https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwwbhhjQ9Xk
So I watched the trailer for The Maze Runner on TV and on the above youtube video and the maze and it's components are not what I imagined after reading the book. I am pretty sure the box Tom came up in was completely dark and the walls in the maze were thick with vines. In the TV trailer you get your first look of the Grievers, but again my imagination and the movie producer's imagination saw things a little differently. I am sure it is going to be a good movie, but I will have to reimagine the Glade, the Maze and the Grievers.
Thursday, September 11, 2014
Sunday, September 7, 2014
Kite Runner
KITE RUNNER by Khaled Hosseini, my copy was printed by Riverhead Books at the Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 2005. Copyright 2003.
I went into this book with an open attitude, I thought. But as I read and realized the time line and what is going on in that country today I had to readjust my thoughts. My heart wanted this to be set in an ancient timeline with everything in the end super rosy, but even in todays paper we see groups calling the Shites mules. The book is set in Afghanistan in a period of time fraught with tension, Russian takeover, Taliban takeover and none of them in anyway bringing light and helpfulness to the region.
This books shows that like the US, their are divisions of cultures. Even when we worship the same God. This book helped me see the divisions and the blindness that comes in the culture. I am not trying to be mean. Clearly our central character loved his Hazari, but not when he felt his father paid more attention to the Hazari then he did to himself. He clearly felt some animosity towards his friend. The underlying current that the Shi'a are just animals who are not smart, that they only can be the servants of the Sunni. Where have I seen that in American history?
So politics aside. I finished this book fairly quickly. I could not put it down. I wanted Amir to stand up for his friend. I wanted Baba to accept Amir, for who he was. If those things happened the story would maybe change. I felt the story line was built really well. This book made me have sympathy, empathy and just made me mad at the characters. The thing is that these are fictional characters, but these are things that really happen in Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran and the mid-east. On group constantly fighting another all because of how they are perceived.
The concept of eye for an eye is also played out in the book. In the beginning with Amir and Hassan against Assef, Wali and Kamal after the Assef vows to get them back. Then in the assault and the paybacks. It made me want to go after Assef myself. I was also very upset with Amir on many levels throughout the book. Even when he was trying to do good, he makes a mess of things.
I was told it was a good book and it is. It made me think, made me feel many emotions and made me want to understand that bit of country just a little bit more. Like the Irish in the 1840's there is a migration to the United States to escape tyranny, this is still happening in Mexico with people coming to the States. Do we really represent freedom? People who come here do not always find that, as in this book Amir and Baba come here to live a life not of wealth but poverty. I think we are misrepresented as a land of plenty, it is only a land of plenty if there are not as many people. Too many people without jobs causes a land of emptiness not plenty.
Okay I am going to stop rambling. As I said before this book made me think. Now I get to think some more as I start MIDNIGHT'S CHILDREN by Salman Rushdi.
I went into this book with an open attitude, I thought. But as I read and realized the time line and what is going on in that country today I had to readjust my thoughts. My heart wanted this to be set in an ancient timeline with everything in the end super rosy, but even in todays paper we see groups calling the Shites mules. The book is set in Afghanistan in a period of time fraught with tension, Russian takeover, Taliban takeover and none of them in anyway bringing light and helpfulness to the region.
This books shows that like the US, their are divisions of cultures. Even when we worship the same God. This book helped me see the divisions and the blindness that comes in the culture. I am not trying to be mean. Clearly our central character loved his Hazari, but not when he felt his father paid more attention to the Hazari then he did to himself. He clearly felt some animosity towards his friend. The underlying current that the Shi'a are just animals who are not smart, that they only can be the servants of the Sunni. Where have I seen that in American history?
So politics aside. I finished this book fairly quickly. I could not put it down. I wanted Amir to stand up for his friend. I wanted Baba to accept Amir, for who he was. If those things happened the story would maybe change. I felt the story line was built really well. This book made me have sympathy, empathy and just made me mad at the characters. The thing is that these are fictional characters, but these are things that really happen in Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran and the mid-east. On group constantly fighting another all because of how they are perceived.
The concept of eye for an eye is also played out in the book. In the beginning with Amir and Hassan against Assef, Wali and Kamal after the Assef vows to get them back. Then in the assault and the paybacks. It made me want to go after Assef myself. I was also very upset with Amir on many levels throughout the book. Even when he was trying to do good, he makes a mess of things.
