Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea

On page 43 out of 127

Note: Our versions of the book differ (Mine isn’t illustrated, Abby’s is), so the page numbers/number of pages will differ. It’s a real bummer, since I really like picture books. It’s also a bummer because my version of the book is ridiculously overpriced. Eh. Onto the review, post, commentary, analysis, whatchamacallit.

After analyzing several poems with complicated language and trying to figure out the not-so-straightforward ideas in them, the simplistic plot of Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea has been extremely refreshing. However, it took some getting used to. I found myself rereading sentences because they took actions and compressed them into such simple phrases I needed more time to visualize what had just happened. It starts off with an interesting plot, but it isn’t interesting enough. There’s a boy who’s always addressed as by “the boy”, and there’s an old man who’s always addressed as “the old man”. The first twenty pages are spent describing the relationship between the two and the poverty the old man faces and the old man’s unlucky fishing past, along with a very controlled conversation about baseball where the voices between the old man and the boy blend together because the dialogue isn’t characterized enough. The baseball conversation references to some players that I’ve never heard of and I doubt most of the people who read this book will understand because most readers of Hemingway aren’t exactly baseball fanatics, and even if they are the baseball conversation isn’t really relevant to anything. It also contains a bunch of dialogue that each of them seem to know is imaginary but that both of them seem unsure of, so the reader can’t be sure of it, and I haven’t found any part of it very helpful to the plot in any way. The second twenty pages are filled with descriptions of the old man going fishing and how he keeps following a bird to get the fish the bird seems to find. Then, he almost catches a dolphin. But he doesn’t. And he assumes that there’s a stray one around. It’s a little too optimistic for his bad luck streak he appears to have, and I can’t tell if it’s still part of his “imaginary” dialogue seeping into his personal thoughts.

My favorite part? When he sees a Portuguese man-of-war and uses the most description used in the entire 43 pages so far. And then…“‘Agua mala’, the man said. ‘You whore’”(Hemingway 35).

That’s right. He calls a jellyfish a whore. If there’s anything in the world I would’ve least expected, it was the combination of those two words. And there’s good reason to it, too. Hemingway goes on to explain by saying that the Portuguese man-of-war looks pretty, but stings hard, and then has the old man talk about how much he likes turtles because they eat the Portuguese man-of-war. In this, I find some probably unintended amusement, where first, we have jellyfish whores, and then, we have, by the symmetric property, whore-eating turtles.

However, the book quickly shuffles backward into its original state, except the old man finally catches something: An albacore tuna that he decides to use as bait, despite his poor living conditions, apparent bad luck streak, and the fact that the boy has already given him bait and appears to have the intent to continue doing so. However, the old man’s delight is very short-lived and confusing to me, since for some reason he has gone forty day’s without a fish, but right after catching a fish, tries to trace back to when he first started talking to himself. Then, he says something to himself about baseball, only to quickly tell himself not to think about baseball. Which makes me wonder: “What is the importance of baseball in a story about fishing? Did the random though of baseball even have to be mentioned?”

Unfortunately, our page division ends right in the middle of one of the seemingly important parts of the story where he is, so far, almost catching another big sea creature. Maybe, it’ll be one of his beloved sea-turtles. I’d be interested to see the inner conflict in him under that occurrence.

Elmore Leonard's "Rum Punch"

My Progress: I am currently on page 111

So to start off this blog discussion of "Rum Punch" I would like to first give a quick summary of the plot. "Rum Punch" is a story about gun smuggling taking place in Elmore Leonard's very own Florida. This book is said by the critics to contain much double crossing leading to a fast pace, thrill ride of a book. And obviously I could not just take the critics word for it, so I chose to bury my head in its pages instead.

The first thing I noticed when reading this book was Leonard's choice of language or lingo. He is writing a story about smugglers and gangsters so it is ideal that almost all of his quotes are written in a slang sort of dialect, but the most surprising part to me was that not only were the dialogue and thoughts of Leonard's characters written in slang, but so was everything else. Even when describing the setting Leonard seems to use slang terms and not create completely fluent or proper sentences. Although my writing may appear to be criticizing Leonard I actually think quite the opposite. Way to go Elmore Leonard, for stepping out of the confines of usual writing, and changing your style to enhance your book! I think that all this slang does is take the reader to that same place in Florida that Leonard is writing about, and make the reader become part of the story. It establishes a setting explaining that many of these characters may not have received very much education, placing them in the gangster lifestyle that they now live in, and this is how they talk.

