My Blog Post Has Transformed into a Listicle

    Sophie’s World, by Jostein Gaarder, is definitely a gear-turner. Set in a Norwegian village, a 14-year old girl named Sophie receives a letter from a philosophy teacher telling her that she has been enrolled in his philosophy class. From then on, she continues to receive letters from the mysterious teacher named Alberto Knox, who teaches her about the history of philosophy. Sophie also gets a letter that is addressed to a girl named Hilde, and she later discovers that the reason she is being taught philosophy may be connected to Hilde. Quite a game changer. 

What Sophie’s World Can Do for You: 2 Reasons Why You Should Read Sophie’s World, or Why You Should Continue If You’ve Started It but Stopped

1. To Learn about Philosophy

Given the summary, the more obvious reason you should read Sophie’s World is to learn about philosophy. When Alberto Knox first introduces philosophy to Sophie, he says that “the only thing we require to be good philosophers is the faculty of wonder” (Gaarder 17). He compares babies to having this same sense of wonder. He says that babies are still learning about the world, so if they were to see someone flying, they would react with awe, but they might not be alarmed since they don’t know that people can’t fly (usually). I like this example because it shows that philosophy is essentially observing one’s surroundings with an open mind and questioning those observations. The rest of his letters introduce Sophie to the history of philosophy, showing her how different philosophers--ranging from Socrates to Plato to Aristotle to David Hume to Immanuel Kant and others--used this sense of wonder to build theories and seek answers to questions they had. These philosophers were also influenced by each other’s theories when constructing their own even if that meant challenging them. Aristotle, for example, was a student of Plato, but he developed his own philosophy that refuted his teacher’s. There are also details that I found funny although I’m not sure if that was the author’s intention, but it made philosophy even more interesting. When Alberto Knox writes about Socrates and Plato, a student of Socrates, he describes Socrates as “potbellied, and had bulging eyes and a snub nose,” (65) and then Plato is described as “a handsome young man” (77). Despite Socrates’s appearance, he was said to be “perfectly delightful” inside (65). Then there was Diogenes, a Cynic philosopher who “reputedly lived in a barrel and owned nothing but a cloak, a stick, and a bread bag” (129). These descriptions go against a stereotypical perception of philosophers looking dignified and leading distinguished lives. I found these smaller details entertaining, and I’m glad that the author writes about philosophy in an engaging way.

2. Spontaneous Gasps

If you enjoy a good gasp every now and then, you should definitely read this book. In the beginning, along with the letter from Alberto Knox, Sophie receives a letter that is addressed to a girl named Hilde from Hilde’s dad. Sophie doesn’t know why she has been sent this letter, but she learns that she is somehow connected to Hilde. However, after this exciting development on page 10, the first third of the book is mostly about Sophie’s philosophy classes except for brief mentions of Hilde. Besides learning about philosophy, my incentive to keep reading was to find out more about the mystery of who Hilde is and how she is connected to Sophie and Alberto Knox. Since the first part of the book mostly focuses on the history of philosophy, any mention of the Hilde situation is especially exciting and may even cause one to gasp, like I did.  For example, when Sophie finds an object related to Hilde, she says, “Hilde! But who was Hilde? How could their paths keep crossing like this?” (57)  I too wonder that, Sophie. And whoever reading this blog post-listicle should read the book to find out. 

Possible Side Effects of Reading Sophie’s World: 

1. Frustration--That You Are Willing to Accept, Mostly

I had assumed that a healthy portion of Hilde’s story would be intertwined throughout the novel, but alas, I was wrong. While this slow start to the mystery was frustrating at first, I think the author’s point was that it is important to have a good foundation and understanding of the history of philosophy before being able to apply it to the mystery. Perhaps exposing the readers to different ways of thinking will help them comprehend the story along the way. Learning more about philosophy also influences Sophie’s thinking throughout the story, and she learns how to piece together the mystery on her own. Once you accept the fact that you will have to wait 160 pages to get to Hilde’s story, the philosophy lessons are quite interesting to read. 

2. Slight Discomfort: Borderline Stranger Danger

While Sophie wonders about who Alberto Knox is, she does not seem as worried about why a grown man she does not know is contacting her. This may cause one to question: Why is Sophie so accepting of a middle-aged man writing her letters? Why does she encourage this relationship and write back to him? Why does she agree to meet him alone? Yet, one must set aside those troubling worries and enjoy the book. 

