English Patient Review

The English Patient, by Michael Ondaatje, starts off in an Italian Villa during World
War II. A nurse is set on a mission to help a patient who has burned past recognition. Living in
the villa is very dangerous, but Hana, the nurse, wants to stay and take care of her patient
anyway. The whole villa was covered with hidden mines and bombs that the Germans left. Hana
knew nothing about the patient but she figured he was English because of his manner and
speech. While taking care of the English patient, a friend of Hana’s dad, Caravaggio, finds out
where Hana is and goes to visit her in the villa. Caravaggio is a thief who arrives at the villa with
his hand in bandages. He was captured during the war for stealing and had his thumbs cut off to
prevent more of his trickery. Caravaggio sets himself on a mission to find out more about the
English patient; he doesn’t actually think that he is English. While they are all in the villa, a man
named Kip comes along. He was sent by the Allies to make the area safe enough to live in.
Kip stays with the others and learns much about them. He learns what happened to the English
patient, and he shares stories of his own. While living in the villa Kip falls in love with Hana but
leaves suddenly when he hears that the United States attacked Japan. Hana then writes a letter to her step mother about how her dad had died. He was burned past recognition, and Hana was very upset because she is a nurse that knows very much about burns and she could have easily helped him if she could have gotten to him.
This book was amazing. It started off really slow and it was hard to get into it, but once
you did, the story was astonishing. The English Patient starts off really slow and it’s mostly
about living in an empty villa and why they are living there alone. I didn’t really enjoy the
beginning very much because of how slow it was moving. But the writing that was done
throughout the whole novel was really good and I could tell the rest of it would be good as well.
I particularly liked the way the book was written. It switched from third person to first
person and you got a taste of the point of view from all the characters. This was a great way to
do it to show how other people felt and how they looked at what was happening around them. I
also liked the way the author put some of the parts together. Not only does Ondaatje write prose, but he also writes poems, and in parts of the novel you could tell that he has literary experience with writing poetry. The book was very descriptive and it always felt like you were there and you knew everything that was going on.
The end of the book was also really good but it was really depressing. Kip leaves Hana
because of something the United States did. I wasn’t very fond of this part because I really liked
Hana and Kip together. The other sad part of the end is when Hana writes a letter to Clara, her
step mom. She informers Clara of what has happened to her father and during this time she
reflects on how she could have helped him if she could have gotten to her. This part of the book
was really sad but it added to the book in such a great way and made it so much more fun to read.
The English Patient, by Michael Ondaatje, was overall one of the best books I’ve read.
Not only has it won prizes like the Booker Prize, but many people across the world have enjoyed
it very much. I highly suggest this book to anyone who might have the slightest interest. The
writing was great and very fun to read. There are many unexpected twists that happen and by
doing this, Ondaatje kept me interested.

Bel Canto Review

Based on a true story, Bel Canto, written by Ann Patchett,is a wonderful book about the unexpected establishment of relationships on an international scale. The book takes place in South America at a party held for the president. Half way through the party all of the lights turn off and terrorists come in and take control of the area. The Terrorist initially wanted to kidnap the president, but he wasn’t there, he was busy at home watching his favorite soap opera. The terrorists don’t know what to do so they hold the people in the house hostage in an attempt to still get what they want. The government surrounds the building and tries to negotiate with the terrorists. They eventually set the women; the workers and the sick go. The process is long, and the days seem like forever. These people include Katsumi Hosokawa, his translator Gen, the vice president Ruben Iglesias, and the magnificent Roxanne Coss.

What begins as a scary unexpected situation slowly forms into a story about the development of relationships. People from all walks of life create bonds with people from different countries. 
Patchett continues to describe all of the relationships between the hostages and the terrorists. Bel Canto describes how people from all backgrounds can come together no matter where they are from or how much money they have. It is about the development of love and how people can come together without even knowing the same language. Bel Canto is a great book that is written with beauty and poetic language. It is almost like reading a poem about love and the human condition.

Ann Patchett portrays how love can be developed in any situation. How even when music is the only common language, people can communicate to develop strong bonds together when they are in the worst situation. Most of the terrorists were poor; they came from families that didn’t have much opportunity. Most of the hostages were wealthy and had jobs that supplied themselves and families with great opportunities.

