Slam! Bam! I'm finally done... It was a tedious sail, just like the old man. It's very funny, because after his long journey, he sank into his bed, just like I am about to! I have several questions that I cannot answer myself (deeper questions about life) and some about the book. I thought I would be able to finish this book rather quickly, because I mean, there are only 120 some pages, but it took me longer than some of the other books! I think it was rather very detailed and since a lot of the same sentences and words repeated, I felt like I was going in circles rather than moving forward with the story. One think I found particularly interesting was the way Ernest Hemingway repeated several vocabulary and sentences. Of course, symbols! Some of the repeating symbols I found was "left hand", phosphorescence, purple stripes, baseball, and more...

Like the last post, I am not quite sure what these recurring symbols mean, but for the left hand, there were constant images of his cramps/cuts in his left hand and how he kept on dipping it in the ocean. At first, it was to cleanse the cut, but then it became almost like a habit. He put it in after he finished his thought, or talked to himself. On page 85, Hemingway wrote, "Why was I not born with two good hands? he thought,," (Hemingway, 85). I thought the hands symbolized the two types of personality human kinds have; kindness and evil. We all possess both sides, where on one hand, we are very sympathetic, kind people, but on the other hand, we all sin and have a slight hint of "bad" within us. Similar to the theme of "holy water" in various books that we have read in class, I thought the old man was rinsing his sins off to lessen the sin of killing the fish, or clear his minds from convoluted thoughts.

Another word that kept on popping up was phosphorescence. I could not think of why this word has such significance, but I think it may have to do with his persistence, where he is following his "light" and passion, and holding on to the hope. You can see the phosphorescent light clearly in the dark, and of course, hope is the brightest in the dark. So I thought that maybe the author was trying to depict this theme of hope throughout the story.

One thing I did not get was the mentioning of the lion. I've been trying to find out why the old man keeps on mentioning the lion; the book even ends with the word lions! He wrote, "The old man was dreaming about the lions," (Hemingway, 127). The only lion I can think of is Aslan... Lions usually symbolize bravery, and authority, but I don't see how that can fit into this story.

Some of the quotes that I really liked was "A man is never lost at sea..." and the whole section on page 105 where the old man wonders if he is sinning when he is killing the fish, as he is not sure if he does this because of necessity, or because of his pride that he is a fisherman. These two quotes have really struck me to think about my life. Yes, it is sometimes hard when you keep on doubting your real intentions, but like the quote that a man is never lost at sea, our life does not betray us wholly; it lets us find our own path eventually.

Despite the fact that it was a slow read, I think I'd recommend this book. But, I think reading it as a class, or with a group of friends would be much more effective, because I think this book has so many amazing quotes and symbols that could be taken in many ways.

Questions...is he okay?

Now I get why people were telling me that it was a very slow read, despite its short, deceptive appearances. It is basically about this old man and his struggle with a giant marlin in the Gulf Stream. I think this whole book is an analogy to life.

I have no idea if my analysis is going to be right, but here is how I perceived the story. I took the big marlin that the old man is trying to catch as the future, or the biggest fear one has in his or her life. The reason why I thought that is because as Hemingway wrote, “I wish I could see him only once to know what I have against me,” (Hemingway, 46). As soon as I read this phrase, I knew immediately that Ernest Hemingway was referring to that fear, or that apprehensive feeling towards the future, because I’ve heard it from various people that they’d rather know what they were facing rather than not knowing about it. When you don’t know what you are up to, or what you are facing, it comes off as much more threatening and violent. Your imagination builds on to create a monster that may not even be real. That way, I thought that the fish was a reference to that fear, or the struggle that one has. Just like the struggles that we are going to face in the future, the fish doesn’t reveal its appearance and continues to swim without jumping up or pulling away. That is what tugs at the old man’s heart, I think, because he is eager to catch it, but more than catching it, I think he is more eager to know what he had caught.

Another reason why I believed that the fish is a reference to the fear is because the old man continues to say, “’I wish the boy was here,’” (Hemingway, 50). Whenever we face our biggest fears, or we are unsure about the future, we often turn to our family, friends, and others for support and help, yet it is often the case that the situation cannot be fixed by anyone but themselves. Only the person facing the darkness can find the light, and that is how one learns lessons in their lives. The old man knows that it is quite foolish to want the boy, but then he still wishes that he was not alone when fighting a lonely battle.

