ word – I liked the book, but do not enjoy reading about a mass murder). The content is difficult and the reading is dense. I recommend In Cold Blood, but caution readers that it is not light reading and it may make you think twice about the people you walk by on the street.
Krista Maggard
“No Country for Old Men” by Cormac McCarthy
If you came across a dead man in the middle of the desert with a briefcase containing millions of dollars, would you take it or leave it? In Cormac McCarthy’s “No Country for Old Men”, Llewellyn Moss stumbles into this situation. His choice was to take the money.
We first meet Moss while he’s hunting when he spots a murder scene. He finds a lot of dead bodies, but he spots one separate from the rest. When he reaches the man he finds a briefcase next to him containing millions of dollars. Here comes Chigurh, a hit-man who that money seems to belong to. The entire story is a wild goose chase. Bell, the sherrif, hunts Chigurh. Chigurh hunts Moss. There’s blood, death, tears, and in the end, heartache. Luckily, you get the whole story.
I really enjoyed this book because of the way it was written. It was very easy to relate to the characters because McCarthy gives you a side of the story from all of them. They also have a clear purpose throughout the novel. Moss wants it all to be over and done with. Chigurh wants his money. Bell wants to catch Chigurh. Clara Jean wants Moss to come home safe…etc. That’s only a fraction of what made this story good.
I can’t say again how much I love the way McCarthy writes. It’s very descriptive without saying much at all. This leaves a lot for you to fill in, but I think that makes the story a more unique experience for everyone who reads it. However, I got very confused due to the fact that there are no quotation marks! I would think someone was talking, when they weren’t or vise-versa. Yet, when it’s all said and done, it’s very enjoyable
I would recommend this book to anyone not faint of heart. It’s bloody and sad, but worth it. I grasped a lot from this book, but especially that everything you do has a consequence, no matter how slight or significant it may be.
Book report on
The Once and Future King
By Holden Smith
When T.H White originally published the book in the year 1958, he completed a work that had taken up several decades. Originally he meant it to be a way to introduce more people to the Arthurian legend, seeing as most other accounts of King Arthur were usually written in French turned away most average readers. White achieved his goal and more, the book is now considered a contemporary classic, and as a means to see a very realistic version of the world hundreds of years ago. The book was divided into four different sections of Arthur’s life, ranging from youth to the final weeks of his reign.
The Sword in the Stone is the first book of the series and was originally published in 1938. The book starts with Wart (short for Arthur), a lonely child who lives with his foster father Sir Ector and foster brother Kay. One day while hawking, Kay loses his prized hawk, Wart being the kind person he is begins to search for it in the nearby woods. It is while searching for the Hawk that he meets Merlin, a kind elderly wizard, who Wart takes home with him. Merlin then begins to tutor Wart, by turning him into several animals in order to teach different forms of discipline. Merlin then reveals that Wart is the son of King Uther Pendragon and that Arthur will one day rule as king. While at a tournament for Kay, Arthur unknowingly pulls out the sword Excalibur from the stone, being the first to ever do this. Arthur then becomes king.
The Queen of Air and Darkness originally published in 1939 is the second book in the series. The book begins with Arthur’s rule being challenged by several of Briton’s native tribes, one in particular being the Orkney tribe, who is led by Arthur’s half-sister Morguase. Merlin is still trying to teach Arthur the wrongs and rights of ruling and is often infuriated by Arthur’s lack of understanding of these two. Merlin persuades Arthur to build a great power to battle the Orkney tribe in the form of the Knights of the Round Table. Arthur is seduced by Morguase and she becomes pregnant with his child, Mordred.
The Ill made Knight originally published in 1940 is the third book in the series. Arthur is now married to Guinevere, the daughter of his half brother Kay. A French knight named Lancelot arrives to Camelot in order to join the Knights of the Round Table. Lancelot instantly falls in love with Guinevere; at first she rejects his affections but then they fall in love with each other. Arthur not knowing that Mordred is his bastard child, allows him to join the Knights of the Round Table. Mordred finds his mother in bed with another man, and kills both. Morguase tells Mordred in her dyeing breath that Arthur is his father. Lancelot and Guinevere have an affair, despite Lancelot’s close friendship with Arthur.
The Candle in the Wind is the final book of the series and was originally published in 1958. Everyone in the castle except for Arthur is aware of the love affair between Lancelot and Guinevere. Mordred contends with the other knights as he wishes to kill Arthur. Mordred then discovers a better way to get revenge towards Arthur. Mordred tells Arthur of Guinevere’s affair with Lancelot, knowing that according to the laws that Arthur himself made that Lancelot would have to be killed and Guinevere would be burned at the stake. Mordred finally convinces the other knights to join in his attempt to murder Arthur. Arthur heavily contemplates the now required deaths of Lancelot and Guinevere. Lancelot stands in the way Mordred’s now small army of Arthur’s knights, Mordred then slays Lancelot. The next day Guinevere is burned at the stake, and Mordred launches his attack on Arthur. Arthur slays all the knights and finally Mordred which completes the collapse of Camelot and Arthur’s rule.
Andrea Pond
Per.2nd
The book I chose to read was The Princess Bride “Good Parts” version by William Goldman. I don’t know why I chose the book probably because I have never watched the movie and I thought it was the perfect opportunity to read the book first and then compare it to the movie.
The book is a classic love story that tells what people will go through for the ones they love. Like one of the main characters Westley, he sails the seven seas and gets tortured just for Buttercup. When Buttercup thinks Westley is dead she vows never to love anyone again, but when she finds out he is not dead she still goes through the Fire Swamp and almost drowns in Snow Sand just to be with Westley, Or Inigo who spends most of his life looking for the man who killed his father, so he can have some justice.
I really like this book because the real author of the book S. Morgenstern gives a lot of detail in it but not so much that your mind can’t wander in what the characters or the settings look like. The only thing I didn’t like was the author would always put inserts in it and it made it seem very un-organized like “oh by the way I forgot to tell you this at the beginning of the book” it was kind of annoying because some of them would take up a whole page.
What I really liked about the book was that during some of the serious parts like if someone was about to die or something like that the author would throw something in to it to lighten up the mood. Most love stories you read are very dramatic and serious but this one wasn’t its just a little bit different and I think that’s why I like it so much.
I would recommend that people read this book if you would like a nice love story or need a little bit of a laugh. Two thumbs up!
Into the Wild
by Jon Krakauer
“I’m going to paraphrase Thoreau here… rather than love, than money, than faith, than fame, than fairness… give me truth.” Christopher McCandless aka Alexander Supertramp is a young man in search of an adventure. In 1974 he visited Alaska for the first time, and throughout his lifetime took twenty more visits. Chris grew up in Annandale, Virginia, he graduated from Emory University, and though some suggest the man was simply crazy, they later did studies proving he had a high IQ and no mental health issues. After graduation he cut off all communication with his entire family, and gave away a total of $24,000 to Oxfam, a charity. Later abandoning his car, twenty-five pounds of rice, and burning all money he had in his wallet. He lived off rice, roots, and little game, he carried a .22 calibre rifle, a camera, several boxes of rifle rounds, and a small selection of reading material — including a field guide to the region’s edible plants.
In early September his body was found by a group of moose hunters and a couple. They later did further research and found he had died sometime in early august. At first, they claimed he died from eating a poisonous potato root also known as an Eskimo potato-later they found out the poison from the plant can also cause starvation by blocking nutrients in the body. He was found at 67 pounds, and a journal entry later backed up the theory by saying: EXTREMELY WEAK. FAULT OF POT. SEED… He called out, wrote, and even tried to get away from the death, but he was too weak, and by the time he realized he needed help, it was too late.
If you like tragic nature stories, or if you have any soul, I recommend this book to you. It’s easily relate-able and hard to put down, I think we all could all learn a little something if we just took a step into the wild.
me too.
P.S. Matt, It took me forever to write this! Also, I don’t like the comment way of submitting these, it looks tacky, and it also looks like it gives students an excuse to not do as good a job because of its format. My essay looked good before I submitted it! I think we need a new approach.
Chelsey Sargent
Book Report
Period 1
“You can’t stop the future… You can’t rewind the past… The only way to learn the secret… Is to press play.”
When Clay Jensen first discovered the shoebox sized package on his doorstep, with no return address, he was confused, excited, maybe even intrigued by it. He went inside and quickly opened the package. What he found were audiotapes. Which he thought was strange because nobody listened to, or used audiotapes anymore. He was puzzled for a minute trying to remember if his family even owned something that would play the tapes, when he remembered his dad had bought an old boom box from a yard sale to use in the garage because he wanted something that he could care less about if it got paint on it, and lucky Clay, the boom box just happened to have a tape player. He inserted the first tape and without effort, pressed play, then, he was shocked, even sick, when he heard whose voice was coming from the tapes. It was Hannah Bakers voice, a girl who only two weeks before had committed suicide. Clay Jensen’s life was changed forever. “I hope you’re ready, because I’m about to tell you the story of my life. More specifically, why it ended, and if you’re listening to these tapes, you’re one of the reasons why.”
Hannah begins the tapes by introducing herself, but Clay does not need the introduction, once he hears her word’s, he knows the voice belongs to Hannah. Hannah explains that she has sent out a second set of tapes in case anyone is tempted to throw them away, and if they do, she will expose the tapes to not only who is on the list, but the whole school. Hannah then goes on to explain the map that was dropped in everyone’s locker and that the big red stars on it are places where some of these events happened. The first name on the tapes is Justin Foley, Hannah’s first kiss, the reason he is on the tapes is not because he kissed her, but because he started to brag, and started to make up rumors that were not true, just to impress his friends. I know what you’re thinking, who in their right mind would commit suicide over a stupid rumor? But rumors are like bowling, once you throw the ball down the lane, there is no stopping it, and once it reaches the end, it knocks everyone down. “When you mess with one part of a person’s life, you’re messing with their entire life. Everything… affects everything.”
I have personal experience with the bowling affect. In fact, a few years ago I thought a lot about suicide. My parents got divorced, and I went into and extremely deep depression. School used to be my safe haven, until I started hearing rumors about me, ones that certainly were not true, but I started to notice that everyone believed them. He rumor started off a chain of events, they would look at me differently, whispering thinking I could not hear them, then when I turned around avert their eyes. It really start to get to me, and when I had no one to turn to, I started writing poetry. Then, I started to think that death would not be so bad, it would be an escape. Luckily I realized that in doing that I would be hurting everyone that loved me, and I snapped out of it. Yes, it took well over a year, but I did it. I think that was the main reason I was really interested in reading this book, because I had a connection to it. Hannah’s story is one I can strongly relate to. “No one knows for certain how much impact they have on the lives of other people. Oftentimes, we have no clue. Yet we push it just the same.”
Clay’s name does not pop up until tape number 5, side one, which according to Hannah’s list, is the ninth story. You see, Clay had always admired Hannah, and she was his crush for quite some time, they even worked at the same movie theater together, but he was too afraid to talk to her, I mean, really talk to her, because he himself did not know if the rumors were true. He wanted to believe that they weren’t but he never got up the courage to ask. Until one night, the night, that Hannah and Clay actually connected. Clay decided to go to a party, which was rare because he was the good kid who didn’t go to parties and always did his homework. Hannah found out he was going to be at this party, and Hannah had always admired him as well, so she made up her mind that at this party she was going to talk to him. So she got there, found him, and they talked, but that is not all they did, no, I’m not saying that Hannah was living up to her underserved reputation, but she and Clay did make out. Hannah was searching for help in Clay, but Clay could not have known it. So when Hannah burst into tears while they were together and screamed at Clay to leave, he did as he was told. That is a regret that will stay with him forever. Hannah explains in Clay’s story that he was right, he didn’t do anything wrong, but that she needed to include his story to tell hers ‘more completely’, and she admits that after kissing him and talking with him, she thinks he could have been the one. “You can’t go back to how things were, or how you thought they were. All you really have… Is now.”
Clay is devastated after listening to all thirteen stories, but he comes to terms with the fact that Hannah is already dead, and he cannot bring her back, so he moves on. Jay Asher is the author of TH1RTEEN R3ASONS WHY and I think that he did an amazing job in portraying what life in high school is really like, especially for someone like Hannah. He has an amazing way with words that spoke to me and millions others. This book kept me on the edge of my seat and was impossible to put down. It made me wish I could read faster, then when I reached the end wishing it hadn’t ended. He sends out an important message in this book, there are always people there to help and support you. Hannah did have those people, she just didn’t know where to look. I hope this book reaches out to those considering suicide and makes them change their mind. This book left a lasting impact on me, which is why I included several quotes from the book, one of my favorites being, “In the end, everything matters.”
“Do you remember the last thing you said to me? Probably not, but I remember the last thing I said to you, because believe me, when I said it, I knew it was the last thing I would ever say.”
Chelsey Sargent
Book Report #1
Period 1
“You can’t stop the future… You can’t rewind the past… The only way to learn the secret… Is to press play.”
When Clay Jensen first discovered the shoebox sized package on his doorstep, with no return address, he was confused, excited, maybe even intrigued by it. He went inside and quickly opened the package. What he found were audiotapes. Which he thought was strange because nobody listened to, or used audiotapes anymore. He was puzzled for a minute trying to remember if his family even owned something that would play the tapes, when he remembered his dad had bought an old boom box from a yard sale to use in the garage because he wanted something that he could care less about if it got paint on it, and lucky Clay, the boom box just happened to have a tape player. He inserted the first tape and without effort, pressed play, then, he was shocked, even sick, when he heard whose voice was coming from the tapes. It was Hannah Bakers voice, a girl who only two weeks before had committed suicide. Clay Jensen’s life was changed forever. “I hope you’re ready, because I’m about to tell you the story of my life. More specifically, why it ended, and if you’re listening to these tapes, you’re one of the reasons why.”
Hannah begins the tapes by introducing herself, but Clay does not need the introduction, once he hears her word’s, he knows the voice belongs to Hannah. Hannah explains that she has sent out a second set of tapes in case anyone is tempted to throw them away, and if they do, she will expose the tapes to not only who is on the list, but the whole school. Hannah then goes on to explain the map that was dropped in everyone’s locker and that the big red stars on it are places where some of these events happened. The first name on the tapes is Justin Foley, Hannah’s first kiss, the reason he is on the tapes is not because he kissed her, but because he started to brag, and started to make up rumors that were not true, just to impress his friends. I know what you’re thinking, who in their right mind would commit suicide over a stupid rumor? But rumors are like bowling, once you throw the ball down the lane, there is no stopping it, and once it reaches the end, it knocks everyone down. “When you mess with one part of a person’s life, you’re messing with their entire life. Everything… affects everything.”
I have personal experience with the bowling affect. In fact, a few years ago I thought a lot about suicide. My parents got divorced, and I went into and extremely deep depression. School used to be my safe haven, until I started hearing rumors about me, ones that certainly were not true, but I started to notice that everyone believed them. He rumor started off a chain of events, they would look at me differently, whispering thinking I could not hear them, then when I turned around avert their eyes. It really start to get to me, and when I had no one to turn to, I started writing poetry. Then, I started to think that death would not be so bad, it would be an escape. Luckily I realized that in doing that I would be hurting everyone that loved me, and I snapped out of it. Yes, it took well over a year, but I did it. I think that was the main reason I was really interested in reading this book, because I had a connection to it. Hannah’s story is one I can strongly relate to. “No one knows for certain how much impact they have on the lives of other people. Oftentimes, we have no clue. Yet we push it just the same.”
