The Best 7 Books/TVSeries/Movies for Teens
7. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
Before reading this novel, I think it was very important to study the context in which this novel was written. Knowing the fact that Conrad was a British writer who disliked the British’s system of imperialism, we can better understand some of the reverences and criticisms of the British. Also Conrad could not directly criticize the British or else he wouldn’t have been able to publish his book. So when reading this novel, we have to look between the lines in order to understand what Conrad is really trying to say.
I personally liked this novel the least out of the three I’ve read in Late British Literature class. Nevertheless, it was a deep and interesting novel. I felt like the novel further added to the idea that the world is getting more and more corrupt. Although the other two novels also mention the deteriorating of cultures because of the acts taken by the whites, this novel shows how people saw the corruption and did nothing to stop it. Perhaps I disliked this because of my inherent personal preference to side with the minorities being exploited, but I do think that the other novels were more captivating.
Conrad’s novel seemed to highlight the idea of corruption. Through his criticisms of the Imperial Empire, Conrad first told us the lies of how imperialism was meant to civilize the savages of Africa. However, when Marlow gets closer to finding Kurtz we see that the whites are certainly not trying to civilize the Africans. They were in fact doing the complete opposite by destroying everything hindering the process of extracting materials from Africa and oppressing all those who oppose the process. Furthermore, Conrad first tells us that Kurtz got rich because he is well skilled in his trade. However, we learn that Kurtz is outright stealing ivory from the natives by using force.
At the same time I was reading this, I was learning about the corruptness of Wall Street and investment banks in economics class. Learning about so much corruption in the world makes me strive to right the wrongs. Questioning the morality of such acts in order to obtain a dream (wealth in this case), lead me to side with the more moral side. It angers me to see how the elite are always out to oppress the weak in order to stay at the top.
I hope that future students who read this novel. Will see the corruption in the world and try to fix it. From reading this novel I’m motivated to stick to my moral values instead of destroying anything that gets in the way of me reaching my goals.
6. The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown
Dan Brown has always been one of my favorite authors. Although some people view his book as far-fetched and full of shit, I think Dan Brown has a special talent for captivating his readers. Dan Brown is known as a thriller/suspense author. His novels also tend to include conspiracy and several plot twists after plot twists. I first go into Dan Brown when I did volunteer work at a library. My friend recommended Digital Fortress to me (another Dan Brown book I hold with high regards). I read it and I was amazed at how Dan Brown had me hooked on his book and how I couldn’t put it down.
In the Lost Symbol, Dan Brown uses his famous technique of fracturing scenes. Dan Brown usually has two or three scenes all happening at once and with each change in chapter, the scene would change. Although I love this technique, I hate it because I am always at the edge of my seat wanting to know what happens but the scene changes. However, the scenes are usually equally as suspenseful and I continue to read. While reading the novel, I noticed Dan Brown’s very well constructed plot. He usually lets us become aware of something and become fond of it. Then, ten chapters later he’ll refer to it and shed some new light on the situation. This way he is able to easily twist the plot in such a way that propels the plot a hundred feet further.
I give Dan Brown a lot of props for being able to write so captivatingly. He is hands down the most captivating author I’ve read. But this might be because his topics are always very interesting. I love reading about secrets or conspiracy theories and Dan Brown’s book are chock full of them. As I mentioned earlier, some people might view his work as a load of lies. As that might be true I don’t know. But I think Dan Brown’s skills in weaving believable facts with fictional ideas to advance his plot are exceptional. It’s much harder disposing a fact as fake when there are so many supporting details and descriptions of the surrounding scene that are true.
I would recommend this book to all students. This book is a great thriller and is very suspenseful. I’ve read this book for pure entertainment, but there are some interesting themes that reoccur in this novel. For example, brotherhood, morality, and family relationship appear many times throughout the novel.
5. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
This novel is a direct response to Conrad’s Heart of Darkness and other novels that look down on Africa as a home for uncultured savages. The fact that authors have a sort of rivalry to inform the public of their view is quite interesting. I could imagine Achebe sitting down with pen and paper thinking of how he could insult or belittle Conrad without coming off as too aggressive (author beef). Even before I read this book, I had a good impression of it because I felt that Achebe put extra effort into this book to overshadow Conrad’s novel.
Reading this novel in class definitely benefited me more than if I read the novel by myself. I would not have been able to pick up some of the subtle parallels and references to Conrad’s Heart of Darkness. Also class discussions helped me understand the novel better. By understanding the novel better and being able to wrap my head around it contributed to my liking of this novel.
The theme in this novel that stood out to me the most was the balance between tradition and change. As a child of an immigrant family I too find have to find a balance between tradition and change. Just as the villagers of Umuofia have to choose between Christianity and traditional Ibo values, I often have to choose between Chinese traditions or conforming to what’s socially accepted in America. For example, when I was little, my parents bought me a silky red robe, a type of traditional Chinese attire, and had me wear it for the week of Chinese New Year. I was humiliated at school and decided that it was not a good idea to follow some of the Chinese traditions.
