Today was another normal day, although I did happen to go to ISU's Reiman Gardens. This is a public place where there are thousands of gorgeous flowers and plants. There's a butterfly house that is a home to hundreds of butterflies from around the world. Reiman Gardens also has an indoor conservatory room with exotic ferns and flowers, one of them being a favorite of mine, Angel's Trumpets. Inside this room there is a fountain. But not a regular, small fountain that you find with ponds. This fountain is more of an extremely natural looking waterfall. So long description short, it is completely surrounded with bright green tropical plants. The water that pours down from the hidden mechanics gathers in a shallow pool where many little children have tossed pennies in making wishes. The sound of the water falling in scattered droplets is one of the most relaxing things to listen to. It's like an indoor rain. :)
So after sitting in this location for several minutes I moved on to the landscape outside. I followed an orange brick path on this cloudy, cool day for quite a ways which eventually changed into an orange gravel and dirt mixture which finally transformed into a flagstone patio path. Finally this path lead me to another one of my favorites locations: a secluded picnic table with a personal landscape design including a small pond and fountain. I would have to say that I like this small area more than the large waterfall like fountain, but simply judging just the fountain and pond... it's not as beautiful. So sitting in this perfectly private and comforting space I couldn't help but have the urge to write a poem about water. But just yesterday after I published my post I googled rain quotes. I came up with a Walt Whitman poem about rain, called The Voice of the Rain. This is how it goes:
Who art thou? Said I to the soft-falling showers,
Which, strange to tell, gave me an answer, as here translated:
I am the poem of Earth, said the voice of the rain,
Eternally I rise impalpable out of the land and the bottomless sea,
Upward to heaven, whence, vaguely form'd, altogether changed, and yet the same
I descend to lave drouths, atomies, dust-layers of this globe,
And all that in them without me were seeds only, latent, unborn;
Forever, by day and night, I give back life to my origin,
And make pure and beautify it;
For song, issuing from it's birth-place, after fulfilment, wandering,
Reck'd or unreck'd, duly with love returns.
Upon finding this I felt as though in a trance; I didn't blink but rather stared, blankly at the screen scared to look away for fear that such a beauty would vanish. I did not have an epiphany but something stuck me hard as a lighting bolt after reading this. It was such a glorious feeling; I felt higher than mountains and my soul felt simply replenished. This entire occurrence I can sum up to mean: love at first sight. I simply fell in love with this poem because it spoke to me. (But I must state that I do believe my reaction was so strong because I was so relaxed, and there was rain falling outside.)
And I also must admit that after studying this poem and discovering the true meaning behind these poetic words, I sat in my living room, staring at the rain out the huge picture window, and kept repeating this poem in a British accent until I had it successfully memorized--which as short as this poem may be, it was a difficult task to acomplish. (I like to read poetry in a British accent because it makes me feel smarter). I have found for the past... thirty hours or so, this poem getting stuck in my head like the number one song on the charts. And I have been going crazy posting this poem everywhere and making people read it.
So going back to my journey through Reiman Gardens, I further continued by seeking the last fountain (that I knew of). It is here where my thoughts recalled this Whitman poem and the urge to write one of my own still remained. But after saying this poem aloud softly to myself I discovered that recreating this poem or one of similarity is simply not possible for my 16 year old mine to achieve. So instead, I gazed longingly into the pond and fountain that lay before me, singing a song by Trisha Yearwood: The Georgia Rain. (This song was the only song I could come up with at the time and it did it's current job which was to calm me and get my thoughts off of my frustration that writing a poem about rain was not going to occur right then.)
