A Choice of 5 Collab

[achoiceof5]

can we maybe (possibly) start this back up again??

I'm down!

-Amanda

I don't know how to get everyone else to see this, since if I reply privately, only you see my response, but I guess I'll publish it just so that our other people can see??? And I guess like everyone else can disregard it and/or rejoice in the fact that we're getting our shit together sort of

[achoiceof5]

remember when

yes :'(

-amanda

[krissypoop]

dana just made that last text post and i did not say she could

[achoiceof5]

sorry i'm trying to get a public opinion to know if it's good or not forgive me

(this text post is also not authorized SORRY)

[achoiceof5]

Hey everybody! So after a little (or pretty big) hiatus, we're coming back! Since we've still got finals and exams to finish, we won't start right away, but we'll be back to our weekly themes and posts soon enough. Just posting this to give you a bit of a warning, so keep your eyes peeled in the next couple of weeks or so!

--Jelena 

[achoiceof5]

i'm really sad that you guys aren't doing this blog anymore :( i loved it

I don't think we officially stopped the blog, I think we're just taking a short break. But I've been sort of on a "tumblr hiatus" for a week or two so I'm a bit lost myself.

I'm glad that you love/d it! :) It's great to hear that.

-Amanda

[achoiceof5]

"It was a pleasure to burn"

Iconic opening sentence, no?  These are the words that start off my favorite book of all time, Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury.  This novel takes the reader to a place and time where firemen are paid to start fires, not put them out, and books are for burning, not reading.  I guess I should point out that I'm a big fan of negative-utopia, government oppression type books, but this one stands above the rest.  The world Bradbury creates is mystical and terrifying: a world without books.  

I first read this book in 2009 in my English class.  I usually hate to read for school, but in this case I was eager to continue and learn about Guy Montag and his realizations of the corrupt world around him.  I've read it many times since then, and I've enjoyed it every time.

In conclusion, I highly recommend Fahrenheit 451.  Its short (only 165 pages!) and sweet and will make you look at your world a bit differently afterwards.

[achoiceof5]

"What really knocks me out is a book that, when you’re all done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it." 

To use Holden's words, The Catcher in The Rye was a book that "really knocked me out." 

Often when we read books, we read them as an escape from the inherent issues of being a person. How nice is it to take a break from being yourself? However, Catcher doesn't let you sail away from your problems; it forces you to confront them.

To be quite frank, Holden Caulfield is far from someone whose shoes you'd like to be in. His flashback narration commences after he's been kicked out of Pencey Prep, a high-class, prestigious (and don't forget "phony") boarding school. After quarreling with his roomate, he decides to flee Pencey and stay in a hotel until he is expected to return home in a few days. 

The rest of the plot is composed of Holden's "adventures" as he, an angst-ridden teen, fends for himself alone in New York City. However, if Catcher was judged on its plot alone, it wouldn't have nearly the critical acclaim that it does. 

The Catcher in The Rye is a book of the mind.

Holden Caulfield embodies the insecurities, worries, and strife of mankind. We all have a bit of Holden in us. While some of us may be a bit more of a Holden than others, we all still have our doubts and need the simple reassurance that, yes, everything is going to be just fine. Holden is terribly misunderstood, yet aren't we all? I know with myself at least that I'm horrendous at articulating myself verbally, which causes me to come across to other people much differently than I actually am at times. If everyone is plagued with this frustration of not being able to effectively express ourselves, do we really know anyone at all, or do we only know our peers based on their skills of presenting themselves?

"I live in New York, and I was thinking about the lagoon in Central Park, down near Central Park South. I was wondering if it would be frozen over when I got home, and if it was, where did the ducks go? I was wondering where the ducks went when the lagoon got all icy and frozen over. I wondered if some guy came in a truck and took them away to a zoo or something. Or if they just flew away."

Humans are innately horrified of the unknown, and the biggest unknown is the future. Holden's future is up in the air. He has virtually nothing going for him, and when a potential opportunity presents itself, he throws it away. Although J.D. Salinger is sighing in his grave as I type this, it's generally agreed upon that when Holden asks about the ducks, and what happens to them, he's actually wondering, "What's going to happen to me? Am I going to be okay? Is there anyone out there who can help me?" Holden shows the scared, frightful doubts that exist in us all. 

"I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all. Thousands of little kids, and nobody’s around - nobody big, I mean - except me. And I’m standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff - I mean if they’re running and they don’t look where they’re going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That’s all I do all day. I’d just be the catcher in the rye and all. I know it’s crazy, but that’s the only thing I’d really like to be."

