Fahrenheit 451 part one.

When I started reading Fahrenheit 451 I was extremely confused. I didn’t understand at all what happened when Montag and Mildred almost died by some sort of explosion or what seemed to me as a sonic boom that was caused by jets that flew overhead.   I’m not really sure of how I feel about this book so far.  All that I know about this book is that people have pretty much lost their sense of free will and don’t question anything in the world any more (reminds me of tamed zombies), but if someone does question, then the firemen will have to eliminate that person.   One more thing that I don’t understand is the Hound.  I don’t understand what the purpose a mechanical spider thing (which sounds awesome) is to the backwards firemen, who instead of putting out fires, they cause fires.  I didn’t like how Clarisse McClellan died so early in the book.  She, so far, is the only somewhat same person in Fahrenheit 451, but I’m glad that Montag is starting to question things.  I have a feeling that his wife is going to turn him in or something else that will hurt either him or his reputation.

Life of Pi Part Three

So Pi keeps going, trying to get to the second most pointless in the world, Canada. (Really, what do they give the world? snow, ice, syrup, and moose, lots of pointless moose.) He seems to have more than one personality now, he feels invulnerable at times, on top of the world, than at times he feels like a pile of.. well, poo. He almost gets to the point of no return, the low of the low. I'd feel invulnerable if I was able to feed me and what? a 450 pound TIGER!? Thats alot of fish. Martell seems to describe everything in a way that doesnt bore me much if at all. Not many writers can do this, even Christopher Paolini, J.K. Rowling, and Stephen King can't do what Martell does so often in this book. Personally I like the way Martell writes his book, the great description of what some people would call "boring" days intrigue to how he does it. I have yet to understand how, but I hope I (or anybody) can enlighten me on this question, "How does Martell keep you interested with such a stupid topic?". I cant wait to finish this book again to renew the greatness of it. ( Oh and by the way, Samoa, that is the most pointless place in the world. )

Life of Pi Part two

Just as I already knew, this part was definatly more interesting than the first part of the book was. It didn't seem as random and now it seems to have a point and the story flows a lot better as well. However there were still a few parts that we're confusing because the way that the author wrote some parts were a bit, well... comfusing.. For example, when Pi first got in the boat and for awhile Richard Parker just disappeared. He wasn't even mentioned for a couple of chapters. One thing I really was how gory some parts were, like when he was discribing the animals killing each other because after reading other, non action books, it is nice to have a bit of death and fight in it. I cant believe how much more interesting the second part is compared to the first part. I do admire Pi for going through everything though. Personally, I dont know if i could have done it, but I can fish and blood and gore doesnt really bother me. I liked this part of the book, but can not wait for the next part.

Life of Pi Part one

 I have to say that, so far, this book is as boring in the beginning as the first time I read it, but I know it gets better in the future. I'm sure that, even though all of this information seems random now, all of the background information will serve a purpose later in the book. One of the most interesting parts to me was when he discussed different religions. The book shows that, at a young age, Pi was interested in many different religions so it's really no suprise that later in life, one of his two majors was religion. Something that really stood out to me in the parts where he was discussing his religious life was when Pi stated that he was not just a Hindu, Christian, or Muslim, but rather all three simultaneously. I suppose it's because we don't hear of that a lot. When you ask someone about their religious views, they usually say just Hindu or Christian, or Muslim or whatever else, not more than one. I have to wonder how Pi was able to practice several, very different religions at the same time. Pi's majors in college were also very interesting. It's really odd that he chose both zoology and religion together. Apart, they both seem like very interesting subjects, but it is hard to see them together, religion seems more of the human as a spiritual being while zoology sees a human as an animal and nothing more.
  Surprisingly, some parts, especially the part about the sloths, I actually find, interesting for a lack of better words. But at some points, I did not think I would be able to get through the book. Thankfully I know this book gets much better.

The Color of Water: Part two

The more I read of this book, the more it is starting to grow on me. I love reading about McBride, but I love reading about his mother even more. Its not typical of what I read, its a bit depressing, but I like it anyways. In my last blog, I said that she was more over protecting of her kids than she should be, but since reading more of her past, I see why she is so, crazy. However, I sometimes have to remind myself that unlike most of the other "similar" books I've read, The Color of Water isn't fiction and that everything in the book happened to James McBride and his mother because what i usually do read is fiction. And being the fiction lover i am, I understand the suffereing and pain but It is not real so I can over look it sometimes. I can't believe that the girl who went through so challanges grew up to become the strong, self-confident mother that McBride describes in his point of view. 

The Color of Water: Part one

The color of water describes both McBride's and his mother's child hood. Both grew up in situations people would not want to be with. McBride lived in a small, crowded house with his mother and ELEVEN other children. His mother tried to raise him to be independent and to never share his business with anybody in the world except his family. I think this idea she had was to try and protect her kids from the dangers in the world that she experienced. She grew up in Europe and was persecuted by Russians and other nations and was constantly fleeing from any and all persecutors. McBride’s mother grew up constantly following her elders’ order and never questioned them. She then expected her children to do the same with her orders, follow, and never ask. His mother not only endured a harsh early life, but some horrors happened to her later on in her life, she lost her first and second husband. I don’t fully understand his mother’s stand on religion. At first he writes that she was raised Jewish but stopped being Jewish because of all the rules. Then later he talks about his mother having a strong connection to God and that they attended church every Sunday. Did she go from being Jewish to go to being Christian or what? Overall I liked the first part of the book. It seems better then King’s On Writing, but I still have much more to read.

