Archive for April 8th, 2009
Interviewee:
- Gender: Female
- Race: Chinese
- Extracurriculars: Track and Field, Cross Country
- Favorite Class: Creative Nonfiction
Book Title: The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood
Summary: Society is completely revolutionized and replaced with a totalitarian Christian theocracy. Through the main character, a woman named Offred, this book explores the way women fit and interact within this new society.
Why do you like this book? This book is very sci-fi, while at the same time, explores all these themes about women (role in society, subjugation) that are so interesting. The themes are set against the backdrop of a totalitarian regime, but are still applicable in modern day’s society.
Cool Points: You never know what’s coming. There are so many plot twists. The ending is incredible and crazy.
Interviewee:
- Gender: Male
- Race: Spanish
- Extracurriculars: Soccer Team, graffiti, listening to music
- Favorite Class: Volleyball Gym
Book Title: All the Flowers are Dying, by Lawrence Block
Summary: Matthew Scudder is a private investigator located in NYC, who is looking into the online lover of a friend. Meanwhile, a man is put to death on death row, framed by the real killer, who watches the execution in fascination before returning to NYC. Scudder’s and the killer’s paths ultimately cross, eventually putting Scudder’s own life in danger.
Why do you like this book? Half the book is in Scudder’s point of view, while the other half is in the killer’s. The killer’s stream of consciousness is fascinating and unsettling.
Cool Points: Block drops clues throughout the book that keep you interested in the plot. The book is also filled with little obscure facts about New York City.
Interviewee:
- Gender: Female
- Race: Chinese
- Extracurriculars: Captain of Track and Field Team, ARISTA Honor Society
- Favorite Class: AP Watercolor
Book Title: Love in the Time of Cholera, by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Summary: The main character, Fermina, rejects a man named Florentino when she realizes the frivolous and naive nature of their young romance. She weds Juvenal, who is a doctor that epitomizes stability and rationality. By the end of the book, when Fermina is much older, she recognizes Florentino’s prevailing love for her and their relationship blooms in old age.
Why do you like this book? The book is so heart-warming and nice. Also, the two main characters have all these side relationships that are so scandalous!
Cool Points: Florentino and Fermina’s correspondence is originally restricted to sending letters. Not until the end of the book do the two characters get to have a long, face-to-face conversation.
Interviewee:
- Gender: Female
- Race: German
- Extracurriculars: Speech and Debate, Model UN, Big Sibs, shopping
- Favorite Class: Poetry
Book Title: The Giant’s House, by Elizabeth McCracken
Summary: Peggy Cort is a librarian in a small town up in Cape Cod. She falls for a boy who is 14 years younger than her. The boy, James, suffers from gigantism and grows to be 8 ft. 7 inches. She is initially attracted to him out of pity, but grows to realize that they share many interests, and he acts to fill a void in her life. A romance results, but it is too-soon tempered by tragedy.
Why do you like this book? Peggy, the narrator, is so acerbic and funny. A lot of the one-liners that she says are really profound and thought provoking -they’re the kind of sentences that you want to read twice, just to get everything out of them. Also, Peggy and James’ relationship is sweet, albeit strange.
Cool Points: The author’s writing is so poetic and lyrical. She creates these characters that are so complex and multifaceted. The narration is also very vivid.
Interviewee:
- Gender: Male
- Race: Japanese
- Extracurriculars: Swim Team Captain, exploring subway tunnels
- Favorite Class: Prejudice and Persecution
Book Title: Cold Mountain, by Charles Frazier
Summary: W.P. Inman is a deserter of the Confederate army during the Civil War. He walks for months to return to his love, Ada Monroe.
Why do you like this book? Chapter by chapter, it alternates between Inman’s and Ada’s stories. Also, details of their relationship are told in flashbacks throughout the entire book. It’s really cool.
Cool Points: The plot is so similar to Homer’s The Odyssey. Which is good, I guess, if you like The Odyssey.
