Book Review ~~ The Ransom of Red Chief ~~

Today I read the short story “The Ransom of Red Chief,” by O. Henry. I found it very ironic, though funny. The author’s writing skills were wonderfully suited to the plot, describing each step of the plot in detail. I really enjoyed learning about what happened to the men, and the boom also provides an incentive for being honest — the men’s dishonesty resulted in their having to pay and having the plan backfire on them because they didn’t know all the information, which I found to be a good moral illustrated in a funny manner. The men’s plan backfired on them, and instead of earning money, they paid money. The boy that they took for ransom, in fact, turned out to be a troublemaker that his influential father, a mayor, didn’t even want. It was another funny story of O. Henry’s, an author I enjoy reading who wrote many, ironically funny, short stories. An engaging plot written to suit the author’s tone exactly, “The Ransom of Red Chief” is a delightful read I would recommend to just about anyone. I would rate it a 9.7/10.

Book Review ~~ A Doll’s House ~~

Today I read the play “A Doll’s House,” by Henrik Isben. It was a controversial play when it was written, in the 19th century — cities banned it, and people were outraged. The main character, Nora, wanted to do something for her husband and have him recognize her as an equal, or at the very least, as someone who can be strong independently, but instead, he treated her like a ‘doll wife.’ Nora’s father, before he died, treated her like a ‘doll child,’ and Nora acted as though her children are ‘doll children.’ Eventually, she realized that instead of loving her husband or her father or having them love her back, she had been having fun all of her life. She wanted her husband to love her enough to die for her, or allow his own reputation to be ruined instead of hers. She also wanted to save him in the end. However, her husband was worried first for his reputation before hers, making her realize that instead of having a happy life, as she’d thought she had, she had been submitting to their decisions and doing what they wanted her to. The play was one of the earlier notions of feminism, ending with Nora slamming the door on her husband. I would rate it a 9.5/10 and recommend it for anyone interested in learning about feminism or looking for an engaging, suspenseful read.

Book Review ~~ The Importance of Being Earnest ~~

Recently I finished reading the play “The Importance of Being Earnest,” by Oscar Wilde. I found it very interesting and funny, though the characters got a little confusing and I mixed up the two main, male characters at the end. Though the play seemed unassuming in the beginning, it was very funny at the ending, with the main characters’ (Jack’s and Algernon’s) girlfriends fighting over something that turned out to be a lie. In the end, the main characters had been thoroughly ashamed, but special circumstances made Jack reconsider. The apparent ‘lie’ was actually truthful! I enjoyed learning about what had happened, especially when the two men fought over muffins and the two women simply irritating each other and being rather contrary. I also found the notion of a ‘Bunbury’ particularly amusing. It is set in England, when people were still supposed to be very ‘polite’ to each other. The entire play is based on the differences between the adjective ‘earnest,’ meaning sincere, and the name ‘Earnest.’ Often termed a “comedy of manners,” “The Importance of Being Earnest” is definitely an engaging play and a must-read. I would rate it 9.8/10 and recommend it for anyone in middle school or above.

Book Review ~~ All Summer In a Day ~~

Recently I read the short story “All Summer in a Day” by Ray Bradbury. I really enjoyed reading it, since the author’s descriptive writing illustrated the scenes for me to depict the story clearer. This, of course, meant that the sad story made me feel very sorry for Margot, who was bullied by the other kids. At first, I didn’t understand why she didn’t fight back, but eventually I understood what the author was trying to say. Margot, who was very lonely, was tormented because she was different. They had lived on Venus forever, and the last time the sun had come out had been when they were two. Margot went to Venus when she was four, and she could still remember the sun. They were jealous of her memories, and so it became anger at her difference. Then, of course, after they locked her in a closet the only day in seven years that the sun was supposed to come out, they felt guilty because they, too, had seen the sun. They were so excited that they forgot about Margot and then felt guilty. Because they had seen it then, they were no longer jealous, but because she hadn’t been able to see it, they felt guilty as well. While it was a very sad story, I still appreciated the author’s writing skills and his abilities to blend a message with a story. There’s also a video on YouTube. The show is played out well enough that it seems almost sadder than the story. I would rate it a 9.5/10 and recommend it to any readers in middle school or above.

