Armstrong, Lance, and Sally Jenkins. It's Not about the Bike: My Journey Back to Life. New York:
Berkley, 2001. Print.
Lance Armstrong is possibly the greatest athlete of all time. Not only did has he won the Tour de France, the most grueling race ever imagined, a record seven times, Armstrong also survived testicular cancer. Once an incurable form of cancer, this form of cancer has just recently, within the last 25 years, become treatable. This autobiography guides the reader through Armstrong's childhood, his grueling battle with cancer, and his return to cycling. Growing up in Plano, Texas Armstrong started life in near poverty with a young, single mother. He was a small kid and teenager, too small to play football even, so he turned to triathlons. After winning several, Armstrong realized his natural potential for the cycling leg of the competitions. Turning pro shortly afterwards, Armstrong started what seemed to be a long and great career. However, the natural order of things had different plans. This autobiography takes the reader through his battle with the horrific disease.
Armstrong's triumph of cancer has inspired many people, however some people leave the novel with a sour taste in their mouths. His survival of cancer is truly remarkable and inspiring, however Armstrong had the tools and funds to survive. Many people diagnosed with cancer do not have the tools to survive the cancer however. Armstrong seems to be viewed almost spoiled by his longevity after cancer because he had what others did not, money. Some people view his creation of a foundation and his role as a voice for cancer awareness as hypocritical. Therefore, after reading this book, I encourage everyone to forge their own opinions on the nature of Armstrong's great successes after his battle with cancer. (301 pages)
Benioff, David.
City of Thieves. New York: Penguin Group USA, 2008. Print.
Lev Benoiv is a Russian citizen in the besieged city of Leningrad during the Nazi invasion of Russia. He lives a typical "Leningrad" life of starvation and hard labor until one December night. Being captain of his apartments fire brigade, Lev sits atop the Kirov, his apartment, when a lone German paratrooper is sighted floating down from the "heavens above." Lev and his brigade rush down to the street to catch a better glimpse of the Nazi. However, the Nazi lands right in front of them and they begin to search the body. Looting, being a major crime punishable by death, is what Lev is convicted of after several members of the Red Army find Lev's brigade searching the dead German. Thrown in jail, Lev begins to try to come to terms with his mortality until, Kolya, a deserter of the Red Army, is shoved until the cell with him. With his witty, scholarly, and very sexual attitude, Kolya is very much the opposite of Lev. However the two become very close when a NKVD, the Russian secret police, colonel gives the odd couple a chance at survival. The task is simple, find a dozen eggs, but being the ravenous winter of Russia eggs are almost nonexistent. This "simple" task propels Lev into an unromanticized but comical adventure, revealing the true horrors of Russia along the way.
Benioff's
The City of Thieves, takes place in Leningrad during the horrors of Hitler's attempted invasion of the city and shows the true horrors of life for the ordinary citizens of the besieged Russian city. The first paragraph of Benioff's novel truly tells of the horrifying situation of Leningrad. People devoured pets as "no one but the best connected could still feed a pet, so the pets fed [them]." The stoves of the citizens were full of scrap wood from "park benches" and "wooden signs," all torn down to prolong the increasing effects of the bitterly cold and deadly Russian winter. As Lev and Kolya traverse the frozen wasteland of Russia, they come upon a family face-down and "frozen in time," with the father still holding the hands of his two little girls. Lev quickly surmises that they died from the cold literally as the forsaken family walked out of Leningrad. This situation, according to Kolya, is very common as he claims to have seen hundreds of bodies just like these in the Red Army. The impending death awaiting the civilians of Leningrad is wondrously painted throughout Benioff's amazing novel. (258 pages)
Collins, Suzanne.
Mockingjay. New York: Scholastic, 2010. Print.
Collins' novel,
Mockingjay, is the third in the extremely popular Hunger Games Trilogy. (If you have not read the first two novels in the trilogy do not read this review!) The third novel picks up immediately where the first novel left off as Katniss and Gale depart for the decimated District 13. Instead of destruction, they find a massive, subterranean complex housing the resistance against the capital. Katniss, thought she had escaped the political chess game being played with President Snow. However, she is thrust into a bigger game, involving the fate of the resistance and the Capital.
