1st book of Series of Unfortunate Events

Honestly, I read this book because I couldn't find any good books in the library, and it was one of the few books that I have in my house. However, I have never thoroughly read this book, so I decided to take a stab at it. The theme I think is depression, because the children suffer depression while being in the Count's house.

Lemony Snicket wrote this depressing book which seems sort of amusing to me. I liked his sense of humor, and telling the meaning of random vocabulary words and relating it into the story. In this story, a children of the Baudelaire family heard the shocking news. Their parents died from a terrible fire. Because of this, they were sent to a house of a terrible distant relative named Count Olaf, a theater actor. After suffering quite a while from being a "captive" of the house, the children discovered the real purpose of the Count's hospitality of the kids. For their family heritage!

This is as far as I got to. Although I just started this book, I don't plan on finishing it because it seems pretty childish, and would like to enjoy more classic books.

Post #4 of RedWall

Today, I finished the book RedWall. Overall, I didn't like this book. The battle between the RedWall citizens and Cluny the Scourge seemed extremely unfair. Cluny never succeeded in defeating the RedWall citizens until the very end, where he eventually died. There was no suspense at all, so as a reader, I wasn't very entertained.

Although the story was toward its finish, Matthias made more friends. While on his quest, Matthias became friends with some querulous creatures called Shrews. They were like mice, but were weird looking. They always argued with each other, and Matthias was often annoyed because of that. With the Shrew's help, he found out where he could find the long lost sword which was stolen by a giant viper. While searching for the whereabouts of the viper, he became friends with an owl named Captain Snow, and a cat. With their help, Matthias was able to kill the viper, and retrieve the lost sword. 

While this was taking place, Cluny sent a spy inside RedWall, and made him open the gate door while all of the city's citizens were sleeping. Everyone seemed to be helpless under the captive of Cluny's horde. Matthias, the only warrior of RedWall who still had liberty gathered up all of his friends (shrews, sparrows, owl, cat) and killed all of the enemy mercilessly. Cluny was killed, and Matthias was greatly honored. RedWall was victorious.

In the beginning, I planned to finish the entire series. However, after finishing the first novel, I don't think I want to read a book by Brian Jacques again. Although the vocabulary and sentence structure was higher than the level of an elementry student, the plot was very childish.

Post #3 of RedWall

In this part of the book, the sparrows are introduced. When Jess (a squirrel that is expert at climbing) was fulfilling the  request of the Abbot to climb to the tip of the castle and retrieve a long lost sword, she was raided by a group of sparrows. In their attempt to scare away the sparrows, the archers started to fire arrows at the sparrows. One of the arrows accidentally hit a sparrow named Warbeak, a belligerent sparrow that hated mice. While it was held captive, the sparrow threatened every creature within its vicinity that it would kill them once it is freed. If she doesn't succeed in doing so, then her group leader would. Matthias at the same time searched for the long lost sword. He had an idea that the sparrows might have taken the weapon, so he seeked Warbeak for help. Warbeak wasn't as kind at the beginning, but on their trip to the top of the castle where the sparrow nests were, they grew intimate with one another, and eventually became good friends. When the sparrow boss tried to kill Matthias, it was Warbeak who saved Matthias.

The leader of the sparrow tribe is depicted as an unfit ruler who took advantage of his power too much. He was very mean to Matthias also. He took Matthias' sword belt that too was legendary, and took all of the goods that Matthias had at that time. The only way Matthias was to be granted freedom was if he was to bring more goods to the boss. Although the sparrows had the same opinion as Matthias, they couldn't do anything because they were afraid of the boss' excellent fighting skill. Together with Warbeak and her mother, Matthias plans to escape the captivity of the sparrows.

