by Debbie ChanI never understood how joy came alongside with reading because when I was a child, reading was a task. Reading was a check mark away from my “to do list” and it was like a chore. My opinions, however, changed when I was in the third grade. I fell in love with how my teacher, Mrs. A, read and how each word, when read, flowed into its right place and ignited curiosity of the characters. The years after the third grade became more and more fruitful in enjoying the world a book can provide. I was a very fortunate kid to have been surrounded by people who loved and valued books and it was a privilege to be able to read, let alone be able to own books. Picture Credit: Debbie Chan Slaughter house five was the book I had no choice of picking whether if I wanted to read it or not, because the book was assigned to everyone in my English class. Although the book made me a frustrated reader, with perseverance the book has changed me as a writer. In high school, I was someone who only wrote poems or song lyrics because that was where I had my foundation with literature. I grew up reading poets like Edgar Allen Poe, Robert Frost, and Emily Dickinson, and I have tried writing short stories, but I would never be able to make them into a finished product. When I read Slaughterhouse five, something changed in me and I was inspired by the writing style Kurt Vonnegut had. The book was filled with confusing thoughts and the transitions between sentences, ideas, and settings were abrupt, but that was what made it so interesting to read. The protagonist, Billy Pilgrim, was a war veteran. When reading the book, the story would never make any sense, not until you finish it and reflect about what you read. It was so clear that Billy had post traumatic stress disorder, PTSD, who would think that the writing reflected on that so perfectly. The abrupt changes of setting made me as a reader feel the confusion and frustration Billy felt when that happened to him. I want to be a writer who can set do exactly what Vonnegut did. I want to be able to reflect my writing onto the reader and make them the extension of the main protagonist of the story. This book has made me the better writer I was yesterday. Picture Credit: Debbie Chan I didn’t grow up in a Christian household. I somehow found my way to love Christ when I was in high school when I join this youth group because my cousin was in it. The Five People you meet in Heaven made me curious about how I was living and saw my life. I had the cliché questions about what my purpose in life was, or what did it mean to live a meaningful and fulfilled life. When I read this book in high school, I didn’t wonder upon questions about my life beyond high school, because that wasn’t my priority. I didn’t see how vulnerable all of our lives were. Even experiencing deaths in my family, I never thought beyond my own death and that there was a high chance death wouldn’t pay me a visit. The thought of my own death never crossed my mind. Growing up, all I heard were people hoping that I live a long, fulfilled, and meaningful life, and that was my thought of what reality was. That everyone lived a long, fulfilled, and meaningful life, but this doesn’t always happen. I was just never affected personally to not see this happen because everyone that I knew who passed away were old. As young as I can remember, I had thoughts of my existence and wondered if there were things beyond this would for us, but I didn’t know what to call it. It wasn’t until I looked at colleges I had interest in applying to and saw, under majors, Philosophy. I began to be curious about what this subject was and what it entailed. The way of living and questioning everything in this world was what Eddie, protagonist, did he was at his final moments on earth. Picture Credit: Debbie Chan One day caught my eye, because I saw Anne Hathaway on the cover of the book. I had a few close friends in high school, but one was closer then the others. This friend was like a brother to me and our relationship was like salt and pepper. The book talked about the work of two friends and like them, my friendship with my friend included unnecessary drama that resulted in almost breaking our friendship. The chemistry between the the two protagonist, Dexter and Emma, reminded me that if the friendship was meant to be, it will reveal itself with time. I believe in the saying that if something was meant to be than it was meant to be, however, it doesn’t mean that you don’t work for it. I never counted myself as a romantic, but I surely have learned a few things about what taking care of a meaningful relationship means. I learned that friendship, not only takes time, but it is not instantaneous. A friendship is not an instant gratification thing, because you need to build it like a house.
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by Katherine SantanaThe three books I have chosen, are Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson and Man’s Search For Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl. I have chosen these books, because each demonstrate the hardships and beauty of life. These books, have taught me that life is beautiful. Our hardships, help us grow stronger and our mistakes allow us to thrive. There is so much more to life than what we make it out to be. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley The story of Frankenstein is one of just many gothic classic novels that have always spoken to me. While it is a work of fiction, it carries several life lessons that changed my outlook on life and people. I started reading Frankenstein at a very young age and was one of the very first books that got me to into reading in the first place. I have watched several versions of Frankenstein movies books. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley like many other works on Frankenstein, demonstrates the fear of the unknown. It taught me how human beings, tend to reject and avoid something that they do not understand. Frankenstein, was a misunderstood creation and because of that, it frightened many. It also expresses the fear of oneself, as sometimes we can be driven by impulses that seen unfathomable. The effects of playing “God” is also key as Dr. Frankenstein felt the need to create a human being out of body parts of the dead. This book showed me that one must not tamper with nature. Life is a cycle in which everyone that is given life will die at some point. This book has taught me, that the world is full of judgement and misunderstanding. It made me think about moments in which I have misunderstood others. It made me think about moments in which I have encountered fear. Frankenstein, taught me that the unknown is scary yet magical. