The Picture of Dorian Gray

Semester 2, blog post 6

This blog post may contain spoilers. Reader discretion is advised. You have been warned...mwahahaha. >:D

The novel that I have most recently read and finished is the "old" classic The Picture of Dorian Gray.

I found the aforementioned novel to be a very thought-provoking read, as its theme is extremely profound and applicable to the everyday life of its readers.

But before I introduce the theme, I suppose I should provide some background information on the book. So here it is.

The Picture of Dorian Gray is the only novel written by Irish writer and poet Oscar Wilde in 1891.

This novel explores the philosophical use of art, suggesting that it serves no other purpose than to offer beauty to the eyes of the beholder.

The principles in Wilde's novel were deemed scandalous and immoral during the time period in which it was written – and that time period specifically would be the Victorian Era of England, which was characterized by a strict code of conduct and a low tolerance for crime.

A theme of this novel would be "be careful what one wishes for."

This theme is shown when Dorian wishes to stay forever young and attractive.

His wish is granted, but there is a condition. A painting of him, painted by his artist friend Basil Hallward, will age and corrupt in his stead.

(Note: If you look at the face on the novel's cover, the left half is Dorian in person, the right half is Dorian in the painting.)

And what does this wish bring Dorian?

Well, it's actually a bit complicated. I can by no means recount all of the main events of the book, as there are far too many.

But long story short: Dorian lives on for several decades, never aging, never corrupting.

Then, Dorian finally decides he's had enough of being a corrupted soul. He thinks that the only way to absolve all of his wrongdoings (including murdering his friend Basil the artist in a bout of anger and frustration, among other things) is to destroy the painting.

So, Dorian takes a knife and stabs the painting.

A while later, Dorian's servants find a withered old man lying dead in the room, with a knife through his heart. He is unrecognizable at first, and is proven to be Dorian only when the servants observe the rings on his finger, the same rings worn by their master.

Beside Dorian is the painting, restored to its original youth and beauty.

Thus, one of the themes of this novel could be interpreted as "be careful what one wishes for," because Dorian did get what he wished for, but ended up regretting it enormously. Enough so that he tried to destroy the object that was giving him eternal life, in order to repent his sins.

In most cases, we don't relate to themes until we think about how we can apply it to our own lives. The theme in The Picture of Dorian Gray is one such case.

Obviously, we as readers are most likely not able to relate to the theme in the exact same way as Dorian did. (Thank God.) Our fates are not intertwined with a portrait of ourselves. (At least, I hope not.)

However, we are definitely able to relate in other ways.

For one, we, as human beings, tend to want things that we don't at the time possess. However, once we end up getting them, we find that they are not as great as we originally thought, and may even end up negatively impacting our lives.

And that is how we can relate to the previously stated theme.

Anyway, you'll most likely like this book if you:

• enjoy darker stories
• are into classical literature
• appreciate profound and relatable themes
• are a fan of Oscar Wilde's poetry

If interested in learning more about Oscar Wilde or his books, click this link here. To visit the official page of the Oscar Wilde Society, click here. To read a Wikipedia article on Oscar Wilde, click here.

You have now reached the end of my ramblings. I hope I didn't bore you to death. And now I should probably thank you appropriately for reading. So thanks, I guess.

Beastkeeper

Semester 2, blog post 5

This blog post may contain spoilers. Reader discretion is advised. You have been warned...mwahahaha. >:D

Recently, I completed the short novel (197 pages) titled Beastkeeper by Cat Hellisen. In this story, Hellisen takes the reader to a forest hidden in a world much like our own, in which kings, queens, witches, wizards and strange animals reside. Like a world you would find in a fairy tale, perhaps. But a fair word of warning.

This is NOT your typical fairy tale.

But I'll explain why later. There's more to be said about the novel first.

Starting off, I'll admit that this book is mainly written for middle grade readers, but in my defense, Cat Hellisen's writing was too alluring for me to be able to put it down. I blame her gorgeous storytelling skills for this. An example?

"Sarah tiptoed along the landing toward her parents' room and wondered what flavor silence was, and if it grew hard and brittle if you threw it away, or if people sometimes stepped on wads of discarded silence and it stuck to the soles of their shoes and made their footfalls softer," (4).