Post #2 of RedWall

In this part of the book, the antagonist camed Cluny is more thoroughly introduced. As a reader, I was able to get more of an idea about Cluny, and what type of person (rat) he is. He is good leader who is very persistent, endless, and very picky. Although he would be a favorable charater if hewas a good guy, because he is the evil rat who is trying to disrupt the peace of RedWall, he is impossible to be liked. The theme of the parts of the book, where it is told on Cluny's view, is curruption. Everything that Cluny has in charge of is currupted: from his base to every single one of his battle tactics. On the other hand, everything in RedWall is perfect. They never lost a single battle yet. When the rats had unfair advantage over the mice of RedWall, the mice just won. To make the matters worse, the mice oversaw every single tactic that were planned by Cluny, and successfully defended themselves from getting into any peril.

I personallydon't like these kinds of books where the good guys win without even breaking a sweat. I enjoy books in which the main characters struggles yet never gives up, and due to his determination, he either wins or loses.

RedWall by Brian Jacques

Right now, the feelings evoked by the book is very peaceful and happy. The main character Mathias has his life set. The village RedWall is a community in which everyone accepts one another. They don't have any prejudices toward others. One family, the Churchmouse family is very poor. However, instead of abandoning them of their social status, Mathias' dad tried to help them by secretly handing Mrs. Chuchmouse some food from the party that he hosted, in which everyone was invited. The theme of this book is peacefulness is good. Mathias dreamed of becomming a great warrior. However, his father discouraged Mathias of having such a dream, because he didn't want the village to go into a war again. He enjoyed the peace that he was experiencing in the village, and wanted to keep things that way. Later, an evil mouse named Cluny is introduced, who is the destroyer of the peace. Because of Cluny, the village suffers from the "darkness".
I am currently very fond of the main character Mathias. He is very loyal to his father. Even though his father makes him do errands, Mathias doesn't complain, and get straight to his work. In some ways, Mathias relates to me. I too am a great person, and would try to do anything that would satisfy my parents. Because Mathias is such a sweet child, his father Abott has nothing to say against him. One thing that I differ from Mathias is the way I treat my sister, and the way he treats his brother. I sometimes abuse my sister, and I think that I would need to fix this.
Overall, I believe that this book would be a great reading for my leasure times, and think that I would need to finish the rest of the trilogy after I'm finished reading.

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1. Andrew Nam
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The pigs broke many of the rules that have been written by Snowball. The rules are called the seven commandment, and it is as follows.
1. whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy
2. whatever goes upon four legs, or has wings, is a friend
3. no animal shall wear clothes
4. no animal shal sleep in a bed
5. no animal shall drink alcohol
6. no animal shall kill any other animal
7. all animals are equal

Pigs have always broken these rules, and told a pig named Squealor to make convince their fellow animals that what they have done is right. So, Squealor always went into the barn secretly, and changed the seen commandment. Here are the revised commandments.

1. No animal shall sleep in a bed WITH SHEETS
2. No animal shall kill any other animal WITHOUT CAUSE
3. No animal shall drink alcohol TO EXCESS
4. Four legs good, two legs better..
5. All animals are equalbut some animals are more equal than others.

The pigs have proven themselves to be hipocrites big time.

Significant Passage

"Animal Farm"
"Twelve voices were shouting in anger, and they were all alike. No Question, now, what had happened to the faces of the pigs. The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again, but already it was impossible to say which was which."

This passage really made me think. I knew that pigs were taking advantages of their power, but I could never have guessed that they became exactly what they have meant to get rid of. I think George Orwell tried to tell us that power can turn a human being into anything; even a hypocrite. Napoleon seemed to be a nice pig who deserved people's trust. Although there were controvercies of ideas between Snowball and Napoleon, I just thought that Napolean was recommending his idea because he thought that following his ideas will make Animal farm successful. However, after he gained power, he started to be filled with greedy desires. I think that George Orwell is trying to tell us that the main cause of a dystopian world is greed. Because Napolean became greedy, he wanted everything to be better for his "race" than any other. Because humans are the superior race in Earth, Napolean might have thought that the pigs must become more like human to become superior in the farm.

