Slaughterhouse five

I've decided to do this post about Slaughterhouse Five, which I've just recently finished. This was a very interesting and real book. I liked how Kurt Vonnegut didn't censor any of the gruesome truths of war. Also, i found it fun that Vonnegut could infuse comedy with a devastating event whilst making the devastation very recognizable. I believe the phrase, "And even if the wars didn't keep coming like glaciers, there would still be plain old death." really does an excellent job summarizing the theme of this book. It states that with or without war people still die and most importantly despite that death time still continues. It's as if one death is irrelevant. War may be unnecessary but it is also inevitable.

OH! Also, The ending to Slaughterhouse five wasn't bad but it most definitely wasn't what i was expecting. I kind of expected some deep, insightful, human interpretation on war. Couldn't he think of a better analogy than birds? I mean come on; "Poo-tee-weet." Really?

OR- Numero cuatro

Today, in my boook, The main character (still have no idea what his name) continues his search for the man/woman with the name Black who contributed to the main characters- lets just call him paul this time- fathers death. This time paul's searching brought him to an apparently "incredibly beautiful" woman. Despite the woman saying she has no idea who Thomas Schell- the boys father- is, Paul can't help the feeling she's lying to him. After many persuasive efforts Paul gives up, but not before asking Mrs. Black- who is in fact a Mrs.- if they "can kiss for a while." She's 48 and he's about 11. Not only is that awkward and creepy, it's also illegal. Very, very illegal. Mrs. Black politely declines, (thank god!)and introverted, dissapointed Paul departs. Also in this chapter we learn a little more about the close bond between Paul and his grandmother. She is always extrememly worried about Paul because of one incident where she sorta-kinda lost him. He is her everything and she caters to his every waking need and want.
Thats where i'm gonna leave you.

OR- Numero tres

Well, continuing from where i left off, Thomas is searching for this mysterious "Black" who may lead him closer to finding out what happened to his father. He is very persistent, and i mean VERY persistent. Thomas insists on searching- and interviewing- everyone in NY with the name Mr./Mrs./Miss/Ms. Black. Along his journey he has these sort of flashbacks slash flashforwards where it seems as though he is narrating his future...which takes place in the present...it's really confusing. So far, Thomas has met a Mr. Black who appears to be very sick and hooked up to a bunch of IV's. This man is grumpy but becomes empathetic when he learns of Thomas's fathers death. That's about it. Stay tuned. :]

Outside reading- numero dos

So today i read quiet a bit in my book. Got pretty far. Page 70-ish...i think. Anywhozzlfrynser, I still enjoy this book very much. I'm starting to kinda get lost in it, but that's ok. I'm sure i can recover. The main character -whose name may possibly be Thomas, I think i'll just call him Thomas for now- finds out his father is dead. Which is sad. He apparently died in a fire at his work. (BTW story take place in NY, did i mention that yet?) Thomas is obviously really shook up about the tradgedy. On top of it all he feels like his mom and him are drifting apart. What a bad day/week/month/year/life. Thomas then finds a key hidden in a vase in his fathers study, what he was doing in the study IDK. Along with the key there is an envelop, on this envelope is the word black, written in red pen. Peculiar? Why would the word black be wrtten with a color that is so very un-black. Unless it's a name?!?!? GASP. Thomas goes to investigate...and thats where i stopped.

Outsiding reading- Blog numero uno.

For my outside reading blog i chose the book "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close"
I started at page 0 and read to page 30 in class. If we do the math correctly that's 30 pages i read in class. As of what I've read so far I'm loving this book. It's just so pleasantly odd. It's about this little boy -possibly actually a teenager- who is gifted with all these crazy, yet fantastically original ideas and thoughts. He seems to be very drawn to his father and has an almost creepy obsession with pleasing his mother. Also, I'm not entirely sure yet, but i think he may be autistic or something to that similar effect because he is so completely random and seems to be completely unaware of logical thinking and social boundaries. I mean, to demonstrate just how innocently trusting he is here is a shocking example from the book; this boy gives duplicate keys to his loft -WHICH happens to have ALL of his and his family's valuable belongings -to everyone from the mailman to the pizza delivery man. Oh boy...
The place that i left off we just found out his father died. Sorry i keep calling him HIM. I don't believe they've given me a name yet.

New Imperialism

"imperialsim in asia." wikipedia. 16 feb 2009. wikipedia. 17 Mar 2009 .
"scramble for africa." wikipedia. 16 feb 2009. wikipedia. 17 Mar 2009 .
"bush war." wikipedia. 16 feb 2009. wikipedia. 17 Mar 2009 .
"gattling gun." wikipedia. 16 feb 2009. wikipedia. 17 Mar 2009 .

I will be talking a little bit about imperialism in China. During the eighteenth century, the Qing Dynasty government expanded its western borders to include areas such as Xinjiang and Tibet that had historically been under direct Chinese control during the Han, Tang, Yuan periods. This led to the process of Chinese national unification. Chinese nationalists, mainly those of the nineteenth century, also regarded Qing expansion as imperialist and colonial when it came the Qing rule of Han Chinese areas, but not when it came to ruling outlying regions. During and earlier than the eighteenth century, Jesuits and merchants from Western Europe came to China in increasing numbers which led to the beginning of Euroopean expansion in China.

Love blog

I'm not quite sure how to discuss the topic of love, considering I havent been a victim yet. Well yes, I love my family members and close friends, thats all fine and dandy, but love LOVE? The kind that's described as burning, passionate, tear jerking, heart crushing, wanna puke rainbows love. The kind that makes for great poetry? No i havent experienced any of THAT. Hopefully someday. Plus teenage love? I mean, come on. How unrealistic, our prefrontal cortex isn't even properly developed yet, meaning we tend to make rash, hardly thought out decisions. Notice how i'm saying WE. In my opinion, as of this moment, I think love is a little overrated, I think love may just be a strong sense of unexplainable admiration. Then again, I could be totally wrong.
Besides all my negative comments, Love is publicized as such a beautiful thing. I believe if we didnt have the concept and idea of love life would be alot more boring. Take movies for example, What would Romeo and Juliet be without love? Not worth watching. Though, I also believe there would be alot less fighting. Love is such a conflicting concept. So many people dream of it, some are even willing to die just for the feeling. There are so many crimes that are committed "in the name of love", because apparently committing a crime out of love makes a person a little more human. A little more relateable. Some people base their whole existence around finding love, they look for something shown in propoganda, they base their facts off of other peoples stories. I'm sure the feeling of love is different for every person.
Well i'm done.