Bel Canto shows readers the language of music and how human relationships can be developed in the worst of situations. Bel Canto is a novel to be cherished by all readers in its eloquence in speech and the wonders it has to offer.

Pride and Prejudice Just Rocks!

The novel of Pride and Prejudice, written by Jane Austen, is a wonderful and timeless romance. The characters are developed thoroughly to the point of becoming alive and real. The descriptions and actions were so well written that sometimes I felt as if I were in the book with the characters. The writing is superb and refined, making the novel fun to read and hard to put down.

The author, Jane Austen, was very much like Elizabeth Bennet, the main character. She was born in 1877. In a time when women weren't accepted as more than mothers and housemaids. She had to educate herself through books and through her brothers. Austen became an author, writing six well-known novels; but because women weren't accepted as authors, she had to write anonymously.

The main character of Pride and Prejudice, Elizabeth Bennet, has a witty and intelligent mond. She's lived er whole life in a small, English town in the time when women should be worried about only two things: beauty and marrying rich to establish social standing. Yet Elizabeth refuses to conform to the image of her society and family have of her. Her mother is constantly trying to set her daughters up with men of high standings. Her father is sarcastic and understanding of her when she refuses to let her mother choose who she gets to marry. Lizzy has a strong opinion about things and she's not afraid to speak her mind. Austen brings Lizzy's character to life until you're right there beside her the whole time, cheering along with her stubbornness and crying with frustration as she tried to figure out what love is.

She meets Mr. Darcy at a ball that their mother has dragged her five daughters to in an attempt of finding a "nice" man. When Elizabeth first meets Mr. Darcy, she thinks he's a cold, mean person. He has his very strong opinions that counter most of Lizzy's, and he seems to dislike most everything. But her instant jusdement of him is way off. Through the course of the book, she finds he's not as cold-hearted as she first imagined. He is more of a quiet soul, letting his pride keep him from complaining about his life.

This novel isn't only about the developing relationship between Lizzy and Darcy. It also covers the story of a few other, important characters, like Elizabeth's sister, Jane. This book is filled with humor and satire, making it easy and even enjoyable to read. It never feels like you're reading a school assignment. Instead, you can get lost in the romance triangles and stubborn characters.

In the beginning of the novel, there is little dialogue, which made reading it a bit hard. I'm used to dialogue throughout, so when I saw only descriptions of events and people, I became worried. But when the dialogue becomes a major part of the book, the characters took flight. I think dialogue is such an important part of character development, but Austen made even the descriptions a fun and important part of her book.

I loved the book. It kept me intrigued the whole time. There was never a point where I wanted to throw the book down out of frustration of not understanding it. It was just like reading any other book instead of a school assignment.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Douglas Adam’s The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, published in 1979, has made me laugh more times than any other book. Being the first out of a five book series, The Hitchhiker’s Guide has opened up a whole new world involving space, time, and aliens. But this is not what makes this book so great. The authors humorous writing style had me wanting more and more after the ending of the novel.
I admire how Douglas wrote the aliens in the novel. The view of Earth to me was hilarious. “Orbiting at a distance of roughly ninety-two million miles is an utterly insignificant little blue-green planet whose ape-descended life forms are so amazingly primitive that they still think digital watches are a pretty neat idea.” The quote sums up the feelings towards Earth from the galaxy. This book was based in the year 2000 and it is pretty safe to say the galaxy was far more advanced in the book.

I wouldn’t say this book really had a certain plot or story. The main protagonist, Arthur Dent, was living a normal life near London before the demolition of his home and planet. Narrowly escaping with the help of his alien friend Ford Prefect, he was brought to an alien ship and basically set off on an adventure of chance through the galaxy. Arthur Dent was confused and clueless throughout the novel just following along. Ford Prefect was stranded on planet Earth for 15 years and saw that his way out was through the destruction of Earth. His job is to write a wiki-like book called The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. He tries to get information on all types of planets, species…etc. Zaphod Beeblebox, the other “main” character, can be called a rebel. He stole a new ship, found a mystery planet, and does what he pleases. Zaphod is a mystery himself, he picked up Arthur and Ford by the chance of “two the power of one hundred thousand to one.” We don’t really see a big introduction to Zaphod other than he stole his ship and is the galactic president. Arthur and Ford are pulled into an almost meaningless hunt for the hidden planet Magrathea. But the charm to this book is not in its plot or story, the book is about just exploring or “hitchhiking” through the galaxy with Douglas Adam’s humor, and that is what makes this a great book.