Greek Mythology ~~ Artemis and Apollo ~~

Artemis and Apollo are rather similar, natural given the fact that the two are twins. Their father is Zeus, while their mother is Leto. They’re both closely related to hunting, archery in particular, but they’re not ruthless, either — Artemis is portrayed as caring for young humans and animals, being the goddess of childbirth, while Apollo is the god of light and healing. This, too, is reasonable, as hunters spare the younger animals, who can still grow and have children, in favor of the older ones, who would eventually die of natural causes anyway. One major aspect in which they’re different is their sexuality. Artemis is a virgin, even going so far as to kill a mortal who, unluckily for him, saw her bathing, while Apollo has been known to have other lovers. The two are quite close, however, and both of them protect their mother, Leto, and each other. When Hera sent a snake, Python, after Leto, Apollo dispatched it. Similarly, Niobe’s boast that she had more and better children than Leto did did not go unnoticed, and the twins killed all of her children (or at least the majority of them, as myths disagree about this). I respect their loyalty to their mother, and both are portrayed as accurate hunters. Overall, I like and respect the twin deities.

Book Review ~~ There Will Come Soft Rains ~~

“There Will Come Soft Rains” is a book I recently read about a house that operates by itself despite the fact that its owners have abandoned it. Eventually, a fire starts and the house is destroyed. I found it a sad story that could mean a lot of things. For one thing, it suggests that, as the house was empty, humans too are empty and require a meaning to their lives. Otherwise, they too will be destroyed. The book also hints at humans’ reliance on technology, but the way that the technology failed to destroy the fire in the book suggests that humans are wrong to rely so strongly on technology, a theory supported in “The Veldt,” another short story written by Ray Bradbury in which the security guards malfunction. In real life, this theory is supported by the fact that the computer I was blogging from just crashed and half of my blog was lost, causing me to expend extra energy writing. It seems as if the computer agrees with me. I liked the story, but was unsure about what it meant, causing me to rate it 8.5/10. I would recommend it to anyone who is interested in reading short stories.

Book Review ~~ The Lady Or the Tiger ~~

Today I read the short story The Lady Or the Tiger. I really enjoyed reading it, and the outcome was surprising in an unusual way. The story is suspenseful, but cannot claim to be solely suspense because the outcome is never revealed. Readers will continue to argue and debate about what happens for days on end. Set in a semi-barbaric society, a man dares to love the princess. His love requited, the two were happy until the king finds out, which is when he is put on trial. Normally, the princess would not hesitate to make the choice that saves his life . . . except that the outcome of choosing to let him die might be less torturous than choosing to let him live. The author never reveals what the princess has chosen, explaining only her thoughts and her fears. I would rate it 9.9/10. I would recommend this book to anyone over the age of ten who doesn’t mind not being told the ‘right’ answer.

The below is a spoiler, but also an explanation of my thinking.

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This is a spoiler.
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The author explained that there were two doors. One would lead to a savage, hungry tiger and one that would lead to a beautiful, fair lady around his age. The accused would have to pick a door; the former would mean that he would be quickly devoured, while if he picked the latter, he would immediately be wed with the lady. The princess, through bribery, learned which door would lead to what, and, more importantly, who the lady was. She showed her lover which door to pick, but the question is whether she would have him devoured or sent to her rival.

If the lady had been any other than the princess’s rival, the choice would have been immediately obvious. She wouldn’t have wanted him to be devoured. But the princess did hate that lady, and she didn’t want them to be married. For her, it was a question of the lesser evil. For him, it was a simple matter of survival.

The man, of course, had no idea that the princess hated the lady. He would certainly have assumed that she had pointed him towards the lady, and therefore chose the right door without hesitation. But the princess had another issue to think about, which is why I think the man should have chosen the other door.

My decision is based on a simple premise. That if the princess truly loved the man, she should have loved him enough to let him go, even to her most hated enemy. If she pointed to the tiger, then the man should have chosen the lady, because it would be unfair for him to get killed just because of the princess’s selfishness. But if she pointed to the lady, the man should have chosen to get killed, because she would have loved him enough to let him survive even with another lady, even with her most hated rival, and so would not have deserved the pain of watching him with someone else.

The man, of course, could not have known this, so trusting the princess was, in his case, the correct choice. Very little can be conveyed in a motion, especially if it had been well thought out. I would not blame him for choosing the door she pointed in. But for the princess, it would have been better if he had chosen the other door.