And here comes my favorite part. (Side Note: As nerdy as it may sound, I actually have the above quote and the entire page surrounding it memorized word for word... It's sort of a bizarre talent of mine to be able to recite random things that don't matter.) After pages and pages of Holden making a complete ass of himself, he has this "shining moment" when finally, he can show who he truly is: The Catcher in The Rye.

To be a Catcher in The Rye is to be a friend, a protector, a family member; anyone who is helping someone else. 

I'm a Catcher in The Rye.

You are a Catcher in The Rye.

We all can accurately depict ourselves as Catchers in The Rye.

Helping others is the basis of mankind. Our species would never have progressed this far if it weren't for the small acts of kindness that occur every minute. Sure, humans also have a knack at making things suck sometimes, but the negatives in our lives aren't what matters, although it can be difficult to climb the mountains that life presents.

I know that Holden is a fictional character, but imagine if he were someone in your life who you interacted with daily. He'd probably be one of those people that we simply don't get along with; he can be obnoxious, he acts impulsively without thinking about long-term consequences, and he's occasionally violent. But, after a couple hundred page adventure with him, you start to realize that he's really not a bad guy, and all he wants is to help people; his actions just get very misinterpreted.

All in all, the world is a place fraught with miscommunication. It's inevitable. Even simple tasks like ordering food at a restaurant can cause exchange issues. However, when we all focus on being a "Catcher in The Rye," and having our priority be to make the world the best place that it can be for ourselves and those around us, then we can make sure that those ducks in Central Park won't freeze.

-Amanda

[achoiceof5]

So, erm, I'm not much of a reader but when we read Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer in my English class I LOVED it. The way he writes about Chris McCandless is so interesting. 

Chris McCandless was a pretty well-off guy who gave up everything he had to trek across North America with his main goal to live in the wilderness in Alaska.

I respect him so much the way he lived for himself. He had family problems and he chose to do what he wanted to do which is admirable.

[achoiceof5]

Well, one of us was bound to talk about this book... or maybe not, but it seems to be pretty popular lately, especially with the movie adaptation coming out in a couple of days. Sooo... here we go. (I'm not really going to go into detail about the book itself, but rather why I enjoyed the book)

When it comes to books, I'm a huge sucker for a story set in some sort of warped reality, a kind of place that isn't too far fetched but at the same time, not quite 'normal' enough to be well... the type of world we live in today, I guess. I'm all for a good book that's set in some crazy, totally imaginary place (like Harry Potter hahaha) too, I just like being able to think about the whole story and step back and wonder if this could ever actually happen (I mean, you never know what could go on in this crazy world we live in...), although I highly doubt it ever would.

I also really like the pace of this book. The story doesn't escalate all at once and although I've had many friends tell me how they thought the first chapter or so was incredibly boring, I really liked having that nice build-up to all that exciting stuff that came after.

Plus, you know, you've got all that action and killing, plus your typical lovey-dovey romance fluff that made for a pretty good story. (The second and third book though.... ehhhh)

[achoiceof5]

Hey guys! It's time for another week of super cool stuff to talk about, so I guess I'll be making some posts a little later about some books I enjoy :-)

See you soon!

--Jelena

[achoiceof5]

I ALWAYS FORGET TO MAKE THE GOODBYE POST okay

I had a lot of fun blogging today!!! It's not every day you get to talk extensively about the books you love so this was lovely. I personally can't wait to hear from the other girls, I know they have awesome books to talk about. :)))

See you guys next week, take care!!

- Kristen

[achoiceof5]

Confession: it was difficult to take this picture because the book's bindings are all falling apart. 

My copy of Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire is falling apart probably because I've had it for years and maybe I didn't know how to properly take care of books back in the day but I don't think that's the case. I think this book is beaten up because I remember literally taking it everywhere and reading it multiple times.

Out of all the Harry Potter books, this one has got to be my favorite one. When I say that a lot of people disagree saying that it's not the best book out of the series and I'm not saying it's the best book!! I'm just saying it's my FAVORITE purely on personal taste.

I'm a sucker for pure adventure and action. The Triwizard Tournament is still one of the most exciting things I've ever read and J.K. Rowling expertly weaved in character stories and Harry's life at Hogwarts and pushed the plot line along, all while adding in fights with grindylows and dragons and Voldemort himself. It's weird to think the character of Harry was only 14 when he had to do tasks like these but hey, it's the fucking Triwzard Tournament. That shit is the real deal. And I loved every second of it. 