Clay’s name does not pop up until tape number 5, side one, which according to Hannah’s list, is the ninth story. You see, Clay had always admired Hannah, and she was his crush for quite some time, they even worked at the same movie theater together, but he was too afraid to talk to her, I mean, really talk to her, because he himself did not know if the rumors were true. He wanted to believe that they weren’t but he never got up the courage to ask. Until one night, the night, that Hannah and Clay actually connected. Clay decided to go to a party, which was rare because he was the good kid who didn’t go to parties and always did his homework. Hannah found out he was going to be at this party, and Hannah had always admired him as well, so she made up her mind that at this party she was going to talk to him. So she got there, found him, and they talked, but that is not all they did, no, I’m not saying that Hannah was living up to her underserved reputation, but she and Clay did make out. Hannah was searching for help in Clay, but Clay could not have known it. So when Hannah burst into tears while they were together and screamed at Clay to leave, he did as he was told. That is a regret that will stay with him forever. Hannah explains in Clay’s story that he was right, he didn’t do anything wrong, but that she needed to include his story to tell hers ‘more completely’, and she admits that after kissing him and talking with him, she thinks he could have been the one. “You can’t go back to how things were, or how you thought they were. All you really have… Is now.”
Clay is devastated after listening to all thirteen stories, but he comes to terms with the fact that Hannah is already dead, and he cannot bring her back, so he moves on. Jay Asher is the author of TH1RTEEN R3ASONS WHY and I think that he did an amazing job in portraying what life in high school is really like, especially for someone like Hannah. He has an amazing way with words that spoke to me and millions others. This book kept me on the edge of my seat and was impossible to put down. It made me wish I could read faster, then when I reached the end wishing it hadn’t ended. He sends out an important message in this book, there are always people there to help and support you. Hannah did have those people, she just didn’t know where to look. I hope this book reaches out to those considering suicide and makes them change their mind. This book left a lasting impact on me, which is why I included several quotes from the book, one of my favorites being, “In the end, everything matters.”
“Do you remember the last thing you said to me? Probably not, but I remember the last thing I said to you, because believe me, when I said it, I knew it was the last thing I would ever say.”
Geek Love is a story about a traveling carnival family. Al and Lil Binewski design their children to have as many deformities as possible; this is achieved by Lil’s ingestion of experimental drugs during her pregnancies with each of the children. What they end up with are four keepers (they dutifully dispose of the children if they happen to be “normal”): Arturo, the boy with flippers for limbs; Electra and Iphigenia, the Siamese twins; Olympia, the bald albino hunchback dwarf; and Fortunato, the normally appearing boy with telekinesis. Each child has an act and a role that compliments their deformity, and this is what the carnival thrives off of.
The characters often use the vast difference in their situation to distance themselves from others, probably to keep from realizing how much they actually have in common with them. They long to be understood, to be accepted, to be loved, but they feel that what makes others unable to relate to them makes them “special,” and the more “special” they are, the more they have to offer to their family, even if that means they’re all alone. In it. This loneliness manifests itself in a number of ways. Torn between conflicting wants and needs, sometimes one is willing to try to change others to make them feel how they feel.
Underneath the bizarre physical appearances and the extremity of the circumstances and that which results from them is a terrifying and unsettling, but somehow comforting account of humanity. It is a story of love, of compassion, of horror. Geek love is the same as non-geek love.
Living in a big city, family torn apart by cancer, left to raise your little brother by yourself. This nightmare was once reality for author Dave Eggers. The book this report is about is “A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius.” It is the recollection of the young author and how cancer tore apart his family and the story about how he was left to raise his younger brother, Christopher. The book begins in his family’s house in Illinois, where his family is caring for his mother with cancer. After the death of both his parents, his father due to lung cancer and his mother passin away a month later due to stomach cancer, he and his remaining family move California. As they separate, Dave and Chris end up living on their own in a very “dirty” manner. As Dave struggles with alcoholism and a sex addiction, he begins to feel guilty which only furthers his shame in hurting his bother. Dave and some friends start an independent magazine titled “Might.” Will he find success in this magazine? Will he ever change his uncouth lifestyle to save his damaged relationship with his younger brother? Read “A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius” to find out what Dave does next!
A little bit of “Understanding Dave”…
– Dave Eggers was born March 12, 1970 in Boston, Massachusetts. At age 21, both his parents passed away and he was left to raise his 8 year old brother (he should write a book…) He has written as well as edited dozens of books, both fiction and nonfiction.
I highly recommend this book for anyone who enjoys dirty humor, dry humor, and hearing about the lives of someone far more interesting than they.
no one posted at 11:11. why? i thought there would be… at least 5 people. you’ve let me down.
Catch-22
-by Joseph Heller
Satire is indeed the strongest form of comedy, and only satire could possibly make the heart-breaking novel that is Catch-22 into perhaps the funniest work of literature written. Catch-22 is the story of a paranoid combat pilot named Yossarian who flies deadly bomb runs in the era of WWII, however Yossarian hates his job and the entire military, but he can’t leave unless he proves he is insane: this is the famous situation from the book that gives it its title. Yossarian cannot leave his position unless he proves he is insane, but to claim he is insane would only prove that he is indeed entirely sane and require him to keep flying and fighting. The story follows a few other characters in minor detail, involving an illegal love interest and a few dying friends of Yossarian.
The thing that makes this book truly genius is its ability to keep the satirical comedy going at a word-by-word pace, many comedic novels build up to one joke chapter-by-chapter, forgetting to keep the audience in a laughing bind; Catch-22 throws in jokes repetitively in a growing manner…because of this we can see several examples of a Catch-22 throughout the entire novel. The book truly lives up to its name.
My love for this book mainly falls into it’s constant repetition…which I personally am a huge sucker for. Honestly, this book would not have worked without Joseph Heller continuously throwing more examples of this deadly logic the military shows throughout the story.
In all honesty this is probably the funniest book I have ever read, and I would definitely recommend it to anybody who has any appreciation whatsoever for great works of deep-thinking satire.
Sorry Matt, my computer was freaking out last night. I”m posting asap. Can I still get full credit?
A Wrinkle in Time
By: Madeliene L’engle
What makes a great book? Adventure, romance, a happy ending? I believe what makes a great book are three simple things; It’s beautifully written, it draws you in and doesn’t let go, it has deeper meaning then the words can portray alone. Writing is a great art, your words are the paint, your thoughts are the brush, and paper is the canvas. But this book didn’t portray these things to me.
A Wrinkle in Time is a sweet hearted science fiction book about a young girl named Meg, her brother Charles Wallace, and their new found friend Calvin. They all come together with the help of three funny old “witches”. This odd bunch tesser’s across the universe to find Meg and Charles Wallace’s genius father. They’re journey from planet to planet leads them through the “black thing” ending up at a place called Camazotz where everything’s the same. The children play in the same rhythm, the men all leave for work returning home at the same time, and each house has the same newspaper, the same milk, the same furniture. Everything is the same. There is this overwhelming fear of “IT” it controls the planet of Camazotz.
Meg and Charles finally end up in the central “intelligence” of the planet Camazotz, and when they get there “IT” takes control of Charles Wallace. Meg finds her father and her, Calvin, her father all tesser away before “IT” can control their minds as well…
To say the least the book ends with a “Disney story” ending.
This book was really hard for me to get into to, and actually keep my attention. I wasn’t “drawn’ into the story and I wasn’t “intrigued” by it either. It never made me stop and think, it wasn’t something I haven’t already read or thought about. This story is plainly… for little kids. The ending and the story itself was very repetitive in the way of “Happy beginning, conflict in the middle, then happily ever after” in the end. It was all very foreseeable. I’m not saying it was completely bad, it is a cute story and I would read it to my children but it’s just not a book for me. If you want a story that can draw the minds of young children and if you’re into the “sci-fi” type of story, and if you like Disney Movies such as “Beauty and the Beast”, then I think this book would be for you.
INVISIBLE MONSTERS
For the past three months I’ve been reading the praised book Invisible Monsters by Chuck Palahniuk. Palahniuk is the author of the hailed Fight Club a classic book/film that I am sure everyone in this age is very familiar with. I have read two other books of Palahniuks books Rant and Survivor which both made me like Palahniuks books. My brother introduced me to his books and his distinct cynical writing. My brother told me this was his best book so I gave it a read.
Shannon Mcfarland is a fashion model who has it all a career, a loyal boyfriend, money, beauty, fame. But one day driving home a terrible accident on the freeway messes it all up. She is shot in the face by unidentified bullet, leaving her with a mutilated face and not able to speak. After that everything for the girl goes down the drain, her boyfriend leaves her, her friends’ career is booming. She goes from having everything to having nothing, in debt and a hideous monster of a person. Everything seems to have all been gone and lost until she meets Brandy Alexander, the one person who doesn’t try to look down at the floor or up at the ceiling when she meets her, the first question she asked was, “what the hell happened to your face?” Brandy takes her around the country with Shannon’s kidnapped boyfriend, stealing prescription pain and hormone pills from open houses disguised as wealthy people from far away. Brandy teaches her that reinventing herself means erasing your past and making up something else, be you but in another way.
Chuck Palahniuk wrote the classic book Fight Club which brought the cynical blunt disgusting world we live in to the book reader world. He has also written Diary, Survivor, Choke, Lullaby, Rant, Snuff, and Pygmy. A lot of his books have kind of a nasty vibe to them, Snuff is all about the porn industry, for example 600guys standing in their whitey tighteys eating popcorn and barbequed chips all wiping fake tan all over them and taking Viagra all in line to go bone the same porn star to make a world record. In Rant the main character would stick his hands in snake holes and get bit or get bitten by dogs or other animals with rabies just for a rush, like a drug addict. And he’d go around the city and starts a huge pandemic in the city by kissing people and having sex or biting people. This book had a lot of stuff about a bunch of cross genders and people self mutilating themselves. Chuck Palahniuk sure is a twisted fellow in his books that’s for sure.
This book took a long time to really get started it seems all Palahniuks books you don’t love until the end. I like how in the book Shannon is just kind of on auto pilot like most people doing her thing being a model and doing what she thinks she is supposed to do. Once her face is mutilated she is down and feeling sorry for herself, but when she meets brandy she lets herself go, anything’s possible, surprisingly the built up ego of her beauty her whole life trapped her. Once she has nothing she can take what she wants with nothing to lose, and in the end although I cant tell you she finally stops being selfish and gives Brandy Alexander life that Shannon had taken away twice in her life.
I think that if your going to read any Chuck Palahniuk book you need to start out with Rant, its his best in my opinion, the most entertaining at least, this one was very thought provoking which was really good. Most kids don’t have that attention span. But specifically Invisible Monsters is a good book, it lets you know that you build yourself way too much and need to give off some slack, Palahniuks books are always devilishly funny and entertaining and somehow have a good meaning to them at the end. I recommend this to anyone who wants to read a good classic book.
Devin Ridd
Kamille Campbell
Matt Thomas
Language Arts Period 4
October 7, 2009
Dark Angel
Well the book starts out talking about two women roaming around the mountain side picking flowers for a wedding reception; they are talking about the dark angle, the two girls were Aeriel and Eoduin. Eoduin was taking by the dark angle. Who is a scary soul sucking vampire that terrorized the whole village. The village was upset with Aeriel cause they felt it was her fault that Eoduin was missing and was captured so Aeriel ventured out to save Eoduin from the dark angle. She ends up getting captured and finds out she has feelings for the dark angle she never would have expected.
I thought it was really unique how its like one of the only vampire stories that has no male here that kills the vampire in the end and gets the girl but this story has a whole completely different ending its really unique and there’s not as many mythical creatures in it either but it was still really good.
I really liked the whole story plot and storyline the whole book kept you in suspense you wanted to know what happened it kept you interested the whole way through the book and its really hard to find books like that. It was also really mysterious and enchanting the dark angle was. The characters were well thought out they were really realistic like.
This book is really good if people are looking for a suspenseful edgy; mysterious semi-frightful thrilling story. If you are looking for a page turner, a book that keeps you wanting to know more this is a good book to read.
Chelsea Silva
Matt Thomas
Language Arts Period 3
October 6, 2009
A Wrinkle in Time
A Wrinkle in Time is a book mainly about three kids named Meg, Charles, and Calvin going off on an adventure to defeat IT and to save Megs and Charles dad. They did not know where he was the only thing they knew is that he went on a Top Secret mission for the government and he never came back and he had stop writing to them so Meg new something had gone wrong. Meg has a mom and three younger brothers two of them are twins then Charles is the baby and he never talked tell he was about the age of four and know when he speaks he speaks with fine meaning. Then they meet the three W’s and that were they begin their adventure.
The three W’s are like witch’s there not exactly human, They transport the three kids to a place called Camazotz where they leave the three children on their own but give them each a special gift to help them. As their journey begins they walk through this place noticing that everyone is the same they all have the same rhythm and there doing nothing different even the houses are exactly the same. They then stop at a boy handing out news papers and he mentioned CENTRAL central Intelligence then when the three kids arrived there Calvin had a strange feeling that if they went in something bad would happen but Charles insisted on going in so they did. They ran into a old man with bright red eyes Meg did not feel safe at all. This man was not human he was posses by something or someone but who they could not figure it out. The man tried to hypnotize them but it didn’t seem to work then Charles stared into his eyes and he was no longer Charles inside. Meg started to yell saying it’s not Charles. The man explained about IT then Charles took Calvin and Meg to IT. As they began their walking in the building the suddenly stopped and in a column there was her father she put on the W’s glasses and walked straight in once reunited with her father but at the same time lost her brother. You’ll have to read this book to see what happens does Charles Die? Who is IT? Well they ever get back home?
The Unique thing about this book is that it had a lot of meaning to it and good Quotes. This book made me feel like it was actually happening in real life it was crazy. It made me realize that there’s a lot of good and evil in the universe and sometimes you lose things to get things but you must be brave about it. It did show me a lot of emotions in life. I know no more words by reading this book.
What I liked about this book is that it was full of life and adventure really. It also reminded me a lot about my life and dreams it was rather interesting I mean for me just randomly picking this book I didn’t even know anything about it I just saw it on the list and started to read it and hey it ended up being really good.
I recommend that people at EHHS should read this book because it can help you learn more words better quotes and open your eyes to see that there’s adventures’ out there waiting to be explored. I bet a lot of people would like this book epically if they like fantasy or adventure.
Aleinna Smith
October 7, 2009
Clanton, Mississippi 1978 an attorney Jake Brigance started his own practice. A liberal who easily adapts, prefers the “average man” to politics and law. He owns a Victorian house and has a wife, Carla, and a four-year-old daughter, Hanna. Beginning his career he defends three murder suspects, including Lester Hailey, the brother of Carl Lee. Carl Lee’s case will soon be the rise or fall of his career or his life.
“You gotta little girl. Suppose she’s layin up in the hospital beat and raped. What would you do?”
Jake looked through the window of the door and could not answer. Carl Lee waited
“Don’t do anything stupid, Carl Lee.”
“Answer the question. What would you do?”
“I don’t know. I don’t know what I’d do.”
“Lemme ask you this. If it was your little girl, and if it was two niggers, and you could get your hands on them what would you do?”
“Kill them.”
(pg. 47)
Carl Lee is set for trial for the murder of Billy Ray Cobb and Pete Willard, the two men who brutally raped and beat his 9 year old daughter. Jake is Carl’s attorney and fights for a fair trial. Crosses burn, people die, crowds chant “Free Carl Lee!” and “Fry Carl Lee!”
Despite the civil rights movement of the 1960’s, African Americans were still treated unfairly, even Caucasians who befriended African Americans suffered the same treatment. The struggle over African Americans rights mainly took place in the Southern United States. In some cases Caucasians even shot them just for the fun of it. The Ku Klux Klan was still underground, both Jake and Carl Lee’s lives are threatened by the Ku Klux Klan along with their families. The convictions of the South are damaging to the respect of the human race, yet have lasted over 150 years. Tradition is a key factor to any culture; it is passed from one generation to the next. John Grisham illustrates racism as a blind hatred, tearing society apart.
