You may have finished or are continuing to read one of your summer reading books. Or perhaps you are even considering a new book to read. When you respond to this post, begin with the title and author of the book you are introducing us to. Tell us a little bit about the characters, setting, and plot, but don't tell us too much or we may not consider reading it.
Keep your introduction to less than 200 words, but substantial enough that we are left wanting to read more.
Remember this is an introduction, less than 100 words is most likely inadequate for us to gain insight into the book.
I am looking forward to seeing what everyone is reading this summer.
This is Grace Cote. I have decided on "The Screwtape Letters" by C. S. Lewis for my summer reading. In this book is letters from a devil named Screwtape to his nephew devil, Wormwood. Wormwood is a 'guardian devil' and calls his person is patient. In these letters, Screwtape advises Wormwood on how to tempt his patient and how to lead him to hell. The thing about this book is that you cannot trust the narrator in the least. What Screwtape says is good is usally bad, and what he says is bad is usually good. God is called the enemy and Satan is called 'our father below.' The beginning of all the letters start with, "My dear Wormwood," and the ends end with, "Your affectionate uncle, Screwtape.' This needs to be greatly turned around and the end of the book verifies this. Overall, I think that this book is very good and should be ready by those who don't need a very fast plot. (A few chapters are hard to read and should be read slowly.)
ReplyDeleteGrace,
DeleteWhat do you think the significance of the letter structure is? Is Screwtape the narrator or is it Wormwood? Sounds like a book worth exploring.
Thank you, Grace.
Mrs. Carbonneau
-Grace again
Delete-The Screwtape Letters-by C. S. Lewis
I think that the significance of the letter structure is the feeling that it gives to the story. I think C. S. Lewis chose the story to be told by a devil, because temptation would be seen as more hideous than if the story was told by a human being, a heavenly being, or God Himself. So C. S. Lewis had a choice of putting the story in first, second, or third person. First person would not work well. If the devil talked in this way, he would be filling the story with lies, as he is called the prince of lies. Third person would be leaving the devil out of the whole story, and he is a big part of the story, next to “the patient”. So that leaves second person. The devil is talking to another devil, and this intensifies the ugliness of everything the devil says. It also decreases the possibility of lies the narrator would tell. These two quotes show the results of how C. S. Lewis chose to write his book. “My dear, my very dear, Wormwood, my poppet, my pigsnie, How mistakenly, now that all is lost, you come whimpering to ask me whether the terms of affection in which I address you meant nothing from the beginning. Far from it! Rest assured, my love for you and your love for me are as like as two peas. I have always desired you, as you (pitiful fool) desired me. The difference is that I am the stronger. I think they will give you to me now; or a bit of you. Love you? Why, yes. As dainty a morsel as ever I grew fat on” (Lewis 145). “He saw not only Them; he saw Him. This animal, this thing begotten in a bed, could look on Him. What is blinding, suffocating fire to you is now cool light to him, is clarity itself, and wears the form of a Man. You would like, if you could, to interpret the patient’s prostration in the Presence, his self-abhorrence and utter knowledge of his sins (yes, Wormwood, a clearer knowledge even than yours) on the analogy of your own choking and paralyzing sensations when you encounter the deadly air that breathes from the heart of Heaven” (Lewis 148). And yes, the letters are written from Screwtape to Wormwood. Screwtape is the narrator.
Thank you, Grace!
DeleteThis is Dylan Hartford. I am reading Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. The story takes place in Ingolstadt Germany where the main character Dr. Frankenstein is at college for science. He has been secretly working on his "creation" in his dorm. He sneaks out at night collect body parts from the local cemetary. after creating his monster, he receives a letter from his father back home in Geneva, England saying that Frankenstein's younger brother has been murdered. The town blames the family's nanny for the murder because she was the last one seen with the child before his murder. The Frankenstein family denies it was her. She is sent to court and she admits to the crime but tells Frankenstein that she lied in hopes of being acquitted. She is then executed. Frankenstein then realizes that his monster must have committed the crime and he goes in search of him.
ReplyDeleteDylan, how do you like Frankenstein? What are your thoughts about the Dr.?
DeleteI read a lot of the juvenile and young adult fiction so that I can help readers select books they will enjoy. When you walk into a library, there are so many titles it can be off-putting. "To Kill a Mockingbird" is a book everyone should read - it won the Pulitzer Prize in 1961 and is the only book Harper Lee wrote. The story of 2 summers of friendship among 6-year-old Scout, her teen brother Jem and their friend Dill, addresses issues of class, courage, compassion, loss of innocence, as well as gender roles in a small southern town(Maycomb, Alabama) in 1936. I don't know how I missed reading this often-referenced classic, but i highly recommend it and hope that you will want to meet Atticus Finch, Scout, Jem, Dill, Boo Radley and the rest of the citizens. You will think about this book long after you've finished reading it! The library also has a biography of Harper Lee that you can read to help understand the impact this novel has on American literature.
