No Country For Old Men Book Review

Alfred S.

The novel No Country For Old Men by Cormac McCarthy, is jam packed with action, love, death, and insanity. This book mac McCarthy, is simply put, a thriller. This book set in the 1980’s on the Mexican, Texas border follows the travels of a local Texan, Llewelyn Moss, who somehow found himself caught in a drug war, an old Sheriff, and a maniac killer. Moss must learn how to survive, and become a more sneaky and conniving person then he thought he ever could be if he hopes to survive his journey.

Through all the chaos of the novel, it is a fairly simple plot. In short, the characters are engulfed in greed. Llewelyn Moss, a simple country man who has a profession as a welder. He has a nineteen-year-old wife, and they live happily together in a trailer park. Llewelyn went out hunting one day for antelope but instead, stumbled upon a drug deal that had gone horribly wrong. There were dead bodies littered across the area and a man dead with a brief case in his arms. He takes the brief case and looks inside of it and finds two million dollars. He takes the brief case and runs for it. A psychotic hit man is hired to retrieve the money by any means necessary. His name is Chigurh, and he is the antagonist, the villain, and a heartless murderer. This insane man begins to hunt down Llewelyn across the vast lands of Texas and Mexico. When Sheriff Ed Tom Bell, an old battle tested war veteran, hears about this psycho and how he had recently murdered one of his deputies and is now hunting down a resident of his county, he buckles up and begins to hunt down the hunter.  The journeys of these three characters are long and agonizing, but in the end, somebody has to give.

Cormac’s depiction of the journey of those three men hunting and fleeing from each other across the present day Wild West is full of action, love, and death. McCarthy takes an old western flawed justice theme and positions it into a more present day setting. I found the ending of the book to be somewhat surprising, but I did not enjoy it that much. McCarthy’s writing was spectacular with his amazing use of imagery, and his ability to write a story that keeps you on the edge of your seat. I truly enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anybody who genuinely likes action. I read Cormac McCarthy’s novel All The Pretty Horses last year for our reading assignment and thought it was pretty good, but I definitely feel that this book was even better. There is a movie that is based off of this novel but I must advise people to read the book first. The film would be hard to follow if you have never read the book, and I thought the movie was just not as up to par as the book. But I recommend watching the movie once you have finished the book. Cormac has once again written a brilliant novel and has failed to disappoint.

Where’s My Wand?

By: Meghan White

            Everyone believes in magic at one point in their life, but in Where’s My Wand, magic is what keeps Eric Poole from just giving up on everything. This little belief that he has does greater work than God ever had for him. He has to use something to control his insane Mother and help keep him from getting beat up every single day since he was 8, so why not take after his idol, Endora from Bewitched.

            This book is set in the late 60’s and 70’s. This time span allows us to follow Eric from when he was 8 all the way through 10^th grade. The trip that he takes us through has a hold of your attention to the very last sentence. Right from the very first chapter we learn everything about him. This poor little boy knew his sexual preference from an early age of 8. He didn’t know what the feelings were or even that it was possible to be attracted to the same sex. He was just glad that he wasn’t having the feelings that girls make boys feel that lead to sinful actions. Eric’s a good hearted Christian and follows the rules of God. He lets us see that even Christians can be gay. It is a personal preference, it doesn’t matter what you believe, it’s what you feel.

            Throughout the book we learn that Eric wasn’t very popular in school, he had a new bully in every grade, and very rarely found friends. When he would make a new friend, he would lose them from something that really mattered, no one wanted to leave Eric, he is a very likeable person, it’s just hard for kids to get past the fact that he’s deaf in one ear and not as good looking as the other kids. But he is a very nice and smart young boy. When he does stand up for himself his bullies back down. They just need a taste of their own medicine, or a foot to their throat, and they then leave little Eric alone.

When he wants something to happen, he runs to the basement to drape his bedspread over himself and right the wrongs that have occurred. He summons all of his powers that he can possibly conjure and flies through the universe and can see the future that he wants. His magic doesn’t always work the way he expects it to, but he realizes that maybe the way it actually happens is better.

This memoir is of a very realistic life. We see the pain that he endured for 7 years of his life, and his sister Valerie was of no help. She would only blackmail him and rat him out to mother when she caught him twirling around in the basement with his bedspread draped over his shoulders. But he gets her back when she takes her boyfriend into the forbidden living room, rather than the family room. We’re with him through everything from his mothers’ wild antics to him becoming best friends with a girl who has no arms. This book really shows us that we can triumph anything as long as believe in ourselves.

The Jordan Rules By Sam Smith. Review by Brooks Rogers

The Jordan Rules: By Sam Smith

Reviewed By Brooks Rogers

Sam Smith catches the off the court action of the 1990-91 season of the Chicago Bulls. The book follows Michael Jordan off the court and sees how the NBA superstar interacts. The name of this book comes from a series of defensive strategies that the Detroit Pistons used to shut down Michael Jordan. It was a strategy that helped the Pistons when they played against the Bulls. The Pistons and the Bulls were huge rivals during the time of Jordan and Isaiah Thomas of the Detroit Pistons.

