1) Things Not Seen - Andrew Clements. This was my summer reading book for 5th grade, and I can safely say that this was the first book I really loved. It had the perfect combination of adventure, hardships, and a little love, and the way it was written, always with another "cliff hanger" around the corner made it a page-turner.
2) Hatchet - Gary Paulsen. I read this when I was in 6th grade as a recommendation from my English teacher, and found my immersed in the story of the heroic boy struggling to survive somehwere in Canada after he crash-landed his own plane. This book allows me to think back to the silly times when I would imagine myself being that heroic boy.
3) Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury. I found this book intriguing because it's one of those stories that could possibly give grounds to a very real but tremendously scary future, only to be retracted by the protagonist of the book who saves the day.
4) Catcher in the Rye - J. D. Salinger. I found myself relating to and agreeing with Holden more than any other character I've read. Finding that strong, almost tangible connection makes it stick in my mind very well.
5) Rise To Rebellion - Jeff Shaara. This book sticks in my mind because of the unique way in which it was written. It is one of the only war novels I have read with view points that flicker back and forth between two opposing powers during wartime. Not to mention the overshadowing presence of patriotism which brought goosebumps to my skin upon reading the final page.
6) Between a Rock and a Hard Place - Aron Ralston. This book does such a good job of tapping into the emotions of the reader that it would be a hard one to forget.
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Thursday, August 25, 2011
A Rock Legend's Insider View
At the end of last year I read an autobiography called Scar Tissue, written by Anthony Kiedis from the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and I instantly thought of this after reading the question because of the overbearing amount of story-telling in the book. Kiedis has a very intriguing and very different style when it comes to telling his life story, one that I have never quite seen before, but one that I very much enjoyed reading. He has a certain way of writing that seems very natural, and as if it were written down straight from his spoken words, and the combination of this element with the eccentric and very personal nature of the stories themselves makes for quality story-telling.
One passage where this ability is phenomenally displayed is when Kiedis is talking about the band's drummer, Chad Smith. He reveals a very interesting dynamic about Smith that would only be recognized by those actually in the band, and he does so in a way that can be very easily related to by the reader, making the passage both very grasping to the interest and easy to understand.
"He stayed very much a man unto himself within this band. He has a whole different way of dealing with being the new guy, and that was 'I don't need them, I don't want them, I've got my own life.' He never showed any signs of needing to be in our inner circle. [...] When it came to clothes, his sensibilities were way different from ours, and I used to tease him about it all the time. He'd show up in 80's-looking purple double-breasted suits, and i'd say, 'Did you raid Arsenio's closet for that? He thankfully stopped teasing his hair when he joined the band, but instead of hanging out at a punk-rock dive like Small's with Flea and me, he'd go to the Mötley Crüe bar and wear funny jeans with belts and cowboy boots and play pool and go after rock chicks. [...] We found common ground in the music. Even there, his musical sensibility was different, but his energy and passion and the power he had for creating rhythm were unsurpassed. [...] We'd never had a drummer who had a supercharged angst battery that never seemed to run low. I shudder to think that we ever would have made him feel unwelcome or unwanted by giving him the same tough-love, boot-camp-style introduction into the band we gave John, but we did it because we cared about him, we wanted him to be close to us."
One passage where this ability is phenomenally displayed is when Kiedis is talking about the band's drummer, Chad Smith. He reveals a very interesting dynamic about Smith that would only be recognized by those actually in the band, and he does so in a way that can be very easily related to by the reader, making the passage both very grasping to the interest and easy to understand.
"He stayed very much a man unto himself within this band. He has a whole different way of dealing with being the new guy, and that was 'I don't need them, I don't want them, I've got my own life.' He never showed any signs of needing to be in our inner circle. [...] When it came to clothes, his sensibilities were way different from ours, and I used to tease him about it all the time. He'd show up in 80's-looking purple double-breasted suits, and i'd say, 'Did you raid Arsenio's closet for that? He thankfully stopped teasing his hair when he joined the band, but instead of hanging out at a punk-rock dive like Small's with Flea and me, he'd go to the Mötley Crüe bar and wear funny jeans with belts and cowboy boots and play pool and go after rock chicks. [...] We found common ground in the music. Even there, his musical sensibility was different, but his energy and passion and the power he had for creating rhythm were unsurpassed. [...] We'd never had a drummer who had a supercharged angst battery that never seemed to run low. I shudder to think that we ever would have made him feel unwelcome or unwanted by giving him the same tough-love, boot-camp-style introduction into the band we gave John, but we did it because we cared about him, we wanted him to be close to us."
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