Desert Flowers

Desert Flowers

Keith Douglas 

Living in a wide landscape are the flowers –
Rosenberg I only repeat what you were saying –
the shell and the hawk every hour
are slaying men and jerboas, slaying

The mind: but the body can fill
the hungry flowers and the dogs who cry words
at nights, the most hostile things of all.
But that is not news. Each time the night discards

Draperies on the eyes and leaves the mind awake
I look each side of the door of sleep
for the little coin it will take
to buy the secret I shall not keep.

I see men as trees suffering
or confound the detail and the horizon.
Lay the coin on my tongue and I will sing
of what the others never set eyes on.

I chose this poem because this poem gives a different perspective of war where the war is filled with chaos and deaths. This poem tells the death of soldiers and referring them to the desert flowers. This poem highlights the danger and the terror of being involved in the war. 

"To Kill A Mockingbird" - Review

To Kill A Mockingbird is a book by Harper Lee. The story talks about a young girl growing up with her father, brother and aunt in a Southern town, and how the girl meets all types of different people throughout her childhood. Even though the girl is still very young, she still has to face all sorts of equality and controversial issues such as racism.

Though it was a bit hard to understand everything in the beginning, it became a lot smoother and easier to understand afterwards. Therefore, the readability score is 8. The book is very interesting as there are a lot of different small stories in the book about the girl's childhood while still revolving the story around the bigger issue of the story. The entertainment score is 8. This is one of the most thought-provoking books I've read, as it makes the reader think about how issues such as racism were like and are like now, and how even small children can be influenced and involved in those issues. The though-provoking score, therefore, is 9. Overall, To Kill a Mockingbird is a wonderful book.

Readability: 8
Entertainment: 8
Thought-provoking: 9

To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee

The Name of the Wind- Patrick Rothfuss (Good book review)

Readability: 6

Entertainment: 10

Thought-provoking: 10

The fantasy novel The Name of the Wind by American author Patrick Rothfuss, is part of a three part series called the King killer Chronicles (the third one has not been released yet). It features the boy that will become Kvothe (pronounced nearly the same as "quothe"), a great magician, assassin, thief, and musician. Through the trilogy, we learn the truth behind the legend of Kvothe the Bloodless, Arcane, and Kvothe the Kingkiller.

This book although fantasy, does not use the normal Tolkien-esque "fantasy" characters, such as elves, darwfs, goblins etc. Instead creating many new races, with customs and culture alike for each race, creating depth for both race and characters. The main character, although unnaturally gifted, is a street urchin for the first half of the book, going through hardships which show the darkness within the character providing depth for his personality.

(I fully recommend this book to any one who enjoys books, and don't mind reading long ones)

The Machine that Won the War- Review

Readability: 6

Entertainment: 8

Thought-provoking: 8

The Sci-fi story The Machine That Won the War by American author Isaac Asimov, depicts a futuristic Earth, when the humans have just won a war against a race named the Denebians. In the relief of the war just won, one of the younger technicians named Henderson of the great machine that won the war named Multivac, admits that his algorithms were purely based on his own intuition to process the data. One thing leads to another and the other two characters, Jablonsky and Swift (a veteran of the war) confess their own retouching of the machine as well. It turns out, it may not have just been the “machine” that won the war.

A thought provoking and humorous story, the narrative presents an interesting message: how much should we rely on machinery to make big decisions, and is it really the technology that is making the decision

War poem

Just Twenty One

I read one more report today.

Another flag half-mast and gun

salute, coffin draped, bearers done.

Then hear the last post bugle play

as in my mind I see his grave

stone (father, brother, loving son)

for he who was just twenty one

in asymmetric Afghan frae.

Yet did he hear his comrades call

for medic, medivac and aid,

see the Chinook rotors whir - all

dust, din and dread – confusion reign?

Or did he even feel the fall

as daylight, dreams and future fade?

Well read the prose of marching men -

once Mons, Goose Green, El Alamain,

now Helmand, Lashkar Gah, Sangin -

The soldiers’ sacrifice the same

for Queen and Country. All shall yield

in time, to time, both old and young -

except upon the Battlefield

where he remains just twenty one

Robert Kiely

I got this poem from the website http://www.warpoetry.co.uk/Afghanistan_War_Poetry.html, it's a website with a database/compilation of modern Afghanistan War poetry written by British poets.

I chose this poem because it really puts into perspective how young the soldier are still, who fight (fought) and die in war even now. The tone in the poem highlights the sadness and the danger in a war that we sometimes forget we're still fighting.