Questions Asked:
1. Given your almost four years at Stuyvesant High School, what book would you recommend to incoming freshmen?
2. Why would you recommend this book?
3. Has this book helped you in/with a particular subject?
4. Can you give a brief synopsis of this book without any spoilers?
5. Finally, should freshmen enjoy this book, are there any others that you would recommend (i.e. by the same author or in the same genre)?
Responses Received:
Radmila Radailova:
1. A Quasi Biography by Ned Vizzini
2. Because it is written by a Stuy alum and it has a lot of really funny anecdotes about Stuy in it.
3. Not really, but it made me look forward to meeting the people at Stuy.
4. It’s basically this one guy just talking about his experiences. And it’s really funny.
5. Be More Chill also by Ned Vizzini, it teaches you how to be cool.
Rosie K.
1. Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett
2. Honestly, just because it’s a nice combination of humorous and clever. It’s not really freshmen-specific, either, but from what I recall it’s appropriate.
3. …it makes me smile every time I read it, it has inspired interesting questions about the duality inherent in apparent “goodness”, and every time I reread it I discover new facets that’s not really specific to one subject.
4. The novel technical spans time itself, come to think of it, but it really focuses on the present. It does involve some Christian theology, although none of it is complex and taken seriously. Goodness, any attempt I make at summarizing this is likely to slaughter it — just read the book 
.
5. Consider the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, and all subsequent novels in the series. Also consider Terry Prachett’s Discworld, and maybe Robert Asprin’s MYTH series.
Jonathan Lerner
1. Strunk and White
2. Because grammer is important
3. Yes.
4. No.
5. N/A
Jacob Rath
1. Holes, Louis Sachar
2. The book provides a strong sense of adventure. The way that mysteries unwind in the story is interesting, and the multiple story lines wind together gracefully.
3. THis book has not helped me in any subjects.
4. Stanley Yelnats has to go to a camp that forces him to dig holes . That’s as far as I think I should go.
5. For some reason I class Rule of the Bone in the same category. Both are adventurous reads.
Molly French
1. The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings
2. These are amazing books and you probably won’t ever read them in class. I hate reading books in class that I have already read because I hate pretending not to know things I already know.
3. I used them in my English regents and I’m using them in my Senior thesis for AP Ancients and Moderns with Mr. Gern.
4. I feel like a synopsis is unneeded here, everyone basically knows what they’re about. Basically, in The Hobbit, a hobbit goes on a quest with dwarfs to get their treasure back from a dragon. In the Lord of the Rings, Sauron is trying to get the ring of power and destroy middle earth and frodo and his friends have to bring the ring to mount doom and destroy it.
5. Yes. Watership Down, by Richard Adams. It’s like the same thing, only with rabbits, kind of.
Christopher Cusack
1. Rule of The Bone by Russel Banks
2. It is an excellent coming of age novel that explores many different aspects of ethics and morality.
3. This book has not been particularly helpful schoolwise.
4. A young boy, nicknamed Bone, grows up in a broken home with a struggling mother and an absent father. This causes him to runaway and fend for himself. While alone, he stays with many interesting individuals form all walks of life, while at the same time, searching for his father.
5. I would recommend it. I’m not sure what is in this category.
Navena Chaitoo
Recommender: Senior, female, basketball team
What is one of your favorite books?
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
Briefly summarize the book.
The novel chronicles the life of Billy Pilgrim who is unstuck in time so the book jumps around a bit ignoring chronological order. Billy is a POW in World War II and returns home and gets married and has a pretty mundane life until he is supposedly abducted by aliens that make him unstuck in time. His daughter, however, thinks he is completely crazy, along with many others but the book makes you question his sanity.
Did you read it for class, leisure?
School
What audience do you think would like this book?
I think people who enjoy humor would like this book.
Is there anything about the book that could be a turnoff for some people?
People who do not like humor would not like this book. Also the fact that it is written anachronistically can be unappealing.
