Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Switching it up

Hey guys,

A word here.

What do you feel writing should be about? What sort of topic deserves an audience? Does writing need to engage the reader -- does that include making them think? Does the work need to say something?

What does writing mean to you?

To me I feel at times it needs to be raw and truthful, no matter the cost. Other times I feel it just needs to spout originality and creativity. Then again it needs to be both, adding some spontaneity.

What makes you want to read a book? Which books inspire you, wishing everyone would read them and share the same experience you absorbed through the pages of a book? What books make you want to read them over and over again? What stories have you fallen in love with?

If you've found a book like that, by all means, please share. If you've come across a work that makes you feel, by all means, please share. If you've encountered that with one of the books on this site, share even more!

I would love to hear from the audience of this blog. I want to know what readers think and feel. I want to hear your opinions, even if they seem to differ from mine.

I want you to live and have great experiences with literature and authors' writing.

--Sadie

Monday, October 15, 2012

Lord of the Flies by William Golding


"The most influential novel...since Salinger's Catcher in the Rye." 
-Time

"Lord of the Flies [is my selection for the Book That Changed My Life] because it is both a story with a message and because it is a great tale of adventure. My advice about reading is do a lot of it." 
-Stephen King, for the National Book Foundation, The Book That Changed My Life

At the dawn of the next world war, a plane crashes on an uncharted island, stranding a group of schoolboys. At first, with no adult supervision, their freedom is something to celebrate. This far from civilization they can do anything they want. Anything. 
But as order collapses, as strange howls echo in the night, as terror begins its reign, the hope of adventure seems as far removed from reality as the hope of being rescued... 

"This brilliant work is a frightening parody on man's return [in a few weeks] to that state of darkness from which it took him thousands of years to emerge. Fully to succeed, a fantasy must approach very close to reality. Lord of the Flies does. It must also be superbly written. It is." 
-The New York Times Book Review 

I think you're starting to get the idea of just what kind of book this is. Lord of the Flies is ethereal, eerie, and definitely can keep you up at night. It changes the way you think about the world and the nature of human beings. You question how you would act in that situation, what your behavior would be like. It scares you to think that you just might behave like these boys. Or would you? 

This book can be disturbing in places, but it also strikes really close to the true nature of humanity. It's scary just how real this work of fiction is. William Golding was a brilliant author, and everyone should read this novel introspectively. It has the power to change the views and behaviors of humanity. 

Right now in my AP Literature class, we just finished reading this book a few weeks ago. We now, as is usual in English classes, are writing an essay on it. I'll post my essay when it's finished, and maybe Kelsey will as well. There are so many different interesting topics you can discuss with this book. I could talk about the symbolism alone all day. 

I encourage everyone to read this book. It will change the way you think about your life. 

--Sadie