Climax

I think the climax of this book is when the pigs appear in front of their fellow animals on their two feet, when they've continuously been chanting "four legs good, two legs bad." The sheeps, who were really into this chant were one day taken by a persuader among the pigs named "Squealer" and were taught something new. Sheeps, who were dumb in nature, appearently listened to Squealer as he was giving his lessons to them because, the sheeps did exactly what the pigs wanted them to do. When there was a procession of the pigs in front of the animals, the sheeps started to chant something rather new. They yelled "four legs good, two legs better." I was especially shocked at this because, I finally understood what the true purpose of the pigs. They wanted to become something that they've hated for years: humans. I really hate people like him. People who betray his/her friends just so that they can enjoy the glory.

Mood

"Animal Farm"
The mood of the characters in the story was very happy because they thought they were doing everything to the best quality due to their leader's guidance. The animals always thought that their leader Napolean was doing his best providing for them, and sheltering them. As I read this story, I was deeply saddened. As a reader, I knew the fact that Napolean was only caring for the pigs, and almost all of the things he did was to support and provide for the pigs. The animals deserved a lot more than they were being paid for their labor. The pigs were worse supervisors than Mr. Jones, so as I was reading through the book, I constantly thought how it would've been better for the animals to have appreciated and accepted Mr. Jones of his treatment toward them. In the end, the pigs betrayed their fellow animals for power and comfort.

Main Characters

"Animal Farm"
The main characters of "Animal Farm" are Snowball and Napolean. They're both pigs, and took major leads when they overthrew Mr. Jones and claimed the farm for themselves.
Snowball had good ideas. If he had a country to run, then the country would have a democratic government system. He believed that the fellow animals should have a say in how their farm should run, believed that it would be necessary to have a meeting to distribute jobs, have meetings and have a conference, and he believed that the fellow animals should have a say in what decisions were to be made in the farm.
Napolean is a pig who became a leader after he got rid of Snowball. Napolean was a pig whose ideas differed greatly from ideas of Snowball. Napolean's country would've been ran by a communistic government because he believed that he had the complete power to decide who was better than others, who deserved more than others, and most importantly, who was more equal than others. Napolean basically brainwashed the fellow animals, using a pig named Squealer, into believing everything that he believed were correct.

Settings

"Animal Farm"
The story of Animal Farm took place in a world where animals are capable of logic, and have the capability of surviving by themselves. The animals learned how to read and write, how to take care and run a farm, and how to negotiate and plan a rebellion against humans, and create their own government. In the end of the book, the pigs even have fun with human beings by playing poker, telling each other jokes, and even drinking with them.
In this type of world, the story takes in an animal farm called the Manor Farm. The farm used to belong to a farmer named Mr. Jones. For a while, the Manor Farm has been known as the Animal Farm, but after Snowball was chased away from the Animal Farm and Napolean became the leader of the farm, the farm became known as the Manor Farm again.

Entry #3: What qualities would you like to have as a Greed god or goddess?

If I had a choice, I would probably choose to have the quality of Poseidon, the god of water, sea, ocean, HO2, and ect. I've always like the power given to Poseidon, because he's one of few gods that could both award and punish human beings. He has the power to bring raging storm of water and destroy human shelters, or even send beasts of the sea to punish, or even kill the human beings. On the contrary, he can provide sailors with waves that are good enough to sail, provide humans with fish to eat, and keep humans safe from the beasts of the sea. I especially like the trident that Poseidon always seems to carry on murals, paintings, and many other artistic works. The trident seems to make him more than he is. It gives him the look of having authority, and makes him look powerful, and infallable. I've always believed the trident to be some sort of magical wand that is used by rulers of the sea. It is seen and portrayed as a symbol of power. The only purpose of the trident is to manipulate the water, which is a very appropriate weapon a sea god should be carrying. If I had a chance, I would like to have the power of Poseidon.