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is a hilarious book filled with interesting details and adventures through the enormous galaxy. Douglas Adam’s brings imagination to the genre with original ideas involving space travel. The novel brings space to live in a hilarious way. All of his ideas put together an amazing book.

Fatalistic Tendencies

“I
wasn’t meant to be good.”-Lily Bart, The House of Mirth
Edith Wharton’s The House of Mirth is the tragic
tale of a woman (Lily Bart) in high society who is faced not only with
superficial issues, but with deep moral dilemmas that plagued all of American
society at the time. It was written in 1905, during the Gilded Age of American
history, when the rich were getting richer and the poor were getting poorer.
Wharton herself was a victim of this vicious society in which women were raised
for one career: marriage. Disappointment and sadness characterized her own
marriage and sparked her literary career. Such firsthand experience gave
Wharton ample material with which to explore, not only the plight of women, but
the moral and material issues we as humans must face in society.
Why do we marry? For love? For money? These questions
cause the main conflict that besets Lily Bart and plagues her throughout her
life. Society, her family, her friends all tell her to find the richest man she
possibly can and use her abundant “talents” to acquire his hand in marriage.
They say this financial security is the only way for her to achieve safety and
happiness in her life. But this path would also require her to live a life of
monotony with a man she may not even love, and so she can’t seem to bring
herself to go through with it. This is a dilemma that Wharton herself
experienced. Is Lily so desperate for luxury and extravagance that she must
enter into the slavery of marriage? Her bitter demise over the course of the
book seems to be Wharton’s own way of expressing her disgust at society’s
obsession with material gains and money.
She implies that if Lily had followed her heart and not her pocketbook
she would have ended up happy. But instead, in pursuit of money, Lily is
tragically destroyed by the society that she believes could ensure her
“safety”.
Fatalism is the idea that we are all predestined to
follow a unique path in life, and that it doesn’t matter what opportunities or
tools are given to us, because our fate is already determined. Edith Wharton
explores this theme in great detail in this novel. On our first meeting with
Lily Bart she seems to have everything: social standing, wealth, intelligence,
opportunity, and above all beauty. We also find that in her past she has had
numerous chances to enter into a safety net of marriage that would dispel all
of her financial woes. In short, she appears to have everything necessary to lead
a successful life. But in the end she fails, and Wharton points to fatalism as
the cause. This idea was popular in the Gilded Age because it consoled the poor
who were perpetually stuck in ‘dingy’ conditions. Fate remains a question even
today as we try to find any trace of morality in our ever growing system of
material hierarchy.
Perhaps the greatest problem consuming the characters in The
House of Mirth is money. Money affects everything in their world: their
choices, their reputations, their quality of life, their love, their leisure,
everything; and the pursuit of money becomes their purpose in life. Lily Bart
has no money; orphaned and dependent to her aunt, she is desperate for the
freedom money would offer her. But, ironically, the only way to get this
freedom is by giving it up in marriage. To attain total freedom a woman must be
single, but in doing so she will give up all social standing. This question of
a woman’s place and role in society was a controversial subject of Wharton’s
time. In Britain, a genre of novels exploring this issue came to be called the
“novel of manners”, and Edith Wharton was one of the first Americans to delve
into it. In her harsh condemnation of this elitist society she points to the
ways in which money, which is supposed to elevate society, drags it down and
causes humans to act in a way where they regress to vicious and animalistic
tendencies. Money is the immobilizer of human progress. It is the very thing
that paralyzes Lily Bart, causes her demise, and, in a parallel, is the tool
humans will use to cause their own fatalistic doom.
This is a harsh reality that Wharton faces us with, but
that was her intention. As an ardent believer in realism, she gives a
dramatically depressing story that does not try to hide the flaws of human
nature and society. In contrast, she puts them on a luminous display to be
mocked with irony and to leave a chilling trace of guilt in the blood of all
its readers because of their own selfishness. It is not a pleasant book. There
is nothing fanciful or charming about it. It is vindictive and bitter, a harsh
outlook on the world by a victimized woman. But perhaps this is exactly what
society needs: not a book whose themes of human nature must be sifted through
with hours of discussion and interpretation, but a book that shoves the horrors
of society right under our noses and forces us to analyze our own behavior.
Wharton was right, “time’s feet are hastening relentlessly towards the door”,
and we must work to change our cruel ways before time walks out and the door
snaps shut.

