Maia's Blog: LMST345

This was an eye-opening and extremely intriguing story. This short story is about a giant that washes up on the shore of this beach. Everyone is fascinated and come to observe and examine it. This story has a deeper message, though. The people in this town treat this giant as if it is an object and not a person. Though they have never seen anything like it, this giant has human features and is pretty much just a giant person. This giant is dead, but the people step on it, walk on it, sit on it and treat it as if it is some sort of playground and not someone that died. As the main character continues to visit the giant week after week, more of it's body parts go missing. The giant is used for the human's personal gain around town. It is like how people are used or treated like objects in real life. This could be about how a person feels when they are walked all over, taken advantage of or treated like less of a human being. There is so much more to this story than the interestin...

 I was pretty excited to read this one because I had heard really good things about the movie. I remember when the movie came out it was one of the top films that people were talking about. I never saw the movie fully, but I knew what it was about and was interested in seeing what the book would be like. Sadly though, I did not enjoy this book like I thought I would. The concept itself is an interesting one, but the way that it is written and the ideas themselves end up stressing me out as I read. It makes sense that it is written the way that it is because it is written how Mark would be explaining what is going on. I understand why, but it was very unenjoyable for me. I would find myself struggling to understand what he was talking about half of the time (my brain has trouble wrapping my head around most science related ideas). But when I was not struggling to understand and figure it out, I was stressed out thinking about myself in a situation like the main character's. One of m...

"Troll Bridge" is about an old barbarian man who, while talking to his horse, travels to a bridge to battle a troll. It was interesting because almost all of this short story is dialogue, so I am learning about this fantasy world through the character's interactions with each other. The barbarian tells his horse that he must fight this troll because it is something that all heroes have done in the past. At the beginning when he is explaining all of this to the horse, I imagined that the troll would be more of a monster that needed to be defeated. Once the troll meets the main character however, it is far from that. The troll has a family and can barely make ends meet. It's interesting because his troll family doesn't seem to care much that the barbarian came to kill him and they expect that that was his destiny. Instead of battling, the two end up talking about the way that the world use to be. Both of them seem to have this "destiny" that they were mean...

 I was very interested to read a book by Neil Gaiman because I absolutely love the story Coraline. Someone who has such an interesting and creative mind to come up with a story like that probably would not disappoint with his other fantasy stories. I have to say, "Anasi Boys" did not disappoint me. It was definitely worth the read and very interesting. At the beginning, I was already engaged just learning about how Fat Charlie's father was a negative aspect of his life. I could see that the main character was going to be one of the self-loathing types which I don't particularly enjoy reading because I enjoy more emotional characters. His wife, Rosie, was definitely more on the positive side that I could enjoy. As the story continues with Charlie's father's death, I became more interested in where the story was headed and what would truly make this a fantasy. I did not expect how quickly it would turn. All of a sudden, I was reading a story about African Gods. ...

 Interview with a Vampire- 6 points A Wild Sheep Chase- 6 points Annihilation- 6 points Aunt Maria- 5 points The Hobbit- 6 points The Night Circus- 6 points Attended zoom classes- 6/7 (I switched into the class late so I missed the first zoom meeting, other than that I attended all of them) Total: 41 points I definitely feel that I was struggling a little bit at the beginning to keep up with the readings and my school schedule, but I feel like I can read even more these next weeks! I think I can really help bring up my points and hopefully earn a fair grade for this semester. I have also attended all of the zoom classes I was able to, excluding the first one because I wasn't in the class yet! I have enjoyed the books that I read so far.

 This book was actually a very interesting read. I found it more interesting because I have watched and read a lot about vampires in other pieces of fiction. I liked how the novel was set up as an actual interview and how it felt like you were sitting with the boy and listening to this vampire's life and the struggles that he went through during his transition. I enjoyed that they would bounce back and forth about vampire "rumors" and talk about the stereotypical things that people think vampires are or are afraid of. For example, in a lot of books/movies the vampires can't stand light or die from a stake to the heart, but this vampire says otherwise about his life. When I was a kid, I read all of the Twilight books and I am currently watching the show "The Vampire Diaries". It's super interesting to look at all of the differences and similarities about vampires throughout time.  In Twilight, they sparkle in the sun, while in TVD, they burn unless wearin...

 I really enjoyed this story. I really love stories that have a magical and beautiful atmosphere and I really think that the author did an incredible job of painting that imagery in the reader's head. What was the most special about this book was how well done the characters were and how well they were developed. One of my favorite things with anything in books, movies, etc. is the characters. I felt from the very beginning that I could understand and feel what the characters were feeling.  The story itself is interesting because the it bounces back and forth between the two main characters. You feel bad for them because they are pretty much being used for their magical abilities, like they are just pawns in this game that they didn't ask to be apart of. I liked how you got to see both of the character's lives and perspectives of the situation. They are each other's competition, yet they end up having a close connection and bond, falling in love with each other. At the ...