More of... Jane Eyre

Despite my last two reviews of this book
I must say that I'm finally begining to enjoy this book.
I can see why this was such a hit with readers at that time.
I guess you really have to put yourself in the position of the characters
and that isn't possible without getting well into the book.
Romances don't appeal to me that much
but I can say that this is kind of like a different type of novel.
It's very hard to describe.
But once you get into the book
it's easy to understand what I'm talking about
I'm up to chapter 25 right now
and recently in the story
Rochester is preparting to get married to Blanche.
And Jane wonders how her emotions will react when she sees him with this other woman.
Jane swears that she has never loved a man like this.

In the next chapter, while they are both alone
they profess their love for one another.
Rochester even proposes to Jane.
He says that God approves this marriage so it doesnt matter what the rest of the world thinks.
While they are kissing under a tree
Jane notices Mrs. Fairfax watching them.

Jane is still baffled by the fact that this marriage is taking place despite their age and social differences.

Still... Jane Eyre

Against my will,
I've continued to read Jane Eyre.
I've gotten a little used to the way the characters and narrorater speak but I still feel very distant from the book.
I find myself kinda drifting away from the book.
Theres like 400 pages
and i've only finished about 150
so I have a long way to go.

So far in the book,
Jane is a 10 year orphan who lives with a family.
She feels very unappreciated and everyone around her thinks she is useless.
One of the boys in her foster family, John, is very abusive and always abuses her.
Somehow or another, Jane is always held responsible.

When Jane is banished to the "red room" as punishment,
she talks to Mr. Reed.
Mr. Reed was the landlord of the manor until he died.
He was the only one who had some respect for Jane and she missed him dearly.

At a doctors advice,
Jane is to be sent away to school.
Jane is more than excited to be leaving the home.
She overheard 2 of the other servants talking about her real family.
She learns that her father was a very very poor man who got married against his family's wishes.
Because of that,
his family disowned him.
Soon after Jane's father caught Typhus and spread it to his wife.
They both died, leaving jane behind.


So thats what happened in the chapters I've read.
I love the idea behind this book.
I just don't like the way it is being carried out.
Hopefully it'll get more exciting later.

This is a video of some clips of Jane Eyre the movie set to the song Far Away by Nickelback

Jane Eyre

I've started reading my new book for the english independent reading project.
Its a classic called Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte.
I haven't read that much yet.
Honestly, I find it really boring.
Maybe because I find it soo incredibly hard to connect with the language they use.
But I think the plot of the story is really interesting.
Its just the way the plot was carried out.

Its about a young girl who falls in love with her boss.

Maybe it will get more interesting later.
However, as of now,
its really a struggle to enjoy reading it

I heard they have a Jane Eyre movie
Maybe if I watch it as I read it
the text will be easier to analyze and understand

Symbolism

Well guys,
I've finished reading Twisted.
I must say it was an awesome book.
And the ending of this book was much better than the last book I read.

So in this blog entry
I want to talk about symbolism.
In this book Tyler plays a game where he has to get the "Gormley" through many levels of hell.
I think that this game has a deeper significance that just a game.
As Tylers life gets worse and worse his "Gormley" travels deeper and deeper into hell.
When Tylers life is rocked by allegations of lewd acts,
his "Gormley" goes all the way back to the beggining of the game because he lost so many lives.

Near the end of the book when Tyler is cleared of the allegations and gets things cleared with his dad
his "Gormley" breaks free from hell and is given a choice to become the prince of darkness or to just stay free.

I hadn't even realized why "Gormley" was even in the book.
I thought it was just something added into the book to be funny.
I realize now what significance it had.
"Gormley" changed consecutively as Tylers life went through different phases.

And anyone out there
READ THIS BOOK!
its really cool.
I think any teenager would enjoy and relate to it.

Twisted

I'm currently reading my second book called Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson.
I've read 217 pages so far this week.
It's a really good book and I feel like I can relate to it a bit.
Its the story of a boy named Tyler who is struggling to fit in.
He spray paints his high school, causes thousands of dollars in damages, and has probation because of it.
But it was all worth it to him because he gained some new found respect.
Tyler is most happy that Bethany Millbury, his crush since ever, is finding some interest in him.
Too bad his parents don't see it like that.
Especially his dad.
When Bethany and Tyler go to a party together
Bethany gets really really drunk and wants to have sex with Tyler.
As much as Tyler wants to do the same, he knows it wouldnt be right because she was drunk.

After that night, Bethany never spoke a word to Tyler.
In fact, Tyler was being investigated by the police for a connection with the nedu pictures of Bethany circulating the internet.
Tyler is going through hell and doesn't know what to do about it.
To make matters worse, everyone in school beats him up everyday.
Add to that the fact that Bethany is Tylers fathers boss's daughter.

