M.E.A.T. Blog

Warning: Spoilers! All the Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr, is a fictional book set in France and Germany during World War 2. The chapters of the novel jump back and forth in time, creating a jumbled narrative that is sometimes difficult to follow. The perspective switches among a number of major and minor characters, but the book primarily focuses on Werner and Marie-Laure, whose stories finally come together at the end of the book. All the Light We Cannot See is a poignant piece about the experiences of these two children who grow into young adults by the end of the war. I would give All the Light We Cannot See a 4 out of 5. I enjoyed reading the majority of the book, despite a few minor flaws, but the conclusion was extremely depressing. Had the book had a more satisfying ending, I would have given it a 4.5.  One of the main characters, Marie-Laure, is an inquisitive blind girl whose father works as a locksmith for a large museum in Paris. Though...

T he book The Death of Ivan Ilyich, written in 1886 by author Leo Tolstoy tells the story of a normal businessman slowly and steadily spiraling down into self-isolation and total existentialism. Through the complications of having a family, and the introduction of a child, Ivan Ilych becomes intolerant of his personal life, and spends too much time focusing on his work. This, being something all too common in today's society, is something we all can reflect on to realize what is important. Something special about The Death of Ivan Ilyich is that it is told almost in reverse order, similar to Purple Hibiscus . The book starts with the unfortunate death of Ivan Ilyich, then rewinds to Ilyich's early life to show what led up to his final moments. This book is also similar to Purple Hibiscus in the matter previously mentioned, as in a family man that is publicly respected but has a negative private life, however, Purple Hibiscus is a much more stark example of this theme. A...

The year is 1978. Art Spiegelman, with the goal of writing a comic documenting his father Vladek’s past, returns to his father’s home for a long conversation revealing the many stories from Vladek’s dark and complicated experiences in the midst of Nazi invasion. His voice brings them both back to 1939, where he articulates a detailed memoir of his life as a Jew in Poland, and when it all fell apart. Maus is very unique story for many reasons, but what presents itself most clearly to the reader right away is that it’s not a standard novel; it’s a comic book. Each page is filled to the brim with cartoonish drawings full of anthropomorphic people rather than eloquent paragraphs. It doesn’t rely on complicated vocabulary to get its messages across, with images and dialogue giving more than enough of a clear picture of the story. Even with this seemingly basic medium, it presents its characters and story in a way that manages to feel mature and dark, fitting of the horrifying events of ...

          Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell is the coming-of-age story exploring a first love between two high school misfits named Eleanor and Park, as the title suggests. One morning, Park takes reluctant pity on the new girl, an overweight, oddly-dressed redhead. He lets her take the empty spot on the bus seat next to him when she has nowhere to sit.           At first, there is an uncomfortably gaping six-inch gap between the two on the bus, but slowly, as the two begin to share comics and music, and their accidental friendship develops into a furious, passionate relationship.           Rainbow Rowell skillfully explores the forceful nature of young, inexperienced love. The relationship Eleanor and Park share is not soft or gentle. It is an intense, overwhelming wave of emotions. Their bond brings them together and heals the sore, secret scars both have long harbored -- pains that refused to be alleviated,...

The Westing Game, by Ellen Raskin, is a short mystery novel that focuses on solving the riddle of millionaire Samuel Westing’s death. My dad had been recommending this book to me for several years, but I had never actually tried it. At the beginning of the school year, I put it in my PE locker to use as a “backup book” in case I ever forgot to bring a book to read on Fridays, thinking I would never actually read it. However, I did forget a book one day and read The Westing Game during those 45 minutes. I became so entangled with the plot that I continued to read it after school had ended.  The Westing Game  revolves around Samuel Westing’s will and the 16 heirs who try to interpret it. After all the heirs gather to hear Mr. Westing’s will, they are placed into groups and given several clues in the form of random words to help them unravel the mystery of his death. The heir(s) who solve the mystery will receive $200,000,000 in inheritance--Samuel Westing’s entire fortune....

** Spoiler Warning** Hey guys, Some time ago, I read the book Animal Farm , written by George Orwell. One of many of his political books, Animal Farm offers a humorous view of communism, written during World War II, representing communists as pigs on a farm, taking over the other animals through a long and gradual process I started reading this book because I saw it was small, and I didn’t think it would be very hard. I was partly right, but what ended up hooking me was Orwell’s way of incorporating comedy into a complicated and risky political argument. The story starts off with a somewhat confusing scene, in which a meeting between animals takes place. Some pigs have decided that they are tired of their ruler, the farm owner, so they plan to overthrow him. Funnily enough, they manage to push him off the property, and take over. At first, the animals are very happy, but not long after, some animals become power hungry, and want to have control over...

Chryses prayed to the god Apollo, “Hear me, Silverbow! Thou who dost bestride Chryse and holy Cilla, thou who art the mighty lord of Tenedos, O Smintheus! If I have ever built a temple to thy pleasure, if I have ever burnt thee fat slices of bulls or goats, bestow upon me this boon: may the Danaans pay for my tears under thy shafts!” In the midst of the Trojan War, he prayed for his daughter, taken as prize by the Achaeans, and the downfall of Agamemnon, their king who denied Chryses’ pleas to return her. Apollo, having heard the desperate cries of his follower, rained his unerring arrows down on the Achaeans in a rage. It was the animals that fell first, dogs and mules dropping dead. Soon, there were countless piles of men. The arrows descended for nine days, and on the tenth, Agamemnon grudgingly made an agreement; he gave up Chryses’ daughter to put an end to Apollo’s wrath. But the king was full of greed, demanding prince Achilles’ ‘prize’ for himself, as his own was gone. Achille...