"Quitters, Inc." Review

The story by Stephen King, is about a man named Dick Morrison, and he has an addiction to smoking. His old time friend asks him to visit Quitters, Inc. to get help. Morrison asks his friend what the treatment is, but his friend said that he had signed a contract, which states that he is not allowed to tell anyone what they do. This leads to Morrison going to Quitters, Inc. and meeting with Vic Donatti. Donatti is trying to help Morrison with his smoking addiction. Donatti uses a technique that scares Morrison so much, that in order to not let that happen, he does not smoke anymore.

This story is very interesting, from seeing what one thing can do to make you scared enough to do the right thing.

Readability: 9/10

Entertainment: 8/10

Thought provoking: 6/10

Overall: 23/30

'The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time' Review

          This book is written through the eyes of a brave fifteen year old boy named Christopher who remembers all of the prime numbers, does not like to be touched and does not feel others but himself. This book is different in many ways such as, the chapters in the book uses prime numbers to number the different chapters rather than successive numbers. This story starts with Christopher discovering a dead dog lying in his neighbour's front yard and wanting to solve this mystery. However, as Christopher tries to solve this mystery, he finds out the truth about his mother. This small incident leads to a big adventure. Christopher is a special character that thinks differently and feels differently. This book shows us the world of Christopher and it creates such a character that we can so easily be connected with and feels for. 

Readability: 9/10

Entertainment: 8/10

Thought-Provoking: 7/10

Overall: 24/30

"Old Yeller" Review

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Old Yeller, by Fred Gipson, is a Newbery Honor Medal winner. It is about a scraggly yellow dog who comes uninvited into the ranch of the Coates family. Travis Coates, the eldest child and the head of the family at the time, loathes the dog at the beginning. However, as Old Yeller continuously protects the Coates from harm, the bond between the boy and the dog becomes closer. Eventually, something tragic happens to Old Yeller which leaves Travis in a devastated state. The story is set in Texas on the family ranch. The main themes of this book are love and loyalty, as it is developed mutually between the two main characters. I really enjoyed this book because not only was it easy to understand, but it was a touching story that leaves you sitting on the couch contemplating the ending of the plot.
Readability: 10
Entertainment: 9
Thought-provoking: 7
Total: 26

'All Summer in a Day' Review

Setting: Planet Venus

Narration: Third Person

Summary: 'All Summer in a Day' tells the story of a group children from Venus waiting impatiently for the sun to come out for 2 short hours since 7 years ago. Amongst the group of children, there is a girl from Earth, where the sun shines regularly and was not considered an episode. She informs her classmates that the sun will shine on that particular day but after a while the students got suspicious and started to doubt what the girl said and whether it was the truth. Her"lies"eventually got to her and the cruelty of children had won over.

Ratings:
Readability: 9/10
Entertainment: 6/10
Thought-Provoking: 7/10
Overall: 22/30

"A Horseman in the Sky" Review

This particular short story by Ambrose Bierce was set in the 1860s at the start of the American Civil War. The omniscient third person narrator introduces the main character, Carter Druse, as a young man from West Virginia, whom, against his father’s wishes, went to serve the Union troops. The story revolves around Druse’s conflicted feelings about family and duty. During his service, he falls asleep while acting as a sentry, and wakes up to see a Confederate horseman standing in the distance. He struggles with the idea of killing the man, as the man turns to look “straight into his heart”, but eventually, he shoots the man. When his commander asks him who he was, he reveals a “twist ending”. The story has a couple of “scenes”: Druse first appears in his home with his father asking for his father’s permission about his military recruitment, then in the valley performing his duty, and finally, the surprise conclusion. Although it was slightly difficult to understand the context of this story at first, it ends up to be a mildly entertaining account of a soldier on the battlefield, grappling against reality. 

Readability: 7/10

Entertainment: 5/10

Thought-Provoking: 8/10

The Destructors by Graham Greene Review

The Destructors by Graham Greene Review

Setting:

The story is set in a parking lot and Old Misery’s house in England, after World War II.

Type of Narration:

Third person narration

Summary:

 A group of teenagers led by Trevor, nicknamed T., came up with the plan of breaking into Mr Thomas’ house, while he was out for a week. While they were destructing the house from insides, Mr Thomas returned home early, so the gang locked him out of the house. After all the destruction is down, the house was tore down by a lorry, which was connected to the house using a rope.

 Through this story the author wishes to convey the emptiness after World War II. The parking lot, where the story is set, shows the isolation and emotional detachment of the characters. Hence the setting is linked to the effects of war on children.

Author:

Graham Greene (1904~1941): English novelist and playwright regarded as the greatest writers of the 20^th century. His notable works include The Power and the Glory, The Quiet American, and The Heart of the Matter.

Rating:

o   Readability: 9/10

o   Entertainment: 6/10

o   Thought-provoking: 8/10

Total: 23 / 10