The Road

After reading many different kinds of books, let us now turn to an award winner- Pulitzer Prize winner that is. The Road, written by accomplished writer Cormac McCarthy, is the story of a man and a boy trying to survive a post-apocalyptic world full of danger and killing. Although there is very little knowledge about the events before and even after the book, the author creates a vivid image of life at the present moment for the two protagonists- a man and his son. They travel this post-apocalyptic world just trying to survive and believing in an almost non-existent goal.
I have been meaning to read this book for a while now, but kept making up excuses not to read the book. I was afraid of the depressing nature of the book. Even though the subject is very grave, I did not necessarily feel utterly depressed reading it because the writing eases the reader. The writing is beautiful and almost dreamlike. It is no wonder that this book received such high acclaim. There are no conventional uses of quotation marks or commas. Perhaps McCarthy chose to write in this matter because it makes the reading continuous and the sentences blur together as the man and boy's days just blur together.
I kept waiting for some major event to happen. In my own head, I think I created my own suspense. The author let's you know all the possibilities of the man and boy's life ending, so these ideas ran through my head continuously. However, I realized that the events did not matter because the book is much more about the human survival. The world is just about the man and the boy- a father's love and fight, a boy's dream and feelings.
As with most successful books, this novel has turned into a movie that is set to be released this year, 2009. I imagine that, for entertainment's sake, the movie will have much more suspenseful scenes. I'm not sure if I'm ready to watch a scary movie (in fact, I hate scary movies). However, McCarthy does have some success already with his books turning into box office movies hit- he is also the author of No Country for Old Men.

And the Twilight Saga Continues- Eclipse

I finished book three in the Twilight series, Eclipse. In my opinion, this is probably the best book so far in the series, but I do foresee major things happening in the fourth and final book. I've said it before- the writing is not profound and sometimes I get so fed up with the protagonist, Bella, because she plays such a damsel in distress. And, the book is overly dramatic. At the same time, I am drawn to know what happens in the end. Will happiness be found? Does love conquer all? Ahhh! It is so frustrating to be engrossed in this series. It's like a drug- I know it's bad, but I have to get my fix.
In this third book, Bella has to decide her true feelings between Edward and Jacob. Which one does she love the most? The reader is brought into her torture to have to decide between the two. Such tough decisions! This is where Bella gets annoying though- why can't the girl just make up her damn mind? But, it wouldn't be a story without the complicated plot and it wouldn't be a romance without the build up.

Apparently, Stephanie Meyer has a new book slated to come out this May. It is called The Host. It is science fiction in the sense that alien invaders have come to Earth to prey on human life. However, it is romance because the human life taken by the host is a girl who refuses to give up control of her mind and constantly thinks about the love of her life. Do I hear another movie deal for this one, or what?

"I Screwed Up"- Obama's Simple Language

In this sentence alone, President Obama showed America two important aspects of his presidency. He shows that he is willing to break from the Bush policy of secret, hidden agendas and refusal to come clean. In addition, Obama makes an attempt to speak in a language that is simple for the American public.

Reporters now say that there is an Obama-style of speech based off of this example and many others. It is an effort to speak plainly to the public so that they understand policies that may be difficult to grasp: case in point- the stimulus package.

In the NPR article "The Art of Language, Obama-Style", Obama is praised as an orator. Researchers of presidential speeches believe that Obama continues to get better with speeches. However, the author notes that he may not be as good as President Clinton when "speaking off the cuff".

Regardless, I think we can all agree that President Obama won't be making up meaningless words anytime soon, such as Bush's "misunderestimated". This 44th president is so much more intelligent to make vocabulary errors.

Persepolis- A Graphic Novel

I read Maus by Art Spiegelman in college and was completely blown away. The story of a person's survival in a Nazi concentration camp told through a graphic novel is brilliant. Going beyond the subject of superheros or sci-fi, graphic novels that are memoirs about politics, history, and the human plight really resonate something within me. Perhaps it relates to the common denominator of image- all people can understand a picture. And, when that image or picture is of people suffering whether it be the Holocaust or the Iranian Revolution, the reader is able to understand the story on a deeper level.

Written by Marjane Satrapi, Persepolis is a memoir of a girl from the age of 6 to 14 growing up during the Iranian Revolution and war. All the stories are memories directly from Satrapi's life drawing mostly from family, friends, and school. Through out the book, the Satrapi family has to balance a public and private life because they are forced to obey Islamic law as the revolution takes hold and religious leaders rule by fear. Despite being communists, the Satrapi family has to hide their true beliefs because everyone around them is either taken into custody or, later on, executed for speaking out against the government. Marjane, in addition to trying to find her own identity, has to constantly battle the question of martyrdom. What is a true martyr? Is risking one's life for the freedom of Iran a martyr? Is risking one's life for Islam and an Iran lead by Ayatolla Khomeini a martyr (because this is what was told to young men over the age of 15...riches and young virigin brides awaited them in heaven)?This book has reached great heights and critical acclaim. In fact, you may have seen the title of this book in the movie stores because the graphic novel was turned into an independent film by the same name. I'll have to watch it at some point. Since I hate spoilers, the last thing I'll share is that the author does manage to make the reader yearn for more at the end of the novel. In comes the sequel- Satrapi does have Persepolis 2 written, which focuses on the author's high school and college life as an Iranian woman coming of age.
It would be a dream to be able to teach a modern history class based off of graphic novels. Do you now see the true nerd in me?