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Book 3 Reciew

Water for Elephants Review

          Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen is a Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal and USA Today Bestseller. It has had immense popularity not only in America, but globally, as it’s been published in 44 different languages. It was a Newsday Favorite Book of 2006, and has sold over 4.5 million copies as of May, 2011. It was possibly Gruen’s best novel, and I can see why.

          The book, in Motoko Rich’s, New York Times words is about “a veterinarian who joins a Depression-era circus, falls in love with a performer and befriends an elephant named Rosie.” The book begins with Jacob’s parents dying in a car crash the day he takes his final exams at Cornell University. The introduction to the book is really strong. It’s realistic and something that could have easily happened in the time period in America. Gruen does a great job of blending the scenes together and moving him onto his next adventure, as the book never seems to lag. Jacob ends up getting a job as the circus vet, but despite the lofty position, isn’t paid for the first four weeks of work. Gruen also does a great job capturing the struggle of the time. I also really like how she switches the perspective of the book, changing between Jacob when he was 23 and working in the circus, and Jacob when he was 90 or 93, reminiscing. However, her title for the book did not at all fit what the story focused on. The title leads you to think that the book would be about the relationship between him and Rosie, the elephant, when in reality it spends far more time talking about the love triangle between him, Marlena and August. Even when he is elderly in the nursing home, he rarely mentions Rosie, he instead talks about the people he used to know. The book has an attention-grabbing plot, with a misleading title.

          In Water for Elephants there are four main characters. Jacob is the one whose perspective we hear the story from. He went to Cornell to become a vet, but ran away during finals because his parents died in a car crash. He is incredibly loyal and honest, and you always find yourself rooting for him to stay strong against the circus’s lowly ways. Uncle Al is the owner of the circus who is bossy and will do anything for money(He is sometimes violent, and wants Jacob to convince Marlena to go back with August who was abusive, so both of the continue working and the circus continues to make a profit and survive). As Gruen describes him “There is no mistaking Uncle Al. He has ringmaster written all over him, from scarlet coat and white jodhpurs to the top hat and waxed curled moustache” (Gruen 52).  Uncle Al also defended August’s hitting Marlean by saying “’He’s a paragon schnitzophonic,’ repeats Uncle Al. ‘You mean paranoid schizophrenic?’ ‘Sure. Whatever. But the bottom line is he’s madder than a hatter. Of course, he’s also brilliant, so we work around it’” (Gruen 266). August is the animal trainer, and he is also married to Marlena. He is paranoid and abusive, half the time he is charming and sweet and half the time he is cruel and angry. He beats Rosie on multiple occasions, just because she doesn’t understand him. Marlena is the horse trainer, she is friendly when she firsts meets Jacob and ends up falling in love with him. She’s very sweet and caring. Although her life forces her to be tough on the outside, she has a soft spot for her horses. Gruen uses many types of characterizations to make she character’s different from each other, and very well developed.

          Her writing style is raw. She includes nitty-gritty details, even if they are sad or hard to think about, like some of the scenes where August hurts Rosie with the bull hook, Gruen describes her screams of pain. Some are painful to hear, because it makes the scene seem more real and even more upsetting, but it makes th book pop, and it wouldn’t be the same without them/

          Overall this is a great book, and although it’s sad, and painful in some parts and the title doesn’t fit the story, the plot is strong, the charcaters are well-formed and it’s definitely a worth while read.

Non Fiction and Genres

I think a book has to be non-fiction if it’s going to be sold as non-fiction. I know: it’s a profound thought. If you’re writing a book about your life you need to recall all the conversations and events to the best of your ability. You should not make up that you’re multiracial or that you were adopted, if you’re white and still living in your biological parents’ house. That’s called realistic fiction, not a memoir. Certain obvious things, like that, we shouldn’t even have to ponder. There are some grey areas (like conversations), but I think if we try to get them as close to the truth as possible, it counts as a non-fiction memoir. Oh and saying you were in a gang, when in reality you only saw a movie about a gang is not as close to the truth as possible.

I do think we need genres as a reader or we would quickly get confused as to what’s real and what’s not. Our world is confusing enough, thank you. It helps you pick out the book you’re looking for. For instance, if you need to write a paper for forensics and you say some people died because of Voldemort, because the Harry Potter series was under non-fiction at the bookstore, you probably won’t get a good grade on that. It is important distinguish what is what. It helps the reader more than it hurts the author. Genres are necessary. There are too many books to know what each is about, or if you might be interested in reading it.

Literary Fiction

I think we need literary fiction in our curriculums. Those are the classics that teach us some lessons and introduce ideas, but I agree it is hard to read and can be really boring. A person no longer has to read the book to pass the test (I used Spark notes for Lord of the Flies and passed with an A-). I think the problem is the way they are taught. Teachers seem to tie the book to a chair and force a confession out if it, pounding out any of its secrets, over-analyzing every word. They should allow students to read it through, unguided, giving them a chance to actually, God forbid, enjoy they book. Then assign a creative assignment, connecting an issue or idea from the book to a modern day issue or idea. Prove that the book still has relevance to today’s world. Teachers should read along with the students, as a look-I’m-reading-it-and-it’s-not-killing-me reminder.

There is no need for us to try to look for messages hidden within the text. The students who care will catch them without being told. The students who don’t care don’t care how many times you ask why he said the wagon was red. It was red. Move on with the story.