Recommender: Senior, Female, Japanese Club
What is one of your favorite books?
Hamlet by William Shakespeare
Briefly summarize the book.
The play, set in Denmark, recounts how Prince Hamlet exacts revenge on his uncle Claudius, who has murdered Hamlet’s father, the King, and then taken the throne and married Gertrude, Hamlet’s mother. The play vividly charts the course of real and feigned madness—from overwhelming grief to seething rage—and explores themes of treachery, revenge, incest, and moral corruption.
What about the book was memorable/why is it your favorite?
I first read hamlet after I had read Richard the III in soph year, which was the first Shakespeare play that I had ever read. I really liked Richard, so I decided to read Hamlet and I thought that it was SUCH a good play. It was really cool that it even though it did not seem dated to me, I could still understand what was going because he focuses on such universal themes. Then I saw the 4 hour word-for-word Kenneth Branaugh movie and that was really fun. Basically if I had not read hamlet, I would not have continued to read Shakespeare, and I would not have found this group of plays that I really love and I would not gone to London this summer to work at Shakespeare’s globe.
Did you read it for class, leisure?
Leisure!
What audience do you think would like this book?
I think that everybody should read/ be forced to read this book at least.
Is there anything about the book that could be a turnoff for some people?
Yes.
Recommender: Senior, Female, Music
What is one of your favorite books?
Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
Briefly summarize the book.
The narrator and protagonist, Calliope Stephanides (later called “Cal”), an intersexed person of Greek descent, has 5-alpha-reductase deficiency. The bulk of the novel is devoted to telling his coming-of-age story growing up in Detroit, Michigan in the late 20th century. This story, however, is intertwined with elements of a family saga, meditations on the era’s zeitgeist and bits of contemporary history.
What about the book was memorable/why is it your favorite?
Did you read it for class, leisure?
For fun!
What audience do you think would like this book?
People who like books in Oprah’s Book Club or anyone who is interested in hermaphrodites.
Is there anything about the book that could be a turnoff for some people?
The incest in the beginning and the flowery writing.
Recommender: Senior, female, track
What is one of your favorite books?
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon
Briefly summarize the book.
The novel follows the lives of the title characters, a Czech artist named Joe Kavalier and a Brooklyn-born writer named Sam Clay—both Jewish—before, during, and after World War II. Kavalier and Clay become major figures in the nascent comics industry during its “Golden Age.”
What about the book was memorable/why is it your favorite?
The novel is light hearted, funny, and fun-to-read. It won a Pulitzer Prize. It is able to take a theme like comic books, a low art form, and elevate it to a high art form by eloquently writing about them.
Did you read it for class, leisure?
For class.
What audience do you think would like this book?
I think that teenagers, people who like action, love stories, and humor would like this book.
Is there anything about the book that could be a turnoff for some people?
It goes into a lot of detail and tangents about superheroes and the like.
Recommender: Senior, Female, ARISTA
What is one of your favorite books?
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
Briefly summarize the book.
Of Mice and Men is about two migrant farmers working at a ranch during the Great Depression in California.
What about the book was memorable/why is it your favorite?
I have read this book several times because it is one of my mother’s favorites. It is very emotionally engaging: one of the main characters is mentally challenged and dreams of raising rabbits but has a hard time staying out of trouble.
Did you read it for class, leisure?
Both.
What audience do you think would like this book?
I think a very wide audience would like this book.
Is there anything about the book that could be a turnoff for some people?
Not that I can think of.
Recommender: Zin Htet, Senior
D: Of all the books you have read in your Stuyvesant career, what book would you recommend the most?
Z: That’s soo random! Candide? It was short.
D: Oh, great book. You know it was a play on PBS?
Z: Yeah? I never watched it.
D: Well, what do you remember from the story? Can I get a quick summary?
Z: I thought you read it.
D: I did, but can I get one anyway?
Z: Sparknote it?
D: Ok then, will do. Why would you recommend it? Besides that it was short.