I was told it was a good book and it is. It made me think, made me feel many emotions and made me want to understand that bit of country just a little bit more. Like the Irish in the 1840's there is a migration to the United States to escape tyranny, this is still happening in Mexico with people coming to the States. Do we really represent freedom? People who come here do not always find that, as in this book Amir and Baba come here to live a life not of wealth but poverty. I think we are misrepresented as a land of plenty, it is only a land of plenty if there are not as many people. Too many people without jobs causes a land of emptiness not plenty.
Okay I am going to stop rambling. As I said before this book made me think. Now I get to think some more as I start MIDNIGHT'S CHILDREN by Salman Rushdi.
Wednesday, September 3, 2014
THE MAZE RUNNER- finished
THE MAZE RUNNER by James Dashner is the first book in a four book series. It was published in 2009 by Delacorte Press, an imprint of Random House Children's Books, a division of Random House, Inc.
What happens when you wake up in a dark box with no memories of how you got there or who you are, except you have the name Thomas? Well, you get scared, confused and really terrified when you see faces and hear voices coming from above you. You are pulled out, no one answers your questions and you eventually find that you are in a maze.
There are monsters, moving walls, antagonists and people who befriend you. What do you do with your day? Try to find the end of the maze so you can escape from the area called the Glade and get back to your previous lives, if only you could remember what they were.
I thought the book started off a little disjointed but then we were getting Thomas's reaction to his new surroundings. The Glade is the safe zone at night, to stay away from the Grievers, monster creations of blubber, metal spikes and clanking noises, that will rip you apart or sting you so that you go through a Changing. The only protection from death is a serum to keep you from changing.
The book picks up pace and draws you in so that you want to find out what happens next. It is a science fiction book made for teens. It was a pretty fast read, it took about 2 days or about 8 hours max to finish. Some of the scenes still feel a little far fetched, but it is coming out in the movies, so I will see how it plays on the big screen. It ends in a cliff hanger, so I guess I am somewhat hooked, but will not read the rest until I have finished all the other books that I am reading.
What happens when you wake up in a dark box with no memories of how you got there or who you are, except you have the name Thomas? Well, you get scared, confused and really terrified when you see faces and hear voices coming from above you. You are pulled out, no one answers your questions and you eventually find that you are in a maze.
There are monsters, moving walls, antagonists and people who befriend you. What do you do with your day? Try to find the end of the maze so you can escape from the area called the Glade and get back to your previous lives, if only you could remember what they were.
I thought the book started off a little disjointed but then we were getting Thomas's reaction to his new surroundings. The Glade is the safe zone at night, to stay away from the Grievers, monster creations of blubber, metal spikes and clanking noises, that will rip you apart or sting you so that you go through a Changing. The only protection from death is a serum to keep you from changing.
The book picks up pace and draws you in so that you want to find out what happens next. It is a science fiction book made for teens. It was a pretty fast read, it took about 2 days or about 8 hours max to finish. Some of the scenes still feel a little far fetched, but it is coming out in the movies, so I will see how it plays on the big screen. It ends in a cliff hanger, so I guess I am somewhat hooked, but will not read the rest until I have finished all the other books that I am reading.
Saturday, August 30, 2014
3 books up for review
Okay, so now that I have finished the books that took me a month to read, I will begin anew with the next 3 books, plus the book club pick, so that is 4 books total that I promise will be read by the end of the month. This is the list:
Yes I figured out how to get the picture of the books. MIDNIGHT'S CHILDREN and KITE RUNNER are part of the 100 books challenge. THE MAZE RUNNER is part of the 16 before they come out as a movie. That means I have to read that book by Sept. 19. My book club book is called BEFORE I WAKE by Robert J Wiersema, which is still sitting at the library. I thought it would be fun to read THE MAZE RUNNER and THE KITE RUNNER at the same time. I am not sure if any of these books are uplifting, but I guess that is why we read. Not everything is going to be puppy dogs and rainbows, because if it was, wouldn't we be bored?
Yes I figured out how to get the picture of the books. MIDNIGHT'S CHILDREN and KITE RUNNER are part of the 100 books challenge. THE MAZE RUNNER is part of the 16 before they come out as a movie. That means I have to read that book by Sept. 19. My book club book is called BEFORE I WAKE by Robert J Wiersema, which is still sitting at the library. I thought it would be fun to read THE MAZE RUNNER and THE KITE RUNNER at the same time. I am not sure if any of these books are uplifting, but I guess that is why we read. Not everything is going to be puppy dogs and rainbows, because if it was, wouldn't we be bored?
Tuesday, August 26, 2014
The Hundred-Foot Journey, finis
I have been reading books that start off strong in the beginning and then start to fade. I am worried, because I need to see how to write to get maximum effect. It guess I have been reading books where the main character continues on in life so we are abruptly left short of his life. This book would not have a sequel, I think, but you want it to continue. The imagery is lovely and the history brought into the book is equally satisfying. I could even smell what was coming out of the kitchens.
