Book Review ~~ The Rat Trap ~~

Today I read the short story The Rat Trap, by Selma Lagerlöf. The story begins by introducing a character who sells rat traps for a living, but doesn’t make much money and so thinks of the whole world as a rat trap, with money, gourmet food, large mansions, and other such items as the cheese in the trap. While I agree that, to some people, money and other worldly items may act as a rat trap, I disagree that the world as a whole is a rat trap. There are many activities that people can do for pleasure, such as reading, dancing, playing sports, and more that aren’t rat traps because they don’t trap people into anything. For example, I’ll be participating in NaNoWriMo — National Novel Writing Month — in just two days, simply because I enjoy writing. When a far wealthier man assumes that he is an old friend, he is treated well until the wealthier man realizes that he is, in fact, merely a tramp. The man’s daughter, however, persuades her father to let the seller of the rat traps stay for another day, and in treating him like a gentleman she gains a valuable gift in return — he steals nothing from their house and even leaves her a rat trap. Naturally, she is delighted at his behavior. This simple story illustrates the fact that when you treat people one way, they become that way — because Edla, the man’s daughter, treated the tramp as a gentleman, he acted like a gentleman and stole nothing, leaving a rat trap for them in return. I would rate this story 9.7/10 and recommend it to anyone interested in reading a simple, but heartwarming short story.

Book Review ~~ Blood on the River ~~

Recently, I read the book “Blood on the River,” by Elisa Carbone. The book is about Samuel Collier, a boy who tries to steal his mother’s locket from the pawnshop where the orphanage sold it and gets sent to jail for his crime. He is about to be sent to the gallows, but instead, he is assigned as Captain Smith’s page for their journey to America. The book is set in 1607 and is a thoroughly researched account of the journey made to America when it had just been discovered with some fiction mixed in. In the beginning of the story, Samuel is determined to be a loner, but throughout the book, Captain Smith convinces him that he needs to cooperate with others in order for their colony to survive. During Samuel’s inner struggle, many other conflicts take place and there are many other problems throughout the colony — Captain Smith, for example, is often fighting with the aristocracy on the ship and in the colony who believe that they should do no work and leave it all to the commoners, and on many occasions the colony fights with the natives or runs out of food. However, on many occasions, the problems are coming from the colony itself — the aristocracy in particular — and once Samuel learns that he must work with the other colonists to survive, the problem is getting the gentlemen to realize it too. I would rate this book 9.8/10 and recommend it to anyone interested in learning about the colonies or simply interested in reading a good book.

Book Review ~~ The Ascent Of Man — The Grain In the Stone ~~

Today I read the next chapter in “The Ascent of Man,” by J. Bronowski — The Grain In the Stone. It’s about man’s architecture, but also a more general view of how man likes to improve upon what he already excels at. “There is,” Bronowski says, “one gift above all others that makes men unique among the animals, and it is the gift displayed everywhere here: his immense pleasure in exercising and pushing forward his own skill.” This quote is true, and I thought that it was a very nice explanation of man’s drive. Men are creative and good at building on the knowledge of previous generations because (in most cases) they learn from their mistakes. I agree with Bronowski about men’s desire to change the world and make it better using skills he wields well — men have completely reshaped the world since they were introduced. After humans began to cut stone, architecture, such as sculptures, stone walls, and arches, began to develop to become useful and aesthetically high-quality. I would rate this chapter 9.2/10 and recommend it to anyone who is interested in learning about human evolution or the evolution of architecture.

Book Review ~~ The Chosen ~~

Today I read “The Chosen,” by Chaim Potok. The story is about an unlikely friendship between two Jewish boys who lived only five blocks away from each other their whole life, but never knew each other because they have different religions. Although they eventually become best friends, that only happens because Danny hits a fast ball at Reuven’s head while they’re playing baseball. It’s very interesting throughout to compare the two boys’ lives; Danny was brought up in silence by his father, while Reuven and his father are very close. While both boys are intelligent, Danny, who has an eidetic memory, is a prodigy. Personally, I think that their positions should have been reversed — Danny’s father wanted a tzaddik for a son, and while Reuven might not be able to handle such a large workloads as Danny’s, he could still be a good leader, especially since he wanted to become a rabbi. Danny, who wanted to become a psychologist, would have enjoyed having Reuven’s father as his father. Being brought up in dramatically different environments would result in a different outcome for both teenagers. Reuven’s father would help Danny learn about everything in an unbiased manner as well as be more open to his learning, while Danny’s father would make Reuven work harder and learn more so that he could become a great tzaddik. Of course, there would also be some negative outcomes, but I think that the result would be positive overall. I would recommend this book to everyone, but especially those interested in learning about Jewish culture, and rate it 9.8/10.

Book Review ~~ The Ascent of Man — The Harvest Of the Seasons ~~

Today I read the second chapter of “The Ascent of Man,” by J. Bronowski. The Harvest Of the Seasons really reminded me about how short the life of modern humans has been compared to the billions of years that Earth has been around. Humans started making all their technological and cultural advancements within the last twelve thousand years or so, beginning with the development of agriculture. Given that a typical human lives for only eighty years or so, I felt like a drop in the ocean. It was fascinating to learn about all the genetic mutations that occurred to create wheat, while the threats, as well as the ways it made life easier, that domestication of animals created was very interesting. Without it, our progress would have been greatly delayed, but it also resulted in war. I really enjoyed learning about all the developments that agriculture has brought about. I would rate this chapter 9.7/10 and recommend that anyone interested in learning about the impacts of agriculture, evolution, or the history of the world read this book.

