Animal Farm by George Orwell was the third and final book I read this wonderful summer! This book was not exactly fit to my taste so I found it hard to be enjoyable. I found this book under the Recommended for You list on my kindle. At first I thought it was a little kids book based off the title (I mean who wouldn't think that), but I searched it and figured out it was actually an appropriate reading level so this would my choice book. I'm usually a fiction reader so this book would be good for me, and there was a whole lot of make believe in this book. This book was not really what I expected it to be. First of all, the animals in the book can talk and are not as dumb as real animals. Secondly, the animals hate humans and go on a rebellion against them just because they think the humans are taking an advantage of them. What I'm basically trying to say is that there was quite a bit of conflict in the book not only between the animals and human, but also between their own group of animals.
Let's just think about if this book could be realistic, I think not. We would probably be living in an alternate universe if talking animals (besides parrots) were real. However, at the same time even if animals can't talk they can rebel. Of course they wouldn't have a thought out plan on how to push away humans, but they can do the little things like misbehave and run away. It's not so much of a rebellion but we could still get the idea. Also in the book many of the animals learn how to read and some even learn how to write. I know for a fact that a chicken couldn't learn to read in real life but at the same (as I said in the previous blog) technology is advancing so much. Maybe there could be a time in the future where scientists come up with a vaccine that allows animals to become literate or intelligent. Maybe that is just my imagination going wild but who knows. I guess that is the cool part with this book, it gets you to wondering if the events in this book could relate to you or ever happen.
At first I didn't know that Animal Farm had to do with communism. I researched and figured out it had to do with the Soviet Union. George Orwell wrote this book in 1945 which this whole conflict involving Joseph Stalin was happening. I guess you could say this book had a hidden message. He worked the aspects of Stalin and other leaders into this story about animals. For example, one of the pigs, Napoleon, was pretty much a tyrant making all the animals know that he was in charge. Another pig, Snowball, could be considered as Napoleon's rival or target. While researching I figured that the characters Napoleon and Snowball were based off of Stalin and Leon Trotsky who was a Communist theorist. I found it very neat that Orwell was able to get his point across in a hidden and secret way. He was probably a creative man by taking this real world situation into a story of talking animals.
I would rate this book 3 stars. At first I didn't care for it but after figuring out the real message behind the book it changed my views on it. Bye!
- Minha
http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/animalfarm/context.html
Friday, August 2, 2013
Monday, July 29, 2013
BLOG #2- Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Firemen. How would you consider them? Heroes, life-savers? They come to us when we are in need of extinguishing a fire, that is their job. What would a fireman not do? Start fires in people's homes endangering the people who live there? I guess that would be a good answer since that is the opposite of their job. Well think again. In the second book I read, Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, the firemen there are supposed to start the fire, not put it out. What kind of world is that where firemen turn from saving houses from fires, to starting them.
I have to say when I read this quote on Location 544 (read on a kindle) I was extremely confused.
"RULE 1. Answer the alarm quickly.
2. Start the fire swiftly.
3. Burn everything.
4. Report back to firehouse immediately.
5. Stand alert for other Alarms." When I read this that was when I realized the job of a fireman is pretty different in this book. I know for a fact that you are wondering why firemen start fires in this book. In this particular setting it is somewhere in the future like a lot of Ray Bradbury's other pieces (which we actually read in 7th grade). At this time books are forbidden, they can't be kept or read. So if the firemen figure out that someone owns books they burn down the house so the books will be completely gone. Most of the time the person whose house is being burned usually dies from the fire as well. Throughout this book I was just thinking about if this could really happen in the future. A lot of things have changed over the course of just 20 years, like technology and culture. Why couldn't it change over the span of 40 years? I don't think that the significant change in time was the fact that the job of a fireman had changed, I think it's mainly that books would be considered bad or forbidden. Our world has been using books for centuries! I don't understand why that would just suddenly stop and would completely turn around. It is like being on both ends of a spectrum; one end which is where books are used every single day, to the other end where books are considered to be so bad that they have to be burned off the face of earth. This is where I thought to myself, Ok, maybe this couldn't really happen in the future. But what do I know, maybe it could happen some day.