The other thing I enjoy about this book is the fast pace exciting events. SPOILER ALERT! Although this is a spoiler feel free to read on because what I am about to tell you will not at all ruin the story. One of the most exciting things to happen so far was in the first 30 pages of this novel, one of the main characters already has double crossed another character, and lets just say that character #2 isn't feeling to good right now, as he lays in the trunk of a car with a some bullet holes strewn across his body. I wouldn't say that character #2 got the largest role in this story. Some of you might now be thinking that this is a horrible book, and it is horrible of me to promote gory killings. This, (the killing) however, is not what I am applauding Leonard for. I am thanking him for starting off his book with a "BANG" (both metaphorically and literally). I am one of those readers who enjoy exciting, page-turning books. In my opinion a book that is a fast read and provides suspense and excitement from page one, is a far better read than some "Classical" (to which I blow my nose at) book that leaves me with a poignant (and commonly melancholy) message at the end.

But what do you think? Do you enjoy classical reads that teach you something, or are you like me and enjoy fast-paced books and really do not honestly care about the soppy message at the end? Feel Free to let your voices be heard.... Or in other words COMMENT!!!

P.S. (Obviously that was a very biased question at the end and for that I apologize)

P.P.S. (Actually, do I apologize? Probably not, because everyone is entitled for his or her own opinion)

Anyways, thanks for reading. And come back next time to read my second impression on Elmore Leonard's "Rum Punch"

See You Soon!

Gary Gates

Go Ask Alice

The first 70 pages:

When I first picked up the book Go Ask Alice I expected it to be dark and horrific, personal and interesting. Most of my expectations have been met, though the novel proves to be less satisfying than I wanted it to be. Within the first 70 pages we journey into the narrator's life as she goes from a innocent and naive young girl to a distraught, somewhat lifeless young woman. Her stories are interesting and personal, though I do not favor the way the book is written. I feel as though a lot of important information is lost between the diary entries. For example, it seems as though in an instant, she was hooked on drugs. As a reader, I fell as though the "man vs. self" struggle to remain clean was not present. The novel may seem more personal written as diary entries, but I believe it could still posses personal touch in addition to being more interesting if it were written like a normal novel with "connecting sentences" in between dialogue to further elaborate on her situation. Furthermore, I noticed that since the narrator began using drugs, her voice and vocabulary have changed as well. In the opening pages, she seemed happy and cheerful, using words like, "beautiful and exciting" to describe her life. As the book goes on and her addiction becomes worse, the narrator turns to curse words to describe her new and secret life. As seen in the first 70 pages, drugs, on and off of them make life lonely and miserable for those who dare to try them once more.

The Secret Life of Bees

Though just only starting to read The Secret Life of Bees, by Sue Monk Kidd, it is so far one of the most captivating books I have read in a while. It all starts out in the year 1964 in Lily’s bedroom. 14 year old Lily is waiting for the colony of bees that have begun to live in the walls of her room to return. Lily, who lives alone with her father and nanny, Rosaleen, then thinks about her father, T. Ray. T. Ray is an abusive father who she believes does not deserve the title of daddy, so she calls him T. Ray. He is the type of father who is strict, uses cruel punishments, and does not show love or compassion to his kids. Next Lily switches over to talking about her mother who dies when Lily is only four. Lily describes her mother as smelling of cinnamon and the one who took care of her with genuine love. Because Lily was so young when her mother dies, the only memory she has of her was on the day of her death. Lily’s mom was packing up, putting her belongings in a suitcase, when T. Ray walks in. They begin to yell at each other and Lily’s mom pulls out a gun. Next thing Lily remembers is seeing the gun on the ground and picking it up. When she is older, people tell her that she was the one who pulled the trigger, the one who killed her mom, but it was all an accident.
Though sad to say, this is all I have read in the book due to the long, stressful process of moving into our family’s new house.

