Farenheit 451 2

As I fininsh the book, I realize that I love this book. Great story line and I can see why it is one of America's favorite books.

I loved reading about one part inparticular. In this section, Montag describes his hands, which he blames for stealing the book, as infected and relates how the “poison” spreads into the rest of his body. This reveals that Montag lacks awareness of his true motivations and that some unconscious force is overpowering his conscious, rational self. Bradbury implies that Montag’s defiance and thirst for truth are innate and instinctive but that they have been repressed by a culture that relies on ignorance, complacency, and easy pleasures.

Nonetheless, after stealing the book Montag experiences an intense, disorienting fear. He tries to draw some emotional support from his wife, seeking desperately to remember where they first met. This bit of information takes on a symbolic significance for him as he realizes that he does not truly feel connected to her. Montag is frightened by Mildred’s pill-taking habits, but not because he truly cares whether she lives or dies. His fear actually stems from the fact that he doesn’t really love her and is trying to avoid acknowledging that fact.

Bradbury uses several devices to heighten the tension of the chase sequence, including the use of dramatic pauses (such as when the Hound pauses on Faber’s lawn), the description of the Hound’s progress from Montag’s perspective, and the countdown to the “look-out” in which everybody is to open their doors. This latter device effectively pits the entire city against Montag and creates a definite time factor (as opposed to the progress of the Hound, which is an undetermined distance away from Montag). Montag has to make an effort to remember that he is not watching a fictional drama but his own life unfolding on twenty million TV screens.

Montag leaves the frightening unreality of the city, which he thinks of as a stage of actors and a séance of ghosts, and enters the world of the countryside, which feels equally unreal to him because of its newness. Drifting peacefully down the river into darkness, Montag finally experiences the quiet and freedom that he needs to think.

Thanks Farenheit 451! Loved it

Farenheit 451, blog one

I started this book and liked it so far. Can't wait to read more!

I have never been one to read science fiction type books, and while Fahrenheit 451 might not be completely science fiction, I was completely intrigued with its futuristic appeal. I think the main reason I enjoyed its futuristic aspect is because I can see an uncanny similarity between Bradbury's description and Americans' current actions. I think the book as a whole has been great so far. Even though it took me a while to get into the book and understand the plot line and the characters, I grew to appreciate and enjoy both. The main thing I appreciate about Bradbury's book; however, is that he uses this book as a warning to many Americans in order to stop the future from becoming what he knew it could become.

Montag is disturbed by his meeting with Clarisse because he is not used to talking with people about personal subjects. Upon returning home, he realizes that he is not happy after all, and that his appearance of happiness up to this point has been a pretense. He continues to experience feelings of foreboding. He finds his wife, Mildred, in bed listening to earplug radios called “Seashells,” just as he has found her every night for the past two years. By her bed, he accidentally kicks an empty bottle of sleeping pills and calls the hospital just as a sonic boom from a squadron of jet bombers shakes the house. Two cynical hospital workers arrive with a machine that pumps Mildred’s stomach (Montag later refers to the device as the “Snake”) and another that replaces all her poisoned blood with fresh blood. Montag goes outside and listens to the laughter and the voices coming from the brightly lit McClellan house. Montag goes inside again and considers all that has happened to him that night. He feels terribly disoriented as he takes a sleep lozenge and dozes off.

Captain Beatty comes by to check on Montag, saying that he guessed Montag would be calling in sick that day. He tells Montag that every fireman runs into the “problem” he has been experiencing sooner or later, and he relates to him the history of their profession. Beatty’s monologue borders on the hysterical, and his tendency to jump from one thing to another without explaining the connection makes his history very hard to follow. Part of the story is that photography, film, and television made it possible to present information in a quickly digestible, visual form, which made the slower, more reflective practice of reading books less popular. Another strand of his argument is that the spread of literacy, and the gigantic increase in the amount of published materials, created pressure for books to be more like one another and easier to read (like Reader’s Digest condensed books). Finally, Beatty says that “minorities” and special-interest groups found so many things in books objectionable that people finally abandoned debate and started burning books.

Well, As you can see, the book is getting interesting. I like the story line and can't wait to read more.

Life of Pi 4

I finally finished Life of Pi! Being such a lengthy book, I thought I never would, but I did, and it is my second favorite book we've read in class. I was, however, highly disappointed in the ending when Richard Parker just walked into the jungle and Pi didn't get to say his good byes. I felt that they had formed such a strong relationship that their separation would've been a little more heart felt.

Many parts of the end of the book I enjoyed. Like when he describes this: The voice spoke of beef and brains and all sorts of food that Pi found to be repulsing. He assumes the voice is just RP but soons finds out it is a castaway, old man, seeking food. Pi begins questioning the voice if he had ever killed someone. Yes -- a man as well as a woman. The two join boats when suddenly the man comes aboard to kill and cannabalize Pi...but, of course, RP comes to the rescue and kills the man. Pi weeps and washes his eyes out with seawater...and he is no longer blind!

