Hello again, to my 15 weekly unique readers. No idea who you are, but thanks for visiting. Oh, and Ms. Nelessen. So. This has been an interesting week. I finished my choice reading book. Looking for Alaska, by John Green. If you 15, and Ms. Nelessen, remember, I have expressed a continuous distaste for John Green due to his annoying writing style and uppity attitude. Looking for Alaska has proven something completely new to me. The book showed me a new side to him. He isn't just a bad writer, he is LAZY! I absolutely hated the ending. It was distasteful, lame, predictable, and just an attempt to evoke emotion to distract readers from his poor writing. (SPOILERS AHEAD) Near the middle of the book, Pudge goes and spends a night with Alaska. After constructing a massive prank against the school and the kids who tried to kill Pudge ( this is irrelevant but important-ish ), they all go and get drunk on Cherry Wine (which sounds delicious) and be stupid and spend time in a barn and stuff. Pudge then continues to go back to Alaskas room close after that night and they make out and stuff, and then she freaks out and DIES IN A CAR ACCIDENT. Like come on. It was super sad and stuff, but, like come on. The feelings a reader gets towards a book are based on a trust in the author, a connection between the author and reader, that the book is either there to tell a story about the authors life, or to send an important message and lesson, but this IS NEITHER! I felt like this was a stupid cheap trick. Like, the only thing that I could pull from this ( and it would be incredibly difficult to depict if you are the average 11 year old girl that loves John Green and wears Hunter Hayes shirts ) is that maybe, it is saying "Appreciate what you have while you have it." And I could barely see that. It isn't saying a message, it is whispering it without using your breath. I never should have trusted John Green again. After reading half of paper towns, all of the fault in our stars, and now THIS, I am so pissed. I don't get what he is supposed to be saying through these books. Obviously they're all about touchy events, and have incredibly saddening endings, but they don't have messages, and I seriously doubt that John Green has experienced them all by the time he is 35, or however old he is. I don't believe he has had cancer and gone to a boarding school with a girl named after a state and dated 15 girls named katherine, and all of this. He is just an artist that knows how to apply to middle schoolers and high schoolers, make them love some characters, tear the characters away and kill them, and then have the reader go and say "Oh my gosh John green is so talented and you should go buy his books and everything". Next time, I will read a classic that is written about an actual experience and sends a message and a theme to the reader.
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Hello, and welcome to Noah Dupon's seventh weekly blog post. Today, we will be discussing a comparison between two books. The two books in question today are Looking for Alaska by John Green and Night by Ellie Wiesel. Although, both books are quite different, an avid reader can skillfully compare any two books, finding similarities, differences, and much much more. As an avid and skilled reader myself, I will do such. Night is a book about a family and their experience with the german genocide, or more commonly known as, the holocaust. A young boy in the nation of Austria speaks of his experiences and travels with the german officers who captured the jews in his ghetto, and eventually forced them into concentration camps. The other book I am currently reading, looking for alaska, is quite different. In fact, it is almost a polar opposite. While night is a very dark book about horrendous things that happened in the past, from the view of a young boy, looking for alaska is a book of high school fun and pranks. Yet, there still are some similarities between the two. Although it feels quite wrong to compare a high school drama story, and a story of the holocaust, I must do so for a good grade in English 12, so I shall. The only noticeable similarity, as pointed out by Ms. Nelessen, both are a coming of age story. Both main characters experience the many feelings brought on by growing age, different circumstances, traveling to new place, and meeting new people. The story in Night is much different, though. Going quickly from a conversation of religion and Judaism and spiritualism, to being forced into ghettos and housing german officers, to a concentration camp, all in under 100 pages, whereas, in looking for alaska, 144 pages in, and the book hasn't even reached a noticeable climax. So far, I like both books. Neither are all that relatable, but I enjoy history, which makes night very applicable to me, and anything by John green, including looking for alaska, is very simple, and usually quite entertaining. I feel like something depressing is coming though, as that is also how John Green structures his books. It is all fun and games, with a sad side factor that is mainly ignored, then at one point, BAM, the side factor kicks everyone to crap and then the book has a happy ending in some crazy way. I'm kinda stressed out about what could go wrong, though, cause so far the only thing pudge doesnt have that he wants is Alaska.
