Didn't like it....but didn't NOT like it

I've had WATER FOR ELEPHANTS on my shelf for several months.  Lauren had brought it with a stack of other books for me to read.  I just had a very busy semester, though, so I hadn't had time to pick up any of them to read.  Then, right at the end of the semester, for a student's presentation, he brought the movie version for us to watch.  When I asked him why he chose that movie, he said that the elephant in George Orwell's "Shooting an Elephant" goes on a rampage and, apparently, an elephant is involved in a rampage in WATER FOR ELEPHANTS.

So we watched the movie.

I wasn't that impressed, but it did inspire me to pull out the book and start reading.  I hate watching a movie based on a book without reading the book first.  This is one of only a few times when I've seen the movie first.

I don't really know what to say about WATER FOR ELEPHANTS.  I didn't hate it.  But I didn't really like it--yet I didn't dis-like it, either. 

It didn't really hold my attention the way I like for books for hold my attention, but it wasn't boring, either.

I guess my real problem with the book as a whole is that I just wanted more of the elephant, Rosie.  She doesn't come into the story until at least a quarter of the way through, if not later than that, and then she's just not in the story often enough to make me happy.  With the title having "elephants" in it, I wanted and expected for elephant(s) throughout the whole novel.

I knew from previews before I ever saw the movie or read the book that a major portion of the story was a forbidden love story, but I still expected--ok, wanted--more about the elephant.

It's not a bad book at all; in fact, I think most people who read it will enjoy it which is obviously why the book has sold as well as it has and why it even has been made into a movie starring one of our favorite hotties Robert Pattinson.  So please don't let me comments about the book dissuade or keep you from reading WATER FOR ELEPHANTS.  I'd love to hear what you think of it!

Charlie Finds Himself...

I had heard about THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER from a student/friend last year when the movie was coming out.  We were both excited about its release because Emma Watson was in it!  (You know; the young woman who played Hermoine in all the HARRY POTTER movies!!!)  I didn't get a chance to see it in theaters nor have I had a chance to watch it since it came out on video....until last week.  We were on a Humanities (English and Spanish) school trip to Florida and someone had the movie put in the bus' DVD player.  At first, I wasn't too terribly interested in watching it because I hadn't read the book yet--I knew the movie was based on a book.  But of course, I was quickly and easily drawn into the movie.

I loved it.

And not because it made me cry, but because it really is a very good story of a young man "finding himself."  The story has some scenes/parts in it that can be considered questionable, so be forewarned.  (In reading the book, I always do research on any book I read, so I found out that the book is on the list of "most challenged" recent books.  I think it's even been "banned" in some schools/areas.) 

So within an hour of the movie being over (it was really a lot sooner than that), I had downloaded to book to my Nook. 

I couldn't put the book down.  There are quite a few parts that are very difficult to read, but this boy is 15/16 years old and dealing with things no young man should have to deal with--but, sadly, more young men (and women) deal with than statistics can possibly reveal since most boys (and girls) don't/won't tell anyone.  Or, as in Charlie's case, they've repressed/blocked the memory(ies).  Charlie's story is one of love, friendship, brokenness, healing, sadness and depression, family, and so much more. 

It's written in epistolary format--Charlie writes letter addressed to "Dear friend."  We never find out who this mysterious friend is.  I thought that this friend was like Anne Frank's way of calling her diary "Kitty," but apparently, according to one of Charlie's letters, the "friend" is someone real he'd heard about being a good person, so he just chose him/her to share his thoughts/feelings with.  He actually mails the letters to this friend.....

I am considering the possibility of using THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER in my English 111 classroom.  I would love to know what you all think of that idea.  I'd also love to hear any ideas you might have for:  1.  how I should handle the more "sensitive" parts of the story--I don't want to offend anyone and 2.  any ideas you might have for writing topics I could use with this book as the base.

If you haven't read the book, you really should read it.  Please wait to watch the movie until after you've read the book, but regardless, the movie is pretty good, too and follows the book quite well.  In other words, yes, the movie does the book justice.

Anne's Story of Hiding

I read THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK or (THE DIARY OF A YOUNG GIRL) many, many years ago, but after reading SARAH'S KEY and THE STORYTELLER (see previous posts), I wanted to go back and read the book again.  After all, it has been a very long time since I read the book originally.

I like books that are written in diary or letter/epistolary format, so I definitely enjoyed that part of the book.  This particular version is supposed to have parts that were left out of the original because they were considered too sexual or inappropriate for younger readers.  Since Anne was 13 when she and her family went into hiding, those publishing her book the first time all those years ago (her dad was part of that crew) felt that they could be removed (edited out) and Anne's story still have the effect it's meant to have.  I have to agree.  After reading both versions (even though, as I said, it's been a long time since I read it the first time), I don't feel that reading Anne's full diary makes it any better--or worse.  It simply is what it is:  a diary by a young girl becoming a young woman who has gone into hiding because if they didn't, they would be taken away to concentration camps--they'd be separated, and gassed, more than likely.