When analyzing this novel I keep looking back at one comment Lily remembers her mom saying the day she dies. “The closet floor vibrated whenever someone climbed the stairs below it, which is how I knew T. Ray was coming. Over my head I heard my mother, pulling things from the hangers, the swish of clothes, wire cling together. Hurry, she said” (6.) Why was Lilly’s mother leaving and why did she want to get away before T. Ray came? All of this is a mystery to me, but I made some assumptions. Maybe T. Ray was abusive to Lilly’s mother; maybe she was trying to leave with Lily to a safer place away from T. Ray. There was also one more subject Lilly described that I couldn’t help but wonder about. When T. Ray is woken up by Lilly wanting him to see the swarm of bees, T. Ray says, “’You wake me up again, Lily, and I’ll get out the Martha Whites, you hear me?’ Martha Whites were a form of punishment only T. Ray could have dreamed up. I shut my mouth instantly” (5.) I know harsh punishments and beatings were considered normal back in older times, but when saying only T. Ray could have thought up something as the Martha Whites, I can’t help wondering if T. Ray was too cruel on his child, and if that tied into Lily’s mom trying to leave him. I also can’t help wondering what the Martha Whites punishments were!

Reading this book, I’m glad my group members and I chose it. The Secret Life of Bees is a suspenseful, unique novel that I can’t wait to read more about. Though just starting it, I highly recommend for you to pick up a copy of this novel and read it!

The Bermudez Triangle

Keely Corrigan
Novel by Maureen Johnson
[Pages: 81/370]

Let's be honest: I am reading a chick flick. I will try to dignify that label by stressing the complexity of the situations within the novel-and the controversial and current topic that drives the... drama.

I would also like to say-upfront and honestly- that this novel is a controversy. It has been banned in some areas as it deals with sexuality- specifically the ever potent homosexuality. This novel is risky, but something I am willing to gamble with.

At first, I found the friendship trio that is the skeleton of the novel to be cliche. Nina, Avery, and Mel have been best friends since they had the emotional and physical capacity to make friends blah blah blah. A first glance left me thinking of the trio as overused, unoriginal and frankly boring; but when an affair between two of the three girls begins to unfold behind the other girl's back this story becomes utterly delicious. This plot has me caught in its web, I am thirsty for more.

Though the characters can be stereotypical (one is a driven, bossy, 'leader'; another is a free-spirit who refuses to let anyone or anything control her; the last being a classically and spellbindingly beautiful red head who instills blistering crushes unto any boy she meets) the author is able to create depth through the actions of the characters. The author has allowed the characters to develop their own depth rather than establish them as being profound. (A porfound chick flick, imagine that!) This is highly appreciated. A story is much more interesting with dynamic characters than with static ones, obviously. Johnson also gives the third girl a love interest, this seems both fair and logical. Not only does this third party add spice to the novel, it creates an better balance to the overall dynamic between the girls. The fact that the love interest is a tree hugging, bicycle riding, Birkenstock adorning stud from Oregon doesn't hurt either. To add even more spice the author created this relationship only to doom it to a 'long-distance-trying-to-make-it-work' sort.

My only complaint towards the novel would be the utter disregard for reality when dealing with homosexuality with her characters. By page 50 or so- and only one homosexual encounter- Johnson has already had one of her characters stamp a large, bold, red LESBIAN across her forehead. Really? Can someone truly define their sexuality after only one actual sexual/romantic encounter? This to me seems dreadfully unrealistic and disappointing. I feel that the author disregards that difficult realization as nothing more than a 'I-think-I'll-dye-my-hair-blue' decision.

I look forward to reading further and witnessing the drama unfurl between the girls.

"The Testament"- By John Grisham

Robert Xu, Honors English A1 Progression: Page 250

I originally wanted to be a part of Gary Gates's Grisham Group(ha-ha), but that fell-through due to the decision to read The Chamber, a book I had already read.

I was thrilled when I discovered online that there was a novel by John Grisham that I hadn't torn through yet. I immediately rushed to the library and claimed my book for the independent reading project. The Testament begins with billionaire Troy Phelan pondering about the division of his life earnings in his will. He comes to the conclusion that even 11 billion dollars in collective assets would not last very long in the hands of his deficit-spending children. This led him to the event that set the platform for the rest of the plot, he left all his money to an illegitimate child working as a missionary in Brazil. Troy Phelan's former right-hand man sent out Nate, a washed up corporate lawyer straight out of rehab to locate the missionary.

