The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn--Reviewed by Joshua

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884) by Mark Twain picks up where the prequel, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, leaves off.  In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, we follow the life of Huck after he was adopted by the Widow Douglas and Miss Watson.  As usual Huck isn’t that thrilled about his new life of cleanliness, manners, church, and school.  However, Tom Sawyer asks him to stick it through.  All is well until Huck’s drunken father kidnaps and holds him in a cabin across the river from St. Petersburg.  Huck successfully escapes from the cabin, and thus begins his adventures along with Miss Watson’s runaway slave, Jim.  They run into many several problems, which you would have to read to find out about. 

Many people, including myself, could relate to the characters from the story.  Take Huck for example. Sometimes we feel that we are being forced to conform to a society that we disdain.  I, for one, feel the same way as him.  Huck wanted to be able to be free and away from society. That’s why I really like this book.  I could easily understand where Huck is coming from when he says that he decides to run away from society, the corrupt and racist society that once prodigiously existed back then.  If I could change something about the book, it would probably be the kinds of “ugly” words used.  Throughout the whole book, the word “nigger” is strongly used.  It’s because of that reason that this extraordinary book was strongly criticized.  I would definitely recommend this book for others to read.  I would recommend this book to people who would have already read The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and to people who would like to learn about Mark Twain’s style of writing. 

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

Currently being read and analyzed by me, Joshua Ilustre. From our class discussions, I really expect a lot from this book. Kazzandra and Alana's description of the book made me want to read it. I expect to learn about Aldous Huxley's style of writing, hoping that reading this book is well worth it. Aldous Huxley came from an educated family, and so I'm sure this book is very rich in terms of content and as Alana quoted "yummy."

Book Review: "Brave New World" By: Aldous Huxley

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley makes you think about what the future has in store for us. The saying, “everyone belongs to everyone else” isn’t a far cry to what’s going on around the world and again, you wonder, is this book a science fiction, or is it something greater? Women do not give birth (they take pills), people are being manufactured in laboratories, soma is being taken to relieve depression, and death is not grieved after (because you have an expiration date.) From birth the children are being “conditioned” to be a certain part in society and nothing else. Individuality, love, family, and art are given up for the perfect society. You ask yourself: Is it worth it? Ford replaces God because he is, in essence, efficiency because of the invention of the assembly line (and life is being processed in an assembly line). Moreover, someone in this novel is drivel to the point of ultimate sacrifice because of how the world has turned out. His selfess act of love will serve as a guide to the future. (Doesn't this sound familiar? Didn't Jesus sacrifice his life for us? To serve as a guide?) Is this not a far cry from what’s already happening? This amazingly daunting and scary-perfect book will get you mesmerized and will help you put life into perspective. If happiness is found in a drug and love is abhorred, what kind of life do you lead? Where’s your purpose? I just adore how my philosophy and the philosophy of this book clash causing me to really see who I am. This book is not only yummy, but it allows you to do a bit of “self-realizations.” What more can you ask about a book who uncovers, unearths who you truly are inside?

George Orwell's "1984"

Well, first quarter has come to pass and so has Independent Reading #1 (well, that’s what I’m hoping for all of you). Now, we move on to second quarter and also to Independent Reading #2. As you can see by the picture posted above (also the only picture that I could scrounge up from Google that looked anything remotely like the book I have), I am currently reading a novel called 1984 by George Orwell. Why have I chosen this book? Some of you (like Kazzandra) amusingly thought that I chose this book because it reminded them of the song 1985 by Bowling for Soup. Although that thought did fleetingly passed through my mind and that 1985 happens to be a really good song, “surprisingly”, that was not the reason of my choice. As most of you may know, I am guilty of having pleasure in reading science fiction. I did particularly enjoy devouring Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, and since Mrs. Griffin suggested (since I loooved sci fi) that I tackle 1984, I made up my ever indecisive mind and signed the book out.
Since then, I must say, I am quite happy with my choice. Even though I have read half of the first section of my book, I still have many expectations from this book. I have already grown attached to the protagonist Winston Smith, who is a “happy” civil servant responsible for perpetuating the Party’s propaganda by revising historical records to render the Party omniscient always correct. Already, he has gained thoughts of rebellion even though he confessed that he took pride in his work. (Ok, I’m starting to gush. Enough of that incessant rambling Alana! I’m terribly sorry. You wouldn’t understand much of what I’m saying.)
I have a funny feeling that he’s going to get together with that sexy brunette that swore herself to this anti-sex league (intriguing to all males right?). I also believe that that small act of rebellion is going to grow. I guess I’ll have to read to find out…
**Food for thought: George Orwell was not always against totalitarianism (even though he really detested authority), but a lot of several things led to his decision of finally being against totalitarianism and being for democratic socialism. (Which also lead him to write several of his books including 1984) I read some excerpts of his essay, “Why I Write” which was published in1947. Some of the initiators would be Hitler, the Spanish Civil war, etc. The Spanish war and other events during 1936-37 turned the scale and thereafter, he knew where he would be standing. After writing a book that would fuse political purpose and artistic purpose into one whole (Animal Farm), he hoped to write another that would expose the lie that he wants to draw attention to and to initially get a hearing. Then he wrote 1984. This miraculous book has been translated to 62 languages. Along with Animal Farm, they had sold more than 40 million copies by 1984. In the US, it sold 1,000 copies a day that year. (That is AMWAZING!) What was sad about what had occurred while he was writing this book was: he experienced a bout of tuberculosis. He was then admitted to the hospital where even then they took away his typewriter. Ever determined and undaunted, he wrote longhand and with ball-point pen and continued his work. Sadly, he was administered a newly developed drug to which he suffered severe allergic reactions. Because of this allergic reaction, his skin flaked, his mouth became painfully ulcerated, and his hair and nails fell out. After several months of recuperation in the hospital, he was allowed to be discharged and returned to his home on the remote Scottish island on Jura. There, he finished writing 1984 in December 1948. After that, he went immediately back into the hospital and was never again healthy enough to return home. 1984 was published in June 1949 and Orwell died several months later on January 21, 1950 at the age of 46.
What did I say, isn’t he amazing or what? The book should have already relayed this fact right?
Anyway, that was just a fun fact that I learned about.

