October 1st

Because I have no better string of words to title this post with, I am simply calling it "October 1st". It being the first of October means that I am exactly one month away from NaNoWriMo. I am excited to tell you all that I will be participating again this year.
Also, in lieu of a book post this week I will be making a Meet the Blogger post. It will be a chance for you all to find out a little bit about me and know me a little better. It is always nice to meet the blogger behind the blog, right? I seriously hope that you are not too disappointed in my not posting about a book this week. Due to unforeseen circumstances, I have not been able to finish Great Expectations yet.

I will see you all on Friday!
Have a lovely Wednesday and happy reading!  

Great Expectations, House of Leaves, the Writer's Market, and Freelancing

     Quite a few things have happened since I published my last blog post on Friday. I reached the one hundred page mark in Great Expectations by Charles Dickens; I got through half of House of Leaves; and I have decided that I am going to pursue a career as a freelance writer.
     You can expect a post on Great Expectations by the 2nd of October and a post on House of Leaves soon after. I have always found it difficult to read two books at once. I am always getting confused if I try to read more than one novel at a time. For your sake and mine, dear reader, I will not be rushing through these books but I will be pacing myself, and these are the projected dates that I will be done reading the novels. I want to write about the books accurately and in a way that you will get a clear picture of what I have read and how I feel about each book. In order to become a better writer, I must learn the art of functional writing and I must start somewhere, so why not here?
      Also, I am hoping to branch out in the future and post here more than once a week as I had originally planned. I want to have plenty of things for you to read. If I am not posting more than once or twice a week, I at least want to post long articles. Short posts are good. Long posts are better. In order to branch out to other reaches of the internet, I will be befriending the writers of other blogs that are strictly about books and/or writing. This is not an easy task for me to accomplish due to the fact I am the most socially awkward person in existence, but do it I shall. I want to make myself proud and I want you all to be proud of me. At some point I want to do guest writing for blogs as well and have others do guest writing on my blog.
The more the merrier.

So long for now readers!

House of Leaves Pt. 2

This book is messing me up bad. How bad? SO bad.
The thing about a psychological thriller is that you do not know why it scares you, but it does for some reason anyway. Parts of it are laughable in this book; like the parts in which Johnny talks about sex and other stuff I am too polite to mention here (this blog is for all audiences right...?). Then come the scary parts that should not be scary at all, but they are! I am over two-hundred pages into this book; very close to three-hundred. My mental state seems to be getting a little bit worse with each progression through the book. I have not left the couch except to use the bathroom (showers and stuff) and go to school since I started it yesterday.
I have the feeling that tonight I will be taking my dad's spot in my parent's bed tonight since he is working third shift. This is what happened with Blair Witch and The Raven too. I have not gotten to the point that I am sleeping with a Louisville Slugger next to me, but it is too soon to make a judgement on that.
Please keep me in your thoughts and prayers as my sanity is about to go down the toilet.

House of Leaves Pt. 1

House of Leaves is by Mark Z. Danielewski. Tim gave it to me today to borrow for a short time. It will be back in his possession once I finish reading it. It is listed as part of the horror genre and I can somewhat see it, but everyone who has read the book says it is more than that. I was able to read a little bit of it at school today and then I had to take the bus home. That means more reading on the ICC bus and then none on the University bus. On the University bus, though, this woman sat down across from me and immediately recognized the cover. She told me that it was the best book ever written and that it is a total trip. I am somewhat excited to read it and a little apprehensive. It has the feel of the Blair Witch Project to me, and I have the feeling that these thoughts are not unfounded.
We will see where this book takes me and I will be back to write more about this book later as I figure out more about it.

A Few Musings Over Tea

          I received a real punch in the face tonight when my school email account would not let me access my blog. All three years worth of it. I started this blog when I was sixteen in the attempts to not clog people's' newsfeeds with my nanowrimo updates. I am planning to post more here as I get into reading again. I have been in a massive reading rut for multiple reasons, but I am finally finding good books to occupy my time with and great people too.
          I recently read The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, which was quite an interesting book in all honesty. It was a coming of age novel in the oddest sense of the term. Holden Caulfield realizes what he wants to be and what his purpose in life is. I think that he showcases the emotions of most teenagers during their middle to late teen years. I will not dwell on the book now, though, for I will be posting more on it later in a different post once I find the time to.
          I mentioned in my last previous post that I was not spending late nights at the hospital anymore. I figured I should explain why I was barely here this past school year. Long story short, my grandmother was very sick and I spent most of my time with her. She passed away back in May and the pain is still very raw for me, but I am feeling better. Thus, I am posting this. I believe now that I am feeling up to posting here every week, if people are still willing to read my posts.
          I also started up classes again. It is technically my sophomore year of college and it has already revealed to me the struggles that are to come. Currently I am taking English Literature, Math 110, Psy 110, Comm 110, and German 210.  I have met some really rad people. I have a new friend out of all the five classes I am taking and his name is Tim. He seems to love reading just as much as I do and we are swapping books with each other on Thursday (which I am extremely excited about). I am always happy to make new friends. Especially those who read lots of books.
          I have many blog posts in the making for this semester, so please come back every week and read what I have to say about books.

