Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer is such an amazing book to read for me. It is about a college graduate named Chris McCandless that drove away from his family from Atlanta. When he leaves he changes his name to Alex Supertramp. He traveled all around the United States and even traveled to parts of Mexico along his adventure. Throughout his journey, he encounters many people and made bonds with them. He kept a diary and camera to take pictures of his journey. He enjoyed reading books especially books by Jack London, a writer from Alaska. These fictional stories written by Jack London inspired Chris to go to Alaska where he ends his life. This book is similar to a news report in which the author travels around to question those that knew McCandless and what they had done together.
Many of these stories were interesting but the last one that I have read so far was inspiring to me. It was about a veteran who had lost his family. He began to drink but was able to control himself. He then met Alex, in which he grew attached to him. It states: "McCandless made an indelible impression on a number of people... Nobody, however, was affected more powerfully by his or her brief contact with the boy than Ronald Franz..."(Krakauer 81). When they both met, Franz treated Chris as if he was his own son. He would drive him everywhere he needed to be and when he was hungry, he would buy him food and provide him with provisions as he traveled. Franz was always there. It seemed as if Franz was waiting by the phone all the time to help him out. This story reminded of my friends and family. Whenever I need help, they always seem to be there where I can reach out to them. Franz was like that to McCandless. What stood out from the other stories was that, he actually wanted to adopt McCandless in the end but Alex had said no. That was shocking but it was not surprising. The story builds up to Franz saying that. McCandless was filling up that hole that Franz had have since his family died. When Alex died, he began drinking once more because even a deeper hole was dug out.
Even though, the main plot of the book has already been given. I still wonder what there is next to come. I want to hear further stories about the adventures. I am amazed that McCandless was able to survive such a long time. I wonder why he left his family in the first place and how that hired investigator was not able to find him since he had exposed himself with a job.
Showing posts with label books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label books. Show all posts
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Monday, November 22, 2010
Garcia Girls Book Review
Over my two years of reading books at high school, “How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents” by Julia Alvarez, was similar to the books read in freshman year. It was a hard and amazing book to read. When I was done with the book, I wondered what had inspired Alvarez to write the book. It turns out that the book was similar to an autobiography.
According to Julia Alvarez’s website, she was born in New York City and was raised in the Dominican Republic after her parents moved back to their homeland. The family stayed there until they escaped to America in 1960 to get away from the deep trouble when both of her parents were involved with a group of people who were plotting against the dictatorship (juliaalvarez.com). Similar to this, in Garcia Girls they were trying to escape from the secret police in the vignette “The Blood of the Conquistadors” in Part III of the book (Alvarez 195-289). The secret police of the Dominican Republic were suspicious of the four daughter’s father, Carlos Garcia and the family believed that it was best for the family to move out of the country with the help of Vic, a CIA member.
In Alvarez’s life in America, she first had a hard time learning how to speak and write in English. Many bullies teased her because of hard time with English (juliaalvarez.com). She tried very hard to learn English and speak and write the language. She then “discovered the welcoming world of the imagination of books” (juliaalvarez.com). Like her life in reality, the book also shared a same experience of bullying. In the vignette “Trespass” of Garcia Girls, the Garcia Girls had only come to America for one year. The girls are new to the culture and do not really know what it really is. Here, Carla was bullied by boys because she had just begun to hit puberty. The boys teased her about her flat breasts and her hairy legs (Alvarez 153). Unlike Alvarez, Carla escaped the torment by going to boarding school. On the other hand, Alvarez became inspired to write, because of the American experience when she was in school.
The best character that fits with Julia Alvarez in Garcia Girls is actually the Garcia daughters. Each of the four daughters had a special characteristic that was part of Julia Alvarez. Like Carla, Alvarez was humiliated because of her language skills. Like Sandra, Alvarez wanted to fit into American society. Like Yolanda, Alvarez was a heavy reader and writer; mostly on poems. Like Sofia, Alvarez was active in her life, not necessarily sexual.