Hannah A Christmas Carol Book Report

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens is a wonderful novel filled with holiday spirit and important life lessons. This novel is a magnificent representation of the real meaning of Christmas. This book takes us on a journey with Ebenezer Scrooge through his past, present, and yet to come Christmases. Scrooge is a very wealthy man who hates everything about Christmas time. He doesn’t give his employees any benefits; even though he could pay for an extra lump of coal for his employee’s fire, he doesn’t and the worker’s tiny room is frigid. Scrooge does these things just to spite anything and everything.

One evening, Scrooge begins to see Jacob Marley’s face in everything he looks at. (Jacob Marley was Scrooge’s old business partner who died seven years earlier). This freaks Ebenezer out but he shakes it off as food poisoning or something along those lines. Soon enough Marley shows up as a transparent figure in Scrooge’s room. He comes to tell Scrooge that he has suffered the last seven years because of all his sins and he comes to tell Scrooge that three ghosts will visit him in the next three nights. The three spirits will come to save Scrooge from Marley’s very fate.

The three ghosts visit Ebenezer and through and through he transforms into a new man. He realizes that life is short and he should enjoy other people’s company and love towards him. The first ghost took him to his past and showed why he began to hate Christmas- because he was always left alone at that time of year and he hated everyone for that. The second ghost takes him to the home of Bob Cratchit, one of his employees; the spirit shows Scrooge how poor this family is. The Cratchits also have a son who is crippled the family can’t afford to take proper care of their son. Scrooge begins to feel compassion towards this family and wonders if the son will make it to next Christmas. The third ghost is a Grim Reaper who takes Scrooge to the graveyard where he is buried and Scrooge becomes fearful of his future. Through these visits from the ghosts, he realizes that he isn’t very nice and there are bigger things in the world than just him, he also feels great full for the second chance at life.

I personally loved this book. It was a great novel to read over winter break because of the theme and it was a fun book to read as well. This novel is written in allegory form, which is the use of symbolic representation. This representation was in the form of the three spirits who all represented something different in the big meaning of the text. The Ghost of Christmas Past represents memory because of his glowing head; the Ghost of Christmas Present represents generosity, empathy, and the Christmas spirit; and the reaper-like Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come represents the fear of death.

I loved the way this book was written. The book flowed between each of the spirit’s lessons through Ebenezer’s life, past, present and future. With the allegorical style, the representations helped me understand and begin to love the book. I love this book because it teaches everyone the real and true meaning of Christmas and the way that everyone should be thankful and feel blessed for their lives. Scrooge realized that he was living his life in a negative slump and through the journeys of the three ghosts he realized that he needed to get out of that slump and be thankful for his life. This lesson really touched me and made me realize that you can’t look at everything in a negative way.

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who wants an uplifting, fun and easy read. The journey through Ebenezer’s life is enriching and inspirational.