So yeah. Hellisen's pretty talented with words, isn't she?

Anyway, a quick synopsis of the novel: It's a very loose retelling of Beauty and the Beast, except for a few things. The girl is the beast. And love doesn't break the curse; it stimulates it.

The main character of the novel is a girl named Sarah. She discovers that the curse runs in her family. And it all started with her grandparents.

Sarah's grandparents were once prince and princess, but they did not truly love each other. They were vain, and beautiful, and only liked each other because they saw themselves reflected in the eyes of the other, so to speak. So, the sister of the princess, who was a powerful witch, became angry that the two "lovers" were so caught up in each other's beauty that they could not tell who truly loved them. Which is why she cursed them. And when the prince and princess, turned king and queen, had child, they passed the curse down to their son.

But what exactly was the curse? The descendant of the king and queen, upon truly falling in love with their partner, would become a beast. However, they could become human again, if their partner falls in love with them as well. But if that doesn't happen, well, the beast stays a beast for the rest of their life. And the one they fell in love with would be doomed to stay with the beast forever, because if they left, they would turn into a small wren, and undoubtedly die within a short period of time. It's quite a creative curse, if you think about it.

And the curse will never be broken until the witch who first cast it chooses to pass down her forest-guarding powers to her successor, which would result in her death. Otherwise, she's kind of immortal, so waiting for her to die naturally isn't really an option.

I'm not going to reveal any more than that, because what I was going to talk about was the theme. The theme of this particular novel isn't one you'd expect, since "love" is just about the most frequently (mis)used word of this century.

Love is fickle.

Yup, that's right. You can just as easily fall OUT of love as you fall IN. And sometimes, you just can't bring yourself to love another person, no matter how much you have at stake.

Thus the theme, among other elements (that cannot be given away at this moment), makes this novel different from your typical fairy tale. If you're curious to know how it ends, then you're going to have to read it. ;)

Oh, and by the way, in case you're interested, you can find Cat Hellisen's website here. You can also find a Wikipedia article about Hellisen here.

You have now reached the end of my ramblings. I hope I didn't bore you to death. And now I should probably thank you appropriately for reading. So thanks, I guess.

Fahrenheit 451 Theme Handout

Semester 2, blog post 4

Group members: Preetham Kastury, Christine Kim, Michele Wang, Kate Madigan, Nick McArthur

Bell 6

Theme 2: Individual self expression is important.

Timeline:

Part 1: The Hearth and the Salamander

• Montag lives in a society under the rule of a totalitarian government, which seems to impose several rules that limit self expression, such as burning literature.
• “‘Do you ever read any of the books you burn?” (Bradbury, 5).
• Montag meets Clarisse and begins thinking about the thoughtful questions she asks him.
• “Of course I’m happy. What does she think? I’n not? he asked the quiet rooms,” (Bradbury, 8).
• Montag begins to realize the shallowness of his wife, Mildred.
• “The most significant memory he had of Mildred, really, was of a little girl in a forest without trees (how odd!) or rather a little girl lost on a plateau where there used to be trees…” (Bradbury, 42).

Part 2: The Siege and the Sand

• Montag reads books and realizes that his life has been unsatisfactory.
• “Now, he knew that he was two people, that he was, above all, Montag who knew nothing, who did not even know himself a fool, but only suspected it,” (Bradbury, 100).

Part 3: Burning Bright

• Montag can no longer carry out his job and burn books, since he has learned self expression.
• “‘Give a man a few lines of verse and he thinks he’s Lord of all Creation,’ Beatty said,” (Bradbury, 111).
• Montag wants to change everything about his life, and kills Beatty.
• “He saw Beatty, a torch, not moving, fluttering out on the grass,” (Bradbury, 116).
• Montag no longer realizes who he is or what he stands for.
• “This was all he wanted now. Some sign that the immense world would accept him and give him the long time he needed to think all the things that must be thought,” (Bradbury, 136).
• Montag sees a difference in the fire, which symbolizes the change in himself.
• “That small motion, the white and red color, a strange fire because it meant a different thing to him. It was not burning, it was warming,” (Bradbury, 139).
• Montag meets Granger and the men who memorize books, and now starts to understand who he has come to be.
• “‘I don’t belong with you,’ said Montag, at last, slowly. ‘I’ve been an idiot all the way.’ ‘We’re used to that. We all made the right kind of mistakes, or we wouldn’t be here,’” (Bradbury, 143).