“How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents” was the first novel that Alvarez had published in 1991 (juliaalvarez.com). She had also written small magazines and entered in writing contests. She wrote the book because it was her life long dream to become a writer. She wanted to get her story out to the world to read. She later wrote other novels and even a collection of her poems in two books.
Compared to other books of the same genre, this book stood out amongst them. There were many more dramatic events compared to other books such as “House on Mango Street” by Sandra Cisneros and “The Color Purple” by Alice Walker. Throughout reading Garcia Girls, I wondered how so many horrific events could happen to them. One terrible event led to another. Within every vignette of the book, there was at least one plot that marked what the section was about. I constantly felt bad for the daughters that they had to endure all of the traumatizing events while they were in the Dominican Republic and in America. Some of these events were the secret police in front of Fifi, the stalker in the green car that followed Carla, the drunken female stranger that kissed the father of the children in front of Sandi, and the nightmares that Yolanda. While reading Garcia Girls, I wondered whether it was bad luck or it was just that Julia Alvarez wanted readers to believe that there are many people that have worse lives than them.
Compared to the books with the same genre, “How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents” contained actually less violent activity. Usually in books with the genre of this kind would include some form of rape and/ or murder. The Garcia Girls is much less graphic compared to the others. It may have sex within the story but it is not as if it was violent. It was more of a form of pleasure and the characters were actually willing to have sex with the men. Besides the smuggling out of the country, none of the other acts in the book were partly or even illegal at all.
Compared to other books, this book was also much more confusing and unusual on the way that it was written. Alvarez wrote the book in reverse chronological order; a way of organization that is rarely ever seen. I later learned that the reason why she had written that was because she was making a cycle in which the reader can read the book continuously and it would still flow. The syntax in which Julia Alvarez writes in is extremely different compared the syntax in which I typically read every day. It occasionally takes me a long time understand what she is talking about. That style of writing was frustrating. In my past blog posts, I discussed how I was not able to understand until the very end and that I may have to repeat sometimes. It took an average of two to three repeats in order to understand it. The book is also much predictable compared to other books. There is a pattern in which the book shows and it is how there is a plot in every section. Except “Snow,” the vignette shows a scene in which there some form of sexual activity or big plot.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
How the Garcia Girls Lost their Accents final book response post (YES!!!)
At last, the difficult journey of reading this book has ended. I am so glad that we had finally finished it. I could not bear another of those Valdez books. In each Valdez book, there always seem to be a main character that encounters a form of rape or murder. It seems to be rare because how could so many tragedies happen so often within a person's lifetime. Overall, I thought that the book was neutral; not good and not that bad.
For the last reading, I thought that it was much better than all the rest of the parts. I learned to adapt to Garcia's syntax and diction. In the third and final part of How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents by Julia Alvarez, I thought that it had contained many symbols and that there was a much deeper meaning to it. In class, Mr. Sutherland said that the last paragraph was making the book like a cycle where the reader can go back to the beginning of the book again and not be confused like when I had first read it. That ending had really surprised me. I wondered if I had just read the book over again, would I feel the same way? or words just be words? I thought about it and came to a conclusion that it would actually be more fun to read it again.
In the last section of the book there were a few scenes that were basically deep symbols of each character. One of them is when the bank got jammed and that the figure was stuck between heaven and hell. I compared it to how Carla was not able to decide what she was going to do when she had forgotten about it. The best symbol in this part that I thought was amazing was the nightmares of Yolanda of the kitten. In a way, the kitten was like Yolanda and her sisters. They were taken away at an early age and they did not necessarily adapt to their surroundings. Like the kitten, the sisters, too had became lost when they had arrived in America and it had took them a long time before they had found their way again.
Connecting the title to the main theme of the story, the title states "lost their accents." I thought that it wasn't much of their accents but more of their culture. When the family were at Dominican Republic, there was a tradition and a more strict culture. The environment was much more calm and the family was rich there. When they had arrived into the United States, the Garcia Girls had experienced a much more loose culture. They were poor there and could not afford much. Boys tended to tease them and American culture seemed to rely on sex. The girls soon had adapted to American culture and had heavily lost their Dominican Republic culture as a result.