Z: There was a lot of funny stuff about syphilis and other weird stuff. It was really entertaining, but it also had a good moral to it: Living moderately is the best way to live, like living the middle path.
D: That’s a great reason to recommend the book. So you live by this moral then?
Z: Yeah, I’m a Buddhist and we embrace the middle path.
D: Who would you recommend Candide to?
Z: Hmm, Guys! Because they love the stupid stuff that happens in the book.
D: What did the guys in your class think of the story?
Z: They talked and laughed a lot about the story. Why are you asking me so many questions?
D: No one else you questions like this?
Z: Yeah, someone else did. Weird…
D: And he didn’t explain to you why he was asking?
Z: I didn’t ask
D: Haha, well thanks for your time, I appreciate your help.
Recommender: Sercan Ture, Senior
D: Of all the books you have read in your Stuyvesant career, what book would you recommend the most?
S: Oh s***, is that due tomorrow?
D: Yeah. We have to submit it online.
S: Battle Royale! The book.
D: OMG I watched that movie! So why would you recommend it? What was intriguing about the book? Besides all the gore and stuff.
S: Well, first, the idea that it takes place among students, and being in a high school setting, there is a deeper connection with the characters in the book. Then all the action, I mean, it’s like non-stop throughout the whole book. It’s almost guaranteed someone will die every chapter or so. But the main thing is the suspense because the narrator changes between chapters and you see each of their plans and its cool that way.
D: Can you give me a deep analysis like you would in Ms. Chan’s class?
S: Well, the whole situation brings out their animalistic characteristics like friends being paranoid about people they’ve known for years, and like the soccer player who wanted to rape some girl before he died.
D: I don’t think that happens in the movie, but to who would you recommend this book to? Or which audience?
S: He tried to rape her, but then she like bit him somewhere.
S: I would recommend it to anyone, because it’s a sick book, but its not only action and gore. I guess anyone who is disgusted from gore and stuff and anyone who likes drama and psychological stuff. So everyone.
D: So you would recommend it to 5 year old children? Okay, sounds good. I like the honesty.
S: YES I WOULD
D: Nice, Ms. Chan will see this.
S: Lol, she knows me, it’s cool.
D: One more question: How has the book affected you and what you look for in a book?
S: It makes me see that not all books that are saturated with action are crap and that they can actually be meaningful.
S: Anyway David, what is your favorite book that you have read throughout your time at Stuy?
D: Thank you for your time, Sercan. You’ve been a great help.
S: Answer the question.
Recommender: Aneta Turlik, Senior
D: Of all the books you have read in your Stuyvesant career, what book would you recommend the most?
A: And then there were none, by Agatha Christie.
D: You know my sister was a huge fan of Agatha Christie? She read every one of those books I think, but I haven’t read it. Can you give me the gist of the story?
A: Summary: During the novel, several people, who previously committed murder but escaped due to technicalities, are tricked into coming into an island. Even though there is no one other than the guests, they are all mysteriously murdered in the manner of a nursery rhyme, one by one.
D: Why do you recommend it?
A: That was from wiki by the way.
D: Lol
A: Because it is very thought provoking and suspenseful. Throughout the book, the reader wonders how what is occurring is possible, but it is still suspenseful to the ending.
D: Don’t ruin the ending now!
A: I won’t.
D: Who would you recommend it to?
A: Everyone interested in mystery books/ everyone in general
D: And why? Ha, never mind. That was a stupid question. Don’t answer that one.
A: Same reason as before. Yeah.
D: What should the reader know before grabbing this book off of the shelf?
A: They should know that they have to enjoy the book for what it is, and not to get too caught up in the complex plot. They can try to figure it out for themselves, because that adds to the fun of reading the book, but they should also note the skillful writing and style.
D: How has this book affected the way you choose other books to read?
A: It made me want to read more Agatha Christie books.
D: Did you read any others?
A: I realized, however, that many of them are not as good as this one. Yeah, I read a few.
