Reading Responce : Man Walks Into A Room

I'm currently reading the book "The Namesake" by Jhumpa Lahiri. I just started reading it and as I was, I was thinking about religion and how it plays a really big part in the book.

The book is about two young adults that get married and are from India. They come to England to start a new life. The mission that they both (husband and wife) both try to accomplish is to honor there traditions and religion even though that they are in a place out of India.

This was shown alot in the book by using show not tell. In the beginning of the book, the wife in the family "Ashima" is in the hospital going through labor and the author describes and contrasts Calcutta to America.

I thought that this was a really interesting unique writing strategy and it defenitly dragged me into the setting and who the character is as a person.

I think that the whole point of the book is really setting up because the child that is born begins to disrespect the traditions and it shows how much love and passion the wife and the husband have for there religion.

During the book I was thinking about how the child feels about his parents. I can somewhat relate to him because something that I think about is whether I'm doing something wrong towards my traditions that would affect my parents in anyway. I think that the son would defenitly be thinking about that.

So far I think that the book is really good and that the book is going to go deeper into religion and tradition. 

Reading Responce : Go Ask Alice

I'm reading the book Go Ask Alice by Anonymous right now and I think that its a book filled with a ton of issues that people can definitely relate to. It’s about a young teenager who records her thoughts and concerns about issues such as crushes, weight loss, sexuality, social acceptance, and difficulty relating to her parents. But a really big issue in the book is drugs and how the main character gets addicted to it. I think that they author did a really good job of emphasizing the importance of each issue. I think that the two most important issues are drugs and family. 

Drugs took a really big party of this book because it was sorta like a journey that would rob her out of her innocence and her youth, pretty much everything she had. In the book, it all starts when she goes to a dangerous party and is served a soft drink with a dose of LSD which is a type of drug. She did some crazy things such as loosing her virginity and just going crazy. Then finally when shes sober, she realizes what she did. She didn't know what she was doing but she defenetly felt free and in her own world. Away from all that stress and family issues. Starting from that day, she was hooked, trapped in a world that took her away form her comfortable home and loving family, to the rough streets of an unforgiving city. But she didn't realize and she had to learn everything the hard way. Death. (In the end of the book she dies because of overdosing of pills). 

Another big issue that really affected her and was a really big loss to her was her family. I think that the author did a really good job of showing how she lost everything mostly her family. The main character moves away from where she lived to another place and she doesn't have anything except her family. She actually did have one friend but her friend went to camp and they both get seperated. But then when her grandma gets sick she does realize that she her family does care for her and everyone in her family is really important and even if she looses one person, that would really affect her life. But those drugs were still too strong and took everything away from her. "Poor Gran is pretty much beside herself, but she's staying calm on the outside anyway. They haven't bugged me at all since I've been here, and they've been so delighted that I'm having a good time and that I've met a lot of friends that they stay completely out of my way." (37) . 

This is how drugs and family really did change her life. Alot of teenagers in the US often do learn the hard way and I think that this is one book that I'll never forget. I find it fascinating how one little choice you make can take away everything you have. First it was family, and then it was life (for this character). 

Reading Responce : Stiches by David Smalls

            The book Stitches by David Smalls is a powerful book. It doesn’t have many words but the pictures show a depth meaning behind it. The book is about David Smalls (the author) having his vocal cord removed, not being told that he had cancer and that he was expected to die. His family is very harsh on him and he’s always in his own little world. But no one knows that he’s a very talented young adult. What I noticed about the book Stitches by David Smalls is how the book deals with loneliness and self esteem which is what a lot of people deal with in the world.

           

            In the book, he’s very lonely. He has no one to talk to, no one to share his thoughts and feelings with, and no one that shares the same interests with him.

I think this because his family is filled with secrets, and not only him but everyone is in their own little world. He lives with his brother, mother and father. His mother was secretly a lesbian, and was depressed with David having cancer. She seems to regret the fact that he’s his son and isn’t able to show any love towards him. His father was a doctor and was very quiet. He always seemed to know what he was doing and never took any advice from anyone. And his brother would always just beat on his drums.

He has no one to relate to. “And I, too. Had learned a way of expressing myself wordlessly…” (18). This quote shows that he tries to hide his loneliness but entertaining himself. “Getting sick, that was my language” (19). This quote shows that he really does need some love.

Something else I observed in the book was that he has no self esteem and is lacking it. I think this because when he found out he had cancer from a letter the doctor wrote the the mother, he automatically lost all self esteem. First he never received love, and now he knows no one loves him. I think he just also lost all respect for himself because everyone he was around with had no respect for him either.

“Back in school, at first wildly self-conscious… I soon learned… when you have no voice… you don’t exist”(212). This quote shows that he really did lose all respect for himself and he thought that there was no reason for living.  

This book is very deep and interesting and I think that every teenager or maybe even adult can relate to this book because there’s always a time in life where someone does feel really alone and not loved. Being not loved can really affect a person and it really does hurt and I think that David Smalls really did show that throughout the book.