Summer Reading Vent

            I liked Picture of Dorian Gray, but it was my least favorite out of the three summer reading books and my book of choice.  The plot of was exciting and original.  I really like how dark the story gets, and how it probes questions about people and human nature.  As the story progresses it made me think about how immoral people can be.  Watching Lord Henry easily mold Dorian into a hedonist made me wonder whether or not people really want to “yield to their mind’s temptations.”  I also liked a lot of the dialog in the book, especially Lord Henry’s.  It is nice to hear such uncensored justification of selfishness, adultery, prejudice, and pleasure.  His rants were extremely engaging and sometimes they even sounded reasonable.  My main complaint about the book was the characters. I really did not like any of the characters.  Lord Henry was interesting at the beginning, but that was it.  Dorian should have been smart enough not to listen to Lord Henry’s nonsense about giving in to himself.  Then he drives Sybil to suicide, then ruins a bunch of peoples’ lives, and then kills Basil. Then there is Basil who should have stayed far away from the Dorian because he was clearly going to kill him in his house. 

            I was confused by some parts of the book.  The part where Henry convinces Dorian that Sybil’s Death was artistic did not make any sense to me.   I really do not understand how Dorian is comforted by the fact that her death was artistic. I also did not really understand Lord Henry’s rant about influence and why it is bad. 

            The Screw tape Letters was really interesting and thought provoking.  I like how hell is portrayed as a business or a bureaucracy of some sort.  I got a picture of the Screwtape sitting in his office and plotting the depravity of humans.  I like Screwtape as a character because he is sarcastic and has a funny view of the world.  I also like the Screwtape’s relationship with his nephew because it makes the story funnier and more relatable. 

            I thought that telling the story through letters between demons was fantastic.  The letters show a different view of the theological and moral points that C. S. Lewis.  Every time Screwtape writes a letter, he includes how the “Enemy” wants people to act in order to join him and then he describes how the demons  get humans to ignore his rules, break his rules, or make them think that they are following God’s rule while in reality they are sinning, bringing them closer to Hell.  It is hard to describe why, but for some reason the morality that Lewis and many other religious writers try to convey is much more influential coming from a demon.  Maybe it is because we are thinking about Screwtape’s goals while reading his letters to Wormwood and while I or read religious texts, I feel like I am reading a rule book.   

            Throughout the whole book, I felt really bad for The Patient because he was constantly tempted by Wormwood.  The thing that really stuck with me is how easy it is for humans to sin.  The Patient was a normal guy, and at the end of the book it almost felt as if he went to heaven because of a lucky chain of events.  I think the fact that he is normal and he does normal things helps get the message across because it makes explain the sin in everyday life.  Things like murder and theft do not really need to be explained.

            Grendel was my favorite book because I really like fantasy books like The Lord of the Ring and the Inheritance Cycle.  When we read Beowulf in ninth grade, I did not really feel good or bad about it.  It was interesting and fun to discuss in class but I had forgot about the story after I read it.  Grendel made was great because it gave Beowulf so much more depth.

            One of the things that I like about this book is the fact that it gave Grendel a personality.  The complex villains and their twisted incentives are the best part about comic book.  I think that is what was missing from Beowulf.  Old Grendel was basically an animal.  New Grendel has a fascinating past that explains why he goes to the Danish mead hall to terrorize them.  In some ways he is even a relatable character.  He is just trying to find a sense of purpose in the world.  I think he sees the animals in the wild and gets mad because he does not want to be like them; a brainless being that does the same thing every year.  The only person who gives him advice is the crazy dragon who tells him his only role in the world is to give the Danes value to their life.  I love the way he observes the humans before marauding and listening to his justifications and philosophy.  It reminded me of reading a super villain origin comic.

            There were two other things that I wanted to bring up with this book.  One was Hrothulf who was talking about overthrowing Hrothgar to Red Horse.  It just seemed out of place in the book.  Another is the way that Beowulf takes a back seat to Grendel in the story. In this book, Beowulf is only included in about ten pages and has a very small role in the whole book.