Two of the main characters stood out to me in the novel, Okonkwo and Nwoye. Okonkwo is the traditional Ibo worker who has a high status because he is strong and hardworking. Nwoye on the other hand, is Okonkwo’s weak son, who Okonkwo beats in hopes to make Nwoye manlier. In my eyes, Okonkwo is like my father, always wishing to stick to tradition and forcing me to be like him. I can relate to Nwoye and how he rebels against his fathers demand.
I feel like many future students who will read this novel will see it the same was as I have. I feel this way because immigrant fathers tend to push their children to strive, and sometimes fathers tend to push their children more than necessary.
4. Naked by David Sedaris
David Sedaris was recommended to me as a great essayist. I didn’t know exactly what that meant at first, but after reading a blurb from the novel Naked I figured it out. This Novel is about a young man, who grows up from being a strange quirky grade school kid to a grown mature man. Through out his life, the narrative experiences an array of interesting events and adventures. The novel uses a lot of dark humor, but it doesn’t seem out of place because the way David Sedaris writes makes the reader feel like he is inside the main characters head. David Sedaris’ talented novel makes it seem as if the main character had invited me to watch a montage of clips from his life and while he sat right next to me explaining everything as it happened. Because of this effect, I could relate to this novel and I would, with no doubt, recommend it.
One thing I felt myself relate to closely was when David moves to colleges. His thoughts and fears are very common and quite normal. His experiences with his roommate are similar with mine when I went to take a college course over the summer. David’s quirkiness and obsessive-compulsiveness alienates him from his roommate. Personally, I’ve experienced that from the other end of the table. One of my roommates was so quirky that he alienated himself from the rest of my roommates. But this novel has shed some light on David as well as my old roommate. I guess it wasn’t his fault that he was obsessive-compulsive and he wasn’t intentionally trying to be weird. This novel let me see things from a different perspective.
Another thing that I can relate to in David’s life story is his thirst for adventure. I’ve always wanted to travel to many places that the main character goes to. For example, he visits the west coast and hikes in the Rockies. However, his methods of getting there are a bit questionable; he hitch hikes, transferring cars every time his host cannot follow the path he needs to go on anymore. I’ve always wanted to travel and go out into the world and just find my way around. However, I know of the dangers and repercussions of not being prepared for such a journey. But by experiencing David’s adventures, let me see how this type of journey might’ve play out without having to deal with the dangers.
I would recommend this novel to all high school students because Sedaris shed’s like on a lot of taboo topics that a high school student, like myself, would find interesting. I also think his way with words is just spectacular and very comfortable reading, no matter how strange or bizarre the topics are.
3. The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
This was one of my favorite books that I read in a class at Stuyvesant. I liked the details that Roy used to describe a scene. Roy’s descriptive scenes are not only vivid; she also chooses specific words to allude to a deeper meaning. Also Roy includes a lot of interesting scenes about sex, scandal, and violence. These topics might seem a little taboo but Roy expresses them in an honest and outright manner.
The theme of forbidden love is written all throughout this novel. I liked this novel because I could personally relate to that theme. Just as Ammu and Velutha cannot be together by social standards, I cannot have a girlfriend by my parent’s standards. However, I believe love should have the space it needs to manifest and social or parental standards should not hinder it. Of course my situation is definitely not as severe as Velutha’s, the theme is there.
Looking back on the book as a whole, I remember Roy’s very strong message. She seemed to step out of her way to tell us that she dislikes how India is slowly losing its traditional culture. She emphasizes how the Indian culture is losing its purity due to English culture seeping into India.
Similarly, I believe that my family and I have lost some of our traditional Chinese culture after moving to the United States. Although this is different from Roy’s argument, because my family came here by will. But the fact is that preserving traditional culture when English culture is prevailing all around us is quite hard. For example, one part of culture that is easily lost is traditional foods. I grew up eating traditional Chinese food that my dad would prepare and try to teach me how to make. But now, society’s view of Chinese food is Chinese takeout, which is far from traditional dishes.
Another parallel that I can relate to is when Velutha is beat by fellow Indians. Although I cannot relate to anything as terrible as the actual beating itself, I can relate to the fact that the officers could be so cruel to a man of their own kind. Similarly, Comrade Pillai despises Velutha, but uses him to further his political goals. This lack of companionship between the people of India can also be seen with the Chinese in America. I’ve been to a Chinese restaurant once and the person sat my family in the far back corner because he didn’t believe other Chinese people could tip well. They were saving the center seats for the white people because the manager thought white people would tip more. I was shocked at why I had such terrible seats when such nice seats were available. How could a Chinese person do this to another Chinese person?
2. TV Series: Fringe created by J.J. Abrams
Fringe is a sci-fi/thriller TV series created by J.J. Abrams. It’s about a department of the FBI that deals with the bizarre and things unexplained, Fringe Division. The things seen in Fringe are mindboggling. Things ranging from a cold virus that has been biologically engineered to grow so large, it rips out of the victim’s body, to an alternate universe that sends biologically engineered humans in order to infiltrate high positions. These far-fetched events may be bizarre but the TV show claims they are possible by theoretical models which adds to the believability of these strange events.