Lastly, the bird that later accompanies the old man for a brief time symbolizes, in my opinion, the goodness in life, or opportunities in life that we often neglect. When the bird was there, the old man felt a sudden attachment, because he was too lonely. However, at that moment, the fish had pulled on the string, and distracted the old man from the bird. The bird flies away and the old man doesn’t even realize this until later. I thought again that this was an analogy to life, because sometimes if we are too caught up with our “work” and what we “must” do, that we often forget or simply misses the goodness in life and what is actually important (usually what you need). That was my brief take on from this book, halfway through. Now, I may be completely off track, but I think it was interesting to see the parallel.

One thing though that I’m confused about is that this old man is talking too his own hand… He got a cut and he is saying things like, “Is this fish good for you?” and offering to eat fish for his cut hand. I just found that mind-blowing and wondered if that had any deeper meaning to it…Well, we'll see!

Sailing with the Old Man and the Sea

I am kind of hesitant in reading this book, because I'm afraid I'll like it too much. I just love old men and women (not in the creepy way), because the things that they say and do just makes me cry. My sister told me that this book is very dull and boring if you just read word for word. Her advice was, "Try to think more about what the author is trying to say about life, and dig a little deeper." I mean, it's easier to say than do, but still, I think I'm going to take advantage of this short book and analyze it in depth. Allison also told me that she read the book (well, half of it anyway) and she said that she liked it, because the old man is very interesting.

I hope it is a deep book like everyone claims it is, because I feel like I'm actually doing reading and learning when the book is more than just an interesting story plot with likeable characters. I want to read something that would shape the way I think and help me view the world through a different light. I think this will be similar to Life of Pi, which is more surreal than the Old Man and the Sea, i guess, but still they deal with the same concept of "meaning of life". I want to test myself if I can actually gain something from this book, and since it's a well-known classic, I'm glad I chose this book. Wish me luck in my sail with the old man!

The Last Story Told

Wow. Until I have read the first page, I had forgotten that this entire book was about an "illustrated" man, who has tattoos that tells a story of its own. The whole time I was reading it, it just felt like a collection of science fiction books rather than the story of the man. I think it would have been much better if Ray Bradbury had the main character talk about how he was affected or his horrors of the stories in between the each story. I needed space in between the stories, because each of them had mind-blowing (as in horrifying and scary and creepy) endings that I needed time to sink them in my brain. I guess for me, it was so powerful that it was hard to handle. Other than that, I think all stories had different messages and they were all powerful in their own ways. Like the last post, I want to share a story that I found particularly striking.

What I want to share the most is the "Zero Hour". It is about the Martians trying to take over the Earth, but not the way they have done in other books or stories. (Because, of course, we always crush them and send them back to their planet.) In their smart ways, the Martians have abducted the children's mind and every child in America are talking about a game they are playing with their friend, Drill. The main character, who is a mother of a girl, noticed that little kids her age are taking knives and other weapons, saying that Drill has created a game to take over the Earth. None of the adults believe what the little kids are saying.

"Mom?" A hesitation. "Dad?" A waiting, a silence. Humming. Footsteps toward the attic. Mink's first. They trembled together in silence in the attic, Mr. and Mrs. Morris...the queer cold light suddenly visible under the door crack, the strange odor and the alien sound of eagerness in Mink's voice finally got through to Henry Morris too. He stood, shivering, in the dark silence, his wife beside him. "Mom! Dad!" ... The attic lock melted. The door opened. Mink peered inside, tall blue shadows behind her. "Peekaboo," said Mink. (Bradbury, 266)

Ray Bradbury's sentence structures are so highly effective, where he does everything Mr. Perlman said about creating the intense mood, or emphasizing on a certain situation. Like the silence in the whole house, the sentence fragments almost depict the atmosphere of the house. It builds the tension. As I was reading it, I was crawling inside the blankets, knowing that something bad is going to happen. The innocent children no longer seemed innocent and they reminded me of "Where are you... I'm gonna get'cha!" And I read the word "peekaboo", I screamed. It was more horrifying than any other scary stories, because I could almost visualize the face expression of this little child, waiting to kill her own parents.

