Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Fiction Book prt. 3

"She opened her gentlemen friend's suitcase and pulled a bundle of letters from it... tied all the letters together and asked me to burn them. I was so taken aback by her request, I wasn't able to answer." (p. 41)

At this point in the story, we are in the middle of a flash back where Mattie is thinking back to when Grace Brown, a guest at the Glenmore hotel, asked her to burn a bunch of letters. Mattie is very surprised by this request, but does what she is told. This makes me wonder if these letter contain something hidden that could lead to Grace Brown's murder. Why was she murdered? Where? Who? This passage brings up many questions to ponder. Maybe Mattie is going to end up being responsible for figuring out this puzzling mystery.

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Fiction Book prt. 2

"Weaver always says freedom is like Sloan's Liniment, always promising more than it delivers... until white men are punished for stringing up black men, no black person will ever really be free." (pg. 33)

This quote in the book really jumped out at me for some reason. I thought it was interesting how a character in this novel would think that freedom always promises more than it delivers. I think what Weaver is trying to convey is that people promise freedom will come to the blacks but the freedom promise never really gets put into action. "Actions speak louder than words." Then again we are in the time period of the early 1900's so many of civil rights events haven't happened too much yet. Although the civil war has occurred and Lincoln has gone through the presidency, the blacks are still not feeling very free still at this point.

This quote I feel can also be true to life today. For instance, graduating from college and going off into the "real world" is like gaining your own freedom. But this freedom promises more than it delivers because you have to find a good job to support yourself after college, find a place to live etc.. So in fact the freedom of being out on your own and telling yourself and promising yourself you'll find a good job and a great place to live doesn't always deliver or you don't always get what you want or promise yourself. You may not get the job or that dream place you want to live in.

So in fact, this quote can have many interpretations and you as the reader can interpret it any way you want to. That is why I thought this quote was interesting.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Fiction Book

The book I am going to begin is called A Northern Light. From what I can tell from reading the back, this book is going to be exciting filled with mystery and suspense.

Sixteen year old Mattie Gokey, takes a job at a hotel and soon realizes she could have signed up for more than she asked for. When a hotel guest asks her to burn some letters, and then this guest's body is found at the bottom of a lake, she discovers the letters may reveal some truth behind this murder.

This book written by Jennifer Donnelly, has won the Honor Book award and has gotten a lot of praise from critics. Even the employee at Barnes and Noble told me this book is amazing and I will enjoy this read greatly.