Hello, and welcome to Noah Dupon's rushed blog post. This week we will be talking about my new book. This week my book is Looking For Alaska, by John Green. I have started this book before many years ago but I stopped because it was whiny bull crap, but now, I am willing to be a little bit more accepting of it, and appreciate certain values of the coming of age story that it tells. The book so far is about a kid dubbed Pudge, who after middle school starts to attend a boarding school, Cross Creek Boarding Academy or something like that. Anyways, it is very warm because it is in alabama or something, so there is that, and it is also has an element of a war between students. There are two groups, the regular students, and the weekend warriors. The weekend warriors are richy kids that are known for leaving the school to be with parents on weekends, snitching, having cell phones, while the regulars are known for being poor, sweaty, smelly, and smoking cigarettes. Of course, like every book on the fricken planet, Pudge is somewhere in between and fairly neutral until he is taken in by a kid named Chip, or the colonel, and then turned into one of the regular sweaty kids. Pudge then goes on some fun adventures like being taped up from neck to legs with duct tape, thrown into the lake, and being left to die, by the weekend warriors, smoking cigarettes, and pulling pranks. Another important element that isn't big in the book yet, but I have a feeling will be, is this hairy dude named the eagle. The eagle is like the Mr. Fisher of the school, He reports to the board but still has the hand of justice and prevents and punishes students. The eagle meets pudge and simply gives him a warning to behave "or else" and walks away. He is a pretty nice guy. The final element in the book that is clearly important to the story based on the title of the book is Alaska. Alaska isn't a place, but a person. And yes, this person is a girl. And yes, she is like every other girl in every other john green novel, Unique in almost no way, just reckless and strange, and very poorly planned out. She doesn't smoke cigarettes for enjoyment, but "to die". She has a full book case of books but has only read a few (Poser!!). She has a boyfriend that is a complete tool, just like every other gorgeous girl. She shows an obvious attraction for pudge and an obvious annoyance with the colonel. So far the book has lacked much content, so there is not much to write about, but overall it is just advancing in the classic book style, slow, then going to climax, then toning down. The climax is quickly approaching, as the book went from introducing Pudge, him smoking cigarettes, and then some weekend warriors trying to kill him, so clearly whatever is coming next is going to be big, and whatever comes after that will be even bigger.
Persepolis is different from any other book I have read. I haven't read many or any comics at all, so it is a bit of a challenge due to its unique nature of having mostly pictures with a few small captions per page. Normally, while reading, I try to create a picture in my head of what is going on, along with understanding what is going on in dialogue, characters heads, and in the context of the book. For Persepolis, it is very different. Instead of creating a picture and understanding the book, the book creates a picture for you, tells you exactly who is saying what, and who is thinking what. So far I like persepolis. It's kind of confusing during parts, like it has an extremely confusing timeline that is in no way chronological, so I can't always understand whats going on. Besides that, I do like the social commentary, and idea of seeing other countries for how they are from an unbias point of view, due to how young she is. The book also has very interesting stories. For example, when Margie was writing to the neighbor for the maid, i found that very interesting, and it showed a lot about the division of culture between America, other nations, and Iran. It made a connection to 1984. The idea of being with someone in a different caste from you was very offensive. Iran seems a lot like the society in 1984 right now, due to it being under a strong authoritarian regime, like that of 1984, Big Brother.
Although I have never really read a graphic novel, I know a little bit about them from seeing movies based on them, and having dorky friends. The main example I know is V for Vendetta. V for Vendetta is a movie based off of the graphic novel V for Vendetta. V for Vendetta is about a futuristic-ish Britain, where a communist government has taken over, and a vigilante named V wears a mask and runs around at night killing corrupt politicians. Anyways, V for Vendetta is a graphic novel which this movie is based off of. I also know that a graphic novel is similar to a book, but it just has a lot of pictures to assist in the telling of the story. I feel like a graphic novel is just a way for lazy people to write a story. They don't feel like writing a lot so they draw pictures and then throw in some captions and sound effects like *SMACK* to add filler. I know absolutely nothing about the novel that we are about to read but I do look forward to this unit because it will be easy due to the fact that like 90% of the pages are going to the pictures and i will probably relate strongly to the author because I am lazy.