What I also loved about the book was that it was full of teenage emotion. The dealings with the Yule Ball and people having to ask each other out and Harry wanted to ask that bitch Cho but she was already going with Cedric and Ron couldn't find a date and Hermione was going with Viktor Krum when you really knew she totally wanted Ron to ask her (and not as a last resort!!!) and GOD, emotions emotions emotions. Young and dumb emotions but emotions. It made the Harry Potter world seem very real when I was reading it at that age because I understood those feelings (school dances SUCKED, I know) and your whole life was just very very awkward at age 14.

But imagine being age 14 and having to deal with awkward school dances but you also have to deal with THIS SHIT:

Harry Potter became a MAN in this book. On a more serious note I also think this is the book when things started to turn very dark and real for Harry, having Cedric die and coming face to face with Voldemort. If you've read the books, you know nothing is ever was lighthearted as the Yule Ball ever again. This book was, for me, my last super fun adventure with Harry before I was thrown into the real drama of the series.

We had a problem on the collablog because multiple people wanted to write about Harry Potter so here I am talking about just this one book. I wish I could write about them all because honestly, if it weren't for these books, I don't know where I would be right now. These books (and GoF specifically) are the reason I love to read because I love finding myself in a different place where there's dragons and grindylows and a golden egg that sings and an actually awesome guy in Hufflepuff and SO MUCH MORE.

This book is also 734 pages long. I think if a book THAT LONG can capture a young teenager so much that she read it for hours straight and awkwardly carried it in her arms to her school, her grandmother's house, the the park and back, then the book is beyond amazing. This book just always made me very happy.

Because fucking DRAGONS.

GO HARRY GO

- Kristen

[achoiceof5]

Hi, I just thought I'd recommend a book for Kristen. There is a book by Myrlin A Hermes called The Lunatic The Lover and The Poet which is essentially a Hamlet fanfiction in published book format, which includes Hamlet and Horatio being together. I would warn you it's a bit more than a bromance.

OH MY GOD I

DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT TO SAY

thanks for the message though 

- KRISTEN

[achoiceof5]

Woah, dude. SHAKESPEARE.

Hamlet is one of Shakespeare's well-known plays, like Romeo & Juliet and Macbeth. I've always liked Shakespeare (except I didn't like Julius Caesar when I read it freshman year of high school) but that was about it. I just liked Shakespare. His stuff was good and I recognized why he's great and we still read his stuff 4 million years later but I was never really captured by any of his works.

Until Hamlet, you know. I read it senior year of high school as required reading, basically only knowing that the famous "To be or not to be" speech is in this play. I also found out that line has nothing to do with holding a skull (although Hamlet does hold a skull later in the play, but he says "Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him well"... at least that's what I remember). 

I read this play with the help of my teacher, Mr. DeBona, who was a bit of a "bro" and occasionally went off fanboying over Shakespeare and the bromance between Hamlet and Horatio. I actually wrote a paper on Hamlet and Horatio's "bromance" and my teacher fucking loved it. He even suggested I write about the bromance. Yes, he used the word bromance. And it's the best word to describe Hamlet and Horatio and how awesome they are together.

Hamlet is a little depressed guy because his father died and his mother married his uncle and it's all a bit weird. Plus, he sees his father's ghost and Hamlet finds out how his father died and he has a weird TOO CLOSE relationship with his own mother and Horatio is still there, being a bro. Hamlet wishes he could just die because life is SO UNFAIR (emo emo emo) and even though this all probably sounds like an annoying play, it's by far my favorite Shakespeare play. The plot line was at times funny and dramatic and truly sad.

I really went through a wide range of emotions while I read Hamlet, which I liked. Plus there's a crazy girl named Ophelia and she's awesome and Hamlet insults her with the famous line "GET THEE TO A NUNNERY" and she ends up dying beautifully in a river with some flowers. There's even a famous painting of it (even though her death scene is not described):

(Sorry if you felt like reading Hamlet one day because Ophelia dying is a bit of a spoiler but trust me, she's not a huge character in my opinion. You really only need to care about good ol' Hamlet and his bro Horatio)

I had to mention Hamlet because it's a play and I've never been a big fan of plays except for this one. If you ever wanted to read Shakespeare, try this one out. It's awesome.

Plus, Hamlet and Horatio's bromance is so strong that people ship it. Meaning people on DeviantArt made HAMLET AND HORATIO (Hamletio?) FAN-ART. I SHIT YOU NOT. THIS EXISTS. I HAVE PROOF.

You're welcome.

