Book 1
Title: Flight
Author: Sherman Alexie
# Of Pages: 180
Year Published: 2007
Rating: Five out of Five stars: A
In a world full of war and injustice, making peace with oneself is difficult. Sherman Alexie's novel will help the readers make peace with themselves and the world. Flight is about a teenage Native American juvenile delinquent named Zits. When a friend he meets in jail convinces him to shoot everyone in a Seattle bank, he goes on a spiritual journey through time and experiences love, courage, and suffering.
Zits' journey and it's result are inspirational and moving. Alexie made me feel as though I were taking the trip with Zits. Alexie acheives this through vivid imagery. For example, Zits travels back to the battle of Little Big Horn and sees the atrocities the white Americans inflicted upon the natives. Alexie's description of the battle scenes made me feel sad and angry, so I could experience the same emotions that the people who were actually at that event felt. Alexie's use of emotion is extremely effective.
However, Alexie doesn't simply show us injustice and violence. He also allows Zits and the reader to experience compassion, love and kindness. For example, when Zits is at another Indian battle, experiencing it through a white cavalry officer, he sees a man desert the white army to rescue a small Native American child from being killed. Also, when Zits takes a trip in an air pilot's body, he experiences a loving friendship with an Islamic person he taught how to fly a plane.
Flight is an incredible journey that anyone will enjoy taking.
I'm now reading Light Before Day by Christopher Rice.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Thursday, December 18, 2008
The Road
Title: The Road
Author: Cormac McCarthy
Year Published: 2006
My Rating: four out of five stars, or B
The Road is the story of a man and his son trying to survive nuclear winter and stay together. It's a bleak, dark tale, yet there are hopeful and loving moments between the man and his son. The best parts of the book show the touching relationship between the man and his son. For example, the man continually strives to provide food, warmth, and protection for his son despite dangerous circumstances. The man tries to maintain the normal life that existed before the world died. For example, he bandages his son's feet in blankets to keep them from getting frostbitten in the fierce cold as if he were tying his shoes to get him ready for school. They are elevated above the warped behavior everyone else adopts due to the harsh circumstances they live in. Thus, the son and his father remain a beacon of hope and light in the dark, dead world they live in.
I also liked the vivid imagery McCarthy used to describe the earth during a nuclear winter and the horrors that it caused. McCarthy's imagery makes a world unimaginable to the reader feel very real. The terrors he creates seem real as well, as he is excellent at showing the dark side of humanity. McCarthy's writing makes the world he describes in The Road extremely similar to the one we live in.
Overall, I had two responses to the novel: one that I was horrified, the other that I was inspired.
The Road gave me hope that no matter how terrible life is now, it will get better.
Author: Cormac McCarthy
Year Published: 2006
My Rating: four out of five stars, or B
The Road is the story of a man and his son trying to survive nuclear winter and stay together. It's a bleak, dark tale, yet there are hopeful and loving moments between the man and his son. The best parts of the book show the touching relationship between the man and his son. For example, the man continually strives to provide food, warmth, and protection for his son despite dangerous circumstances. The man tries to maintain the normal life that existed before the world died. For example, he bandages his son's feet in blankets to keep them from getting frostbitten in the fierce cold as if he were tying his shoes to get him ready for school. They are elevated above the warped behavior everyone else adopts due to the harsh circumstances they live in. Thus, the son and his father remain a beacon of hope and light in the dark, dead world they live in.
I also liked the vivid imagery McCarthy used to describe the earth during a nuclear winter and the horrors that it caused. McCarthy's imagery makes a world unimaginable to the reader feel very real. The terrors he creates seem real as well, as he is excellent at showing the dark side of humanity. McCarthy's writing makes the world he describes in The Road extremely similar to the one we live in.
Overall, I had two responses to the novel: one that I was horrified, the other that I was inspired.
The Road gave me hope that no matter how terrible life is now, it will get better.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
"If I become a first lieutenant, would you put my photo on your piano?"
So this is my new blog, it is a vehicle to improve my writing skills and also to give reviews and opinions and show my news stories and other writings to a wider variety of people, since I work for the A and E section of The Lumberjack.
So, last night I went to the Suicidal Tendencies concert at The Orpheum in Flagstaff with my boyfriend. It was really loud since The Orpheum is a small indoor venue and Suicidal Tendencies is a loud band. They played some of their older stuff like "I Shot The Devil" and "Cyco Vision". I personally enjoy "Cyco Vision" because it's a fun song to rock out to. They should have played "Institutionalized" though; brilliant song. Most of Suicidal Tendencies's stuff is really fun. They don't take themselves too seriously, which is another thing I rather enjoy about them. They connected with their fans in the audience well, which I really appreciate. After the concert, it was really windy and snowing still, and walking home was one of the most difficult experiences in my life, believe it or not. I kid you not. I'm reading The Road by Cormac McCarthy currently, and when I finish it, I shall review it on here. And if anything exciting happens I will report on that as well.
Finally, Mike Muir and the other guys of ST who visited Flagstaff, thanks for coming out and putting on a great show.
So, last night I went to the Suicidal Tendencies concert at The Orpheum in Flagstaff with my boyfriend. It was really loud since The Orpheum is a small indoor venue and Suicidal Tendencies is a loud band. They played some of their older stuff like "I Shot The Devil" and "Cyco Vision". I personally enjoy "Cyco Vision" because it's a fun song to rock out to. They should have played "Institutionalized" though; brilliant song. Most of Suicidal Tendencies's stuff is really fun. They don't take themselves too seriously, which is another thing I rather enjoy about them. They connected with their fans in the audience well, which I really appreciate. After the concert, it was really windy and snowing still, and walking home was one of the most difficult experiences in my life, believe it or not. I kid you not. I'm reading The Road by Cormac McCarthy currently, and when I finish it, I shall review it on here. And if anything exciting happens I will report on that as well.
Finally, Mike Muir and the other guys of ST who visited Flagstaff, thanks for coming out and putting on a great show.
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