Nevermore

First off i've never been the biggest fan for graphic novels. occasionally ill read through one but not very often. With that being said im for the most part pretty satisfied with Edgar Allen Poes adapted short stories. I have also read a few of the original stories and overall i believe the original stories are better than the adapted versions. The first story, Nevermore, i thought was a nice first story to get into Poe's style. I like how Poe's stories are very dark and have a darker theme to them. I liked how the story of nevermore got into the mans grief of his dead wife and slowly descended into madness. The story of the Pit and the Pendulum i thought was adapted the best out of all the stories. it was very easy to follow both picture wise and with the limited words that went with it. The story fall of the house of usher to me was really confusing. i had not read the original short story so i had nothing to go off of in terms of what was really happening. I feel that the pictures didn't portray what it was supposed to and the written text was lacking and not complimenting the pictures. The original story of the tell tale heart is probably one of the best of poe's short stories that ive read. The adapted version in the book was mediocre at best but just wasn't the same. The slip into becoming insane just wasnt as extreme or as powerful as in the original and after i finished the story i was satisfied but it just wasnt quite as good a i wanted it to be. i am hoping the rest of the stories do better than the fall of the house of usher in their storytelling and ends with a decent story.

The Road (end)

After finishing the road i have to say i enjoyed it a lot. However, i felt the ending was a little unsatisfying even though by the time they reached the beach i had predicted it would be. While the ending works well with the story i wanted the man to live and keep going with the boy instead of the boy just going with different people. Overall i thought this book had good character development especially for what little we know of them. The style was very different than ive ever read but it made reading the story flow that much more than i think it would have had it been written in a more common way. I wonder how much of the movie will stay true to the book.

I am interested in the graphic novel that we will be reading. I've read a few of Edgar Allen Poes short stories back in high school and i am curious to see what the graphic novel will be like and see if the artist drew the stories how i pictured them to be.

The Road

So i heard from a friend who read this book that it was a really good read so i have been waiting to get into this story and find out what happens. So far i am very satisfied with how the book reads and the descriptions are very well written. In response to question 2 id have to say that i think the reason McCarthy chose this particular writing style is because in the story the world is barren. Towns are abandoned and there are scarce people alive. The time of day and the days themselves are almost one long continuous day. Days turn to months quickly while the man and boy travel and it just seems fitting that the style reflects how one would think after living in years of a destroyed world. I think the style really works for the story. because some of the days are very briefly written i find myself wanting to continue to read to find out how the next day or event will progress. The characters are desperate and i think because they are desperate and readers can for the most part connect with them we are compelled to know the fate of the characters. We also dont know why they are taking the road and what final destination awaits them. For me this is what makes the book the most interesting. The journey they are on has an unknown destination and it continually keeps me reading to try and piece together what happened and what their mission is and if they will even survive the next days journey. Each day that passes the future looks worse and worse for the man and boy. I think the style of the writing is what really keeps me interested and it compliments the story.

Still Life

This is the first detective fiction type of book i have read and so far i'm pretty into it. I like the characters and how the story goes into all the types of connections and relationships of the town. I think gamache is a good detective character and he becomes even better as the book goes along and reveals more and more about his personal life and fears and philosophies. The one part of this story that gets to me at times is all of the french words and names. For me it becomes just slightly annoying to read a name that has a strange pronunciation and sort of takes away the flow of the story. Nichols character as the rookie cop is very well placed i think and that her constant screw ups show just how great of a detective gamache really is. She is the character that just screws up all the perfect opportunities and forces the other detectives to do things the hard way. I like reading when gamache scolds her and shows her flaws to her. It makes me hope that agent Nichols will become better at keeping her mouth shut when she needs to and being more perceptive as the story progresses. I also like how the author writes the story and continually makes more and more people seem like likely suspects and keeps you guessing. I am looking forward to see what happens in the rest of the story and what else unfolds in the village of three pines.

Interpreter of maladies

so far out of the short stories we have read from the book interpretor of maladies i have liked almost all of them. they are all very realistic and i think because of this it makes the stories alot better. All the stories have a very real feel to them and could easily happen in real life no question about it. I think so far my favorite story was a temporary matter. i liked it because once the secrets began to be told i was just waiting for the big secret to come out and it did. i liked how they had to confront each other and pretty much everything in the story seemed to fit together very well. i also thought the story the third and final continent was good. it was a good story that showed how arranged marriages can potentially work out and how crazy of an experience it is. you know nothing about the person but then something can happen that will turn everything around. i also have liked how all of them have more or less ended on a happy note rather than olive kitteridges more depressing side. the story ive liked the least so far is the treatment of bibi haldar. i think the only reason i wasnt as into this story as the rest was that we were givin such a far away view of bibi. i didnt like the narrator in the story just because it wasnt giving enough information about bibi and her condition or anything else about her really. it was still an alright story but i didnt like the point of view. overall i am liking the book and am hoping the other stories are as good.

Round Ireland With a Fridge

So far ive generally enjoyed this book. This is a story i wouldn't usually find myself reading. However it is entertaining and passes by the time. I find this book rather comical and interesting due to the fact the whole book is based off of a drunk bet. I like how the author knows from the start this is not a serious story and doesn't try to make it serious. I also feel the author isnt exaggerating the story very much which to me is a big plus. Its irritating if the whole story is exaggerate and not nearly as true as the person says it is. I thought in particular the whole baptizing of the fridge was pretty funny because of just how strange of an even that would be. I also find it pretty interesting that the author would even go through with the bet. I dont think id have the willpower to do such a task especially if it was after a drunken night. overall though the book gets kinda boring and i have trouble sticking with it at times but it is entertaining at parts but in the end im just not that into the story. it seems like it would be a much better story if it was told in person by the author since it is an event of his life and i just think it would be more interesting to be heard than to be read.

My Sisters Keeper (ending)

So the ending pretty much came out of nowhere and was a giant twist on the whole story. I thought because of the ending really made the book worth reading and was the only ending that could have worked for the story. If it had been kate that died the ending would have been too predictable. Im glad picoult didn't let kate die during the transplant. that would have just made the ending too sad and unrewarding. Overall i enjoyed this book a lot more than i thought i ever would have and most of it is due to the last chapters of the courtroom until the end. I can see why the last class would have recommended this book. Its hard to classify and is very tensioned at times with lots of emotion with a morale dilemma thrown on top of it all. One chapter i found i really liked was when Brian found the cigarette at the last fire and found out it was jesse who started the fires. It gave everything out of why jesse was doing what he was doing and showed how much he really cared about his sister and everything that was going on. This story was a surprising good read.

I dont know what the next book is really about but it looks very different and i am hoping it is somewhat comical for a change of pace from all the sad and depressing books we have been reading lately.