Hello to my audience, which consists only of Ms. Nelessen and Alex, as he is reading this as I write. Once again, to Ms. Nelessens despair and constant disapproval, I have changed my book. My new book is a classic that many people often read multiple times, especially travelling. Into the Wild. Though I am only on page 12, I love it already. Almost as much as my digital copy of The Mist by Stephen King. Not much has happened yet. A dude name alex (not espinoza or the one that is friends with chris) with a remington 10/22 rifle is picked up by a man, who after hours driving, befriends him, but then, like kind of a jerk, drops him off on the edge of the highway. Alex then walks into the wild with nothing but a rifle, two tuna sandwiches, a wallet, a backpack, a coat, and some boots. The man is clearly sick of life, as he hasn't contacted his family in two years, and has no friends, and went to alaska alone just to walk into the cold. I haven't gotten far enough into the book to understand anything significantly, but for some reason, after just 10 pages, the book switches pace to different people. Some dudes crossing a river for no apparent reason take large trucks waterproofed and boosted through a river and when they get to the other side, they get on some ATVs from the back of the truck. They then go to a bus in the middle of the wild that was apparently used as bunking space for people who made a road going into the wild. <<< lol. The project was of course abandoned though. The bus then was left there. When the men find the bus, they find the body of a man who left a note in it. The note just said that he was starving and needed help and he was out gathering berries. Next to the note was a body. Although it is revealed it isn't alex, I think a greater representation will later be revealed behind it, and I think that alex will eventually wander upon the bus and either use it as a shelter, or have it be part of the turning point in the book.
Hello to my many blog readers, and Ms. Nelessen. This is my 5th reflection. Since my last one, I have switched to a new book called "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close". Though I have since given up on it, I am still required to write a short reflection on the book. I have a bit of an advantage, sadly, as I have seen the movie awhile ago. BEFORE I READ THE BOOK. The book is about 9/11, but so far it has taken a large amount of inferring to figure that out. The book is from the perspective of a young boy living with his mother, post 9/11, dealing with the loss of his father in the attack. So far, the book has focused on his father, but not behind the people responsible for the attack or the attack itself. More specifically, so far the book has been ramblings of the boys heads about his experiences and curiosities. For example, the boy ponders of what would happen if everyone swallowed microphones attached to speakers on their body, so everyone can hear each others heartbeats. The boy wonders if their heartbeats would synchronize like menstrual periods. I think the author includes this part of the book to tell the readers about the boy, as it continues to tell stories like this. For example, one is about jujitsu classes, where he admits he is a pacifist, and another is about his first time being in a limosine, which is how most readers figure out about the death of his father. The boy is so extensively curious that it pierces most people's limits. While having a conversation with the driver of the limo, the boy asks the driver if he knows any curse words, and asks if he knows "shit" and tells him it is a curse word, to which the driver replies "not if you say shiitake", which the boy has since adopted as one of his most common sayings in the book now. I see the boy mostly as a sponge. His mother remarks that he has a large amount of similarities to his deceased father, but not only him. I have noticed that he also has many similarities to people he meets. Like with the limo driver, he picks up the word "shiitake" but also certain traits of his mother, friends, and even random people he questions in his head. So far I like the book, but I have sadly decided to discontinue reading it. The book is not my style, and is quite depressing. I have also seen the movie, which ruins the ending for me, as I know the story already.
To begin, I am going to expand on my last blog post that had a heavy focus on Ford. Further into the book (around chapter 14) the concept behind ford-ism is further revealed. Ford isn't only a concept of the conveyor belt style production, but it is a real person who has existed that is believable and highly inspirational. To replace religion, old world standards, war, etc. , Ford ism is created. Ford ism is a sort of new world religion that for some reason worships and studies Henry Ford, despite him being a large capitalist, which is the polar opposite of the ideas displayed about the society in the book. Besides that, Lenina is contemplating heavily about her trip to the savage reservation with Bernard. Due to being one of the most popular females, and having slept with many men, lenina contemplates the idea of being with a savage, something I guessed was forbidden. Another thing revealed in this section is what the drug is that was mentioned near the middle of the book. The drug is soma, a very strong narcotic with sexual and depressional effects. Lenina took it in an attempt to be with John, but John instead becomes extremely angry with Lenina. Apparently everyone is on the drug, and it is used very often for sexual encounters and it is why so many are apt to partake in the weird sexual lives, including young children. To be honest, I am very confused by the book. There is plenty of context revealed about the book and the past in the book, but I cannot get a read on any of the characters in the book due to the fact that EVERYONE IS THE SAME PERSON, and they all have the same past, so I cannot predict what will happen, and in some instances I cannot understand what is going on in the book.