               Overall, I actually liked summer reading this year. I chose Mockingjay as my optional book. Even though you aren’t supposed to choose a book you have previously read, I did because I am a die-hard Hunger Games Trilogy fan. Naturally as a die–hard fan, I had already read the book, but I did re-read it for probably the 15^th time. I am excited for the discussion tomorrow mainly because I love just talking about the Hunger Games, and I know other fans are in my discussion group. Luckily with a series like the Hunger Games Trilogy, even though Mockingjay is by far the worst of the three, the discussion will still be amazing because of the background plot set by the first two books.  Overall I am just an obsessed Hunger Games fan, so it was great to jus tre-read the book. The first book of the mandatory summer reading books that I read was The Picture of Dorian Gray. Being the first summer reading book I picked up, reading it dragged on and on for me throughout the summer. I never really got into the story until Dorian becomes the vain, selfish person that he is when he dies.  The flaw in Dorian is his impressionability. Originally he starts off, as a sheltered, innocent, and especially attractive boy who basically has not experienced anything the world has to offer. Lord Henry manipulates him as early as their first interaction, but even then I was not interested in the book. The writing style that Oscar Wilde uses seemed to drag on and on for me. I can’t even tell you when I began to not mind reading it. Thinking back I think it was when Dorian’s character and morals had fully transformed, but that might just be my opinion after having read the entire book. Personally I did not think all the description of Dorian at parties with random people was necessary. The connection between people could have been established in less than half the pages that Oscar Wilde used, in my opinion. Next I read the Screwtape Letters. My mentality going into this book was horrible. I had heard from multiple people that it was the worst of the three books. I was dreading reading it, but after I realized what the book was about after the 2^nd or 3^rd chapter, I couldn’t put it down. I have a weird fascination with religious studies, not in the sense of studying the bible, but more like why people believe what they do. I loved “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” and almost everything we read in Ms. Ratliff’s class during the unit involving Puritanism. I knocked out Screwtape in a day, and I don’t think I have any problems with it. Initially I was confused as I am sure most people are about who was who. Because of the perspective, “the Enemy” is God, and I found that fascinating. Almost all of the human tendencies and traits that Screwtape described, I could relate to, either directly or indirectly, in my experiences with religion, and that fascinated me. I loved the book, and I loved how Sckrewtape analyzed the human behavior patterns. The idea of the subtle influence that the Devil’s helpers were using to influence the humans was a topic I have read about, and it was great to see that topic from a different perspective. After finishing Screwtape I started Grendel. I thought Grendel was okay, but I didn’t really enjoy Beowulf, and I didn’t really connect with Grendel either. I am glad I read Beowulf first though mainly because I view prequels as a type of reveal, and I enjoy that a lot. I understood the plot overall about Grendel’s transformation from a sheltered beast to one who terrifies humans. The dragon at first confused me, but then after getting further in the book I realized the significance. Overall for me it was just a book to finish for the test, I didn’t really enjoy it too much. It was just the typical summer reading book for me, and I also think that reading it after Screwtape was a let down.

Summer Reading Vent

My favorite book would have to be The Screwtape Letters. I enjoyed this book the most because I found every short chapter of the novel to be interesting. Every time that I ended a chapter, I was wanting to start the next one in order to find out about Wormwood’s success. Also, I loved that the book was written from the demon’s point of view and telling the reader the opposite of what one would normally hear. When I first started reading the book I remember being a little confused because Screwtape referred to God as the “Enemy”, which you usually don’t here. I loved how he called the devil “Our Father Below.” At times I found the book to be ironic because it was based on such an oddity being written from one of the demon’s stand point. I also found this book interesting because I knew that C.S. Lewis generally writes Christian novels, so this book took a different approach to that. While Screwtape was telling Wormwood what to do in order to get his victim away from Christianity, C.S. Lewis was simultaneously telling the reader what is “moral” in the Christian views. 

I also really enjoyed The Picture of Dorian Gray very much. What I enjoyed the most about it would probably be the dramatic personality change that is most apparent in Dorian Gray. The corruption of Dorian Gray into the man that Lord Henry ultimately dictates was very entertaining. Although his character changes very dramatically, this influence that Lord Henry had over Dorian is sometimes apparent in real life. Lord Henry had a way with words, which made him so appealing to Dorian. It is also interesting how Basil knows and sees the original, perfect Dorian Gray and is murdered trying to tell Dorian that he should repent for all of the horrific sins he has committed.   However, the ending would have to be the most interesting part. The irony of the ugly painting showing Dorian’s ugly soul is now portrayed on his dead body, which is now ugly and decrepit. 

Grendel was also an interesting novel because it showed the point of view of the monster that we all know and have read about in Beowulf. Throughout the whole novel, I have some sympathy for Grendel, which probably comes from seeing his mother and their relationship. Also, Grendel seems to have some pretty solid thoughts when he sees the corruption and disorder of man kind. From the beginning of the novel, we see how Grendel is constantly being mistreated my other animals as well as humans, which forces the reader to pity him. The ending of the book, although kind of expected, is still sad because Grendel’s convincing story has, after all, persuaded the reader to side with him against the humans. 