ReplyDeleteYou're right, Ms. Stephanie, To Kill a Mockingbird is a powerful book. I have always enjoyed it and often think about it when things just seem unjust. I particularly love the characters.
DeleteThank you for sharing!
~The Chosen
ReplyDeleteBy: Chaim Potok
Nealy Mason
I currently finished reading "The Chosen," by Chaim Potok and it was
an informational and diverse story about different views on the Jewsih
religion. You enter the book not knowing the background of your
characters, but with each turn of the page your knowledge expands on
what it is like for the people of the jewish religion and what they
have struggled through. "The Chosen" specifically takes a look into
the life of two boys who are best friends but have different
backgrounds that they come from in the history of Jews, their fathers
have very unique opinions on what the boys should study and how they
can help eachother succeed. Seperation causes an issue between the
boys leaving them wondering what could have been. I hope you take the
time to read this book because it is a learing expirence that you will
remember and hang on to as you turn each page and read each word.
Nealy,
DeleteWhat was the greatest lesson you learned from The Chosen?
The Fellowship Of The Ring-
ReplyDeleteBy:J.R.R Tolkien
Kevin Fillion
I am in the middle of "The Fellowship Of The Ring" by J.R.R Tolkien. It is a fictional book about the major conflict between Middle-earth and its different inhabitants. This includes humans, dwarves, elves, hobbits, and wizards. One main character, Frodo, has to destroy "The Ring" which gets stretched into three books. The beginning of the book is set in "The Shire" which is the home for the hobbits. One of Frodo's many companions is Sam. Sam has to accompany Frodo through out his hardships. Along the way Sam and Frodo run into many enemies who are trying to obtain the ring. So far it is a good read and i suggest this book to anyone that likes the lord of the rings movies.
Kevin,
ReplyDeleteWhat made you select this book to read? Did the movies get you hooked? Have you read other fantasy?
Mrs. Carbonneau
This is Ethan Ellingwood and I have just started reading " Don't Put Me In, Coach" by Mark Titus. Mark is a former Ohio State Walk on who sat the bench for four years at OSU. It may not seem like such an exciting career but he seems to have had a great time while he was there. Marks basketball career truely kicked of when he first started playing AAU basketball in Indiana. His team was lucky enough to play the top ranked team in the country at one of their tournaments and mark played so well (even though they lost) that the other team recruited him. Well mark took the offer and was proud to be the only white boy on the team. This was not a problem though because the other guys accepted him. Mark knew his role on the team and decided to let the other future NBA stars handle the rest (i.e. Greg Oden and Mike Conley). As Mark and his friends got older, scouts began coming to their high school games to check them out. Mark was lucky enough to get a deal with harvard but that never actually worked out in the end. So his friend 'Greg Oden' got him a deal at Ohio State intead as the team manager until he moved up a level on the totem pole. "Don't Put Me In, Coach" is a great book. I find it to be Very humoruos with all of the college antics that goes on. I stongly encourage people to read this book, especially if your a guy like me who loves books about sports and humor.
ReplyDeleteAmanda Dreyer
ReplyDeleteI am almost to the end of "A Stolen Life" by Jaycee Dugard. One day on June 10, 1991 in South Lake Tahoe, California, the eleven year old life changed forever. Jaycee was walking to the bus stop a few blocks from where she lived. Her mind had been wandering that morning and when the car rolled up, she never noticed the strangeness of the man in the vehicle. A second later she couldn't move, she couldn't get away from the terrible man that would keep her captive in the back yard for over 18, years near Antioch, California.
Beth Revis has begun a trilogy with the first title being Across the Universe (the second book was released earlier this year , and the third will be published next year). I have just completed the book and look forward to reading the sequel.
ReplyDeleteIn essence, Across the Universe explores the complex understanding of the life on a space ship that has left earth centuries earlier for a new more inhabitable Planet across the universe with frozen cargo of cryogenically frozen, strategically selected settlers from Earth. Among those settlers was Any, whose parents were leaders in genetics and the military. She was thawed out and revitalized fifty years before landing to a society threaded together by misconceptions of history and an artificial, controlled society. She finds friendship in Elder, the future leader, and Harley, his artistic friend, as they work together to solve the mysteries of murder and deception aboard the ship.
The chapters of the book are simply titled "Amy" and "Elder" as the point of view shifts between the two. Seeing the perception of a mind with only knowledge of Earth and one of generations of controled knowledge of Godspeed.
Although it is identified as a thriller and romance, it just has hints of each; there are no extremes. However, it is a high school read grades 10+.
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