Blog #1-Interview Talk+ The Old Man in The Sea

Title: The Old Man in The Sea
Author: Ernest Hemingway
Genre: CL

In the first chapter of the book, Hemingway introduces the character and their personalities. The main of character is Santiago, a elderly Cuban, poor fishing man. Santiago although very old is still full of life and he is a very deterimined man. For 84 days he hasnt caught a single fish and all of the people of his twon have lost faith in him except one, a young boy called Manolin. Manolin is like a helper to Santiago except he isnt paid. He is just a sweet young boy helping a elderly man. IN exchange Santiago taught him how to fish. Each morning Manolin bring Santiago coffee and help him out of bed. At one poitn when Santiago was at his worst time he nearly starved to death.

At the end of the chapter it ends with a foreshadowing line. "Eighty-five is a lucky number...How would you like to see me bring one in that dressed out over a thousand pounds?" 


As my partner for reading I chose my mother. I chose my mother because i know I can count on her to read but also because she has a great look out on books and out of the best books I've read she recommended them to me. My mother loves reading, especially classics such as Mice and Men. The reason why she loves books so much is because she learns from them. Books have everything, math, science literature and most important knowledge. What is most interesting about my interview with my mother is that she recommended a book, "old man in the sea," that she read many times. Now the interesting thing is that this book is so great that she would read for 5th time for me.

Amazing what parents do for you.

Partner reading Blog 1

Discuss and describe your interview. Whom did you select and why? What did your chosen person express about reading and literature? What was interesting to you about the interview?

First off all, I decided to pick my sister for my partner reading book report. I choose her because she is one of the best speaking English people in my whole family and was the only one who had time and could put a lot of effort into reading and understanding the book. This is because my mom and dad both have jobs which they have to go to everyday and don't have time for reading and doing a project with me. So when I interviewed my sister the whole interview went smoothly. There wasn't a point when she got stuck or couldn't answer the question. She always gave me a full and detailed answer to the question. My sister expressed that to her, reading can sometimes bring her and other people to different cultures, people as well as different social and political issues int he world.She also pointed out that it can change your perspective of a topic. She also said that reading made her more interested in learning about different topics such as feminism, wars, cultures which are a complete opposite of hers. etc. These are the things I was expecting to hear from my sister, however there were some things which surprised me, in not a necessarily bad way, but it was more shocking. First of all she said that she didn't have her favorite novel and that they constantly change. I think that shocked me because there is always that one book which you connected to and could relate to its story, so has influenced you to do something or make a better choice. But I guess her argument is valid, since she is very young and has many novels in her life which she will read. Lastly I was surprised that when she proposed the book to me, it was the exact book I was dieing to read, I guess she just knows me better than I thought.

Title: Harry Potter and the Goblet of fire
Author: J.K.Rowling
Genera: Fantasy
Pages:734
Pages read:335

After being a part of the Quidditch World Cup, where Voldemort's followers, the Death Eaters, cause a disturbance, Harry leaves to Hogwarts for his fourth year of wizard school. There, the Headmaster of the school Dumbledore announces that instead of the usual Quidditch matches between houses, Hogwarts will host the Triwizard Tournament. This competition between the great wizard schools in the whole of Europe has not been held for centuries because of the high death charge. The magic Goblet of Fire chooses one champion to represent each school, but somehow Harry is also chosen, even though he is underage and Hogwarts already has a champion. Sirius Black, Harry's godfather, suspects that this is another plot against Harry's life. Since Voldemort is returning with full power along with very harmful schemes which are developing, not many people are really who they appear to be, and even Dumbledore's protection may not be enough to keep Harry safe from these schemes.

 

Blog Post 1 -- Parent interview

Discuss and describe your interview. Whom did you select and why? What did your chosen person express about reading and literature? What was interesting to you about the interview? 

I interviewed my dad this time around because i usually do all of my school related work with my mom, and plus my mom didn't have any time because she was working on her MASTERS and she was working on school work like grading and stuff. My dad doesn't read NOVELS but he does read an 1 - 3 hours a day. He mostly reads informative things like the News Paper or researching online. The reason he doesn't like to read Novels is because he likes to be "enlightened" by informative things, not just something that someone has made up and put in a book. I was kind of surprised that he liked Romeo and Juliet because i didn't think that he would like something like that. Even though he doesn't read romantic plays, he enjoys reading this one. 

