Interview with the Author

Here is link to a video of Dave Eggers being interviewed by Conan O'Brien.  Its a little long, but its funny.  If you like the way this guy thinks, read A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius!

Epic Interview of Awesomeness

Currently

A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, Dave Eggers

The Magicians and Mrs. Quent, Galen Beckett

Pages Read this Week: 110

Pages Read this Semester: 327

Sentences of the Week:

1. "No one bothered to wave or call out in greeting as she passed; they had learned long ago there was no point in it when she had a book with her." The Magicians and Mrs. Quent

2. "I'm nobody.  Who are you?" Emily Dickinson

3. "Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good." Romans 12:9-21

This week's sentences are pretty random.  I'm between books, having just finished A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, so I chose quotes I used for two of my essays this year and a sentence I found while skimming the book I might start.  The first sentence was on the very first page of my new book, The Magicians and Mrs. Quent, and it made me laugh.  Although I don't know who the character is yet, I can relate - I have often been annoyed when people interrupt my reading.  The second sentence is a bit of a joke.  This week for A.P. Composition I had to write a descriptive essay about someone I knew.  I used this line from an Emily Dickinson poem to describe my friend's philosophy.  It was accurate and fun, so I thought I'd include it on my list.  Finally, the last sentence is one I heard in a reading a few weeks ago in church.  I liked it so much that I looked it up, then used it both in an essay for Novels and a quote competition in Comp.  I figure bible = book, so its fair to include it.  Even though they're a little random, I like my batch of sentences this week.



FINISHED!!

There. Finished my book.  Since the beginning of this school year I've read all 437 pages of A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, 206 pages of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, 252 pages of My Antonia, and 46 pages of Angela's Ashes.  Next on the list is getting through Chapter 4 of Angela's Ashes, The Grapes of Wrath, and whatever I choose to read for this class.  Its a lot of work when combined with band, dance, school, and friends, but I think I'm doing well so far!  Give me a little while and we will see how bogged down I get.

I really loved A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius.  It was probably the best book I've read since freshman year.  The ending was so strange though!  I'm not really sure what happened, except that there was a lot of cussing involved.  Basically, Eggers seemed to express both his pride in finishing his book and his shame for what he called "cannibalizing," the people in it.  While he felt he was doing something important by writing his story, the friend with the codename John played the devil's advocate in the last few pages.  John was a friend who was prone to drama.  He threatened suicide on multiple occasions and Eggers used him as a type of metaphor for chaos.  Occasionally, John actually speaks out against this portrayal in the book.  He says that Eggers simply tells the sad stories, ignoring the normal, happy people.  In a way, this is true.  Eggers talks about a friends and family who have tragic accidents, die, fake dying, threaten suicide, and essentially live screwed up lives.  Very rarely do the people around him seem normal.  I do not know if this portrayal is true, but I believe that Eggers did his best to write a book that was meaningful, entertaining, and insightful.  It confused me and intrigued me because it was foreign, yet at the same time familiar.  The style was strange, and his life was unlikely, but some of the events hit very close to home.  Overall, I would recommend the book to anyone who is willing to be challenged - both because of the length and the material.  I truly enjoyed reading this heartbreaking work of staggering genius.

Waiting and Worrying

Let me begin by saying I like to worry.  I'm constantly stressing over band or school work, so I am known for going into freak-out mode in order to get something done.  The author of A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, however, is about ten times worse than I am when it comes to panicking.  He immediately assumes the worst possible scenario in ever situation.  For example, at one point, Eggers is unable to find Toph when he goes to pick him up from a party.  Instead of considering that Toph simply went to the wrong door, Eggers quickly jumps to kidnapping and rape as the most likely scenarios.  Perhaps its because of the tragic events in his life, but Eggers always seems to be worried about his little brother.  The author's worries increase when a friend of his ends up in the hospital after a deck collapses and she falls, smashing her head.  He visits her almost ever day and is convinced that she will never be the same again.  I can relate to this fear in my own life.  Last year, my friends mom suddenly started having seizures.  Nobody knew what was wrong, but once she was rushed to the hospital, they found out that she had a brain tumor.  It was scary because no one knew if she would ever be the same person again.  First, she had to live.  Only then could we hope that she had not lost any of the traits that made her who she was.  Like Eggers' friend, she was in a coma for days while everyone worried.  Luckily, once she came to, she ended up with her same personality.  All of her family and friends were relieved and thankful.  At this point in my book, I feel like I can relate to the author since I have lived through a similar event.  I hope that, as I keep reading, I find out that his friend was able to recover as well as our family friend.

