Book 3 Project: Book Review

Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie

J. M. Barrie became famous for his novel Peter Pan. Peter Pan was a great story that led to many films, including the Disney cartoon Peter Pan, Peter Pan’s sequel Return to Neverland, and Hook, and television references and mini- series, for example Neverland (a mini-series produced by Syfy). Peter Pan is a fairy tale that has been passed down from generation to generation and it will continue to be a classic.

Peter Pan has many scattered details throughout the book, like the story line and the characters. The story line in Peter Pan is more of a series of adventures that Peter and his friends go on, instead of one continuous plot. The characters in Peter Pan are all very stereotypical. Peter is the perfect example of an immature and forgetful little boy who refuses to grow up or act his own age. Curly is not all that bright but is a lovable little boy. Nibs, Tootles, and Slightly were bouncy and happy additions to Peter’s group.  The twins were very interesting compared to the other Lost Boys, they didn’t have much of a background story and they were usually referred to as one person.

Peter Pan is a very short book, consisting of about 200 pages. The story skips around a lot and does not have a continuous flow. The author goes from one adventure to another without explaining what happens in between which can get frustrating. I would have liked for the author to write a series of books about Peter Pan and his adventures instead of briefly mentioning them through the narrator. The narrations were often humorous and enjoyable. J.M. Barrie did a great job of balancing descriptions, action, and dialogue to create a book that keeps your attention and is rarely slow. Overall Peter Pan was an interesting and creative story. I enjoyed reading the fairy tale that has been told so many different times and in many different ways.

Peter Pan has become a classic tor many reasons. Neverland is a wonderful idea and it is very relatable because at some point in everyone’s lives they don’t want to grow up and wish that they could be a kid forever.  J.M. Barrie describes the landscape of it as, “Neverland is always more or less an island, with astonishing splashes of colour here and there, and coral reefs and rakish-looking craft in the offing, and savages and lonely lairs, and gnomes who are mostly tailors, and caves through which a river runs, and princes with six elder brothers, and a hut fast going to decay, and one very small old lady with a hooked nose.” J.M. Barrie did a wonderful job at creating this magical place that can be extremely difficult to describe, but at the same time is very easy to imagine. It seems as if you are there in a dream because you are never far from an interesting story. In Peter Pan the narrator states “Of all detectable islands the Neverland is the snuggest and most compact; not large and sprawl, you know, with tedious distance between one adventure and another, but nicely crammed.”

Overall I would have to give Peter Pan four and a half stars out of five. The book is written well and is a great story, with good characters and a wonderful setting but it is very short and you wish that it would continue. Peter Pan is like the favorite toy that you had when you were little; it fills you with bitter sweet memories and reminds you of being young and growing up. Peter Pan is a classic tale that lets you fly away to another world and set sail on an adventure.

Book 2 Project: Book Trailer

Book Talk Presentation

Post 5: Truth in Memoir

In my opinion a book that would be considered non-fiction should be mostly true. I wouldn't mind if it was embellished to demonstrate a point as long as it is based off of the truth. All authors try to entertain their readers by making their stories more dramatic and interesting. Adding events and details to non-fiction writer’s memoirs is just their way of making their books more interesting for the readers.

I personally believe that half-truths are okay to put in a memoir as long as the idea behind it is the same as what really happened. You know when you pick up a memoir that it will not be a hundred percent accurate. I am completely okay with Frey and Mortenson bending the truth to make their stories better.  If an author wants to call his or her book a memoir because the majority of it is the truth and other parts were embellished why shouldn’t we let them?  It is their book so they should be able to call it whatever they want if the genres are similar. For example if Nicholas Sparks prefers for his books to be called love stories instead of romance novels where is the harm? It is the same basic idea of love and relationships in both genres, the only the people that the book will most likely appeal to.

I think that Sheilds is right that it really doesn’t matter what genre a book is classified in, however I believe that genres can help the reader find similar books that they enjoy and find authors that they like. Genres should be used to help the reader and not hurt the author by being labeled a certain way. In my opinion genres aren't really necessary and shouldn't be taken as seriously as they are.

Post 4: Adapting Book 2

Some specific challenges that a filmmaker would encounter in adapting Perks of Being a Wallflower include how the movie would be structured because the book is a series of letters. I feel like this may be difficult to translate on screen. A scene that I believe is important to the story is when Charlie first meets Sam and Patrick at the football game. This scene would need to be in the movie because it shows how Charlie felt alone before he met his friends. It is the first time that he felt he belonged somewhere and it is an important starting point for the story. Another scene that I thing needs to be in the movie is the ride through the tunnel. This is an important part of the story and it captures the mood that the book conveys. This scene is the chapter that ties the book together. A third scene that would be necessary to include in the movie would be when Sam kisses Charlie at the Christmas Party. I believe that this is a strong scene in the book because it is emotional and truly displays Charlie's relationship with Sam. This is an important part of the story because it is Charlie's first kiss and it explains Sam's childhood.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a very short book and most of the plot would be able to fit into a two hour movie, however two parts of the book that could be cut out are his sister getting pregnant and Charlie's lunch with Bill. I feel that Charlie's sister getting pregnant would not be important enough to keep in the movie because it was not a necessary plot line in the book. Another part that could be kept out of the movie is when Charlie goes to Bill's townhouse and meets his girlfriend. I feel that filmmakers would see this scene as boring and not important enough to stay. 