D: What made this one better?
A: The plot is unique, and it’s suspenseful. And not too complex.
D: Well, thanks for your time, you’ve been a great help.
A: ‘kay. No problem.
Recommender: Tina Yue, Senior
D: You wanna help me with an English project?
T: Um, how so?
D: Answer questions. Only 5.
T: Okay?
D: Nice. What’s the best book you’ve read in your Stuyvesant career and why?
T: Fudge.
D: C’mon, you must have a favorite.
T: Uh, let’s see, Canterbury?
D: Canterbury Tales?
T: Mhm.
D: Which story in particular and why?
T: The Wife of Bath Story?
D: And why?
T: I liked the Wife of Bath’s story because it gave an insight in the role of women back then and… ummm… I don’t know. I guess how women are shown to have power in the late Middle Ages, even if it is just basically dominance in the sexual area.
D: What do you generally look for in a book?
T: Interesting plot.
D: What’s a good plot for you?
T: It has to have a bit of romance.
D: Who would you recommend this book to?
T: I would recommend it to all the other high-schoolers, mainly because it’s not exactly appropriate for middle-schoolers.
D: All of the Canterbury Tales, or just the Wife of Bath’s Story?
T: Wife of Bath’s
D: But who would you recommend the whole book to and why?
T: I don’t know. I give up!
D: Nobody?
T: Lol. High-schoolers. It’s really interesting how the author places all of these stories together. I really liked reading their different viewpoints and how the story relates to their personality.
D: Great answer Tina! I’m glad you didn’t give up.
T: Thanks.
D: No, thank you. You’ve been a great help.
T: No prob.
Recommender: David Tan, Senior
D: Of all the books you have read in your Stuyvesant career, what book would you recommend the most?
D: I would recommend Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury I think.
D: I’ve read that one! What made you read the book?
D: It was recommended by my 8th grade teacher, but I didn’t have the chance to read it until later.
D: Wow. I read it for the exact same reason! What did you like most about it?
D: The dystopian society depicted in the book just seems so backwards. Firemen burn books for a living instead of putting out fires. It was just weird. The ending was great, but I won’t ruin that. The people in the society also have televisions that are imbedded in their walls, which I really want in my home.
D: Did you ever watch the movie?
D: Of course! It really sucked. Well, in comparison to the book at least. It wasn’t what I expected at all. I remember the movie had some really bad actors. I also did not like the lighting. Aren’t you supposed to ask me questions about the book?
D: Shush. Who would you recommend this book to?
D: Well, I would definitely recommend it to avid book readers, because this crazy society has no books at all. The society is really anti-intellectual. Everyone is kind of dumbed down by their televisions. I would also recommend it to Sci-fi fans. It had this crazy Mechanical Hound that is programmed to hunt out people who read and think in a radical way. I remember this awesome chase scene, but I won’t reveal anything.
D: How has this book affected the way you choose to read books?
D: Well, I guess I learned to listen to my English teachers more often. They usually have some good recommendations for books.
D: Thank you for your time David.
D: No problem David.
Danny Gitelman
Period 10
4/8/2009
Interviewee Details
Gender: Male
Race: Russian
Grade: 12
Favorite Subject: Math
Main Extracurricular: Math Team
Book Details
Title: The Last Unicorn
Author: Peter S. Beagle
- In as few words as possible, describe the effect this book had on you.
This book was the funniest ones I’ve ever read, and other than making me crack up at every other page, this book opened my eyes to all of the kinds of struggles the different characters had to go through. For example, the unicorn was looking for more of its own kind and the magician was trying to stop failing at magic, because he really loved it.
- What literary elements/techniques made you enjoy this book?
It would definitely the characterization. Beagle uses seemingly quotidian characters but gives them little quirks that keep the book interesting. There was also a great deal of satire and irony that I personally really enjoy.
- How did you feel immediately after reading this book and why?
I was in hysterical laughter. The ending was as ridiculous as I expected it to be.