Du bør lese denne boka! (This means “You should read this book” in Norwegian according to Google Translate).

--Grace

Diogenes (Cynic philosopher) in his barrel.

The Wandering Earth (and other stories): How many worlds can you think of?

 

  This blog post will be about a book that is quite different from the others which I have read and praised in this past year. Instead of being one large well-connected story around a central theme, The Wandering Earth is merely a collection of short stories each around 50 pages or so long. The stories aren't that detailed, but I nevertheless found the book's worldbuilding and ideas intriguing and enjoyable to read about. 

    Several stories within this volume depict human encounters with civilizations completely foreign to our own civilization. For example, in one of the stories, humanity encounters a highly advanced species which seeded life on Earth and helped humanity grow into a strong civilization,  and the story is based on that civilization trying to integrate with Earth due to the breakdown of their technology. In another one, two civilizations are present, with one aggressive civilization set to enslave other species and methodically extract their resources, and with another civilization falling victim to that force, using its last moments to warn humanity of their imminent war. Yet another story introduces us to a civilization a few inches across, made up of jolly humans shrunk to microscopic sizes. 

    I also loved how many of the stories came with an inspiring theme, or presented an interesting idea to think about. The topics covered are diverse, but the most recurring themes are related to human nature and the future of humanity. For instance, two back-to-back stories feature an individual striving to accomplish something in their lives, to improve their lives, or simply to tackle a challenge for the sake of it. In Mountain, a mountain climber, when faced with an alien mothership raising the sea to the upper atmosphere, chooses to defy all logic and swim towards the mothership. There, he learns of that alien civilization's struggle to learn about the universe around it and explore beyond the bounds of the civilization's cradle, in a story within a story. The story then goes on to compare these challenges, saying that they are all like the mountains the main character climbs, and states that if there is a challenge, there will always be someone to face it. The next story, Sun of China chronicles the adventure of a poor peasant, advancing through society to become a famous astronaut working on an orbital megaproject. Both stories, at its core, are about showing off the ambition of humanity through the lens of individuals, and I find both to be wonderful examples of writing which you can read quickly and in one sitting. 

    The Wandering Earth has ten stories in total, each presenting intriguing and thoughtful ideas like the ones I mentioned. Although I probably won't be able to cover the themes of all the stories (and I'd also rather not spoil too many stories), I recommend that you check this book out, and immerse yourself and the numerous universes that The Wandering Earth opens up for you. 

by Maxwell He

Noreen- A Murder Story from a Different Perspective: The Lovely Bones

 

            For my last blog post, I read a drama novel called The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold and designed my own book cover for it. The story is of a teenage girl, Susie, who was murdered by her neighbor, Mr. Harvey. Readers follow Susie as she watches her family and friends come to terms with her death. I appreciate that the entire plot is not only based on the mystery of who murders her. Us readers know right from the first chapter that Mr. Harvey is guilty. This allows us to gain a clearer perspective of Susie’s thought process and feel connected to her.

            At first I was not sure how to organize my original cover, but then I thought of the two main settings Susie spends time in, heaven and her suburban neighborhood. The bottom half of the cover illustrates themes of her neighborhood. You might notice the drawing to the left, representing Susie’s traumatic event and the atrocity of what Mr. Harvey did to her. What is also painful about Susie’s experiences is that Harvey kills her and gets away with it consistently. Susie says, “He wore his innocence like a comfortable coat” (Sebold 26). Susie realizes that even he believes his innocence. Amidst the darkness of her hometown is her family grieving her death. On the right of the bottom half, I drew her two siblings and parents. “Nothing is ever certain” is what her family tells each other hoping that Susie is found (Sebold 21).

            While the lower portion of the cover is full of sadness and has a dark theme, I tried to illustrate Susie’s personal heaven in a bright way on the top. Her heaven is unique and true to her personality. It is filled with non-traditional things like big butterflies and roller coasters. It reflects her own imagination and dreams. In order to get to her personal heaven, Susie has to accept her death and allow her family to move on. She has to trust that they sense her watching over them, as she says, “Had my brother really seen me somehow, or was he merely a little boy telling beautiful lies?” (Sebold 95).

            Lastly, I hope that my cover all together illustrates the dynamic of the two settings Susie experiences. While she still looks over her family, she moves on and no longer feels the need to get revenge on Harvey, leaving the darkness of her past. What I find so unique about this story is that while most books are in the perspective of the family losing a loved one, we get the perspective of the victim and watch her react to her family’s grieving process. I recommend The Lovely Bones to anyone seeking a dramatic but heartwarming story. 