So now that my though process was wearing out and I had no other "rain songs" to sing I gathered myself and walked to the opposite side of the garden for the remaining ten minutes. It was here, on the opposite side that is, that I found a fourth fountain. At the start there was a deep pool of water, which was raised off the ground about three feet. From one side, the pooled water fell gracefully like a thin waterfall into a small, rectangular "canal", per say, filled with grey rocks. This canal went on straight ward for probably a good fifteen, twenty feet until the water once again collected in another area where it was then refiltered back to the start like stairs on an escalator. Now, after the first fountain I visited I did not think I would find a more beautiful fountain, but that statement I now deny and take back. In the presence of this fountain I had the light hearted feeling of simple love and admiration along the lines of the feelings from the Whitman poem. Upon my arrival back to my mid-Iowan ranch styled house I ran inside immediately telling my mother about this fourth fountain. I told her, and I quote myself, "I know this may sound crazy but I do not think I have ever seen anything more beautiful than that fountain in my sixteen and-a-half years!"
So disregarding the fact that I did not write anything today, I have found yet another inspiration: it's not just rain, but water; the cooling sensation of the sound water droplets.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Monday, June 13, 2011
Rain and Elizabeth Gilbert
Here in Ames, Iowa, it has been raining every day off-and-on since Thursday afternoon. So since rain has been on my mind, I decided to make this post about rain. Now I have to admit, firsthand, that this posting doesn't have much to do with writing; but I do feel that in some way rain does effect my writing for the better.
Here's how:
Rain is a necessity of the earth. No, scratch that. Rain is the main necessity of our world.
Rain, in my opinion, is the one and only thing that can send me into a state of almost complete meditation, (although, after reading the "Pray" section of Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert I must say that I highly doubt that level of meditation can be reached so easily without trying).
For me, when it rains (and I have nothing better to do) I sit in front of an open window and open my ears. I try to get as comfortable as possible and then close my eyes and just listen and relax--which then puts me in my state of meditation. My thinking process shoots through the roof and my brain is suddenly exploding with ideas for writing.
Rain is something (besides trees) I have always admired and over the years rain has transformed itself from a gross annoyance to a gorgeous form of inspiration.
Looking over a failed blog from last year, Too Bad Fairy Tales Don't Happen in High School, I recalled writing a post that was simply about me complaining about rain. I stated how annoying, gross and frustrating it can be not just sometimes but all the time. I don't remember writing this post (nor do I remember most of the posts from that blog) but in my older, more mature self (ha! Yeah right. I am no more mature than a ten year old boy) I cannot imagine thinking, none the less, writing something like that post. Rain has done nothing to me (except for flood my basement in August and soak me to death during a marching band performance, and soak me to death during a date I had last week) personally so I am now learning not to complain just to complain.
This sudden realization of learning that being annoyed and frustrated all the time is just one thing that I have picked up on while reading Eat Pray Love. (I've also learned how to use parentheses!) I'm not going to go overboard on what this author has taught me (and probably thousands of others) through her story in this post. I hope to make a longer posting after I finish this so far amazing novel!
Overall, rain is a beautiful thing. It makes me go into a zone of recreation and gives me just the write amounts of sleepiness and focus. When I get sleepy all I wish to do is sit down and read or write. All that I am while reading and writing is open-minded and focused. So you can see now how rain effects my writing for the better. :)
<3 your devoted writer, Bre
Here's how:
Rain is a necessity of the earth. No, scratch that. Rain is the main necessity of our world.
Rain, in my opinion, is the one and only thing that can send me into a state of almost complete meditation, (although, after reading the "Pray" section of Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert I must say that I highly doubt that level of meditation can be reached so easily without trying).
For me, when it rains (and I have nothing better to do) I sit in front of an open window and open my ears. I try to get as comfortable as possible and then close my eyes and just listen and relax--which then puts me in my state of meditation. My thinking process shoots through the roof and my brain is suddenly exploding with ideas for writing.
Rain is something (besides trees) I have always admired and over the years rain has transformed itself from a gross annoyance to a gorgeous form of inspiration.
Looking over a failed blog from last year, Too Bad Fairy Tales Don't Happen in High School, I recalled writing a post that was simply about me complaining about rain. I stated how annoying, gross and frustrating it can be not just sometimes but all the time. I don't remember writing this post (nor do I remember most of the posts from that blog) but in my older, more mature self (ha! Yeah right. I am no more mature than a ten year old boy) I cannot imagine thinking, none the less, writing something like that post. Rain has done nothing to me (except for flood my basement in August and soak me to death during a marching band performance, and soak me to death during a date I had last week) personally so I am now learning not to complain just to complain.
