Movie vs. Book

I read and watched Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. The book actually wasn't as bad as I originally thought it would be. I somewhat enjoyed the book. The plot was okay, but I did wish that there was more action in the plot and more suspense. Overall, the book was okay. I watched the movie also. It stinks. I know it's an older movie and all of that but I would expect something! It was awful!!! They actors they casted were bad, they have Clarisse and Mildred casted by the same  woman. This, in my opinion was wrong. Clarisse and Mildred are too separate people and should therefore be casted by separate people also. Clarisse is someone who notices the world around her and appreciates what she has. Mildred, on the other hand, doesn't appreciate anything that she has. She also always wants "another TV" or wall screen or whatever she calls of in the book. She doesn't really care for anyone's opinion either. Although, she is reluctant to agree wit Montag and hide the books, Mildred still never listens to Montag's thoughts or opinions. She regards him when he asks her how many pills she has had, to make sure she is okay, and she just says "a few." In the book she drives me crazy, and in the movie she also drives me crazy just because the casting was off.

The plots of both the movie and the book are similar, the details are off but the majority of the main events are the same in both. This was nice, but they kind of downplayed the key events in the book. These elements were very essential to the book, like Beatty's death for example. This was one of turning moments in the book, and in the movie it did not play out as I imagined it. It seemed in my head that it was a lot more thrilling, and then in the movie it just seemed like it was there, and it was honestly boring. I think part of the reason that I didn't like the movie as much would be because I had already known what was going to happen, but even the small parts that I didn't remember still seemed to predictable to me. 

Overall, the book and the movie are very similar, yet different also. I do think that the novel was better because I liked how I imagined things in my head better than the film portrayed the characters and key events. If you want to watch the movie click here. If you want to watch the trailer click here. 

Trailer and Movie Expectations

The book I decided to read is called Fahrenheit 451. I wanted to read this book for two main reasons, 1) I had to read it anyway for school and I thought that I might as well knock out two books I have to read by combining the books into one book and 2) Even though this was a school book,  I read the back of the book and it actually seemed remotely interesting, unlike most you-have-to-read-this sort if books. Now this book is a much older book, and that means that the movie, made in 1996 is... How do I put this nicely... very cheesy. The trailer, from my glimpse seemed to keep the general storyline of the novel, however it seems it must have sidetracked a little bit from the main plot. Over of the things I noticed that was different format the trailer and the book is that the romance, that rally occurred in the novel! seemed to be played out more. They also exaggerated some of the characters in my opinion. Like Clarisse, for example, she had absolutely no romantic connection with Montag in the novel, however in the trailer for Fahrenheit 451, it is shown to be two girls fighting over Montag, and he must choose between the two.

Now, if I was trying to sound like a good student I would say that the book is great, and the elevated vocabulary used throughout the novel grabs the attention of the audience, and so on and so on. But, in reality, the book is just plain awful.  In my opinion, I know it's a piece of satire and I know what they have to teach it, but they couldn't pick any book with... better and more exciting characters?!?! In conclusion, this book is literally so boring.

The characters on the other a hand, relate pretty closely to what I imagined in my head. Mildred looks the same as she did in my head, a selfish blonde, and Clarisse was relatively close to what I imagined in my head, although while reading, I pictured Clarisse with brown hair. May I mention though! That the same actor that plays Clarisse, is also the same actor that plays Mildred? If you have onto read this dreadful novel before I would like you to know that these characters are the most contrasting characters with contrasting personalities in the novel. Overall, I am not looking forward to watching the movie because of everything I stated above.

Book to Film Adaptation

I think book to film adaptations are okay. I have never experienced an adaptation where the film was better than the book. Hunger Games for example, by Suzanne Collins was a far better book than a movie. Honestly, I think the problem with the Hunger Games was it's casting. Jennifer Lawrence conveyed the oddest emotion throughout the movie. She (no offense) made pretty stupid faces when trying to act out the emotion. This was the main problem for me with the movie. Also, it missed some key elements from the book that should've been included in the film adaptation.
The Divergent film adaptation was bad in my opinion. Tris, the main character, was supposed to be mediocre. Not to pretty, not to ugly. She was also SUPPOSED to be tough. Clearly in the movie, if you even watch her run it's kind of funny and sad. This was casted so poorly, however, the movie had decent suspense and action. Overall, though I don't think that it did the book justice. Another example of book to film that I found pretty bad was Life of Pi. I loved the book, it was kind of different to read and even though it's not a recent book it applied to my life. However, when I watched the movie, there was something there that was just different. There is no other way to describe it, and if you asked me to tell you what it is that's different I wouldn't be able to. Maybe it was just the idea that it "looked" different in my head then it did when it was played out on the screen. Overall, though the film adaptation was just not that effective for me. It was one of those books where in my opinion it should not have become a movie. It was just such a good book to me, and I kind of knew that the movie wasn't going to be that good but my family was watching it and I figured, eh why not right? Well no, definitely no.

Overall, if you ask me, there are such books out there that should not be made into movies and there are movies out there that do not do the book justice. But like all movies, they are just basically the book without any emotion or thought. Sorry if that sounded harsh, but it is true.

Book Review

Information:
Title:The 5th Wave
Author: Rick Yancey
Publisher: Speak; Reissue edition
Year: February 10, 2015
# of Pages: 512

This book is a science-fiction novel based on a dystopian, post-alien world, and how Cassie Sullivan, the main character, can rescue her brother from yes, the aliens. The novel is told through the perspective of Cassie, a protagonist. Other main characters are shown throughout her journey like Ben Parish, and Evan Walker. Although the main conflict is Cassie's search for her brother, there are minor conflicts along the way. She meets Evan Walker, as I mentioned earlier, however she begins to have doubts about him after a certain scenario. (Can't say) 

This book in my opinion is a well-written novel that shows a new world, obviously entirely different from my own. It gives me a chance to look into a new perspective of an average high-school girl, and the struggle that she faces. Although, she may have a different background, and a different world for that matter, she is very easy to relate with and I can connect with the character which is an important piece to have in a story if you ask me. This book contains a good amount of foreshadowing, however not too much or else that would make the book super predictable. I think the author does achieve his purpose of making the reader thankful for their own life, and everything that they have now. I believe that he achieves this through his both effective and persuasive writing. 