Tylers dad wants to send him to military school even though he knows Tyler did nothing but watch out for Bethany.
Tyler hated his life.
He'd rather end it.
He tried shooting a gun into his mouth but he threw up and couldn't go through with it.
So he wants to run away and then find a way of killing himself.

The last fifty or so pages of what I've read so far is really exciting and I thought of a song that kind of relates to it
Its called Life is Beautiful by Sixx Am



You can't quit until you try
You can't live until you die
You can't learn to tell the truth
Until you learn to lie
You can't breathe until you choke
You gotta laugh when you're the joke
There's nothing like a funeral to make you feel alive
Just open your eyes
Just open your eyes
And see that life is beautiful.
Will you swear on your life,
That no one will cry at my funeral?
I know some things that you don't
I've done things that you won't
There's nothing like a trail of blood to find your way back home
I was waiting for my hearse
What came next was so much worse
It took a funeral to make me feel alive
Just open your eyesJust open your eyes
And see that life is beautiful.
Will you swear on your life,
That no one will cry at my funeral?
Alive...
Just open your eyes
Just open your eyes
And see that life is beautiful.
Will you swear on your life,
That no one will cry at my funeral?
Just open your eyes
Just open your eyes
And see that life is beautiful.
Will you swear on your life,
That no one will cry at my funeral?
Just open your eyes
Just open your eyes
And see that life is beautiful.
Will you swear on your life,
That no one will cry at my funeral?

Done With My First Book

So over this past week I've finished my first book for independant reading called Stuck In Neutral.
I have to say that I was really REALLY dissapointed with the ending of the book.
It was nothing like I expected... in a bad way.
In my last post I expressed my prediction s for the ending of the book.
I was hoping that Shawn somehow came back into a state where he could move and talk voluntarily.

The ending of the book was when Shawn's dad came into his room and told him how much he loved his son but couldn't live to see another day that he has to struggle.
Shawn really tried his hardest to try and communicate with his father but all he could do was drool.
As the book came into its last pageI was wondering what was going to happen.
The ending seemed to be moving at a snails pace.
In the last half page, Shawn experiences a seizure and thats it...
...

WHAT!!!
You have to be kidding me!
I was sooo hyped up about the ending of the book and it turns out to be like THAT!
Its safe to say that I was thoroughly dissapointed.
I think this could have been a GREAT phenomenal book if the author (Terry Trueman) really gave some insight into his ending.

I understand that people like cliffhangers ( I, not being one of them).
But I think there could have been a way for Mr. Trueman to tell what happens to Shawn and still leave readers with a little wonder.

From now on, I will label books that give uninformed endings as "Soprano Endings".
Do I even have to explain that..?

Stuck In Neutral

The first book I've chosen to read for my english independant reading project is Stuck In Neutral.

So far, in the first hundred pages there is a boy named Shawn McDaniels.
A small bllod vessel happened to burst in the wrong part of his brain which would lead him to have cerebral palsy AND muscular dystrophy.
He can't move at all and never will.
He can't speak, eat, write, and many things most people may take advantage of.
No one really understands his condition. When he goes to school, people ask him questions and he may reply by involuntary jerking or drooling. Most people think he has the IQ of a baby. But thats not true. He is actually very intelligent. But what is the use of that if you can't prove it to anyone. He can't even control the movements his eyes make.
His body has total control of him.
Shawn's dad left the family after some time because he couldn't live with shawn's condition. Shawn's dad said that anytime Shawn would go into one of his seizures, a part of him would die inside and he couldnt bear to see it anymore.
Quite ironically, Shawn's daily seizures are the highlight of Shawn's day.
When he has a seizure he imagines he can do anything. He can talk, fly, flirt with his crushes, anything he wants. They don't hurt him much, so Shawn loves his seizures. It's the one thing in his life that he has total control over.

One day while Shawn was outside alone.
Some crows used Shawn as a resting post. Of course, Shawn couldn't do anything. When Shawns dad came out, he shooed the crows away and said that Shawn would be better off if he "ended his pain". Shawn got scared because he thinks his dad will kill him.

That was just the beginning. Shawns dad won a pulitzer for a poem he wrote about Shawn. He's using some of his new-found popularity to advocate for some things. For example, Shawns dad does a t.v. program that urges the government to cut the funding for kids such as Shawn.
The thing that scared Shawn the most was when his dad went on the Alice Ponds show. He was there to stick up for a man named Earl Detraux. Earl smothered his 2 year old son ,with cerebral palsy, to death.
Earl Detraux insists he did it because he couldn't bear to see his son, Colin, in any more than than he was going through.
Shawns mother, his sister, and brother, all became aware of what message his dad was sending.
They never really talked about it though.


My opinion for the rest of the book (and there isnt much left), is that Shawns dad will come and tell him how much he loves Shawn. At that time, something in Shawn's brain will happen that will make him move. I don't really know how the book would end. But i hope it goes a little like that

So far i give this book a 4 out of 5 stars.