Life of Pi: part one

Let me first begin by saying that I am rather dissapointed in this book.  I was hoping that our last book to read would be good and an easy read.  Boy was I wrong!  Although it will make more sense as I read more, the first part of this book was very confusing and hard to follow.  I slacked on the reading of this book(like most books we read) mainly because I couldn't gain interest in what was happening.  However, when we went over the religions stuff in class I understood that much better.  One thing that confused me though was that Pi said he wasn't any of the three religions--Hindu, Christian, or Muslim-- but that he was all three.  Now in my mind I honestly do not see how this could work.  It also came as no surprise to me that Pi later majored in religion.  I just cannot grasp the concept of practicing three very different religions all at the same time.  One thing that really interested me was the sloths.  Learning about the sloths habits and lifestyle was rather intriguing.  The fact that sloths use there slow pace to elude predators is completely contradictory to what I have always imagined as a way to prevent yourself from being preyed upon.  This book has some interesting things but I hope the second part is much easier to read and understand.

The Color of Water

The second section of The Color of Water was better than the first section.  I actually enjoyed this section more than I enjoyed the first section.  I was kind of  confused on some parts of this book.  The part about her being a prostitute was very vague to me.  Maybe I just didn't understand it, but I didn't think that she was a prostitute.  I thought that she and Rocky were just liking each other and were about to start dating.  Also, why did James all of a sudden change from the ways of a thug to being a good child?  Another thing that was confusing about the book was why did she keep pushing her children away?  Did she just want a better life for them than she had?  Those are both good questions I had but wasn't sure about.  Also, why did Chicken Man just stand there and let that man beat his girlfriend or wife?  I realize that the soon got back together but still it was not right what he did and he should have been stopped.  Also why didn't James' mother just defy her father and graduate?  I know that it was against the Jewish religion but her future was basically on the line.  Another thing I found to be weird was when her mother knew she was pregnant but choose not to talk to her about it.  If she knew her daughter was pregnant she should have helped her to get the proper medical attention instead of just ignoring the fact?  This book has been good so far and I think I will enjoy reading the rest of the book. 

The Color Of Water

Well I misjudged this book to begin with.  When Mrs. Leffler told what it was about I automatically decided I wouldnt like it.  I had come to the conclusion because I disagree with interracial marriage and the mother in this book is married to a black man. When I began reading the book I got very interested.  I thought James mother was a very brave woman for just walking around in the black neighborhoods and not being bothered cause she is different.  Also I didnt understand the fact that James' stepdad lived somewhere else and not with is wife.  Anothere thiing is why didn't James mother tell somebody that Tateh had sexually molested her earlier in life? Or did she?  This book has turned out to be alot more interesting thant I had planned on it being.  I cant wait to continue reading.

F451: Burning Bright

Burning Bright is by far the most interesting section of Fahrenheit 451.  I enjoyed the action of this section.  Montag burning Beattey really got me interested.  The alerts over the radio also made me want to keep reading and see what was going to happen.  I think Montag had to do what he did to save himself.  One thing I wondered about was if the men Montag came upon when he washed ashore were the same men Faber had told him about?  I thought it was weird that the men he came upon had all memorized sections of books, why? This book turned out good in the end and was much better than I had expected.

F451:The Seive and The Sand

I liked this section much better than the first part of the book.  I didn't understand why if Montag was so curious about books why he didn't just quit working as a fireman.  Also I didn't quite understand the whole situation with Faber. Why was he scared when Montag called him? Also why did Montag's wife freak out so much about him having books? I realize it put the life in danger but if she didn't like it couldn't she have told on him? What does Montag filling up a sieve with sand have to do with anything other than the title for this section of the book?? Another confusing thing was "Denham's Dentrifice".  What is a dentrifice and why does it keep repeating it? The book was more interesting in this section and I understood it more.  Although I was sad to hear that Clarisse actually died.  Other than that I liked this section of the book.

Fahrenheit 451: The Hearth and the Salamander

Well I orginally thought this book would be boring and that I wouldn't like it but as I began reading my opinion changed.  The main character Guy Montag is a ''firefighter".  I find the term firefighter to be used loosely here because instead of putting out the fires he starts them.  I didn't completely understand the whole point of burning the books at first but as I continued reading I began to understand.  The reason for the burning of the books was because reading was banned.  The removing of books is sort of like the society we live in today.  Although books are allowed and are still being made most people have resorted to the Internet as a means of learning.  This first part reminds me of our world today except we choose not to read books and they people in Guy's town were forbidden to read.

