Saturday, October 17, 2009

In Cold Blood, Pt.I

I have only read the beginning of this book so far, but I am already pulled in. So far, the book has been introducing characters that come up later on in the story, and introducing the general plot. A very traditional family in a small, Kansas town are brutally murdered by a pair of robbers out on parole and looking for a good "score". They're constant reassuring of each other that there will be "no witnesses" is very eerie foreshadowing for the rest of the book. Truman Capote, the author, is a brilliant writer who is very detailed and is a famous writer. He is able to paint a vivid picture of the setting in rural Kansas, and makes the characters in the story seem like people that you have known for your entire life. Unfortunately, that won't be such a good thing once you get to the point where they are murdered (haha).

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Into The Wild, The End

As we found out in the beginning of the book, McCandless did not survive. Of course, it was still a shock to see how he actually dies, starved to death in an abandoned bus in the middle of the frozen Alaska wilderness. It's kind of sad that he still wrote only happy entries in his journal, right up until he starved to death. After articles about him were published, their authors received a lot of hate mail. People called him stupid and criticized him for knowing nothing when he went in to the wilderness. However, these people were shot down when this book was published. McCandless knew how to hunt, knew what he was doing, and knew how to survive. He only died because of an injury and lack of a map. He was aware of how important a map was, but chose to ignore it and live on his own. He wanted to live in the wild away from people, and his wishes should be respected even today.

Sunday, October 4, 2009

Into The Wild, Pt. II

Coming nearer to the end of the book, I'm starting to like the main character Alex. He just wants to be nearer to the wilderness, and wants to be more in touch with the environment. So far, he has come in contact with many people along the road who have similar views. He meets drifters driving along the highway, and hitchikes with many people who all have stories to recount about him when later interviewed. One man even went so far as to say that he asked Alex if he could adopt him. It was clear that Alex made connections with everyone that he came across. He stayed in touch with two drifters that he hitchiked with to get to Alaska. He also kept a semi-permanent residence in Ohio, where he held a job working on a lumber company. He was constantly entertaining the people of the town with his stories.