The Secret Agent

Okay, honesty hour. I am in the process of finishing this terrible book. I absolutely hate this book, and I rarely ever say that. Maybe it is just me, but this book just gives me a headache and I always end up confused. Mr. Conrad is very good at his use of diction and dragging on a thought inside of a character's head. What I don't like is that I can sometimes never figure out who is talking at some parts of the novel. For example, all of chapter seven was confusing. When the Assistant Commissioner and Sir Ethelred are having the in-depth talk, I was just completely lost all the time. Personally I think that every single one of the characters in this book is hiding something. I mean they all hate each other, even if they won't admit it sometimes. It reminds me of the show Survivor. When some of the people are trying to form alliances when really they all know that they are probably going to be the next one to go. Nobody in this novel can be trusted at all. And I guess this makes that I am thinking of all this about the book because it is about secret agents and undercover cops. But really, it can't be all this secretive. In a way, I sort of feel bad for Verloc. He doesn't know what he wants in life anymore and the only reason that he has not left his secret job is because he doesn't want to risk putting his family in danger which i think is a very noble thing to do. I know most of my classmates would probably disagree with me, but I stand behind my opinion about Verloc. The one character I cannot stand at all is Inspector Heat. He gets me so worked up and sometimes I wish that someone would just punch him right in the face. But then again, that probably wouldn't be a good idea since he could arrest you. Anyway, I will eventually give my full opinion on the novel when I finish it, until then...I leave you with my thoughts.

The Great Gatsby

To be quite honest, I never have time to read anymore. So I try as much as I can to use previous novels that I have read. But it also takes a lot for me to remember a book that I read two years ago. The Great Gatsby will probably always be one of my favorite books. I'm not sure if it was because of the great English teacher I had sophomore year or if I just understand the story that much. What I like most about this book is that F.Scott Fitzgerald uses so many different motifs and symbols that make the story that much more fun to read. And at the end of the novel, all of those different literary techniques comes together to create the big "TA-DA" ending. My second favorite thing about this book is that the author creates an array of different characters to like and dislike. The antagonist and the protagonist (in my opinion) is more than one person, depending on the scene you are reading. Being able to relate these characters also helps a great deal in making a decision. Going back to the themes of this novel, the most important theme is the decline of the American dream during the 1920's. This theme is really what runs the entire story line of the book because you can literally just hear the American dream falling through the cracks as the novel goes on. Eventually the reader will notice that Fitzgerald has portrayed the 1920's era as a decaying social and moral values time period. But Gatsby is the opposite of all the decay and glum that the fall of the 1920's is heading to be. Jay Gatsby has lavish parties with as much booze and people he can get his hands on. You see, Jay does this all for the love of his life- Daisy. As usual, a lover is what is controlling the main character. The love between these two has always made me think that the 1920's still had a little bit of hope and it could be saved, just like Jay and Daisy's love. But of course, that 1% of the situation fails and Jays falls harder than the 1920's ever could. I really could go on and on about the Great Gatsby because it is such a well thought out book. This novel will always be a book that will remind me of love, hate, and passion and sophomore year.

A Modern Prometheus

I feel like I always go back to Frankenstein whenever I get the chance, but I just can't help it. This novel just gives me so much to talk about, all the time. Mary Shelley does an excellent job of not only writing the first horror novel, but combining the doppelganger motif in showing the similarities between Victor Frankenstein and his creature. To summarize the relationship between these two individuals I would have to say that they are two minds, sharing one body. Don't take into a literal statement, I mean it in a metaphorical sense. Victor and the creature are more a like then they are different. Yes one is human and one is classified as the 'living dead' but what intrigues me the most is that Victor is really looking in mirror at his inner self and he doesn't even realize it. Victor starts the novel as being this well respected scientist that just a hunger for knowledge and discovery. But after his mother dies, something definitely snaps inside of Victor and his hunger for knowledge leads him down a path that he can recover from. Once the creature is created, Victor automatically regrets what he has done and abandons his son. This is most certainly mistake number one. All the creature wants his for his father (Victor) to accept, love and teach him. But the creature is forced to go into hiding and teach himself how to live in this crazy world. What the reader will notice by the end of the story is the drastic change between these two characters general personality. Victor goes from being a very sane, respected man to someone that everyone is kind of afraid of and doesn't want to trust anymore. While as the creature is climbing up the intellectual ladder with his increased hunger for knowledge and to learn. I don't think anybody understands why Mary Shelley wrote the novel like this, but it makes for an even more interesting novel that has something for everyone. Another key fact about this book is that Mary Shelley wrote it in the context of a story within a story within a story. Robert Walton's story telling is a very important part because the reader is able to see two perspectives of the story. How it is being told by someone else and how the actual person is feeling during the situation. My absolute favorite section in the book is when you are inside of the creature's head. It makes me laugh how he was using words that I had never even used before. But it also amazes me how fast he picked up on how to read and how to form sentences when he was not even a year old. I could go on and on about Frankenstein, but my paper will be my "part two" to this blog!

Their Eyes Were Watching God

Out of all the summer reading books we had to read for AP, Their Eyes Were Watching God is the only book I actually liked reading. To me it was an easy ready and an enjoyable read at that. It was a total 360 from having to reach for the dictionary to define a word for TOTC. The author, Zora Neale Hurston, does an excellent job in showing how a woman requires just as much respect and independence as a man. However, I do think that the author does a great job of showing how a woman's feelings can overcome her judgment at the same time. Yes i know I just said that I think Janie is a strong and independent woman, but in all seriousness she is not immune to how she feels about a man. When she wants something, she goes and gets it and that is what I liked about her. The only characteristic I did not like about Janie was that she seemed like she was playing all of the men that she was with. I know this is not true but I mean she moved on pretty quickly from her second husband, Jody, to her next lover, Tea Cake. If I could have rewritten this section of the story, I would have wanted Janie to not find love again and just find her place in the city without a man. But that is not what happened and I can't change how the story ended. Janie sort of reminds me of a friend I have. A friend of mine doesn't know how to function without a love interest. Even though she always says that she is okay with being single, you can just see the sadness it causes her when you look in her eyes. And that is what Janie was described as, in the beginning of the story. But as the novel went on, Janie started to remind me of another close friend that I have. My friend recently went through a bad breakup (i.e. Janie and Jody), where she had to pick up what was left of her dignity and overcome a lot. This is what I like about Janie, after everything she has been through (i.e. being accused of murder, multiple marriages) she was still able to go on with life and keep on going. This, in my opinion, is what a strong woman is.