I'm kind of hesitant in recommending this book. I would recommend if to people who like sci-fi or horror stories, but for people who don't usually get sci-fi, I would recommend reading only some of the stories. There are many stories that won't confuse you with like "aliens" and such, but still, if you don't like futuristic stories, I wouldn't suggest reading it.

Just keep reading just keep reading (Dori)

I'll be honest--- I'm not quite sure of how I am going to present this book to you guys without major spoilers... It is hard to comment on the characters, as these are collections of short stories, and of course, they are not related to each other. SOOO I'm just going to share some of the stories that I found particularly interesting or mind-blowing


Stories that affected be the most was The Veldt, The Sun Dome, Fire Balloons, and The Last Night of the World. I think I'm going to share The Veldt and The Last Night of the World. I think The Veldis story is the most well-known. The reason why I think this is because I've read it in 8th grade during an English lesson; it shocked me then, I read it again and it shocked me again. The Veldt is about a house in the future, where children's bedrooms (more like the wall papers) changes and accommodates to what the children wants and need. Just on that note, I was thinking, "Oh my gosh, I wish I could have a bedroom like that! Then I could be in Cancun, with the clear emerald water in front of me with soft winds blowing... OR I could be up in the sky, and pretend that I am flying!" However, this dream was crushed. The story's setting is at a house with two children. At first they seem so innocent, with their innocent minds, but the parents keep on locking them out of the rooms saying that they are thinking of cruel things. From this, I could already sense the growing distance between the children and the parents (FORESHADOW!). It was really surprising to see how the children could grow so attached to their rooms that are not even alive! I'll keep the ending for those who actually want to read it, but let me just tell you that it was very scary and creepy at the same time! I mean, those are the very things that scare me about raising children. I'm afraid they would be evil like me and cause me to worry about every little things.

The Last Night of the World was more of a question posed to the people rather than a flowing story. The setting was set as the last day of school, and it's actually really interesting as the day is set like an every day life. That made me wonder... if I know when I'm going to die, and die together with the whole world, would I be sad? Would I want to do something that I've always wanted to do my whole life? Or just tell everyone that I loved them...

I'll look out for more stories!! Keep in touch!

The Illustrated Man

Oh, isn't he the sweetest thing or what. Look at his glasses. Look at his cat! Just to prove his incredible character, he once said, "Don't think. Thinking is the enemy of creativity. It's self-conscious and anything self-conscious is lousy. You can't try to do things. You simply must do things." This awesome awesome guy's name is Ray Bradbury. I read one of his books called Fahrenheit 351, which was a very intriguing book that made you think the whole time and truly appreciate the books' values and how it shapes the society's minds. I didn't know until today that he was a sci-fi writer... Interesting. I should've figured that out, as the two of the books that I've read (or going to read) are all sci-fi. Anyways, he apparently passed away two years ago at the age of 91. Considering that most brilliant people die when they're like in their 20s or 30s, he has lived a very long life. May you rest in peace... So about the book. From what I understand, I think it's a collection of many many short stories about the future. Though I am not a HUGE sci-fi fan, I can trust Ray Bradbury to keep me hooked until the end. I'm interested to see if there are going to be big thoughtful questions throughout the book. Wish me luck!

From HeLa to the Great Woman

Okay. So, before I read this book, I noticed that there were about 8 pages of pictures right in the middle of the book (which, by the way, is like oasis in the desert) so I was like, "Cool! That can be my halfway mark!" It turns out, about a hundred of the back pages are full of acknowledgements, index, and afterwords... You get the point. Anyways, I am really glad I read this book. Other than the fact that I now know about HeLa cells, which I should know if I want to be a doctor (as it is very very well-known and appreciated in the medical field), I feel as though I got to know the family. I studied the picture to make sure I had the right person with the right name, and made sure I knew their characters. I don't know why, but I became so attached to all of the characters. I sympathized with them, and could understand their frustration. The author, Rebecca Skloot, really depicted the characters really well and made them likeable, even though there were many things in the book that would not be likeable in the real life.

