Reaction to Chapters 1-2 in ATPH

So far, I have not enjoyed All The Pretty Horses very much. I think that the writing style that Cormac McCarthy has employed is confusing and hard to follow. I find myself at times trying to figure out which character is talk, as there is no quotation marks and very little indication of who is talking and when. Although Ms. West assures us that we will love this book, I have not been able to get excited about it. Hopefully the all-knowing Ms. West will be right, and the plot will pick up a bit so that I can enjoy it.

Quote Time!

Here is a perfect example of the amount of details and description the author puts into every aspect of the book:
"... I catch sight of my hands. They are knobby and crooked, thin-skinned, and-like my ruined face- covered with liver spots. My face... withered and spotty, with dewlaps and bags and long floppy ears. A few strands of white hair spring absurdly from its spotted skull" (Gruen 111).

This is a description of what Jacob looks like when he is older. It shows us the diminishing appearance of him in his extremely old age, but yet, as we learn, he still thinks and (tries to) act like a young person. It is a perfect example of how the body may waste away, but one's mind and soul will be there in full strength until the end.

Water For Elephants Reaction So Far

As I approach the midway point of this book, I find myself enjoying it more and more to the point where I cannot put it down. It keeps me interested throughout each chapter with the plot and character development only adding to its greatness. The thing I like most about it is the fact that the author has almost religiously added description to each passage so that the reader is able to imagine what life would be like in the early 20th century working for a traveling circus. I also enjoy the little flashbacks/flashforwards that happen from time to time. I find the author is spending more and more time in the past, which, naturally, is the more interesting part.

Water For Elephants Post #3

This next quote shows us how Uncle Al, the evil ring leader of the circus, came to power and made the show what it is today.
" Uncle Al had the good fortune to be in the vicinity and was able to score a sleeping car and two flats for a song from railroad officials desperate to free up their sdidng. Those two flats easily held his few decrepit wagons, and because the train cars were already emlazoned with Benzini
Bros Most Spectacular Show on Earth, Alan Bunkel retained the name and officially joined the ranks of train circuses."
This shows us this deep root of all of Uncle Al's, otherwise known as Alan Bunkel, evil. He is greedy, intimidating, power hungry, and worst of all, looks for the easy way to do things in everything he does. Uncle Al, so far, has been the antagonist in the book, as exemplified when he puts Jacob in an impossible position as the circus vet. Only time will tell if Uncle Al continues his questionable ways throughout the book.

Reaction to The Odyssey

In general, I enjoyed the Odyssey as a book. I felt that, for the most part, it kept the reader interested in the plot and the characters. I think that learning about the gods and Greek traits was entertaining and a good mix up to what we normally do in English class. Although the book became slow and was a little long, I felt that Odysseus' story was somewhat inspiring, and if not that, pretty cool. It was good to see a real hero as the main character of the book, and find all of his heroic traits, whether obvious or not, throughout the book.

Water For Elephants Chapters 3-5

The next significant quote I found in Water For Elephants is in chapter 3. Jacob is a newcomer to the circus setting up crew, as he has just jumped on a train and gone wherever his life may take him.
" We are adjacent to a huge grassy lot. Beyond it are scattered brick building, backlit by the predawn glow. Hundreds of dirty, unshaven men pour from the train and surround it,like ants on conday, cursing and stretching and lighting cigarettes. Ramps and chutes clatter to the ground and six- and eight-horse hitches materialize from nowhere, spread out on the dirt." (Gruen 32).
This quote shows gives us an idea of what kind of lifestyle Jacob is jumping headfirst into. It is dirty, hard work, and overall not very pleasant. Jacob does not mind, however, because he knows he now has no family or money in his name, and this is a new source of income, food, and shelter for him.

Reaction to Books 15-19 in The Odyssey

My thoughts on the next series of books that we have recently read in Homer's Odyssey is overall frustration. It seems to me that the story has slowed down exponentially and has no more action or points of interest anymore. I feel frustrated that Odysseus has kept himself hidden throughout this whole time when he was interacting with the suitors. I found at least 4 points in the story where he could have easily revealed himself and killed all the suitors without breaking a sweat. Altough Odysseus' actions often anger me and make me want to stop reading the book, it shows the characters iron-clad will and ability to follow order (in this case handed down to him by Athena). These events demonstrate Odysseus' heroic charcteristics, those being that he is willing to be patient and stick to a plan in order to achieve his goal. I also see these characterisitics appearing more and more in the young Telemachus, who knows the suitors want to kill him but is sticking to his father's plan, too. Overall, I feel that Telemachus is almost a mirror image of his father and is bound to grow up just like him, just without as much arrogance as Odysseus.