Some older classics have before so cliché they have lost their value and people automatically think they know everything about the book. Disprove them. Teach it in a modern manor, let them act out Romeo and Juliet (if there’s a Julia in the class do not, I repeat, do not, force her to play Juliet if she doesn’t want to). Let them translate the iambic pentameters in to English (because no matter what teachers say, that is NOT English). Make it fun, and maybe the class will actually read it and not dread Language Arts, and not use spark notes, and understand why they are being taught this, and enjoy reading. Reading is fun. Please teachers, keep it fun.

Book 2 Project

Here is our book 2 project for Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.

Film Adaptations

For Book 2, I'm reading Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer. It would be a very challenging book to adapt into a film. It is all about the thoughts of the characters and is a stream of consciousness book. It would pose some difficulties in incorporating the depth of all the thoughts and emotions, and making the movie as deep as the book.

One of the scenes the movie would have to keep is when Oskar, the 9 year old boy whose father was killed in 9/11, is going through his dad’s bedroom in the beginning of the book. Touches the suit his dad had worn the night before his death, and he finds a blue vase on the highest shelf in his father’s room. The pretty blue color catches his eye and he climbs up to take a look. Oskar finds an envelope, with the word “Black” written on it, with a key in it in there and takes it out to closer examine it. As he does so, however, he accidentally knocks the vase down when he loses his balance. I think this scene is important because that is how he gets the key that starts him on a journey to find where it came from and what it unlocks. He meets many people and has many experiences along the way, but this is where the story really starts.

Another scene I think is important to keep is when he goes to the marker store to see if that’s where his dad got the marker that he used to write on the envelope with. Oskar searches through all the test pads of paper looking for his dad’s name to be scribbled on there while trying out a new writing utensil. Sure enough, he did find the name “Thomas Schnell” written multiple times in the little tablet of paper. This is the first step of his journey to discover what the key means, and he determines that Black is the last name of someone.

           

Another important scene is when Oskar meets Mr. Black, a wise, elderly man who lives just above him. Mr. Black talks extremely loudly at first because he had turned off his hearing aid for ages to save the battery. Jack asks him if he knew Thomas Schnell, and Mr. Black goes through his drawers and drawers of index cards with peoples’ names on them and a one word summary of their personalities. This is the first person Oskar tells about his mission to find the meaning of the key.

Two scenes I don’t think they should include is the scene where Oskar’s grandfather makes a nude sculpture of his grandma. It’s too graphic, rated-x, and doesn’t help the book along that much.

The scene about Oskar bashing in the boys head in Hamlet wasn’t necessary either. It is violent and scary. It showed the frustration Oskar felt with his dad dying a horrible death, Grandma embarrassing him, being bullied at school, and his mother moving on. However, I think they could probably invent another way to show his anger without smashing some boys head.

Book 1 Project

Book 1 Project

By Julia Kraimer

The book 13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher is about Clay, a high school student, listening to the tape recordings of Hannah, a girl who recently committed suicide. In the tapes, she tells her stories and the thirteen reasons why she took her life. He travels around town on the map she gave him. It showed the places where various significant event occurred.

One of the places on her map was Monet’s Garden: Café and Coffee House. Clay visits it after taking the city bus there. It was one of the last places Hannah felt safe and secure in, and after she stopped going there her life began to slowly crumble.  She says, “Monet’s Garden was our safe haven” (pg. 62). She had been new to the school, and that was where she met the two other new students. She became friends with them over the summer, so when school started she at least knew a couple of people. “If one of us had a hard time fitting in or meeting people, we’d go to Monet’s” Hannah explains (pg. 62).

I think we should recreate the small coffee house. New readers could be attracted there by their delicious hot chocolate and coffee. It could be a great place to read the book, as it is quiet, and new readers of the book can purchase it at the counter. This could pull in many new people, and keep people who already love the story interested.

Just as the café in the book was for Hannah, the recreation of Monet’s Garden should be a safe place for a heart-to-heart conversation. As Clay describes it, “around the garden, to keep the atmosphere relaxed, the lights are kept low” (pg. 73). This book is all about how much we can affect people’s lives, in either positive or negative ways, and how much that can sway how they look on their own life. The conversations people have in this café could help them put all of their struggles in to perspective. It could be a safe place for them in this unforgiving, cruel, fast moving world.  It could help them think through major decisions before they commit to something they can’t take back. It could help them develop a secure circle of people to talk to, a support group. It could help prevent suicide, just like the message in the book says.

Monet’s Garden would be a small, older looking, café. It would have an indoor area and an outdoor area (for people who are more comfortable outside). The building should be on a quiet road so that the patio doesn’t get too noisy from traffic. The main area, inside, would have a few small, round tables with 2 or 3 chairs at each. It would also have a couple couches and armchairs in the corner for a more comfortable conversation. The lighting should be just bright enough to read, but soft enough so that you don’t feel like you are constantly in the spot light and under peoples’ judgmental eyes. The courtyard should be enclosed by a little, black wrought iron fence, with vines growing on it. The little, round tables should be clear of all clutter, such as advertisements for various new items on the menu or flowers or condiments, as these can be annoying and distracting. Again, they should only have a couple chairs around them. There won’t be any large tables, as Monet’s Garden should be a quiet place, perfect for a deep talk, and big groups make too much noise. There should be some ample shady spots, but also some sunny areas.