One passage I found particularly striking was this:

"The dead woman's arms had been pulled up and back so that the pathologist could get at her chest...split down the middle and opened wide...greyish white tumor globules...filled the corpse...Strings of them ran over the surfaces of the liver, diaphragm, intestine, appendix, rectum, and heart..." (230)

This is in the scene where Deborah, daughter of Henrietta, finally gets to learn about the cause of her mother's death and actually hold the medical records. The author wrote how she couldn't breathe and control the streaming tears. I felt the same way and I visualized Henrietta's dead body with her famous red painted toe nails, and can't erase the picture of smiling researchers scraping her cells, thirsty for more. It truly illustrates how she wasn't respected as a dead human with care, but like those rats in the labs where humans are extracting information from them and tossing them out. I know that those scientists only meant good will, but I could finally see this horrifying scene through the eyes of Deborah. I think this was when I was truly able to comprehend her robust denial to Rebecca from asking any more questions about her mom. First of all, she didn't know a thing, and secondly, everything about her mom and other white people constantly pounding her with questions must have caused an immense stress. Just as the author realized in the beginning, it tore my heart to think that these are real people who have been abused by bunch of researchers, journalists, scientists, and doctors who have repeatedly ripped off of them and made their lives miserable by constantly lying. They have caused the family to worry about their own health, and not truly know about their dead mother. If it happened to me, I'm sure I would have reacted the same way. Why don't they just leave me alone? I don't think I could handle that much of an emotional outbreak.

You're lying,' Deborah yelled, flipping off my tape recorder and clenching her fists. 'I'm not, I swear, look, I'll say it on tape and you can sue me if I use it.' I clicked the recorder on, said into the mic that I wouldn't put that word in the book, then turned it off. 'You're lying!' she yelled again. She jumped off the bed... She started frantically stuffing papers into her canvas bag as I tried to explain myself and talk her down... 'Who you working for?' she snapped. 'John Hopkin?'" (283)

Without truly knowing the burden that Deborah has to carry as the daughter of Henrietta, this may come across as a little psychotic and questionable. However, I was surprised that I just felt bad for her to go through what she is going through. Personally, I was upset at the author, even though she was also a victim of Deborah's outbursts and anger, because of the way she presented the facts in her book. Though I know that the author is now very good friends with the family and that Deborah loved her (according to the book), I still feel as though some of the content could be taken out. Other than the previous story, I don't think it was very necessary to write about family crime history, when they are just cousins, or relatives of the cousins of Henrietta. It just gives a bad light to the family, who are just simply lost.

I think what made my emotions heighten even more is that in fiction, when a loveable character dies, it creates sorrow and I sometimes cry, but after a while, I am okay because the character is not real. However, after reminding myself again that this is non-fiction, I can't quite rid of the sorrow that Deborah passed away from her second stroke and the cruel death of Elsie Lacks (the oldest daughter who went to the mental hospital) and Henrietta. The ending wasn't quite satisfactory, but it was nice to have the author write an epilogue of everyone's situation. 

Henrietta, thank you for all you've done, and Rebecca, good job with the amount of patience and research that you've had to go through. T=

 Henrietta's Burial

 In memory of Henrietta...

Henrietta Lacks, What Do You Lack?!?

The last post was more about the scientific approach in how Henrietta's immortal cancer cells were able to really benefit the world, and especially science/medical fields. One mistake I made was that I thought they were actually using her cells to produce medicine and antibiotics, so I told my friends that almost every medicine they are taking contains her cells. I creeped them out by saying, "So, yes, in a way you are drinking this poor woman's cells and that's apparently fighting off those bad diseases." However, when I continued to read more, I was making the same mistake that her family was! One of the biggest reason why they were really upset was because when they read headlines such as "Half-human, Half-plant Creature Made from HeLa Cells", or the fact that her cells contributed to developing new medicine, her children thought that Henrietta was being cloned everywhere in the world, and that sick people were digesting part of her (like the way Catholics believe they are eating Jesus's flesh and blood). However, Henrietta's cells are not used for that; it's what the scientists test on Henrietta that makes her cells so special. Here's how it works: scientists or doctors in some cases, develop medicine or a cure that could potentially save a specific population struck with a disease. However, without knowing if it is actually lethal or not, they cannot start giving it out to the public. That is where Henrietta comes in, where her cancer cells act exactly like the regular cells. By injecting the medicine in the cell, the scientists are then able to see if 1. it is helpful or not and 2. if humans can actually use it.