First off, I respect John Grisham for trying to move out of his comfort-zone of courtroom-dramas and small-town life in the cotton strip. The story flipped between the hunt for the missionary in the jungles of Brazil, and the catastrophic effect of Mr. Phelan's monumental will back in civilized society. What I personally disliked about The Testament was that it did not focus enough on the latter. While I love when authors try to move out of their comfort-zones, at the end of the day the reason that people buy John Grisham's books are his court-room dramas and vivid descriptions of small town life.

John Grisham had spent too much time writing about Nate's experiences in a developing country, that the novel lost its focus. I personally felt that he should have sticked to developing and centralizing his plot around the mess created by 11 billion dollars in contemporary society. To be fair, he did attempt to equally ration the amount of pages between the two plots, but I found myself debating whether to skip all the pages narrating Nate's day-to-day experiences with Native Americans and the Brazilian culture.

Don't get me wrong, I'm sure there is a large audience of people that love reading about different cultures, and lewis-and-clark big out-door adventures, but I'm not one of those people. I dislike having to reiterate this, but obviously long-term fans of John Grisham do not continue to purchase his books for his vivid descriptions of the jungle, but rather the vivid descriptions of the courthouse. On a purely literary level, Nate's experience traveling through Brazil was quite painful to read through. The dialogue, or at least lack of meaningful dialogue made Nate's adventure so far, excruciatingly tedious to read through. The book was very uneventful, and after the novel shifted gears into Nate's Brazilian expedition, I found myself more and more reluctant to sit down and continue reading the novel.

I might have sounded critical of John Grisham's novel in this post, but I will give credit where it is due. There are a few parts of the novel where you feel like resting your eyes for a few minutes, perhaps a few hours, but the court-room drama aspect, like always is impeccable. All and all I'm only on the 250th page of The Testament, and I sincerely hope John Grisham brings more of the writing style that fans have come to know and love.

The Glass Castle

To not have a legitimate home, to be raised on the move for the formative beginning of one's life, sounds utterly chaotic. To be constantly settling down in a town, then moving to the next, leaving behind friends and possessions, would be crazy enough to rattle anyone's idea of normal life. Furthermore, a three year old living this way? Yet, as author Jeannette Walls describes her childhood, I find certain aspects to be quite preferable to suburbia.

The novel begins with a story that seems to be set in the present. The very first line of the book is so saturated with irony, and it sets up the story perfectly; "I was sitting in a taxi, wondering of I had overdressed for the evening, when I looked out the window and saw Mom rooting through a Dumpster" (3). As the author worries she is too elegant, her own mother is wearing rags. Walls is well-to-do, and she doesn't want to be associated with the homeless woman on the street. She turns her head to avoid her mother's gaze.

After the bold introduction, the tense switches to the past. Jeannette Walls is three years old, unattended, cooking hot dogs over the stove, and she catches on fire. After a three week long stay at the hospital, her father comes, picks her up, and essentially "Dines n' Dashes" from the hospital. In this manner we are introduced to the authors father, Rex Walls, who plays possibly the largest role in her life. I have to work hard to limit what I write about to the first fifty pages, and keep myself from raving too much about the rest of the book (I'm almost to page 300).

I can see two possible ways to read and enjoy this book. The first: reading the novel like a story. If one were to keep a closed mind, they would be shocked by how different this family is. "A father who encourages his children to play with fire?! That's crazy!" This person would really enjoy the book, as the lifestyle of the Walls's is indeed very different. But the literary route I have chosen requires more depth of thought. I want to focus on the way this family thinks, and how the children are effected by living the nomadic life they were born into. In the first fifty pages alone, I can name five major life lessons learned by the author (by the age of three) that many people never learn.

I love this book. It will definitely be on my list to re-read whenever I am between books. The anecdotes are hilarious, and the matter-of-fact way that Walls writes makes them even better. I feel like I am reading the diary of an oddly literate three year old, because the author somehow remembers so many details of her childhood and how she felt at the time. The middle of the book grows less humorous, but the beginning just emulates the care-free way that she and her family lived, going wherever the wind blew them, then cutting ties and moving again. It is a seriously intriguing prospect.