For the last reading, I thought that it was much better than all the rest of the parts. I learned to adapt to Garcia's syntax and diction. In the third and final part of How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents by Julia Alvarez, I thought that it had contained many symbols and that there was a much deeper meaning to it. In class, Mr. Sutherland said that the last paragraph was making the book like a cycle where the reader can go back to the beginning of the book again and not be confused like when I had first read it. That ending had really surprised me. I wondered if I had just read the book over again, would I feel the same way? or words just be words? I thought about it and came to a conclusion that it would actually be more fun to read it again.
In the last section of the book there were a few scenes that were basically deep symbols of each character. One of them is when the bank got jammed and that the figure was stuck between heaven and hell. I compared it to how Carla was not able to decide what she was going to do when she had forgotten about it. The best symbol in this part that I thought was amazing was the nightmares of Yolanda of the kitten. In a way, the kitten was like Yolanda and her sisters. They were taken away at an early age and they did not necessarily adapt to their surroundings. Like the kitten, the sisters, too had became lost when they had arrived in America and it had took them a long time before they had found their way again.
Connecting the title to the main theme of the story, the title states "lost their accents." I thought that it wasn't much of their accents but more of their culture. When the family were at Dominican Republic, there was a tradition and a more strict culture. The environment was much more calm and the family was rich there. When they had arrived into the United States, the Garcia Girls had experienced a much more loose culture. They were poor there and could not afford much. Boys tended to tease them and American culture seemed to rely on sex. The girls soon had adapted to American culture and had heavily lost their Dominican Republic culture as a result.
Monday, November 8, 2010
How the Garcia Girls Lost their Accents 2nd paper clip (=
At last I have finally approached the second paper clip that we sophomores needed to have approached by tomorrow. Apparently, I had made the terrible choice to cram 100 pages in a day and it didn't go so well. So far, I thought this book was plenty like House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros. It is full of vignettes just like the book we are currently reading. I am beginning to get into the book but I like books that flow and make a big story.
Even after reading this book for 2 weeks now, I continue to find this book confusing but not as confusing like before where I had barely understood a word until the end of each story. Now, I understand what is going on as I read the book. The usual parts that I get confused about is the setting and the character's names. I continue to get lost with the reverse chronological method this book is in but I am used to it by now. When I had first read the first vignette of the first chapter, I did not even know who Laura was until there was the mentioning of the fact that she had four daughters. In the last vignette of Part II, I thought that the family was still in the Dominican Republic when it was actually when they had first come to America.
Compared to a few of last year's books, this book is quite similar to them. They include some form of sex and feminism. It also introduces a different perspective of how minorities sees living in America. They are poor and the parents are working day after day. In the book, the Garcia family comes to America with their traditional cultures but as they grow older, they learn that American culture is way different to their Dominican culture. To me, the book develops a story of how the Garcia family adapted to American ways of life and partially or completely lost their Dominican lifestyle.
I personally think this book's main story reflects my family. They were immigrants to the United States and struggled in poverty to have food and shelter. Luckily, my dad worked hard and was able to support the family. He got the recognition from Safeway to become a butcher while he was working at a supermarket. My parents expects my sister and I to become educated and have a pleasant life in the future. Doesn't every parent want that for their children?
Even after reading this book for 2 weeks now, I continue to find this book confusing but not as confusing like before where I had barely understood a word until the end of each story. Now, I understand what is going on as I read the book. The usual parts that I get confused about is the setting and the character's names. I continue to get lost with the reverse chronological method this book is in but I am used to it by now. When I had first read the first vignette of the first chapter, I did not even know who Laura was until there was the mentioning of the fact that she had four daughters. In the last vignette of Part II, I thought that the family was still in the Dominican Republic when it was actually when they had first come to America.
Compared to a few of last year's books, this book is quite similar to them. They include some form of sex and feminism. It also introduces a different perspective of how minorities sees living in America. They are poor and the parents are working day after day. In the book, the Garcia family comes to America with their traditional cultures but as they grow older, they learn that American culture is way different to their Dominican culture. To me, the book develops a story of how the Garcia family adapted to American ways of life and partially or completely lost their Dominican lifestyle.