Markie Dunn
Matt Thomas 2nd
Book Report #1
Into The Wild
I read Into the Wild written by Jon Krakauer. It was published in 1996 and is about the adventures and journey of Christopher McCandless from 1990-1992. I chose this book because I saw the movie version of it that was made in 2007 and I was very interested and I wanted to learn more about Christopher.
The book describes how Chris yearned to go to Alaska every since he was young and read about Jack London’s portrayal of the Alaskan wilderness. Krakauer describes how Chris was a free spirited soul who was against society’s rules and regulations. Chris wanted to challenge himself and spend time in solitude as he experienced his “Alaskan Odyssey”.
Christopher was raised in Annandale, Virginia. The book describes how at the age of twenty two he gave 25,000 dollars to charity, most of all of his possessions and cut off all communication with his family. He began his two year journey across America to reach Alaska. The book details all the relationships and conflicts he met along the way.
After two years he arrived at his destination near Denali National Park where he would spend his last four months of his life in an abandoned “Magic Bus”. The Author masterly intertwines actual writings from Chris’ journal into the book to give you a more detailed and factual look into his life. The beginning and ending of the book was disturbing and sad to me as it describes Chris’ death. I became content with the way the book ended after Chris realized he was going to die and summed up his journey and life with his last written sentence in his journal.
“I HAVE HAD A HAPPY LIFE AND THANK THE LORD. GOODBYE AND MAY GOD BLESS ALL.”
I would a hundred percent recommend this book because Krakauer goes so very detailed into Christopher’s journey and I love how Chris had such strong beliefs that he was willing to give up everything just to experience life how he believed it should be lived. Though it’s a huge tragedy Chris died, his journey and his values are a great example of how we shouldn’t take everything for granted.
Noir
By Olivier Pauvert
224 pages
Alexis Atkinson
Per. 4
On the night of his wedding, a man is arrested for the murder of a young woman, the murder is gruesome and sadistic, he wonders, “could I really be her murderer?”
On the way to a high security penitentiary, the van, carrying him and the other convicts crashes and falls off of a cliff, killing all but him, or so he thinks. He wanders aimlessly for hours and finds a mysterious house with large dogs guarding the way. Once inside he meets a man that appears to have down syndrome, little does he know that he will soon become this man. When he returns to his home town in France, he realizes that everything has turned into a fascist pit, life is no longer comfortable. He encounters many trials on his journey to find out who he truly is and what everything means.
Olivier Pauvert has a great sense of adventure, this book is incredibly unique in its controversial views on death and so on. It makes you really wonder what life is about and what we miss when we die, what goes on in the after life and do we really know and understand what is going on around us. It also makes you question what goes through the mind of a sadist while they are committing murder. The main character is quite apathetic, it seems as though he doesn’t feel.
I liked how the plot was consistent and didn’t falter, it kept you wanting to read more and see how things turned out. It made you wonder if he really murdered the girl, if not then who, how did the government turn to fascism? I wanted to know who the man in the down syndrome body was.
I think that anyone that loves adventure, and mystery should read this book because it will keep you interested and make you think. It will further your interest in well written literature.
I read The Road by Cormac McCarthy. It was published on September 26, 2006. I read this because I had nothing to read in your class, and I liked what I read. It is set in October to roughly November. The year is unknown
The book is about a man and his son in a post-apocalyptic world, struggling to survive. The day is but a dull gray light. The atmosphere is filled with ash and come nightfall it’s nearly impossible to see. There is a scares amount of food and the rain and snow has become a nearly everyday event. The plan is to reach the shoreline, in hope that maybe things will be better there.
The rest of civilization has resorted to cannibalism; through out the boy calls them the “bad Guys.” Encounters with these groups prove to be the most intense parts of the book. The first was the most intense and it’s not that far in the book. They run out of food multiple times, when on the brink of death, they always find some sort of hidden stash of it.
I highly recommend it. The writing style I found to be quite unique. Just be prepared for a rough ending
Chelsea Elmer
2nd Period
Book Report
Into The Wild
I read Into The Wild by Jon Krakauer. It’s a true story about a boy named Christopher Johnnson in April 1992 that gave away everything he owned including $25,000 in savings that he saved for college, that he gave to charity, to start a new life for himself in the wilderness. He gave himself the name “Alex”. He went to Mt. McKinley Alaska, we got there by walking and hitching a ride. He took a .22 caliber rifle. He didn’t have a compass, the only thing he had for navigation was a state road map he got from a gas station. He burned all his posessions in his wallet. He didn’t let his parents know he was doing this, he just left and had no communication with them. Once he arrived at his destination in somewhere close to Denali National Park, he spent four months on an abandoned bus he called the “magic bus” until his death.
I would highly recommend reading the book and watching the movie to anyone!
The Catcher in the Rye
by J.D. Salinger
Holden was a student at Pencey but then he was expelled for having bad grades.
Holden packs up and leaves his school and takes a train ride to new york to go back to his parents apartment. He does not want to go back to them right away instead he goes to the Edmont hotel. he spends his time dancing with these three girls. also when he is at the hotel he runs into a prostitute he doesn’t do anything with her and he tells her to leave his room. But he still pays her she wants more money Holden does not give her more money and her pimp beats up Holden.
Holden stays another two day in the city where he ends up in a museum where he contrasts his life with the Eskimos. life for holden is pretty hard cause his brother died. but one night he goes back to his parents place he has to sneak in to the house just to talk to his little sister.
What I thought of the book was it was great book it had very inspirational moments. even thou he does not think like every one else but yet he is able to go out and survive out in the hardest city ever new york.
I would have to say my favorite part of the book was when he goes to the school and when he sees the tags that say F#@K you and stuff like that it reflected on me cause i feel that kids at our school do that and i can never find out why they feel like they must put up such things like that.
would i ever recommend this book to anyone. i would have to say yes cause what this book does is it makes you look at your life though the eyes of holden and its very odd cause not most books can do that.
Hey matt you told me to email you so I am can I read P.C. Cast + Kritin Cast they are mother and daughter I will ask you tomarrow morning to.
that book looks really good, but i think i’m going to snobbishly say no when it comes to adding it to the reading list. you should read it any way. but also read something from the list.
mt
I read the book “Chronicles of Narnia” The Lion, the witch and the Wardrobe, to be exact. I thought it was really good, and recommend it to any one who likes books with talking beavers, big lions and half goat men thingys… anywho… it stars these kids, Peter, Lucy, Edmund, and Susan, who go to a house of some professor guy and the little one is all “lets play a game!!!” so they do…stupid kids… the tiny littlest kid I think I’ve ever read about goes into this old wardrobe thing, that looks like it was made in the stone age, then ends up in a magical land of lots and lots of….snow…*sigh* by this point I was thinking “WTF… what ever lets read on…” this goat-man thing with a beard named Mr. Tumnus… I guess he’s called a Faun or something, I don’t care, he’s still a half goat man thing with a beard. He takes the little girl to his house, “wait, why would the little girl go with a goat man, that she just met, to his house?! She isn’t to bright!!” for some tea and eats… She goes back home after and tells the other about this magical snow land, they don’t believer her, no one believes little kids. She brings them all to the wardrobe, they go inside and whoa!!!!!!!! it doesn’t work!! so she’s sad and the jerk Edmund is making fun of her now, I don’t really remember how but he ends up in Narnia chilling with the white queen “quick story on the white queen, she rules Narnia with an iron fist, she made it winter there forever but no Christmas. 😦 how sad!!! no one likes her at all but Edmund does, cause she gave him eats called TURKISH DELIGHT! YUUUUMMMM!!!” she gets him to get the others to come to Narnia so she can kidnap them. The kids, while in Narnia, hear about this lion named Asland who can save Narnia from the white queens spell “YAYYY” they go on a magical quest to find him with a pare of talking beavers with a fun sense of humer, facing dangers along the way!! still more and more snow.. “I think by that time they can care less about the queen they just wanna get out of all the stupid whiteness of the snow.” along the way they meet…..SANTA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! “this part made me laugh” Santa gives the kids weapons to fight with. “ironic, the symbol of peace and unity, gives kids weapons hahah.” They travel across the magical lands of Narnia with their magical weapons to meet a magical lion that will use his magical powers to save Narnia!!! Our heros/heroines find a path with a waterfall that is half frozen and half melted. “ I guess that is a good sign” they battle some wolves there, it’s pretty intense! When they win they go to a part where there is NO SNOW!!! FINALLY!!! that is where they meet the great lion Asland!!! “Yayy!! now they can save the day!!” They make a huge Army of magical “by now i’m guessing you wanna turn this into a drinking game of how many times I can say the word ‘magical’ right?” creatures to over throw the white queen. “for anyone who dosen’t want to ruin the ending for yourself, STOP NOW!” Well, they win and save Narnia from the evil white queen! Now Narnia is saved!!! Well for now that is :0 there are more books you know heheheh THE END
I chose to read the book Ender’s Game. Even though I have only read half of the book so far, from what I understand, the main character is Ender Wiggin. Ender is the third in a family of geniuses. Ender has one brother and one sister. His brother Peter is constantly bullying Ender. But then Ender’s big sister Valentine is the only person who truly loves him. Ender is chosen to save the world from certain destruction. He is sent to “battle school”, while there he is singled out and isolated from all the other children. The point of this is to make sure that Ender only cares about himself and no one else. Eventually Ender is sent to the Salamander Army. Then from there he is later sent to the Rat Army.
I think that this book is different from other science fiction books because of how a lot of it is an interesting story and instead of just talking about a battle or a war the whole time. There is an actual story line. And I like how it is written from Enders perspective.
Although I have not read this book all the way through yet, it is an amazing book. I love how even though its a science fiction book its got a great story to it.
Even though I don’t read a lot of books, I think that this book is worth reading. I think this because it is very interesting to read and it makes you think about parts of the story. But I definitely think that this book is worth reading.
Emily Rumel
3rd period
November 15th
The story begins with an introduction by William Goldman where he tells about his childhood and the book “the princess bride” written by S. morgenstein and how his dad would read it when he was sick. After growing up William Goldman finds the book and finds that it is more boring then he remembers so he re writes it, leaving out the boring parts. While reading the book I thought Goldman really did do this because the story moved on and didn’t have to stop and describe every little thing which can be over done so easily. There was still enough detail to keep my attention but not too much which I think was reasonable and made it easier to read.
The plot of the book was a basic love story with some differences here and there but not in a major way. When the main girl buttercup figures out that she’s in love with Westley, he leaves for America to make more money for the two of them. When westley is captured at sea he is reported dead and buttercup is crushed. The prince humperdink then demands her to marry him. Buttercup is reunited with westley after being kidnapped and the two love each other again but are separated when the prince shows up and agrees not to kill westley if buttercup goes with him. Westley is tortured, killed, and then brought back to life and saves buttercup from humperdink after they’ve already been married and the two of them run off.
A cool thing about “the princess bride” is that there’s a lot of themes going on at once. There’s revenge, love, friendship, and the biggest one I liked is the theme of doing something better. This theme is shown when Goldman talks about taking “the princess bride” and making it better even though he wrote the book in the first place. This theme made it easier to go along with the story. The idea of taking something and making it better can be applied to pretty much anything in our lives. This could even be done mentally if you think about it. By taking a situation and changing our view on it can help a lot.
In conclusion this was a pretty decent book. If anyone has seen the movie, that’s probably good enough cause the movie followed the book pretty well. Obviously there’s going to be differences in description of characters and how they appear or more background story for each character. If you want an easy book to read then this book is worth reading and is easy to follow and keep up with.
A Wrinkle in Time
By Madeleine L’Engle
Review by Mikaela Carroll
A Wrinkle in Time, a story of kids going through time and space on mission to save the their beloved father. Can they handle it? or Can you?
I find this tale to be dark and creepy, I was somewhat shocked to find that it could be a children’s book because I would find it hard to read it to a kid, but still in all, I really love the book and the characters are amazing. The characters in the book remind me of kids at East Hollywood, their odd and different, but the whole book is odd and different.
The character I used to relate to a lot when I was in Jr. High School and is probably the reason why I got so into the book, is Margaret Murry, or Meg. She is a young girl that is an outcast and almost everyone doesn’t like her. Her brother Charles Wallace is like her but a little more odd. I love his character because he doesn’t let what other people think about him bring him down. He cares for the people that cares for him. I think he is very true to him self and unique for his age. Because a lot of kids in elementary want to fit in and care so much to be popular, but Charles doesn’t. The other kid on the journey is their friend, Calvin O’Keefe he is one of those popular kids but he, by following his gut and his true feelings finds out that it doesn’t matter much. But my favorite character is one of the beasts they meet on a different planet. But I don’t want to give that part away. The three kids went on an adventure with help of three ladies, to find their father and save him from IT, they have a few obstacles that occur, but do they get through them easily or even at all?
The book has a lot of talk about science and something I learned in Math last year. Which is the first, second, third, forth, and fifth dimension. It’s a weird concept and hard to grasp it, but I think the talk they had in the book was a little easier to understand then in the video I watched in math. I also think the book dose show a lot of courageous acts in it that you could take to heart when something happens. I think after all, it might be a good thing to read this to a growing child because they will learn even young children can be strong and it will also show them being true to yourself is much more special then pretending to be who you aren’t.
I think everyone should read this book. It may make a difference on how they treat people or how they view themselves. Maybe even inspire someone who is interested in time travel or the whole different dimensions. I never read a book like this and I am happy I did, it really dose have a wonderful meaning to it, even though it’s kinda a dark. It is a real fast read and a really good book. It is kind of mystical and a crazy adventure , and I normally don’t like those kind of stories, but for some reason this one really captured me. If could read it in one night it must be good. So I would give it a try even if you don’t like fantasy or adventure books.
The book “the princess bride” (1973) written by William Goldman is a love story with humor. It is actually a prepared story from Simon Morgenstern. It’s about a young man, his name is Westley, he has shoulder long blond hair and his love, a beautiful young woman, and her name is Buttercup, with long blond hair. They’re living on a little farm. But as Westley want to find is happiness and on his way his ship is grappled by some pirates and everybody thinks he’s dead. Buttercup never wants to fall in love again, because Westley was the love of her life. But bad luck, Buttercup has to marry the prince Humperdinck. The princess gets kidnapped from a predator Vizzini and his crew, Ingo Montoya and Fezzik. Vizzini wants to kill Buttercup so he can say that’s from the other neighbor king. While they are sailing over the sea, they find out that they have a follower, he has a black head and a pirate outfit and you can’t see his face. He tries to rescue the princess but he’s not the only one, the prince also tries to rescue her. The story gets more interesting and they have sword fights with lots of humor, also some tortures and fantasy monsters in a mysterious forest.
The time in the book is a long time ago, where they were using horses to travel and they had swords and fights without guns, kings and princes existed and castles and the women wearing pretty dresses and the men tights and funny shifts.
I liked about the book “the princess bride” that it is an really funny love story actually and all the fights describes the author exiting and the fantasy is awesome it made me happy to read the book even if it’s not happy all the time
I think you should read the book, because it’s an interesting story and if you like fantasy and humor it’s the right book for you, even how the story is written is not hard to understand and the end is pretty cool.
Denise Jahns
I have recently finished the book Ender’s Game. From what we know from the first half of the book, Ender Wiggin is the main character. In a family of geniuses Ender is the third of the family. Ender has a brother and a sister. Ender’s brother Peter is the bully in the family. And the only person who truly loves Ender is his big sister Valentine.
Now Ender is made commander of the “Dragon Army”. Valentine goes to see Ender while he is on a short vacation. It is very clear that things have become different between them. Graff takes Ender to the planet Eros. Eros is where the International Fleet command is held.
Ender is put through a number of simulated battles, one day he fights one battle which is almost impossible but he still wins. That battle turns out to be real. And all of the simulated battles were actually real. Ender knows that he has been used. Now Peter has taken over the world. Valentine convinces Ender to go with her on a mission to repopulate the worlds left by the buggers. Ender finds a queen pupa that was left behind for him to find. Ender communicates with the queen and it turns out that the buggers did not actually want to fight. Enders new mission is to find the buggers a place to live again.