The Adventure of a Lifetime in a Fantastical World - The Mark of the Dragonfly by Jaleigh Johnson

     

    Many stories tell of a strange earth-like steampunk world but none are as unique as The Mark of The Dragonfly. In the beginning of the book, the reader is greeted with a map of an unusual and unfamiliar continent called Solace, but as the reader goes on, the world of Solace is built with it, and the different areas on the map are explained. The world is made up of two rival kingdoms, the Merrow Kingdom and the Dragonfly Territories, but in the north of the continent lies a great field where meteor showers bring strange artifacts from other worlds with them. This strange occurrence has dictated the lives of many people, including the main character Piper, who works as a mechanic for artifacts found in the meteor field. Piper's life alone, after losing her father, was bland and uneventful until the biggest meteor shower in years brings something that will change her life forever and allow her to leave the miserable scrap towns. All in all, the location-based narrative structure immerses the reader in the fantastical world the characters travel through on their journey to escape.

    One of the most interesting characters of the story is the character Anna. Although Anna becomes a more established character as time goes on, her origins are mysterious. When Piper finds Anna in the wreck of a caravan destroyed by the meteor showers she brings her back to her house to recover. There she finds Anna is a member of the royalty in the Dragonfly Territories, bearing the Dragonfly tattoo, but has lost her memory in the accident. Anna's mysterious past, including the mystery behind why a member of royalty was in the middle of a meteor storm in the first place, causes problems along their journey. This mysterious element in the story makes the reader want to keep reading to investigate and uncover the truth behind Anna.

    Although Piper's journey to return Anna to the Dragonfly Territories comes with reward and later proves to be necessary to protect Anna, it does not come without conflict. One problem Piper has with her journey is that since Piper chose to break the law by leaving the shelter to save her friend Micah, Piper is wanted by the authorities. This forces Piper to act discretely in her journey and make the decision to leave her home town to protect herself and safely return Anna. Piper's fugitive status makes returning Anna to the distant Dragonfly Territories even more difficult and outlandish, yet interesting to follow. In addition to this problem, Piper has an internal conflict with the fact that her father died while working in a factory belonging to the Dragonfly king, and blames it on him. Piper's line "King Aron had built the factory in Noveen, the monster that had swallowed Piper's father up and made him breathe poisonous smoke" (Johnson 47), shows that she is resentful and seeks revenge for her father. Therefore, she is not inclined to help the king by returning a member of his royalty. These conflicts and her desire for revenge make Piper a complex and interesting character to follow.

    Only thirteen years old, Piper is on her own without any immediate family and works as a scavenger and repairer. For Piper, her only remaining family are Micah, Jory, and their parents who have always helped and been kind to her. When Micah, Piper's best friend, is injured during the meteor storm and slips into a coma, Piper is worried she will lose a part of the only family she has left. The adventure ahead of her not only helps her fulfill her dream of exploring the world, but helps her to make new friends and find new family. Overall, this is a very well written novel and the first of a series that explores the mystical world of Solace, following Piper and her friends on a journey to uncover mysteries and find a better life.

Kelby

The Three Body Problem

    

    In the vast expanse of space at a system known as Trisolaris, three stars dance around each other in an irregular and unpredictable dance, with a planet drifting through the gravitational influence of the three bodies, subject to both extreme heat and cold. Against all odds, civilization sprouts on this planet, weathering the constant disasters the three suns bring. Before the three suns destroy the planet once and for all, this civilization hopes to voyage to a safer planet. So, this civilization embarks on a four hundred year journey on its way to conquer an eternally mild planet a mere 4 light years away, flourishing with life of its own, known to us humans as 'Earth'.

    This is the world of The Three Body Problem, a novel written by Liu Cixin. The Three Body Problem is a great novel, unlike any which I have read before, thanks to usage of multiple perspectives to add to the main point of view, the usage of history and science in its storytelling process, and the somewhat nuanced nature of the main conflict in the story.

    The Three Body Problem starts at the height of the Cultural Revolution, centering on a young scientist named Ye Wenjie whose father had just been beaten to death, and then sent to work in the wilderness, eventually settling in a secretive radio telescope base known as Red Coast. One of the greatest parts of the novel, especially in this section, is its references to historical events and depiction of the Cultural Revolution. The atmosphere of the Cultural Revolution, and its focus on politics in every part of life, significantly affects how Ye is able to conduct research and live life at Red Coast. Often, she and her colleagues are very sensitive to how their work will create political symbolism, or associate with counter-revolutionaries, or otherwise do politically dangerous actions. Even in transmissions to potential extraterrestrial life, the Cultural Revolution's influence shows in the first few drafts of the transmission. 