ORR #1: Old Goriot by Honore de Balzac

Title: Old Goriot
Author: Honore de Balzac
Genre: Classic
Pages: 328

The story takes place in Paris in the year 1819, in a decrepit, dirty, ill-smelling boardinghouse on the left bank of the Seine. Mme Vauquer, a stingy old widow who owns the place, rules over her tenants. They are people with modest means and desires, like Mlle. Michonneau, the old maid; Poiret, a puppet-like human being; and a young orphan, Victorine Taillefer. Three tenants stand out in this company: Eugene de Rastignac, a young student from the provinces, of noble origin, but poor and eager to try his luck in the capital; Vautrin, the "strong" man, bon vivant and humorous, but mysterious and alarming; and Pere Goriot, a retired merchant, who seems to be suffering from a mysterious sorrow. Rastignac soon discovers that strange events are taking place at the seemingly respectable boardinghouse: Old Goriot pressing silver dishes into ingots, Vautrin furtively returning to the house in the middle of the night in spite of the bolted doors, Goriot being visited by pretty girls whose bills he pays.

I chose my mother for this particular project, because she seemed like she had time, and I thought that this would be a bonding moment between us. My mother usually really likes to read, as she said that "literature takes her to places that she could have only dreamed of going". I have never really asked my mother about reading or what in particular she likes, so this was something new I found out about her, and I thought that it was really cool. I can't wait to start reading the book with her!

Blog Post Number 1: Interview For Book Report

Discuss and describe your interview. Whom did you select and why? What did your chosen person express about reading and literature? What was interesting to you about the interview?
I selected my mum because in our family she and I do the most reading and talk about it the most. We both enjoy reading and have read many books together which gives us more common interests. My mum really loves reading because whenever she reads she flows away into this new world and relaxes. She really enjoys reading just like I do. It was interested what she said about her favorite book and how she wants me to read it some day and see me take the advice she got from it and apply it to my own life just like she's done when she read it. My mum really sees reading in the same light as I do which I like since we have common interests and that gives us another topic to bond over. :) 

My mum and I decided to read "Wuthering Heights" by Emily Bronte. 

"All i care about in this goddamn life are me, my drums, and you"...
If you don't know that quote, you're probably too young to be reading this and isn't is past your bedtime or shouldn't you be in school?

but that quote, hyper-earnest cheese - that is romance. withering heights is something more dangerous than romance. it's one long protracted retaliation masquerading as passion. and goddamn do i love it. i can't believe i haven't reviewed it before - i mention this book in more than half of my reviews, i have a whole shelf devoted to its retelling, so why the delay?? but better late than never.

no, it's not a perfect novel; it's a flawed structure revealing the actions of seriously flawed people. the framing device-within-a-framing-device? totally awkward. having Nelly dean tell the story even though where was she for most of the action? totally wrong move, Bronte; it makes the beginning such a slog to get through. but that's just stale loaf - the good stuff is all the meat in between.

and oh, the meat... the swarthy stranger of mysterious origins being raised in a family of sheltered over moist English mushrooms, all pale and rain-bloated, the running wild, two-souls-against-the-world adolescence...childhood indiscretions... vows and tantrums, bonding, unspoken promises, yes i will yes i will yes i will. oh, but wait, what's this??...it's blond and it's rich and it's whats expected of me. very well then. see ya, heath cliff...

it's just textbook Gothic from here on out: revenge-seduction, overheard conversations, mysterious disappearances, murdered puppies, swooning, vindictive child-rearing, death, ghosts, moors, phoar...

But this to me, is a perfect love story, even though it's more like torture. The unattainable is always more romantic than the storybook. I don't like an uncomplicated ending, and a story is more impaction with nuanced characters, preferably heavily unlikeable throughout. This story just makes me feel good, and I'm well over reading books about teenage fascination with the "bad boy"; i realized pretty quick that "bad boys" are usually pretty dumb. So I moved on to "emotionally disturbed" books, which are the same thing, really; plenty of drama, and they will leave you drunken "presents" on your lawn , but not complete burnouts, at least. but my teenaged dating pool is neither here nor there, the point is that heath cliff can be romanticized as this victim/villain without having to correspond to the ideal. It's about the level of passion, the size of the grand romantic gesture. devoting your life to destroying the people who kept you from your true love is an amazingly grand gesture.