In this book, I expected it to be more of a scientific approach, where the author talks about Henrietta's contribution, and why the family are upset over it. However, Henrietta is barely mentioned after Part I. She creates the scene where even though you have just learned EVERYTHING about Henrietta, from her big warm personality to her motherly affection to all of her kids, you see Henrietta through the eyes of her children and the scientists who have worked with her cells. The children, especially someone like Deborah or Zakariyya, their mother has passed away when they were just little babies. And as they barely knew about her mother before HeLa cells were known to be Henrietta's cells, their life is different. The author truly does a nice job of speaking for a person in details and show how their lives have contributed to their perspectives on this controversial topic.

Unlike most of the other non-fiction books I have read, this one flows more like story, where I often forget that this is a true story that the author is trying to reveal to the world! Each and every one of these lives seem so unrealistic and made-up. Also, it is true that non-fiction books have to be "true" and contain no lies, but it contains all the crimes and sins that the Lacks family had committed.

Also, it sheds light on the Lacks' character where through all the difficulties and quagmires, they still have spirit and a strong mindset to continue on, no matter what they are going through. For example, the author wrote, "'You promised me' Bobbette said. 'You fight them if they try to get with you-I don't care if you have to hurt them. Don't let them touch you.' Deborah promised she wouldn't. 'You just got to go to school,' Bobbette said. 'Don't mess with boy cousins, and don't have babies until you're grown.'" Just to give more background, Deborah is Henrietta's daughter and she was just a newborn baby when Henrietta passed away. Her last word was "Take care of Deborah." When she was young, her cousins would try to sleep with her because she was pretty. She couldn't really fight back, as she was too little and too weak, and she said that she liked him better than her own father anyway, since they gave her presents. This really shows what kind of lifestyle the Lacks children are leading, where they are constantly abused by the lady who is supposed to "take care of them" and older men who are like their "fathers" but would force Deborah to sleep with them. The other thing Bobbette mentioned was of incest, which was common back then, and of course, Henrietta's husband was indeed her cousin. They are later educated that that is a "bad" thing, and one thing they tried to spread in the family was "education". However, all of the Lacks children have struggled in school, because they all had hearing problems and simply could not pay attention in school.

I have so many incredible things that I want to share about to share this story of Henrietta, but I guess I'll save it for the next time. :D

Henrietta Lacks, Her Immortal Life

Let me introduce you to the great immortal Henrietta. Just to let you know, she was a beautiful African American woman, who works in the poor tobacco farmer. She led a very happy, generous life with many kids, until she felt a knot inside her. The doctors have told her that she was fine, but was surprised to see that she did indeed have a tumor exactly where she said it was. The story goes on with one of the doctors in Johns Hopkins taking a sample of her tumor (of course, discreetly but not illegally) and giving her therapy. She becomes worse and eventually dies... However, her cells known as the HeLa cells (HEnrietta LAcks) outlives her and still survives to this day.

I borrowed the book from my science teacher, Mrs. McDonough, after hearing her talk about how her cells were extracted without asking, and how it truly revolutionized the medical world. This touches upon the Bioethics unit that we've done in Gifted, as these types of cases are still happening!

It's just a really sad story if you think about it, because no matter how annoying and illegal those doctors may seem, they did find cures for many many illnesses with her cells, and that is how we are able to live the way we do. In fact, I bet all of us have unknowingly received aid from Henrietta's cells. That is why it is a tragedy, as none of her family is able to live the way they do, as they are poor. (And the doctors said by doing an autopsy for Henrietta will help their children!!!!)

The book is written in a very unique way, as it is not chronologically written, and it doesn't feel like a biography of Henrietta Lacks. Though it does create a voice for Henrietta's children, families, and relatives, the introduction is more about how the author got interested in Henrietta and her journey to write the story. Truth be told, I'm more interested in Henrietta than the author, but I think she does a nice job of introducing new characters and connect them with Henrietta to reveal their significance.