It's a powerful story whether you read the diary as it was originally published or this FULL version.  It is difficult to imagine living in such a confined space for 2 years and finding ways to get along with each other--even after arguments. 

Anne is very honest about her feelings for Peter in that she's not at all in love with him, but she needs a friend, as does he, and, as they're fairly close in age and both lonely, they naturally gravitate toward one another and wanting to be together.  Being with him provides some of the comfort she so desperately needs but can't receive from her family for various reasons, one of which is that she hates her mother.  That's really tough to read.

Anyway, if you haven't read Anne Frank's diary before, it's well worth the read........

Love the Duck Commanders

Reading about the DUCK DYNASTY family is just as fascinating as watching their show on A&E.  The Robertson family is really very interesting and fascinating.  They are funny.  The most impressive information I learned through reading Willie's book is the fact that all the boys have college degrees, including the dad, Phil!  They're rednecks for sure, but they're highly educated rednecks who love the Lord!  What's not to like about them???

I also learned that Uncle Si is married and has children!  He's been married for more than 40 years!  I never would have guess that Uncle Si was a married man with children!!!!  He's always with Phil and Kay, so I just thought he didn't have a family of his own.  I didn't realize that there are several members of the family who are not on the show; I thought everyone in the family was on the show, but they obviously aren't. 

Oh, and Willie explains in his book THE DUCK COMMANDER FAMILY about why he and his brothers call their parents by their first names.  Based on what we've learned about this family through the show, I have to admit that I've been surprised to hear even the sons calling Phil and Miss Kay by their first names.  Willie says that the company began in the family home and, as he and his brothers were growing up, they helped answer the phone for sales requests for Duck calls.  As a result, they naturally progressed to referring to their parents by name because it was just easier when they were on the phone with customers.  It is NOT a sign of disrespect in any way. 

I've only recently become a DUCK DYNASTY fan, but I've quickly learned what all the hoopla has been about and I can't believe we've waited so long to watch it!!!  Now, we record every episode and I can't wait for the new season....if there will be a new season.  I've heard two different stories about why Season 4 might not happen:  1.  that the family members want $250,000/person/show (I'm not sure if this is true, but I did read it somewhere) and 2.  there's been some pressure to remove the family meal with prayer that they do at the end of every show; Phil says that if they can't do the family meal with prayer, they won't renew for a new season. 

Of course, I'm of the opinion that if A&E is stupid enough not to let the Robertsons keep that part of the show, then another network will pick up the show and continue to incredible legacy---and making lots of money....!

A Story that sticks in the Imagination

As I’m reading 2 separate books about the holocaust currently (Sarah’s Key and The Storyteller), it strikes me like a bolt of lightening that most of my knowledge of the holocaust is about Hitler:  what HITLER did, how HITLER’S regime took over, SS soldiers, concentration camps.  Yes, there’s Schindler’s List, The Diary of Anne Frank, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, Night, and others that focus on the victims of Hitler’s horrific crimes against humanity, but the truth remains that the vast majority of my knowledge of the Holocaust comes from my history lessons in my History classes and most of the lessons the teachers taught focused on Hitler and the “story” of the Holocaust from Hitler’s—not perspective, but at least what Hitler did more focusing on the Jews and others Hitler’s regime focused on killing.

I have to ask myself why the history books and teachers focus more on Hitler than the victims.  Why is Hitler’s name more well known than any names of any of heroes, Jewish and non-Jewish, including those who saved Jews (and the others) from destruction?

I don’t have any answers to the Why? question except to say that the only thing I can come up with is that as long as we focus on Hitler’s actions, we don’t have to FEEL.  Yes, Hitler was an evil man and he needed to be taken down a peg, but as long as we focus on him and what his regime did, our feelings about the Holocaust can stay separated from the reality. 

I haven’t begun to FEEL what happened during the Holocaust until I read the STORIES of the victims.  Yes, some of the stories I’ve been reading are works of Historical Fiction (Sarah’s Key and The Storyteller), but the truth remains that whether the story is a true memoir of someone who lived through it or a work of Historical Fiction where the essence of the story is what’s real but not the actual STORY that is told that these stories make readers like me FEEL.

Reading about Hitler is a way of separating myself from the true horror because sure, it’s awful what Hitler did, but since there aren’t any names or real faces of those who suffered, it’s not REAL what Hitler did.  These stories provide faces and names—reality.  And thus, FEELINGS…..

Jodi Picoult has, of course, done it again with her brilliant novel THE STORYTELLER.  I was riveted from beginning to end and I hated that the book came to an end at all.  She talks about how when an author ends a story without a true ending, it leaves the story forever with the reader because it's always in the reader's imagination.  She's so right.  I know a lot of people who hate stories that just end without a clear ending, but I am one who has always enjoyed them.  It's one of the reasons why GONE WITH THE WIND by Margaret Mitchell is so genius.  I have changed my mind 20 different times about the ending of that book and I like every one of my endings!  (Like Josef in THE STORYTELLER trying to write the ending of Minka's story, but can't find one that works....)  It's the reason why I refused, and continue to do so, to read or watch the sequel to GONE WITH THE WIND, SCARLETT.  I like the imaginings in my head of the ending of the original story and I don't want them "ruined" by someone else's imaginings!

