I actually liked this book. I was very skeptical at first, but then I couldn't put it down.
I was surprised by the ending. I don't know why I didn't figure that out sooner. I was also surprised and sad when I realized he actually killed those two boys.
I felt sorry that his life was lived all for someone else. He was never free from the time he was born until the war. I do think he had freedom in the end. But after living such a screwed up life, I don't know if that was even possible.
I don't have time to review the whole book right now, but I'd love to hear what you all thought.
Anybody read? Comment now!
Monday, May 4, 2009
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Enders Game
This month we are reading, "Enders Game" by Orson Scott Card. This is not my typical read, but I have a trusted friend who says she loves Orson Scott Card (as an author) and this is her favorite Orson Scott Card book. (Thanks April, if you are reading this).
Here's some more info (from Google):
"Winner of the Hugo and Nebula Awards
In order to develop a secure defense against a hostile alien race's next attack, government agencies breed child geniuses and train them as soldiers. A brilliant young boy, Andrew "Ender" Wiggin lives with his kind but distant parents, his sadistic brother Peter, and the person he loves more than anyone else, his sister Valentine. Peter and Valentine were candidates for the soldier-training program but didn't make the cut—young Ender is the Wiggin drafted to the orbiting Battle School for rigorous military training.
Ender's skills make him a leader in school and respected in the Battle Room, where children play at mock battles in zero gravity. Yet growing up in an artificial community of young soldiers Ender suffers greatly from isolation, rivalry from his peers, pressure from the adult teachers, and an unsettling fear of the alien invaders. His psychological battles include loneliness, fear that he is becoming like the cruel brother he remembers, and fanning the flames of devotion to his beloved sister.
Is Ender the general Earth needs? But Ender is not the only result of the genetic experiments. The war with the Buggers has been raging for a hundred years, and the quest for the perfect general has been underway for almost as long. Ender's two older siblings are every bit as unusual as he is, but in very different ways. Between the three of them lie the abilities to remake a world. If, that is, the world survives."
Click here to preview this book.
Here's some more info (from Google):
"Winner of the Hugo and Nebula Awards
In order to develop a secure defense against a hostile alien race's next attack, government agencies breed child geniuses and train them as soldiers. A brilliant young boy, Andrew "Ender" Wiggin lives with his kind but distant parents, his sadistic brother Peter, and the person he loves more than anyone else, his sister Valentine. Peter and Valentine were candidates for the soldier-training program but didn't make the cut—young Ender is the Wiggin drafted to the orbiting Battle School for rigorous military training.
Ender's skills make him a leader in school and respected in the Battle Room, where children play at mock battles in zero gravity. Yet growing up in an artificial community of young soldiers Ender suffers greatly from isolation, rivalry from his peers, pressure from the adult teachers, and an unsettling fear of the alien invaders. His psychological battles include loneliness, fear that he is becoming like the cruel brother he remembers, and fanning the flames of devotion to his beloved sister.
Is Ender the general Earth needs? But Ender is not the only result of the genetic experiments. The war with the Buggers has been raging for a hundred years, and the quest for the perfect general has been underway for almost as long. Ender's two older siblings are every bit as unusual as he is, but in very different ways. Between the three of them lie the abilities to remake a world. If, that is, the world survives."
Click here to preview this book.
"The Ladies Auxiliary" discussion.
1. The novel opens with an almost pastoral description of Memphis's Jewish neighborhood, typologically evoking a "city on the hill" image. How do the themes that imbue this first scene set the tone for the rest of the book?
2. Find a passage in which a Jewish ceremony is described. In what ways does Mirvis show the myriad, even contradictory, meanings that it contains for each of its participants?
3. The use of the first-person plural pronoun for the narrative voice emphasizes the collective, uniform nature of the community. The story is told not by any one member of the community but by a chorus. How does Mirvis play with this voice to emphasize moments of dissension or doubt? At what points is the voice the least omniscient?
4. What did you make of the seeming role reversal between mothers and daughters, with the mothers portrayed as na•ve and the daughters as more perceptive and worldly?
5. What do you think will happen after the end of the novel? Will Batsheva stay? To what extent will she be integrated, if at all?
6. How do you imagine Ayala to be five or ten years after the end of the novel?
7. This book, with its independent, proud heroine, could be read alongside Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter (even down to the strange apparitions in the sky). How do they both explore issues of tradition, tolerance, belief, individuality, and forgiveness? In what important ways do they diverge?
8. What characters did you identify with most? Was it always Batsheva?
9. Do you think Yosef's doubt about Judaism predated Batsheva's arrival? Or did it grow out of their conversations?
10. Was there ever a point where you agreed with those who thought that Batsheva had "crossed the line"?
11. How and where does Mirvis blur the division between religious faith and small-town provincialism?
12. Do you think it is possible to carve out a space for individualism within an orthodoxy? Is what Batsheva attempts even possible or, in the end, do you have to choose one over the other? (Perhaps think of other stories--Voltaire's Candide, Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Henry James's Daisy Miller--in which someone presents a challenge to an established order.).
13. What do you make of the vision in the sky that ends the novel? How can it be read along with the opening scene of the novel?
Here's some of my thoughts:
I liked this book. I felt like I could relate to each character. I think that is why it is such a likable book, because the author helped you relate to the characters even the ones who were not to so nice.
I loved hearing about the Jewish Orthodox religion. It is so fascinating to me and I can actually see similarities to the LDS faith.