This sudden realization of learning that being annoyed and frustrated all the time is just one thing that I have picked up on while reading Eat Pray Love. (I've also learned how to use parentheses!) I'm not going to go overboard on what this author has taught me (and probably thousands of others) through her story in this post. I hope to make a longer posting after I finish this so far amazing novel!
Overall, rain is a beautiful thing. It makes me go into a zone of recreation and gives me just the write amounts of sleepiness and focus. When I get sleepy all I wish to do is sit down and read or write. All that I am while reading and writing is open-minded and focused. So you can see now how rain effects my writing for the better. :)
<3 your devoted writer, Bre
Friday, June 10, 2011
A Change of Heart
First, I would just like to say to anyone who might be reading this: I'm sorry I haven't posted anything for a few days. I've been a bit busy with work and reading books.
So first off, I have decided to not write an autobiography for this summer's writing project. I currently feel, dreams aside, that I simply do not have enough writing experience to create this story with the justice it deserves. This story that I am speaking of, was a life changing experience and honestly, I don't think it would be a good seller. Also, I feel this novel could be much more exciting if I had more than a month's worth to write about.
Instead, I have come to the conclusion that I will write a romance novel that has to do with trees and past memories. From my most recent novel, The Maple Tree, I am going to take bits and pieces out of this story to put into my summer writing project. So being that I have to start this summer writing project with a completely blank paper before me, taking fragments from my previous stories is not "cheating." I would simply call it using my resources, because I am starting with a blank page but once I really get into the novel, I may not use anything but fresh thoughts and ideas.
I would love to post the title and plot of these novels but I promise you that once I get enough written, I will post a preview for my summer's writing project novel, like a movie trailer. But unfortunately, I am not far enough into my writing that I can post this currently. But, I don't have to work at all this weekend and it seems like it will still be pretty gloomy here in Ames, Iowa so I won't go out shopping or to the pool; I will simply sit in my thinking alcove in my living room and write.
<3 your devoted writer, Bre
So first off, I have decided to not write an autobiography for this summer's writing project. I currently feel, dreams aside, that I simply do not have enough writing experience to create this story with the justice it deserves. This story that I am speaking of, was a life changing experience and honestly, I don't think it would be a good seller. Also, I feel this novel could be much more exciting if I had more than a month's worth to write about.
Instead, I have come to the conclusion that I will write a romance novel that has to do with trees and past memories. From my most recent novel, The Maple Tree, I am going to take bits and pieces out of this story to put into my summer writing project. So being that I have to start this summer writing project with a completely blank paper before me, taking fragments from my previous stories is not "cheating." I would simply call it using my resources, because I am starting with a blank page but once I really get into the novel, I may not use anything but fresh thoughts and ideas.
I would love to post the title and plot of these novels but I promise you that once I get enough written, I will post a preview for my summer's writing project novel, like a movie trailer. But unfortunately, I am not far enough into my writing that I can post this currently. But, I don't have to work at all this weekend and it seems like it will still be pretty gloomy here in Ames, Iowa so I won't go out shopping or to the pool; I will simply sit in my thinking alcove in my living room and write.
<3 your devoted writer, Bre
Friday, June 3, 2011
My Finalized Summer Writing Project
Last night I had a dream, but this dream was incredible! It brought me back to thinking about an earlier time this year. It made me think about someone, who during the beginning of the year I was extremely close with. So when I finally got my butt out of bed, it suddenly hit me. I knew what I was going to base my book off of. It was like an epiphany and I sat there on my bed early in the morning just thinking, "I have to do this." I know I that the dream was not random and did not come just during any time it felt like. I know this dream is like a message and I now know that I have to succeed in writing this book based on all true autobiographical events.
I wish I could start writing my story now but I have to eat some lunch and prepare myself for my dance recital rehearsal for this evening. I promise that I will start possibly tomorrow morning/Sunday morning before my next two dance recitals. But if I do not succeed in beginning this magical story by then.... I will start and write all day on Monday.