Book Review ~~ The Outsiders ~~

Yesterday I finished reading the book “The Outsiders” by S. E. Hinton. I really enjoyed reading the book, both a good story full of suspense and a captivating tale of friendship over and inside economic borders. Ponyboy is part of a gang of greasers that stick up for each other against the Socs, rich kids who seem to delight in hurting the greasers, or “hoods.” They bully the greasers, even cut them and almost kill them, frightening them almost to death like with Johnny Cade. However, when Pony goes to a movie and meets two Socs who don’t appear to hate the greasers, he realizes that Socs and greasers aren’t so different, they’re just two sides of the same coin. “Things are rough all over,” Cherry, one of the Socs, says to Pony. While the Socs are rich, that doesn’t mean that the lives they lead are perfect. After the movie, though, the girls’ drunk boyfriends find Pony and Johnny, nearly killing Pony. In self-defense, Johnny, who was almost killed by the Socs and refused to let himself be hurt again, killed Pony’s attacker. Their only choice is to flee and attempt to survive without being found by the police. Meanwhile, though, the Socs and greasers have their own private war. I would rate it 9.7/10 and recommend it to anyone looking to read an accurate portrayal of teenager life.

Book Review ~~ The Secret Life of Walter Mitty ~~

Recently I read the short story “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” by James Thurber. It’s about a quirky man named Walter who fantasizes about being younger and braver. He thinks about being undefeated and pictures himself in various positions. He is always superior in the end, though not always for the same reason. In his first fantasies, his status is the most obvious, while towards the end, his fantasies are related to what’s happening around him and only briefly allude to his superiority. Walter’s real life is dull. He is forgetful, not alert, and he needs his wife to remind him of everything. He daydreams about being exceptionally good at almost everything and able to conquer any challenges. He can face death without fear; he is youthful and well-respected. In real life, he isn’t considered particularly highly in the eyes of the other members of society and can’t even back out when he accidentally drives into the wrong lane; in his daydreams, he can do almost anything. I thought it was a very funny and engaging story and really enjoyed reading it. There’s no deeper meaning to the story (that I know of, of course), making it good reading material for all ages. I would recommend this story to anyone looking for a quick source of refreshment and would rate it an 8.5/10.

Character Analysis ~~ Rachel Brown (Inherit the Wind) ~~

Recently I reviewed the play “Inherit the Wind.” Rachel was a character that really interested me, so I did a character analysis, of sorts, on her.

Rachel Brown was Cates’s faithful supporter and tried to help him, though at first she was misguided and tried to talk him out of his stance. In the beginning, she urged him to admit that he was wrong and apologize. Eventually, however, she was called to the witness stand and started to realize what the trial was really about: man’s right to think, even if what he/she thought didn’t conform to the beliefs of society. In the end, Rachel understood that ideas should be allowed to grow even if they turned out to be wrong. Rachel went from thinking that Cates was wrong to agreeing with him.

At first, Rachel attempted to convince Cates to give up and just apologize. She wanted things to be the same as they had been before and didn’t understand why Cates was so determined to stand up for his ideas. She just wanted everything to be normal again. Despite their disagreement, though, she stayed loyal to him and didn’t want him to be prosecuted.

Afterwards, Rachel was called up to testify against Cates. It was then that she finally realized the impact of the trial and understood that it wasn’t just about Cates believing in Evolution instead of the Bible; it was about Cates’s right to think and believe in what he chose to. She was unwilling to testify against Cates and ended up petrified on the witness stand.

Finally, Rachel read Darwin. Though she didn’t understand it, she still understood that ideas were just ideas and could be either right or wrong; the person who had come up with them wasn’t bad just because the idea was wrong. She even said, “A thought is like a child inside our body. It has to be born. If it dies inside of you, part of you dies, too!” She understood the case that Drummond had been pressing and decided to leave her father.

Through the drama “Inherit the Wind,” Rachel changed from a confused young woman who wanted Cates to apologize and say he was wrong to someone who understood that ideas were important and had left her father. At first, she wanted Cates to apologize. Later, when she was asked to testify, she realized the trial’s impact. Finally, she understood the importance of ideas and that people had to think because it was what made them different. Clearly, Rachel became a very different person throughout the drama, but always supported Cates.