Book Reivew: The Mosquito Coast

Jessie Hild
Book Review: The Mosquito Coast
The Mosquito Coast, written by the renowned author Paul Theroux, is an adventure story that also served as Theroux’s “venting tablet” where he could place his views about the apparent corruption of the United States. Theroux wrote The Mosquito Coast in 1981; the novel received the James Tait Black Memorial Prize in 1981 and was nominated for the American Book Award in 1983. The Mosquito Coast is an international bestseller.
Paul Theroux was born in Medford, Massachusetts to Catholic parents. He attended the University of Maine, in Orono as well as the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He ultimately achieved a B.A. in English in 1963. He was a participant in the Peace Corps for several years but due to legal issues was soon banned. He had aided a political opponent of the Prime Minister of Malawi out of the country which subsequently caused him to be banned from the Peace Corps as well as Malawi. He published several novels, in genres including non-fiction, fiction, and criticism; his focus was writing travel novels. Theroux often faced harsh criticism for creating versions of himself, his family, and acquaintances in many of his fiction works. Several of his novels were banned for several decades in certain countries because they depicted the government of these countries in an unacceptably critical way.
I believe that Theroux wrote The Mosquito Coast in order to vent his feelings about the apparent corruption of the United States. Theroux has lived all over the world, and it appears that he dislikes America the most. He believed that Americans depends too much on foreign material and that simplicity is best. This viewpoint is evident in one of the main characters, Allie Fox. The creation of this character allowed Theroux to invent the perfect venting slate. He used this factious character to place his ideas about America’s destruction and corruption into something. Allie became a character that over-emphasized the corruption of the United States. Theroux may have used Allie as his venting tablet at the beginning of the novel but as the book progressed Allie soon became more than a venting tablet. He expressed radical views of the corruption of the United States. Theroux may or may not have agreed fully with the views of Allie. Theroux wrote this novel in order to open the world’s eyes to the fraud of America, as he saw it.
The Mosquito Coast is about the Fox family during the 1980s time period. Allie Fox, the father, is a brilliant inventor who is bigoted toward stupidity and is one of those condescending, boastful assholes who is capable of backing up all of his talk. He has four children, the oldest being 13, and a devoted wife. The novel is from the eldest child, Charlie’s, perspective. Allie’s family is a very faithful family and does everything that their father tells them to; this includes not going to school. The family has to deal with the despicable rants about America that Allie has literally every time he opens his trap. Yet the whole family looks up to their father and they are very obedient.
Allie is fed up with the awfulness of America; and instead of sticking around to see what becomes of America, he packs up his family and leaves the country. His loyal family follows him without any hesitation or questions. The kids look up to Allie like any child would look up to their father: with pride and love. Allie takes his family to a secluded, unpopulated jungle in Honduras.
Allie purchases a town and soon wins over some of the native tribesmen located in that area and begins to create the ‘perfect society’, according to Allie’s perspective of perfect. He creates many inventions that enhance the life of this civilization. The biggest invention he creates is known as the “Fat Boy” and it creates ice using heat and condensation. Allie is very proud of this invention and believes he can help all the natives by bringing the ice to the most secluded villages on the island. Unfortunately, most of these missions end in disaster because the ice does not stay ice; it melts. After the unsuccessful missions, the reader is aware that Allie is becoming literally crazy.
Sadly, this ‘perfect society’ does not turn out to be so perfect. This little civilization, that was created in order to be the perfection of all human life, ironically, blows up in the Fox’s faces (literally). This disaster forces Allie to realize that he has made the mistake of having his civilization contain too much sophistication. His family slowly loses their faith in their father and they lose the friends they have made, due to the craziness of Allie. Allie is determined to create the perfect society, no matter what happens to his family. Does he succeed in creating this civilization without completely losing his mind and his family? Read The Mosquito Coast to find out the tragic ending that Theroux has written for this incredible adventure story.
Theroux did a very good job of writing this tragic, negative novel. He created the perfect character to express his dissatisfaction with America. Of course, venting about the awfulness of America creates a very negative tone for the book. Whenever Allie speaks, it is always a pessimistic statement that brings down the mood of Charlie and the other characters. A negative tone is the one and only tone for this novel. It is impossible to write about the corruption and awfulness of America if the tone is optimistic and cheery. The setting of this novel, in the dense secluded Honduran jungle, is the perfect setting to match the tone. It is a dark, ominous forest filled with disaster and distress.
Overall, I enjoyed the book, for the most part. I would definitely recommend The Mosquito Coast to any person that is up to reading a very pessimistic book about the awfulness of America. It is a very well written adventure novel that does contain a very negative style of writing but this style of writing complements the main themes and leaves the reader aching for more.

Book Review: In the Time of the Butterflies

In the Time of the Butterflies

by Dorsi Valle

With a brilliant and empowering approach, author Julia Alvarez brings to life the story of Rafael Trujillo’s brutal dictatorship in her novel In the Time of the Butterflies. Published in 1995, this novel conveys an acrid taste of life in the Dominican Republic under the domineering dictator, Trujillo. In the Time of the Butterflies portrays the inspirational true story of the Mirabal sisters who undertook history’s challenge and rebelled against their sacred beliefs. Alvarez epitomizes their story as life’s unpleasant method of introducing political oppression. With vivid descriptions, Alvarez manages to define resiliency and a haunting statement about the horrors of a true story.