I think that this book is different from other science fiction books because of how a lot of it is an interesting story. Instead of just talking about a battle or a war the whole time, there is an actual story line. And I like how it is written from Enders perspective, and it talks about his feelings and his thoughts. I think that it is very amazing and cool how it is written like that. If I were a writer this is the kind of book I would like to write.
The story line of this book is long, sometimes confusing and a little strange. But one thing that it is not is boring. It is very fun to read, unlike a lot of books.
All I can say is “wow!” I think that this is an amazing book. It is probably one of the only books that I have picked up and started reading all on my own. And actually enjoyed reading it. I highly recommend reading “Ender’s Game” it is definitely worth reading!
Daniel Lindsey
11/18/09
L.A. 3rd period
The Vampire Lestat
by Anne Rice
The Vampire Lestat; horror, romance, suspense and a slice of life; all of these are aspects of this great book. It is probably one of the greatest books based around Vampires that has ever been written. As a matter of fact, all of the Vampire Chronicles books are but let’s just focus on Lestat. The plot is so unexpected and intense that you can’t put the book down. You grow attached to all of the characters which I feel is an important trait in a book. Also the story is written in a way which allows the reader to feel as though they are there, experiencing the events that take place.
The Vampire Lestat focuses on the story of Lestat ‘De Lioncourt and his life from childhood to Vampirism and beyond. It’s written as if it is an auto biography that Lestat himself wrote. The plot is extremely hooking. Once I started reading it I just couldn’t put it down. I finished half of this 600 page book in just two days because of the fact that it is so good. It’s one of those books that every paragraph leaves you hanging and you just want to know more. This is definitely one of the fine allures of this book as well as other things like characters and such.
The story is great but it wouldn’t be the same if the characters weren’t so amazing as well. The way they act, the way they talk and even the way they move is so alluring and powerful. The way they are portrayed in the book make them seem like they are real and as though the reader is there, speaking with these people (and of course, un-people). Their emotions are felt, their pain suffered and their actions experienced by the reader in almost perfect clarity. It makes me feel as though I am with the characters, walking through the streets of France and other environments.
The Places that the characters visit are all just as vivid and real as the characters themselves. Detail is explained thoroughly but in such ways that it only takes a paragraph to explain. That makes it even better, because that way its not boringly long but still gives all the detail someone needs to feel like their there. When Lestat and Gabrielle are lying in the coffin, I could smell the dust, feel the cracking of the bones beneath them, hear the silence and feel the darkness. This book has all around amazing depictions of the events that occur in it.
In conclusion, this book is definitely on my “recommended list”. Not just Lestat either but all of the Vampire Chronicles. Lestat is actually the second book in the series but, even though the book is better, seeing the movie “Interview with the Vampire” will give you enough to understand the next book. The Vampire Chronicles is a great series with great characters, places, stories and lessons and the Vampire Lestat is just one of these great wonders. If you like books, and this one isn’t part of your library, I would suggest getting it and others in the series
Dry
Augusten Burroughs
3rd period
I chose to read Dry because it was the sequel to Running with scissors. The Story begins when Augusten is in his late twenties. He is now in advertising for commercials and is very successful in the state of New York. Though scared to pay his own house bills, he makes a hefty sum. He casually goes out to drink with his buddies. His main man: Jim, drink of choice: martini, no rocks with one olive that gently sinks to the bottom and to his liking.
His casual nights ended up as all night binges which caused him to be late for meetings with important clients, conferences, and other business dates. His partner in crime: (the advertising world) Greer, a perfectionist to the last detail. She notices one day when meeting with a client that he reeks of strong liquor. She then calls attention to his ‘problem’ by getting his co-workers in on a mini intervention. He feels that he is not an alcoholic, but thinks 30 days at the Proud Institute (a gay rehabilitation center) would be a nice vacation from work and everything around him.
The first day he meets a sex addict named Kavi (he has a uni-brow) and the rest of the recovering addicts. He thinks of how much he shouldn’t be there, how much of an addict he’s not and such. After a day or two he meets a psychiatrist who became addicted to valium and they become quite well of friends. Augusten stays the full 30 days and becomes a decent man new to sobriety. He returns home only to be reminded of a drunken blur he calls his past. He then receives a phone call from ‘Dr. Valium’ who ends up living with Augusten for some time. He tries to continue his life as if alcohol never existed, but soon comes to terms with everything and realizing how much he has changed and how much he has to change his life to stay sober and clean
This book is amazing. I don’t know how Burroughs does it. He gets two books out of his life and they can’t possibly bore you. He has such an edgy style of writing that makes you think ‘can he say that?’ I absolutely love it just like Running with Scissors. If you haven’t touched either yet, I highly recommend you do so as soon as possible. They’re both worth the read, but you can’t merely appreciate Dry without knowing the beginning.
It’s starts out with the character Siddhartha, son of a Brahim in India. On his spiritual journey of his new life, his closest friend Govinda follows him, merely wanting to be Siddhartha’s shadow, because he knows Siddhartha is going to be great and he wants to be by his side (even though Govinda and Siddhartha have very different goals and looks on life). Everyone while Siddhartha was growing up knew he was destined for greatness, he learned fast and thought logically. In the beginning of the book it says how Siddhartha brought happiness to everyone around him, but never to himself.
Siddhartha is on a quest for self-understanding and enlightenment. He wants to understand his true inner-self by losing his outer-self as I see it. He stops eating, slows his breathing and heartbeat, blocks everything out to control himself. He learns to follow the life of another animal, to life, to death and to laying as a corpse, but he is disappointed in seeing that no matter how far away he gets from himself, he always comes back. Siddhartha always wants to know more; he questions everything.
On through the book is unpredictable, he goes through life and for a while he starts to become this hollow man, loses his friend and his ways, when you think he would become great, he falls.
I really enjoyed this book and recommend it, it was deep and made me want to experience more in my life, to live every part of life and be every person to understand myself and the world better.
I choose the novel The Sun also Rises, written in 1926 by Ernest Hemingway.
It explores the live of the “Lost Generation” as it is called in the book. Jacob Barnes, first-person narrator and a veteran of World War I, is on a pilgrimage to Pamplona, Spain, with several friends to see the San Fermin Festival. He got injured at the Italian front and is not able to consummate a sexual relationship with the women he loves, Brett Ashley, a nurse who was working for a military hospital.
After the festival, Brett’s two affairs and lots of alcohol everybody returns to the place he belongs to.
Robert Cohen, an author from New York gets back to Paris to work on his second book.
Bill Gorton, an author coming from New York who traveled with Jake, Mike, a Scottish guy and Jake leave Spain together. Their ways superate in the south of France. Jake goes back to Spain to forget everything what happened before he returns to Paris. One night, he receives a telegram from Brett. She wants him to see in Madrid. Without thinking, Jake takes the night train and meets her in Madrid. They converge and about talk how happy they could be together. But Jake finally figures out that she’s only playing with him, just talks to him when she has problems. He can’t have a normal relationship to her.
What I really like is Hemingways style to write. Even if this book is a kind of depressing and sad it is very well to read and easy to understand especially for me.
If you don’t like depressing books I wouldn’t recommend reading this book, but if you ever read one of Hemingways novels and liked it you definitely should read it. It is one of his masterpieces.
Jonas Hanspach
Kerry Thomas
Due 11/20/09
Love is infinite and no matter what draws it to you, you simply can’t resist it.
I did my final book report on The Princess Bride. The story is about a stubborn girl who hopelessly falls in love with a farm boy named Westley. Throughout the story there are many things that stand in the way of their love including Buttercup thinking that Westley is dead and getting hitched to a prince.
William Goldman is a playwright and a two time academy award winning screen writer who lives in New York. He grew up in a Jewish home in Chicago. Goldman began really writing when he took his first creative writing class in college. I think the notable things about the book are that is so much going on throughout the story. I never found myself to be bored with it.
What I love about this book are the characters. I think they were very well developed. I really understood what was happening and I felt it on a personal level. I think it takes a certain amount of excellent of writing to do that. I wasn’t really sure about reading the book because I have seen the movie and I didn’t really know what to expect. The book is short enough and long enough to get the point across. Having read the book now I can say that I simply cannot compare the two. They are both good in their own different ways.
I think almost everyone has seen the movie but I think the book is important to read because there is a lot of background knowledge that you don’t get from the movie. It was hard for me to read it because I didn’t think it would be as good as the movie for some reason and I was surprised to find that it was. I will say that each have something to offer. It is a unique story that is entertaining in both versions. I recommend it to anyone who likes the movie and for those who haven’t seen it I would recommend reading it before seeing it because it seems like it would be more compelling that way.
Chelsea Silva
11/19/09
Period 3rd
The book I read was My name is Asher Lev, about a boy born with a prodigious artistic ability into a Hasidic Jewish family, His name is Asher Lev. During his childhood, his artistic gifts brings him into conflict with the members of his dvoutly religious sect, who value things primarily as they relate to their faith and who consider art not related to Judaism to be at best a waste of time and possibly a sacrilege. It brings him into particulary strong conflict with his father, a man who has devoted his life to serving their leader, the Rebbe, by traveling around the world bringing the techings and practice of their sect to other Jews, and who is by nature incapable of understanding or appreciating art.
Asher’s mother, who in Asher’s early childhood was severely traumatized by the death of her brother, who was killed while traveling for the Rebbe. Asher’s mom suffers anxiety for her husband’s safety during his almost constant traveling. Asher’s father declares Asher’s gift to be from the realm of the demonic, especially when he finds his son neglecting his studies and copying paintings of nude women and crucifixions of Jesus, and he tries to suppress Asher’s drawing and painting.
The girl will not be denied, and finally the Rebbe intercedes and allows Ahser to study under one of the greatest living artists, Jacob, a non observant Jew who is an admirer of the Rebbe. Asher Grows up to be a formidable artist as an apprentice of Jacob, and even his father cannot help but be pround of his son’s success.
To find out the very end well you’ll just have to read the book to find out.
This book was a pretty good book it was different then any other book i have read. TIt also took me a while to stay focused just because I’m not use to these type of books but i was suprized to read about this book because I actually got threw it i didn’t stop I kept readying.
The book that I read was called “The Cursed” by L.A. Banks. I would not necessarily call this my favorite book, nor my least, but I can say that it was not a very good book.
I did not thoroughly enjoy this book, it was racy and long, the climax was practically the whole thing, the action never stopped. On a scale of one to ten I would rate it as a six, simply because the plot was somewhat flawed and had way too much action packed into it.
This book is about a war amongst angels and demons, Lilith, satans “wife” is causing problems for those who choose not to live by the devils will, and Damali along with her crew, the angels, are not too happy about this and are looking to destroy Lilith and her spawn before it becomes of age and can begin helping her to destroy the world as we know it. So this book is about the struggles these people go through to try to bring her and her friends to their demise to save humanity before they can destroy everything and raise all the demons across the earth. Unfortunately Lilith keeps disappearing before they can destroy her.
If you want to know more about it then read it. This book is definitely not meant for children or those who do not like gore and action. I wouldn’t really reccomend it to anyone, honestly it wasnt that great.
I just finished reading Shopgirl by Steve Martin. It’s about a girl named Maribelle, she works in the glove department at a department store in Los Angeles. She becomes involved with a young artsy boy named Jeremy. After a couple dates and a night together she decides it probably won’t go very far. Then she meets a older man in his mid 50’s, Ray Porter. A millionaire, lives in Seattle, but comes into L.A. on business a lot. She becomes immediately attracted to him and while his lack of romantics and commitment is unsettling to Marabelle, she stays with him.
I was very surprised. If you watch most of Steve Martin’s movies they’re funny and goofy. Shopgirl was not. This book was very serious and intelligently written. This book had so many situations that most people would never be in, but enough situations that the average person has been in to help you relate. This book was very different in a very good way. It was interesting to read get into, although it took a while for me, it was worth it.
I liked this book because it was a very quick read but long enough that it had a full story and was pretty relative to real life. I would definitely recommend this book. I guess you could say it is kind of a ‘chick’ book. But i think anyone would i like it.
I read the book, To Kill a Mockingbird, it was, I’ll admit, a little slow at some parts but over all it was a rather simple and enjoyable read. This story takes place in Alabama during the Depression, and is told from the view point of the main character, a little girl named Jean Louise “Scout” Finch. Scout and her brother Jem are intrigued by the local rumors about a man named Boo Radley, who lives in their neighborhood but never leaves his house. Legend has it that he once stabbed his father in the leg with a pair of scissors, and he is made out to be a kind of monster.
Two neighbors gossip on their porches, and Scout joins them in speculating about Boo Radley. Reverend Sykes, the minister of the town’s black congregation, stops by to speak to Calpurnia, the Finch’s housekeeper, about their shared concern for Tom Robinson and his family. (note* don’t think that Boos story ends there 😀 )
Calpurnia explains to Scout that Bob Ewell has accused Tom of raping Mayella. Tom is presently in jail, which is a hardship for his family and a cause of great anxiety. Scout discounts Bob Ewell’s accusation, commenting that everyone knows the Ewells are contemptible.
The children soon become acquainted with a twelve-year-old named Dill, they talk about Boo Radley, inventing tales of his nightly activities, which they think may include eating squirrels and cats. Later Dill suggests that they try to make Boo come out of his house. The three sneak into the Radley yard, and Jem winds up to throw a stone at the house. Just then, Atticus arrives and scolds the children not to bother Boo. He tells them they’ll get along better with all kinds of people if they try to see things from the other person’s point of view––if they “climb into his skin and walk around in it.” (*ewww)
Like Scout, Jem is disappointed that Atticus isn’t a typical Maycomb father. Jem is hurt and angry when Atticus declines his invitation to play catch and refuses to show the children how to shoot their air rifles.
Scout and Jem’s “God-like” father, Atticus, is a respected and upstanding lawyer. When he takes on a case that puts innocent, black Tom Robinson against two dishonest white people, (during this time… ehhh not great odds in Tom’s favor) Atticus knows that he will lose, but he has to defend the man or he can’t live with himself. The case is the biggest thing to hit Maycomb County in years and it turns the whole town against Atticus, or so it seems. Scout and Jem are forced to bear the slurs against their father and watch with shock and disillusionment as their fellow townspeople convict an obviously innocent man because of his race. The only real enemy that Atticus made during the case was Bob Ewell, the trashy white man who accused Tom Robinson of raping his daughter. Too bad for Bob, Atticus doesn’t view Ewell as any real threat.
Tom Robinson is soon moved to the Maycomb County jail, and Sheriff Tate fears the interference of a rowdy mob.
That evening, Atticus mysteriously leaves the house, and the children secretly follow him to the jailhouse, where they watch, unseen, as a hostile group of men confronts him. The children, alarmed, emerge from hiding. Scout reminds one of the men that she goes to school with his son. Ashamed, he leaves, taking the others with him. Atticus explains to the children that the man behaved as he did because he was part of a mob; he chose to leave because Scout reminded him that he was still a man.
What will happen to Boo, Mr. Ewell, and what of Tom? You’ll have to read the book to find out.
That was To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Katherine Jelte
pr. 3
11/19/09
Ender’s Game
By Orson Scott Card
Forrest R LaBounty
Ender Wiggin, the third in a family of child geniuses, is selected by international military forces to save the world from destruction. Before being chosen Ender wears a unique monitor that allows the heads of the military to see things as Ender does. Ender’s brother Peter and his sister Valentine also wore this monitor, although neither was selected, nor did they have it for as long as Ender, and Peter will never forgive Ender for this. Peter hates Ender, and even when the monitor is taken out it does nothing to decrease Peter’s anger. The same is true of Ender’s schoolmates, and he is forced into brutally beating the leader of a gang of bullies in order to protect himself. Although Valentine tries to protect Ender from Peter, he is only saved from his brother when Colonel Graff of the International Fleet comes to take Ender away to Battle School. Ender leaves behind Valentine, who loves him, in order to help save the world from the buggers.
