Surreal Alice in Wonderland novel surpasses the recent movie

Watching the old movie version of Alice in Wonderland as a kid, I was completely unaware of it being based on a book (or, more precisely, two books). When I did learn this, I put it on my “I-should-probably-read-this-sometime-but-will-likely-never-get-to-it” list. With the recent Alice movie and the Johnny Depp/Mad Hatter craze, I figured that now would probably be the best time to read it. If you have seen the Disney version of the movie, or even the newer one, you’d be surprised at what they changed. Some of the events are left out, as always happens when literature is transposed to the... Read more

Cormac McCarthy’s modern classic goes through film revival

First came the book… Hannah Davis davis.hannahc@gmail.com A week after school started, I walked on over to the library and picked up The Road. I’d heard about from just about every literate acquaintance, so I thought it must be a safe choice to fulfill my A-option needs for Mr. Kenley’s infamous creative writing class. (If you aren’t aware, a student is required to read at least one book to earn an A, even if he received perfect scores on every assignment.) In short, it’s a post-apocalyptic tale of a journey taken by a nameless father and his young son through a... Read more

Suzanne Collins changes the meaning of the word “game”

Games are supposed to be fun. Games are something kids will want to participate in, something they will want to win but will not suffer dire consequences from. Consequences such as death. Katniss Everdeen lives in District 12. She supports her mother and little sister with her hunting and bartering. She has a difficult life, but nothing unmanageable. There is nothing that separates her from the rest of the citizens in District 12. That is until the Hunger Games come around for the reaping. The reaping is the drawing of one boy and one girl, no younger than 12 and no older than 18 years old.... Read more

Don’t judge a book by its cover

When I picked up the girl who stopped swimming, I thought it was going to be one of those books in which a competitive athlete (in this case a swimmer) gets injured, and a the rest of the plot revolves around the girl’s emotional woes as she sits on the sidelines, watching her team go on without her. This was not the case at all. I could tell that from the very first line—“Until the drowned girl came to Laurel’s bedroom, ghosts had never walked in Victorianna.” So if you expect a clichéd sports novel, you are not going to find it here. You will find the furthest thing from it. Laurel... Read more