Although Alvarez was born in New York City, she was raised in the Dominican Republic. From personal experience during Trujillo’s dictatorship from 1930 to 1961, Alvarez is able to articulate the Mirabal sister’s story with a powerful stroke of meaningful significance. At the time, Alvarez’s parents preferred Trujillo’s dictatorship over America in the 1950’s. However, when Alvarez’s father became involved with a secret conspiracy to overthrow Trujillo, her family risked the danger of being killed or arrested; the family was lucky enough to retreat back to America. Having witnessed herself the atrocious events of complete political oppression, Alvarez is revered for bringing reader’s attention towards the Mirabal sister’s story in her book.

In the Time of the Butterflies is a unique read for anyone who opens the novel. The reader quickly recognizes that the story is told in first person from the perspective of each individual sister: Minerva, Patria, Maria Teresa, Dede. Every point of view provides the reader with a glimpse of each sister’s life as they essentially tell the same story in their own terms. Together, the sisters become part of a secret conspiracy, and they code themselves as “the butterflies” Hence, the title of the novel. Their breathtaking adventure forces the reader to take on a deeper much more powerful view of the historical events.

When the sisters discover the truth about Trujillo’s vulgar and cruel persona, they must summon the courage to fight injustice. With the help of family and friends, the sisters maneuver around the dangers of political oppression. Alvarez’s breathtaking novel takes you on an emotional rollercoaster of hardships, love, hatred and joy. The articulate novel refrains you from setting it down and keeps you flipping pages. The compelling true story of the Mirabal sisters is truly inspiring and beautiful: in conclusion, a must read.

THE KILLER ANGELS Review By: Jared B
The
Killer Angels by Michael Shaara is the best war book I
have ever come across in my life. It is utterly brilliant and very accurately
and historically describes the Battle of Gettysburg in the Civil War. I was
constantly on hooked even thought I knew the outcome of the battle and the
ending. Shaara put such a vivid picture of the battle in my mind, I really felt
like I was in the battle. The Killer Angels is a must read to those who
like war and thrillers.
The author, Michael Shaara, was born in New Jersey in
1928. He started writing for a magazine in the 1950s. He has written other
books as well. He was influenced to write The Killer Angels when he
visited the battle site of Gettysburg and learned of the battle and the
importance of it. From there he would go on to write the book. He wanted to use
real life characters to make the book have more of an epic tone, which really
enhanced the book but caused problems with historical accuracy. All the events
and characteristics are accurate, but Shaara made up some of the emotions of
the soldiers on his own accord and I do think he was justified to so because he
had the details of the Battle, so he could assume the emotions based on his
research. The book would be published in 1974, and Shaara would die in 1988.
The Killer
Angels is the Battle of Gettysburg through the eyes of the soldiers. It
begins with the Confederacy finding the whereabouts of the Union position. From
there they plan an attack, hoping that they can drive the Union away and force
the Union to sign a peace treaty or give up Washington D.C. The book covers the
three days from the first battle to Pickett’s Charge. It switches between the
Confederacy and the Union. It portrays the emotions and inner thoughts the
soldiers have before, during and after battles. The book pits friend against
friend and has one brother send his other brother to his death. It goes through
each day in epic detail, from when the soldiers wake up, to the planning, then
the battle and all the commotion, and finally the after battle. It portrays the
war in such a way that you almost feel like you’re there, how you can see what
the soldiers are seeing, what their feeling and what the horrors are going on
around you. It will show the battle field through a colonel, and give his
thoughts as he sees his men die, or through a general as he is planning, and
who he trusts in his mind, or simply a soldier reflecting on the battle or what
might come. I read this book knowing the outcome of the battle, yet it still
was able to keep me turning the pages because I felt the intensity of war. The
Killer Angels not only portrays the battle, but it shows of the love,
companionship and the memories that took place at Gettysburg. It really covered
every aspect that took part in the Civil Ear.
The book takes place in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania and the
surrounding area. The main characters are General Robert E. Lee of the Confederacy,
General James Longstreet of the Confederacy, and Colonel Joshua L. Chamberlain
of the Union. These three men are the ones who are making the decisions and
planning the battles. They help save the day on some occasions, or they lead
their men into their doom on certain instances. Their men keep relying on their
leadership and what they decide to do is vital to the outcome of the battle.
These three men played a significant role in the outcome of the battle. Other
important characters are General John Hood of the Confederacy, General George
Pickett of the Confederacy, General J.E.B. Stuart of the Confederacy, General
George B. Meade of the Union, Thomas Chamberlain (Colonel Chamberlain’s
brother) of the Union and, finally, the two friends General Lew Armistead of
the Confederacy and General Winfield Scott Hancock of the Union. Each one of
these characters plays a role in the war and helps determine the outcome of the
Battle. The unique set of characters and their thoughts are what make seem so
realistic. I really enjoyed going from character to character and from the
Confederacy to the Union and back again.
I was interested in this book because it was about the
Civil War and I really like the Civil War. That is the reason why I picked the
book up in the first place. But this book was different than other Civil War
books that I have read. The text was through the eyes of the characters whereas
others have provided an eagle eye view. This book depicts each character, each
event so well that I couldn’t put it down. The fact that I like the Civil War
so much, I was really able to see what it was like to be in the war and all the
baggage it carried with it. It was like I got first-hand experience. This book
kept me so interested that it was truly able to put a vivid picture of what the
war was like in my head. That is how fantastic The Killer Angels was.
I would read this book ten more times and still enjoy it
just as much every time. It would recommend this book to most historians and
males because, even if you don’t know that much about the Civil War, it will
teach you about it and it will be a good read. The Killer Angels is a
remarkably wonderful and incredible book that is mind-blowing in how is depicts
the Civil War. This book is worth your while.