    Another great element of The Three Body Problem is how the author switches between different points of view in order to provide the reader a more complete and interesting picture of events. The first section of the story is written in the point of view of Ye Wenjie, the young scientist at Red Coast. However, the story is mostly told through the perspective of Wang Miao, a present day engineer, as he tries to make sense of what is going on around him in regards to Trisolaris and the people associated with Trisolaris. Later, the perspective switches back to Ye, showing what she did after being sent to Red Coast. The story also features the perspective of a mathematician, and how he interacted with a pro-Trisolaris organization. Near the end of the story, when the government receives a hard drive full of transmissions from Trisolaris acquired from the pro-Trisolaris organization, the perspective even switches to the point of view of Trisolaris, at first focusing on the operator of a radio receiver, and then expanding into an omnicscient view of all of Trisolaris.

    After Ye Wenjie saw her father beat to death and was later persecuted due to the Cultural Revolution, she began to harbor misgivings about the people around her, and of humanity as a whole. Eventually, after witnessing firsthand the bad sides of humanity, and reading philosophical material during her time at Red Coast Base, this developed into the conclusion that humanity is generally an evil species. When she discovered the existence of Trisolaris, this led her to seek the help of Trisolaran civilization to reform human society. That premise, repeated and emphasized over and over again throughout the story, helps us ask questions about what we think about Ye's views. For example, what are the flaws in human nature and human society? Do those flaws characterize the nature of humanity as evil? And if so, does the evil of human society warrant an intervention by a foreign power (such as Trisolaris)? These questions often consumed my thoughts as I was reading and rereading the story, and gave me more insight onto why the pro-Trisolaris characters acted the way they did. 
    When the perspective switched to that of Trisolaris, a lone radio receiver operator stood in the position of Ye Wenjie, an isolated individual dissatisfied with their current circumstances. While we do not get any insight onto this receiver's past, we know through his conversations with others that he would much prefer human civilization over Trisolaran civilization, viewing human civilization as culturally rich, free, and prosperous, in comparison to the totalitarian nature of Trisolaran civilization, in which the only punishment for crimes is death. For this reason, he tries to save Earth from Trisolaran invasion, risking the very survival of Trisolaris in the process. These revelations also were very interesting to learn about, and they changed my outlook on the conflicts occuring at Earth in the story. Those who wanted to improve human civilization through foreign intervention have in fact made a grave mistake, inviting a powerful totalitarian regime to conquer Earth. Such a regime would certainly not spare humanity, and even if humanity was spared and merely subjugated, Trisolaran civilization would most definitely be a negative influence on humanity. 

    There are many elements of the story which I decided to omit, and countless small details which would take too much time to cover. However, what sets The Three Body Problem apart from other novels I read are its incorporation of history, several perspectives, and interesting ideas and themes on the nature of humanity. Overall, The Three Body Problem is a complex, interesting novel which I encourage everyone to read.  

Honest and Hilarious Happenings in Hyperbole and a Half

   

The hard-to-believe but true stories of Allie Brosh create the humorous and slightly concerning autobiographical graphic novel Hyperbole and a Half. She invites us into the mind of her dog-obsessed childhood self, tells of her “simple-dog” and “helper dog,” and also shares a candid insight into her struggles with depression. 

Her childhood stories are the parts that made me laugh out loud the most because while she was already a quirky child, the humor that she uses to express those peculiarities makes them even funnier. Normally, adults don’t always remember what they were thinking when they were younger, but it seems that Brosh still has quite a healthy relationship with her child-self. In one of the first stories in the graphic novel, she tells about the time when she found a letter to her future 25-year-old self written by her ten-year-old self. The letter asks multiple questions on the topics of dogs: “Do you still like dogs? What is your favorite dog? Do you have a job training dogs? Is Murphy [her current dog] still alive?"(Brosh 5) It also had an “About me” section where she made sure to state her favorite dog breeds. And at the end, it had the sentence that Brosh describes as “the three most disturbing words in the entire letter: Please write back.” She says, “judging by the thick, purposeful lines in each letter...the sincerity of the request is unmistakable” (6). There are more times like these where Brosh reminisces about her past actions or events with semi-sarcastic yet reflective commentary. But her written memories express the honest thoughts of when you’re a kid and your actions seem perfectly reasonable, which made for a nostalgic read….even though I realize I’m only fifteen. 