Quotes:

Part 1: The Hearth and the Salamander

“Are you happy?’ she said. ‘ Am I what?’ he cried,” (Bradbury, 7).

Part 2: The Sieve and the Sand

“...and I suddenly realized I didn’t like them at all, and I didn’t like myself at all any more. And I thought maybe it would be best if the firemen themselves were burnt,” (Bradbury, 67).

Part 3: Burning Bright

“He burnt the bedroom walls and the cosmetics chest because he wanted to change everything,” (Bradbury 114).


How Theme is Important/Relevant in Modern Society:

• Individual Self Expression is important to the understanding of the story because it helps the reader comprehend the struggle that Montag underwent throughout the novel and what Montag is fighting for.
• This theme is very relevant in society today and good to be aware of so that everyone is accepting of other people and their personal expressions.

Pie

Pie is good. :D

Also, you should visit this website/blog: http://ganbarufukushima.blog.fc2.com

The Great Gatsby

Semester 2, blog post 3

This blog post may contain spoilers. Reader discretion is advised. You have been warned...mwahahaha. >:D

The Great Gatsby was written in 1925 by F. Scott Fitzgerald.

While writing this, Fitzgerald said of it, "It is something new – something extraordinary and beautiful and simple and intricately patterned."

Set in the Roaring 20's, this is a story filled with lavish parties, cold-blooded betrayal, and bitter heartbreak.

The narrator, a man named Nick Carraway, gets a new job in the bond business and rents a house in New York. This house is located in a part of Long Island called West Egg. His neighbors who reside in West Egg have only recently made their fortunes, unlike those living like aristocrats in the adjoining East Egg.

And Carraway's next-door neighbor in particular? Well, he just so happens to be a man named Jay Gatsby. And so begins this wonderful, timeless classic.

Oh hey, I know what you're thinking. "Timeless classic" equals "boring romance" equals "I don't want to read."

Well, that's not true. At least, not in my opinion. The Great Gatsby was a lot better than expected. Here's why.

Fitzgerald actively uses characterization throughout his novel. This keeps the reader constantly engaged, as the characters are portrayed with human flaws, making them easy to relate to.

For example, Daisy Buchanan, a young woman who was once Gatsby's lover, proves herself to be a shallow woman throughout the course of the novel.

At first, she attends Gatsby's parties with her husband Tom. The parties were Gatsby's attempt to impress Daisy in the hope that she would one day come back to him. At these parties, Gatsby and Daisy soon develop a new romantic relationship, but Tom becomes suspicious. He manages to convince Daisy that Gatsby is not worth her love. So Daisy then basically ditches Gatsby and pledges her allegiance back to Tom, leaving with him soon after to who-knows-where.

And then the rest of the book happens. I won't tell you what specifically, because you should read it and find out for yourself. The ending is definitely pretty saddening though, so if you do read the book make sure to always have a box of tissues nearby, in case you want to shed a few tears. And trust me, you will want to do so.

As Carraway said of Daisy after he tried to no avail to contact her in order to invite her to Gatsby's rapidly approaching funeral (*gasp* that was a spoiler sorry):

"They were careless people, Tom and Daisy- they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made," (179).

Thus, the reader is able to form the conclusion that Daisy is rather superficial and selfish. She failed to acknowledge that she was the cause of Gatsby's death. Daisy didn't care about anything that didn't benefit her in some way.

However, superficiality is a flaw that most people possess at least to some degree. So, this strengthens Daisy's character in the eyes of the reader due to the fact that they are able to relate to her, even though she can be considered a "bad" character.

From the above exemplification, the reader can tell that Fitzgerald uses characterization to provide his characters with human flaws in order to make them easier to relate to. (Okay, I think I've reiterated my point enough by this point.)