Snow Crash Book Review

SNOW CRASH

Nathan Shane Loomis

Snow Crash is a terrific novel that contains science fiction, action, an intriguing story, compelling characters, and so much more. Everyone in the modern age can relate too many of the themes in this book because a lot of technological ideas that were in this book can be found in our everyday lives. Snow Crash is science fiction at its best- these are some of the reasons why.

Neal Stephenson came from a family of scientists and engineers- His father was an electrical engineer and his mother was a biochemist. He graduated from Boston University and got a Bachelor of Arts in geography and a minor in physics. After an essay called In the Beginning... was the Command Line (about a failure in the early Macintosh Computer), Stephenson started to write novels. Stephenson has written other books before and after Snow Crash (such as The Big U, Zodiac, The Cobweb, etc.), but Snow Crash is his most prized possession of all his books.

The motivation for Snow Crash was from his essay In The Beginning... was the Command Line, which explained the failure in the early Macintosh Computer. He described the crash to be like a broken TV’s white static; he called it a ‘snow crash.’ The inspiration also came from Ancient Sumerian history, the bible, and The Tower of Babel. If you take his essay, Ancient Sumerian history, the Bible, The Tower of Babel, and mush them together, you would get Snow Crash.

Stephenson’s main goal with this book must have been to show people his vision of the future, a world where the internet and video games or the “Metaverse” were a part of our everyday lives and where there was no real government in power any more. On a technological standpoint, Stephenson wasn’t too far off. The internet is a big part of humans’ lives. We use it for gathering information, social media, video streaming, etc. Video games, to an extent, are a big part of humans’ lives as well. Stephenson’s “Metaverse” is similar to a Massively Multiplayer Online game (MMO) such as World of Warcraft. Stephenson had a very good prediction of the world to come because video games and the internet are our “Metaverse.”

Snow Crash takes place in a futuristic America where there’s really no government, but corporations are in control (such as the Mafia, CIA, a pizza company, etc.). The story starts off with a man known as the Deliverator, but his real name is Hiro Protagonist. Back in the day he was one of the early programmers of Metaverse, but now he works as a pizza delivery man for the Mafia. The Metaverse is basically the evolution of the internet and video games. You make an avatar and go into a virtual world where pretty much anything is possible. In reality, Hiro might be a pizza delivery man, but in the Metaverse he’s a master sword fighter. Hiro goes into an exclusive nightclub in the Metaverse and finds out there’s a new drug called ‘Snow Crash.’ Hiro’s hacker friend takes Snow Crash and Hiro finds out it’s not just a drug, but a virus that changes your behavior in the Metaverse and reality. Hiro joins the CIC (the evolution of the CIA) and teams up with a skater-delivery girl named Y.T (Yours Truly). Together they try to find a way to stop the virus ‘Snow Crash.’

