No PATH

I was so upset when I heard there was no PATH. For two reasons, 1 I had finished all of my homework sooner then usual and 2 because that meant that almost everyone besides Grand Haven had school off -.-"

To Build A Fire

I read this in 6th grade and I hated it then also. I really don't like the story line. Very boring and it's based around a really boring subject. I don't have much else to say about it  besides that the guy was an idiot. Maybe this week we will read a short story that I enjoy as much as "The Most Dangerous Game".

The Most Dangerous Game

Two words. Loved. It. Now here are some more words. 


I think everyone is catching onto the fact that Mrs. Wierenga likes very morbid stories. I don't have a problem with it because I have really enjoyed them. Now I'm not going to be some murderer but I have always had a quiet passion for these sort of topics. 


One thing I really liked is how civilized Zaroff tried to be. Also how he tried to show that what he was doing was very logical "Simply this: hunting had ceased to be what you call ' a sporting proposition.' It had become too easy. I always got my quarry. Always. There is no greater bore than perfection." I do like that quote though ("There is no greater bore than perfection."). I didn't like that Rainsford set those traps. It seemed to interrupt the story, despite the fact it was necessary for his survival. 


Also I wish the story was in a more modern tone. I think it could have really added to the story for me (Are older styles of writing another passion of Mrs. Wierenga's?). I didn't have many other complaints with the story itself but I was very disappointed with the summary at the beginning. The story would have been so much better if I didn't know what was going to happen. Also The questions bothered me. I was thinking "Just let me read the story!" Especially questions like this "Have you ever become bored with something that you were good at doing? Did you have the same feelings as Zaroff?" or the ones asking you to underline things. I would rather they asked me a couple bigger picture or opinion questions at the end. These reminded me of assisted reading questions for 4th graders that can't grasp a topic as they read (by the way I wasn't like that).


Lastly I wish the author (Richard Connell) would have written something like "Zaroff waited for Rainsford to process everything. Then with an evil smile said "Yes, people are the game I speak of." Mr. Connell probably tried to refrain from this to keep the story a little less creepy than it is (even though it didn't change the fact that the story is creepy overall) but still in my case I would have appreciated if he would just be blunt with us.


Now it may appear that I didn't like this story. Though really it's just little things I didn't like. But I really liked the story as a whole.

The Odyssey

So glad it's over! I loved the battle at the end though. Especially because Odysseus shot one of the suitors in the liver. I wish he would have just told everyone who he was it would have made things a lot easier. I don't have anything else to say right now, I'm just thrilled to be done with it.

The Lottery

This story was very interesting. Though I found it creepy and inhuman, I was additionally intrigued. I want to know more about the setting and why they did the lottery. It's also quite sad to think about these children stoning their own mother.

O Brother, Where Art Thou?

I love this movie! George Clooney is just spectacular. My older brother  read the Odyssey for school and his classed watched part of this movie. He then bought it. The first time I watched it I had no connection to the Odyssey. Watching it in class I picked up on other things. Some I am sure are not correct but it's the way I interpreted them.

 -The old man on the railroad reminded me of Circe and how she had told Odysseus about things he was to encounter.

 -The hospitality of Ulysses and crew with Tommy, such as the common hospitality strangers in the Odyssey

 -Of course there is the Sirens. I found this very easy to pick up on (sometimes I'm not a very deep thinker).

Procrastinator

I wasn't very focused last week at all and my time management skills were slacking. This week my mom bought me a book from Barnes n' noble called "Speak" I started it 4 or so days ago and I spent a couple hours finishing it this afternoon. I really enjoyed the story. It is about a girl with a secret. From the beginning all we know about her is that something went wrong at a party and now going into high school all of her friends hate her. I was on the verge of tears throughout the book and when I read the last page I broke down and sobbed. I was full of emotions. It was really amazing.


My next literary venture is "The Bourne Betrayal" (Eric Van Lustbader). Thanks go's out to Daniel for letting me borrow it. My parents were really into the movies and I had never questioned if it was based on a book or not. I am really excited to read it. I have gone from a tear jerking high school drama to a spy adventure. I sometimes question if I am truly a multiple personality.


Oh I almost forgot I have "Eclipse" (The third installment of the 'Twilight' series) sitting unfinished on my nightstand. I decided to reread this monstrosity after seeing the midnight premiere with Stephanie. That was a lot of fun considering we laughed at all the wrong parts.


Earlier my mom was questioning if she was going to let me read "Cutting for Stone" because of some sexual content. Though she came to the conclusion that I am mature enough to read it. I don't know when I'm going to read it though,


I don't even know if I've started reading the Odyssey yet this week. I was really interested in it at first but now it's just lost me. If it not being our main focus at the time I would surely put it down and find chapter summaries instead. Hopefully I can muddle through this last half. Fingers crossed Pistachio shows back up!

Reading

This week my mom has been pushing me to read a book called "Digging For Stones" (I think). She read it for book club and said it could top "The Book Thief", but I doubt it.  


I haven't completely finished reading the Odyssey for this week yet but I like it more and more. Maybe after were done reading we should all get assigned a chapter and do a summary on it so that we can completely shrink the story to only the necessary information. This  could help get rid of those long drawn out stories that most of us don't like.
    
I am one of those people who are to anxious to wait to the end of the book to find out what happens so I always read the last 2-3 paragraphs. Luckily for this book there wasn't much of a giveaway. Though accidentally when I flipped my book open the other day it opened to the middle and a couple of sentences caught my eye and totally ruined part of the story for me. Or at least I think I have a guess of what it was talking about and I was disappointed.


I will have another post when I have finished reading The Odyssey for this week but until then A bientot! (I'm taking French this year and am trying to use it as often as I can because it's so much fun)