The Curious Case of the Dog in the Night Time by Mark Huddon offers us a view into a world we most likely, would otherwise not explore. Through the Adventures of Christopher John Francis Boone, we connect to him on more than one dimension. The story is told from the point of view of a boy who suffers from a disease that above all, leaves him isolated from his society and humanity in general. In some way this isolation leads him into a better understood relationship with animals. Although he can relate to animals, he can almost never comprehend human emotion, save those he has studied with note cards. Christopher suffers from autism; this disease, however, leaves him with a keen understanding of the logical world. His ability to count off prime numbers, and make maps in his mind are unlike the average child. He draws conclusions which govern his day and his reactions to certain circumstances by completely nonsensical variables. From example, he concludes what kind of day he will have by the color of the cars he sees on the way to school, and the degree of the day, by the number of those cars. He navigates through a labyrinth of bedlam and irrational people by relying on the sanctuary of order and predictability.
When something goes wrong for him, and he does not know how to deal with it, he multiplies square roots in his head until he is relaxed again. This is a cathartic experience for him because he finds reliance in concepts held constant.
The story takes off when Christopher's neighbor's dog is murdered and he is the suspect. He decides to become an investigator but the truths he finds are much bigger than anybody had anticipated. Through his quest to find the killer of the neighbor’s dog, Christopher comes to realise the lies that had been spoon fed to him throughout his life. He finds out that his mother is still living after years of being told that she suffered a fatal heart attack.
This leads him to believe that his father is not safe because he lied to him, and as it turns out is the murderer of the dog.
When Christopher runs away to live with his mother, we are truly taking into his mind and thought process. As the tension of the story progresses, his mental path or rational progress slows down. Less and less becomes solvable. And for Christopher, When something is not rational or governed by a constant natural law, it may as well not exist at all.
This story is so strong because it allows us to explore the mind of a boy that is somehow different from us, if not in every way. Although this does not allow us to connect to the character through characteristics which we hold constant in our personal lives, it allows us to both sympathise and admire the character for his presented circumstances and strong will. We are taken through a journey which would otherwise be unattainable. Truly Unique.

Disgrace “The Chosen One

Disgrace, by J.M Coetzee, deals with post apartheid South Africa.
He depicts a land rich in both culture and ethnicity, a melting pot of different beliefs and races.
The Story deals with a professor, David Laurie, who has been baited by the most delectable of earthly desire, lust. In his search for a rekindled sexual life, his private life becomes a community scandal. After being put on trial by the university, he leaves his job as a teacher. In his quest to find a simple life, one less tainted by the judgment of society, he moves in with his daughter in a small farm. During his time with his daughter, events take place which reveal to him his own mortality, the thin, fragile, separation between life and death. To David it takes this fall, this stumble into and inevitable quagmire of suffering, to find any measure of redemption for his faults. The challenges which David overcomes, put him in situations where he has two choices, to give in to what is “easier” and simply move away, or to stay and get through the experience with the ones he loves, in this case, his daughter who is without argument, the real victim of the story. Along with this symbolic search for redemption, David faces off with physical challenges of cultures clashing in the midst of what is now, his life, his home, his daughter. Soon he realizes that there is little to do, and that the reigns are not always in his hands. His daughter, seeking both refuge and acceptance, marries her neighbor/ worker, who will help her father the bi product of racial discrimination and blood hate.
The story takes the reader through a transformation from a story of the romantics of every day life, young lust, and unrequited desire, into one oh an equally harsh physical strain of his life on Lucy, his daughter’s, farm. There are many levels of, what I believe is the same struggle, which David goes through. First being that of the jubilant lust of an aging man or “ servant of Eros” in a world of certain social criteria, second, that of his work. David is crushed by the changing view point of the university, to whom romantic literature and poetry are not on par with the importance of technological and scientific education. Third is the struggle of the book that David is writing parallel to the progression of the story, which mirrors Davids own personal emotional equilibrium. Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, the struggle of an evolving society. David is living in the time of post apartheid South Africa, with the memory of “ the old days”. The transformation that David’s thoughts and beliefs must make is a great one , only made worse by the assault of him and his daughter, and his useless quest for justice. All these interwoven themes make this book the influential piece of writing it is. On one level or another, I found it impossible to not connect with both the character and the circumstances he is faced with. I feel lucky to have flipped from page to page and travel through his journey with him, learning, growing, becoming. I personally bear witness to the evolution and growth of Mr. David Laurie, both mentally, and physically, Both as a father, and a lover. What a beautiful story of personal conquest.

A few times in life, if we are so lucky, we happen to stumble over a piece of writing, that for one reason or another, sticks with us. The reason which they do could strive from many concepts or ideas present in the book such as a direct connection to the character, a story that corresponds somehow to your life, or some question that allows you to explore deep in to your (once) subconscience. Which ever aspect of the story captures you into a quagmire of mind captivating, page flipping, and deep meaning searching, it is always important to take meaning from every word or phrase, and the way they are connected.

My favorite book is Disgrace. This is a novel so rich in scandal and diverse in backgrounds, that i found it near impossible to put down. The struggle of the main character to balance, morality, with raw emotion is one that we all face. After all, Could there be a balance? does morality by definition not restrict or even cease the practice of following your heart to a realm sometimes a bit less publicly acceptable.

Another piece of particularly captivating writing is East of Eden.

In this story i found myself forming an emotional, subliminal connection with the character. The thought process that Adam went through during his quest to find a simple life seemed so real, natural, even tangible in some realm where a thought so concrete could manifest itself in the physical world.

Night by Elie Wisel was a novel so strong and descriptive that it slowly came to life in my mind.

I felt a strong connection to the character due to his religious background, and even deeper due to my nationality.

The Perks of being a Wall Flower is a book that explored questions about the world we live in as well as our place in it. The struggle that the protagonist went through is one of searching for acceptance within his community as well as his place within his family, and the balance between the two.

Assignment One: Disgrace

The book that has had the most influential compact on my life is a book I have only currently read.
Disgrace by Coetzee, is is a highly emotional, effectively, and almost poetically written novel about scandal, and a struggle between two cultures, forced to coexist in an ethnic melting pot.
Here are a few quotes which meant the most to me from this book: (please pay attention to the beauty of the sentence fluency and word choice)
-" My case rests on the rights of desire', he says. 'On the God who makes even the small birds quiver." ( Coetzee, 89)
- " I was a servant of Eros:'that is what he wanted to say, but does he have the effrontery? It was a god who acted through me. What Vanity! Yet not a lie, not entirely. In the whole wretched business there was something generous that was doing the best to flower. If only he had known the time would be short!" ( Coetzee, 89)
-" He does not reply. The day is not dead yet but living. War, Atrocity- every word with which one tries to wrap up this day, the day swallows down its black throat" ( Coetzee, 102)
Style:
The Style in which this book was written, although very modern, did not seem so. It was full of Latin and Old English. The almost poetic flow of words through every synonym used to better describe an intangible feeling, and personification to give life to an otherwise monotonous setting.