Independent Reading Journal #2

                After reading more of Gym Candy, by Carl Deuker, I am starting to notice some interesting things. Mick’s father seems to be very hard on him. He is always telling him what he needs to do, and how he needs to do it. Normally this kind of behavior from an athlete’s parent would make me think that the kid will eventually start to not like the sport, because it is being pushed on them so hard to be the best.  However, this seems to make Mick work harder. Everything seems to be all about football. Mick’s mother states early on that she can’t come to watch his games anymore because she doesn’t like the constant fear that he will get hurt. I found this a bit strange. Most moms like to go and watch their kids play.

                Also, Mick’s dad has a trophy room. The room is covered with three walls of the father’s football accomplishments. The fourth wall, however, is empty. He is always telling Mick that that wall is for him to fill. At first I thought nothing of this. Later on though, I began to be suspicious of the wall left for Mick. One of Mick’s coaches doesn’t seem like a big fan of his father. This makes me wonder if his father isn’t the guy I thought he was. I look forward to reading more to see if I might be right about Mick’s father.

Independent Reading Journal #1

                I chose to read the book Gym Candy, by Carl Deuker. When I first picked this book, I didn’t want to read it. I grabbed it because it was one of the books in the library that had a sports sticker on it that I haven’t read before.  I planned on returning it the next day, because I had another book in mind.  Once we got to class though and I started reading, I actually liked it.

                The book is about a boy, Mick, who has a passion for football. His father played college football and also made it to the NFL.  He is the one who created Mick’s love for the game, teaching him the fundamentals he needs to know to be a great athlete starting at a young age.  He is constantly pushing Mick to work hard and to do his best. He wants him to have dreams for himself.  Carl Dueker does a good job so far of keeping the reader interested.

Sherlock Holmes and Christopher Boone

                We have just finished watching Sherlock Holmes in Class. After watching this movie, I couldn’t help but notice many similarities between the movie, and the novel, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. Most the similarities I noticed were between the main characters of the two, Christopher Boone, and Sherlock.  The first similarity I noticed was that both the characters are very interested in solving mysteries.  In the novel, Christopher tries to find his mother.  He travels to London in order to do so, facing many challenges along the way. In the movie, Sherlock was trying to solve how Lord Blackwood came back from the grave. He also faced many challenges along the way.

                The second similarity I came across was that both characters like to think pretty logically.  Both are not too fond of illogical things, and tend to stick to their math and science type of things.  Christopher uses logic to find his mother, who lives in London. Sherlock Holmes uses logic to figure out many different things throughout the film, such as Lord Blackwood’s plan.  Although I only exemplified two similarities between the two characters, there are many others as well, concluding that the novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time and the film Sherlock Holmes have many similarities.

Book Reaction

                After reading The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, by Mark Haddon, I would have to say that I actually enjoyed the book. I had my doubts when we first received the book, but I was able to learn many things by reading it.  The book isn’t a book I would typically read. It isn’t too exciting, but somehow Haddon does an excellent job of keeping the reader interested. Having the book written in the prospective of a mentally handicapped person, Christopher, was something new for me.

                The unusualness of this book is what kept me interested.  I now have a better understanding of what goes on in the mind of a person with a mental disability.  This book proved to me that there is actually a lot of intelligence running around in the mind of someone of Christopher’s type. Many disabled people in this world aren’t given the credit they deserve.  Christopher was able to travel all the way to London, on his own, to find his mother. I was very impressed with his accomplishment.

                Christopher’s journey to London and his family’s situation gave me mixed emotions.  First, I enjoyed watching the growth of Christopher on his trip. It proved to both the reader, Christopher family, and Christopher himself that he has the ability to survive in this world on his own.  Second, Christopher’s family life was a bit confusing to me. It seemed for the most part that Christopher’s father tried being as supportive and patient with Christopher as he could.  There were a few situations when his father got physical with him, and I didn’t like that. Also, I don’t get why his dad would ever keep his mother’s life a secret from him. I don’t care if he thought he was protecting him, it’s just wrong.

                Overall, this book was very interesting. Getting the chance to see what goes on in the life of a person with Aspergers syndrome was really fascinating. For some this book could have been viewed as boring, but for me Haddon did an excellent job of keeping me interested.  There is a new surprise at every flip of the page. Haddon also did an excellent job of showing development in Christopher’s character throughout the novel, which was very enjoyable. I would definitely recommend this book to others.

Henry David Thoreau

Henry David Thoreau believed that in order to live well, we must reduce the number of material goods we have. Otherwise, these things begin to dominate us. I can understand where Thoreau is coming from when he said this, but I only agree with him a little bit. I agree that people in today’s world could reduce the number of material goods we have. A lot of people today try to make this image of themselves of being the best, and having all the newest nicest things. Many people are constantly trying to ‘keep up with the Jones.’ It’s the people with the outrageous amount of material goods that should be the one who need to try and tone it down.

You don’t need the newest car, house, cloths, toys, etc., to live well. Sure a few could be nice to have around. Saying having no material goods is what you need to live well would be untrue as well. It would be awfully hard to live in the winter time without a pair of shoes and a jacket. Therefore I do not agree or disagree with Thoreau’s statement. Some material goods are needed at times, but most others are simply not.

Prime Numbers

Christopher makes a very interesting point when he states, “Prime numbers are what is left when you have taken all the numbers away. I think prime numbers are like life. They are very logical, but you could never work out the rules, even if you spent all your time thinking about them.” Prime numbers and life are two things that I don’t see compared to often, but I kind of agree that they could be alike in some ways.
Christopher says that life and prime numbers are both logical. I agree with this because a prime number, is a prime number.  There is nothing you can do to change it. Numbers are either prime or composite. Also life is logical too. Everyone is born, everyone grows up and gets old, and then dies. That’s is just the way it works for both life and prime numbers. There are no questions about either things. Also, when Christopher says “you can never work out all the rules, even if you spend all your time thinking about them,” he is also right. You can spend all the time in the world, driving yourself crazy, trying to figure out a eaiser way to figure out if a number is prime or not, but it isn’t going to work. The only way to figure it out, is if the number is only divisible by one and itself. This holds true about life as well. There are people who try and figure out how this world works, and the rules of life, but there isn’t one idea that is the same for every person. It’s to complex.