I have just arrived at page 166 of my book Brave New World, despite the reading thing only listing me as like 164 or something. Anyways. They're going to this place called the savage reservation. From my understanding, it is a place where there is no genetic control in the world, so everyone is birthed and bred naturally, instead of the weird conveyor belt, hot-cold, oxygen deprivation thing. I am starting to get a better understanding of the context of the book, and a better read on the characters. I also have started to see notes of things like in 1984, the propaganda of the society, like the posters and advertisements of "Big Brother". I have also began to noticed a few characters who stick out of the normal crowd, like Lenina and Bernard, the two travelling to the savage reservation. Both have feelings that are completely unique to society. For example, Lenina at the beginning of the book had feelings for Foster, which were completely unethical in this society, as people were expected to have feelings for many people, and to mate continuously. Bernard, on the other hand, has a feeling of love. The book hasn't specifically mentioned a name, but usually emotion like love is something seen as devious in people, and almost sadistic. Something I found odd was that Bernards last name was Marx. This is obviously supposed to be representative of something, but I have not figured out what yet. Karl Marx was a famous communist who actually came up with the idea of a totalitarian government controlled by the government based on need, and Bernard has the same name as him. The reason this is odd is that Bernard comes off as the "hero" in the book, or the protagonist, or the Winston. Not the communist who supports all the ideas of the world controllers. Also, I don't remember if I mentioned this, but I discovered why the name Ford is considered godlike in the society. Despite Henry Ford being a huge capitalist, the world controllers can 1. change history, and 2. Henry ford invented the idea of a conveyor belt construction. The way Ford constructed cars, adding a piece at a time on a conveyor belt, has greatly applied to how people are now born and birthed in society. The jar that contains each embryo is conditioned for specific tasks and made to come out with specific beliefs. Thus, Ford has become a model for the people to worship. Finally, the last thing I noticed in the book is a feeling of perfection. In 1984, life seemed quite gloomy and boring, but in Brave New World, everyone (except Bernard) comes off as happy. Although the society is quite strange, and very different from ours today, people seem to find happiness in things like their work, friendships, and sex. Sex especially. It is such a huge figure in the book, and is extremely alien to me, as people today view sex as something that should be avoided, and greatly discourage it to youth. In the book, kids are expected to be procreating by the time they turn 3. Gross.
The current book I am reading is titled “A Brave New World”. So far, the story is mostly told by an element of description of a process. The process being, how children are born and raised. I am currently about a fourth of the way into the book, but already I love it. It is a futuristic story, similar to 1984, where in the far far future, humans are no longer created by the natural birth process. Humans are genetically modified and created through multiplying one embryo into around 18,000 cells. Each cell produces an identical fetus. Then, as the fetus grows, it is conditioned by things like putting the fetus through cold rooms to make them want to live in the warmth, or electrocute them when they try to touch books, to make people hate schooling. Overall, the outcome, is to decide every aspect of life. The government creates 18,000 identical people, but some more intelligent than others, who will go to school and get high level jobs, or others will be raised to be stupid and love the warmth, so they would move to an island and work on a mining colony. The main idea is that everyone believes they have a portion of free will, but instead, they are genetically and physically conditioned to do whatever the government wishes. So far, I love the book. Usually, dystopian books are pretty boring to me, but Brave New World came off differently for many reasons. First of all, it has absolutely no boundaries. The author depicts what he believes to be an accurate representation. These examples, being that children are expected to have sex, and with multiple mates, humans are developed for whatever the government wants, and the society has an eery sense of utopian perfectionism. This appeals greatly to me, as without a touch of a book being risque or dark, it cannot be entertaining, and it depicts the horror of the possibility of what can happen when government is given the opportunity to take over. It is not nearly as simplistic as something like The Hunger Games, and it includes much darker and more mature themes and dialogues.
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May 2017
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