Snow Crash’s style definitely kept me engaged in this story. I was always excited to see what was going to happen next. The book is very intelligent. There are a lot of references to Ancient Sumerian history, computer programming, the internet, video games, and the Bible. There are times where I got confused when Hiro was programming something because it goes into detail of him programming. However, the presentation of the book kept me wanting to read all the programming junk. When Hiro is going through all the codes, I wouldn’t want Snow Crash to be any other way because that is one of the many reasons why Snow Crash is so intelligent and unique. If Stephenson just blew by Hiro programming something, it almost kills the thrill of what Hiro is doing. I appreciated what he was actually doing because programming is not an easy thing. If Stephenson left out the programming parts, then I probably would have blown it off like it was nothing important. It is not like reading Origin of Species where it gets to the point where you can’t read it because it is so hard to understand. It is almost like when a character in a movie, like “Mission Impossible,” is hacking into a computer in the midst of action. You might not know exactly what he is typing in or doing, but you know what he is trying to accomplish. It would help to know a thing or two about technology when reading this novel, but for the most part Snow Crash’s style never leaves you out of the loop of things that are happening.

Snow Crash is a phenomenal adventure that is funny, action packed, dramatic, romantic, intelligent, and presents all these themes flawlessly. If you like science fiction even a little bit- read this book. If you like adventure- read this book. If you like engaging stories- read this book. If you like technology- read this book. I would recommend this book to almost everyone. Snow Crash definitely deserves the label of a literary masterpiece- without question.

The Sun Also Rises: Ernest Hemingway

The Sun Also Rises

Slator Aplin

Ernest Hemingway is one of the pioneer’s in 20th century American Literature. Hemingway wrote most of his work between 1920 and 1950, and won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1954. He published seven novels, and his first was The Sun Also Rises. In his “greatest work,” Hemingway describes the dissolute nature of the “Lost Generation” (the age of people during World War I who lost most of their morals due to the tragedy of the war).

The Sun Also Rises is narrated by Jake, an American WWI veteran who has moved to Paris. There he meets his friend, Cohn, who is restlessly wanting to leave his fiancee, Francis. In Paris Jake too finds his lost love that he met during the war as a nurse, Brett. Brett hops from man to man seeking love but never finding what she truly wants. She and Jake can never be together because during the war Jake suffered at accident that made him infertile. Brett continuously bumps into Jake and eventually tells him that she is leaving to San Sebastian, Spain to take a break from his presence. Jake’s good friend Bill then comes to Paris and they make plans to go on a fishing trip on Spain and later go to the fiesta at Pampaloma. Brett soon returns from her trip to Spain with her new fiancee, Mike. Mike is a continuously drunken Scott who is also a Great War veteran. Once Brett discovers that the boys are taking a trip to Spain and Pampaloma, she asks to accompany them. Jake, Bill, and Cohn then head off to Spain. They arrive in Pampaloma; and when Brett and Mike don’t show up to the hotel, Jake and Mike decide to go fishing in a small fishing town; Cohn chooses to stay at wait for Brett. The fiesta de Pampaloma begins, and it is a mixture of bullfighting, bull running, drinking and partying. They all go to see a bullfighting match and are blown away by Pedro Roberto, a new bullfighter who outperforms everyone in the arena. Brett especially is taken back by Pedro, and when they see him at the hotel nights later she urges Jake to introduce her to the talented fighter. Cohn that night breaks under all of the other mens’ banter againist him and punches Jake and Mike out cold. Jake finds Cohn later sobbing on his bed, where Cohn begs for his forgiveness. Cohn earlier punched Pedro in the face, but unlike Jake, Pedro doesn’t accept Cohn’s apology. Brett then “falls in love” with Pedro and they run off to Madrid. Cohn, Jake and Bill then head home after the fiesta. Jake decides to spend a few extra days in San Sebastian to fish and relax. There he receives a message from Brett to meet her in Madrid.

The Sun Also Rises has a writing style parallel to The Great Gatsby. It is simply written, but every action and every scene has an underlying meaning that supports the central theme. Hemingway uses the lost and immoral ways of the main characters to display the confused “Lost Generation.” Pedro is a foil to these characters because he has goals and a set path in life. He left the temptation of Brett for his ambitions and fame, where-as Jake just wants to go to fish, drink, and relax. The “Lost Generation” is shown with Hemingway’s complex simplicity. This generation is physically unfazed, but on the inside they are complex and transformed from the effects of war. This is what interests me the most about the novel, the author’s depiction of this dissolute race. I would highly recommend this book because hidden complexity (that I honestly didn’t fully comprehend and want to read the book again to fully understand it’s message).