I personally think this book's main story reflects my family. They were immigrants to the United States and struggled in poverty to have food and shelter. Luckily, my dad worked hard and was able to support the family. He got the recognition from Safeway to become a butcher while he was working at a supermarket. My parents expects my sister and I to become educated and have a pleasant life in the future. Doesn't every parent want that for their children?
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
My first impression of "Garcia Girls"
In How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents by Julia Alvarez, the author write the book in many unique ways. Alvarez had written the book in reverse chronologically order. I was puzzled by that idea that an author would do that. The book is confusing and I tend to lose sight to where I am. I placed so many post-its in the first part that I wanted the author answer. Some on them were but many of them were not. In the end, I figure out who is communicating and what the section in about.
I found the book confusing mainly because I have had no experience about the book at all. I did not know who the author was and her background. It was fresh and I did not know where to start when I first received the book. When I first began the book, the author didn't give any background information about characters except for the family chart that marked the main characters' position in the family. The author just began with a story after story. Sometimes, Julia Alvarez just jumps from one scene to the next barely or not even making any transition at all. Until the end of each section, I was confused but as the story progresses I slowly understood the plot and the main point of each section. Julia Alvarez wrote the book where it was just the perfect amount of confusion but it also gave a chance for the reader to understand what is going on.
Besides the confusion part, I found the book quite interesting. I enjoyed how there were like miniature stories within the book. It was similar to House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros where there were vignettes. It was also nice how she had included a family diagram so that the reader would know the family.
My favorite part of the book in Part 1 was the section where Sofia (FiFi) had lost her father's trust since she had run away with another man. The father disowns her and he does not speak of her name. Even when Sofia tried to throw a party for him on his 70th birthday, the father still did not approve of her. One of my questions was why the father held the grudge for such a long time. I am hoping that it will be answered later.
I found the book confusing mainly because I have had no experience about the book at all. I did not know who the author was and her background. It was fresh and I did not know where to start when I first received the book. When I first began the book, the author didn't give any background information about characters except for the family chart that marked the main characters' position in the family. The author just began with a story after story. Sometimes, Julia Alvarez just jumps from one scene to the next barely or not even making any transition at all. Until the end of each section, I was confused but as the story progresses I slowly understood the plot and the main point of each section. Julia Alvarez wrote the book where it was just the perfect amount of confusion but it also gave a chance for the reader to understand what is going on.
Besides the confusion part, I found the book quite interesting. I enjoyed how there were like miniature stories within the book. It was similar to House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros where there were vignettes. It was also nice how she had included a family diagram so that the reader would know the family.
My favorite part of the book in Part 1 was the section where Sofia (FiFi) had lost her father's trust since she had run away with another man. The father disowns her and he does not speak of her name. Even when Sofia tried to throw a party for him on his 70th birthday, the father still did not approve of her. One of my questions was why the father held the grudge for such a long time. I am hoping that it will be answered later.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Who is Qwfwq?
Thesis: In Italo Calvino's short stories, Qwfwq is a creature that struggles to find true love but ends in failure.
In "The Aquatic Uncle", Qwfwq plays the character of a fish-lizard that is able to live in both land and water but he chooses to live on land instead. During his time on land, he falls in love with someone of the same species named Lll. Except, Lll is much more adapt to land rather than water. They were great friends and spent time with each other constantly: "Lll and I spent our days together, chasing each other... We ventured into zones of the inferior where no print marked the dry and crusty" (Calvino 74). Qwfwq wanted to be with her forever and live a happy life. They journeyed to where Lll's home is. Qwfwq would even follow Lll all the way till where Qwfwq has never seen before. He had traveled far beyond from the muddy area where Qwfwq had always lived. If Qwfwq had not loved Lll, he would not have gone beyond his comfort zone. This course of love eventually turned Qwfwq to even do more things out of his boundaries as well.
