Life and Art

After watching the film, Jane Austen's Book Club, I can say that I now understand the concept of what it means for life to imitate art. For example, did you know that there really is a meth kingpin named Walter White?!?! No wonder drama television shows are so good, there based off of real life relatable scenarios. But back to the movie, interestingly enough all the characters embodied characteristics of Austen's famous characters with a modern twist. One lady was searching for love from a much younger boy, another refused to accept love and always insisted on helping out others than focus on herself. But with Jane's book each character was able to cope with the struggles in life and seek out happiness by closely analyzing Jane's principles.

Out Of My Comfort Zone

The 19th Century and Science Fiction

Up until a few days ago the only book I had read written in the 19th century was "Persuasion" by Jane Austen and I was so impressed with the " old english" writting style and imagination that I never picked up another one of her boooks again. Seriously though, I did enjoy the book but the amount of times I had to pick up a dictionary just to understand one sentence was annoying. When it came to reading "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" I was once again impressed with the creativity of the story line but I also find myself a bit bored. There were times where certain scenes in the book were just so predictable that it took the suspense out of the mystery but yet again this novel is considered premature to the 21st century horror/mystery flicks and stories one is used to seeing or hearing.

All in all the novel was brilliantly written and yes I would recommend the novel to others but only to those who enjoy classics and don't mind picking up a dictionary every couple of sentences. 

What Did I Think

Orphan Train & Mrs.Kline

Earlier this week, an author visited my school to talk about her latest novel, Orphan Train.
Just a little background information  on the author and the plot of the story: Christina Baker Kline is an American novelist who lives in New Jersey. She has authored five novels, including the #1 New York Times bestseller Orphan Train( which is set to have a film adaptation sometime in the future), and has co-authored five non-fiction books. Orphan Train, is a tale about hardship and loneliness of  troubled teen, Molly Ayer and Vivian Daly  and their  search for closure and acceptance in society. Mrs. Klien's visit was educational in a sense that her presentation was factual and  somewhat personal(i.e father-in -law inspired one of characters into existence), but to be honest most of the presentation was like sitting in a history class.

My opinion of the novel is not so positive but that's not to say I thought it was a bad book all together. I felt as though the incorporation of actual American History into Vivian's childhood was cool and necessary. The author really took her time to thoroughly explain the events that lead up to and behind the existence of Orphan trains  during the 1920s, rather than just assume that every reader was educated in a particular area. On the other hand, like in most books I do believe that there a some parts that could have been left out or expanded on  such as Molly's relationship with her mother, all we know is that she's in jail.

Mysterious Crime

As mentioned before,one of my favorite literary genres is crime fiction/ mystery . Crime fiction is a literary genre that fictionalises crimes from detection to motives. It's pretty easy to distinguish from mainstream scientific and historical fiction but the writing style had little if any boundaries according to crime fiction book lovers. 

A few months ago I  finished reading "Darkly Dreaming Dexter" the novel which serves as the inspiration to the hit television series Dexter, and needless to say the book was dreadful. The elementary writing technique and in-depth gory details became to be too much to handle. 

On a the other hand I have read other novels where the genres main focus was crime fiction and some of the would be " The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and Gone Girl. Both novels were not just incredibly unique but really suspenseful and thoughtful. With Dexter, it felt as though you could almost guess every bad thing that would transpire which made the overall story less of a mystery.

All in all, I would not recommend this book to those looking to read a good or even memorable crime fiction book. 

Something About Elephants and Water

Here Goes Nothing......

After reading Water For Elephants  by Sara Gruen, I was upset. Though before I explain, I would like to thank my teacher Mrs. Callaghan for recommending this book and taking me out of my comfort zone. I usually don't read books after I have already seen the movie so I figured it was time to try something different.

Originally, I was supposed to read this book for another Language Arts class but ended up not doing so because we skipped it, but I guess fate has a way of catching up to us. Anyway I wasn't a fan of the book and I think, like I stated before, if I had not already seen the novel's film adaptation then I might have put more interest towards to story. One thing that I will say That I did enjoy about the book were the clear explanations and insights given on living life apart of a circus. I would be lying if I told you I didn't learn a single thing and I thank Sara Gruen for sharing her intelligence with the world.

On the other hand their isn't a single thing I would change about the book. I liked the fact that the story within the story was told in a form of a flashback, taking reader's back in time to the year 1929, expanding the minds of those who had no idea how much of struggle it was to even survive.

