Thursday, August 27, 2009

Books to Remember

1. Where the Red Fern Grows-Wilson Rawls. I first read this book in the fourth grade, and have never been able to forget the beautiful story of a boy and his hunting dogs. The ending of this book crushed me; I was touched when the main character went to the dogs grave site and there was a red fern growing in-between the two companions. 
2. The Kite Runner-Khaled Hosseini. This story represents pain and regret. Baba's sickness and struggle in America really touched me; It forced me to understand how hard it is to come to a foreign country and find happiness. The book also makes us ask ourselves-would we help our friends in their times of danger or would we run away?
3. Dear John-Nicholas Sparks. This is a heartbreaking love story. It shows us true love can show its face in different ways. When John loses the women he loves to another man; John gives up everything he has to save this man's life. 
4. Snow Falling On Cedars-David Guterson. David Guterson clearly understood the struggle of the Japanese citizens living in America during WWII. The racist actions of the US are shown in this novel as innocent Japanese citizens are forced into internment camps. A quote said by a Japanese girl in the book that I have always remembered is, "the only crime is our faces." 
5. Theodore Rex-Edmund Morris. I had never read a biography cover-to-cover before Theodore Rex, as I only use to touch biographies when I was researching. Yet I was able to read all of Theodore Rex and really enjoy it. I learned about the strong mind and willpower Theodore Roosevelt used to accomplish almost everything he wanted in office. 
6. The Diary of Anne Frank-Anne Frank. This book filled me with a lot of emotion because it brought us inside Anne Frank's head, and I felt like I was living with her in the secret annex. My heart broke when the Gestapo found her family's hiding-place and her dreams were shattered. 
7. Digital Fortress-Dan Brown. Digital Fortress is an engaging mystery, where the whole country is endangered when the NSA's code-breaking machine cannot break a code. People are killed and the story becomes very intense; I was surprised I enjoyed this book as its plot is different from most books I would chose to read. 
8. The Sun Also Rises-Ernest Hemingway. I really enjoy Ernest Hemingway's style of writing in this book-short and simple. I enjoyed how he depicted the life of the ex-patrons, and their travels around Spain. Between the bullfights, the bars, and the different love interests, the book had a lot of character. 
9. 1984-George Orwell. When I first started to read this book I couldn't describe it as anything but "weird," yet as I kept reading I saw what Orwell was trying to convey to the reader. The book makes us appreciate the freedom we have it today's society, and shows us the dangers of people who cannot think originally or question authority. 

Monday, August 24, 2009

Summer Reading

This summer I read The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini, Life of Pi, by Yann Martel, and Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen. 

Life of Pi, by Yann Martel caught my attention as  being a tragic, funny, and absurd story. In the beginning of the book we learn about two concepts, zoos and religions. Pi explains to us that anyone who views a zoo as cruel does not understand animals. In the wild, animals are subject to predators, hierarchy, and food shortage. Yet in a zoo, they need not worry about these things as they are sequestered in one safe place, and who would not want to live in a comfortable home without having any worries? Pi therefore convinced me that a zoo is actually a sanctuary for many animals. I enjoyed his point of view about zoos; it made me realize how Pi thought differently than most, and how he sees through society's norms, because many believe a zoo to be similar to a prison. A boy such as Pi,with his curious mind, was also capable of practicing Islam, Christianity, and Hinduism. Pi does not see a problem with practicing different religions; all with conflicting ideas, because what matters to him is that he enjoys all the religions and their different traditions. Pi takes a complicated subject such as religion and makes it simple, that is, if you enjoy it, practice it. It did not matter to Pi what religious ideas were correct and which ones were believed to be nonsense. 

As I started reading about Pi floating over two hundred miles on a lifeboat in the Pacific Ocean, with a hungry tiger as his only companion, I realized I was going to enjoy this book, as the plot is not so typical. Martel takes a story of survival and turns it into a wild adventure, that of a very likable and imaginative boy trying to survive in the oddest and deadliest of circumstances. I came to the conclusion that along with finding some water and food in the lifeboat, it was Pi's youthfulness that granted him survival. Pi's mind was not corrupted with worries of the adult world as he was stranded on the boat, and it was his mind that allowed him to believe he could tame a tiger, and drift to civilization. Pi's beliefs soon became reality as he held onto both faith, and hope. Pi made surviving into an adventure as he dared to get closer to Richard Parker each day, and at one point had him jumping through hoops on a poisonous island. Imagination was clearly a key part to Pi's survival, as he dreamed of curries from home, and studied the ocean life under his raft as "a giant city," his body and mind were able to rejuvenate. Pi's intricate mind that I was introduced to in the beginning of the book carried him from India, through the accident where he lost his family, and landed him on the shores of Mexico. 

As Pi lands in Mexico, Richard Parker leaves the boat and runs into the jungle without even acknowledging his companion who had kept him alive. This hurt Pi, as well as myself. After their lengthy relationship on the lifeboat there was no farewell, and Richard Parker did not even turn around to look at Pi. I felt let-down, as I had hoped their relationship would end on a more emotional note. Yet Martel surprised me many times in the book by using different outcomes than what I was expecting and hoping. Throughout the book I had hoped Pi would find his family, and when he finally comes across his brother, his brother is soon gone, as he turns into a skeleton. At the end of the book Pi tells the investigators a more realistic story of how there were never any animals on his boat, and he replaced the tiger and each other animal with a human. Yet as this book was about imagination, I chose to believe the story that included Richard Parker, the tiger, a man eating island, and the chance of meeting your brother in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. 

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