Rhetorical Precis--Bob Greene's "Cut"

Here below, posted as comments, are the precis generated by our class.  Enjoy!

Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights

It's me, Arielle! I know, I finally got started with blogging. I've currently been reading Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte. I bought the book a couple years ago (never read it), we were assigned IR#1, I found it on my floor, and figured... why not read it? It's supposed to be a tale of twisted romance between two people, Catherine and Heathcliff. I was quite certain that it would be a tough read (as it usually is with such awesome classics), but I still have a good feeling that the serendipity of choosing this book will have an interesting outcome. Besides, a tale of complicated, dreary, demented romance? How can a typical angst-ridden teenage girl resist?

The Scarlet Letter--Erica's Review

Upon picking up The Scarlet Letter, I was thrown into a new world. One very different from the beliefs and customs of the world I live in today, which is expected considering the book was first published in 1850, and the story set in the 1600s. The story takes place in the Puritan town of Boston. In this strict puritan town, any sin, petty or significant, is not tolerated. In this town, everyone is scrutinized and it seems like everyone is forced to live a pious life style. The views of this town play a very important role in the actions and attitudes of each town member including the main characters. For instance, in order to keep his honor and respect of the town’s people, Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale hides his sins, which would be shamed by all if he were to expose them. 

The book focuses on the lives of four people living in the town. The first being Hester Prynne, who is being punished for committing adultery with an unknown person, which as a result, gets her pregnant. As her punishment, she is forced to serve jail time, is displayed on the town scaffold with her child for all to ridicule, and must wear a scarlet A upon her bosom as a symbol of her infidelity. She bears a child named Pearl who becomes her one true treasure and a beauty. Another character is Reverend Dimmesdale, who is one of the town’s most respected clergymen but who withholds a sin from the knowledge of the public. The last main character is Roger Chillingworth. He is a physician and Hester’s estranged husband, who came into town just in time to witness his wife stand on the scaffold in all her shame.

The story takes place over the next seven years, in which Hester Prynne loses her natural beauty and continues to bear her penance for all to see, Pearl grows up to become a mischievous and perceptive child, Reverend Dimmesdale finds himself struggling with the guilt of the sin he has performed and has been put under the care of Roger Chillingworth, and Chillingworth becomes so obsessed with revenge, that it’s all he cares for making him seem truly evil. You soon learn that Reverend Dimmesdale is the other adulterer and once Chillingworth learns this, he tortures and toys with the Reverend. Dimmesdale decides to run away with Hester and Pearl to become a family, but their plan of escape falls short when Dimmesdale decides to declare his sin to the town and dies soon after on the scaffold in Hester’s arms with Pearl and Chillingworth around him. Chillingworth dies just a year later and leaves Pearl all his property, allowing her and her mother to finally leave the town. Prynne returns a few years later, still wearing the scarlet A and spent the rest of her life in the town.

Sin, love, revenge, social organization, and human nature are all major attributes found in Nathanial Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter. Each one of these parts plays a key role in making the book effective and worth reading. Through Hawthorne’s somewhat complex writing, which becomes easier to understand as you continue reading, the reader explores the dreadful effects of sin especially when living in such a devout town. Each character has their own unique traits, giving the story a more realistic feel and allowing the reader to identify with the characters. Hawthorne was able to intertwine the aforesaid attributes well and allowed me as a reader to become engaged with the text. As the story progressed, I was able to formulate my own opinions about the actions of the characters as well as the attitudes of the town’s people. It is easy to see why this book is timeless, because although the story was set four hundred years ago and our society different from their generally pious nature, many people can recognize the want to fit into society unscathed, protecting the ones you love, and ultimately the struggle of trying to do the right thing.