Richard C. Morais did a wonderful job at depicting the characters, but I am not sure the people that they have in the movie fit the characters. I have not seen the movie, so I am not sure I can accurately make this statement. They may bring the characters to life, I will just have to go and see. I am glad that he got to honor his friend Ismail Merchant with an actual movie.
It is a read where you do not need to rack your brain and try to figure out the talk of the time, or too many foreign language quotes, though it take place in France. Once I was able to sit down and read, it only took me a couple of days to finish the book. I definitely wanted both French and Indian cuisine when I finished reading. I had heard that chefs do not have lots of time, once they open their restaurants and that is evident in the fact that only death seems to bring Hassan back home. Fortunately he has his sister with him, but at the end you realize that the rest of his sister and brothers are scattered to the winds, so I guess there is no going back. But what will happen with him and Margaret?
My copy of the book has the movie characters on front, but the original copyright is 2008. My copy is the 2014 version from Scribner, a division of Simon and Schuster, Inc.
Richard C. Morais did a wonderful job at depicting the characters, but I am not sure the people that they have in the movie fit the characters. I have not seen the movie, so I am not sure I can accurately make this statement. They may bring the characters to life, I will just have to go and see. I am glad that he got to honor his friend Ismail Merchant with an actual movie.
It is a read where you do not need to rack your brain and try to figure out the talk of the time, or too many foreign language quotes, though it take place in France. Once I was able to sit down and read, it only took me a couple of days to finish the book. I definitely wanted both French and Indian cuisine when I finished reading. I had heard that chefs do not have lots of time, once they open their restaurants and that is evident in the fact that only death seems to bring Hassan back home. Fortunately he has his sister with him, but at the end you realize that the rest of his sister and brothers are scattered to the winds, so I guess there is no going back. But what will happen with him and Margaret?
My copy of the book has the movie characters on front, but the original copyright is 2008. My copy is the 2014 version from Scribner, a division of Simon and Schuster, Inc.
Friday, August 22, 2014
THE WAY OF ALL FLESH-Finis
I have finally finished THE WAY OF ALL FLESH by Samuel Butler, I was not happy with the ending but I guess if a man has not completed his life and you are no longer around to write about it then you do not get a satisfactory ending. It seemed that the front of the book was so filled with detail, but as we got to the closing it seemed rushed. All events wrapped up in one or two pages.
The characters in the book were based on the acquaintances of Samuel Butler. In fact, I am pretty sure the narrator is Mr. Butler, expressing himself about his life events in the form of fiction. Throughout the book are pictures from Mr. Butlers life, that coincide with the events in the book. For example in my copy, from the New York Dodd, Mead & Company, Inc. published in 1957, there is a picture opposite page 242, that shows Samuel Butler with his friend Henry Festing Jones, who later wrote his biography. He gave him 200 Lbs per year to be his companion. In the story, to help Mr. Pontifex, his godfather who has been left the executor of Miss Althea Pontifex trust for Ernest, hires him to look after his books for a similar amount, they become good friends. Our narrator is tasked with the writing of Ernest's biography.
I do not agree with the parenting techniques of Ernest's parents Christina and Theobald, but it made Ernest a richer man once he broke with them. It is hard to imagine why they became parents, except that it was expected. Theobald certainly did not like being a father to any of his children, though he pretended very well in front of his congregation. Christina seemed to care but only to the point that she got them to tell their secrets so she could share them with her husband, who then punished them.
But I liked the booked, wished it ended differently. This book was heavy in its critique of class differences, religion and politics. I believe that Samuel Butler was a freethinker and the people who come off the sincerest are the freethinkers. Everyone else is bottled up in what they think the current religion should be and how they are better for being in that religion. I am a Methodist, so it was fun to read about Wesley and the Methodist family that lived up above Ernest. He liked them so much that he thought maybe I should be a Methodist. They religions were divided in to high and low religions, with Methodism being considered low, Church of England and the Catholics considered high.
I loved the history portrayed and the characters were well developed, but I was not sure I liked the timing of the book. Sometimes it read a little haphazard to me. I also was not a fan of the Latin phrases strewn throughout the book that I had to figure out. I wanted them explained, I had to find my husbands Latin book to figure out some of the context.
I will be finishing my next book by the end of the weekend, with a post Sunday.