Born in 1951 in Washington and raised on the west coast, Orson Scott Card attended Brigham Young University and spent two years as a Mormon missionary Brazil. Highly influenced by his Mormon upbringing, in his introduction to Ender’s Game Card mentions that Isaac Asimov’s Foundation trilogy inspired him to write science fiction. He claims that in high school he was fascinated by military strategy and especially the crucial role that a leader plays in an army. The idea of the Battle Room, the game around which the novel Ender’s Game is organized, came to him when he was sixteen years old, but he did not begin to write the story until years later. Since Card came up with the basic concept of the book at such a young age it is not surprising that his young characters have considerably more penetrating thoughts and complex emotions than children in most other stories. This emphasis on children is one that Card very consciously molded, and he states that one of his goals was for everyone to have to see things from their point of view.
The reason I liked this book was because it was about Video games that helped war. Taking Children and molding them into fighter’s but only using the smartest of the smart. It a very good book and I am glad I read it. I liked how the Author made this book, almost real but not really. To me He did not sugar coat this book or hold anything back. This made me love it even more. He take the youth of Sci-Fi and steals the hearts and Imaginations of Sci-Fi reader’s. Just like the other books of Ender’s Game I have read
People who like the Following: Video Games, War and Sci-Fi, Will love this book will 95% of them will. It has all three of those great things in it and tons of it. This book does take Patience and have to understand it clearly. It was hard for me to read alittle bit cause of my lack of Patience but I still Recommend this book to all Sci-Fi youths.
You need to come talk to me before I can give you credit for this review.
MT
Allen Hamrick
Matt Thomas
Language Arts 3rd Period
November 19th 2009
Shogun, By: James Clavell, is the story about the discovery of Japan and what the sailors must do to survive in this new land. The book does include actual Japanese dialect and in some cases with no translation provided, I think that adds a foreign element to the story. The choice of words is beautiful yet harsh at the same time.
I can think of only 1 main character I feel comfortable with somewhat spoiling and that is because he is introduced in the beginning and he can be analyzed like this within the first 50 pages or so. Blackthrone, the captain of what the Japanese call the pirate ship that has come to invade them, he came to japan with only one purpose in mind: gold, gold, and lets not forget more gold, I believe he also came to convert the Japanese to his religion. After arriving he found himself in custody and fighting for his life and crew. He is a religious man, like all men in this time period, he orders his crew around and placing his own life as top priority.
It stays close to the story and doesn’t wander off in tangents which I find to be helpful as it keeps me focused and not wanting to skip ahead a few hundred pages. The story is solid and interesting so am trying my best not to spoil to much. I would absolutely recommend reading this if my line about the story back there got you, or if you are into Japaneses folklore, samurai’s or really anything else of that variety.
Lord of the Flies
By William Golding
Forrest R LaBounty
I n the midst of a raging war, a plane evacuating a group of schoolboys from Britain is shot down over a deserted tropical island. Two of the boys, Ralph and Piggy, discover a conch shell on the beach, and Piggy realizes it could be used as a horn to summon the other boys. Once assembled, the boys set about electing a leader and devising a way to be rescued. They choose Ralph as their leader, and Ralph appoints another boy, Jack, to be in charge of the boys who will hunt food for the entire group.
William Golding was born on September 19, 1911, in Cornwall, England. Although he tried to write a novel as early as age twelve, his parents urged him to study the natural sciences. Golding followed his parents’ wishes until his second year at Oxford, when he changed his focus to English literature. After graduating from Oxford, he worked briefly as a theater actor and director, wrote poetry, and then became a schoolteacher. In 1940, a year after England entered World War II, Golding joined the Royal Navy, where he served in command of a rocket-launcher and participated in the invasion of Normandy.
What I liked about this book was not that much besides the war and the monster of course but it was really not my type of book. One of the reason’s I probley read through it too fast to see what was going on cause I did not like it from the starting but it was pretty nice story for people who like the old day war’s and Lost on a Island type stuff.
The only people I recommend this too people who like the old day wars and enjoy the lost on the Island type stories with monsters but that’s about it for me. Not much for me to say what I liked and how I would recommend this book.
No credit for this review until you come see me. You can probably guess why.
MT
The Princess Bride, By: William Goldman
***WARNING!!! SPOILER ALERT!***
First off I have to say one thing about this book, its hilarious and when I read it, I got kind of a “Men in Tights” feel from it. The story starts out with the soon to be princess and her field works who she loves to boss around and later finds out they are in love. They get married, the end right? Wrong, he goes away oversea and is killed by a vicious pirate, his lover, Buttercup is left alone and sears to never love again when she hears the news. About 5 years after that she is asked by the prince of the land to be her wife, and in their land the prince gets to decide who his bride is whether the bride loves him or not.
One day while buttercup is out riding her horse she is attacked by a group of 3 mercenary’s and taken to a foreign country to be killed so they can start a war. On the way there Buttercup jumps out of the boat and into eel infested waters, these eels are pure fiction. Once they arrive at the site where she will be murdered, a man in a black mask is seen climbing the cliff and trying to rescue Buttercup. The plot thickens as the man in the mask duels with a Spaniard who’s father was killed when he was 11 and he got scars on his cheeks. As the man in the black mask continued forward, he came to a large person throwing rocks at him, he bests him with his agility and moves on to the person guarding Buttercup, the idiot who thinks he is smart. The man in the black mask tricks him into drinking lethal poison and he reveals himself to Buttercup first as her love’s killer and then her love.
The prince, who had been hot on their trail, finally found them and threatened to murder Buttercup’s love for kidnapping her. She spoke out and thought she had saved his life by trading her happiness for his life, but the prince is a jerk and threw him in the dungeon instead of setting him free and telling Buttercup that he sailed away. Eventually things heat up even more and the prince goes into the dungeon and kills Buttercup’s love. She still doesn’t know about this and she is going to be married to the prince in one day. She believes that her love will come save her and that if he does not she will kill herself. Will she survive, will the prince get smacked, with some crazy old guy try talking to her dead love? Well I’m not going to answer you so read the book if you want to know!
Brokeback Mountain, by Annie Proulx
“I’m not no Queer.”
“Me neither. A one shot thing. Nobody’s business but ours.”
Brokeback Mountain is set in 1963 amidst the sprawling Wyoming planes, where cattle are driven by dusty farm hands and “the skies are not cloudy all day”. Off in the distance in the cool blue hue of early morning the silhouettes of two strapping young men can be seen against the pale sky, their dark figures busying themselves with breakfast and bed-rolling. Who would have guessed that these rough-around-the-edges sort of fellows were wrapped up in one another’s arms under the sprawling star-filled sky just hours before?
Annie Proulx’s enthralling novella begins with the meeting of Ennis Del Mar and Jack Twist, two young men who begin working as ranch hands together in Brokeback Mountain, Wyoming in the summer of 1968. They see one another at meal times, eventually becoming friends, Ennis then going back to his sheep and Jack staying at base camp. After a particularly whisky-filled night, Ennis decides to stay with Jack in his tent overnight instead of looking over his flock. Seemingly out of the blue, the two men have a brief and slightly awkward sexual experience, and their romance begins. While both deny to being gay out loud, the two’s intimate and emotional love for one another grows incredibly strong over the summer, reluctantly parting ways once their job’s season ends, ending communication for some time. After four years, marriage, and several children, Ennis receives a postcard from Jack, and as Jack rolls into town, their relationship immediately sparks anew. Ennis’ wife, Lureen, seems to suspect something all along, and grows sick at the thought of what the two might be doing on their trips and long nights out together. From there the plot thickens… (So as not to give too much away, since the story‘s so short.)
Though far from my usual spectrum of reading, Brokeback Mountain was a beautiful story of love and heartache, with just enough to give you a satisfying taste in it’s tantalizing 64 pages. Annie Proulx writes with such a raw and life-like feel, you almost forget that you weren’t really there to experience Ennis and Jack’s echoing laughter in the cool summer night or to see the tears in Ennis’ eyes as he discovered two shirts and a postcard in the back of a closet. The tone is rich and real, painting on a rough canvas the picture of a forbidden love in a suspicious and cruel, yet secretly wonderful world.
I recommend this full heartedly to anyone who is open minded and has a few hours to spare, seeing as I, myself, couldn’t put it down once I began. The fresh, heartfelt characters and enchanting story helped me to appreciate love in a new light, and I’m sure it will do the same to any dedicated reader.
Anna Lensch
Period 3
11/20/09
Review #1
Dry
Augusten Burroughs
Book Review by
Jonathan Aspittle
Liquid lust- deity that flows across the tongue to warm the soul, filling the emptiness, reaching places no one person ever could. A martini glass, i cool cocktail called life, do you swallow, of just sit and watch it gather due…. the worst part, those damn olives…
Austen is a gay, advertising, alcoholic man, living in new york city. life is great, sure, a little late for work once in a while, sure, the stench of alcohol follows him like a plague- but life is great. forget the past from hell, forget the constant loneliness, none of it matters, he’s got his booze. he’s got his world. that is until, his superiors sit him down and force him to go to rehab…
he’s not so bad; 5 or 6 bottles a day…. cocaine every once in a while…. maybe 20 allergy pills a day…. not too bad.
Off he goes to get sober at the Proud institute. starts as hell, complete with a plush kitten and a blue monkey, along with a parade of nut jobs. however, something happens along the way, though he starts out wanting to run for the door, he begins to realize- these are his people. they know his pain, they know his…
A month goes by, he goes back to new york. where he meets a god of a man, perfect, but… alas a crack head constantly toying with his heart. the constant threat of alcohol… drugs… and on top of that, the man he has loved for years in dying before his eyes.
this book was amazing, laugh out loud comedy mixed with such heart wrenching scenes. ( i nearly bawled through several english classes due to reading them) written in a way that draws the reader in to it’s depths. you feel the pain, you feel the want. it burns, everyone can relate to this story, whether it’s falling for the wrong guy, missing the one who stole your heart, falling out of love, addiction, dealing with one’s past, or just trynig to survive the day. this book is real, you fall for this book. a bittersweet love affair. it will hurt, you will laugh, but in the end, you will miss crawling into it’s arms and forgetting the world.
So pray, give Augusten Burrough ‘Dry’ a chance. a quick read, only because you sink into it’s pages, you mind slips into it’s story and you dream, you hurt, it is something you’ll never forget.
TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD BOOK REVEIW
BY CHELSEA CARTER
For my second book reveiw of the trimester, I chose the book “To Kill a Mockingbirk” by Harper Lee. This book is about racial conflict in a time of racial discrimination. The storry is told from the veiw of a child, Scout Finch. Scout’s father, Atticus FInch is a a lawer defending a black man, who is accused of raping Mayella Ule. Growing up is hard enough, but Scout, and her brother Jem Finch, must learn to grow up in the racial discriminating town of Maycomb County, with a father who openly belived racial equality. This creates manmy trails and almost cost Scout and Jem Finch their life! I personaly enjoyed this book, and would honestly recomend it to a friend.
Ok so opps my reveiw was too short, let me ty again
Imagine a man being locked up for 6 months in prison, coming out only to take over nearly the entire globe. For one man this almost happened. Adolf Hitler, ever since he was a young boy had a dream for a “master race.” Hitler was thrown in prison six months for opposing his already failing government, this gave him time to organize his thoughts for a “better” world. For a white world. For a world with pure blooded, white brothers. These thoughts collected on paper are known as “Mein Kampf” or, “My Struggle” in english.
This book is the recollections of his rough child hood, struggling for equality in an interracial world.
Ever wonder why Hitler thought the way he did? Ever wonder what it was he really thought? Read Mein Kampf to find out why this mad genius acted on his conquest.
This book is fantastic. It is about a little girl named scout slash Jean Looise Finch and her family up to ago Nine. She liven in a house next to an old creaky one. Her brother and her want to make a man named boo who lived there come out. His real name is Mr. Aurther. They never attempeted to until a boy named Dill became there friend. It explaines her experiences at school, home, and away.
This book is unique because it was written a while ago and it uses different language then books today and it exsplains a lot. It hepls cultruize you. It lets you see different peoples views on life.
I like this book because it is a good adventure book. It grabs your attention and doesn’t let go. It is different and you get to be a little kid again. You get to bring out a side of you that you locked away when you found out Santa Clause and the Tooth Fairy are not real! (Sorry to all of you reading this tha still think they are!!! LOL) 🙂
I think others should read this because it is a great book that lets you know that the world doesn’t revolve around you and that life can be hard but we learn to live with it. That life is a cercle and what you give is what you will receve.
Thank you to all that have read this and in conclution I think everyone should read this book and enjoy life and every second you spend living life. Life is to short to regret and hold grudges:)
The Vampire Lestat: Anne Rice
I loved the book “Interview with the Vampire”, and I loved the characters, so I decided to read “The Vampire Lestat”. The story is about the immortal life of the vampire named Lestat from “Interview with The Vampire”. He was the bad guy in that book, but this book explains why.It starts with Lestat’s mortal death and ends with his existance in the modern world. This book is his memoirs, his expanation for why he is so cruel, and his cry for the mortal world to notice him.
I think that the ideas in this book are very unique to Anne Rice. I have never read a book or come across a book that is anyhting like the Vampire chronicles. I think that she did alot of research before writing about the time periods in this book. She had to have taken alot of time to do that, and I think it was worth it. The book is amazing in my opinion, and I plan to read all of her other works, all twenty-eight. Anne Rice is one of the most widely read authors in modern history, and I can see why.
I love the way she describes the characters and their personalities. She can make you fall in love with them, befriend them, and hate them all in one chapter. By the end of the book you are sad because the story has ended. I fell head first into the story, and I was sad when I was forced to surface.
I reccomend this book. I think people should read this book, or any of her books, because they have great original story lines, the characters are very relatable and easy to connect with, and her descriptions will entrance you. She is an amazing writer and this is an amazing book.
The second book I chose to read was The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. I have no yet finished it but I am looking forward to it. So far what has happened is Huck was living with a woman that took him in and he didn’t like it much because he had to be clean and go to school. He did very well in school until one day it had snowed about an inch and when he was on his way to school he noticed shoe prints in the snow in the yard so he bent down to get a better look at it and there was a cross in one of the prints. So Huckleberry runs to the judge and tells him to take all the money that Huck has. Then when he gets home his father is sitting on his bed and tells him that he can not be smarter than him and if he ever sees him around the school he will pay for it. One day when Huck was on his way to school his father kidnapped him and took him to a cabin about 3 miles up river. Every time Huck’s father would leave he would lock him in the cabin but one day Huck found a way out and sawed thru a hole that was in the base of the cabin and got out. He made it look like someone had broken in, killed him and then dumped him in the river. Then he put a bunch of supplies in a boat that he had found and hidden from his father and left to an island just past town. The next morning after getting to the island a big boat came by shooting cannons in to the water to make Huck’s body float up to the top. Later on after that he ran in to another person hiding on the island and it just happened to be the slave of the woman he lived with. She was being forced to sell him so he ran away. After that it gets just a little bit more interesting and grabs your attention better. I found this book hard for me to read because of the way they talk especially Jim he was very hard for me to understand. That first part I explained is what took me a long time to get through. It just didn’t grab my attention very well. But I do love story all together it is very interesting to me its just all the little details that loose my attention.