On Writing Final Essay

 Stephen King has a huge dedication to writing. Not many people can find that they love to write at age eight and keep writing throughout his life. I mean, when I was eight I was more worried about climbing a tree or something else not as productive as writing. I do give props to King, I would hate writing my whole life.( But I would write if I could spit words on a sheet of paper and make hundreds of thousands of dollars for it. )  His dedication just shows itself more when you look at King's background. With no father, a trouble making brother, and a mother that barely made enough for her alone. His desire to write and create art in his own talented way is astonishing and clearly out dues most peoples motivation skills.

King talks about him writing on his birthday and holidays. I would understand the holidays if he meant presidents day, or Martin Luther King Jr. Day, or some other smaller holidays, but writing on Christmas, Thanksgiving, or his Birthday is outrageous. I never think about writing on any of these three days. My train of thought is usually, sleep then wake up, eat, do nothing all day but have fun with friends and or family.  

In 1999, King was walking down the road one and at the same time a man was driving on the same road in his van. The van driver got distracted with his dog and didn’t see King in the street. He hit King and King was sent to the hospital to get several surgical procedures in order to be healed. He had many injuries such as: his knee split down the middle, a fracture in the right hip, his spine was chipped in many places, and a cut on his scalp. As soon as King was cleared to return home, instead of doing nothing but rest, he went right back to writing! He knew to maintain his great skill he would have to continue writing through thick and thin.

From Kings past of poverty all throughout his life until he was past college and had even been working, he strived to write. He continued to believe in himself, and that look on things paid off. His first big break came when he sold a book for $200,000! King’s life just goes to show that the only way to be a good writer is to practice, practice, and, oh yes, practice some more.

On Writing- Part Three

Finally, I am done with Kings, On Writing. The last part of it was, to say the least, boring. His book went from hilarious in the first part, Interesting to the second part, and something I didn't want to read about. It may not have been something I wanted to read, but it did give me another idea of what King believes good writing is. I agree with some of it, like his belief that you should not substitute words to replace what you really are thinking because you're "thinking about the Legion of Decency." I highly agree with this, I believe writers lose their... talent, if they are just writing to please a crowd and not writing for their self.  Throughout the book he, I guess you can say urges, people who have a talent should write, and write a lot. I agree with this because practice makes perfect, but only if one has talent to be perfected. When he talks about how friends are biased in correcting ones work, but a somewhat biased view is what he looks for, I did not completely understand. Sure he talks about how he would rather hear bad news from a friend than from random strangers, but would not most friends say a work is great when it is only good? I believe that if you are going to pick friends to correct your work, at least pick intellectual friends that will not lie to you because he might not want to hurt ones feelings, but pick one that will tell you the truth in a soft manner. To wrap my opinon up, I liked the first half of the book, but was bored with the last part. I may not have been interested in the end but I did learn some of King's advice and will try to use it in the future.

On Writing, Part 2.

Slightly Disappointing. That is what I thought of the second part of On Writing. I was deeply interested while reading the first part of On Writing. All of Kings humor, which kept me wanting to read on in the first part, was slowly disappearing. King did put little "funnies" here and there, but not the same mass of funny writing as part one. I'm not saying this is a stupid or awful book. No, this section does have many hints and tips about writing, I just do not like books with a boring topic or not necessarily funny as expected. I do like his get to the point writing though. Especially when he was saying he would not lie to somebody and tell them there are no bad writers, but lots of bad writers. I find this not only funny, but true. Many writers should not be as popular as they are. But hey, that is just my opinion. I do like his opinion on the way he writes. King said he writes one word at a time and that either a one page essay or a trilogy such as The Lord of The Rings is just writing one word at a time. He did earn much of my respect when he was talking about fixing misspellings and picking up the inconsistencies. I mean by this that, he puts much work into making sure his work is correct, because "Only God gets it right the first time" and how only slobs say, "Oh well, let it go, that's what copyeditors are for." To me, this tells me that he takes much pride in his work and doesn't like others correcting his mistake. I do no believe however that following all of his tips will make you a "Great Novel Writer" but it will help your writing. Hopefully the next part of the book will have more humor. I'm praying it does.

This book is not the kind of book I would normally read. This is probably the reason why I enjoy it so much. I loved his stories of his early life, the whole time thinking what else could possibly happen in Stephen Kings life. Through out the first part of the book, I kept asking myself, "How many aunts and uncles does he have!?" I think the reason for me asking this question was due to the shortness of the book. King had to cram so much information in so few pages, but like the amazing writer he is, he did it. King knows how to use language, crude language at that. I loved how when he was a kid he thought "that a bitch was an extremely tall woman." and I also loved  "Colonel Sanders sold a hell of a lot of fried chicken, but I'm not sure anyone wants to know how he made it." At times he might of had funny thoughts, but he also had gross and messed up thoughts, like girls throwing tampons at another girl in a shower, I mean really, who thinks of that kind of stuff? Even though he has some strange thoughts, I still love his writing, I really hope the rest of the book is like the first part. The part of the book dealing with poems was not too interesting for me. I am not a huge fan of poetry, but still, King knew how to write in such a manner to keep me hooked, wanting to read more. Overall I loved the first part of the book and want to finish.