Happy reading and go enjoy a cup of tea!

Keeping Up With Myself - "A Passage to India"

     Lately it has seemed that I have been catching myself coming and going; burning the candle on both ends as some may put it. I feel exhausted, yet I am keeping up with all of my schoolwork, so it is worth it right? Am I as crazy as I think I am? Last semester I thought college would be a breeze, that no one had a reason to complain; especially if they were causing most of the problems for themselves. I found that is not the case, though. I have put more of an emphasis on hitting the mark than on actually learning and that is the most distressing thing to me. I am watching my friends as they pull their hair out over the most trivial things that should not cause stress, and I feel myself as I grow more tired each day. It has definitely gotten better as of late since I am not spending late nights at the hospital.
     Currently, I am taking the Lit 111 class at Illinois Central College as well as Mat 098, ENGL 111, and German 111. I have the same amount of classes as I did last semester but I vowed to do better this semester and keep up with my classes. That is the difference between the two semesters. Last semester I was finding my bearings, and now that I have found them this semester I cannot seem to catch a break. So, in order to not burn the candle at both ends, I will be coming out with a blog post every other week, equalling two blog posts a month. I am going to put as much quality as I can into them, even though I am uncertain of whether people truly read what I have to say or not.
      In the future, my blog posts will talk about the books I am currently reading but not what I am writing. I have not written anything worthwhile lately. I want to do some "good writing" but I have not had the heart to do so, only because my brain has not been functioning as it should be. That does not deter me from attempting to do well in my classes. I am not floundering like I was last semester and am riding on As in all four of my classes, or at least three of them.
     Recently, we have just started A Passage to India by E.M Forster. Between sparknotes and trying to read the actual book, I have started to gain an understanding of the book itself. It has taught me a thing or two about the attitude of the English people as a whole during their time of imperialism. As the title suggests, the setting of the book is in India. It centers on the character Aziz, Mrs. Moore, Miss Quested, and Mrs. Moore's son Ronny, of whom Miss Quested is engaged to. There are other supporting characters, but there are many and I cannot mention them all in this post.
     Upon finishing the book I realized that it was the plot of the book and the message that was construed through the plot. After reading the last sentence, I put the book down and mouthed the word,"wow" because there was nothing else I could say.
     I would be lying if I said that A Passage to India is a book that everyone should read, because not everyone is going to be able to grasp what the book is trying to say. I surely did not. It taught me about the interactions between different cultures and how they can affect the people within them. I found myself rooting for Mr. Fielding, I cheered on Aziz. I have always been a fan of those who are misunderstood, who are classified as the underdog. Put me down all you want for cheering on those who are considered less than human. That is who the story focuses on. The story focuses on the denizens of the subcontinent of India and the life that has been made miserable for them. The English come in, they claim that they are simply keeping the peace.
     E.M. Forster seemed to want us to look at the English through the eyes of the Indian people. He succeeded in most ways.

The Art of Functional Writing

    My teacher assigned us a heavy question to write about. The question was, "What does it mean to be a writer in 2014?" The only parameter that he gave the class was that it had to be one page. He did not tell us the repercussions of what would happen if we wrote more than one page of work, but I did not really want to find out what would happen for myself. The last thing I would want to do is make a teacher bore himself to sleep over reading a paper I tried to make into art.
     I shared the paper I wrote with a few people, one of them happening to be my mother. She told me that it was "Ok" and then I went on to edit it. I then shared it with my friend Tristan, who has a job editing papers, and he told me that my paper was wonderful. Afterwards, I shared my writing with my good friend Micah, whose opinion I value more than anything (not that Tristan's opinion was not valid, I just have not known him as long). Micah began questioning me on what the paper was supposed to be. He told me that the paper was "handcuffing me" because it gave me limited room to get my ideas out. He told me that it was an opportunity to learn a new form of art. It is the art of functional writing.
    Writing functionally is something that many people cannot do, while a good amount of others are able to. It is my goal this semester to learn the art of functional writing. I will teach myself to write a clear and concise essay, even if it is only allowed to be a page long in length. So, with that being said, here is the journal entry that I wrote for my English 111 class.

"What Does It Mean To Be a Writer In 2014?"

           What does it mean to be a writer in 2014? There are many possible answers to the question stated, seeing as there are many different writing styles and a plethora of modern authors and writers to choose from. People who invest time in their writing have the ability to capture the attention of their readers. Everyone is looking for something different today. To be a writer in 2014 means being able to articulate well and put one’s own thoughts into words on a page in a way that make sense and captures the reader’s thought.

            Being a writer means having a love of all things text. People who write generally like to write and they make a habit to do so, even if time does not allow them to every day. To be a writer means to make someone think about something more than only him or her. If a writer does not make someone think then they have to work to make another person do so. 