TO KILL A MOCKING BIRD BOOK REVEIW
CHELSEA CARTER
For my second book reveiw of the trimester, I chose the book “To Kill a Mockingbirk” by Harper Lee. This book is about racial conflict in a time of racial discrimination. The storry is told from the veiw of a child, Scout Finch. Scout’s father, Atticus FInch is a a lawer defending a black man, who is accused of raping Mayella Ule. Growing up is hard enough, but Scout, and her brother Jem Finch, must learn to grow up in the racial discriminating town of Maycomb County, with a father who openly belived racial equality. This creates manmy trails and almost cost Scout and Jem Finch their life! The book takes corse of about a year, give or take. Jem and Scout’s cousin, Dill, comes to vist them, learing how to adapt to the country life, and learning to tell his true life story, and accepting reality. Dill sobers up froma spoiled life by learning lesons from the Finch’s and those around him. Everyone in this book learns something, and no matter how much you hate some charicters, they all grow on you. I personaly enjoyed this book, and would honestly recomend it to a friend.
. Markie Dunn
Matt Thomas 2nd
Shopgirl Book Review
I read Shopgirl, written by Steve Martin. I chose to read this book mostly because of course Steve Martin is the author and we all know him from the big screen and because it was very short. I really enjoyed this book especially because it was nothing like I expected. This book is about a young woman not so happy Mirabelle who wants to be an artist but is stuck working at the evening gloves. Mirabelle meets a young man Jeremy who is a crazy poor graphic designer and they get romantic but then she meets an older successful rich man who is in his fifties and isn’t looking for anything serious, Ray. Even though Mirabelle is aware of that Ray doesn’t want anything serious almost from the beginning she is so attracted to him that she didn’t care. Mirabelle goes through a hard decision between the two men even though she always had more of an interest for Ray. But since I don’t want to ruin what happens with her and her men I thought it was a great shot read I highly suggest it because it’s not your funny Steve Martin you’d expect. It really does have a lot of insight about a confused girl not really knowing what she wants. There were a lot of crazy things that went on in this book but it was really good and yes there were some funny things that went on and I think the reason I liked it so much is because I was so surprised in the end. Another reason i thought it was really good because I grew to have an emotion about each character and I love when I can make connections with a book. So I would most definitely request Shopgirl be read.
Charles Dickenson, The Great Expectations
Great Expectations is about this poor peasant boy Pip, both of his parents are dead so he live with his cruel sister and her husband a noble blacksmith. Through out the book poor Pip has to come across an escaped criminal who threatened poor Pip to give him supplies and then he will let him live. Pip frightened does as he wishes and doesn’t turn him in, but ever since then Pip keeps experiencing strange activities that give him reasons to suspect that the criminal is fallowing Pip when he enters into town. Also while these strange symbols continue to occur, Pip’s sister and husband see a article in the paper looking for a young boy to come and be a playmate for this wealthy but strange women’s daughter. So of course them needing the money he becomes this very pretty girls playmate. She’s a ghastly little girl but Pip slowly finds him self falling in love with this adorable lady. But as time goes on Pip becomes the age when he becomes apprentice to Joe as a blacksmith. He learns the ways of blacksmithing when a man come to their house and tells the family that Pip is being sent away to become a gentleman. This causes questions as to who it might be that is so willing sending him off with such wealth for such great expectations, but of course Pip believes that its Mrs.Havision so that her lovely daughter can be with Pip. But later on Pip soon learns that neither of them have a heart and Mrs.Havision lied to Pip because of her past and slowly all the secrets of this town are reveled.
Stephen King- Hearts in Atlantis
Book review by Ashley Brown
A story of four stories from the 60’s to 99’ connected by A book, and three friends, Carol Gerber, Bobby Garfield and Jon Sullivan. With great imagery and edgy words Stephen King captivates readers and loses them all at the same time.
This first story “Low Men in Yellow Coats” starts with intriguing sci-fi feel, confusing you with a growing friendship between and old, loving, basically psychic, name Ted Brautigan and awkward, little Bobby. At first our narrator, Bobby, doesn’t think much of Ted and not unlike any another kid in the 60’. But soon enough Ted hires him to starting watching out of signs of the dangerous men who have been chasing him, Bobby, thinking his old neighbor is off his rocker, takes the job to save up for his bike. He sees nothing at first, and his relation between him and Carol blossoms, him and Ted turns grows deeper with the love of books especially “Lord of Flies”, him and his mother turns spiteful. Then the signs start showing up and he grows nervous, and then refuses to tell. Ted knows anyway and places a bet so he can leave when Bobby’s mother leaves on her business trip with her boss. But when Bobby finds Carol beaten up in the woods he takes her the Ted’s asking him to help, his mother comes home and expects that they had hurt her just like she had been hurt, that they had slaughter the pig. Telling Ted to leave, and once he has left she finds a posters asking for him in exchange for a reward. She calls, throwing Ted to the Low Men’s mercy. Bobby follows to save him finding him just in time to meet them himself. Founding out that they are aliens come to take Ted away, Bobby flees for his life and returns to his mother. This one is definitely my favorite story of the bunch.
The second story “Hearts in Atlantis” is about a young activist against the war in Vietnam, Peter Riley in college. He falls for Carol Gerber, and she turns his mind around. But then he becomes addicted to the game of Hearts, starts losing everything and is on the verge of being kicked out and sent to the war. But in the end him and his friends end up saving another activist, Carol has to move home for her mother leaving him with only memories and a book about Vietnam, “Lord of the Flies”. This one was way too vulgar and hard to get through. But I did enjoy Peter’s character; he was full of wit and humor.
The third, “Blind Willie”, is about Willie Sheaman, one of the boys that beat up Carol in the first story. It’s about him working remembering the war and how he’d saved Sullivan in the war. He is repenting and trying to changing but refuses to apologize. And in the end of the story he ends up running into the copy of “Lord of Flies” that Carol gave to Peter. I couldn’t really get into this story.
And the final story is “Why We’re in Vietnam” which I didn’t understand.
I absolutely love the first story and couldn’t put it down. But as soon as I realized the book was split into many different story I kind of like it the idea. But then after I finished “Low Men in Yellow Coats” the arch finish and a new one started and then after that one another one started. Then I lost interest in it, and I almost didn’t want to finish reading it. And the swearing does take away from it a lot.
But it was very well written and is great a story, it takes you to a world that has existed not so long ago but almost seems like in entire new world. It creates new ideas and new horrors in your mind making you think about ideas you’ve never even considered before. I would recommend it to anyone
I haven’t finished yet.
Anne Rice, Blood and Gold
This book has you fallowing a vampire, Marius all through out his life starting at the first time he was reborn into the dark world. He was one of the few to ever be given the blood of the parents and he it took upon himself to take care of these stone creatures(the Parents) once their temple was burned by a follower that had corrupted his views and followed the works of Satin. But because of this burden he has to take everything into extreme precautions for many seek out the great parents and hope that they will either be able to destroy them of be able to feast upon theirs blood and receive the great powers from them. So he is constantly in hiding from others like him keeping his distance form anything that might bring up such a stir. Although he remains to keep himself hidden from his own kind he is not shy in welcoming the living flesh into his home to keep him company and to enjoy the riches of his life. Once his house is burned to the ground the night when Rome had been attacked he is forced to take the parents and move them to a safer place. But while he is looking for a place for him to resurface amongst the living he finds himself deeply in love with this master painter for his work portrays the tales of the Roman gods and goddesses, but with such a love for this man he realizes that he must stray away and never come near him for the temptation of corrupting this poor soul and taking him simply for his own greed would be a pain he could never bare. So once again he relocates but finds this marvels man of great features Lestat who turns his entire life around
what about outside reading pages?
OUTSIDE READING!!!
*Perks of Being a Wallflower- 228
*Girl with a pearl earring- 256
My sister’s keeper- 423
Walden- 25– I just started (:
(* reading list)
TOTAL: 932
I’ve always had a fascination with classical art. It’s always had a place in my heart, not just because of its timeless beauty, but because it’s recognizable. With each painting done by DaVinci, van Gogh, Monet, or Vermeer comes a childhood memory or feeling. I don’t know why, but for whatever reason, Vermeer sticks out the most for me. His painting Girl With a Peal Earring is one of my favorites. Her innocent eyes always stare back at me with what looks like guilt. I chose this book out of curiosity for the story behind one of my favorite paintings
Chevalier’s Girl with a Peal Earring describes each painting he creates with a little story to go with it. I think that’s what I liked the most about it, even though they were all just made up to go along with the main idea of the book. The main character, Griet is competent, intelligent and observant young individual who is sent away by her parents that have been unemployed because of an accident that resulted in her father’s blindness. She is sent to work for Vermeer to clean up after his painting sessions in his off limits studio.
She cleans up for Vermeer, but his wife hates her. Uhhh sorry this is short.
The Cider House Rules-take two.
For my second book I decided to read the Cider House Rules by John Irving. It is an enchanting book about a boy named Homer who grows up in St. Cloud’s Orphanage where he performs secret abortions and becomes a medical assistant to the witty Dr. Wilbur Lurch who also helps women with unwanted pregnancies give birth and then keeps the babies in the orphanage. Wilbur makes a point to not form a bond with the kids so that it’s easier for them to transition into their adoptive family, but after a while it becomes clear that Homer won’t be going anywhere anytime soon so Wilbur trains him to be an obstetrician and then they grows to love the lad. Later on Homer meets and befriends a couple; Candy and Wally who work in an apple orchard, he ends up leaving with them. Candy and Homer begin to develop a secret love for each other, and just in time too considering Wally gets called to war and his plane gets shot down in Burma. The military presumes him missing but Candy and Homer just assume him dead and get on with their lives…and by that I mean Candy gets pregnant. With a baby. Named Angel. Who is born in the same orphanage where Homer grew up, the only baby to ever leave with its birth mother. The story goes mad cow when Wally is found and comes home. So they lie to the entire family about Angel’s real father and say that Homer just adopted him which upsets him greatly. Wally and Candy marry quickly after that but it doesn’t stop Homer from getting what he wants. The affair carries on for around fifteen years and I have yet to know what happens next considering this book longer than Moby Dick. But a lot lot lot better. We should read this book. I hope this is 250 words. My first one was, BUT IT GOT DELETED. Okay bye.
Well, look at that. You did it. I knew you could.
MT
The Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison is narrated by a nameless African-American during the beginning of the twentieth century. The book addresses many of the social issues of this period through the storytelling of the narrator. Of course during this time slavery wasn’t legal but as a race just rising from its depths there was an enormous amount of prejudice and intolerance that had a profound impact on victim and perpetrator alike. The book illustrates the struggle to overcome these obstacles, and also describes the nature of this struggle. That is to embrace the present and learn how to use it as a tool in the struggle to create a more desirable present (see invisibility). It also describes the time in which one grapples with the present and is unable to accept or embrace it, and its role in the struggle. It is being unsatisfied that actually motivates you to accept something, which then enables you to create a sort of change. At least in your own head. Maybe in the world outside it (if such a thing exists…)
This book won the National Book Award in 1953. It was the only book Ellison ever published during his lifetime. I really enjoyed it because it erected a portrait of a struggle that is often forgotten, by me anyway. Living today it is all too easy to forget about the history of struggle that brought about many of the freedoms that are so present in life today. There is a lot that this book can teach us about this struggle, about any struggle.
I have no idea if that’s what this book is really about. But there it is. I did it.
LITTLE WOMEN
Zachary Keller
I had to read a book on the reading list and the only one we had was Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. This book is about four sisters named Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy. They live with their mother and their father is off fighting in the Civil War. The story goes through their lives together, and apart. They are a close family which makes the book interesting. They are all concerned with one another.
Little Women has a time line that goes by very fast. In about the first ten chapters the Civil War is happening. Then their father comes home. You never hear about the war again. Their neighbor, Laurie, becomes a good friend to them all, and Jo’s best friend.
Louisa May Alcott was born in Germantown, Pennsylvania in 1832. She had three sisters. She was a bit of a tomboy. She always wanted to be famous in anything as long as she was famous. She wrote Little Women at age 35. She published 35 books.
I didn’t care a lot for this book. I thought it was boring, and a soap opera that has a happy ending. The characters were stretched as far as they could and then some. I started this book, and because I don’t like stopping a book I kept reading.
I only recommend it because it is a book that is on the reading list. If you are in need of a good book I suggest looking somewhere else. I particularly liked the ending when it ended
Taylor Zamudio
English
2.24.10
I read the Complete Stories and Poems by Edgar Allan Poe. Growing up reading his stories, I merely brushed up on some of my favorites. The most popular I’d image would be the Tell Tale Heart written in 1843. But for those who are unfamiliar, of his mentor I’ll write about that so we all have a general idea of it.
The story begins with the imagination of a man irritated with the unsightly vulture eye that lay in the skull of an old man. He plots the man’s death out of pure spite for the film covered eye ball, for he is not mad, he’s simply nervous; or so he claims. The death of this pale blue eye ball is not for money but out of fear. After a week of stalking the old man while he sleeps, he decided to make the kill.
Before the guy (No name or it’s the narrator, I’ll now refer to him as Jorge) reaches the old man’s body, the old man sits up in bed with the hollering sound coming from his throat and a fierce beating from within his chest. Without Jorge’s knowledge a phone call to the police has been made. With an unknown time limit, Jorge attacks! He cuts the old man into body pieces only to store them under the floor boards. Shortly after, the police showed up at the door. Playing the ‘cool’ card and show them around the house. Once again, the heartbeat of the old man rang through his ears. As the intensity thickens, the heartbeat grows louder and louder, Jorge is driven to madness and rips up the floor boards where the old man’s body lies.
I wouldn’t recommend this story to people, not because it’s a poor story, but because Edgar Allan Poe has so many other great poems and short stories. “Eleonora”, “The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar”, “The Fall of the House of Usher” and “The Gold Bug” are just a few ones that I would recommend and I personally like myself.
Gabrielle Gioffre
Matt Thomas
English 11B
03/04/2010
I chose to read Ragtime by E.L. Doctorow. I decided to read it because it was made into a musical that my Grandma really appreciated. It turned out one to be a book I really enjoyed and got into.
This book starts out in a family in 1902. It goes through many stories through the years of the early 1900s. The stories are about cultural history and not so much about history you normal hear. It gives you an idea about life used to be like back then. It shows you the kind of stories you would hear on the news then rather than the stories you would hear now.
What’s really unique about this book is the writing style. E.L. Doctorow never reveals the name of the young boy, the narrator, or his family. It uses terms like mother, father, mothers younger brother.
Something I liked about the book is that E.L. Doctorow is very blunt. He doesn’t make a point to censor himself nor does he try. He tells the stories in a non-politically correct way. In a way it makes it easier to read.
I would definitely recommend this book to anyone. It’s a really good book. People who enjoy cultural history would be interested in this book.
Mikaela Carroll
English 11
3/03/10
Phantoms in the Brain
V.S. Ramachandran, M.D., PH.D.,
And Sandra Blakeslee
Foreword by Oliver Sacks, M.D.
It really is “Probing the mysteries of the human mind.” He writes going through many explanations for things that go on in your brain due to certain circumstances.
This is not a fiction book, nor a book that has one main story. It has many stories in it, and they are about people with a condition in which might sound “insane” but they all have a explanation. He finds these explanations by the experiments that he conducts on people. The problems are mostly dealing with damage to a certain part of the brain. Whether that be a stroke, having your arm/leg amputated, or getting in a car accident that makes you believe that your parent are imposters.
He goes through why the patients are going through this and what is going on with the brain that causes this. He also explains Denial syndrome and Neglect, this happens to people who had strokes. This one of many super fascinating parts of the book. He actually explains Freud’s theory of the Defense Mechanisms. The author wrote how Freud’s idea of this was really accurate; he just didn’t understand what happens in the brain to cause the stages. Another is he mentions was about people seeing “God” after strokes, this was also amazingly interesting.
This book is history. You will find out a lot about different conditions and sometimes find out who made it up (like the Freud’s theory) and you always find out who has this condition, since that is what the book is about.
