First Independent Reading Book

One the most interesting books I've read this year, Dune's an interesting mix of science fiction and religion. Of course it's not a real religion (Judaism, Christianity etc.). Dune concentrates on how most religions began, with a single person/idea. A boy named Paul (which I think is a really generic name) ends up becoming some sort of prophet for an entire universe. The Dune storyline doesn't end there, but this book is something like a prequel. What I really enjoy about this book is how it sucked me in. And that it's based off things that sound plausible (as long as you don't think too hard about them). But the story is a very powerful one. Although it does follow a commercial fiction story, there are surprises that break away from the trend. Most commercial fiction stories involve a person who has everything, loses everything, and then manages to get everything back with interest. And yes, that's what happens here, but even at the end, the main characters loses some things. For example, most endings have the hero living with their romantic partner (if they get one) for the rest of their lives. Dune? He has to marry a stranger in order to preserve order. Dune is just a book I would recommend for everyone. You might not like science fiction, or even plain fiction, but at least give this book a try.

The end of The Road

It's been a long road, fighting off bad guys, starvation, and disease. And now the boy and man have finished their journey.All this time, I've been saying that The Road  is a terribly dull novel, and isn't worth reading. I take back about half of everything bad I've said about it. I find most of the novel to be rather uninteresting, but the last little part of this story makes it worth reading entirely. The sheer sadness from the man's passing is touching. I Yeah, so that sounds a little strange, but what I'm trying to say is that the death of the man was so touching that people should read it. It's probably more than a little morbid, but I think it's an unexplainable part of human nature. The analogy I can think of is bad, but it might help explain how I feel about reading The Road's final section. Baseball games, football games, and basketball games are all a part of American society. Practically everyone watches at least one of these, and if not, they watch something else, like tennis or swimming. But when you watch them, people aren't really doing anything. Actually, they're probably eating unhealthy foods and creating a mess (sadly, I'm guilty of this). But if someone were to ask why, the most probably answer would be something like "just because" or "it's something you do". The reason why I think people should read The Road, or at least the ending, is exactly that. Because everyone should.

And...today in class, I checked the wrong box by accident. I said I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. I'd like to take that back.

Fire

The Road's world has strong ties to fire. Modern society was completely destroyed by fire, and it is often used in the new world to hurt other people or in a terrible way. Take the Blood Cults, they often use fire to cook their meat, generally the flesh of other human beings. Or, people use to destroy buildings, homes, etc etc.. But for the man and boy, fire is something totally different.Fire serves as a protector; it keeps them warm, kills poison and whatnot that's in the canned food they heat, and at night, often helps keep the boy from becoming too scared.

But fire also is something different for the duo. The man often tells the boy that they're "carrying the fire." And from what I can see, they really are. Greek myth says that Prometheus carried fire down from Mt. Olympus and gave it to mankind. And then he got punished blah blah blah. That's not the important part. In a way, that's what the man and boy are doing in The Road. They're carrying a metaphorical fire. They're carrying hope (or basically any other positive feeling). The two are the only "good" people that are present in the story.

The Road

The Road is completely about the man and his son, and how they are always walking down a road. While the act of walking down a road may be mildly dull, there are dark ideas that really make a person think. Look at the man's love for his son. He can be seen as one of the best fathers in the world: gives his son everything, protects him, and looks out for him. No matter what, the man's priority is always his son. He ended up shooting a person because he threatened his son, and he abandoned another child because the man knew he couldn't look after two kids.
At the same time though, his love is slightly obsessive. The man frequently thinks about how the boy is the only thing in his life that keeps him going. The boy even asks his father what he would do if the boy died, and the constant reply is he'd die too. They even have a plan worked out. The gun is intended to allow a quick end in case the pair ever gives up. Whenever the man has to leave the boy behind, he gives him the gun with the words "You know what to do." Aka. Avoid being captured by the bad guys. The man may not want to leave his son to be left behind. There might not be much to live for, but society can always rebuild, and with so few people left on Earth, every single person becomes important.

Reflection

I have very much enjoyed The Importance of being Earnest. I know my last blog post was also about this movie, but I found it to be fabulous.Anyways, another thing I've enjoyed are the group discussions. I like how relaxed they are, and we're given the time to talk to other people. However, at the same time, it's mildly difficult to have to write them down every time I read something new. Unfortunately, something I really don't enjoy is having to do blog posts weekly, and that they're due on Thursday as well. I have a terrible time reminding myself to do these because it's in the middle of the week. I really want to learn something about fiction in general. I know we've covered a lot about fiction(commercial vs. literary and that sort of thing), but I really want to know more about how commercial fiction sells so well. Even if it does appeal to things the public adores, surely eventually people get tired of it?

The Importance of Being E(a)rnest.

The Importance of Being Earnest is a movie I'm rather pleased I got to watch. Although it's a comedy, it's a very different sort of comedy than something like The Hangover or Family Guy. Despite these all being in the comedy category of films, it takes a much more brain activity to understand the humor in The Importance of Being Earnest. Popular culture has caused some change in the type of successful humor. Today, it tends to be very silly and straightforward. That's not to say that subtle jokes and innuendos don't exist anymore, but they're just not used as often. Although films/plays such as  The Importance of Being Earnest are still popular, it's probably very rare that kids talk about it. It's common to hear people talk about films like Avengers and The Dark Knight Rises, but you rarely think about any old films. I'm like this as well; I'd have a hard time naming just one old movie. I wish people would watch older films more often, since they're a little bit harder to understand, they might become a thinking experience as well as entertainment.

School Funk now a perfume. Driving people crazy.

Although perhaps most well-known as a common weapon of Mark Twain, satire has been used since ancient times. Civilizations like the Greeks and Egyptians even used them. One of the more intriguing parts of this literary technique is that it combines humor and criticism into one. By themselves, these two things can produce some strong emotions in people, and by fusing them together, the reader is allowed to experience both of this emotions. Satire's intention may be to correct a human fault, but it may only be able to correct it in small doses. These days, I bet most of satire posses little criticism, and a lot of humor. Too many negative aspects in satire in today's world has lead to actual violence, and while something satirical could probably be said about that, it's a good idea not to say anything on it. While our group came up with a bunch of different satirical headlines, I realized something: most of these would be considered "inside" jokes, so I suppose that is something to watch out for, satire's got to be made for the entire population, not just a select group.