The Stars My Destination

The Stars my Destination is a book that I think was a bit different from what I have read previously.  For one, the main character, Foyle, isn't much of a hero at the beginning.  He's actually just kind of mean and does whatever he wants, though he has a reason.  I think that his character really describes how hell-bent someone can get on getting revenge.  I think the way he speaks also is a trait that you usually don't find in a  main character, cause he's not very intelligent, though he has power over people once he puts his mind to it.
The jaunting aspect of the novel was a bit confusing at first but I caught on to what it was a little bit after. I think that Foyle having the ultimate kind of jaunt was a interesting extra on the story, cause such an ordinary man ended up having this awesome power.  Also throguhout the book, Foyle holding in or hiding his emotions so the tatoos he gained at the beginning don't appear as much.

Bloodchild Questions

- Questions about the story:
What is the gender of Gan?
 If he knew it was coming, was it still rape?
Are they really just cattle for the other species?
What are the eggs, where do they come from?
Does Gatoi really love Gan? Will she keep her promise that she'd protect her?

-Questions the story is asking?
Are babies actually parasites?

Response to the Reading:

At first,it was just a bit confusing as to what was going on.  T'Gatoi and Gan were an interesting pair in the end.  Though, while reading it, I was confused about Gan's gender for some reason.  I thought the part of how the men give "birth" to the children of the alien race that T'Gatoi is part of is definitely something different for me to read about.  It was a little grotesque at parts, but I imagine the process of birth is never something easy.  I liked the insight of what Gan was thinking, he was quite the character.  In the end, he stood up for what he is to T'Gatoi and how he had to keep some power along with her.  In a relationship it's never good to have unbalanced power.  How humans were kept on preserves and how the other race wanted to use them as things to reproduce was a question that brought up the question of were they just cattle to them?  Though, T'Gatoi says they're not like that in the end.

The Magicians

The Magicians certainly gave me something that can relate to me in several ways.  Quentin is going to college for Sorcery of all things, and though it did remind me of Hogwarts, it did have something else.  Having the drugs, alcohol, and parties really made me think of the typical college life people would hear about, except the twist is that they're sorcerers.  The book did seem to take a while to actually get anywhere, though it kept my interest throughout the first half. The angst was good, though maybe a little much after a bit.  Even though they might have magical abilities and such, Quentin and his group of friends find out that they have no real way of using for anything of much worth.  I think that that's probably true since this is an urban fantasy, the world wouldn't have to necessarily have any use for magic to accomplish daily tasks.

The Golden Compass

The Golden Compass, for a children's book, had a few religious factors surrounding it.  It really reminded me of Narnia in that sense in which they both elude to religion/god.  Though, it didn't seem to stand out too much until the end and what was trying to be accomplished by the heroine. I don't think that children would probably understand most of the religious content on a deeper basis, and just enjoy it for the story.  Thoguh, the story is quite dark in some respects. The main heroine was really related to her name. As discussed in class, she really was good at lying, her name Lyra even sounds like liar.  The use of daemons was really different and interesting.  It kind of went back to folklore of familiars that people could have.  I like how the daemons are the external spirit of a person and form into an animal of which is based on that person's personality. Having a child's daemon not takes it form until later was quite true to how a child develops.  They aren't just born with a certain personality, it can change and form through their lifestyles and through meetings with people, as well as experiences they go through. Also have people have ghosts adds the third part of the person, which eludes to some other religious connotations.   Even though there is religious content in the book, it's anti-christian.  The Gyptians are like gypsies, but in the end, save children and others from danger and in a way are saviors.  Usually gypsies were never seen as such and have always been the lower-brand of society in history.

The Hobbit

 The Hobbit definitely was something a bit new for me.  The sort of folksy talk throughout the book was a kind of writing I wasn't so familiar with reading.  Since seeing the LOTR movies, I now understand what had happened previously.  Gandalf always takes center stage at the crucial and needed moments throughout the book and I always liked him as a character.  Bilbo was different than the most heroes since he was somewhat forced to help the dwarves take back their treasure from the dragon, Smaug.  Bilbo continues to have an effect on what happens throughout the book, like finding the ring and tricking Gollum and as to talking to Smaug and finding his weak point.   

J-Horror

A Wild Sheep Chase was quite a weird read.  It just ended up being a bit weird, especially the ear-fetish
thing, though it did make me laugh a bit.  I noticed by reading through this book though, as well as watching the movie of Kwaidan, that j-horror really likes to draw out the story somewhat.  Nothing necessarily happens that's creepy or gory in any sense until the end.  It's all about the psychological horror that leads up to the climax and ending that makes j-horror what it is.  It's definitely different than what American horror is like, so it makes for an interesting viewing/reading experience.

Interview with a Vampire

An Interview with a Vampire was quite a story with a good amount of different relationships and I think that was one of its more interesting parts.  I've never been adverse to vampires, I quite like them, so reading this type of story was nice. I really was intrigued by the main characters, especially Lestat.  He really tried to twist Louis into what he wanted in a way, trying to manipulate him, and at the same time, Louis resisting those thoughts. I liked the relationship that was created between the two of them.  I felt that they had chemistry between them.  There was also Claudia, who added another twist to the relationship.  It was somewhat a weird twisted love in my mind, since Louis and Claudia seemed like father/daughter as well as lovers.

The discussion in class was interesting to me, too.  It seemed that most of the girls had something to say about this book, and the guys didn't.  I heard a lot of Twilight and its content being tossed around as kind of the reason the guys didn't seem to like this book.  Though, I didn't think this book was really in the same realm as Twilight. This led me to think about how some believe that the vampire genre equals Twilight in this day and age, which I don't think it does.  Regardless, to each his own, not everyone has to like vampires.