I really loved everything about this book. I wasn’t just about Phantom limbs, it was so much more. There is a story about how a woman that thought she was pregnant, but wasn’t. You might have heard about this, but do you know why it occurs? I didn’t think so. But if you read it, you will find out. I loved how the writer goes to different things but in some way it fits in with everything; I guess it all relates. You really do learn a lot by this book and everybody, or everybody should, enjoy gaining knowledge.
For kids at EHHS, if they want to read, well I guess they could learn more about certain conditions and create a accurate story about it. Also for people who are interested in neurology and psychology, then I would say read it. This is not a children book, or even a teen book. This is real science and dose talk about functions and particular parts of the brain. So if that is what you are interested in, then this might be a great book for you to read.
I chose the book “As I Lay Dying” by William Faulkner. This is a book about the lengths a family will go through to fofill a woman’s dying wish. Addie Bundren is the mother and wife in the family. Addie request that she is baried with her family in Jefferson. She dies relitivly quickly after the books begins. So the family makes a journey to Jefferson with her coffin. They face many trials in getting her body there, including almost dropping her in a river, due to a broken bridge. Her husband Anse is set on fofilling his wifes last wish. He is a toothless man who is verry set in his ways. Before she dies, her eldest son Cash, works tirelessly on his mother’s coffin. He is a verry kind boy who isnt verry outspoken. He breaks his leg in the novel, and they try to fi it by pouring cement on it, this of course only makes it worse and they have to eventually remove his leg. There only daughter is Dewey Dell, she is a real skank. She’s pregenant and set out to get an abortion on their trip to Jefferson, however she always flirts with the medical staff. Her lover gave her $10 for the abortion, but her father steals it to buy some new teeth. What a skeeeeeez! Addie had another son named Jewls, however he is NOT Anse’s son. He is the son of the family’s preacher! Vardaman is like the “im sorry i had a baby with some one else” make up baby. He is a simple kid and cant cope with his mother dying. He also tells on his brother Darl for setting this person’s barn on fire and Darl goes to a mental instatution instead of jail. This book was alright, but im not going to recemend it to anyone cause i dont want to. Ok im done bye.
I chose to do my report on the book The Great Gatsby, it is an American classic about, love, money, this human spirit, and the American dream and how it relates to all these ideas.
The Great Gatsby’s title comes from the main character that most of the themes in this book apply to, his name is Jay Gatsby. The basic summary of the book is that Jay and the love of his life Daisy Buchanan had fallen in love when they were younger but they couldn’t be together because they were from different “social classes”. Daisy was “old money” which means she doesn’t have to work for her money because it was given to her by her parents. Gatsby was in the social class as “new money”, which simply means he had to work for his money and no matter how much he got he would never be in the same class as the old money people. Gatsby goes into the army and comes back with a lot of money; he trys to get Daisy’s attention by inviting her to fancy parties and showing off all of his money and possessions but Daisy is married to Tom so Daisy and Gatsby end up having this huge affair and it all gets super complicated and Daisy ends up picking her husband Tom over Gatsby and Gatsby gets shot by George who was married to myrtle who was having an affair with Tom.
A pretty unique aspect of this book is the ending. This book doesn’t end the way you would expect or even the way you had hoped for. This makes the book more relatable because that how life is. Good guys often loose when they don’t deserve it. Another unique thing about this book is how it is written. It is told in first person by Nick who is Daisy’s cousin and doesn’t actually have a lot to do with the main plot of the story. I think this allows us as readers to see the other characters in a different way and lets us almost make our own judgments or opinions about each detail or character in the story.
I like the main theme of the American dream. Gatsby has the dream to become wealthy and win Daisy back, and sets out to do it. I also like the brutal honesty that comes with this dream, it is just a dream! No matter how hard we try most of us won’t end up rich and or happy like the American dream suggests. This book had many other themes that apply to real life, like money doesn’t buy happiness, and bad things happen to good people. All of these themes apply to Gatsby and he ends up getting the crap end of everything. I really liked the reality of these themes and how they applied to real life. I also really liked how dedicated Gatsby was in winning over daisy and how he would do anything for her. I thought all the twists with the affairs that were going on were entertaining and complicated. I also really felt like I could relate to some of it because life hasn’t been easy but just like Gatsby I don’t want to give up on my dream.
I would recommend this book to anyone that can relate to life not being fair and always feeling like you’re constantly trying and trying and it just never seems to work out. Anyone who likes American classics and love stories. It is a easy read once you get into it but once you do I can promise you won’t be disappointed once you do get into it.
I read the book No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy. I’m still not sure if I really liked this book or not. I didn’t care much for the ending, it wasn’t what I expected, but I suppose that can make or break a story. A few things that drove me up a wall while reading this book were: A. while reading you will notice that there are no quotations around the diolouge. This made some of the reading rather conffusing at some parts. Maybe I just have OCD but that was annoying. B. None of the characters are really all that likable. Llewelyn, one of the main charaters, you don’t hate him, but you don’t care much if he lives or dies, he’s just a guy that gets caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. Anton Chiguh, the killer in this story. Oddly enough out off all the people in the book he was the most interesting. C. I found myself thinking during the beginging and end of this book, thinking, “wow, this was just super random.” Also this book tends to make you feel sick inside after you read it.
So basically what happens in this book, is that, a man named Llewelyn, sumbbles on a drug deal gone bad, and finds roughly 2 million dollors. He takes the money (figures, I would too) and he leaves. When he comes back later to help a man who had begged him for water, he gets chased and shot at, but he escapes. Soon after, he is being stalked by a man named Chiguh who is this physco killer who uses this air tank to blow huge chunks out of the people he shoots. (very messy).Anyway the killer does eventually catch up to Llewelyn and they have a shoot out but neither of them die. Llewelyn does get hurt pretty bad though and he ends up in the hospital. Later he meets a man named Mr. Wells who is looking for the money as well as Chiguh. Well Chiguh finds him first and kills him. The sheriff is always just a few steps behind Chiguh and in the end…..DA DA DA!!! Llewelyn is found dead and the money is taken. Chiguh wins. Talk about a lame ending right?
Allysa Hansen
Per 2
The Bell Jar By Sylvia Plath
I chose to read the The Bell Jar because I heard nothing but great reviews about it. I would have to say it’s not my favorite book, just because I feel its oddly written. Sylvia Plath created this character “Esther Greenwood”, who I have heard is based off of Sylvia herself. The book begins with Esther in New York working on a magazine with many other girls. Her college boyfriend Buddy Willard plans to marry Esther but doesn’t respect her passion to write. Esther is growing more and more worried about her being a virgin and not being married, but she Buddy tells her how he slept with a waitress and Esther claims him to be a “hypocrite” and refuses to be with him. Throughout the book her curiosity of her virginity becomes a reoccurring motif. The book truly starts to pick up when she goes home to Boston for the summer and gets the news she was not accepted into the writing class she was planning to attend. She finds herself seeming more and more lost and she begins to not sleep for days and becomes very suicidal. She even stops bathing. Her mother takes her to go see Dr. Gordon who then put her on shock treatment. She only went once to him; she was seeing blue lights and noises which in return she became terrified of shock treatment. She decides that she has to kill herself and begins to think and try multiple ways. Esther in the end consumes multiple sleeping pills and falling asleep in her cellar. She awakes to find herself in the hospital and more determined than ever to end her life. In the meantime she is moved to a private hospital where she begins to cooperate and begins to face her reoccurring problems. She faces her fear of shock treatment. Her new doctor, Dr. Nolan tells her that her previous experience was wrong, and that she should have just fallen asleep. She forms a close bond with Dr Nolan and is able to get over that fear. She starts to be granted freedom from the hospital and is allowed to make trips outside. She ends up losing her virginity to a math teacher named Irwin. When they are finished Esther doesn’t stop bleeding and makes her friend Joan (Who she has known since before the asylum and soon Joan enters into the hospital herself for suicidal tendencies.) Rush her to the emergency room. They were there for the same problem but in the end Joan ended up losing her life. Buddy comes to visit Esther in the hospital and asks her if he drove women crazy, because the two girls he has dated both went “crazy”. They establish that they weren’t meant to be at this time and just leave each other’s lives. Esther knows that she is better now, but she also knows that any minute she could fall back into the old her. Over all it was a decent book.
Cherie A. Adan
Matthew A. Thomas
English 11 2nd period
March 4, 2010
The Scarlet Letter- “A” is for Adultry
I read this book at the beginning of the term, so bare with me. I actually read The Scarlet Letter because it was recommended by one of my friends, whom I admit, has a wonderful taste in fine literature. I’ve also wondered what this book was about because it was mentioned in another book I read about a year or so ago. I’m glad I did because Hester Prynne reminds me of someone I know. It’s funny actually, she’s practically Prynne’s clone… on to the summary!!
Sinning used to be (and sometimes still is) a big deal back in the day of Hester Prynne. What a silly woman, Hester. She committed the ultimate unforgivable sin! Adultery! Now everyone in her Puritan town hates her immensely, and thinks she deserves to die. How did they find out about her naughty little sin? She’s pregnant. It’s like a 1800s soap opera! To show their hatred to her, they punish her by making her walk past everyone in the town with the letter “A” embroidered on the chest of her dress. They also banished her to live by her lonesome in the deep dark woods of Massachusetts. She seemed like she didn’t really care what everyone though, so she smiled while everyone mocked her. What ever will happen to our dear Hester?! Read the book to find out!!
Nathaniel Hawthorne grew up in the 1800s. He was born in Salem, Massachusetts. Hawthorne was named after his father. He went to school with some interesting folks, including Franklin Prince, the 14th president of these United States.
My favorite part of this book was chapter was chapter 13, in which the people of her town start to respect her a little for her needle work. She helped people, even though everyone had treated her so poorly. They started to see her as a saint, and instead of thinking of the word “adultery” they think of the word “able”.
I recommend this book to everyone who likes books written a long time ago. They have a different, more sophisticated language.
Allysa Hansen
Per two
Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck
Book report Two
In the book Of Mice and Men, the two opposite characters come together and form an outstanding friendship. The main characters are George, a man who is short and defined, and Lennie, who is extremely large and almost feature less. They both are to start work on a farm, but the more they converse George begins to notice that Lennie has a mental disability and has a love for “soft things”, but often kills things as well because he just doesn’t understand how strong he is. George soon finds a dead mouse that Lennie has been carrying around and petting. He doesn’t want Lennie to get sick so he throws it and then begins to tell Lennie that he doesn’t want him around. But in reality they both can’t live without each other. They discuss getting a nice house together and getting rabbits. They arrive at this house and George tells the man they will be working for that Lennie and him are cousins and that a horse kicked him when he was younger. They meet Curley, (who just so happens to be a douche) and they realize that he is very protective over his wife, who isn’t always so faithful. Lennie finds this girl to be pretty and George has to tell him no, and to not ever, ever think about It. Lennie soon gets into a fight with Curley, just because Curley was angry with his wife and overheard him and George talking about getting their own land. But in turn Lennie smashed his hand and Slim, a skilled mule driver, tells Curley that he will be a joke if he tries to get them fired. Lennie and George confine in Slim about their old jobs, and tells him that they had to leave their last one because Lennie had an accused rape charge. Lennie one day accidently kills the puppy Slim gave him in the barn. Curley’s wife finds him and tries to cheer him up, they began to open up to each other and she tells him that Curley is a disappointment and he in turn tells her that he likes to pet soft things. Lennie then plays with her hair, tugging it too tightly she began to cry, and when he tried to make her stop crying he accidently broke her neck. When George returns to find Lennie at their designated meeting spot if they got into trouble, George doesn’t seem angry with Lennie and just tells him about this house they will have filled with rabbits. The men on the farm however were not as kind as George about the whole matter, and formed a lynching party. George continues to tell Lennie about taking care of the rabbits and when he hears the party arriving closer, he shoots Lennie in the back of the head.
I really enjoyed this book. It was very heart wrenching and great tale of friendship. Yes I cried, and I’m not ashamed to say that. This book was fantastic!
Cherie A. Adan
Matthew A. Thomas
English 11 2nd period
March 4, 2010
The Grapes of Wrath- A Waste of My Precious Time
Remember Patrick Rodgers? Of course you do. Remember that priceless film he made a year or so ago titled The Space Grapes of Wrath or something…? How could you not? I remembered it the other day at the library and remembering how hilarious it was, I picked up a copy of John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath. And let me tell you, reading that book is no walk in the park.
It’s a very slow story line, so let’s get straight to the point. Tom Joad recently left prison, he had been convicted of manslaughter, and is on the way home when he meets the old preacher Jim Casy whom accompanies him back to the old farm. When they get there they realize that Tom’s family has deserted the farm. They go on to find that all of the other surrounding farms have also been abandoned. A man named Graves tells them that all of the families have been forced off of the land and have gone to California to look for work. So, off they go to an uncle’s house where they run into ma and pa getting ready to go to California to be fruit pickers. On the way, the grandpa dies in the truck they are traveling in, for the roads are bumpy and uncomfortable. To find out more about what happens in the book, read it and or google it.
John Steinbeck was born in February 1902 in California. He won the Pultzer Prize for The Grapes of Wrath in 1940, a year after it was published.
I recommend this book to everyone. And Patrick Rodger’s Fan club, if he has one.
Jonathan Aspittle
Matt Thomas
English 11
March 4, 2010
A Streetcar Named Desire
Tennessee Williams
A tale of passion, love , pain, and secrets. Set against a sultry New Orleans, Tennessee Williams whisks you away to a hot summer day, and to a streetcar named ‘Desire’ . Blanche Dubois climbs from her seat to find the vile city around her. With the past nibbling at the back of her mind, and a heart drowning in bittersweet memories, she makes her way to his sisters run down home. There, she meets Stanley, her sister’s wife, A brute, an animal, and most likely the sexiest man in all of Louisiana. But he is not fooled by her dim lighting and southern charm, he senses the darkness behind her bright eyes, and makes it his job to expose for the fraud she is.
A Streetcar Named Desire is beautiful. Wonderfully written, quick, witty, and heartfelt. It symbolizes a dying age. Where beauty and charm begin to fade, and reality begins to take hold. Whether in new Orleans, or in the heart of us all. It is about pain, and the darkest things the soul will do to free itself from that suffering. To read this book is to journey into one’s self. To explore our darker natures, and expose our own Stanlys or Blanches to the world, the hidden shadow of our self conscious, and the animal in all human nature. It is a story of archetypes, the battle between the persona and ego. The smoldering darkness that hides within our shadow, the animal trying to get out, and the self- that without all the rest, would be nothing, but comes together to create us. Our world. Our existence.
I loved the wit. The poetry and southern charm. So many monologues that tear at the heart strings and conversations that leave you giggling in class. One of my favorites quotes” my dear, we are not yet made in gods image, but here has been some progress” left me giddy for hours when I first read it. Blanche’s love for her dear departed tears at me whenever I read her monologue for him, or how she describes the music which only stops with a gunshot…
This play was amazingly beautiful, it explores the soul, which is something I thing today’s world needs to do more often. We need to learn to understand. Everyone has a story. Everyone is the way they are for a reason. We are all driven in our lives by desire. By want. We need it to go on with our existence. But, we need to learn to get off the streetcar, before we get lost.
Travis Alexander Wilker
Matt Thomas
Language Arts 11
03/03/10
Imagine the world we live in; warmth, love, roofs over our heads, more than enough food, comfort, etc. Now imagine if one day all of this was suddenly taken away from you, being birthed into a new kind of world… A savage world where people kill each other over things they used to simply throw out.
In Cormac McCarthy’s, The Road, this hellish nightmare is the harsh reality for an unnamed man and his son. The book is the tale of these two unknowns traveling through the now scorched rock that was once the abundant mother Earth. These two, belonging to the very few, if any, humans left with any moral standards at all, are trying to make their way towards the sea, hoping to find any form of a home they can, hoping that there is some goodness left in the survivors of the unknown devastation that has wreaked the planet.