In Desert And Wilderness

In Desert and Wilderness

Henryk Sienkiewicz

Pages: 263

Rating: 5/5

Genre: Classic

"This happened because also because he was continually praying. He thought of the slaying of Gebhr, Chamis and the Bedoins, and lifting his eyes upwards he said with a voice choking with tears: "I did this for Nell, oh Lord for Nell! For I could not free her otherwise; but if it is a sin, punish me, but let her regain her health."

This quote shows how the main character Stanislas Tarkowski, loved his little friend so much, he would have done anything for her, even if it led him to his death. Stas and Nell Rawlinson were abducted by a group of Arabians, who were trying to be faithful to the Sudanese government the Madhi. But even though Stas and Nell were far from home and in the middle of the desert, it didn't stop Stas from trying to gain freedom for his dear Nell. Stas was 14 while Nell was only 8. Stas at his age was already quite mature. He was very smart and knew the name of every single desert and river in Egypt. Nell and Stas both only had a father, and one day, their fathers decided to take them on a trip to the desert. And that's where their adventure started. The Madhi, who was the Sudanese government, had a relative called Fatma, who with her children wasn't allowed to leave Port Sued, until the Madhi surrendered all the English prisoners. But the Madhi's loyal servants decided to abduct the two children, and exchange them for the Madhi's relatives. But Stas realized that if he let this happen, he and Nell would be put under slavery and mistreated. An eight year old child like Nell would not survive that. And Stas did everything, even if it involved killing to save his maid. But once he was free, it was all his duty to bring Nell safely back home, despite the fact that he could have died. 

Stas' bravery and kindness was praised when he and Nell finally returned home. Since Nell's father couldn't see anyone who would love more Nell than Stas, he wanted them to marry. 

I liked this story because it talks about survival but also love. There was a difference between someone who wanted to love so as to be awarded, and the one that loved for real. I'm really glad that unlike some storied the two main characters live happily ever after.
Blogpost n#1: My interview was pretty successful. My father took his time to give me nice detailed answers and I am really glad about that. Despite the fact that he was busy all the time he still managed to answer the questions I had for him. My dad works in Congo, so I sent him the question over email. I chose my dad because he's really fond of literature.
We selected the book, Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson. My dad found it a fascinating adventure story at his time, so he thought i need to read it too. My father always found it an entertainment to read books, whenever he felt like it he would snatch a book and read it. He especially enjoyed encyclopedias which had important and non-important facts as well. 
What was interesting is to see how reading had changed my dad's life. I know that reading makes one relax, but I didn't know how important it was to my dad, to get free of his thoughts. He says that he helps people in Africa, and reading books could help him relax. 

Book: The Catcher in the Rye
Author: J.D. Salinger
Pages:277

     Holden Caulfield is a 17-year-old guy from New York, who studies at Pencey... actually studied. His whole curriculum consisted of 5 classes, of which he failed 4 except for English. The story starts in a very inspiring way, it is like an "autobiography" but then turns into a story. From my reading I got to know a bit of Holden's life, schools he has been too, his history teacher Mr.Spencer, his roommate, problems etc. Holden's brother is an author, his favorite author, the part I found most amusing about the first 4 chapters was how he described that he did enjoy reading mystery and war books, however preferred some book that would cheer you up. A book that you would want to cal the author to hang out or chat. It seems to me that Holden doesn't have quite a social life, he doesn't watch most of the football games, studies badly and for now the story hasn't mentioned girls except for one that he has a picture with from New York. His parents don't yet know he has been expelled, but they will find out soon. My dad says the story is about Holden spending 2 days in New York and all this crazy stuff happening to him, I haven't gotten to that part yet, but I can't wait!



When we were first asked to find a person to read this book with, I tough I would ask my mum, she said there was no way she would read a whole book, so I asked my dad and he was very excited. He immediately searched up books he would like to read, and together we chose a book. I am now reading The Cather in the Rye, and he is reading it in Italian on his ipad. As I was interviewing my dad he told me reading changed his life because when he didn't have practice or nobody to hang out with, reading would be life a friend or a second world. Both his favorite novels he told me, The Clown and Elective Affinities, are books I never heard of but they don't sound bad, they both made him realize different things. He also said that what he loves about reading is that he can compare different cultures, ways of thinking and sometimes different universes. After all the interview went well and now we are starting to read the book :)