Anyway, this is what makes The Great Gatsby such an absurdly gorgeous novel.

And that's why you should really really really read it; you surely won't be disappointed. :)

If you're interested in learning more about his books, you can find Fitzgerald's website here. You can also find a Wikipedia article about him here.

You have now reached the end of my ramblings. I hope I didn't bore you to death. And now I should probably thank you appropriately for reading. So thanks, I guess.

Of Mice and Men

Semester 2, blog post 2

This blog post may contain spoilers. Reader discretion is advised. You have been warned...mwahahaha. >:D

Recently, I finished Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. (Borrowed a copy from someone after PARCC testing, not that it matters.) It was a good book, although the ending was really depressing.

Would you like a quick synopsis? Yes? Alrighty then, that would be my pleasure.

So, basically the book is about a guy named George and his friend Lennie. George is described as  "small and quick, dark of face, with restless eyes and sharp, strong features," (1). Lennie is sort of the opposite of George, being a "huge giant of a man, shapeless of face, with large, pale eyes, and wide, sloping shoulders," (2).

What happens is, George and Lennie start work at a farm in California. They dream of making enough money to one day owning their own farm (Lennie dreams of owning rabbits as well, because he has an obsession with stroking soft things.) However, this is not to be, as Lennie is easily scared, and through a progression of events, accidentally kills the wife of the farm owner's son. Shocked and frightened, Lennie steals a gun and flees the scene.

When George and the other farm workers find out, they realize that Lennie is going to face severe consequences. So George, upon finding Lennie, soothingly comforts him, reminding him of their promise to start their own farm, with rabbits that Lennie could pet and care for. Then, George takes Lennie's gun and shoots him.

And that's pretty much how it ends. Much sad, eh? Although, when put under  deeper consideration, the ending was probably necessary for Steinbeck to contribute to the themes of friendship and mercy. George then takes Lennie's life out of mercy, for the consequences of what he had done would be more severe than death. The mercy that George shows Lennie is due to their friendship. George had always taken care of Lennie, and Lennie had always looked up to and loved George.

All in all, a pretty good book. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a light but thought-provoking read.

In case you want to learn more, you can find Steinbeck's website here. You can also find a Wikipedia article on him here.

You have now reached the end of my ramblings. I hope I didn't bore you to death. And now I should probably thank you appropriately for reading. So thanks, I guess.

Allegiant

Semester 2, blog post 1

This blog post may contain spoilers. Reader discretion is advised. You have been warned...mwahahaha. >:D

Practically everyone has heard of the Divergent trilogy by Veronica Roth. Her series has received much attention, especially after the making of the first movie (directed by Neil Burger).

This series is set in a futuristic, dystopian city located in modern-day Chicago. The individuals in the city are divided into five factions, with each one placing emphasis on a different personality trait. These factions consist of: Dauntless (the brave), Abnegation (the selfless), Erudite (the intelligent), Candor (the honest), and Amity (the peaceful).

Once reaching adulthood, the inhabitants of the city are given a test that determines which faction they are to be put in.

Most people only belong to one faction. But Tris is a special case. She is determined to be Divergent, the name for the small number of people who could potentially belong in two or more factions. Their society considers Divergents to be dangerous due to the fact that they are harder to control and have different thought processes, meaning that Tris has to pretend she belongs to only one faction in order to not be killed.

As you can clearly see, something is severely wrong with this society. And Tris – along with a group of friends/other Divergents – is among those who can right that wrong.

Well, that's just a little background information on the plot of this trilogy.

You can find more information on Roth's Tumblr here. Her blog recently moved though; you can find the previous one linked here. You can also find a Wikipedia article about her here.

And now, back to my blogging prompt response.

Recently, I finished the third and last book in this series, titled Allegiant.

Contrary to popular opinion, I felt that this book was a great way to conclude the series. A lot of people have complained about the ending – mainly the death of the main character, Tris Prior – saying that it "ruined" the "otherwise amazing" trilogy. However, I find Tris' death as a way for the author to sort of amplify her characterization. (Does that makes sense? Haha.)