Throughout the story, the two struggle to survive, running scarce on food and having to avoid capture from the violent gangs of cannibals that roam the streets, searching for their next victims. They not only struggle to keep away from these gangs and scrounging for any meal they can find, they also struggle with having to cope with unimaginable horrors. Horrors such as captives slowly being chopped up and killed for food, or a “family” in which the mother has children only for them to only harvest the new born as dinner. The father also struggles with a horrible health condition in which he coughs up blood every morning and is slowly dying from his illness. Do the two ever make it to the shore? If so, is it the salvation they had hoped for, or just another dead, empty spot on the globe desolated by the extreme catastrophe? Read the book to find out!
I chose to read Complete Poems by E.E. Cummings. I got no where near the amount of pages I wanted to read, but I did read a highly good amount considering how addicting and intriguing I find his poems. But my favorite one by far is one I distinctly trace back to my childhood and it goes:
I carry your heart with me(I carry it in
my heart)I am never without it(anywhere
i go you go,my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing,my darling)
I fear no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)I want
no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)
and it’s you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you
Here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows
higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that’s keeping the stars apart
I carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)
This poem means a lot to me. For one, it was something a very special woman shared with me before she passed away from breast cancer. I’ve had it memorized since the day she shared it with me and it will never leave me.
E.E Cummings, also known as Edward Estlin Cummings was a very bright man, he attended Harvard, had a very happy and overall productive life. His poems speak of truth, love and creativity. I recommend everyone read at least a couple of his poems, they are beautiful and unique, guaranteed you won’t find another like them.
Kerry Thomas
Matt Thomas
Due 3/4/10
Language Arts
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
This story is a true story about a girl named Maya who goes through so much life in just 16 years. There is so much that happens to her throughout the story. She is raped when she is eight years old, she finally meets her really mother, and she gets pregnant. Those are some of the big plots. A big part of the story is about race and how that affected her throughout her life or at least the teenage part.
Maya Angelou is a great author. I don’t want to give too much away about the book but it covers the first seventeen years of her life. To me it is amazing that all of the stuff that she went through isn’t just fiction. When I read a story it’s usually just a story but that fact that it is true astounds me. Maya received the national book award for this book along with many others. She was involved with the Civil Rights movement and she got to read her poem, “On the pulse of morning” for President Clinton’s Inauguration. This is the first author I have ever felt so strongly about. She keeps you interested through the whole story and her way of writing is unique in that it is from her own perspective and her own thoughts.
I can’t tell you what my favorite part is because I think you should read it but I love her big brother Bailey. He is the kind of brother I would want. He never judges Maya for her silence after the rape and he never says anything to hurt her. The bond between them is so special because it develops more and more throughout the book. At a time when Bailey leaves she feels angry with him but it’s a tender hearted experience to watch the two of them grow together. I think the reason for that is because they both shared everything with each other. I really enjoyed it.
I recommend it to everyone. It is an easy read for sure and it is so intense and deeply satisfying. I was unsure of reading this book until I actually did it but I can say now that it was a really good book and I think I would consider reading it again and I don’t so that very often. If you are very bored then this may be the book for you. I had a hard time putting it down and at some points it brought me close to tears. This was a great experience for me and I hope others will read it.
Robin Noble
Matt Thomas
Language Arts 11
March 4, 2010
The Scarlet Letter
The story starts off with the reader viewing a rather terrible scene – one that both excites and disgusts to the Puritan townspeople. Hester Prynne stands upon a scaffold, a baby in arms, as the churchmen question her about her sin and her required punishments. She wears an extravagant letter A on her bosom stating her crime: adultery.
From this moment on, Hester and her growing daughter, Pearl, will live without the their fellow townspeople’s compassion or forgiveness. Her society—an institution that should by its very nature protect her—shuns her for her sin. Hester and Pearl survive completely alienated and isolated from town living.
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter is a story about the conflicting benefits or evils that stem from knowing “the truth”—and how any person can manipulate it for their own ends. In the same vein, Hawthorne comments on how undisputed religious “truths” can blind their followers. Religion cannot always keep ideal order, and often hinders the natural abilities for people to make decisions based on their own personal views of virtue and moral characters.
Hawthorne creates a story that emphasizes the weaknesses that reside in all religions and societies. Although he never outright condemns the Puritan way of life and unyielding theocracy, he shows that hypocrisy veiled in religion is its most damaging flaw. Hawthorne never condemns Hester for her sin; moreover, he develops her as a character endowed with great moral strength—whereas most characters hide their flaws, she is honest with herself and her sin. She faces her offense head on, rather than collapsing beneath its great pressure.
With the idea of no separation between church and state, sexual misconduct of society’s leaders and the difficulty of the life of a single mother, this book is filled with controversies. What makes it unique (a true classic in every sense of the word) is that Hawthorne never condemns the “sinner,” but condemns the “saints”.
The Scarlet Letter forces the reader to decide which “laws” to follow: the natural law of a universal morality (deep truths, like love and forgiveness), and that same law maliciously interpreted by imperfect men. It deals with the hypocrisies of humans and how easily we can manipulate something of purity (the love between man and woman) into something that is declared damning.
The symbolism of this book goes deeper than just the meaning of the letter A on Hester’s clothing. This A, this reoccurring image is an obvious symbol of guilt put on her by religion. Her daughter is an actual living symbol of her adultery. She is the walking sin of the mother, there to remind her of this sin as well as the reasons behind it: true love.
Krista Maggard
Matt Thomas
Language Arts 11
3/4/10
I read Nine Stories by J.D. Salinger.
I love short stories, and I have to say these are definitely some of my favorite. The first story, A Perfect Day for Bananafish is the most depressing thing I’ve ever read, but it’s my favorite of all the nine stories. It begins in a hotel room with Muriel talking on the phone with her mother. Her mother is concerned about Muriel’s husband, Seymour, a war veteran who isn’t in the best mental condition. We then turn to Seymour, who is on the beach with a little girl named Sybil. He tells her about the Bananafish that live in the sea and how they live very sad lives. You see, there’s whole’s in the ocean walls and floors filled with bananas. The little guys swim into these holes and eat so many bananas, they can’t get back out and they die in their hole. Seymour and Sybil depart, and we’re back in the hotel room. Muriel is asleep on the bed while Seymour grabs his pistol from his suitcase and, next to his sleeping wife, shoots himself.
There are eight more stories in the book, and all were published in the New York Times I really did enjoy it. Whether it’s Bananafish, or just listening to some old broads complain about their lives, J.D. Salinger knows how to keep you listening. I’d recommend this book to most anyone, especially if you like any other Salinger novels.
A Streetcar Named Desire
By Mr. Tennessee Williams
Devin Ridds thoughts,
Down deep, deep, deep in the Deep South, in the United States of America lies New Orleans a town where only jazz music can be played. A husband (Stanley) and a wife (Stella), two whom are very in love, some would describe Stanley as an impulsive abusive caveman controlling and yet caring drunk ,others, will tell you that he is quote” the most sexiest man in New Orleans”, oh wait i meant in all of Louisiana, although some imaginations run wild. His wife is a woman who loves her husbands bashing of things and cares very much for (but is also worn out from) her sister, Blanche who falls into the lap of Stella and Stanley one fine summer.
The trouble begins when Blanches loud wooing surfaced personality is shown through to everyone who lays eyes on her, but the one whom is irritated the most, is Stanley, whom she is separated by a cloth curtain in a small duplex. Tension rises and fires fly, and Stanley is determined to rat this pussy cat out. From very reliable sources, he finds out the facts and cracks on this woman, breaks her down with his words, tortures her with hate, and seals the deal with his monster (attitude),on the eve of his sons birth. And does the generous thing any man would do and help her, with a little bit of intervention, but she’s crazy so it don’t matter.
This book, this book, this book, this book gave me an exact look on people with that strong, strong ego, I enjoyed this book, but there were so many times I had to stop reading it because that book had a strong emotion to it, with Blanche that is, she made me very uneasy, and very astonished how she acted with things. Like her appearance and having to be in dim light and taking a lot of bathes. And her strange humor with people. The book was funny but she made an awkward silence even in the room i was reading the book in. And then going to EHHS every day and watching all my fellow class mates perform the same jazz on their friends constantly made me weary with sorrow. Very strong book, very strong with emotions and anxiety issues and impressingly funny people in it.
This book is written as a script, but everyone knows that. That made it quick and blunt I liked that. Overall I liked this book, it had a lot of surprises, someone told me the ending I thought it was a joke,but, some jokes aint funny. This book revealed a lot of things I haven’t noticed fully, but that book put it out on the spot and let me look at it clearly, some people just dont got there head on straight, Bravo.
Logan Mouritsen
Matt Thomas
Language Arts 11
March 4, 2010
Nine Stories
Nine Stories contains nine short stories that are little sidepieces of other stories written by J.D. Salinger.
The stories are “A Perfect Day for Bananafish” “Uncle Wiggily in Connecticut” “Just Before the War with the Eskimos” “The Laughing Man” “Down at the Dinghy” “For Esme with Love and Squalor” “Pretty Mouth and Green My Eyes” “De Daumier Smith’s Blue Period” and “Teddy”.
The book “A Perfect day for Bananafish” is about a man named Seymour who is spending his day at the beach. Seymour is worried that people are staring at his feet, robe, and a tattoo that he doesn’t have.
While Seymour is on the beach his wife is in the hotel room talking to her mother who is very concerned for Seymour’s behavior.
Back at the beach Seymour decides to take a swim, while in the water, Seymour describes the story of the bananafish to a child named Sybil. In the book Seymour says, “They swim into a hole where there’s a lot of bananas. They’re very ordinary looking fish when they swim in. But once they get in, they behave like pigs. Why, Ive known some bananafish to swim into a banana hole and eat as many as seventy-eight bananas. Naturally after that they’re so fat that they can’t get out of the hole again. They can’t fit through the hole. Then they die in there.”
After telling this story to Sybil, he heads back to the hotel where his wife Muriel is sleeping. He retrieves a gun from his baggage, sits down next to his wife and shoots himself in the right temple.
This is the first story in the book “Nine Stories”, if you liked this story, then I would highly suggest reading this book.
Krista Maggard
Matt Thomas
Language Arts 11
3/4/10
For extra credit, I read Catcher in the Rye, also by J.D. Salinger. In all honesty, I’m not completely finished with it yet, but I’m still really enjoying it. I love Holden Caulfield’s character. I’ve noticed that Salinger makes his characters easy to connect and relate to. It makes you feel like you’re a part of their world rather than just reading into it. I’m dosing off every ten second while typing this, so I think this is as good it’s gonna get. All in all, I’m really glad I’m finally reading this book, and I truly think everyone should get around to reading it! I know this is a horrible summary, but it’s the best I’ve got! Sorry for slacking.
Markie Dunn
Matt Thomas 2nd
Book Review
To Kill A Mockingbird
written by Harper Lee
I read To Kill A Mockingbird, I chose to read it because it is my mom’s favorite book and because of how famous the story is.
The book is based in the 1930’s about a poor family of three the main character who the story is told by is Jean Scout Finch a tomb boyish girl who looks up to her older brother Jem. Jem is a pretty good kid for the most part but he also is a know it all. They live with thier dad Atticus who is a not so succesful Lawyer. Since the Finch’s can barely get by they have a woman Calpurnia who enjoys helping out and watching the kids she is sort of a nanny type.
I really enjoyed the book because it was unique on so many different levels especially for that time period. It deals with racism, how it is to be poor, sexism and through some parts of the book constant judgment. All of the characters went through alot because of things that we dont look at as bad or taboo these days and even though its not based on a true story it’s hard to believe because of how much you get pulled into the story. I won’t lie i am surprised I liked it because i usually dont like fiction but it really seemed so real.
Some parts of the book were slow for me but I was really intrested in the story and some parts i couldn’t put the book down.
I deffinately reccommend if you haven’t read this book you should because you learn so much about how the times and people were.
The Road
The road is about a father and son after the world is completely burned and dead. They have to travel to find a better way of life and some place that they can survive. So they head towards the sea. But while they are trying to reach the sea they have to avoid the cannibals that are lurking around. Because the world was so badly burned nothing can grow and the food supply is very low, so peoples next option was to turn on each other. In one case they find a pregnant women and are very cautions and skeptical where or not they should go to them for they can’t be sure they’re not cannibals. Turns out on the camp site that they basically bbq the newly born infinite for a source of food. The entire human race is set on self-destructions. The world is in its cleanse.
But during their struggle to get to the ocean the father gets flash backs of the mother and how she killed herself because she knew what was coming and she didn’t want her or her boy to whiteness it. So because of his wife dying and the total chaos and depression, he still tries to shield his boy from such a world. But later realizes that his son is going to see it one way or anther and it’s already forever in his mind so he turns out to be protecting the father in a way. But finally they start coming near to the ocean and they realize that people have been fallowing them from a far; they want to seek salvation from them.
But in the overall end i really did enjoy this book. Its become somthing i’ll never forget. Its definatley a life changer
Denise Jahns
Matt Thomas
Languages arts 11
Of Mice and Men
By: John Steinbeck
In the book “of mice and men by John Steinbeck” there are two guys Lenni Small and Georg Milton who are traveling round to find jobs. Lenni is mentally retarded but the strongest and biggest guy; he wants to touch anything what is soft specially mice and rabbits. He has to travel with Georg, without him he would be lost. Georg is the leader of them, he is a minder and a good friend, he is protecting Lenni when he is in trouble all the time, and George is intelligent, cynic and always worried about Lenni.
The two friends are traveling to a farm for work. Lenni and Georg are sitting at a fire and talking about the last story and why they had to leave their last work. The next morning they arrive at the new work and they were talking about what they can work the best and George is trying to hide Lennis issue, but it didn’t hold for long. Then Georg is talking about Lenni with Candy, the old farm worker. hjat it is sometimes really hard to travel with him and that he sometimes wish to be alone.
George is always talking about what he and Lenni will have their own farm with rabbits and don’t have t worry about anything anymore. Both of them have really to pay attention for Lenni and that he will make no problems, if it is gonna help? Or will he be in trouble again and they have to flee again?
I think the book was really cool, it was in an old English and the characters are really funny and how they talk you can tell who is who. I think everybody should read this book and its not to hard because its pretty short.
Christina Ellison
Matt Thomas
English 11
03/4/10
God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater!
Is a book written by Mr. Kurt Vonnegut in 1965. Eliot Rosewater, head of the Rosewater Foundation (America’s 14th largest family fortune) is lead expert on loving people that have no use. He is also a drunk. After wandering from town to town, mostly establishing himself as a volunteer fireman, he ends up in Rosewater County. A sad, poor place full of useless people who can’t help themselves. He makes caring about these people his work of art (he says art has failed him) and he uses the resources he has to help them. He uses the funds to help people with things such as paying their last scooter payment, as incentive to stay alive another week, to buy drinks for volunteer fireman, etc. He listens to these people and he cares about them. But everyone knows that when there’s a big fortune involved, there is also an eager greedy little man who wants to take the money away. In this case, it is a man named Norman Mushari. He is plotting to prove Eliot’s insanity and sweep away the fortune which will land in the hands of some distant relative, simultaneously landing as much as half of the sum of the money in his pocket. Mushari begins bribing people to say weird and suggestive things about Eliot. One of the things that comes about this is that many people claim Eliot is a father to their baby. Eliot then claims all of these children as his, and gives them full rights to the fortune.
Kurt Vonnegut is considered one of the most influential writers of the 20th century. God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater, like most of his books, is pretty autobiographical. Eliot Rosewater, like Vonnegut, served in World War ll. There are references to this, such as when Eliot blacks out for a year and the last thing he sees is the Dresden firebombing. When he wakes up he is suddenly good at tennis. There are also references about children whose parents commit suicide.
You should read this book. And remember kids, the truth is written on the bathroom walls!