Do you know the saying, "Curiosity killed the cat"? Well this basically means that the more you ponder about things and the more curious you become you try things just because you want to know what it is or what it's like. And what's more curious than a cat? This saying is literally meant for this book, no joke. The main character, Guy Montag, is a fireman, but a curious one. He wonders what books are like, it's not like he knows about them because he burns them as his job. It's pretty ironic that he wants to read a book but has to burn them almost every day. Montag's curiosity gets the better of him so of course he goes on a mission to satisfy his curious brain. Sure Montag is curious like a cat so where does the "killed the cat" part come in? Along his mission of course he gets caught but I'm not going to tell what happens when he gets caught. Read it for yourself! I know the curiosity is killing you now.
Overall I rate this book 2 1/2 to 3 stars. I don't think I would recommend to everyone, only if you enjoy a good sci-fi read.
- Minha
I have to say when I read this quote on Location 544 (read on a kindle) I was extremely confused.
"RULE 1. Answer the alarm quickly.
2. Start the fire swiftly.
3. Burn everything.
4. Report back to firehouse immediately.
5. Stand alert for other Alarms." When I read this that was when I realized the job of a fireman is pretty different in this book. I know for a fact that you are wondering why firemen start fires in this book. In this particular setting it is somewhere in the future like a lot of Ray Bradbury's other pieces (which we actually read in 7th grade). At this time books are forbidden, they can't be kept or read. So if the firemen figure out that someone owns books they burn down the house so the books will be completely gone. Most of the time the person whose house is being burned usually dies from the fire as well. Throughout this book I was just thinking about if this could really happen in the future. A lot of things have changed over the course of just 20 years, like technology and culture. Why couldn't it change over the span of 40 years? I don't think that the significant change in time was the fact that the job of a fireman had changed, I think it's mainly that books would be considered bad or forbidden. Our world has been using books for centuries! I don't understand why that would just suddenly stop and would completely turn around. It is like being on both ends of a spectrum; one end which is where books are used every single day, to the other end where books are considered to be so bad that they have to be burned off the face of earth. This is where I thought to myself, Ok, maybe this couldn't really happen in the future. But what do I know, maybe it could happen some day.
Do you know the saying, "Curiosity killed the cat"? Well this basically means that the more you ponder about things and the more curious you become you try things just because you want to know what it is or what it's like. And what's more curious than a cat? This saying is literally meant for this book, no joke. The main character, Guy Montag, is a fireman, but a curious one. He wonders what books are like, it's not like he knows about them because he burns them as his job. It's pretty ironic that he wants to read a book but has to burn them almost every day. Montag's curiosity gets the better of him so of course he goes on a mission to satisfy his curious brain. Sure Montag is curious like a cat so where does the "killed the cat" part come in? Along his mission of course he gets caught but I'm not going to tell what happens when he gets caught. Read it for yourself! I know the curiosity is killing you now.
Overall I rate this book 2 1/2 to 3 stars. I don't think I would recommend to everyone, only if you enjoy a good sci-fi read.
- Minha
Friday, July 26, 2013
BLOG #1- Night by Elie Wiesel
The first book that I read this summer break (which is sadly ending) was a sad, serious, but still amazing book by Elie Wiesel called Night. There were a few books on the list that had to do with the holocaust, so why did I pick this one? Night was an autobiography of a Jewish man and his time in the holocaust. I wanted to read an autobiography because you get to read every detail and feel each emotion that the author had. At times I felt I was right with Elie going through each miserable hardship, but of course I couldn't feel even an ounce of his pain. From the time he was leaving on a train to Auschwitz as a 15 year old boy, to the time he was laying in a hospital bed for two weeks wondering if he will live or die, I got to know what he did and felt along the way. Knowing what this man went through and came out as a survivor was truly remarkable.
Elie (or Eliezer) was the person narrating, the author, and the main character of his own book. This book is DEFINITELY not something you could relate to unless you too were a holocaust survivor. I know for a fact I have never endured the pain he felt. "Hunger was tormenting us; we had not eaten for nearly six days except for a few stalks of grass and some potato peels found on the grounds of the kitchens" (Location 1977). I can't relate to that! The worst pain I endure is probably just a little paper cut..... pretty pathetic. Honestly, I don't how hard it is to accept the fact that a parent died (SPOILER ALERT). Don't get me wrong this book was still amazing. It is just very difficult to find any text-to-self connections or anything that could relate to me in this book.