Friday (On Sunday)

My assignment for Friday was to view nine different blogs that belong to my classmates, post comments on three of them, and vote for two for the "bloggies."  The nine I looked at (chosen at random) were:

The Written Word
Banana Smoothie
Hog Smog Blog
JoeChemo
Rocket Guild
T-Rex
TheyCallMeFreshMonkey
Stormy Days
Live, Laugh, Read

I also attempted to comment on three of these, but since I am technologically challenged, I was unsuccessful.  P.S.  This is my second time making this post.  For some reason it didn't work before.  I hate computers.  Anyway, I've decided to vote for TheyCallMeFreshMonkey and The Written Word once I figure out how to post on the class blog.

There, finished my Friday project.  Now I might as well talk about my great labor day weekend.  Friday was HOT and I had band practice, but luckily, the directors knew it was ungodly and probably illegal to work us too hard, so it was actually an easier practice than normal.  We got out early (a miracle), so we celebrated by having a band-kid party at my house.  We cooled off in the pool then watched a movie.  Saturday, I went jet skiing with two of my friends (band-kids) and almost died.  It was fun though.  And despite what they say, I'm NOT a terrible driver.  Then, we had a band-kid bonfire at another friends house.  It rained, so we ended up moving indoors for some Apples to Apples and another movie night, but it was still a good time.  Today is yet another band-kid bonfire (Are you noticing a trend?  You would think we'd be sick of each other.  We spend all week together, and what do we do with our free time?  Spend MORE time together).  Hopefully it won't rain again - one can only take so many comedies per weekend.  Tomorrow, I'm going to my grandparents lake (and bringing a former band-kid), then its time to go back to school once more.  Its my last free weekend before band competitions start up, so I'm glad I'm making the most of it (even if its just by hanging out with the people I will anyway during the season).  Goodbye summer!

Currently

A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, Dave Eggers

Pages Read this Week: 109

Pages Read this Semester: 217

Sentences of the Week:

1. "We are a circus family, a trapeze family, with perfect timing, great showmanship, tight green outfits." A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius

2. "Between that earth and that sky I felt erased, blotted out." My Antonia

3. "I wonder why you'd want to eat your dinner off the floor when you had a table and chair." Angela's Ashes

The sentences this week are from all the books I am reading in my English Classes.  I found the first sentence interesting because it describes how Eggers views his abnormal family.  I never thought to describe my family as acrobats, but I thought it was funny and insightful.  The second sentence is poetic.  Stuck inside school all the time, I miss being outside.  The narrator of My Antonia, Jim, makes nature seem almost like its own character, and I find the power the environment has over him impressive.  Finally, the last sentence is one I thought was entertaining.  One of the adult characters had just made the point that having a floor clean enough to eat off was beneficial.  I thought the kid who said the sentence had a point!  A good group of sentences today!  I can't wait to keep reading.

Siblings and Parents

A major theme of A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius is how Eggers must raise his brother, Toph, after their parent's death.  Since Eggers is only in his twenties, he finds it difficult to balance acting like both a brother and a parent.  He is thrust into this responsibiilty- attending parent teacher conferences, cooking dinner, and staying home from normal "twenty-something" activities to look after the little brother who he adores.  I look to my own family and realize - I couldn't do it.  I love my parents and can't imagine losing them.  They support me in everything I do and are always there when I need them.  I like to think I'm mature, but I am in no ways capaple of managing my life without them in it.  Then, I try imagine adding the responsibility of looking after my little sister.  My goodness.  My baby sister -  she is a handful.  She is only a few years younger than I, which could explain our somewhat difficult relationship.  I love her dearly and would stand in the way of any jerk who wanted to hurt her, but as for taking responsibility for that girl?  No thanks.  We are just too different to allow any relationship similar to that of the author and his little brother.  I admire Eggers for the work he did to hold his family together because it is far outside my comfort zone.  At the point I am at in the book, Toph seems happy and loved - a miracle considering he lost both parents in a few months.  Right now, I am thankful that I've got a close knit, if somewhat strange, family who will always be there for me.  The small squables I have with them seem unimportant when I look to Egger's family - broken, but still there for eachother.  I hope that, one day, I can show that kind of commitment to my own family.