The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

                 My current independent reading choice is The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne. The story takes place during World War Two while Adolf Hitler is in power and the holocaust is taking place. The protagonist is a eight-year-old German boy who's father is in an important position as a soldier. One day, after coming home from school, Bruno finds his possessions packed and is informed that his family will being moving to a new home in a place called "Out-With".




                  Bruno believes that he will never create any friends at his new home, seeing no other houses around and no other children until he sees people in the distance. These people are always wearing striped pajamas and wander around in an enclosed area. After speaking with his father, Bruno was told not to worry about the people in the fenced in area and that they weren't considered people at all. Against his father's wishes, Bruno decides to visit the fenced area and meets a boy his age from Poland. Why does this boy always wear his pajamas? Why can't he come to the other side of the fence? What exactly does his father do for work? These are all questions that Bruno have throughout the story up until this point.

If There Be Thorns - Review

                                                       If There Be Thorns
                                                           V.C. Andrews




     In the 3rd installment of V.C. Andrews' Dollanganger Series, the central plot focuses around Cathy's life now that she is an adult with children. Although Cathy is still a main character, Andrews never tell the story from her point of view. Andrews writes from the perspective of J

Jory, a fourteen-year-old boy who whishes to follow in his mother's and late father's footsteps and become a well known dancer, and Bart, a ten-year-old boy with an active imagination who seems to be blamed for everything.

      Although telling the story from the children's point of view is an unique way of seeing how certain events affect someone other than Cathy, it caused some areas of the book to seem slow. Some parts of the book focused on Bart imagining that he was hunting in his backyard or pretending to be a dog. These events seem strange at first, but after a while, seem repetitive and quickly lose your interest. Other areas include Jory and Cathy dancing or practicing in there home.

If There Be Thorns book cover
Amazon Summary

     Another area in which the book could have been improved was how little recap they gave you from the last novel. In some stories, no recap is necessary. But in If There Be Thorns, you must remember a large amount of events from Petals on the Wind. For example you must remember that Cathy has been married four times; to Julian Marquet, Bartholomew Winslow, and Dr. Paul Sheffield, and Chris Dollanganger. Something else to keep in mind is that Julian, Bartholomew, and Paul have all died in various ways, Julian by car accident, Bartholomew by a house fire, and Paul by a heart attack. But what makes it more confusing is the situation with the children. Jory was the son of Julian and Bart was the son of Bartholomew but believed he was the son of Paul. Overall, I would not suggest reading this book before reading the first two due to the lack of information given of the other two.

      Other than some confusing areas and some slow areas, I would highly suggest this series and this book. Although some areas in the plot did not have a lot of action, I felt they were important to the reader's comprehension and to the plot nonetheless. If you enjoy horror and suspense, you may enjoy the Dollanganger Series.

      The channel Lifetime will also be creating a television show based off of this book later this year.

                                                Lifetime Cast List 

Blog Reflection

Throughout the semester, I have blogged mostly about the series Flowers in the Attic. This is mostly because I have been trying to finish the series before moving onto a new one, although, I would blog more about other books and try to create a recommendation list next time. I forgot to post once, leaving me with 5 blog posts instead of 6. This is either because I was between books and forgot to post about a different book, or it slipped my mind. Considering the blog post I missed was in November, I do not remember the reason for missing it. Next time, I will work on writing every blog post on time. Also, towards the end of the semester, I can see my posts becoming shorter. This could be worked on to keep a consistent length for each blog post so I can make sure the posts are not losing quality. Overall, there are some things I can improve on for the next time I blog.

If There Be Thorns

                                                      If There Be Thorns by V.C. Andrews


Although the name sounds like a cheesy pirate romance novel, I can guarantee you that it is not. So far, this book is very dark. In the third book in the Flowers in the Attic series , we are introduced to Cathy's two children, Jory and Bart. Jory aspires to be a famous ballet dancer and become as great as his late father was. Bart on the other hand, doesn't know what he wants to do. He is only a child with an active imagination. Cowboys, dragons, and adventure fill his thoughts. It sounds normal, right? Well... not exactly. Bart has a condition where his nerve endings don't reach his skin, so he can't feel pain. The boy squishes bugs, hates tears and weak people, and wants one thing- to feel normal. Bart seems to have a lack of empathy towards other living creatures, which leads to a question. Can the lack of pain be one cause of sociopathy? A sociopath is determined by multiple things, some that Bart shows throughout the story so far. One characteristic of a sociopath is if the person lies or makes outlandish untruthful statements. More than once, someone has found a dead cat or animal buried in the yard by Bart who only says, "Last night, a tiger attacked me". This can lead the readers to think that he is making up the story about the tiger, and didn't want to be blamed about the cat's death. Another sign of a sociopath is the inability to feel guilt. Bart does some horrible things to those around him, but he never once apologizes or feels guilty from when we are reading from his point to view. Does his lack of pain cause him to feel less empathy for others?  Although he wishes to feel "normal", would he be able to because of his outlandish lies and his manipulating others? Although, the book has not connected Bart's medical condition to his behavior so far, it may be something to look into or expect in the novel later.

And Then There Were None

                                And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie


If you're interested in a mystery novel that will keep you on the edge of your seat, then this book is the right choice! Agatha Christie does an excellent job with keeping suspense throughout the novel and keeps the audience interested. I feel this book did an excellent job of keeping the audience wondering what happened next because there is non-stop action even when they were only working on the plot. Christie creates a mysterious mood and leaves the audience with questions from the first page. "Why are these people invited to an island?" "Who is the owner?" "What is the significance of the Ten Little Indians poem?" "Did the butler do it?" Let's be honest here, everyone suspects the butler. Even if you are not a fan of Nancy Drew or other similar titles, don't give up on And Then There Were None quite yet.