Personally I love this type of series. As an intended science major, I love to learn about how impossible things may become possible by mankind’s advance in science. I remember watching my first episode and becoming so freaked out that I sat on my couch speechless for a good ten minutes. Only afterward I felt a compelling urge to talk to somebody in order to make sure all the scary mindboggling things I’ve seen on TV was really on TV and not in real life.
After watching this show, I’m always asking myself, what if? What if these theoretical science theories are actually possible? What if the government has actually come up with something similar to this type of destructive biological warfare? Or even worse, what if this show inspires a mad scientist to create some destructive weapon? After a while of questioning, I come to the conclusion that this is just a TV show; it’s all fictional.
I admire the creator of Fringe, J.J. Abrams. His creativity is amazing. Most of the supernatural bizarre things I’ve seen in Fringe are things that I would never imagine possible. And some of his episodes include things I would never have imagined even if I was trying to think of the impossible. J.J Abrams is a true genius of creativity. His constant plot twists are amazing and work really well to create cliffhangers that leave me bewildered.
To top all this creativity off this TV show has many side puzzles and mysteries. The Fringe series can get really involved for those who wish to dig deeper. The side puzzles beg the viewer to solve it. For example, before every commercial, the screen goes blank and displays an image for about three seconds. This image at first glance appears to be normal, but if one looks closer they will notice something odd. In on of these images, the screen shows a cross section of an apple. But if you look closer, the tiny black seeds of an apple are shaped like two baby fetuses. As bizarre as that sounds, its true and I still don’t know the meaning of it. But it doesn’t end there. Each of the pre-commercial screens also has an orange dot placed on the image. It is said that if arrange the dots in a certain way, it’ll spell out a key word or phrase that will help solve the plot in the TV series. I really enjoy how the creators of Fringe put in all these little details to entertain their viewers.
Also, I love watching this because the next day my friends and I discuss the latest episode. And then others hear us talking about the show and we all try to convince them to start watching. I also like watching this show because sometimes my friends and I would have sleepovers and watch the show together. This is always fun as we can be anxiously be left at the cliffhanger at the same time.
1. Movies: Yip Man (2008) and Yip Man 2(2010) directed by Wilson Yip
These two movies are based on a true story of a skilled martial artist named Yip Man. The man lives in traditional villages of china, when martial arts was wide spread and well respected. This movie touches on a lot of moral and character qualities that I find very important. It also displays the hardship of poverty that I find very sad and touching.
Yip Man as I said is a very skilled martial artist. However, at all times, he is a respectable man. Yip Man does not own a dojo like his fellow martial artists, partially because his wife disapproves and because he wants to spend time with his son. Regardless, the villagers all know of his skills and he is titled the most skilled in fighting in the whole village. Then a group of foreigners come to the village to challenge all the masters of martial arts. They beat all of martial art masters and makes his way to Yip Man. Yip Man does not want to fight anybody for a mere title of most skilled martial artist. He fights only when necessary to defend himself. The country man keeps provoking Yip Man and eventually he loses. The next day, the whole village gives him presents and gifts for ridding the aggressive, peace destroying foreigner. However, Yip Man is the most modest character I’ve seen, he tries his best to take as little as possible because he is already well off. But the villagers insist on their gifts.
Yip Mans qualities of skillfulness, peacefulness, modesty, respectability, and generosity are inspiring. Seeing how his modesty and generosity brings him respect from his fellow villagers gives me hope that the world is not as corrupt as the media makes it seem. I really like and respect the idea that a man who treats others well will be treated well. However, a lot of other movies seem to convey that “the nice guy always finishes last.” Yip Man is my idol of a successful man who is completely happy and content with his life.
However, its time of war and Yip Man must flee his village in order to stay alive. In the second movie he relocates and starts from scratch. With only a few pennies in his pocket, he makes his way to a more corrupt village. He is not welcome there by the other martial artists and is picked on. The fact that wartime has relocated and caused so much turmoil for many people is very sad, but to see how such a great man’s life has been ruin and turned to dust in a matter of days is even worse. Nevertheless, Yip Man keeps his cool and starts from the bottom. He works at a factory in order to bring rice home for his wife and kid. He is paid a bag of rice and is given a yam for lunch. Most of the time, Yip Man saves his foods and doesn’t eat, in order to feed his family.
I was very touched at seeing this. A skilled martial artist was reduced to starving man in order to provide for his family. What makes this worse is that, this movie is based on a true story and to think that my ancestors or fellow Chinese have been damaged so bad by wartime is like a stab in the heart.
I would recommend this movie, again, to everyone. It brings up many great qualities of human character that I believe are respectable. If only the whole world could be so peaceful and modest, then many of our problems would be solved. The directing in this movie is also very good. By having many foils of Yip Man, the director further puts Yip Man on a pedestal. I would say this is one of the best movies that received very little publicity.
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