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson, is once again one of many dark classic novels that intrigued me. The display of human personalities, demonstrate the complexity of human behavior. Everyone in this world, is like Dr. Jekyll as he like everyone else has a dark side. His dark side, is none other than Mr. Hyde. Everyone has a dark side, and it demonstrates the many faces that human beings must keep up with in this world. Dr. Jekyll is feeling the effects of expectations set by society and set by himself. Mr. Hyde is the result of unrealistic expectations and repressed emotions. This is much like us human beings today. We all face the constraints of society and the desire to release. Personality and human emotions is very difficult to understand and even harder to control. This book I feel, is an amazing way in understanding the complexity of human behavior. It made me think about ways in which that I have repressed my emotions, and moments that I have felt as though I was being given too high of an expectation. It made me think about my own behaviors and my own dark side. This book helped me realize that each person is unique, complex and fascinating at the same time. Man’s Search For Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl Man’s Search for Meaning has got to be by far one of my most favorite books. I read this book as part of Professor Rougier’s Death and Dying course and it taught me many things. This book demonstrates the courage and strength that everyone has within them. Most importantly, it depicts the different forms of suffering and how meaning is created. Viktor Frankl, had a first-hand experience of the horrors in the Nazi death camps. He shares his story, as he expresses how he was able to keep moving forward despite the horrendous environment and mistreatment. Amidst the chaos, he was able to come up with a form of psychotherapy called logotherapy. Logotherapy, are the ways in which people find and pursue meaning in their life. This was very prevalent in Frankl’s book, as he teaches that suffering is essential to human development. There is no such thing as living life without suffering and we must be able to accept it and conquer it. Frankl demonstrates, how the love for his wife kept him alive. He, stresses the importance of solitude and taking time to think about one’s own life. My favorite sentences in this book, is that suffering is unique to everyone. I connected a lot with this, because my suffering can be different from someone else’s. Suffering for everyone is unique. The way we cope with suffering is unique. However, we must all learn from our experiences and use it to create meaning. Frankl never lost hope, and mentions how having hope is essential as you never know what will be at the end of the road. This book taught me that life is difficult, but it is also beautiful. Life is complex, people are complex and sometimes it takes time to understand both life and people. These books, have taught me that the world is not black and white. The world is scary, yet beautiful. It is destructive, yet life producing. The world is full of suffering and yet filled with happiness.
by Nelson HerasIn our lives, we all have come across that book that has touched our hearts and that have changed our lives forever. Books that stay with us for years to come. Thankfully I have three amazing books that have taught me things and have changed my life. The first being The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein, although a children's book, holds a great message. By that I mean that an adult reading this book will gain a great message from the plot and understand the book in perhaps a more complex manner. As a child I read many books, both for school and for pleasure, however, no book has engraved itself in my mind as this one has. When reading this book, you witness the love between the character of the tree and the "Boy" as the tree likes to call him despite him changing in age. The tree does whatever is in her control to make the Boy happy at all stages of his life even if it means taking a piece of her, literally and figuratively. You can see the love of a mother and child and how a mother, in this case a tree can love her child unconditionally and always do what she can to see her child happy. A mother will live her entire life to please their children, a happy child is a happy mother. This book changed my life because it taught me such a meaningful lesson at such an early age. I learned from reading this book that love can be so pure and unconditional and when we receive that love from anyone we should appreciate it and never take advantage of it. I've mentioned in many of my writings that I have never considered myself to be a religious person. Being religious for me (you may think otherwise) is pertaining to a specific religion, finding the need to attend church in order to feel God’s presence, and rehearsing specific prayers time after time. I do not believe in such things because I am a firm believer of God and know that He is where I am, despite the location. I don’t think that God’s presence is only felt in church and also, I don’t believe in praying the Hail Mary, but instead believe that talking to God is a much better feeling. That being said, the second book that has drastically changed my life is the Bible, in which has managed to get me out of many difficult situations in my life. Ecclesiastes, Chapter 3 is one of my favorite verses, it tells you that there is a time for everything, to be patient because the perfect time will come. "To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven. A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted. A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance." Whether you are religious or not these are very wise words anyone can learn from. What I have learned is that everything happens for a reason and that everything that occurs in our lives, all our experiences, have a meaning. Sometimes we are not aware of that meaning, but it's there and sooner or later we will notice it. Again, I do not think I am a religious person, however, I am a believer of God and his miracles. I love God the way I feel I should, not how anyone or any religion tells me I should. My intention is not to offend anyone with my words, I respect every individual’s beliefs. The Bible is beautifully written and can be read and enjoyed by anyone. Memoirs of Hadrian by Marguerite Yourcenar is a book that has recently changed my life. The actual content of the book is not what changed my life, but because I read Memoirs of Hadrian the love I had for reading flourished once again. The book has a great message and I recommend it, but the gift it gave me was opening the doors for other books to have a greater impact in my life. The reason why I chose Memoirs of Hadrian as a book that changed my life was because it was the beginning of something beautiful. Memoirs of Hadrian is one of those books which you can read over and over again and each reading will always be different. As our life transitions and as we go through new experiences it’ll be a whole new book, however, it will always remain with the same essence. By reading this book I gained some life hacks, those being to live your life in the way that makes you happy, accept everything that enters your life because nothing in life is meaningless. Although Memoirs of Hadrian and the other books were a requirement to read in Professor Rougier's Death and Dying class, they all changed my life because they introduced other styles of writing and other genres that if it weren't for the class, I would walk by them in a book store. Nonetheless, I really enjoyed them all. Not only did these books make me start reading other genres, but it also changed my writing style for the better, which I am thankful for. All three books, although different in content all put in its grain of sand to help me become a self I am happy of, a different person I was before coming across these beautiful texts. |
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