Jane Eyre

When I read Jane Eyre, I was way too young. I hated the book because I was not old enough to really understand everything in it. It's very long, written in old english, and the plot is a little boring. But the characters are so amazing. Now, when I look back at the book, I realize that Jane was such a strong person, and she was so different from the usual women portrayed during that time. It was very interesting to see that type of life from an unprivledged, average girl when I'm used to looking through the eyes of pretty, wealthy girls in their beautiful carriages surrounded by all of their beaux. I understand now that I must go back and reread the book because I believe I can learn a lot from it.

Zen, Motocycles, AAAHHH!!

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenence. The title explains it all. I have started reading this book but am unable to continue. It is basically philosophy and let me tell you, it's deep. It's the first philosophy book I've tried to read and it almost scares me. In a way I love it because I gain so so so much more insight on life, but at the same time I can feel my entire "being" change because of a simple sentance. The power the ideas in this book have over me in immense and kinda frightening. I am determined to finish the book; hopefully I'll make it out unscathed.

Shelly's Favorite Book

So Pride and Prejudice is officially my favorite book. I've read it who knows how many times, and am really wanting to read it again right now! I always manage to gain more insight every time I read it. The purity and innocence of the characters inspire me and urge me to be better. Elizabeth is AMAZING and probably my biggest role model even though she's only a character. And Mr. Darcy...well, he is perfect. I'm not sure what else to say about him. The love the way Jane Austen writes, and after reading as many of her books as possible, I believe she was probably and extremely sensible person, not to metion and amazing author!! I recomend the book to everyone!!

True Art

So this week I am going to start reading a book called O Pioneers! I'm really excited; mostly because I'm not entirely sure what to expect. I've read a lot of books and history about pioneers, but never a classic like this. I am constanly amazed by the beauty and depth a great writer can put on a subject that is initially, well...kinda boring. And I don't mean only in this book, but also in many of the books I've had the opportunity to read. The true artistry is when an author can simply write about life, but make it into a beautiful work of art.

Humanity vs. Inhumanity

Ok, so this week I'm not going to write about direct quotes, but more of an entire book in general.

I recently finished reading The Grapes of Wrath for a second time and I was amazed at the insight I gained when rereading. The book has so many themes and so much depth; it was hard for me to focus in on something to write about. But to me, the biggest theme in the book is mans humanity and inhumanity to man. Throughout the entire story there are contrasting examples of love and cruelty. Though men continually become more brutal and uncaring, families pull together and their love grows more than ever. I believe our world is becoming more like this today. The darkness continues to grow, and along with that so does the light that shuts it out.

Man Emerges Ahead

Read: "Man, unlike any other thing organic or inorganic in the universe, grows beyond his work, walks up the stairs of his concepts, emerges ahead of his accomplishments."
The Grapes of Wrath

Ponder: Have you ever wondered what separates us from every other living thing in the universe? What is it that makes us different from the bacteria, the plants, the apes?

Pursue: Even with all the proven science of evolution and DNA, people are finding a hard time swallowing the fact that our physical make up isn't all that different from many of the animals we look down on. Now, don't get me wrong, I don't believe we came from bacteria or apes or anything, but evolution is real and the facts are all around us. What people don't understand is, that even though we share so many similarities with "lower level" organisms, we are 100% different. What animal "grows beyond his work, walks up the stairs of his concepts, emerges ahead of his accomplishments?" I believe that only humans have that ability. The truth is, man is special, man is different. Man shows compassion, love, empathy, growth. Man has the potential to change the world; we cannot ignore that.

We the people....MUST STAY TOGETHER!

Read: "The bank is something more than men, I tell you. It's the monster. Men made it, but they can't control it."
The Grapes of Wrath

Ponder: What happens when something gets out of control, when a man made "thing" no longer depends on man? We've seen it so many times: Terminator, Wall-E, you get the picture. But in The Grapes of Wrath, the problem is less tangible. When it's a bank taking over lives, who's to blame?

Pursue: We need to learn from books like the Grapes of Wrath. We need to realize that the hard times are caused by banks, credit, stocks, and fear. If we as a people can come together and show compassion to one another, we will have control and we wont be at risk of defeat by uncontrollable forces. Yes, hard times will always come, but we can overcome more if we are together.

Think First!

Read: "She was vexed beyond what could have been expressed—almost beyond what she could conceal. Never had she felt so agitated, so mortified, grieved, at any circumstance in her life. She was most forcibly struck. The truth of his representation there was no denying. She felt it at her heart. How could she have been so brutal, so cruel to Miss Bates! How could she have exposed herself to such ill opinion in any one she valued!"
Emma

Ponder: All of us make decision that we instantly regret. Whether it's speaking to quickly, acting too rashly, or doing something that goes against your values, it happens to all of us.