Besides the fact that I can't really relate to Night, this book contains a lot of very important life lessons.
1. The importance of family. - Throughout most of the book Eliezer was with his father at all times. Even when he was slowly dying if his father asked for some water he would immediately fetch it for him.
2. Never give up no matter the situation. - In Elie's case, his situation was just trying to live. Every hardship he managed to pull through.
3. Be grateful for what you have. - Elie had nothing at this time in his life. "My father had a present for me: a half ration of bread..." (Location 1907). For him to consider a half ration of bread as a present obviously shows how much he appreciated it.
I thoroughly enjoyed Night by Elie Wiesel. I think I would rate it 5 stars. This book was very sad but I still wanted to read more because you had no idea what was going to happen next. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good read!
- Minha
- Minha
Sunday, July 29, 2012
Chains #2
Hey guys this is now my 6th and final blog of this summer! Why did summer break have to end so quickly?! I was actually worried that I might not have enough time to read all of Chains. But I did considering I read half the book in 2 days, which is a lot for me because I was not particularly enjoying this book. This book wasn't totally bad, on a scale of 1-10 I'd probably give it a 4 1/2 .
Here is what changed my mind from thinking that This book is just terrible! to Hey, this book isn't too bad. I appreciated the fact that the author did put a lot of action into this book considering it took place in the 1700's. And I really enjoyed the main character, Isabel, or how her master refers to her, Sal Lockton. I just really liked her personality and character traits. And the more I read the book the more I got to learn about her. And even though this book was historical fiction, it did refresh some things that I kind of forgot. While reading this book I read about some of the many hardships that slaves had to go through for no reason. I mean you can't make someone work for you just because of the color of your skin! Not to mention that the woman who owned Isabel, Madam Lockton, was very harsh. And it refreshed me a little on some background knowledge of the revolutionary war which will be useful for seventh grade because we are studying U.S. history (YAY?)
I don't want to ruin the book for you if you are interested in reading it so I'm just going to tell you some main points that happened in the second half of the book. Due to Ruth's fits or seizures Madam Lockton sells her to someone because she thinks that Ruth is the devil's child. And when this happens Isabel escapes out of love to find her sister but since she escaped it was declared that she has to be branded on the cheek "I for Insolence" (isn't that just painful!). And if you remember in my previous blog there was a slave boy named Curzon who had roots to the Patriots, but later on he becomes an ill prisoner. And there is just so much action that takes place after that and I don't want to spoil it for you!
If there was thing I learned from reading those three books was that even if the beginning of the book is kind of slow or REALLY boring, keep reading because it's probably going to get better. And I am now relieved that I have completed my 6 blogs so I'm now at peace for like a week, because school is about to start! Bye! And I'll see you guys in school!
- Minha
Here is what changed my mind from thinking that This book is just terrible! to Hey, this book isn't too bad. I appreciated the fact that the author did put a lot of action into this book considering it took place in the 1700's. And I really enjoyed the main character, Isabel, or how her master refers to her, Sal Lockton. I just really liked her personality and character traits. And the more I read the book the more I got to learn about her. And even though this book was historical fiction, it did refresh some things that I kind of forgot. While reading this book I read about some of the many hardships that slaves had to go through for no reason. I mean you can't make someone work for you just because of the color of your skin! Not to mention that the woman who owned Isabel, Madam Lockton, was very harsh. And it refreshed me a little on some background knowledge of the revolutionary war which will be useful for seventh grade because we are studying U.S. history (YAY?)
I don't want to ruin the book for you if you are interested in reading it so I'm just going to tell you some main points that happened in the second half of the book. Due to Ruth's fits or seizures Madam Lockton sells her to someone because she thinks that Ruth is the devil's child. And when this happens Isabel escapes out of love to find her sister but since she escaped it was declared that she has to be branded on the cheek "I for Insolence" (isn't that just painful!). And if you remember in my previous blog there was a slave boy named Curzon who had roots to the Patriots, but later on he becomes an ill prisoner. And there is just so much action that takes place after that and I don't want to spoil it for you!