The characters in the book were based on the acquaintances of Samuel Butler. In fact, I am pretty sure the narrator is Mr. Butler, expressing himself about his life events in the form of fiction. Throughout the book are pictures from Mr. Butlers life, that coincide with the events in the book. For example in my copy, from the New York Dodd, Mead & Company, Inc. published in 1957, there is a picture opposite page 242, that shows Samuel Butler with his friend Henry Festing Jones, who later wrote his biography. He gave him 200 Lbs per year to be his companion. In the story, to help Mr. Pontifex, his godfather who has been left the executor of Miss Althea Pontifex trust for Ernest, hires him to look after his books for a similar amount, they become good friends. Our narrator is tasked with the writing of Ernest's biography.
I do not agree with the parenting techniques of Ernest's parents Christina and Theobald, but it made Ernest a richer man once he broke with them. It is hard to imagine why they became parents, except that it was expected. Theobald certainly did not like being a father to any of his children, though he pretended very well in front of his congregation. Christina seemed to care but only to the point that she got them to tell their secrets so she could share them with her husband, who then punished them.
But I liked the booked, wished it ended differently. This book was heavy in its critique of class differences, religion and politics. I believe that Samuel Butler was a freethinker and the people who come off the sincerest are the freethinkers. Everyone else is bottled up in what they think the current religion should be and how they are better for being in that religion. I am a Methodist, so it was fun to read about Wesley and the Methodist family that lived up above Ernest. He liked them so much that he thought maybe I should be a Methodist. They religions were divided in to high and low religions, with Methodism being considered low, Church of England and the Catholics considered high.
I loved the history portrayed and the characters were well developed, but I was not sure I liked the timing of the book. Sometimes it read a little haphazard to me. I also was not a fan of the Latin phrases strewn throughout the book that I had to figure out. I wanted them explained, I had to find my husbands Latin book to figure out some of the context.
I will be finishing my next book by the end of the weekend, with a post Sunday.
Sunday, August 17, 2014
Unending
Did you ever have one of those books that you enjoyed reading, but wanted to get to the end? Well that is the book I am reading right now. It is the book by Samuel Butler, THE WAY OF ALL FLESH. I keep thinking surely this is the end, but it keeps going. I know I should be able to see the pages and know it is still not ended, but I look and the book just looks like it got bigger. Of course, it could also be my eyes are just numb from the small print. Anyway, in the midst of this book, I realized that I had not read my book club book, so I put this book aside to read that book. I will describe that book below. I have to say that both books deal with some pretty bad parenting techniques, but that is about as close as they come. I am also about half-way through THE HUNDRED-FOOT JOURNEY, but should be finished it by Sunday.
What book did I read for book club? LIFE ON THE COLOR LINE, The True Story of a White Boy Who Discovered He Was Black, by Gregory Howard Williams. Truly a fascinating book about Gregory Howard Williams life. I was cannot imagine how hard this had to have been for him and his brother. I wanted to shake not only his mother, but her parents and relatives. The father was no better, but at least he was there, even if it was on the other side of a bottle. The time the 50's and 60's, the problem as the title suggests, what do you do if you look white but are considered black because of an interracial marriage?
This made me think of the time my study buddy and I were in my dorm room, door open, and another boy who was just a little stalkish came by and made a big deal of a black man in my room, that was 1978. Needless to say I shut the door in his face and told him to leave me alone. Then we got back to studying. The problem was it put a wedge between me and my friend, because everyone seemed to think this was a bad idea. Since we were not in the same class next semester, I did not hang out with him. I found him in classmates and he has a lovely family, but I wish I had handled things differently. It may have been seen as an attempt not to draw notice to myself, instead of my attempt to tell someone that they were an idiot.
What book did I read for book club? LIFE ON THE COLOR LINE, The True Story of a White Boy Who Discovered He Was Black, by Gregory Howard Williams. Truly a fascinating book about Gregory Howard Williams life. I was cannot imagine how hard this had to have been for him and his brother. I wanted to shake not only his mother, but her parents and relatives. The father was no better, but at least he was there, even if it was on the other side of a bottle. The time the 50's and 60's, the problem as the title suggests, what do you do if you look white but are considered black because of an interracial marriage?
This made me think of the time my study buddy and I were in my dorm room, door open, and another boy who was just a little stalkish came by and made a big deal of a black man in my room, that was 1978. Needless to say I shut the door in his face and told him to leave me alone. Then we got back to studying. The problem was it put a wedge between me and my friend, because everyone seemed to think this was a bad idea. Since we were not in the same class next semester, I did not hang out with him. I found him in classmates and he has a lovely family, but I wish I had handled things differently. It may have been seen as an attempt not to draw notice to myself, instead of my attempt to tell someone that they were an idiot.
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