Katniss Everdeen, the protagonist of all three Hunger Games novels, feels immense pressure from the "high ups" in the resistance. Coin, the "fiery" leader of the resistance wants no part of Katniss or her symbol as the leader of the resistance. Plutarch Heavensbee, on the other hand, views Katniss as a vital role in the fate of the resistance. His views are thoroughly expressed after destroying the dome of the Hunger Games to rescue Katniss and the other tributes. These two characters continuously fight about what Katniss should do and how her actions would help or hinder the rebellion. However they both agree on the propaganda segments suggested. However, her strait-forwardness prevents her from acting out the lines. Instead they must take her to the field and shoot actual battle sequences. Her brief adventure to district 8 exposes Katniss' true feelings to the rebellion. The party of Katniss and a camera crew where they immediately find "the wounded from [the] morning's bombing being brought in." The "bleeding" and "limbless" bodies are all being taken to a makeshift hospital. As soon as she enters the building, her senses are "assaulted." As black spots "swim" across her vision, she wants to faint but catches the leader of District 8 staring at her. Katniss's tenacity comes to the surface when she realizes she must be strong "for the resistance and for the sake of the wounded." Katniss at first glance seems to be an ordinary girl, but she actually displays a equal amount of fear and tenacity to propel her to the head of the rebellion. (390 pages)
2nd Nine Weeks
Beevor, Antony, and Robert Cowley. What Ifs? of American History: Eminent Historians Imagine What Might Have Been. New York: G.P. Putnam's, 2003. Print.
This collection of essays, brought together by Robert Cowly, explore what might of been had history. happened a little differently. The topics explored include: What if the Watergate scandal had never occurred, what if JFK had lived, and what if the Confederate Army had employed guerilla tactics as opposed to surrender.
By assembling a collection of essays, the book has a variety of writing styles. Some of the historians choose to create an alternate history and tell it as if it really happened. Others choose to simply analyze only specific parts of what could have been. This variation kept even the topics I was not particularly intrigued by interesting. I am also amazed by the ability of people to create essays such as these. Because we can not repeat the past, the authenticity of these alternative histories will never be known. However, the knowledge required to create a logical chain of events is immense. One must know much about their particular event, as well as the history of the world because as they say: "history repeats itself." (301 pages)
Riordan, Rick. The Lightning Thief. New York: Disney Hyperion, 2010. Print.
Rick Riordan's writing style injects humor into even the most intense moments. Riordan frequently accomplishes this feat by interjecting Percy's thoughts right into the dialogue. For example, while plummeting towards the Mississippi River after jumping of the St. Louis Arch, Percy's thoughts are expressed like this: "I would love to say I had some deep revelation on my way down...The truth? My only thought was: Aaaaaaaggggggghhhhhh!" In this scene Percy acknowledges his own shortfalls in a comedic fashion that offers a sense of comic relief after the really intense scene before. Percy repeats this pattern of acknowledgement throughout the novel, especially when talking to girls. This style creates humor in the most unexpected places and creates a much needed comic relief throughout the novel and the series. (377 pages)
Van Der Zee, Henri A. The Hunger Winter: Occupied Holland 1944-5. London: J. Norman & Hobhouse,
1982. Print.
The Hunger Winter chronicles the struggle of the Dutch people through the winter of 1944-1945. Van der Zee's history goes back and forth between his own personal struggle and the struggle of the Dutch people in general. Food shortage, harsh reparations, and bitter cold are recurring struggles throughout the Netherlands. The existence of the Dutch government outside of the German occupied capitol is also discussed.
The continued but not always intended delay of the liberation and the communication on "Mad Tuesday" is quite interesting. On September 4, 1944 rumors begin to circulate that the Allies were approaching the Dutch border. This was confirmed by the resistance radio network, Radio Oranje, the voice of the free Dutch in England. This created a mad rush by Nazi higher-ups and Nazi sympathizers out of the country. They too believed the rumors and wanted to get back to Germany. Resistance groups began to increase activity with the rumors running rampant. For example, in Rotterdam a resistance group took control of a school and in Axel, German soldiers surrendered to Dutch policemen. Van der Zee wrote: "The advance of the Allies had been so rapidly and so insufficiently monitored, and the atmosphere in London so charged with wishful thinking, that almost everybody was fooled." This quote symbolizes that everyone was hoping for good news so much that people believed almost anything they heard. (330 pages)
3rd Nine Weeks
My favorite book this nine weeks was Fast Food Nation. Schlosser's book gives a history of fast food chains in America. He then unearths some unsettling facts about the connection between fast food and hollywood. He also sums up the changes in society this unholy alliance has created. I enjoyed this book because I enjoy social commentaries. Schlosser's book provided me with plenty of commentary about society.
