Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Guess what? I'm really shocked at the fact that I'm not done the book, and yet really excited that the book isn't done yet. I'd just like to say that if anybody has ever THOUGHT about reading this book, they should. I was captivated by the first few pages. It is just amazing! The dialogue just blows me away. Honestly, it does. During independent reading in english class, every couple of minutes, I'd just suddenly burst out in laughter. [just ask shazena or fahmida, i'm pretty sure I interrupted their reading by laughing so much] I'm sure I mentioned it before but it's just so darn witty. Especially the dialogue btwn Elizabeth and Darcy. Here's the first line:

"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in posession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife"

Isn't that just amazing? This line just drew me in. Okay. well. I think I should start DESCRIBING the book now. So, in the beginning of the book, Elizabeth meets Darcy, and they both dislike each other. Darcy doesn't like her because of his pride, holding him back from mixing with other social classes. He even says that Elizabeth "isn't pretty enough to tempt [him]." Elizabeth doesn't like him because of her prejudice against him.

BUT guess what happens? About 20 pages into the book, Darcy changes his opinion of her, stating that she has "pretty eyes," so basically he fancys her. But everything backfires later, when this guy named "Mr.Wickham" enters the scene, and tells Elizabeth about how mean Mr. Darcy is, and how Darcy was jealous of him because Mr.Darcy's father liked Mr.Wickham better than him. Because of this jealously, Darcy supposedly denied Mr.Wickham's inheritance money from his father's will.

On a side note, Elizabeth's sister and Mr. Darcy's friend like each other and hopefully they'll get married <3

OHH. and I forgot. theres another character called "Mr.Collins" and he is basically their cousin, but he wants to marry Elizabeth. So yeah. As you can see, the plot thickens, and the love triangles get bigger. so yeahhh. thats pretty much all i'm gonna say, so that i dont ruin anything else.

oh and I'm supposed to post some questions I have about the book, right? Well....at the moment, I'm trying to figure out whether or not Mr. Wickham was lying to Elizabeth, or whether Mr. Darcy was that mean to take away the money Mr. Wickham was supposed to get from Mr. Darcy's father's will? And umm...I'm wondering what's going to happen to Mr. Collins. I am 100% sure that Elizabeth will reject him, but who will Mr. Collins marry? He might marry one of her other sisters or somehthing. I have absolutely no clue, and I can't wait to find out!

p.s. don't you think 'Elizabeth' is just the coolest name ever =D

Symbolism - Pride and Prejudice

Okkieee. Well I haven't read much for "Pride and Prejudice." I only read about 40-50ish pages. Ehh. So the assignment was to talk about the symbols in our book, or make one up that would fit into the book, right? Well...this was kind of hard for me because I've only just begun the book, and most of what I've read is mainly dialogue, and any descriptions involve how people look/act.

So yeah, while I was briefly scanning the pages of what I already read, I stumbled upon a passage in the beginning where Elizabeth was walking 3 miles through the country to Netherfield Estate where Mr. Darcy, MsHurst, Ms. Bingly, and some other characters of high-class were staying. Elizabeth was traveling to the Netherfield Estate because her sister, who was sick, was staying there and Elizabeth came to make sure she didn't get sicker. As I read this passage, I thought that when Elizabeth started walking through the mud to Netherfield, it was somewhat symbolic. By walking through the mud, she was tarnishing her reputation as a women by showing up to the Estate covered in mud. She knew that her disheveled appearance would cause an uproar among the guests at Netherfield, but she still persevered, so that she could take care of her sister.

What I'm trying to say is that I think the walk that Elizabeth made showed how much she loved her sister, and how she could care less of what people thought if it meant helping take care of her sister. As she walked through the mud, it was as if, all the social prejudices were being thrown onto her (if that makes sense), but even as the prejudice piled on, she still persevered. Elizabeth is the type of person that once she puts her mind to something, she'll go through with what she said she'd do, no matter what others say (like how Miss Bingly and MsHurst were gossiping about her appearance behind her back)

Picking a Book (#4)

This week I'm reading Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. It was published in 1813. This book is a romantic comedy, and is one of Jane Austen's most famous books. I've heard so many good reviews on this book, and I can't wait to read it. From this book, I'm pretty sure that it's about how pride and prejudice affect Mr. Darcy's and Elizabeth's judgments of each other. I am looking forward to reading this book, because I've heard that Austen uses a lot of irony, and that the dialogue is extremely witty.