Pursue: It confuses me that even though the consequences of our actions are so horrible to us, we don't change. We know what will come from our actions, but that doesn't stop us from making bad decisions. I think the best thing we can do is try to be rational and always think before we act. When you go against your values, you let yourself down and this dissapointment can cause you to slack in other areas of your life.

wisdom from a child

Read: "You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view . . . until you climb into his skin and walk around in it."
To Kill a Mockingbird

Ponder: Truely understanding a person is hard to do. Do you believe that you really understand anyone?

Pursue: Not many people have the courage to consider things from other's points of view. You have to be willing to leave everything you believe and know behind and become the other person. You must "climb into his skin and walk around in it." Only then can you truely understand someone and only then can you know their hearts.

History Does Repeat Itself

Read: "After supper she got out her book and learned me about Moses and the Bulrushers, and I was in a sweat to find out all about him; but by-and-by she let it out that Moses has been dead a considerable long time; so then I didn't care no more about him, because I don't take no stock in dead people."
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Ponder: Do you ever wonder why we take so much time to learn about people from the past? Do you ever wonder why history is so important to us? Why do we take "stock in dead people?"

Pursue: Though in this passage, Huck Finn states that he doesn't care about learning about the past, I disagree. I think learning the world's history is very important. It teaches us about people and about ourselves. Though someone may be dead, it doesn't mean they are not worth learning about.

Read: "It was kind of lazy and jolly, laying off comfortable all day, smoking and fishing, and no books nor study. Two months or more run along, and my clothes got to be all rags and dirt, and I didn't see how I'd ever got to like it so well at the widow's, where you had to wash, and eat on a plate, and comb up, and go to bed an get up regular, and be forever bothering over a book, and have old Miss Watson pecking at you all the time. I didn't want to go back no more. I had stopped cussing, because the widow didn't like it; but now I took to it again because Pap hadn't no objections. It was pretty good times up in the woods there, take it all around."
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Ponder: Sometimes we just enjoy sitting around with nothing to do. It's nice to have to no cares and to not have to worry. Huckleberry Finn is this kind of person. Even though his father is cruel and beats him, he enjoys living with him and letting life just move on around him.

Pursue: Though living like this can be fun for a while, it gets old fast. I find enjoyment in working myself and accomplishing things. The other part of this passage that also stuck out to me was how Huck Finn enjoys being with his father even though he beats him. It showed me that a child will never stop loving their parents. Sometimes I think parent take advantage of this and treat their children cruelly just because they know that their child will accept it.

Be That Person

Read: "Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no family. They don't belong no place....With us it ain't like that. We got a future. We got somebody to talk to that gives a damn about us."
Of Mice and Men

Ponder: Do you ever take for granted the comfort and support friends and family bring you?

Pursue: Our families; our friends give us a place to belong. They give us a future. Them simply being there changes our life entirely. Without them, we have nothing to care about; no one to talk to us. Try to be that for others. You can never know when the person next to you is desperate for someone to care. Say hello, smile, assure them that someone out their cares.

All Alone

Read: "I fell to my knees by the side of my grandfather's body. Dead. Growing cold. I straightened his arms and legs so he he might lay with dignity. What should I do next? There was no one to ask. I felt like a baby girl just learning to walk, only the ground under my feet was shaking and I had no one to hold one to."
Fever

Ponder: What does it mean to feel completely alone? What happens when the only thing you have left is taken from you? The darkness that envelopes you is frightening and you feel like a helpless child again. Everyone will experience this feeling at some point in their life.

Pursue: Complete lonliness is one of the scariest things to feel. It's dark, heavy, suffocating, but it will pass. Knowing how it feels to be alone only makes you appreciate those around you more. Loosing a family member or a friend is a part of life; the part no one wants but everyone will experience. You must grow from those hard experiences and live your life as passionately as possible.

Hollow Acceptance

Read: "Vanity was the beginning and the end of Sir Walter Elliot's character; vanity of person and of situation."
Persuasion (A MUST READ)

Ponder: Vanity= caring too much about what people think of you! (my own inadequate definition) What can vanity lead to? Selfishness, hatred, loss of compassion, and destruction of inner beauty. Appearance has become the most important thing to many people today, and while it may buy you some acceptance, be assured that it is hollow acceptance.

Pursue: We all have some vanity. It's just a fact of life. We care about how we look, how we dress, how we feel around others, and it isn't a bad thing. But when vanity takes you over and becomes "the beginning and the end" of your character, well, then you're in trouble. Pride and vanity are human nature but so are humility and compassion. Don't let the negative characterics suffocate the positive. Don't choose to forfeit the eternal, priceless beauty inside for the temporary, hollow beauty outside, because in a fleeting moment, that beautiful outer shell will fade away and all that'll be left is what you will have made of the inside.