If I were to list the strengths and weaknesses of the book I would say the greatest strength would be the literary devices used and the persuasive writing. Weaknesses..... Probably that the writing in my opinion is not beautiful. But in his defense, its not like the story is a picture-perfect world either.

I was impacted by this book. So, my overall response? Great. This book was interesting and moving for all the reasons that I mentioned earlier. Since my impression on the novel was great, I would definitely recommend this book to other people. I would recommend it to anyone who likes science-fiction, dystopian, or aliens-taking-over-the-world-books. To conclude, I have no complaints on the book.

Researching Your Author

Rick Yancey-
Rick Yancey has wrote a total of 15 novels, 1 which is a memoir. He has received awards for some of his more popular novels like The Extraordinary Adventures of Alfred Kropp, which is a series of books about obviously, The extraordinary adventures of Alfred Kropp. He is also well-known for his 5th Wave series, which includes The 5th Wave, The Infinite Sea, and soon to be, The Last Star. His novel, The 5th Wave was a New York Times bestseller, which is part of the reason why I was able to read this book. Rick Yancey was born in Miami, Florida yet his new parents drove to meet him, there, he was given his new name of John Richard. Rick's dad often confused the names of Rick and his older brother Jay, which annoyed Rick so Rick's dad gave him many nicknames to distinguish the 2. His dad was a lawyer and politician. Rick grew up on a ranch in Florida. Rick had always enjoyed reading, and his dad would buy him his oh-so-loved books by Dr. Suess. Rick's parents were strict and precise. His dad was certain that he wanted Rick to become a lawyer, obviously this didn't happen because now Rick is a best-selling author. When Rick became a teen, his dad had bought 200 acres of land near a swampy area in central Florida. This land needed to be cleared, so Rick's teen job was to work on that land and clear away trees, bushes and rocks. Not the best job if you ask me.


So, how did Rick get into writing? Well it all started in seventh grade, where Rick was assigned to write a short-story. He wrote this, and not being a particularly good student, was shocked when he received an A on his paper. That day he declared that he wanted to become a writer.

Before becoming a writer, Rick taught some english classes and did some acting and drama at the local theater in Florida. Rick also began to write screenplay in his spare time. He would enjoy to make stories about new characters that he thought of earlier that day. Now Rick Yancey has started a family, and has three children. He also now writes full-time, and particularly writes in his new series The 5th Wave. These novels are science fiction, and appeal to mainly young adults, and base around the idea that aliens have attacked to earth in waves, and now it is up to the main character Cassie, to get her brother back from the aliens that she thinks have captured him. She doesn't know where she is going, or where to look, but she won't stop until she finds him.

Rick Yancey has is own website and the information that I got for this blog came from his website which I linked below.


Link to Rick Yancey's website

Why Do You Read?

Reasons Why I Read:

I read because I want to learn more about the world through other perspectives, other than my own.

I read because I want to enjoy my "life" in another world.

I read because I need an escape from the stress of my life and reading is a way to escape reality.

I read because I want something enjoyable to do, and reading is one of the things that are enjoyable.

Learning more about perspectives is important to me because I like to see the world in a different way then maybe I would normally see it. Looking at different perspectives, could help me understand the person more, and allow me to relate with them more. (even if I think their perspective is wrong to my standards) But mostly I want to be able to learn from their perspective, or the story's perspective to help me better develop my view.

Reading is something that can take me to another world and help me to escape the stress of life. It gives me an alternative and another path to explore. Sometimes between school and extracurricular activities, things seem to add up quick and reading is something that I can enjoy and appreciate because it’s something other than my chaotic and stressful life. The cat ran up the hill swiftly however it fell. Jack and Jill ran up the hill blah blah blah blah blah blah blah.

Things I Learned Last Year

In my poem, I wanted to add things that I have learned in the past year, but I also wanted to relate the structure of the poem to be similar to Stafford's.


Things I Learned Last Year

When sloths poop they smile
and hug a tree

I advise you to not jump
down a flight of stairs

And naturally trying to do a magic trick
with your friend's dog
may end badly

Leave it too the professionals
to build a porch

Try to avoid the cafeteria food
not always, only sometimes

Only try to pet a squirrel
when it seems friendly
maybe not even then

Ketchup was actually
once used as medicine

The popsicle was invented by
an 11-year old

And this surprised me
the color of the twist-tie on
bread actually
means something


Reflection:
My last year has been very, well colorful. I actually learned a lot of things, all with weird stories of course, but interesting things nonetheless. These are more of random facts rather than personal life lessons. I wanted this poem to be lighter, and less dark and depressing. So, if I were to state the tone of the poem in one word it would probably be light. (Since the poem is a very light and carefree piece, filled with cool facts rather than facts or lessons you actually have to process) This poem, is similar to Stafford's, obviously the title's are different, but the general concept of the poems are linked. For example, they both discuss weird facts, where the audience's reaction would be, "cool".
Also, the structures of the two poems are the same. I may mention that I did switch the 3 and 4 lined parts of the poem because I wanted to end with that fact so I switched things up. But they both have 2 lines, 2 lines, 3 lines (which is like Stafford's 4) 2, 2, 4. The sequence is the same as in Stafford's poem, "Things I Learned Last Week".