<3 your devote writer, Bre
I wish I could start writing my story now but I have to eat some lunch and prepare myself for my dance recital rehearsal for this evening. I promise that I will start possibly tomorrow morning/Sunday morning before my next two dance recitals. But if I do not succeed in beginning this magical story by then.... I will start and write all day on Monday.
<3 your devote writer, Bre
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Another Book I Recommend
Just a quicky little post here!
I just want to say that yesterday I went to my town's public library and I borrowed the book, The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys science fiction and romance novels! I am already half way through it (and it's not the skinniest book out there) and I love it! If I did not have an extremely busy weekend ahead of me I would want to be done with it by Saturday evening. But I have dance recital every night this weekend so sadly I probably won't be able to finish this amazing novel until Tuesday. :(
<3 your devoted writer, Bre
I just want to say that yesterday I went to my town's public library and I borrowed the book, The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys science fiction and romance novels! I am already half way through it (and it's not the skinniest book out there) and I love it! If I did not have an extremely busy weekend ahead of me I would want to be done with it by Saturday evening. But I have dance recital every night this weekend so sadly I probably won't be able to finish this amazing novel until Tuesday. :(
<3 your devoted writer, Bre
My Favorite Form of Symbolism
Today I was sitting in my favorite chair. This chair is low to the ground, soft, a really ugly color but extremely comfortable. It's pushed into a corner of my living room next to a window with a huge curtain. I always pull the curtain over myself and the chair so I feel hidden and mysterious. Anyway, this is pretty much my thinking, reading and writing spot. Whenever I read, I'm there. When I write, I'm there. And this morning I was thinking about what I should write about for my summer project. I figured that I'm already three days into my blogging and I have not even begun to think about what my blog is all about! AKA my summer book.
Now, I have always had some major facination with trees. I love pictures of trees, (ha! My blog background is even a tree). I love relaxing, natural things. So for years I have thought and thought about what a tree could symbolize. In a book that I read this year in my Honors English class, trees played a huge role in the story by what they symbolized. This book was A House on Mango Streeet by Sandra Cisneros. It was my favorite book we read in class over the course of the year. In this novel, Cisneros presents a young hispanic girl living in the outskirts of Chicago. The entire story is about her, Esparanza, trying to find her true home. I also wrote an essay for my English class that involved this book and my theme for it was the difference between a house and a home. I stated that Esparanza has a home, which is the house that she lives in currently on Mango Street, but I also stated that she felt lost--that she didn't belong to the house on Mango Street. The message that I took from this book was that you can be a house that is anywhere with whoever. But a true solid home is where your family is and where you feel safe, secure, and wanted.
Also, in another Mitch Albom book, Have a Little Faith, there is a small part in this book where the main character sees a small girl sitting with her family. I am not 100% positive with how this took place in the book so I'm sorry if this isn't exactly right. He talked with the little girl about not having ahome to live in but the little girl just replied that she may not have a house but she has a home because her family is with her. (or something similar to that. I promise that if I find this part in the book later I will make a posting).
Anyway, back to my original reason for this posting.... In A House on Mango Street trees are symbolic of strength and Esparanza relates her feelings to theirs in the way that they are similar because not the trees nor Esparanza can move from where they are planted. The tree's roots hold them in place as the house on Mango Street keeps Esparanza in place.
I would love to use this simple form of symbolism as inpiration for my summer writings.
A few years ago I began writing a novel about a young girl who's mother dies in a car accident. This main character, Adeline, become depressed, and for no particular reason, finds comfort in a small meadow she finds in the woods in back of her house. It is there that she finds The Maple Tree. This part of the story takes place in the cool, late Autumn season that winter slowly creeps up on. All the other trees in the forest are dead with little to none leaves on them. So Adeline cannot find out why this maple tree is magically in full bloom as if the middle of Spring. It makes her very curious and for some reason she decides to crawl through the hollow trunk. It is now that she discovers this tree is magical because it leads her back in time where she reunites with her presently dead mother. I worked on this story one long afternoon nonstop until I had an addition of ten pages to my twenty I had already written. But my laptop decided to freeze and go into a self shutdown so I lost most of the ten pages. I felt terrible and was crying and just gave up. I have yet to return to writing it. I would go back to it for my summer writing project but I feel as if that's cheating. I feel that I have to start from scratch. I have to start with The Blank Pages of a Determined Writer.