About the Author
Okay. Well most people know about Jane Austen, right? She was born on December 16, 1775, and in her lifetime she has become one of the most well-known authors of all time. Many of her works talk about moral issues, especially on the dependence women had on marriage, so that their reputation and money would be maintained.

One interesting fact about Jane Austen is that in 1795 (when Jane Austen was in her 20's), she began flirting with a man named Tom Lefroy, but his family disapproved of her, because her family weren't of the same economic status, and he wanted to marry a richer woman. awww, poor Jane.

"Echo" by Francesca Lia Block

So, I finished the book "Echo," and well, it wasn't really what I expected. Yes, there were vampires, fairies, and angels, and other mystical creatures in the book, but it's not the way you "normally" picture them. The book takes place mainly in Los Angeles, and at the end, New York. In these cities, there are hidden creatures. She believes her mom is an angel because of her beauty and selflessness. At the beginning, she meets a boy with broken angel wings. Later, she meets a couple that seem too perfect, but later finds out the husband is some sort of vampire. Even though, what I'm writing may sound interesting, these elements weren't a main theme in the book.

I didn't really like this book, because it's not normally the type of book I read. I don't know how to explain it but it was like a "dark fairytale" for lack of a better description. The whole book has a sort of sad feeling to it, but throughout the book, you get to meet all these people that have hidden lives.

The REAL story behind the book is about how Echo (the main character) feels overshadowed by her angelic mother. She thinks that she pales in comparison, but she has this one talent. It's kind of wierd though. If she stripteases or dances for a guy, she can tell what their past was like, how they feel, and other stuff like that. Even with this "power," she feels as if she just blends into the background, but she meets this guy named Storm, who she falls in love with, but he tells her to wait because "it's not the right time." The story goes through many narratives that talk about her life, her boyfriends, and other stuff, but the book isn't always told from Echo's perspective. I don't want to give away too much for fear of spoiling the book, but the main point of the book was to show how you must first learn to love yourself, before you can offer your love to anyone else.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Okay. I was surfing the web, and I found some pictures that related to the book:


These pictures relate to the book because at the beginning of the story, Echo goes to the ocean, and she almost drowns, but a boy named Storm comes and rescues her. She begins to fall in love with the boy, but when she touches his back, she feels the wings of an broken angel. She starts to wonder if Storm was real or just a figment of her imagination.

Picking a Book (#3)

Okay. Well, I wasn't even planning on reading "Echo" by Francesca Lia Block, but I needed a book to read for Independent Reading, and this is the book I found. I looked up the book on amazon.com, and it sounds okay. It talks about fairies, mystical creature, vampires and stuff. Almost all the comments about the book from the readers looked good too. So, I guess the book can't be that bad. The site says that this book is about a girl who seems to blend in to the background, mainly because of her beautiful mom gets more attention than she does (woah. i just think that's weird). I can already tell that this book with be somewhat about an insecure girl, maybe trying to find out who she is. I don't know though, it's just a guess.

The Author:

Francesca Lia Block was born on January 3, 1962 in Los Angeles, California. She writes many young adult books, but her most famous has been the "Weetzie Bat" series. She is known for her "fairy tale" books, and a major influence in her writing is Greek Mythology. Francesca Block has won the 2005 Margaret A. Edwards Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Library Association. She is so popular that her work has been translated into 7 different languages, and people all over the world are reading her book.

*One interesting fact is that she has two dogs: a springer spaniel named Vincent Van Go Go Boots and a beagle mix named Thumper. Another intesting fact is that she is creating a a original show for MTV, and she is writing the screenplay for "Weetzie Bat."

*According to wikipedia

Reading the Book
This book has 215 pages, so if I read 100 pages a week, it'll take me about 2 weeks to read this book, but I'll try to finish this book by friday, so I can get a new book next week =]

isn't that just a pretty book cover?