Later on in "The Aquatic Uncle", Qwfwq brings Lll to meet his uncle, Nba-Nga to get a blessing for his marriage. Unfortunately, Nba-Nga doesn't do so as a result and tries to talk to Lll about living in the water. During this event, this makes Lll have many thoughts affecting her life. Lll begins to ignore Qwfwq, making him afraid that he had begin to lose her. He tries to get her back by impressing her with his abilities: "Had I lost her? Suspecting this, I hastened to woo her back. I took to performing all sorts of feats. Unfortunately when I did something brave, she wasn't there to see me..." (Calvino 80). Here, Qwfwq tries to make Lll come back to him so that nothing would go wrong in the relationship. Like in the previous paragraph, Qwfwq had also gone out of his boundaries because he loved her so deeply. He was willing to risk his own life doing dangerous stunts for her. Sadly, she had not seen any of what Qwfwq had done just for her. She was too deep in thoughts in her mind rather to pay attention to him. In the entire time that she was thinking, Qwfwq should have been comforting her and asking her why she was so depressed. Qwfwq cost his relationship just by the mistake of resorting to the wrong actions at the wrong time. Like "The Aquatic Uncle", the Qwfwq in "The Dinosaurs" also falls in love with another creature but ends in failure due to his mistakes.
In "The Dinosaurs", Qwfwq is the only remaining dinosaur during the Cretaceous period. His entire ancestry was wiped out by a new set of creatures in which they call themselves "the New Ones". In this story, Qwfwq falls in love with a girl named Fern-Flower. Fern-Flower is a New One that constantly dreams nightmares about dinosaurs. Everyday, she tells her nightmares to Qwfwq and he tries to understand her attitude towards dinosaurs. Then one day, When Fern-Flower gets a nightmare that a Dinosaur was being mistreated, Qwfwq tries to comfort her: "This dream furnished me with a new key to the understanding of Fern-Flower's attitude towards me... The revelation so moved me that I threw myself at her feet, tears in my eyes and said 'No, No, Fern-Flower. It's not the way you believe; you're better than any Dinosaur, a hundred times better, and I feel so inferior to you..." (Calvino 104). In this quote, Qwfwq is dramatic and deeply loves Fern-Flower. Qwfwq feels sad that she was sad and tries to comfort her by poring all of his emotions. He even reveals his true identity. But all of that was just a waste. This was all to sudden and he had misinterpreted the situation. He indeed, had only made it worse. It had created a feeling of uneasiness between both of them (Calvino 105). Like "The Aquatic Uncle", he had used the wrong judgment to decide on what to do during the situation. He ruined his own love life.
Note*: The first two body paragraphs were originally one paragraph. The second paragraph I did not split because the length of it is fine to leave it alone as one single paragraph. This separation idea was suggested by Mr. Sutherland.
In "The Aquatic Uncle", Qwfwq plays the character of a fish-lizard that is able to live in both land and water but he chooses to live on land instead. During his time on land, he falls in love with someone of the same species named Lll. Except, Lll is much more adapt to land rather than water. They were great friends and spent time with each other constantly: "Lll and I spent our days together, chasing each other... We ventured into zones of the inferior where no print marked the dry and crusty" (Calvino 74). Qwfwq wanted to be with her forever and live a happy life. They journeyed to where Lll's home is. Qwfwq would even follow Lll all the way till where Qwfwq has never seen before. He had traveled far beyond from the muddy area where Qwfwq had always lived. If Qwfwq had not loved Lll, he would not have gone beyond his comfort zone. This course of love eventually turned Qwfwq to even do more things out of his boundaries as well.