<3 your devoted writer, Bre
Now, I have always had some major facination with trees. I love pictures of trees, (ha! My blog background is even a tree). I love relaxing, natural things. So for years I have thought and thought about what a tree could symbolize. In a book that I read this year in my Honors English class, trees played a huge role in the story by what they symbolized. This book was A House on Mango Streeet by Sandra Cisneros. It was my favorite book we read in class over the course of the year. In this novel, Cisneros presents a young hispanic girl living in the outskirts of Chicago. The entire story is about her, Esparanza, trying to find her true home. I also wrote an essay for my English class that involved this book and my theme for it was the difference between a house and a home. I stated that Esparanza has a home, which is the house that she lives in currently on Mango Street, but I also stated that she felt lost--that she didn't belong to the house on Mango Street. The message that I took from this book was that you can be a house that is anywhere with whoever. But a true solid home is where your family is and where you feel safe, secure, and wanted.
Also, in another Mitch Albom book, Have a Little Faith, there is a small part in this book where the main character sees a small girl sitting with her family. I am not 100% positive with how this took place in the book so I'm sorry if this isn't exactly right. He talked with the little girl about not having ahome to live in but the little girl just replied that she may not have a house but she has a home because her family is with her. (or something similar to that. I promise that if I find this part in the book later I will make a posting).
Anyway, back to my original reason for this posting.... In A House on Mango Street trees are symbolic of strength and Esparanza relates her feelings to theirs in the way that they are similar because not the trees nor Esparanza can move from where they are planted. The tree's roots hold them in place as the house on Mango Street keeps Esparanza in place.
I would love to use this simple form of symbolism as inpiration for my summer writings.
A few years ago I began writing a novel about a young girl who's mother dies in a car accident. This main character, Adeline, become depressed, and for no particular reason, finds comfort in a small meadow she finds in the woods in back of her house. It is there that she finds The Maple Tree. This part of the story takes place in the cool, late Autumn season that winter slowly creeps up on. All the other trees in the forest are dead with little to none leaves on them. So Adeline cannot find out why this maple tree is magically in full bloom as if the middle of Spring. It makes her very curious and for some reason she decides to crawl through the hollow trunk. It is now that she discovers this tree is magical because it leads her back in time where she reunites with her presently dead mother. I worked on this story one long afternoon nonstop until I had an addition of ten pages to my twenty I had already written. But my laptop decided to freeze and go into a self shutdown so I lost most of the ten pages. I felt terrible and was crying and just gave up. I have yet to return to writing it. I would go back to it for my summer writing project but I feel as if that's cheating. I feel that I have to start from scratch. I have to start with The Blank Pages of a Determined Writer.
<3 your devoted writer, Bre
My Two Favorite Books
Hello to anyone who might be reading this! Today I just want to talk a little bit about some of my favorite books.
Now I would like to apologize beforehand for the length of this posting. My two favorite books, that I would recommend to ANYONE are The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom and Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell. If you would like to learn more about these novels you can read the rest of this post!!!
I would have to say my third favorite book I have ever read is, The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom. I have read all of his books and I would highly recommend them to everyone, but I think this novel is the best that he has written. I feel wonderful and sad when I read this book. It makes me wonder about the afterlife and it makes me wonder the people I meet and what kind of impact they may have on my life.
The plot of this story is an old man who works in an amusement park. One day there is a terrible problem wrong with a ride there and he, the main character, Eddie, is head of mechanics so he goes to the ride to inspect the problem. Now, this ride is the "spaceshot" where people sit around a tall base and get "shot" up hundreds of feet into the air. So in the very beginning of this story, Eddie ends up getting killed by this ride because the cable is loose and the seats fall all the way down crushing him. Terrible start to a story but this is the first rising action. Now the story can really kick off!