            The Jordan Rules is a book that I highly suggest to basketball lovers, and Jordan fans. If you are not a fan of either, than I suggest that you find a different book that fits your style. There was not enough action in the book, but there was definitely the off the court experience to help you see what really goes on off the court with the greatest player of all time. In many instances you see Jordan labeled as a douche-bag. As Sam Smith relates Jordan to the fact that no one is perfect, even when you are the best player in the world, and of all time, you will have your flaws. Jordan’s just happened to be the fact that he was not the nicest guy off the court, and especially not on the court. The 1990-91 season was a roller coaster of turmoil. The book goes into great detail of all of the problems that the team faced and overcame. You have to read this book if basketball is any interest to you. Once you start, you just want to keep learning more about the whole situation. It definitely is not a book that you can’t put down, but it is something that you want to keep learning about after each page you read.

Holler If You Hear Me (Connor's Book Review)

Holler If You Hear Me - Book Review

Connor Courter

Michael Eric Dyson’s “Holler If You Hear Me: Searching for Tupac Shakur”, explores the life and death of the widely loved rapper, Tupac. Faced with such a difficult childhood and very little parental guidance, Dyson walks you through the challenges Tupac went up against in his unfortunately short life. Starting with his crack addicted mother all the way through his tragic death. Dyson paints a vivid picture of Tupac through interviews with some of Tupac’s acquaintances and also by referencing old tapes of Tupac speaking himself. These interviews show how Tupac had a reputation as one of the most authentic artists around in his day and how deeply respected he was by many people. While Tupac’s life could certainly be portrayed as a ‘thug life’, as opposed to speaking out against it, Dyson shows how Tupac redefined it. Dyson explains how thug life isn’t all about guns, breaking laws and fighting, he uses Tupac’s interviews to explain thug life is about respect and loyalty, regardless of how you apply those in your life. Even as a highschool dropout, Tupac was certainly not against learning, he merely swapped school smarts for street smarts and took his love for reading and writing with him to the streets. Obviously Tupac quickly put those writing and reading skills to use by becoming a world renowned rapper and musician. This book dives deep into the legendary rappers reputation and morals and really exposes many things about Tupac that might be swept under the rug. Even people who consider themselves avid Tupac fans could read this book and learn more about the artist that they might not know and thrill them with more information about one of their favorites. Those who know very little about the artist will be enlightened by the ghetto sainthood of Tupac and be blasted with interesting information about a very interesting individual. A good read that helps you understand the life and thought process of a rap icon.

Freakonomics

Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner’s book, “Freakonomics,” explores the hidden side of everything. Bizarre and unique chapter titles both confuse and compel the reader to push forward. “Freakonomics” is one of the first books to push economics and data science into popular consciousness, if you recently passed over it pushing it aside or even off your reading list, it is definitely worth taking a second look.

Steven Levitt’s ability to ask questions about unrelated topics and draw a reasonable conclusion connecting the two topics, charms the reader throughout each chapter. “Freakonomics” is composed of a series of chapters, all of which propose questions as to evoke discomfort, confusion, and drive to keep reading. For example…

1. What do school teachers and sumo wrestlers have in common? While this relationship is perplexing at first, as the chapter progresses the key link to sumo wrestlers and school teachers are incentives. The chapter shows how incentives are the cornerstone to modern life.

2. How is the Ku Klux Klan like a group of real estate agents? This one looks at the power of information in markets and how experts, wether a criminologist or a real-estate agent, use their informational advantage to serve their own agenda. 

3. Why do drug dealers still live with their moms? This section draws a relationship between crack dealers and fortune five hundred companies, specifically the struggle to reach the top. 

4. Where have all the criminals gone? This chapter explores the facts and fiction of crime. 

5. What makes a perfect parent? This poses the question “do parents matter?”.

Levitt's answers to the questions proposed in the chapters are tightly reasoned, interesting, and provocative. They're what make the book worth reading. Each chapter title proposes an interesting situation, they are bound to interest any reader. “Freakonomics” reaches far and wide, the material can be easily enjoyed by people of all ages, interests, and occupations. 

Levitt does not think it is necessary to identify a true “theme” from the topics he analyzes. He says that “since the science of economics is primarily a set of tools, as opposed to a subject matter, then no subject, however offbeat, need be beyond its reach.” While Levitt immediately denies any sort of theme in the introduction of the book, the book isn't a choppy mess. Levitt’s voice is prominent throughout each passage, its written in a very casual tone that draws the reader closer and personalizes the text. 