            T.S. Eliot said, “The purpose of literature is to turn blood into ink.” The quote could be taken in many different ways, but I think that what it means is that the text has to become the person who is writing it. It must become a part of them completely and they must become a part of it. Perhaps the quote should be reworded, someday, to say, “The purpose of literature is to turn ink into blood,” meaning that the work of the writer should come alive. The writer of the work should be as much of a part of the text as the text is a part of them. Writing takes time and it also takes talent. To me, that is what it means to be a writer; having talent, having the ability to construct ideas and record them, and to be able to keep the attention of the intended audience.

     I may not have received the best mark in regards to a run-on sentence here or there, but my professor  did not hate the piece.
     One must be able to write functionally and if a writer has not developed that skill then it is something they must work on; which is what I have been working on: to make my writing short and to the point when it needs to be. 

            

Tolkien's "The Silmarillion"

       There is a central topic of my blog it seems; writing about Tolkien, because I read an awful lot of Tolkien's works. For those who do not know, please allow me to fill you in on what I have been doing as of late. I recently finished reading The Silmarillion; The Silmarillion being the prequel to the trilogy The Lord of the Rings and coming before The Hobbit as well. It is a literary masterpiece of J.R.R. Tolkien's and a prime example of his creative nature. He is known for creating Middle Earth and The Silmarillion is a good reference to his creation. The book fleshes out the world of Middle Earth even more so than the trilogy and its singular predecessor did.
         I began reading the book with two different points of view. The first, knowing that the book should be read like a history book, and not all at once (Johanna, I am incredibly sorry for not heeding your advice). The second point of view is that it would be similar to all of Tolkien's other works that I have read; full of allegory, even though Tolkien himself said that there was none. I realized, after a time, that I could not read The Silmarillion like a history textbook and I could certainly not read it like The Bible. The book is a series of stories, telling one whole story. It is most certainly like a history book, but different in the way that it reads. I could not read the book as if it were The Bible either, because there was a great deal of differences between the two, that I will note later on in this post.
         To be painfully honest, I was rather nervous before beginning this post. "Why?" you may ask. It is because The Silmarillion is such a masterpiece that I cannot let it down with a simple misuse of a word. Everything I write about it has to be perfect and that is what I am setting out to do. That is the prime objective of the post and I will commence to tell you about The Silmarillion.
         The book revolves around the Valar and Ilùvatar. The Valar are the beings that come to Arda, later on known as Middle Earth, and take part in a song that Ilùvatar creates and they bring order to Arda. Belonging to the Valar are the Queens of the Valar and the Lords of the Valar. The Lords of the Valar include Manwë Sùlimo (King of the Valar), Ulmo (King of the Sea), Aulë (the Smith), Oromë Aldaron (the Great Rider), Mandos (Judge of the Dead), Irmo (also known as Lorien and who is Master of Dreams and Desires), and Tulkas Astaldo (Champion of Valinor). The Queens of the Valar include Varda Elentári (Queen of the Stars, wife of Manwë), Yavanna Kementári (also known as Palùrien, Giver of Fruits, wife of Aulë), Nienna (Lady of Mercy), Estë (the Gentle), Vairë (the Weaver), Vána (the Ever-young), and Nessa (the Dancer). There are many names that one cannot keep track of on their own and I am ever thankful to the Tolkien Gateway, which I will cite at the end of this post.
        The greatest threat to the Valar is Melkor. He is the mightiest of the Valar but is not included among the Lords of the Valar, for he was evil and brought destruction instead of life wherever he went. He made it his personal job to destroy whatever the Valar created in the stories that Tolkien told. Melkor is the original enemy, and after him comes Sauron.
        Ilùvatar is the god figure of the entire story. He creates the Valar, they are created out of his thoughts. They are known as the thoughts of Ilùvatar. Ilùvatar also creates the races of Elves and Men out of his thoughts and they are the most important races in all of Arda. The dwarves are created later on, but they are a thought of the Aulë and were not immediately accepted by Ilùvatar. The Ents were created by Yavanna. The Elven race were the first to live in Arda. The race of Men was put into a deep sleep, to bloom at a later time in the world. Because of this, I realized that I could not read The Silmarillion as if it were The Bible because of a tremendous difference.
        The difference between The Silmarillion and The Bible are that man was created at the beginning in the latter book where in the former, they were created early on but were not allowed to exist in the world until a later time. The men of The Bible came into a land that was perfect and were sent out from it after a time due to their sinfulness where in The Silmarillion, men were born into a land of ruin but not due to their sinfulness. It also does not help them that Ilùvatar becomes a distant deity, unlike the god of The Bible.
        Besides the fact, there are many enjoyable stories in The Silmarillion, my favorite being "Of Beren and Luthien", the tale of an Elven girl named Luthien and a man by the name of Beren. Beren falls in love with Luthien, and Luthien likewise Beren; but her father does not approve and he is disgusted. He sends Beren to retrieve a silmaril.
        The moral of the whole history of Middle Earth, is to not get too worked up about gems because they will ruin your life and the lives of others.


http://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Valar