- Kristen

[achoiceof5]

It is a sad thing to think of, but there is no doubt that genius lasts longer than beauty. That accounts for the fact that we all take such pains to over-educate ourselves. In the wild struggle for existence, we want to have something that endures, and so we fill our minds with rubbish and facts, in the silly hope of keeping our place. The thoroughly well-informed man--that is the modern ideal. And the mind of the thoroughly well-informed man is a dreadful thing. It is like a bric-a-brac shop, all monsters and dust, with everything priced above its proper value.

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

[achoiceof5]

I thought it would be cool to show you guys my copy of my favorite book. So there you have it. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde.

This book is one of those classics that people say everyone should read. I remember always knowing a bit about the plot having to do with a weird painting and a pretty guy but that's about it. I was never really interested in reading the book until last summer when I fell into a slight obsession with the musician Pete Doherty. As it turns out, he's an avid reader and studied English at a university and in a few interviews he mentions his love of books. I don't remember exactly where he mentions The Picture of Dorian Gray but he mentioned it at one point and, wanting to know about the book that this brilliant man loves so much, I bought the book.

I bought it for 5 dollars at Barnes & Noble. I spent more money buying tacos for lunch today. This is the part where I tell you to buy the book once you're done reading this but only if you're interested in reading it.

I feel like this is going to be a long post so I will try my best to make it short. This book, on the surface, is about a dude who basically wishes that he could never age so through some weird magic, a portrait of him ages while he stays young and beautiful. For it's time (written in 1890) it was a really weird piece of literature. However, as I was reading it, I found that I was able to relate it to our present society.

Immediately after reading the book some of the book, I started reflecting on it in my journal, dated July 3rd, 2011. This is a bit of my journal entry on the book:

I also wrote about the book after I finished reading it on July 26th, 2011. Here's a bit of what I had to say:

"The story deals a lot with the aestheticism theme, which was a big deal in the late 19th century. People believed that art had to have a meaning, tell an important story, teach a lesson. Why couldn't a work of art just be beautiful? Why does it have to be cut down and analyzed? I agree with Oscar Wilde on that. I believe paintings can have a meaning, that's all well and fine, but I believe they can be purely beautiful. A masterpiece can be created for the sole purpose of being looked at as perfect and wonderful."

Damn, homie. That book was THAT DEEP that I was writing shit like THAT in my journal where I usually just cried about bands and wrote shitty poetry and wrote down my dreams.

Anyway, despite the book being about a man who stays beautiful while a painting ages, it's so much deeper than just that. Dorian Gray is corrupted by his own youth and poisoned by the words of others. Before all of that he was just a stupid and pretty boy, looked upon as perfect and wonderful before his eyes were opened to the fact that he's not going to be young forever. Some people attempt to fight this by gathering knowledge because while your youth will not last, your mind will (except Alzheimer's and shit like that exists but whatever WHATEVER). Wilde touches on that idea in this GREAT quote from the book I will post later.

I think I loved the book mostly because of the way it was written. Of course I loved the fact that it dealt with hedonism and this is basically how society is now (preoccupied with youth and beauty and trying to stay young) but what I really loved was Wilde's writing. Right from the very first page I was captured by the lush descriptions of a room and a garden. Everything was described, even the colors, and I had this vivid image painted in my mind. I could almost smell the garden, the smoke, feel the tapestries and the plush couch, the sunshine and the breeze. It sounds silly but there was nothing like reading this book in the middle of the night and putting myself in an entirely different place.

So yes, the writing is beautiful. The themes of the story are beautiful. It's not a very happy book but it is very thought provoking and it made me re-examine the world I live in and the type of person I am. It opened my eyes to what happens to people when they are obsessed with trying to stay young and how much we, in our present society, value either beauty or being book smart. I know there's exceptions to this but if you think about it, the people who succeed are either really beautiful or really smart. That's it. You're either one or the other. So while some people fail to educate themselves and live on the fact that things will be handed to them because they're pretty, others will work twice as hard to make their MINDS just as beautiful because that is all they will have going for them. It's a sad truth that exists today and I guess existed in Wilde's time, which I find fascinating. 

This book is Wilde's only published novel. He's written plays and other works but this is pretty much the best thing he's ever written. At least in my opinion! The ending is shocking and dramatic and I think if you're looking to read something totally different, you should go for this book. Because I love it. I really really do.

Thanks to Pete Doherty!!!

- Kristen 

[achoiceof5]

Good afternoon, everyone! It's Kristen (who was missing last week because I was at a disgustingly awesome Arctic Monkeys/The Black Keys concert) and I'm back to start off another week.

I'll make some posts a bit later.

I just felt like saying hello. I missed this blog. 

See you guys later!

- Kristen