(I just wrote what I knew)

Entry #2: Greek monsters

Chimera

Chimera is a mythical monster that was made of many parts of different animals. In Homer, a Chimera is described as "a thing of immortal make, not human, lion-fronted and snake behind, a goat in the middle, and snorting out the breath of the terrible flame of bright fire." By many versions of myths, and many myth writers, Chimera is known to be a female from the beginning, although it has a mane on its lion face. Chimera was once known to be the sign of storms, shipwrecks, and natural disasters but mostly volcanoes. The Chimera defeated many heroes, and ended up killing most of them. It was finally defeated by a hero named Bellerophon with the help of Pegasus. Since Pegasus has wings and therefore can fly, he shot the Chimera with an arrow from a safe distance in the air where the Chimera isn't able to reach to hurt him. Bellerophon was commanded to fight offthe Chimera by king lobates of Lycia, whose original intenstion was to kill Bellerophon. Chimera was a motivation of many vase makers, who design their vases with mythical beings (shown above).


Citation:
Wikipedia, "Chimera (mythology)." Wikipedia 9 March 2008 11 March 2008 .

Entry #1: Greek god

Eros

This is Eros, the god of love. He usually uses his powers to make fun of people. The golden makes the victim fall in love with the first person that they see, and the silver arrow makes the victim hate the fist person who they see. Eros usually uses a combination of these two arrows, to make a person suffer with unbearable love toward another person, while that person who is being loved hates the person incredibly. The god of sun, Apollo, had to suffer from this, when he made fun of the tiny arrow of Eros. Eros was the son of Aphrodite (goddess of love) and Ares (god of war.) The major role of Eros in the mythology is to be the attendant of Aphrodite. Eros is the "troublemaker" of the mythology, probably because of his young age. He sometimes gets in a way of the destinies set by the gods, or sometimes ignores his mother, and doesn't create a love relationship that was meant to be between the two people. Eros is usually depicted as a young, naked boy with wings but in some variations of the story, he wears a blindfold due to the proverb "love is blind," and is described as bittersweet, or cruel, because he tortures the mortals and sometimes immortals as well, with his gift of being able to give, or take away love.

Citation:
Wikipedia, "Eros." Wikipedia 8 March 2008 10 March 2008 . http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eros_%28mythology%29

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Andrew Nam
Jesse Park
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Josep Falta
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Sephen Kim

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"1984"
I think that George Orwell is a very talented author. The story is so realistic that it makes me wonder whether or not he has actually lived in a dystopian world, and based the book on his experience. I've heard that George Orwell wrote this book because he didn't like the way the state of the world back then, and thought the world would be like the dystopian world portrayed in the book. So, the book was like a warning from George Owell. I highly recommend this book to people who are very emotional, and view the world in a negative way. They can read this book, and would be able to realize that their life of freedom isn't so bad after all. After reading about the sufferings that Winston had to go through, the emotional people are most likely to become happy, and view the world in a more beautiful and optimistic way.

Settings of 1984

"1984"
The setting of 1984 is very disturbing. It's during the time where there are three major powers, and are always at war, so the people of the countries are always made to hate the opponents of the country that they live in. All of the freedom from the people are taken away, and the only people who have the closest things to freedom are the the people of the Inner Party, or the thought police. The citizens seems to worship the inner party members. The more disturbing part of the story was when people must spend a week of a month by practicing an event called hate week. During the hate week, the soldiers of the enemies of the country, and the picture of Goldstein comes out, and people scream insults, curses, and many other cruel things to those people's pictures. I don't think I'll be able to live in such a place where it's filled with hate, violence, and leaders who take away freedom in everyway.