So the story continues with Eddie being somewhat stuck between life and death. Eddie takes a long look back at his life and meets five people who made a huge impact on his life while he was living. He spends a fair amount of time with each person and without giving away the last person.... he meets a person who not only impacted his life but Eddie played a major role in changing theirs.
This novel made me cry in the end and it also made me want there to be more of a story. For me, I have thought about how you could continue the story past the final paragraph but I think by doing so the novel would just be ruined. (Well not ruined but I do not think it would be as good.) It's like making a sequel to Indiana Jones: The Lost Ark. Now, don't get me wrong, that movie was good as well as the third. In my opinion it was the second and fourth that I really thought were terrible movies. Anyway, this novel is one that you can read in one sitting, and trust me, one you start that will end up happening. This novel has also been made into a movie and I would recommend seeing the movie but only after reading the book, because books are always better anyways.
(These are also other Mitch Albom books I recommend:)
Tuesday's with Morrie
For One More Day
Have a Little Faith
(I have read all of these books!)
Now for my favorite novel ever.....! I would like to start off by saying I just recently finished this novel and presented it for my Honors English final (and I got an A+!) This novel is called Cloud Atlas and it is written by David Mitchell. (Not to get confused with Cloud Atlas by Liam Callanan). The plot of this story line is extremely difficult to explain but I feel as if my best friend, Leigh Ann, and I are masters at this. The main theme or connection throughout this novel is that all main characters are reincarnated into each other. So the first main character, Adam Ewing, is reincarnated into the second main character, Robert Frobisher.
The structure of this novel is like an eleven word palindrome. Such as "RACECAR" (except racecar only has 7 words). This is a bit confusing so bare with me please! You read the first half of stories one through five. Then you read an uninterrupted story, which is also the middle mini novel, then you read the second halves of stories one through five in reverse order. So like a palindrome!
You start this novel immediately jumping into the past during the antebellum or pre civil war time period. Here you meet a man named Adam Ewing who is aboard a ship exploring the Pacific Ocean and is found living in the Cathem Islands in New Zealand. You read this mini novel as a journal and during one point the mini novel just abruptly stops--mid sentence.
From there you move on to the second mini novel: Letters from Zedelghem which is when you meet a young man trying to further his music dream as becoming a well known composer. This mini novel takes place in Belgium during the 1930s and is written in the way that the main charcter, Robert Frobisher, writes letters to his bisexual lover/friend.
After reading the first half of this mini novel you jump to the next which takes place during 1975 in Buenas Yerbas, California where you meet a determined journalist trying to expose an unsafe nuclear powerplant. This journalist is Lusia Rey and she presents her story in a thriller third person narrative. As you read her story, you come upon a major climax in the story and then the first half is then stops and you move on to the fourth story: The Ghastly Ordeals of Timothy Cavendish. Here you meet a 64 year old man who works as a publicist in England present time (2004). The plot in this mini novel is when Timothy Cavendish is traveling to what he thinks is a hotel but is actually a retirement home. He doesn't realize this at first and he ends up getting trapped. His entire story is presented in an autobiography format which you read about his struggles in trying to escape the retirement home.
Then the reader moves on to the fifth story which is called An Orison of Sonmi~451. This story is now taken place in the near future which I interpreted as approximately the year 2104 (or 100 years after Timothy Cavendish's mini novel). This world is created as a dystopian super Korea where clones are existant and are produced to serve others. These clones are not allowed to show emotions or feeling but nor do they have any. In this story you meet a clone named Sonmi~451. She works in Papa Song's Diner which is like a present day McDonald's. But in the first half of her story she learns a secret about the outside world and begins to show her hidden knowledge and emotions. It is now that she is taken from the diner to live a nearby university and share herself with the rest of the world. This is presented in an interview format; Sonmi~451 is a clone getting interviewed about her life.