In the previous books, Roth had always portrayed Tris as a stubborn, selfless, and courageous character. So, the fact that she would sacrifice her own life in the name of something that she found valuable – which is, in this case, self-identity – is not actually that surprising. She died so that others would never again be stripped of their identities, or confined to certain personality traits.

Anyway, that was just my opinion on an author's choice that others have deemed unnecessary. So, since there is nothing else of importance for me to say, I shall now take my leave.

You have now reached the end of my ramblings. I hope I didn't bore you to death. And now I should probably thank you appropriately for reading. So thanks, I guess.

The Death Cure

Semester 1, blog post 5

This blog post may contain spoilers. Reader discretion is advised. You have been warned...mwahahaha. >:D

The Death Cure is the third book in James Dashner's The Maze Runner Trilogy. I read the first two novels a few years ago, and I've since regretted not reading the third one.

The Maze Runner Trilogy is a set of dystopian novels in which the bleak future of humankind is caused by a disease known as The Flare. The main character, Thomas, and his friends must try to find a cure for this deadly illness.

However, I don't think any of that is actually relevant to the topic of this post, as it's going to be about the author. I know, so exciting right?

(I'm doing this mostly because I'm lazy and I haven't really had an opportunity to start the book...heh heh heh...)

Dashner is a self-proclaimed book addict. On his website, he says that he loves to "read, watch movies and (good) TV shows, snow ski, and read." In addition to The Maze Runner and The Scorch Trials, the first two installments in this bestselling trilogy, Dashner has written numerous other series. These include The Infinity Ring Series, The 13th Reality Series, and The Jimmy Fincher Series.

And now...another video! (Wow there's been quite a few of these in recent blog posts haven't there?) In this one, James Dashner talks about his books – The Death Cure in particular.

Click here to visit Dashner's website and learn about him and the books he has written. You can also click here for a Wikipedia article on him.

You have now reached the end of my ramblings. I hope I didn't bore you to death. And now I should probably thank you appropriately for reading. So thanks, I guess.

Reading Lolita in Tehran

Semester 1, blog post 4

This blog post may contain spoilers. Reader discretion is advised. You have been warned...mwahahaha. >:D

Reading Lolita in Tehran was the book of choice for our second memoir. It chronicles the period of time in which the author, Azar Nafisi, spent living in Iran. As this memoir is set in the 1970's in Tehran, during the Iranian Revolution, it could be expected to be intriguing. Right?

Wrong.

Why? Well, there's quite a few reasons, but I'll try to keep it short. I suppose the problem is with the plot of the book. It doesn't ever grab or hold the reader's attention. And the fact that I have the attention span of a fly doesn't really help either... Whatever, it's not like my opinion is all that important for this particular blog post. XD

Anyway, to summarize: the book is about a group of women who meet weekly to read and discuss Western (and thereby illegal) literature. And that's pretty much all they do. Basically, reading these banned books and recognizing the messages they reveal is their form of protest.
So. An important central idea within this memoir would undoubtedly be education. (I made the font size bigger because I can okay?) And an important realization to go with this central idea would be that education is necessary to earn and/or protect your rights. Due to the fact that Azar's culture

"denied any merit to literary works, considering them important only when they were handmaidens to something seemingly more urgent – namely ideology" (25),

Iranian citizens (especially women) like Azar were made to follow numerous unreasonable, even absurd, regulations. However, Azar and a group of her university students read banned Western literature to learn how other cultures and societies operate. Then, they begin rebelling against the Iranian Regime in subtle yet meaningful ways. As Nafisi says,

"...we took every opportunity to flaunt our insubordination: by showing a little hair from under our scarves, insinuating a little color into the drab uniformity of our appearances, growing our nails, falling in love and listening to forbidden music," (25).

Click here to read an article about the life of an average Iranian woman before and after the Iranian Revolution. This article explains how, before the Iranian Revolution, women were oppressed. They had very limited rights and had to follow extremely strict rules. After the revolution though, women were allowed to vote. They could go into career fields that were normally restricted to men. They didn't have to cover every part of their body other than their eyes, and they could actually talk to males or laugh out loud. All these restrictions that had once hindered their pursuit of happiness were no more after the Iranian Revolution. (This article is the actual text-to-society connection part of this blog post I guess.)