Summer Reading Vent

Grendel

For starters I couldn’t help but sympathize with Grendel. To put it best, he was really just misunderstood, which was made evident when he first encountered the warriors. In the beginning, his kills weren’t just for mere sport. They either came as a whim or to satiate his hunger. Even after his meeting with the dragon and he embraced his monstrous nature, he still showed a gentler side by sparring the queen. It was incredibly frustrating to read about a monster, who truly didn’t seek out to harm, give up simply because his words could not be understood by the warriors. Context wise, I didn’t quite understand what Grendel’s mother’s point was to being in the story. She was mute, and didn’t do much but lie around in their lair. Was the author only trying to prove how years of monstrous living could depreciate a soul in its entirety? And if so would that have been Grendel’s ultimate fate? It was a good read. It may have been a little slow in parts, but not so slow that I lost interest.

Mocking Jay

            Mocking Jay was definitely my least favorite of the series. In the first and second book the author builds you up to expect this grand finale. It comes, but it’s the majority of the book. Not to say that it wasn’t exciting, because it absolutely was. However it wasn’t the climax I would have expected from a teen, romance, drama. It all became incredibly depressing. Everyone you’d grown to love in the first two installments died, or worse, lived in misery. So I suppose in some ways it is what you would expect, rather it is what would rationally come from the siege of a corrupt society: death and despair. Unfortunately it’s not what I wanted. Peeta and Katniss did end up together, which is exactly what I was rooting for, however, Katniss could never fully heal from the Hunger Games and everything that resulted from it. All in all it was a lovely read. It just left me wanting a happier ending.

The Picture of Dorian Gray

            This book had me all over the place. In comes Dorian Gray, a charming, wealthy, beautiful young man that was utterly stripped of his purity. Lord Henry is the venomous bad guy that you just want to scream, “Shut up!” at, and naturally the author sets it up perfectly. You know something terrible is going to happen when Basil warns Dorian of Lord Henry. You know it’s going to be even worse when Dorian completely ignores the warning. Compare it to any bad scary movie that’s ever been made. There’s a suspicious noise in the background, and the helpless damsel goes to investigate. She slowly creeps open the closet, back tracks for the slightest of seconds, and out pops the stalker, waiting with a knife. All the audience, or in this case, reader can do is just sit helpless and watch as this idiot girl walks into her death. Well, that’s exactly what happened. Dorian walked straight in to Lord Henry’s trap, without even thinking twice about Basil’s warnings and all other obvious red flags. You think things might turn around when he gets engaged, but no. He emerges from it more terrible and self-serving than one could have ever expected. I think that the worst part was that he realized his mistake too late. Once he had truly wished to take it all back his death had already been laid out before him.

The Screwtape Letters          

                The patient goes to heaven! After all of that conversion that went on in the book I was so happy to find out that when the patient died, Wormwood hadn’t been successful in making him a meal. I learned a lot from this book, although it wasn’t my favorite I appreciated the interpretation had on religion. I noticed that by writing as the devil’s servant it made the message of God that much easier to understand. For example, Screwtape mentioned regularly how little thoughts and opinions mattered unless put into action. The action was key to sin. Say I don’t like someone at school. That does neither God nor the devil any good. If I were to vocalize those opinions, In C.S. Lewis’s eyes that rewards the devil and disappoints God. The action, if you will, is the defining factor that brings you either closer or farther away from God. It really frustrated me that the letters took so long. I felt like Lewis either dragged his point on, or took to long to get to it. But of course, that extra detail is what makes a story. You’d think though that being a “Senior Tempter” would require a certain amount of efficiency in relaying a message, but Screwtape delivered none whatsoever. I also found myself annoyed with Wormwood. I know he was learning, but he seemed to be truly incompetent. No matter what the cause laziness and negligence, as seen when the patient had his second conversion, just shouldn’t be excused! If your going to do something, I think you should be darn good at it!

WELCOME EVIL CLASS OF 2013!!

Let's get off to an Evil start by posting your Summer Reading Vents to our EVIL BLOG, as well as to TURNITIN.COM.  You may simply cut/paste the same post for both, or in your BLOG, you may expand your comments to follow up on a fellow EVIL STUDENT'S comment.  There is no wrong way to do this.  Just don't DISAPPOINTMENT me with not giving good effort or being on time or being insightful.

CC

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