- What other book/movie/play/song/anything can you compare this book to?
I would call this a post-modern Wizard of Oz, with a lot of satire thrown in, because a group of characters with all sorts of flaws go on a journey to fix them.
- What character did you most relate with and why?
In a way, I related to the unicorn most, because at times, mostly in my neighborhood, it was difficult to find people that were interested in the same things as me, so I had to go on a similar journey, but not really.
________________________________________________________________________
Interviewee Details
Gender: Female
Race: Chinese
Grade: 12
Favorite Subject: English
Main Extracurricular: Fencing
Book Details
Title: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay
Author: Michael Chabon
- In as few words as possible, describe the effect this book had on you.
It was a humorous read that also gave a sense of life during that time period. It had superheroes too, and that’s every kid’s dream come true.
- What literary elements/techniques made you enjoy this book?
It would be the perverted humor and perverse symbolism. Also there were two parallel stories going on in the book, which I really enjoyed.
- How did you feel immediately after reading this book and why?
It was a humorous break from reading books by really old, pompous authors.
- What other book/movie/play/song/anything can you compare this book to?
A Justice League comic, because it has superheroes.
- What character did you most relate with and why?
What made this book so appealing was that I couldn’t really relate to any of the characters.
________________________________________________________________________
Interviewee Details
Gender: Male
Race: Polish
Grade: 11
Favorite Subject: Computer Science
Main Extracurricular: Girlfriend
Book Details
Title: Ender’s Game
Author: Orson Scott Card
- In as few words as possible, describe the effect this book had on you.
A loss of innocence. Taught a moral; you don’t have to lose your childhood, even if you are forced to grow up.
- What literary elements/techniques made you enjoy this book?
The deep themes and character development were the strong points of the book.
- How did you feel immediately after reading this book and why?
I think I cried. I remember it being a happy ending pointing to a brighter future.
- What other book/movie/play/song/anything can you compare this book to?
I can’t compare this to anything.
- What character did you most relate with and why?
Definitely Ender. We all hope to be the genius he is so we can make an impact on the world.
________________________________________________________________________
Interviewee Details
Gender: Female
Race: Chinese, sort of
Grade: 12
Favorite Subject: Techie stuff – Physics and Engineering
Main Extracurricular: Arista Head Person
Book Details
Title: All the King’s Men
Author: Robert Penn Warren
- In as few words as possible, describe the effect this book had on you.
It was a philosophical awakening of sorts; everything happens for a reason, your experiences make you who you are.
- What literary elements/techniques made you enjoy this book?
There was a lot of deep symbolism and parallelism between the two main characters.
- How did you feel immediately after reading this book and why?
I hoped what happened to Jack wouldn’t happen to me, but I knew it was inevitable.
- What other book/movie/play/song/anything can you compare this book to?
All the King’s Men: The Movie
- What character did you most relate with and why?
Jack Burden, because I make the same sorts of mistakes he does.
________________________________________________________________________
Interviewee Details
Gender: Male
Race: Beijing
Grade: 12
Favorite Subject: Liberal-Artsy, no preference
Main Extracurricular: Fencing, General Art
Book Details
Title: The Moon and Sixpence
Author: William Somerset Maugham
- In as few words as possible, describe the effect this book had on you.
This book presented a new philosophy of life; how to enjoy life, how to express talent and choose opportunities.
- What literary elements/techniques made you enjoy this book?
I don’t look for that kind of stuff when I read for pleasure.
- How did you feel immediately after reading this book and why?
I had an urge to pursue my inner desires. The book is about a man who leaves behind his life in London, and goes to Tahiti and becomes one of the most famous painters of the twentieth century.
- What other book/movie/play/song/anything can you compare this book to?
The message is similar to Yes Man, the movie with Jim Carey.
- What character did you most relate with and why?
Definitely the painter, Paul Gauguin, because he followed what he believed in and went to do what he really wanted to, kind of like what I’m doing for college.
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