Later on in "The Aquatic Uncle", Qwfwq brings Lll to meet his uncle, Nba-Nga to get a blessing for his marriage. Unfortunately, Nba-Nga doesn't do so as a result and tries to talk to Lll about living in the water. During this event, this makes Lll have many thoughts affecting her life. Lll begins to ignore Qwfwq, making him afraid that he had begin to lose her. He tries to get her back by impressing her with his abilities: "Had I lost her? Suspecting this, I hastened to woo her back. I took to performing all sorts of feats. Unfortunately when I did something brave, she wasn't there to see me..." (Calvino 80). Here, Qwfwq tries to make Lll come back to him so that nothing would go wrong in the relationship. Like in the previous paragraph, Qwfwq had also gone out of his boundaries because he loved her so deeply. He was willing to risk his own life doing dangerous stunts for her. Sadly, she had not seen any of what Qwfwq had done just for her. She was too deep in thoughts in her mind rather to pay attention to him. In the entire time that she was thinking, Qwfwq should have been comforting her and asking her why she was so depressed. Qwfwq cost his relationship just by the mistake of resorting to the wrong actions at the wrong time. Like "The Aquatic Uncle", the Qwfwq in "The Dinosaurs" also falls in love with another creature but ends in failure due to his mistakes.
In "The Dinosaurs", Qwfwq is the only remaining dinosaur during the Cretaceous period. His entire ancestry was wiped out by a new set of creatures in which they call themselves "the New Ones". In this story, Qwfwq falls in love with a girl named Fern-Flower. Fern-Flower is a New One that constantly dreams nightmares about dinosaurs. Everyday, she tells her nightmares to Qwfwq and he tries to understand her attitude towards dinosaurs. Then one day, When Fern-Flower gets a nightmare that a Dinosaur was being mistreated, Qwfwq tries to comfort her: "This dream furnished me with a new key to the understanding of Fern-Flower's attitude towards me... The revelation so moved me that I threw myself at her feet, tears in my eyes and said 'No, No, Fern-Flower. It's not the way you believe; you're better than any Dinosaur, a hundred times better, and I feel so inferior to you..." (Calvino 104). In this quote, Qwfwq is dramatic and deeply loves Fern-Flower. Qwfwq feels sad that she was sad and tries to comfort her by poring all of his emotions. He even reveals his true identity. But all of that was just a waste. This was all to sudden and he had misinterpreted the situation. He indeed, had only made it worse. It had created a feeling of uneasiness between both of them (Calvino 105). Like "The Aquatic Uncle", he had used the wrong judgment to decide on what to do during the situation. He ruined his own love life.
Note*: The first two body paragraphs were originally one paragraph. The second paragraph I did not split because the length of it is fine to leave it alone as one single paragraph. This separation idea was suggested by Mr. Sutherland.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Response to "Book and Words" from Leon Liang
Books were never of a pleasure for me and I really hate wasting time reading them. I found a few sentences from my friend's, Leon's Blog about how he dislikes reading. I really think that it also reflects me as well.
Last year for our old English teacher, we had to read classics and old time books of her choice for the entire year. It was really boring. When I was reading those books, it took me a long time to read because I was constantly distracted by other events and objects in the house. The books that our past teacher made us read were also not interesting. I really don't like to read books about rape and how life is miserable for others and what they are doing. If the class had awesome action filled books last year, it would have been rather fun and we could learn a lot more about writing.
"When I hear the word 'book', I automatically feel like I am going to be bored to death from reading. Reading is something that I find complicated and hard. I am one of those that cannot sit down and just read. Most of the time, I would just fall asleep after a couple pages. The problem with books is that I cannot face a page full of just words. From grade school until now, the number of books I have read, excluding the books assigned by teachers, can be counted with two hands. I never bother to go discover which book is good and which one is boring. I only read things that I feel like interesting." -Leon LiangWhen reading, I always feels this way because I don't like reading any teacher's books. Unless it is one of those scary books or science fiction. I always loved those types, but it takes me a long time to even start reading because once I start reading, I cant really stop because I want to just continue on. I don't like reading any other types of books because they are not of my interest and don't always create the suspense that I expect when reading.
Last year for our old English teacher, we had to read classics and old time books of her choice for the entire year. It was really boring. When I was reading those books, it took me a long time to read because I was constantly distracted by other events and objects in the house. The books that our past teacher made us read were also not interesting. I really don't like to read books about rape and how life is miserable for others and what they are doing. If the class had awesome action filled books last year, it would have been rather fun and we could learn a lot more about writing.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)