Book 1 Project: Fan Experience

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

Attention all John Green fans. We are offering a unique opportunity to enter the world of The Fault in Our Stars. John Green has written another amazing book, An Imperial Affliction. He has agreed to share this story with his devoted fans.  For a limited time only we will be selling copies of An Imperial Affliction, the wonderful novel referenced in The Fault in Our Stars, at John Green’s book signings. One lucky reader of this book will also have the opportunity to meet with John Green and discuss the future for the characters such as the Dutch Tulip Man and Sisyphus the Hamster.

In The Fault in Our Stars Hazel and Augustus read the novel An imperial Affliction written by Peter Van Houten. They love the book and even have a chance to meet the author himself. With our offer we will give John Green’s readers the chance to experience Hazel and Augustus’s favorite book and the winner of the trip to meet John Green will be able to travel to Amsterdam and spend the night in a luxurious hotel just like the characters in The Fault in Our Stars.  In the novel, Hazel explains how she feels about An imperial Affliction by thinking “I didn’t like to tell people about it. Sometimes, you read a book and it fills you with this weird evangelical zeal, and you become convinced that the shattered world will never be put back together unless and until all living humans read the book. And then there are books like An imperial Affliction, which you can’t tell people about, books so special and rare and yours that advertising your affection feels like a betrayal.” However Hazel shares the book with Augustus and it brings them closer together. Augustus falls in love with the book and describes it by saying “Reading it, I just kept feeling like, like… like it was a gift? Like you’d given me something important.” An imperial Affliction was a very important connection that Hazel and Augustus shared. Both characters were fighting cancer just like the main character, Anna, in An imperial Affliction. In An imperial Affliction, Anna leaves off her story in the middle of a sentence, either because she dies or is too sick to continue writing. John Green created this idea because “It portrays death truthfully. You die in the middle of your life, in the middle of a sentence.” He wanted to show readers that a story is never really finished; it is stopped short before you are ready for it to be over. Idea is shown in The Fault in Our Stars with Hazel and Augustus’s relationship.

We believe that this idea of John Green writing and selling An imperial Affliction will bring in a lot of money. This is because it will add more attention to The Fault in Our Stars and other John Green novels and thus increasing his fan base. This idea will also generate positive publicity for John Green. With the book signing opportunities more people will buy copies of The Fault in Our Stars and An imperial Affliction. Many of John Green’s readers will be excited for the chance to see the author at a book signing and read the book that came from one of his novels. Also, the opportunity to go on a four night vacation to Amsterdam to meet John Green would be a very thrilling experience for his fans. The experience of reading An imperial Affliction would allow fans of The Fault in Our Stars to stay connected to the book and help to add loyalty to the author.

Post 2: What Is A Book?

A book is a window. A book can show you anything you want. It tells a story that allows you to use your imagination in a way that is completely unique. A book can take you anywhere you would like to go within its ink-covered pages. I feel that there will always be a need for the physical copies of books. Physical books were a part of my childhood. I always loved to flip through the pages of a new book and feel the weight of it in my hands.  Reading on the kindle, ipad, or nook does not give me the same feeling of entering another world in the way that paperback and hard copies of books do. Something about an eBook gives me the feeling that the book is synthetic or fake and does not create the same type of alternate reality that you could find in-between the pages of a real book. I agree that as Joe Meno said, “the idea of the book is more important than the actual form it takes.” The story that is being told will always be the most important part about reading and it does not matter what form it is in. In that way a book is similar to a close friend, it will never judge you, it will always be there for you and it can give you advice and tell you stories. However to me the weight, the texture, and even the smell of a book give it character. How you see the book’s size and cover can tell you a story without even opening it. When you look at old books you can see that every dent in the spine and every fold in a page can tell you a silent story that you can’t exactly read rather than just understand. Once you put that on a screen it loses its character and you are left with just a story in text. You are left with a clone that is just like everyone else’s copy of the story, there’s nothing personal about it anymore. I believe that every dog-eared page tells you something about the reader and how they connected to the author that completely disappears when it is no longer a physical copy of the story.

Post 1: Why I Read

I read because it makes me feel free. When you read you can be almost anywhere and do almost anything. Reading allows you to create movies in your mind that are unique and different from anyone else’s.  I read whenever I want to escape the world and be in a place where I can do what I want. It’s like dreaming without ever falling asleep.  Reading can take you wherever you want to go in the blink of an eye.  I love to read because no matter what you read it always feels like home. Reading is great in the way that you can take a piece of home with you everywhere.  Once I start reading I never want to stop.  I have always been interested in reading. When I was younger my parents would make me leave my books in other rooms before I went to bed so I wouldn’t be tempted to read all through the night. Every day I would hide books and flashlights under my bed and read for hours.  My sister and I love to trade books and give each other suggestions. I believe that part of my love of reading came from her because she was my role model.