[edit: I feel so stupid. I created this blog post on wednesday, but clicked "save now" instead of "publish post," so no one could see it. ehhh. oh well, I'm posting it now]

Go Ask Alice by Anonymous

White Rabbit
By: G. Slick
One pill makes you larger
And one pill makes you small,
And the ones that mother gives you
Don't do anything at all.
Go ask Alice
When she's ten feet tall.
And if you go chasing rabbits
And you know you're going to fall,
Tell 'em a hookah smoking caterpillar
Has given you the call.
Call Alice
When she was just small.
When the men on the chessboard
Get up and tell you where to go
And you've just had some kind of mushroom
And your mind is moving low.
Go ask Alice
I think she'll know.
When logic and proportion
Have fallen sloppy dead,
And the White Knight is talking backwards
And the Red Queen's "off with her head!"
Remember what the dormouse said:
"Feed your head. Feed your head. Feed your head"

I wasn't planning on doing this as a blog entry, but imagine my surprise when I was researching my independent reading book and I found out that Beatrice Sparks/the editors created the title of Go Ask Alice by using the lyrics from the song "White Rabbit" by Grace Slick. This song was actually influenced by the book Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. I didn't know about this before, until now, that Alice in Wonderland refered to drugs at some points in the story. For example, when she took pills to get bigger/smaller. I had no clue that Alice in Wonderland made references to drugs, but now that I think about it, it all makes sense.

When I listened to the song, and read the lyrics, the connection between the story and the song was clear. In the song, they talk about how the drugs affected Alice, and how her movement had slowed down, and her "logic and proportion" have died. This relates to the book because, even though the "author" isn't called Alice, many people refer to the author as Alice, and both "Alices" are doing drugs, and they can't control it.

I finished Go Ask Alice. But there's only one more thing I'd like to say: People have been recommending this book to me since 7th grade, but I've never had the chance to read it, so when I saw this book on the Independent Book List, I immediately decided that this was the year that I was going to read it. I picked up the book, and as soon as I started, I don't know why, but I felt bored. The book didn't seem authentic. It felt fake, even though Beatrice Sparks says its true with some fictional events in it. I don't know what's wrong with me. Maybe it's the fact that I can't ever picture myself or any of my friends taking drugs, so I can't picture anybody else doing drugs, even though I know that many other people do. Yes, the book's plot was interesting, and the character really made me feel really sorry for her. I loved AND hated the ending (<- i don't know if that made sense, but whatever) I think that the reason for this is because as time when on, my "idea" of how great the book was just started getting bigger and bigger. I think that I overestimated the book, because I pictured the book to be "mind-blowing," but it just wasn't like that for me. ehhh. . .

Picking a Book (#2)

Okkie dokkiee.

The next book that I'm going to read is Go Ask Alice by Anonymous. I chose to read this book next because I've been wanting to read it ever since 7th grade. In 7th grade, so many of my fellow students read it, and kept pestering me to read it, but for some reason I could never get my hands on it. I either just forgot to go to library and get it, or when I did go to the library, I just forgot to get the book. Ehh. So yeah. . .I basically wanted to get this book because of recommendations from friends. I actually don't know much about this book. All I know is that it's about a girl who has a great life, but because of someone/something she gets into drugs, and she can't stop her addiction. From this book, I hope to learn more about the dangers of drugs, and how even one try [of drugs], you can get addicted. I also hope to learn about this girl's life, and see if she ever tries to get off drugs, which she probably will try to do, but I think that she won't be able to fully recover.

The Author: Anonymous

This book is supposedly a nonfiction book, in the voice of a 15 year old American girl. According to wikipedia, the book never mentioned the author's name, but people refer to the author as "Alice" just for convienence. Many believe that this diary is "largely or wholly the work of its purported editor, Beatrice Sparks." Sparks has stated that Go Ask Alice was based on the diary of one of her patients, but that she added some fictional incidents.

One interesting fact is that even though Beatrice Sparks has admitted to adding fictional events to Go Ask Alice, some think that she may have made up more scenes that she has admitted to, because Sparks has wrote another "diary book" called Jay's Journal and even though she has claimed that is was based on the diary of one of her patients, the family members of that patient disown that book.

Reading the Book

This book has 192 pages, so if I read 100 pages a week, it'll take me about 2 weeks to read this book. But I know that I'll probably be done this book by Friday (at the latest) because this book sounds really interesting, and I can't wait to read it. =]

Friction by E.R. Frank

I just finished reading the book "Friction" by E.R. Frank. Before reading this book, I had said that I wanted to learn more about how dangerous gossip could be and whether or not there may be hidden reasons behind why people spread these rumors/lies. Without trying to spoil the ending, let's just say that I learned about all of this.

