Stuy Shelf

Interviews (by Xo Wang)

Posted on the June 15th, 2009 under Recommendations by xow

The Great Gatsby/F. Scott Fitzgerald
Rebecca Li (junior)

1. What book do you think every Stuyvesant student ought to read? Why?
   F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby.  It’s an interesting read and it carries a lot of historical value. It’s very enjoyable to read about the Jazz Age.
2. What in your background makes The Great Gatsby necessary to read? Can you relate to it?
   No, I can’t really related to The Great Gatsby. I liked it because of its wild characters, and I’m not really that wild.
3. Tell me about a character in The Great Gatsby.
   Nick, the narrator, has a plot about himself. He isn’t the main character, but having a person narrate The Great Gatsby is more interesting to read because it is through Nick’s eyes, not a boring invisible third person.
4. Give a situation that Nick was in. If you were Nick, would you have done anything differently?
   There was a time where two characters were fighting and Nick stayed to watch. I thought it was really awkward. Nick is awkward a lot.
   So you wouldn’t have stayed to watch?I would have left.
5. How many times have you read The Great Gatsby? Would you read it again?
   I read it last year for fun, and once this year, for AP English. I would probably read it again, because it was so deep, and I don’t think my class covered it all the way through.

• Bonus question: Are there any books you read over and over again?
  I read Naruto, a manga all the time. It’s probably because it’s the only real book I have at home, but I do really like it because it’s very visual and there are a lot of images.
  That sounds interesting. I don’t like manga or anime, but I would like to try that. Or maybe I should read Dr. Seuss.

The Once and Future King.T. H. White
Caitlin Daley (sophomore)

1. What is the most recent book you have read that you would recommend to Stuy kids?
   I haven’t read a lot outside of class recently. The last book I read outside of class was The Once and Future King. It’s an Arthurian fantasy book. I really enjoyed it. Its dialogue might be a bit dated because it’s pretty old, but it really does carry itself. The best part of it is that there is no hidden allegory, where a tree would represent the downfall of man or something. It’s just fun to read.
2. Name a memorable character. What would you have liked him or her to do differently?
   Well, I was really sad when Launcelot made out with Guinevere and when King Arthur died, but I wouldn’t have changed those.
3. How many times have you read The Once and Future King? Would you read it again?
   I’ve read it once, but I would read it again. I almost never re-read books, but sometimes I look up things in like, Harry Potter and I would just get sucked in from that page all the way to the end.
4. Have you ever used this book in your life or in a class?
   No, but I might have an use for medieval swordfighting some day.
5. Bonus question: Are there any books you read over and over again?
   No, I like to find new books, not read the same ones over and over again.

Rule of the Bone/Russell Banks
Kane Lee (senior)

1. What book do you think every Stuyvesant student ought to read? Why?
   Everyone should read Rule of the Bone. I read it freshman year. It’s required reading in a lot of classes.
2. No, I mean, why would you recommend that book?
   It’s a coming of age story. It really helps growing up, especially for freshmen.
3. Tell me about a character. Would you do anything differently?
   I can’t remember any of the names; it’s been too long. I would want to be the main character’s father though. He’s very relaxed, but that’s not a great thing. If I were in his shoes, I would settle down, get a job, and take care of the main character because I really feel bad for him.
4. So you want to be a father. How many times have you read the book?
   I read it only once. I would read it again though, if I had time. It’s really interesting, and the characters are very deep, so I would get more from it the second time.
5. Have you ever used this book in your life or in a class?
   Well, I learned a lot about drugs and violence, but I guess I didn’t really use that. As a freshman, I think it really helped for me to learn about drugs.

1984/George Orwell
Ruihao Xu (sophomore)

1. What book do you think every Stuyvesant student ought to read? Why?
   Well, none. Everyone has their own tastes.
   OK, so what are you interested in, and what books would you recommend to people in your field?
   I like finance and marketing. I would recommend 1984. That would be in general, not for people in finance or marketing.
2. What makes 1984 so great?
   Well, it’s a great book, even if that’s what everyone says. It shows what people in the past thought of the future. It’s a completely different vision.
3. If you were in 1984, what would you have done differently?
   Well, I would have followed all the rules and went with what the government told me to do. Hahaha…
4. How many times did you read it?
   I read it 2 or 3 times already, and I’ll probably be reading it a few times more.
   Why?
   Other books are boring.
5. What do you know about Orwell (note: the author of 1984)? Can you connect to him at all?
   I don’t know anything about Orwell. I can’t really connect to him; I just like the work.

The Visual Display of Quantitative Information/Edward Tufte
Xo Wang (senior)

1. What book do you think every Stuyvesant student ought to read? Why?
   The Visual Display of Quantitative Information, for sure. It’s a book about making plots and charts to best show numerical information clearly and easily to people without bias, written by Harvard professor Edward Tufte. It’s useful knowledge and really helps you be more perfect in visual design. Plus, the book itself is beautifully typeset and even smells nice (assuming you buy it new).
2. What is the most memorable part about the book?
   It references a number of great charts like Charles Joseph Minard’s chart of Napeleon’s Grande Armée through Russia, but also poor charts in publications like the New York Times that uses visual tricks to show statistics that bely the meaning of the data. Another great part is in the foreword, where Tufte tells how he was unable to find a suitable publisher that would typeset his book to his high standards for visual design, and so he bought his own hot metal printing press and set his book himself, old school.
3. How many times have you read Visual Display?
   Probably twice, all the way through. I look up information in it every so often, as a reference, but I usually read through the whole chapter when I do that.
4. What in your background makes you recommend this book?
   Well, I really enjoy pushing myself to a higher standard and quality than is really necessary. I like to build things with my hands, but when I write papers and such, I refuse to use unsophiscated tools like Microsoft’s Office suite because they are designed not for quality, but for people who just want to get something done without thoroughly understanding it.
5. Have you ever used this book in your life or in a class?
   All the time. Reading about somebody else’s standards really instills a similar set of ideals in me, and that really helps everywhere I do work. It goes beyond charts and papers; I like to think even my handwriting, computer code, and cooking are governed by a few rules I learned in Visual Display, not least of which would be “quality over quantity.”
6. Bonus question: Are there any books you read over and over again?
   Watership Down by Richard Adams. I read it once a year, probably for the last five, six, seven years. It’s so timeless, it’s features rabbits instead of people, yet it’s still terrific at grabbing the heartstrings.