Adieu, East of Eden

East of Eden. I do not know what to say about it. I loved it, I hated it, I loved all the characters, yet all characters had despicable and hateful aspects. It’s just so mesmerizing and beautifully crafted that I cannot say anything other than “read it”. I really wish that we could read it as a class, because I’m curious what everyone would say and think of the plot and the characters. I keep on saying this over and over, if I have enough time, I would love to read detailed analysis on this book, whether it be a biblical one, or just literary devices. I think that would open up my eyes to understand deeper meanings and messages. As I don’t want to ruin the book for anyone, I think I’ll just post about what I found particularly interesting, or mind-blowing. As a Christian, I read bible every night, but it never occurred to me that the slight variation in different bibles can mean a complete different message. The word “timshel” in Hebrew is mentioned throughout the book, which means “thou mayest”. That got me wondering… if different bibles have different meanings that mean different things, which on are we supposed to believe and follow? Lee, a Chinese servant, studied with older scholars to find the true meaning of this word by studying Hebrew. He reminded me of a close family friend who studies Latin, Hebrew, and other languages to feel the true meanings of certain words. He told me that when a language is translated, its full meaning and connotation is lost. It was really fun for me to see a parallel between one of the characters and someone who is close to me in real life.

In the past posts, I have mentioned that there are not that many biblical references, except I was wrong. Obviously, one of the main character’s name is Adam (I can’t believe I missed on that one!) and the passage of Cain and Abel is a recurring theme. The 1^st generation of Adam and Charles represents Cain and Abel, where Charles is driven mad of jealousy, and tries to murder Adam. Though Charles gives expensive gifts to his father, the father simply neglects it and adores Adam’s gift, which was a puppy. Later in the story, where Adam has children of his own, his twin sons, Aron and Cal, is similar, where Aron is the adored one and Cal is always the one who is thirsty for love. This only proves to show that the blood of Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel is all running through us, which makes the human tendency to be jealous, angry, and flawed.

Also, I saw the relationship between Adam and his wife as the common relationship between God and the people. Adam, who is very forgiving and pours out his endless, great love for his wife does not want anything back from her, except a mere show of affection. However, Cathy continues to sin, and refuses to love him back. Adam’s care, forgiveness, and promises for a bright future was strikingly similar to how God portrays his love for us as well. Furthermore, the meaning of Eden, where Adam talks of the land that he is going to build for his wife and children was just like the intention of Eden and possibly even Heaven as well.

The best character in the story would have to be Lee. I do not know if it is simply due to the fact that I am also Asian, but I could relate to him a lot. For example, he can speak perfect English, yet he speaks like a Chinese person would by saying “Me talkee Chinese talk”. I think the way he described it was so beautiful. "It's more than a convenience, it's even more than self-protection. Mostly we have to use it to be understood at all.” ~ Lee. He was talking about how the society expects some things by a simply judge of your appearance, and if you don’t act accordingly, people do not understand you, or even accept you. The things that he say is just so philosophical, and everything he does is so gentle, compassionate, and good-willed. His existence was what made me attached to the story even more.

This story is very deep, yet it is not at all hard to read or push through. There are so many events that happen that you just cannot put the book down. You are practically glued to this book until you reach the end. What I thought was unique about this book was the way it was chronologically written, and how different characters merge and a new generation is born. It is really interesting and true how though the characters are changed, the human nature of jealousy, hatred, and love still remains, and it is ultimately the same story over again. Just to put it out there: Thank you, John Steinbeck!

Cycle One: Glued

John Steinbeck. Oh my, is he a writer! I am quite ashamed to know that it took me this long to understand why people for many years say his name with awe. His writing is so easy to read and yet so interesting and engaging. I had no trouble flipping through pages, chapters, and pushed myself to find out what happens. More than the story, I think the characters are very well made. When I say well-made, I don't mean that they are likeable people; rather, I wish to never meet most of them in my life! However, they portray variety of aspects of the world, and I feel guilty for admitting that I can't help but wonder what other crimes each character will commit. (Especially Cathy. She is such a character!) It struck me during class when my fingers were lingering on the cover, wanting to find out what happens next. I am really glad I chose this book. Pat pat, good job Sun.