       She also shares the times when she had depression as an adult. Even though depression is a serious and sensitive topic, she is able to bring sardonic humor to the bitter moments. She allows us, the readers, to still maintain a connection with her, even during the more uncomfortable and difficult times of her life. She has two sections in her book labeled “Depression Part One” and “Depression Part 2.” She starts off “Depression Part One” by saying, “Some people have a legitimate reason to feel depressed, but not me. I just woke up one day feeling arbitrarily sad and helpless” (99). The way she explains her experience with depression makes it easy for readers to empathize with her and understand exactly what she means. She also gives examples that show what she was like during this period. Like the time she felt invincible at the video store because she “didn’t have any feelings left” and rented six horror movies, bought all of the skittles, and then “swooped out of there like the Batman and biked home in a blaze of defiant glory” (115-119). I think writing about those candid moments is also helpful for a lot of readers experiencing the same thing. I appreciate how she incorporated humor into both her writing and drawings, punctuating her present thoughts and emotions. For me, that’s what I can connect with the most (humor), so it was quite effective.

I feel like since dogs were an important part of Brosh’s life, I should probably mention them. As an adult, she has two dogs: The “simple dog” who is, well, a bit simple but tries her best, and then there is the “helper dog,” who tries to teach the simple-dog how to be bad. She devotes a section to each one. The first one is about how she runs a series of tests on her simple dog until finally accepting that her dog is just simple, and the second one is about getting the helper dog and learning about all of the not-so-fun qualities that she has. However, she loves them both very much. The facial expressions that she gives each dog are funny, and the thought bubbles are great additions too. 

The Simple Dog (left) & Helper Dog (right)

   Reading Hyperbole and a Half is like drinking a refreshing glass of seltzer water: It’s addictive, fun, and when you choke on the bubbles, that’s just because you're laughing so hard. I hope you try it. 

--Grace 

               Allie Brosh (Author)
    

Finding Orion: The story of a not so typical family

Finding Orion is an extremely well-written book with a lot to offer. The book is told from the perspective of a twelve year old boy named after the constellation Orion who feels out of place in the Kwirk family. His dad works in a Jellybean factory, his mother is allergic to almost everything and feels the need to clean tirelessly, his sister is obsessed with fencing, acting, and owns a pet snake, while his youngest sister is a walking dictionary. Because of this Rion feels his family is very different from himself and other "normal" families. Although Rion has always tried to live his own life and be normal, when a clown shows up at his doorstep to deliver the news of his grandfather's death, it ends up uncovering a deep conflict between his father and his grandfather and he discovers a lot more about his family.

One of the most prominent themes talked about and represented in the novel is bizarreness. Bizarreness is shown in many ways throughout the story by the Kwirk family with his family being much different from his friends' families. But perhaps the most bizarre of them all is Papa Kwirk, who only shows up on Christmas every year to bring odd gifts and tell exciting stories. Although the bizarreness is shown by both Rion's grandfather and his family, Rion comes to look up to Papa Kwirk's mysterious and wild lifestyle. While he often feels ashamed of his family who has a more toned-down bizarreness, which is brought on by his need to fit in at his middle school. All in all, the bizarreness of the Kwirks leads them on an adventure that helps Rion learn to appreciate his family for what they are.

The novel's main character, Rion, is a very unique and complex character for many reasons. One being that because he feels he doesn't belong in his family, he ends up talking less than everyone else, which makes him very observant. His ability to read a situation and his frequent intuitive and clever remarks that he mostly keeps to himself explain why he was chosen as the narrator of the story, and show the reader that he is a lot more like his family than he admits. Going onwards, his observant attitude proves to be very a informative and entertaining perspective, as he, more than his mother and siblings, has an interest in the odd life that Papa Kwirk lived as well as the origin of the conflict between his dad and Papa Kwirk. This interest causes him to play a key role in uncovering the mystery of his grandfather and makes him an interesting character to follow.

Although the novel is told from Rion's perspective, I think that the variety of unique attributes in the different characters makes this a story that everyone can relate to some way. Overall, this book is a funny yet moving and heartfelt novel that I would highly recommend, with characters and conflicts that I often found myself relating to.

 

- Kelby Svendsen