My recommendation to all you future go getter's who have a passion for reading would be NOT to watch the movie or television show before you read the book. Why!? you might ask. Well, for starters the books plot line could be completely different from the novel which has been the case with The Little Mermaid. Another reason could be it could serve as a spoiler which has been the case for many other books like the beloved Harry Potter series. All in all, stick to the text before the screen.

Rating The Realness

Family Life by Akhil Sharma

Right off the bat with a title like Family  Life, one would think "Oh, this novel must focus on a family and the individual relationships with one another and somewhere along the way tragedy strikes and slowly dismantles the bonds of love." Ok, maybe I took that a bit far and maybe that's not what the book is about at all, but I will tell you this, the author's message was certainly eye opening.

Whenever tragedy strikes in person's life whether directly or indirectly it hurts. To write about such an experience on paper must cause even more pain but I guess brings a sense of closure in a way as well. After reading the novel, I took time to reflect, and not just on whether or not I actually liked the book but on life. I know it sound pretty sappy and unoriginal but it's the truth. The author, Akhil Sharma has admitted to taking  12 years to write this novel only to "get it right", and in my opinion, he did. Most critics would say that Akhil spent too much time on certain topics and only used that as an excuse to fill up pages but I disagree. I look at it this way, when something traumatic happens in one's life you don't get over it in a finger snap(and if you do I'm convinced your not human). In order to heal a wound and move on past the initial shock you must take time to reflect on every piece of the event that led up to the moment. When the boys father turned to alcoholism as a way of coping with tragedy it was important for the author to drag out descriptions and explanations in order to make the reader FEEL like they were actually there. Without a strong connection with the audience in any form of art or entertainment, your performance or final product means nothing.

Sometime we humans just read the words in a book to just read(I'm guilty of it myself ), but maybe sometimes we need to focus on what feeling is trying to be conveyed rather than how many pages are left until the chapter is over.

Books of My Life

Favorite Childhood Books

  Day of the Dragon King by Mary Pope Osborne

 To be honest, I hated almost all of the books in the "Magic Tree House" series; except for this one. There was always something about two young kids wondering through the crowded streets of China searching for a lost book, that seemed to peek my interest. I guess it was the suspense and angst  behind the possibility of Annie and Jack not finding the book and not being able to go back to reality.

 

                 Babar's Little Girl by Laurent de Brunhoff
  

As a young girl, I had my mom read this book to me every night before I went to sleep. I remember when "Babar" the television show aired on PBS right before lunch time, and this book was the first televised adaptation I had seen; from then on I was hooked. Not to mention the elephant is my favorite animal.

A Book that Made Laugh

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me By Mindy Kaling


Some of you might recognize the name of the author because
she not only writes books but is an actress( famously known
for her role on "The Office" as Kelly Kapoor and former
screenplay writer to another hit television show, "Saturday Night Live".
To be honest I hated "The Office" so as you can imagine when I
first spotted my mother reading a book written by one of the shows
characters I wasn't to keen on it. Eventually I decided to take a look
at it myself and couldn't put it down. Oh how incredibly funny
it was! In my mind nothing is funnier than coming across
 embarrassing situations and realizing that you're not the
 only one who has encountered them. This novel will
 most defiantly  turn that frown upside down.


Favorite Book Read For School

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

Now if your life me and into autobiographies/memoirs
than this book will blow your mind. When I had first picked this book
up to read over the summer for my English class, I regretted my choice
before even opening the book. It was HUGE! Ok, maybe I'm
exaggerating but the book was fairly large, and seemingly too
much for me to handle until I started reading. I guess it becomes a
personal thing but I am very keen as mentioned before to relatable
scenarios and this book had all of that, which not only made it enjoyable
but  memorable!


Top Book on My Must Read List

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Ok, so I really don't know anyone who either hasn't read
 this book or seen the movie but either way I've heard its
great. I purchased the book a few months ago only to reach
the halfway mark and never pick it up again. Maybe it's due
to laziness (most likely) or maybe I'm just afraid of
disappointment. What happens if the book is awesome
and I wasted time debating  on something pointless?
Or what if the book turns out to suck and I turn out to
be one of the suckers who purchased the novel based on
opinion? I guess that makes me a hypocrite since I write
a book blog, doesn't it?