As the granddaughter of a Jew myself, I really connected to Sage and her reaction to her grandmother and finally hearing her grandmother's story.  Sadly, my grandmother isn't around anymore for me to hear the whole story, but what I do remember is important and makes me proud of my heritage.

Great job, Jodi.  Great job.  Thanks for the GREAT read....

Laugh....Life IS worth living....

I try so hard every day to smile and laugh as if my life depended on it.  Smiling, even when I don't feel like smiling--so I've been told, boosts certain hormones or receptors in the brain that triggers whatever emotional part of us is needed to help us move from the sad, depressed (or even angry) state to one of peace and contentment.  Smile through the pain.  Then, when I'm not in front of anyone, when I'm "in my closet"--as Marie was--crying my eyes out, feeling as if the world is falling down around me and I'm falling apart right along with it, I can cry and let my true feelings flow.  Like Marie, I put on my smile and pretend that I'm "fine"--that all is well, when inside, I'm wondering how in the world I'm going to survive to the next moment, let alone tomorrow.

I don't know if I have or have ever had post-partum depression as Marie Osmond describes in her book MIGHT AS WELL LAUGH ABOUT IT NOW, but I do know that I have felt exactly as she has felt.  I, too, have gotten in my car and driven away from my home and family with no destination in mind except to GET AWAY.  Like Marie, I have plastered a smile on my face and gone to work, doing what had to be done, only to go home and fall apart in the privacy of my home. 

Marie is a true kindred spirit for me.  I don't know if we have both had the exact same emotional diagnosis, but I do know that I have felt what she has felt; I have been to THAT low, terrible place of wondering if my life is even worth living, but then thinking of my beloved son who needs me; I GET what she writes about. 

But because life IS WORTH LIVING, we "might as well laugh about it now" and enjoy our loved ones while we can....!

I am ashamed of my lack of Interest

I have always known that I am a Jewish descendent.  My grandmother on my mother's side was always proud of her heritage and shared as well as displayed it proudly.  Even before I had any Jewish knowledge, I nicknamed my grandmother "Baba" which, as I understand it, is a shortened form of the Polish word for Grandmother, "Babsha" (not sure of the spelling).  It's Yiddish, too, but right now I can't remember the main word.  Like my Baba, I have always been proud of my Jewish heritage.  We all have (and wear) a necklace that is a Star of David with a cross in the middle.  The Star of David, of course, is the Jewish symbol (Jews were required to wear a yellow cross on their clothes to identify them as Jews during the Holocaust) while the cross represents Christianity.  So a Star of David with a cross in the middle means "Completed Jew" or Christian Jew.  My Baba was proud of her Jewish heritage, but even more so of the fact that she had accepted Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior.

I remember Baba telling me stories of her family from when she was a little girl, but sadly, I didn't listen well enough to remember the stories.  It breaks my heart that, like many young people, I didn't appreciate my Baba or my heritage very much while I still had her here to share stories with me.  I listened to her stories, but I listened with the mind and heart of a young person who has her whole life, her whole future ahead of her and as one who has never seen or had tragedy touch her young life.

I'm older now.  I've experienced severe traumas in my life--tragedies horrific enough that I would never wish my life on any person, not even my worst enemy, if I had any true enemies.  I wish my Baba was still here so I could listen to the story of her family's escape from Germany so that Hitler's regime couldn't touch them.  I would love to hear about how she must have felt as a little girl in a new country having to learn a new language, make new friends, and simply how to adjust to a whole new way of life.  I do know that my Baba's older sister, Marion--who I dubbed "Aunt Zazie," no idea why--had to go back a grade or two to be with my Baba in school because my Baba didn't know any English and had trouble learning the language.  Baba spoke Yiddish.  She still knew many Yiddish words in her adult life.  She tried to teach some of them to me, but again, I was too young to care to learn. 

If I have any real regrets in my life, they center around my lack of desire to learn more about my Jewish heritage--not only to listen to my Baba's stories, but to take them to heart--to learn them as part of me rather than just some stories of my grandmother. 

SARAH'S KEY could have been my Baba and her family.  While they didn't live in Paris, they still were in danger of being taken away.  What if my Aunt Zazie, in an attempt to protect my Baba, had locked my Baba in a secret room in their house with every intention of going back for her sister, only to be too late???  Why didn't I FEEL the power of my Baba's words as Julia does in this amazing story???  Why is it only now when it's too late do I FEEL the power of my heritage?  The pride? 

SARAH'S KEY is a story that, like Julia, makes me want to dig and research for more information.  I want to know everything I can.  I want to remember.  I don't ever want to forget.

(FYI:  the actress who plays either Julia or Sarah in the movie version of SARAH'S KEY is named "Polly."  Wow.  **Correction:  Polly Stone is the woman who reads the audio version of the book!  Sorry for the misunderstanding!!!!***)

Zakhor, Al Tichkah.