If there was thing I learned from reading those three books was that even if the beginning of the book is kind of slow or REALLY boring, keep reading because it's probably going to get better. And I am now relieved that I have completed my 6 blogs so I'm now at peace for like a week, because school is about to start! Bye! And I'll see you guys in school!
- Minha
Monday, July 23, 2012
Chains (First Half)
This is now my 5th blog for this ending summer. It seems like just yesterday I was given this blogging assignment and I had to figure out what books I'm going to read. Why does summer have to end so early?! For my final book of the summer I decided to read Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson. She was also the author of Fever 1793 which was a book worth reading. But this book isn't nearly as good as Fever 1793.
If you have read Chains then you would know that this book takes place around the revolutionary war. The main character is Isabel who is a slave. Her and her little sister Ruth have just had their mother died which just leaves them left in the family. They have been recently been at an auction and given to the Locktons. On their way there a boy named Curzon is working for the patriots and trying to find out the loyalists' plans. Isabel and Ruth are now working in a loyalist filled house. So Curzon asks Isabel to figure all she can and report her information, but in secret (which will be pretty difficult since she is a slave and can't be caught sneaking out of the house).
You see, I personally despise U.S. History. (Cheers for having to study it this year) And of course this book has to do with U.S. History since the main topic is the Revolutionary War. I read the summary of the book and I knew it had to do with patriots and loyalists so I thought, I might as well give it a try. But I TOTALLY regret it. Every time I read the book I'm literally sleeping because it is just that boring. This is the last time I try reading about U.S. History (unless it's a textbook). Bye!
- Minha
If you have read Chains then you would know that this book takes place around the revolutionary war. The main character is Isabel who is a slave. Her and her little sister Ruth have just had their mother died which just leaves them left in the family. They have been recently been at an auction and given to the Locktons. On their way there a boy named Curzon is working for the patriots and trying to find out the loyalists' plans. Isabel and Ruth are now working in a loyalist filled house. So Curzon asks Isabel to figure all she can and report her information, but in secret (which will be pretty difficult since she is a slave and can't be caught sneaking out of the house).
You see, I personally despise U.S. History. (Cheers for having to study it this year) And of course this book has to do with U.S. History since the main topic is the Revolutionary War. I read the summary of the book and I knew it had to do with patriots and loyalists so I thought, I might as well give it a try. But I TOTALLY regret it. Every time I read the book I'm literally sleeping because it is just that boring. This is the last time I try reading about U.S. History (unless it's a textbook). Bye!
- Minha
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Savvy Second 1/2
Hello! I am on my 4th blog to tell you about how I felt about the book Savvy by Ingrid Law. I do change my point of view now on this book, and yes, it turned out better than I thought. There was a few things that I thought at the end were something that accented the book and made it better. Not to mention that it did have some of those moments where it was like, Is this really going to happen?! or Thank goodness that didn't happen!
I really enjoyed the fact that the main character, Mibs Beaumont, had so much love for her family. Normally in books the main character tries to be super adventurous to have fun for them self and doesn't care as much for their family. But Mibs whole purpose in the book was to bring her dad back to health. Not to mention that in one point of the book her little brother Samson gets stuck in someone's house and Mibs is positive that she is going to get Samson out of that house no matter what. And I admire that trait of hers. Remember how I said in my last blog that this book doesn't have much apart of the plot. Well that kind of changed but not dramatically. It did have some twists apart of it like: Will the kids get caught considered they were shown on the news as MISSING? Will Mibs get into a bigger problem because of her savvy?
Overall this book wasn't TOTALLY bad. It had its ups and downs just like most books I read. But it didn't have that Wow Factor like how I felt about The Help. Now I'm still deciding which book I should read next, it'll probably be Elijah of Buxton.