This book is told from the point of view of Alexandra Crocker, but everyone calls her Alex. Alex is in 8th grade, and attends a private school. Her best friend is TIm, and they do everything together. Her teacher, Simon, has been her teacher since 6th grade. All of a sudden, a new girl named Stacy comes to their school, and shakes things up with all of the rumors she spread. At first no one believes these rumors, and just ignores her, but soon the rumors seem to have some truth to them. These rumors create a strain in the friendship between Tim, Alex, and Simon, and things grow tense. No one is sure what to believe.

I recommend this book to anyone willing to read it. This book was a great read, and the rising tensions with the rumors soon made me question the true intentions of what the characters did. I must admit that even though the overall idea of the book was a good one, I thought that at the beginning of the book the characters seemed more like 6th graders than 8th graders, and I found some parts of the beginning a bit childish. But I think that the author probably did this on purpose so that we could see/understand how sheltered these private school kids were.



***SPOILER ALERT***
[DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENED AT THE END OF THE BOOK]

Okay. This book brought up the all important issue of sexual abuse, and how close relationships with teachers should really be. In this book, the new girl Stacy, started to spread rumors about how Simon, the teacher, liked Alex. Of course, Alex rebuked these ideas, but soon she began to wonder whether or not Stacy was right. Stacy continued to gossip, as more and more "evidence" that Simon liked Alex built up. After a while, she changed her story, and started saying how Alex started to like Simon. Alex began to question herself, telling herself that all the accusations weren't true. Tim started to get mad/jealous/worried about Alex, and her relationship btwn her and Simon. He bought the lies that Stacy fed him. In the end, we learn that Stacy was really lying, but that there was still some bit of truth behind what she said. Stacy was being abused by her own father. We don't know much about her father until the end, because in the beginning she told Alex that he was dead. I think she probably did that because maybe she wanted her father dead for all the terrible things that he did to her. This all reminded me of one of the quotes in the book that said 'Behind every lie there is still some bit of truth' (<-- that's a bit paraphrased, but still has the same meaning) So even though Stacy wasn't being abused by Simon, she WAS being abused.

At the end when I found out about Stacy's dad abusing her, I really felt bad for her, and for Alex too. Although Stacy lied about Simon abusing her, Alex believed that Stacy had a "reason" to say those things, but Alex on the other hand wasn't being abused, and yet her judgement was still being clouded. Alex must've felt really bad for going along with Stacy by incriminating Simon. Simon did not do those things that Stacy said he did, but because he made poor choices, I think Alex's mind wasn't the only one to blame. Alex, like any 8th grader with hormones, has to get confused about stuff like this some time, but in the book I guess she experienced these emotions on a more extreme level since they dealt with her teacher.

I think that this book really went into the point-of-view of Alex, and showed how her feelings changed on Simon. At times I felt that I was Alex, and kept thinking to myself about what to believe, and who was telling the truth. So yeah... this book was good.

Wow. That was long.

Picking a Book (#1)

Well, I really wanted to read "Stuck In Neutral" by Terry Trueman, but unfortunately my library didn't have it, so I chose to read "Friction" by E.R. Frank instead. I had never heard of the book "Friction" before, so I didn't know what to expect when looking up this book title on amazon.com. According to the readers on amazon.com, this book is about how "the new girl" named Stacy, causes a stir by spreading rumors. I read the editorial and customer book reviews, and they both praised the book. Based on what I know, from this book I think I'll be able to understand more clearly on the dangers of gossip/rumors, how they really hurt, and how sometimes there might be a hidden reason why these rumors are being spread.

The Author: E.R. Frank
E.R. Frank lives in Montclair, New Jersey. Her first book was called "Life Is Funny," and it won the Teen People Book Club NEXT Award for YA Fiction. That book was also chosen for the top-ten ALA 2001 Quick Pick for Reluctantly Young Adult Readers.

One interesting fact about this author is that in addition to being writer, she is also a clinical social worker and psychotherapist for adults and adolescents, specializing in trauma. (She has worked in prisons, day treatment centers, alternatives to incarceration programs, a middle school and in a mental health clinic.) Another interesting fact is that Rosie O'Donnell bought the film rights to her second novel "America" in 2002.

Reading the Book
This book has 208 pages, so it won't take me that long to read. It'll take me about 2 weeks to read this book, if I read 100 pages a week, but I'm sure that I'll be able to finish this book before that.