Choose one passage and evaluate it

"1984"
"The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears, It was their final, most essential command. His heart sank as he thought of the enormous power arrayed against him, the ease with which any Party intellectual would overthrow him in debate, the subtle arguments which he would not be able to understand, much less answer. And yet he was in the right! They were wrong and he was right. The obvious, the silly, and the true had got to be defended. Truisms are true, hold on to that! The solid is wet, objects unsupported fall toward the earth's center. With the feeling that he was speaking to O'Briend, and also that he was setting forth an important axiom, he wrote: Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four, If that is granted, all else follows."

This is when Winston was very frustrated that he couldn't do anything, and looked to the diary as only way to express his feelings. At that time, he had thought that O'Brien was on his side, and wanted to somehow have a conversation with him about the rebellion, and all of the other things that had to do with the Inner Party. The last sentence of this passage really made me think. It made me realize how beautiful the concept of freedom is, and how blessed I am to be able to live with such a priviledge. Winston was basically dying for freedom. He didn't like the fact that his every move was being watched, and that thinking is crime. Winston was talking about if the government says that two plus two equals five, then it is five. By writing the last sentence in the diary, I think Winston means that if the government is wrong, if should be allowed to correct them, not live in the way of their errors.

Who are the main characters in the novel? Do you like them? What is special about them? What do they reveal about the universal human experience?

"1984"
The three significant characters of this novel are Winston, Julia, and O'Brien. Winston is a character who has the thought of rebellion against the Inner Party and Big Brother from the beginning to most of the end. When he is captured and is sent to the Ministry of Love, through all of the torture and interviews, Winston is gradually brainwashed and in the end, admires the Big Brother like as if he's never held any animosity towards him. I really like this character. He resembles very well. If I believe that something is right, I believe in that opinion very strongly. However, I do not think that I would be able to stay with this belief through series of torture, brainwashing, threats, and the possibility of being eaten by a group of vicious rats. Like him, instead of being able to sustain my belief, I would give up, and chose to stick to the status quo.
Julia is a fellow rebellion with Winston. She has already commited many acts that were considered as crimes by the Dystopian world portrayed in 1984. After meeting Winston, they tried to find the organization called "Brotherhood" which was known to be an underground rebellion group against the Inner Party. I like Julia also. She's worked with Winston to pursue their goal. She kept on with her goal, and did many things to achieve it.
I like O'Brien the most. Although many people might see him as a traitor and artedan untrusty person, in my point of view, he did something that he believed in, and worked hard to maintain his high possition in the Inner Party, and did his best to capture his enemy, and making them believe in what he thought was the right belief.
I think humans will try to do something that they believe is correct. So, this basically means that there aren't the absolute right or wrong when it comes to beliefs. (excluding religion...)

what is the climax of this novel? what happens? how do the events of this novel make you feel?

"1984"
The climax of the novel is when Winston and his girlfriend Julia
are sent to the government cell. They are cent to the cell
because they have been tricked by the Thought Police, and are
caught discussing ways to rebel against the government. Inside
the cell, Winston is tortured, was in the process of being brainwashed,
and was encouraged to betray his girlfriend who already betrayed
him. By going through both the mental and physical tortures,
Winston gives in, and fails to stay strong in his belief.
This makes me feel pity for the people of Oceana. They have
absolutely no point of living other then to serve the government.
It also makes me believe that the kind of world portrayed in 1984
shouldn't ever be put into real life or else, we'll end up betraying
everything just to live.

What is the mood of this novel? Do you d this novel saddens you in any way? why?

"1984"
The book "1984" portrays the possibility of the society of the world today.
Winston Smith lives in this different dimension. In this different world,
the freedom is taken from everybody. There are even specialized polices
who make sure that the major crime called thinking isn't commited by anyone.
People who rebelled against the government were all "brainwashed" and ended
up obeying and loving the Big Brother. Winston himself is a rebellion along
with agirlfriend he makes later in the book. The mood of the story is sad,
malancholy and any other adjetives that describe the word pessimism.
The people who theWinston considered as friends all either were killed by
the government orbetrayed him. In the end, Winston himself gets "brainwashed",
and goes against everything he's believed for about 45 years.