While the text has a very inviting voice, chances are you will take some offense to parts of “Freakonomics”. The book is said to have managed to offend nearly everyone. If you are a conservative you will most likely be outraged that abortion is promoted as a solution to crime. If you are a liberal, you might be upset by the racism, in the name section. Levitt’s ability to piss everyone off and still retain nearly four million readers is impeccable. Even though some of the topics offend, the bigger picture of each subject matter can be easily sympathized with. “Freakonomics” is an excellent quick read that sucks you into its vortex of unconventional reasoning of past and modern day occurrences. Once you dive in, you may never stop until you start drawing relationships between any and every unrelated subject matter such as commercial airline companies and Yellowstone National Park’s entrance fee. 

A Song Flung Up to Heaven by Maya Angelou -Carson

A Song Flung Up to Heaven

 A Song Flung Up to Heaven by Maya Angelou is an account of her life after she returns to the United States from Africa to be a civil rights activist. Miss Angelou is a poet, teacher, singer, performer, director and has written 7 autobiographies about her life as a black women during the civil rights movement. The book opens with a letter from Malcolm X asking Angelou to come work with him in New York. Of course she accepts his offer but first she must travel to California to reunite with her mother and brother. While visiting with her beloved brother, the only person she would talk to after being raped by her mother's boyfriend, she received news that Malcolm X had been assassinated. Angelou, devastated, slowly puts her life back together with odd singing jobs in local bars, and multiple on-stage theatre production. While conducting a door-to-door survey in Watts, the town explodes in riots, an account she describes first-hand. The energy from the riot excites her and so she returns to New York in hopes of finding an editorial job. While at a party, a close friends of hers, Martin Luther King Jr. approaches her and nearly begs her to be his coordinator in the north and visit all the black churches to spread the word about his Poor People's March. A dream come true for Miss Angelou. However, tragedy strikes again when Martin Luther King Jr. is assassinated. Angelou falls deep into a depression in which she will not speak or leave her apartment. The depression only lasts about four pages when one of her best friends, James Baldwin, forces her to attend a dinner party. At the dinner party she laughs and cries and tells stories of her life in Ghana. Because of the detail and authenticity of Miss Angelou's stories, she is offered a job as the host and writer of a talk show comparing the African culture to the African-American culture. It is while writing this show that she decides to try writing her first autobiography, I Know Why the Caged Birds Sing. Maya Angelou not only shares her passion for music but she describes the heartbreak of leaving her 18 year old trouble-making son behind in Ghana. She describes her husband and his seductive yet overbearing ways. She even describes the hardships of writing as a black women. Miss Angelou fights through the civil rights movement all while keeping the reader entertained with silly pieces of advice from her mother, playful sibling arguments and phone calls from her son asking for more money for another crazy adventure he has planned. Chapter by chapter Angelou weaves a beautifully written story out of many stories from her life. With dialogue in every scene, A Song Flung Up to Heaven reads much like a fiction novel. Maya Angelou records her difficult destiny with style and grace in a moving story of her intelligence and wit. An easy read for anyone who wants to walk alongside a great woman during the civil rights movement.

Steve Jobs

Walter Isaacson’s Steve Jobs paints perhaps the most accurate and revealing picture of his life. As the book covers essentially his whole life in considerable detail, it is not light reading. The 656 pages cover everything from his abandonment as a child, subsequent adoption, work at Apple, Pixar, and NeXT, family life, to his death. Steve Jobs is well known for twisting reality to fit his purposes, making him a tough subject to accurately represent. Isaacson skillfully sifts through Job’s account of events and confirms them against interviews from friends, family, and previous coworkers to find the truth. Isaacson found that “It was in Jobs’s nature to mislead or be secretive when he felt it was warranted… [He had a] Nietzschean attitude that ordinary rules didn’t apply to him.” Among Job’s qualities that are revealed through Isaacson’s expert retelling of his life are his ability to distort reality (termed the Reality Distortion Field by his coworkers), his binary view of things, and his attention to detail and simplicity. On these qualities, it is noted that ”The finish on a piece of metal, the curve of the head of a screw, the shade of blue on a box, the intuitiveness of a navigation screen - [Jobs] would declare them to ‘completely suck’ until the moment when he suddenly pronounced them ‘absolutely perfect’.” Also, it is revealed that these qualities are perhaps what made Jobs most successful. In managing the building of computers at Apple he insisted that the circuit boards inside their computers be as beautiful as the case. He said that “real artists ship,” and would demand that work be done by a certain time even if it seemed impossible to his employees. Many times, they would achieve the goal, affirming that Steve could essentially will things to happen and they would. He demanded perfection from those working for him or with him, insisting on building a company of only “A players”, but also people who he could successfully bend to his will. Walter Isaacson successfully captures not only the beneficial effects of Steve Job’s intense personality, but also the detrimental effects, including the abandonment of his own daughter and his rough treatment of employees. Job’s undeniably massive effect on the development of the personal computer, computer animation, digital publishing, and distribution of music makes Isaacson’s biography a must read for everyone who desires a better picture of Job’s life.