The character that I enjoyed the most was not not Batsheva, although I do wish I could be more like her. I really loved Mimi. I thought she was good hearted and a great balance between the characters. She was somehow able to remain friends with everyone and follow her faith without making anyone mad.
As sad as it is, I did sometimes agree with the women in the book about Batsheva. Sometimes I felt like she absolutely crossed the line. I think if are going to host a party at your house as a responsible youth leader, you don't let the party get out of hand. I felt like sometimes she was trying so hard to be their friend, that she lost some of her authority.The party was a mistake and sounds like quite a disaster. Although, I do not blame her for the runaway, that was bound to happen anyway.
2. Find a passage in which a Jewish ceremony is described. In what ways does Mirvis show the myriad, even contradictory, meanings that it contains for each of its participants?
3. The use of the first-person plural pronoun for the narrative voice emphasizes the collective, uniform nature of the community. The story is told not by any one member of the community but by a chorus. How does Mirvis play with this voice to emphasize moments of dissension or doubt? At what points is the voice the least omniscient?
4. What did you make of the seeming role reversal between mothers and daughters, with the mothers portrayed as na•ve and the daughters as more perceptive and worldly?
5. What do you think will happen after the end of the novel? Will Batsheva stay? To what extent will she be integrated, if at all?
6. How do you imagine Ayala to be five or ten years after the end of the novel?
7. This book, with its independent, proud heroine, could be read alongside Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter (even down to the strange apparitions in the sky). How do they both explore issues of tradition, tolerance, belief, individuality, and forgiveness? In what important ways do they diverge?
8. What characters did you identify with most? Was it always Batsheva?
9. Do you think Yosef's doubt about Judaism predated Batsheva's arrival? Or did it grow out of their conversations?
10. Was there ever a point where you agreed with those who thought that Batsheva had "crossed the line"?
11. How and where does Mirvis blur the division between religious faith and small-town provincialism?
12. Do you think it is possible to carve out a space for individualism within an orthodoxy? Is what Batsheva attempts even possible or, in the end, do you have to choose one over the other? (Perhaps think of other stories--Voltaire's Candide, Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Henry James's Daisy Miller--in which someone presents a challenge to an established order.).
13. What do you make of the vision in the sky that ends the novel? How can it be read along with the opening scene of the novel?
Here's some of my thoughts:
I liked this book. I felt like I could relate to each character. I think that is why it is such a likable book, because the author helped you relate to the characters even the ones who were not to so nice.
I loved hearing about the Jewish Orthodox religion. It is so fascinating to me and I can actually see similarities to the LDS faith.
The character that I enjoyed the most was not not Batsheva, although I do wish I could be more like her. I really loved Mimi. I thought she was good hearted and a great balance between the characters. She was somehow able to remain friends with everyone and follow her faith without making anyone mad.
As sad as it is, I did sometimes agree with the women in the book about Batsheva. Sometimes I felt like she absolutely crossed the line. I think if are going to host a party at your house as a responsible youth leader, you don't let the party get out of hand. I felt like sometimes she was trying so hard to be their friend, that she lost some of her authority.The party was a mistake and sounds like quite a disaster. Although, I do not blame her for the runaway, that was bound to happen anyway.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
The Ladies Auxiliary
Hello are you there? I'd love to hear what you all thought of "The Book Thief".
This month we are going to read "The Ladies Auxiliary" by Tova Mirvis.
As always, I've heard great things. Hopefully we can get some discussion going. I can't wait to start reading.
This month we are going to read "The Ladies Auxiliary" by Tova Mirvis.
As always, I've heard great things. Hopefully we can get some discussion going. I can't wait to start reading.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
The Book Theif
I apologize for neglecting this blog. I've decided from now on I am just going to post a new book at the first of every month. You can comment on the book whenever you finish reading it. Feel free to suggest new books as well.
This month we will be reading "The Book Thief" by Markus Zusak. I know many of you have already read this or are currently reading this, so bring on the discussion. I love this book and will read it again and again. I can't wait to hear what you think.
This month we will be reading "The Book Thief" by Markus Zusak. I know many of you have already read this or are currently reading this, so bring on the discussion. I love this book and will read it again and again. I can't wait to hear what you think.
Friday, January 9, 2009
Falling Angels
The book I read was called, "Falling Angels" by Tracy Chevalier. This is the same author who wrote "The Girl with the Pearl Earring," if you have read that.
The book is set in the early 1900's in London. It tells the story of two well to do families and how they cope with the turn of the century and how times are changing. The plot is centered around the daughters of the two families, Lavinia Waterhouse and Maude Coleman. The Coleman's are very modern and the mother Kitty is a forward thinking woman. The Waterhouses are a more traditional sort of family. The two girls become best friends, even though they are totally opposite people. The book goes through an 8 year period and we watch how the girls mature, and how their mothers influence their lives, even when they are distance like Kitty is.
The climax of the book is when Kitty Coleman has an affair and get pregnant. Then she has an abortion-not described in detail thankfully. We watch as she turns inward away from her family and then outward away her family as she joins in the suffrage movement. Her poor choice in neglecting her family eventually leads to prison and then death as she is trampled by a spooked horse in a suffrage parade.
This is a short summary, but the book was really involved. It was an interesting read to see how families cope with deceit and change and the influence mothers can be on their children for good and bad. Maude's mother wasn't very doting, but Maude turned out to be a wonderful young woman. Lavinia's mother gave her everything she wanted and she turned out to be quite a brat really. I liked how the book was written in different perspectives so you could kind of get each person's view on the situation. I enjoyed the book and highly recommend it.
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