I want to share with you some of the main characters. Charles, Adam, Mr. Edwards, Cathy, Lee, and Samuel are the ones I remember as of now. I would spit out what happened detail by detail, but I don't want to spoil the fun. I'm just going to say that Steinbeck does a great job of transforming a certain character from an amiable person to a sudden murderous villain, and change him back to a sane, ordinary person again! By doing so, he depicts an image of sin and how a monster is within everyone, whether it be jealousy, or just their cold nature. Cathy, though, is what makes this book so interesting to read. She is causing the demise of virtually all characters. Her beauty captivates most of the main male characters, from kind Adam to Mr. Edwards. She really is a demon, and though I despise her for her detestable actions and lies, it is what keeps me glued to this book. From the beginning, I could predict very easily who she was going to prey on and how it was going to end. In the beginning, I have guessed her to split Charles and Adam's brotherly bond that they've managed to make by captivating both. Though it wasn't quite accurate, she did break the brothers apart, and led Adam to his ultimate end. (I found this highly ironic, as Adam had fallen from his wife, Eve, as well.) She also captivated the good old Samuel, and I have a feeling that something will happen.

One thing I did not like about the story was when the narrator suddenly bursts in and stops the flow. It just made me stop wanting to read on, because it was not what the narrator thought that I wanted to know about, but what the characters were going to do and how they were going to interact with one another. However, I guess he establishes ethos by saying he is related to the Hamiltons. Still, I hope he doesn't come out too often.

Though he scripted many themes and messages in this book, I believe I understand less than 5% of what he has put in. However, one of the things he got me to think was the idea of monster. He wrote, "I believe there are monsters born in the world to human parents. Some you can see, misshapen and horrible, with huge heads...no arms, no legs...three arms...tails... They are accidents and no one's fault, as used to be thought. And just as there are physical monsters, can there not be mental or psychic monsters born? To a man born without conscience, a soul-stricken man must seem ridiculous. To a criminal, honesty is foolish. You must not forget that a monster is only a variation, and that to a monster the norm is monstrous." (Steinbeck, 71)

The narrator is referring Cathy to a monster, despite her perfect physical appearance. I have always thought the same way as he did, where in other books, the term "monster" refers to their outer appearance rather than how they think or act. This concept still carries on in today's society, where people with odd appearances are neglected, whereas beauty is idolized and misunderstood as innocence and purity. However, if one really looks inside, the monsters often have very tender hearts and if they are at all vicious and cold, it is from the wound of the society's outcast, not because they are naturally evil. It also occurred to me that every one possess a monster, where it could easily be suppressed from their loving environment, or easily be sprouted into a villain. It makes me wonder then, is Cathy a true monster? She was raised under loving parents, yet she has grown into a monster who takes advantages of others and ends up killing her parents and many more for her own benefit. I have no idea why she is doing what she is doing, and wonder if she was after all born with invisible flaws, where her beauty hides them all.

I have just read up to the point where Adam marries Cathy and leave Charles. I have just read about Samuel and Lee, and I'll get back to you to let you know what I think of Cathy. Hopefully she changes her mind and repay Adam's forever love and kindness. (Or, Adam could suddenly not be blinded by Cathy's beauty and realize that he is very foolish. But, of course, that is highly unlikely to happen.)

Cycle One: Eh-den or E-den?

"Finally" is the word that popped into my mind when Mr. Perlman announced the third marking period project: reading books. It has been a while since I read for fun. Instead of reading, I found myself sleeping or watching TV during the time I should be flipping through the crisp papers. As people always say, you always need a little "push" to get things done. When I arrived at the library, I glimpsed through few books here and there, until I came across the East of Eden written by the famous John Steinbeck (Did you know he won a Noble Prize?). Sorry for being off-topic, but this guy is very interesting. I did not know much about him before, but apparently he had three wives, wrote 27 books, and was a heavy smoker... I could tell the last one, since the picture of him on the back page also had him with a cigarette in his hand. Anyway, I remembered buying this fancy book and never reading it. That's what I always do. Buy the books, and hope I have time to read it. For example, I read half of the novel Count of Monte Cristo few years ago, and never actually finished it. I stopped reading after school began and when I picked it up to read it again, it was just TOO MUCH. Hopefully that won't happen with this book. I'm actually really excited, except for the fact that I don't know how I would be able to read 700-some pages within two cycles. Yikes. Lots of reading. But hopefully it would be worth it.