~ Minha
I really enjoyed the fact that the main character, Mibs Beaumont, had so much love for her family. Normally in books the main character tries to be super adventurous to have fun for them self and doesn't care as much for their family. But Mibs whole purpose in the book was to bring her dad back to health. Not to mention that in one point of the book her little brother Samson gets stuck in someone's house and Mibs is positive that she is going to get Samson out of that house no matter what. And I admire that trait of hers. Remember how I said in my last blog that this book doesn't have much apart of the plot. Well that kind of changed but not dramatically. It did have some twists apart of it like: Will the kids get caught considered they were shown on the news as MISSING? Will Mibs get into a bigger problem because of her savvy?
Overall this book wasn't TOTALLY bad. It had its ups and downs just like most books I read. But it didn't have that Wow Factor like how I felt about The Help. Now I'm still deciding which book I should read next, it'll probably be Elijah of Buxton.
~ Minha
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
The First Half of a Very Predictable Story
Hello again! I've recently started Savvy by Ingrid Law. So far, I'm not really loving this book. You see, this book is one of those kind of books that has only one thing apart of the main plot. And whenever you are reading there is no suspense for any twists or turns because there is only one thing that is happening and you know will be happening for the whole book. Then once you are done with the book you have only figured out one thing and the ending goes as how you predicted. This is how I think Savvy will turn out but I'm not quite finished with it yet. If you have the same reading style as me, then you would feel that a book that you can easily predict isn't going to be a good one. I like those books where there are many conflicts going on and at every chapter it has a cliff-hanger so it can lead you to the next chapter. Not to mention that it also has lots of twists to the story.
Since I haven't finished Savvy, I won't be critiquing it as much as I usually do when I've finished a book. To me, this book does have a good outline and idea to it, but the author isn't taking an advantage to take the outline and turn into a book where you are on the edge of your seat. Just so you'll know what I'm talking about I'm going to give you a little synopsis of what I've read so far. In Savvy there is the special Beaumont family. And in there family once you have reached the age of 13, you then receive your "savvy". A savvy is kind of like a superpower but not like your everyday superpower like flying, and it doesn't really help anyone but you. In their family one of the daughters, Mibs, is almost about to turn 13. But two days before her birthday her dad is in a car crash and is sent to the hospital. Mibs hopes that she can go to Salina, Kansas (where the hospital is) and save her father with her savvy. Mibs is at her birthday party and wants to get to Salina so she goes in a pink bus filled with bibles which she hopes will take her to her dad. Throughout the bus ride she is haunted by voices in her head which is being spoken by ink. She figures out that if there is some form of ink on someone it talks to her about how that person is.
I don't want to give a lot of the story away if you plan on reading this (which I don't recommend). But it just really annoys me that Mibs doesn't know that her savvy has already come to her! Hello?! Ink on someones skin just doesn't talk to you and tell you about that person! Like I said before it has only one think to the plot, which is her trying to save her dad. Nothing else! I'm going to read the rest of the book and see if my one prediction comes true.
- Minha
Since I haven't finished Savvy, I won't be critiquing it as much as I usually do when I've finished a book. To me, this book does have a good outline and idea to it, but the author isn't taking an advantage to take the outline and turn into a book where you are on the edge of your seat. Just so you'll know what I'm talking about I'm going to give you a little synopsis of what I've read so far. In Savvy there is the special Beaumont family. And in there family once you have reached the age of 13, you then receive your "savvy". A savvy is kind of like a superpower but not like your everyday superpower like flying, and it doesn't really help anyone but you. In their family one of the daughters, Mibs, is almost about to turn 13. But two days before her birthday her dad is in a car crash and is sent to the hospital. Mibs hopes that she can go to Salina, Kansas (where the hospital is) and save her father with her savvy. Mibs is at her birthday party and wants to get to Salina so she goes in a pink bus filled with bibles which she hopes will take her to her dad. Throughout the bus ride she is haunted by voices in her head which is being spoken by ink. She figures out that if there is some form of ink on someone it talks to her about how that person is.
I don't want to give a lot of the story away if you plan on reading this (which I don't recommend). But it just really annoys me that Mibs doesn't know that her savvy has already come to her! Hello?! Ink on someones skin just doesn't talk to you and tell you about that person! Like I said before it has only one think to the plot, which is her trying to save her dad. Nothing else! I'm going to read the rest of the book and see if my one prediction comes true.
- Minha
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