Post 4: My Favorite Character so far

 So far in my Journey I've seen Christopher, Jack, and Ray, and even though they are all great,my favorite is a very minor one from Room. My favorite character is Leo from Room who is Jack's step-grandfather, who he nicknames Steppa. Leo is a stranger to both Jack and his mother, neither have seen them in their life. He rightfully gives them space and kind of slowly eases in to talk to Jack. He just likes to relax and sit in his man-cave while watching some TV, like every typical grandpa does. He of everyone in the family, gets Jack closer to  society and Jack's family, when he isn't even biologically related. I think the thing that Jack likes most about Leo is that, he is kind of distant. He doesn't really touch Jack or is around him all that much, but when he is he always does something to help him become more normal. When Jack starts crying because he crushed the Lego building, Leo shows him its not a big deal by breaking his own Lego car, which he was playing with, showing Jack the stuff you can do with them. This minor event kind of helps Jack grow up a little bit, he won't take things as seriously as he has been doing. In the Room, he was probably always trying to save his things because he only got small amount of stuff every Sunday, but now that he was outside, he didn't have to do that any more and Leo showed him that. The main reason I like Leo though, is he just seems like a real grandpa, or even friend. Leo reminds me of every good Grandpa from every movie or commercial. He relaxed, kind, and smart, I bet he probably has some good stories from "his time" too.

Post 1: Dog in the night-time

           I give The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time a 7.5/10. The book was very well written and detailed, but sometimes got a little too detailed where it was kind of weird. I like the aspect of having an autistic person being the main character. It is a very unique way to word a story. He just describes what he can see and what is logical. The story really keeps you on your toes, with twists that you don’t really expect to happen, it goes from an investigation of a dead dog to unveiling a whole network of things he thought to be true. The story in theory seems a little dull or boring, an autistic kid tries to figure out who killed his neighbor’s dog, but the author executes it very well. He brings in believable events to make the story interesting. I like the dad the best in the story, sometimes he loses his temper, but not very often. He seems like a typical father figure, one who always wants the best for his kid and to keep him happy, but sometimes loses his cool and reacts in a bad manner. It was probably difficult to have to single handedly take care of Christopher for so many years, without having this sort of thing happen before. Even though he kind of let Christopher get all the way to London from home, he kind of messed up on that one.

Even though the book is really good and really well written. Sometimes it gets a little slow. Chris gets to detailed into his daily life which happens to be very boring. He starts rambling on about math and does a ton of problems in his head, which gets a little old. We kind of have to wait a while for Chris adventure which is the most exciting part of the book. But once it comes up it the story really ramps up in place, questions answered, adventures to be had, it is really the starting point of the  book for me.

Post 3 - Room

Room by Emma Donoghue is a book about a child named Jack and his mom who are locked in a man's shed with only some books, a TV, and each other for entertainment. Jack calls this man Old Nick, because he brings in treats from the outside into them. Jack has lived in the shed his whole life and loves his home, he's alone with the only person he loves, able to read books and watch TV he loves it. His mom, however, has are desire for freedom and doesn't want her child growing up isolated from society, so she thinks its time to leave. She thinks it's time to reveal to her son what is on the outside, destroying every thing he believed in.

Room is a very unique book, its written from the child's point of view, showing a different perspective than any other book. He isn't able to analyze things the same as an adult, so when he sees something he just gives his observation on situations, which causes you to have to go over an extra hurdle understand what is happening in certain situations. This along with the fact that Jack asks a lot of stupid questions gets a little old, but its understandable the author somehow makes this situation work, the kid is just very curious and actually gives good information for setting the scene. Things like this are going to happen when your listening to a child who has had barely any social interaction with people other than his mother. The writing makes the story very interesting, in theory the plot of the book seems very boring, a kid and his mom stuck in a room, but the book increasing in excitement very quickly, the first 40 pages are just kind of setting the scene and the daily routine of the child and mother for 5 years. Then it quickly escalates showing Old Nicks behavior and the mother's depression. Room is a very interesting and unique book that doesn't take a lot of brain power to read, since the child simplifies everything. I give it 4.3 out of 5.

Post 2 Shoeless Joe

Post 2 Shoeless Joe

“If you build it, He will come.” Shoeless Joe is a book about a baseball loving man, named Ray Kinsella, being told by a divine spirit to build a ball park in order for an appearance from Shoeless Joe the famous baseball player who was supposedly wrongfully banned from the game, including 7 other players. The book follows Ray Kinsella as he travels around the country looking to redeem people who were wrongfully banished from the game, such as a famous writer named Salinger. Shoeless Joe, starts off a little strong, but it soon deteriorates, the characters seem to have no emotion. When Ray first sees the ghost in the ball park he has built and taken care of for a good amount of time and at a great cost of money, he shows no excitement. He seems so sure of himself that the voice he heard was not just a random voice, he expected Shoeless Joe to come alive, even with such a vague wording like “If you build it, He will come.” Also the plot takes unneeded turns like when Ray is eating at a diner and a man with a gun comes in to threaten his ex. Things like this are really unneeded to the plot and it’s not exciting or funny so why put it in, it’s just kind of boring. The thing I do like about it is how closely you can relate to the main character, he is just a guy who loves baseball with his Dad, it is his life and he would do anything to redeem his cherished players that mean so much too him, partly for him and for his father. Kinsella (the author) creates a really good relationship with his family and it helps the story, showing how Ray’s wife would do anything to please her husband. Some of the conversations are pretty interesting and funny too. The fact that in order to get Salinger to attend a baseball game he needed to kidnap him with a gun that was really just his pointed finger in his trench coat. At the moment in my reading I give the book a 6.5 out of 10 because of its lack of description and excitement, but it creates good relationships between the characters in their shared love for baseball.