Finally, the first half of the fifth story ends and you reach your middle mini novel: Sloosha's Crossin' An' Ev'rythin' After. This story takes place in Hawaii after the fall of civilization, which is never explained. My friends and I took this as an opportunity to debate about what caused the fall to occur. We contemplated and finally came up with that nuclear war/problems as well as genetic faults finally became too much for the world to handle and most people died off and then everything became extremely corrupt after that. We have our evidence taken directly from the novel but since David Mitchell never plainly explains his theory, we can only create ours as can you after you read this novel. We also interpreted this mini novel to have taken place around the year 2500. So after you read this entire uninterrupted mini novel you go back to reading the second half of An Orison of Sonmi~451 and then the second half of The Ghastly Ordeals of Timothy Cavendish as so forth until you read the very last page of Adam Ewing's story. I would highly recommend this book to anyone from ages 15 and up. I enjoyed this novel so much and at one point I actually found myself crying because I had read all of it. This is how obsessed I became and how much this novel impacted my life for the weeks I was reading it. Cloud Atlas is currently being made into a movie and should be coming out in theatres by next year. I would recommend if you want to see this movie that you read the novel first because, I will repeat, books are always better than their movies!!!
(Here are some other David Mitchell books I recommend:)
Ghostwritten
Number9dream
Black Swan Green
The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet
(I am currently working on reading all of these books!)
For more information on the movie, Cloud Atlas, visit this site!
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1371111/
<3 your devoted writer, Bre
Now I would like to apologize beforehand for the length of this posting. My two favorite books, that I would recommend to ANYONE are The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom and Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell. If you would like to learn more about these novels you can read the rest of this post!!!
I would have to say my third favorite book I have ever read is, The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom. I have read all of his books and I would highly recommend them to everyone, but I think this novel is the best that he has written. I feel wonderful and sad when I read this book. It makes me wonder about the afterlife and it makes me wonder the people I meet and what kind of impact they may have on my life.
The plot of this story is an old man who works in an amusement park. One day there is a terrible problem wrong with a ride there and he, the main character, Eddie, is head of mechanics so he goes to the ride to inspect the problem. Now, this ride is the "spaceshot" where people sit around a tall base and get "shot" up hundreds of feet into the air. So in the very beginning of this story, Eddie ends up getting killed by this ride because the cable is loose and the seats fall all the way down crushing him. Terrible start to a story but this is the first rising action. Now the story can really kick off!
So the story continues with Eddie being somewhat stuck between life and death. Eddie takes a long look back at his life and meets five people who made a huge impact on his life while he was living. He spends a fair amount of time with each person and without giving away the last person.... he meets a person who not only impacted his life but Eddie played a major role in changing theirs.
This novel made me cry in the end and it also made me want there to be more of a story. For me, I have thought about how you could continue the story past the final paragraph but I think by doing so the novel would just be ruined. (Well not ruined but I do not think it would be as good.) It's like making a sequel to Indiana Jones: The Lost Ark. Now, don't get me wrong, that movie was good as well as the third. In my opinion it was the second and fourth that I really thought were terrible movies. Anyway, this novel is one that you can read in one sitting, and trust me, one you start that will end up happening. This novel has also been made into a movie and I would recommend seeing the movie but only after reading the book, because books are always better anyways.
(These are also other Mitch Albom books I recommend:)
Tuesday's with Morrie
For One More Day
Have a Little Faith
(I have read all of these books!)
Now for my favorite novel ever.....! I would like to start off by saying I just recently finished this novel and presented it for my Honors English final (and I got an A+!) This novel is called Cloud Atlas and it is written by David Mitchell. (Not to get confused with Cloud Atlas by Liam Callanan). The plot of this story line is extremely difficult to explain but I feel as if my best friend, Leigh Ann, and I are masters at this. The main theme or connection throughout this novel is that all main characters are reincarnated into each other. So the first main character, Adam Ewing, is reincarnated into the second main character, Robert Frobisher.
The structure of this novel is like an eleven word palindrome. Such as "RACECAR" (except racecar only has 7 words). This is a bit confusing so bare with me please! You read the first half of stories one through five. Then you read an uninterrupted story, which is also the middle mini novel, then you read the second halves of stories one through five in reverse order. So like a palindrome!