Book Review ~~ Son ~~

Today I read “Son,” by Lois Lowry, a sequel to “The Giver” that explains what happened to Jonas and the baby afterwards, but in an interesting way. The first book covers Jonas’s life, but “Son” revolves Claire, who is the baby’s mother. The first section of “Son” is about her own life in the community; the job she was assigned, Birthmother, the Product she produced, and the way she learned about her son, through a classmate of hers who worked in the Nursery. The second covers her loss of memory and, when she remembers her son, her struggle to bring him back, and the third covers the Trademaster, who gave Claire her son but took from her something priceless. I found “Son” even more interesting than its prequels because it explained what happened to Jonah and the baby without just making a happy ending; it told another story of suffering while blending the worlds already created in “Gathering Blue,” “Messenger,” and “The Giver” in a very concise fashion. I would rate this book 9.8/10 and recommend it for anyone who enjoys reading dystopian novels with a bit of a spin on them.

Book Review ~~ The Ascent of Man — Lower Than the Angels ~~

Recently I started reading “The Ascent of Man,” by J. Bronowski. Since it’s a really long book, I decided to split up each chapter and review each separately. Lower Than the Angels is the first one. Man, Bronowski says, “is not a figure in the landscape — he is the shaper of the landscape.” I thought that it was a very nice quote. Man is different from other animals, with gifts of expression, creativity, and the ability to build upon what he already has. Man is not the fastest of animals, nor does he have the keenest eyesight. However, because of this, man has not, biologically, adapted to any specific environment. Humans are able to go anywhere, even though we started in Africa. We can change the world. We don’t have to accept it. Humans change biologically, not culturally, so they aren’t trapped in any one environment. I would rate this chapter 9.3/10 and recommend it to anyone interested in the past and evolution.

Book Review ~~ The Hidden Teacher ~~

I thought that I’d review another story by Loren Eiseley for my next book review. The Hidden Teacher, an essay of his that I read recently, seemed to be a good choice, since the school year has progressed somewhat and I thought that a reminder of how teachers can be found in unsuspecting places was needed. It blends his experiences with a spider, the story of a mathematical prodigy, the lives of cells and the idea that teachers can be found anywhere together. As usual with his essays, it’s not completely scientific — while it does explore the world of cells, it also includes an ordinary event (the spider’s web and the pencil that poked it) and an unusual story, that of the prodigy who calculated problems with amazing speed and efficiency. All of these stories illustrated his point: teachers don’t have to explain things to students in a noisy, typical schoolroom to be “teachers,” anyone who teaches someone else something can be a teacher. Even objects, experiences, or dreams can be teachers if they explain something to someone. I found it an engaging story, an unusual mix of different occurrences that made for a well-presented, well-supported essay. I would rate it a 9.5/10 and recommend it to readers who are interested in science, different ways of learning, or simply looking for some good reading.

Book Review ~~ The Metamorphosis

Today, I read the book “The Metamorphosis,” by Franz Kafka. I found it very interesting, but sad that Gregor had to die in the end. Although at first it may simply seem like a story, it eventually does become clear that it is a metaphor for what Gregor has truly become. He became a source of money to the family, a way for them to survive. They depended on him, but they didn’t see him as a person anymore. Eventually, because of these expectations, he ‘became’ an ‘insect’. It was not, of course, a split-second change as the book made it out to be — it was a slow change. He didn’t actually become a beetle, either — it was merely a symbolism for what he did. When he could no longer provide for his family, they changed, finding a way to provide for themselves and, though taking care of Gregor was a difficult chore, became better people and were able to do more for themselves. They considered Gregor only a pest and immediately thought less of him, simply because he couldn’t work. I would rate the book 9.2/10 and recommend it to people who enjoy reading stories about symbolism that are also interesting stories.

Book Review ~~ Those Crazy Ideas ~~

“Those Crazy Ideas” is an essay by Isaac Asimov I read today about the criteria for someone to be considered ‘creative.’ Throughout the book, he uses Darwin as his example, clearly presenting his points and supporting them throughout with evidence. I thought that his theory about ‘bits,’ or pieces of information, was interesting, and what he suggested made a lot of sense. Basically, he said that people’s ability to be creative was based on their prior knowledge and ability to link the information they have. Then, they have to reveal this idea to the public, which is hard to do because the most creative ideas are also the most odd and the most likely to get ridiculed. Their ability to be creative is also dependent on their luck in finding the right information to obtain the right conclusions. The side story of Charles Darwin’s own creativity was a nice touch to Asimov’s essay, which I highly enjoyed. The writer incorporated some of himself into a scientific essay, which is hard to do, so I highly enjoyed reading it. Overall, I found Asimov’s essay to be fascinating and recommend that anyone interested in creativity read it. I would rate it 9.5/10.