Dreaded Essay

   Well now I have come to the point where I am supposed to write my essay.  I have put this off to the last minute and now I have to get in gear.  Although I don't enjoy books of this sort I must say it was rather interesting.  So here goes my essay.


  Stephen King is an amazing writer who has strong beliefs on what makes a good writer.  King believes that a good writer is one who writes a lot.  Every since King was a young boy he has been writing and publishing books.  Although everything he writes is not always published he still pushes on and builds off of his mistakes.  He does so because of his theory of good writing.
  As a boy King would read and copy comic books.  One story King copied he showed to his mother.  She asked if he copied and and he admitted that he had.  She told him that he should write his own original story and that it would be better than the Combat Casey story he had copied.  King was thrilled.  " I remember an immense feeling of possibility at the idea as if I had been ushered into a vast building filled with closed doors and had been given leave to open any I liked." (King 15)  His mother provided him with a sense of excitement and desire to write and with that his writing career began.  Once he was finished with his story he once more showed it to his mother.  After reading what he had written she told him it was good enough to be in a book.  This encouragement sparked King's passion even more.  "Nothing anyone has said to me since has made me feel any happier.  I wrote four more stories about Mr. Rabbit Trick and his friends." (King 16)  The writing of the 5 stories about Mr. Rabbit Trick and his friends is an example of how King lives out his theory of being a good writer even as a young boy.  In 1960 with the introduction of the short lived magazine Spacemen King got his first rejection of a story.  This was King's first story to ever be submitted for publication.  He submitted the story to Forry; to the editor of Spacemen magazine, and received his letter of rejection but did not get his story back.  "My story was rejected, but Forry kept it(Forry keeps everything, which anyone who has ever toured his house- the Ackermansion- will tell you.)  About twenty years later, while I was signing autographs at a Los Angeles bookstore, Forry turned up in line...with my story, single-spaced and typed with the long-vanished Royal typewriter my mom gave me for Christmas the year I was eleven."( King 23)  This quote about his first rejection also helps to support his theory in a way because the man who rejected him came back for an autograph many years later.  If King hadn't kept writing and pursuing the dream of becoming a good writer then he most likely would have never seen or heard from Forry again.  After Forry rejected King's story he kept writing making proof of his point that to become a good writer one must write a lot. 
   As time went on King wrote more stories.  Some had even got published.  One story that really was special was Happy Stamps.  Although Happy Stamps was rejected it gave King an idea.  "When I got the rejection slip from AHMM, I pounded a nail into the wall above the Webcor, wrote "Happy Stamps" on the rejection slip, and poked it onto the nail."(King 28-29)  This quote is very important in the foreshadowing of his writing career.  He makes it clear that he is going to put the rejection slips on the wall to remind him of mistakes and to work towards getting better.  As an example of how he makes decisions to stick to his theory I have chosen the following passage from the book.  "By the time I was fourteen(and shaving twice a week whether I needed to or not) the nail in my wall would no longer support the weight of the rejection slips impaled on it.  I replaced the nail with a spike and went on writing.  By the time I was sixteen I'd begun to get rejection slips with handwritten notes a little more encouraging than the advice to stop using staples and start using paperclips."  (King 29)  This passage supports his theory clearly by recalling how he replaced the nail with a spike and kept on writing.  One piece of advice that King recalls is one that tells him he has talent and to submit again.  And so he did.  Ten years later King revised and resubmitted the story to the same magazine and at that  time they bought it.  King became an alcoholic and a drug addict but continued to write through it all.  "By 1985 I had added drug addiction to my alcohol problem, yet I continued to function, as a good many substance abusers do, on a marginally competent level." (King 89) " I was wiping my ass with poison ivy again, this time on a daily basis, but I couldn't ask for help." (King 89)  "Silence isn't what that part is about.  It began to scream for help the only way it knew how, through my fiction and through my monsters. In late 1985 and early 1986 I wrote Misery (the title quite aptly described my state of mind), in which a writer is help prisoner and tortured by a psychotic nurse." (King 89-90) These three quotes from On Writing are life occurrences that King faced and still managed to still write.  Another time King proves his theory is in the spring and summer of 1986.  "In the spring and summer of 1986 I wrote The Tommyknockers
  Throughout King's many highs and lows in life he still managed to make time to write.  If King hadn't devoted himself and his time to his writing and perfecting his work then he may not have become the writer he is today.  Many people can state King's theory and try to make people try to become a good writer but there attempts will be useless unless they have a real life account such as King's.  All through school my teachers have been trying to instill the purpose of writing constantly but now that I have read On Writing I understand much better.  The use of real life situations demonstrate King's dedication to his work and have influenced me to work harder and write more so I can be successful.