Conquer

Read: "But you see, just becuase we've been ...dealt a certain hand...it doesn't mean that we can't choose to rise above-to conquer the boundaries of a destiny that none of us wanted. To try to retain whatever essential humanity we can."
...TWILIGHT! (yeah I'm a fan too :P)

Ponder: Do you ever think about fate; destiny? The belief that your life is already laid out and choosen for you; to me that seems depressingly final. But to be able to change your path, to become whoever you want to be? Who doesn't want that? But is the ability to "rise above-to conquer the boundaries of a destiny" a realitiy we can make for ourselves?

Pursue: What if life is both, both our destiny and our choices? Is it possible for them to coexist? Just because you've been "dealt a certain hand" doesn't mean you have to live with it. Change it, change yourself. To believe that you cannot change your own fate is to give up. Believe in yourself, believe in your strength because the hand you've been dealt (your destiny) isn't set in stone and you DO have the power to change it.

Simply Simplify

Read: "I'd lived in so many bodies, but never one I loved like this. Never one that I craved in this way. Of course, this would be the one I'd have to give up. The irony made me laugh, and I concentrated on the feel of the air that popped in little bubbles from my chest and up through my throat. Laughter was like a fresh breeze-it cleaned its way through the body, making everything feel good. Did other species have such a simple healer? I couldn't remeber one."
The Host

Ponder: Ok, so this is an expert from a science fiction novel and you're probably wondering how on earth I can relate it to real life. But....think about it. How often do we take the miracle of our bodies for granted? How often do we forget to laugh just because it feels good? The point of view the character from this book (an alien in a human body ;P) offers is very different. They dwell on the simple parts of being human; the smells, the colors, the emotions, the relationships, the laughter!

Pursue: In this small exerpt from a sci fi novel, I've discovered the first step to a happy life. Take a step back and appreciate the miracle you are. Stretch your arms, wiggle your toes, run a lap and feel the heat course through you muscles, laugh just to feel the air escape. Be grateful that you are you and that you don't have to worry about a strange alien infestation stealing our planet and taking over your mind. :) It's the little things that bring us the most happiness.
P.S. I recomend this book to EVERYONE! It's "science fiction for people who don't do science fiction" and it's amazing :)

Thinking of Home

Read: "Addie Bundren will not be. And Jewel is, so Addie Bundren must be. And then I must be, or I could not empty myself for sleep in a strange room. And so if i am not emptied yet, I am is. How often have I lain beneath rain on a strange roof, thinking of home."
As I Lay Dying

Ponder: In this passage from William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying, one of the main characters, Darl, is going through a mini identity crisis. His mother is dying and he believes that once she is gone, so is he. His thought processes are very confusing but I believe that he is almost trying to make himself believe that Addie Bundren isn't gone because her family isn't gone. It's Darl's only way to cope with the death of his mother and it's his final attempt to draw sense from the passing of a loved one.

Pursue: Hmm...this is a hard one. How do you purse an identity crisis? But then why would you want to in the first place? I think the message to draw from this passage is that hard stuff happens; stuff that causes our own self to collapse on itself and makes us ponder the fact of our own existence. Darl was not a very intelligent man and his lack of knowledge expressed itself in his methods of greiving. We are different. We need to remember those whom we've lost, and keep them with us always. Our hearts should be our safest homes, and we should keep everything that is dear to us in them.

A Delayed Introduction

Ok, so my first post was kind of a "trial run" and it might not have made much sense; my apologies. I'm writing this blog because I love to read. I love to read and I love to learn from what I read. That would explain the title I chose for my blog. After going back and reading my first post, I realized that it probably makes absolutely no sense to anyone. From now on, I intend to pick an excerpt from the current book I'm reading and write my thoughts and connections pertaining to that excerpt. Hopefully, this will open your mind to new ideas and help you understand why I believe books to be so much more than a bunch of words.

Barn Burning?

Reading William Faulker's "Barn Burning" has caused me to really think about human nature and human error. The father in this story is probably the most complex character I've read. He is quiet, brutal, and mysterious, but also so much more. How do you really classify someone's character? Words alone cannot do the job, and we have no other way of communicating. As I ponder this character, I realize that I know him. He is in every person I walk past in the hallways. His jealousy and hate are a part of all of us. But along with jealousy and hate come compassion and love. Though his character didn't appear to possess these qualities, I am sure that we as humans do. His own form of revenge was barn burning, what are ours? How far are we willing to go before reason and conscience remind us of who we are?