You start this novel immediately jumping into the past during the antebellum or pre civil war time period. Here you meet a man named Adam Ewing who is aboard a ship exploring the Pacific Ocean and is found living in the Cathem Islands in New Zealand. You read this mini novel as a journal and during one point the mini novel just abruptly stops--mid sentence.
From there you move on to the second mini novel: Letters from Zedelghem which is when you meet a young man trying to further his music dream as becoming a well known composer. This mini novel takes place in Belgium during the 1930s and is written in the way that the main charcter, Robert Frobisher, writes letters to his bisexual lover/friend.
After reading the first half of this mini novel you jump to the next which takes place during 1975 in Buenas Yerbas, California where you meet a determined journalist trying to expose an unsafe nuclear powerplant. This journalist is Lusia Rey and she presents her story in a thriller third person narrative. As you read her story, you come upon a major climax in the story and then the first half is then stops and you move on to the fourth story: The Ghastly Ordeals of Timothy Cavendish. Here you meet a 64 year old man who works as a publicist in England present time (2004). The plot in this mini novel is when Timothy Cavendish is traveling to what he thinks is a hotel but is actually a retirement home. He doesn't realize this at first and he ends up getting trapped. His entire story is presented in an autobiography format which you read about his struggles in trying to escape the retirement home.
Then the reader moves on to the fifth story which is called An Orison of Sonmi~451. This story is now taken place in the near future which I interpreted as approximately the year 2104 (or 100 years after Timothy Cavendish's mini novel). This world is created as a dystopian super Korea where clones are existant and are produced to serve others. These clones are not allowed to show emotions or feeling but nor do they have any. In this story you meet a clone named Sonmi~451. She works in Papa Song's Diner which is like a present day McDonald's. But in the first half of her story she learns a secret about the outside world and begins to show her hidden knowledge and emotions. It is now that she is taken from the diner to live a nearby university and share herself with the rest of the world. This is presented in an interview format; Sonmi~451 is a clone getting interviewed about her life.
Finally, the first half of the fifth story ends and you reach your middle mini novel: Sloosha's Crossin' An' Ev'rythin' After. This story takes place in Hawaii after the fall of civilization, which is never explained. My friends and I took this as an opportunity to debate about what caused the fall to occur. We contemplated and finally came up with that nuclear war/problems as well as genetic faults finally became too much for the world to handle and most people died off and then everything became extremely corrupt after that. We have our evidence taken directly from the novel but since David Mitchell never plainly explains his theory, we can only create ours as can you after you read this novel. We also interpreted this mini novel to have taken place around the year 2500. So after you read this entire uninterrupted mini novel you go back to reading the second half of An Orison of Sonmi~451 and then the second half of The Ghastly Ordeals of Timothy Cavendish as so forth until you read the very last page of Adam Ewing's story. I would highly recommend this book to anyone from ages 15 and up. I enjoyed this novel so much and at one point I actually found myself crying because I had read all of it. This is how obsessed I became and how much this novel impacted my life for the weeks I was reading it. Cloud Atlas is currently being made into a movie and should be coming out in theatres by next year. I would recommend if you want to see this movie that you read the novel first because, I will repeat, books are always better than their movies!!!
(Here are some other David Mitchell books I recommend:)
Ghostwritten
Number9dream
Black Swan Green
The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet
(I am currently working on reading all of these books!)
For more information on the movie, Cloud Atlas, visit this site!
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1371111/
<3 your devoted writer, Bre
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
My Writing Ideas
This morning I woke up and I made some hot tea and sat infront of an open window while watching the sun come up. It was so relaxing and it was the perfect moment to come up with ideas to write about for this summer. I did come up with a few but I still don't know which one would be the best to write about. But whenever I don't know which book to read, I get all of them and read a little from each. Maybe I can do that with my writing project. I can get all of my ideas and just work on each a little until I like one the best. I think I will start this evening after my dance class. :)
<3 your devoted writer, Bre
<3 your devoted writer, Bre
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)