Here's a YouTube video of the author speaking about the girls who were in her forbidden literature class/group discussions. She's native to Iran, so her accent may be a little heavy, but you can still understand her fairly well.

As you can tell, Azar Nafisi is a very wise, humorous woman. Hopefully you got some insight on the details of her life in Iran from the video.

Click here to visit Nafisi's website.

Click here for a Wikipedia article on Nafisi.

You have now reached the end of my ramblings. I hope I didn't bore you to death. And now I should probably thank you appropriately for reading. So thanks, I guess.

The Color of Water

Semester 1, blog post 3

This blog post may contain spoilers. Reader discretion is advised. You have been warned...mwahahaha. >:D

The 1900's in particular were a time of severe racial tension. Civil rights movements, coupled with violent backlashes, caused this time period to be both dangerous and intriguing to live in.

The two intertwined stores of author James McBride and his mother Ruth Shilsky, during this time of racial extremes, are detailed in the New York Times Bestseller The Color of Water.

The cover is kind of plain but whatever. Here's a picture of it nonetheless.

The Color of Water has quite a few meaningful themes. Of these, one that really stood out to me is: No matter what color skin one has, they are still a human being and God still loves them with the same intensity. This theme is portrayed countless times throughout the story, like when Ruth says, "God is the color of water," (51). Hence the book title (heh). The theme is also present when Ruth tells James,

"I bet you never heard the joke about the teacher and the beans, Mommy says...The teacher says to the class, 'Tell us about different kinds of beans.'

"The first little boy says, 'There's pinto beans.'

"'Correct,' says the teacher.

"Another boy raises his hand. 'There's lima beans.'

"'Very good,' says the teacher. "Then a little girl in the back raises her hand and says, 'We're all human beans!'" (92-93).

Anyway. The theme. No one deserves to be treated differently because they have a different skin color. Whether it was James for being colored in a nation that was then dominated by whites, or Ruth for being the only white person in a black neighborhood, this theme plays a major role in Ruth's and James' separate (a few decades apart) yet overlapping journeys of self-discovery and family.

To learn more about McBride and his books, click here. To view a Wikipedia article about him, click here.

You have now reached the end of my ramblings. I hope I didn't bore you to death. And now I should probably thank you appropriately for reading. So thanks, I guess.

The Bone Clocks

Semester 1, blog post 2

This blog post may contain spoilers. Reader discretion is advised. You have been warned...mwahahaha. >:D

A book I've started recently is The Bone Clocks, written by David Mitchell. The novel, set in the 1980's, is about a fifteen-year-old girl named Holly, who has run away from home. Possessed by a strong "psychic ability," she is contacted by strange voices, dubbed by her as "the radio people." Because of her strange skill, Holly has caught the attention of many groups – both friends and enemies. Her attempts to unravel the mysteries that have now taken over her life are chronicled by this novel.

I don't have much of an opinion on the book as of right now, considering I'm on, like, page two (I'm being completely serious here). So, for this post, I'm going to be talking about the author.

David Mitchell is an accomplished writer who has written a number of bestselling novels, including Ghostwritten, Number9Dream, and Cloud Atlas. When asked when he first knew he wanted to be a writer, Mitchell replied, "There was no single epiphany, but I recall a few early flashes. When I was ten I would be transported by certain books—Ursula K. Le Guin’s Earthsea trilogy, Susan Cooper’s fantasy novels, Isaac Asimov—and burn to do to readers what had just been done to me. Sometimes that burning prompted me to start writing, though I never got more than a few pages down. A few years later I would indulge in a visual fantasy that involved imagining my name on the jacket of a book—usually Faber and Faber—and I’d feel a whoosh inside my rib cage."

If you want to learn more about Mitchell or his books, you can find his site here. You can also find a Wikipedia article on him here.

And to conclude, here's a video of David Mitchell answering fan questions...

Basically in the video you get to see which parts of the author's life are used as inspiration in his novels. Watch the video; you probably won't expect him to say some of the things he does.

You have now reached the end of my ramblings. I hope I didn't bore you to death. And now I should probably thank you appropriately for reading. So thanks, I guess.