Pi's religious belief seemed to fade in this last part, not to say that it wasn't there, it was just mentioned less and less as it went on. Another observation I made was that the two interviewers were jerks. Pi just got off the Pacific Ocean after 227 days, and they just treated him like horribly.

Well the book is over and I know I learned a lot about the book, the author, and Pi. I really enjoyed it am now ready for the next book.

Life of Pi 3

Diving into the book, Im reading more and more of what I maybe like to read. Hopefully this will last throughout the whole entire book.

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, confusing. 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.

So Pi is still on the boat. Just doing whatever he can to survive. I don’t know how I would handle something like that. I don’t think I could deal with the monotony of it all, doing the same thing day after day after day. I would get extremely bored. But I guess when your life depends on it, and you are in the boat with a tiger, it’s hard to think about how boring it is. I thought it was interesting though how Martel shows Pi becoming more and more like an animal itself. He “marks his territory” and kills fish with his bare hands. Though, there are clear distinctions that show he is still human.

He still keeps up with his religions and prays and everything which is cool. It was sad though when he had to kill the fish for the first time after having been a vegetarian. I haven’t killed anything more than like a bug so I think that would be really difficult. I would probably be emotional too. But then after he kills it, he doesn’t really have a problem with killing things. He even drank turtle blood which I thought was kind of strange. I don’t think I could do that.

I don't think I connect with the character as much as I used to but I know I like the book more and more.

Life of Pi 2

As I continue on in Life of Pi, I continue enjoying it. His story is like no others and interesting to read and learn how he lives.

I love  the stories about the inner workings of the zoo and how Pi takes so much pride in explaining to those  that he cares about about the zoo. In the one scene when he shows Mr. Kumar and Mr. Kumar around the zoo, I found it interesting how Pi not only views the zoo as a place that he is familiar with, but it is a place he connects with and finds ways to show his piers.

Even though I liked the first part of this reading assignment, I am on the fence for the second part. As the animals and Pi are stuck on the lifeboat, the hyena becomes crazy and bites off the zebra's broken leg. Not only does the hyena so that, it then also removes the orangutan's head. This violence and brutality teaches Pi the lesson that the qualities a human or animal exhibit when unprovoked can vary extremely from those that same human or animal will show if encountered with.

Anyway, I like the book as a whole. I find it amazing how Pi relates everything to the zoo and how it plays a big roll in his life. Good book!

Life of Pi- 1

Starting out, reading the book, I figured it would be like all the books we read in highschool and in this class, just another one to get through. I read the first 10 chapters and realized this wasn't like the other books we have read. It holds a feeling that makes you want to keep reading. I haven't figured out if it is a good book or not yet, but from the first couple of chapters, I find it to have a different outlook than other books.

Now when I heard this was about a boy and a tiger...stuck on a boat....I found myself wondering how it would make for a good read and how in the heck could this happen. But it's fiction, who cares how.

Starting off, you read about Pi's background and his struggles. How his story differs from anyone elses, tremendously. One of the things I like most about the beginning was when he talked about the zoo and how he grew up there. Pi learned about freedom, nature habbits, and his own personal beliefs. I thought this was a really neat way for the author to develop the characters for us.

Some parts were confusing, although, because of the context and how the author puts it. It's hard to describe and hopefully I can find out how to describe it as I keep reading. I do like, how he uses the zoo to point out his life. How it is a place where animals say "stay out". He mentions that all the animals are content and can socialize with them. I like this part.

I know many other events will come in this book and I can't wait to read them. I enjoy reading fiction and hopefully this will go on my books to recommend list.

Color of Water 3

Towards ending the book, I couldn't decide if I liked it as a whole or not. I couldn't because I found the ending chapters to be somewhat repetitive and I quickly got disinterested. Don't get me wrong, I still enjoyed the first half of the book but I'm not so sure about the end. Well the book is done regardless. I found this book to be more interesting than other reads although many stories were similar.

One thing I truly liked about the whole book is that we see both the mother's story and the son's story from their points of view. We see how the mother had to transition from how she grew up and look at it in a different way of how her kids are growing up, given the circumstances. Through the son, we, well I, learned about a whole life that I didn't know much about. How he lived in a bad part of town, how he had a mother of different race, and how the made it day to day. This book makes me appreciate the life that I am blessed with even more than I already do.

As I mentioned before, I got bored towards the end. I got used to their stories and it just kept going on and on. I felt like they just kept going and not taking time to talk about other things. I only disliked towards the end, though, which is why I can't make a decision if I liked the book or not.

Well after fully thinking about it, I came to the conclusion that I did like the book. And I am glad I got to read it.