Ten strangers are invited to a mysterious island, for reasons differing. Why were ten strangers invited; all who didn't know the owner, only knowing him as U. N. Owen. Was this just a coincidence or do they all have something in common? Something darker than they could all realize. One by one, murders occur; and one by one, they accuse each other. Is this what the owner of the island and mansion wanted all along? Coincidently or not, the murders all follow a strange poem:

"Ten little Indian boys went out to dine; One choked his little self and then there were nine. Nine little Indian boys sat up very late; One overslept himself and then there were eight. Eight little Indian boys traveling in Devon; One said he’d stay there and then there were seven. Seven little Indian boys chopping up sticks; One chopped himself in halves and then there were six. Six little Indian boys playing with a hive; A bumblebee stung one and then there were five. Five little Indian boys going in for law, One got in Chancery and then there were four. Four little Indian boys going out to sea; A red herring swallowed one and then there were three. Three little Indian boys walking in the Zoo; A big bear hugged one and then there were two. Two little Indian boys sitting in the sun; On got frizzled up and then there was one. One little Indian boy left all alone; He went and hanged himself and then there were none."

Misery

Misery by Stephen King

 

 

       

        Paul Sheldon, a famous historical romance author, was saved by a former nurse named Annie Wilkes when seriously injured in a car accident. But was he truly saved, or could this be his living nightmare? Annie Wilkes isn't the nice, caring nurse she seems to be after all. Why exactly is she a former nurse at her young age? Paul Sheldon must try to figure out all these questions while surviving in her home.

 

        Stephen King is known for writing dark horror novels with a meaning behind them. For example, Pet Sematary, shows his fear of cats. It isn't the deepest meaning behind a book, but, whatever gives him inspiration, I suppose. Misery also has a meaning behind it that isn't so thought provoking. King had written this book to show his writer's block. In my opinion, it's interesting how King can take something so normal as writer's block and turn it into a 370 page novel about a man who is kidnapped and forced to continue his series of books. I believe it is very creative to rid yourself of writer's block by writing a book about writer's block.

 

        I would rate this book 5/5 stars, being one of my favorite books. I would give it its first star for the amount of imagery used in the story. King really helps you imagine what it is like to be Paul Sheldon, whether you want to or not. He describes everything from Annie Wilkes' smell to the pain he goes through during his time there. This helps the readers connect more with the story and the characters than if he left most of it out. I would give this book its second star due to the character development. King does an excellent job of showing the thought process of Paul Sheldon and what he plans to do. It also shows his past, allowing you to see why he makes some of the decisions he does and why exactly he compares himself to an "African bird in a zoo". King also shows Annie's development via a scrapbook that she leaves out on a coffee table that Sheldon eventually finds. Although her leaving out the scrapbook was no coincidence, this still helps show Annie's past and why she lost her job as a nurse. I would give the book its third star because of its plot. There have been many books and movies where the main character is kidnapped for one reason or another. This book is different because of each character's situation and what they choose to do. Even small things such as Annie's "happy place" in the woods miles away have an important impact. King seems to make everything have a bigger impact in this novel. The "happy place" may show Annie's mental instability but something as small as glass figurines Annie collects could mean life or death for Paul. I would give this book a fourth star because of its conclusion. I can't explain this one too in detail without spoiling the ending. But, King does not leave you wondering what happened next and he has an ending that is very fitting for the book. Lastly, I would give this book its fifth star because of its beginning. It captured your attention right away and had suspense right from the get go. The book started with him waking up in Annie's house and figuring out what happened for him to get here. Overall, I would recommend this book to any horror or suspense fan. 

 

 



Petals on the Wind

     The current book I am reading is Petals on the Wind by V.C. Andrews. Before reading this book, I suggest reading the first book in the Dollanganger series, Flowers in the Attic. Without reading the first book, there will be a lot of confusion and cause a lot of questions, due to where the story starts off. So far, I enjoy Petals on the Wind but it can be confusing without a recap from the previous book.

     The story starts off with three runaways named Carrie, Cathy, and Chris. These three plan to join the circus until Chris can earn enough money to be able to pay for medical school to become a doctor and support his younger siblings. They are not able to continue their bus ride to Florida due to Carrie's worsening fever and other symptoms that Cory had been observed with shortly before he died. They needed to get off the bus and quickly, but, there were no hospitals for miles and they had no way to pay for medical care. Luckily, they meet Henrietta Beech, a mute cook, who can direct them to a nearby doctor.


Petals on the Wind cover

"My name Henrietta Beech,  she'd written, Can hear, but no talk. Little girl is very, very sick and need good doctor. I read this, then looked at her hoping she'd have more information. "Do you know of a good doctor?" I asked. She nodded vigorously, then quickly dashed off another green note. Your good fortune I be on your bus, and can take you to my own doctor-son, who is very best doctor."

      After reaching the doctor's house, Carrie was diagnosed of arsenic poisoning, and was lucky they found Henrietta. Chris and Cathy both had arsenic poisoning also, but, they didn't have as much in their system as Carrie did. Due to their situation and Carrie's terrible condition, the doctor decides to take the three children in as his wards.



 Amazon Summary