Semester Novels

Catcher in the Rye: I feel like Catcher in the Rye was a little difficult to get through at times with the repeated words as Patty said and the fact Holden isn’t always the easiest person to see things through because of his strong opinion on everything. Yet by the end of the book I realized how much I enjoyed it. I thought the ending was short and sweet and exactly as it should be. I heard a lot of people saying it wasn’t enough detail, but to me that was the point. Holden’s life wasn’t over and he was just moving past this point. For me the ending made this book great and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.

First they Killed my Father: To me this novel was by far the most interesting and easy to read book in the semester. Loung Ung’s story is emotion and moving because of her journey in Cambodia. As Rina pointed out, it gives us in America a new point of view to look at and see how lucky we are. Knowing Loung survived and lived in America made the story that much more interesting because the information was factual and much more real life.

Inherit the Wind: I enjoyed this novel because it was easy and quick to read. As Sara and Matt said, I think it is interesting that it was based off of real events and that made me enjoy it more because you know there’s some truth to the story. The characters were relatable like Rachel because she knew what she wanted, but had a tough decision to make to get it. I thought it was a good book to start off the quarter because it was interesting and enjoyable.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream: Was definitely a different book than the others. It was light and sarcastic and unexpected of what I think of Shakespeare’s normal writing to be. I agree with Patty that it was comical and I enjoyed seeing that side of Shakespeare. The book overall was interesting and kept you reading more because I was interested to see the outcome of each different group and character.

My Antonia: For me, like so far everyone else has mentioned, was not my favorite book. It was a bit of a struggle to continue to want to read because it felt a little lifeless. The characters were interesting and I really liked the ending, how Antonia and Jim come back together like old times, but for me the climax was absent and it was just dull overall. I did enjoy Willa Cathers description like Patty mentioned. I thought Willa did an amazing job on what it was like out in the prairie for all the characters.