Outside Reading #5

For this outside reading, I am going to talk about the new graphic novel that we are reading called Persepolis. I started reading this book yesterday, and have already found myself at page 140. I have really enjoyed this book, and the pictures have been a really nice change from the normal all-text books we have been reading. The novel is about a young girl in Iran that has to grow up during a time of war. She undergoes a lot of changes, and matures as the war goes on. She is a very rebellious girl, but usually for the right reasons. She slaps her teacher, but only because her teacher was trying to get her to practice the religion of the fundamentalists. Many of her close friends and relatives die in the book, but she perseveres and stays strong through times of hardships. Right now I am at the part where her parents are considering shipping her off to Austria.

Outside Reading #4

For this outside reading, I am going to comment on the rest of the book, "Slaughterhouse Five" by Kurt Vonnegut. I really liked this book, and I thought it was really interesting. Basically, throughout the rest of the book, I got more familiar with the whole time travel aspect, which really helped me understand it better. Once understanding that, I was able to familiarize myself with his thoughts and the significance of the "flashbacks." I really liked the idea of the Tramalfadorians capturing Billy and how they placed him in a zoo on their homeland. The whole 4 dimensional thing was really cool, and Kurt Vonnegut gave a good way of describing it with still leaving much room for imagination. Moving on towards the end of the novel, I liked how the book ended, but I thought that I would be open to different endings. I thought it was strange that such a dreary and dismal book could end in such a happy and satisfying way. Anyway, I am overall pleased with this read and happy that I chose it.

Outside Reading #4

For this outside reading, I am going to switch topics and blog about the book that I am reading for english. The book that I have just started is Slaughterhouse Five. I am only sixty pages into this book, but already I really like it. The first thirty pages or so are just about Kurt Vonnegut, the author, and how he has decided to publish this book and why he wanted to write about it. At first, he thought it would be an easy topic to talk about, because he had experienced it firsthand, but he soon realized that he didn't remember a lot of what went on. He ends up calling some of his old commerades from the war to ask them if they remember. After writing the book, Vonnegut says that the reason for publishing was to talk about anti-war, and the tradgedies of what goes on. In the next thirty pages, it switches to the young boy in the forests of Germany toward the end of WWII. He is walking around with his commerades, when to are shot. The other two are captured in a riverbank and taken to a cottege by the Germans. The German troops just took pictures of the Americans, trying to show that they just captured them.

Outside Reading #3

Okay, so starting on where I left off last time, Reacher found out that the murder was indeed due to natural causes. Reacher drives to the dead General's house to break the news to the newly widowed wife. As he enters the door, he finds the wife dead on the ground with a blunt would to the head. The coincidence of the couple dying within twenty-four hours of each other is too much for him to handle. He decides to look in to it and goes back to the hotel. He then goes to the strip club next to the bar to question some of the girls. The owner and bouncer of the club sees what is going on and tries to fight Jack. Although Jack is outweighed by over 50 pounds, he has the skills necessary to take down the large man. The man runs forward as Jack stuns him with an elbow to the face, followed by a strong kick to the kneecap. The bouncer's kneecap bends backwards, and he falls on to the floor screaming in pain. Reacher then casually gathers his coat, and walks back to his Humvee.