To be honest, I like the movie better. The best way to ruin a book is making it a summer reading; The Great Gatsby was my summer reading.Although I enjoy the movie better, I also like the book. Comparing to Frankenstein which is also a summer reading, Gatsby is way better. I understood Daisy when I read the book because I did not pictured Gatsby as a good-looking guy. But if Gatsby looks like Leonardo and Daisy still chose Tom, she is probably mad or blind.
I read lots of reviews of The Great Gatsby online after I watched the movie. Some critics said the relationship between Gatsby and Daisy is like Jesus and Judas. I do not like this understanding because in my opinion, The Great Gatsby is about a man who is promoted by love and fulfills the American Dream. Gatsby is shot by George while his phone rings. He murmurs Daisy and dies. I felt sorry for Gatsby once, but it is definitely a relief for him because he dies with his fantasy of being with Daisy forever. He does not need to bear all the pressure from the society anymore, and his Daisy will still be wonderful in his mind instead of a snob. Gatsby is too naive; Daisy is not only a material girl, she also cares about fame. Even though Gatsby is rich, he is never royal after all. He is not old money.
Gatsby is great. He is great because he does all he can do to get what he wants. He has a pure heart that actually leads him to the top of the society, and this is enough to be a great person. Leonardo is so handsome when he says "old sport".
I read 1984 last year in Literature class. When I first read to the scene of the two minutes hate which everyone is doing an X with his/her arms and yelling at Goldstein's face, I was amazed by its similarity to Mao's China.
People were forced to memorize Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-tung. It is like people in 1984 are forced to do get up early and do the morning exercise. People that are against the government disappear like the description in 1984, "People simply disappeared, always during the night. Your name was
removed from the registers, every record of everything you had ever done
was wiped out, your one-time existence was denied and then forgotten.
You were abolished, annihilated: vaporized was the usual word."
- George Orwell, 1984, Book 1, Chapter 1 People were given false reasons of the vaporization. When I read the book, I was panic just like when my dad told me Mao's China when he was young. I know our society will not go back like that, but I was amazed by that time period. People were living happily in a cage, and the brain washing can be so powerful that goes far beyond our thought.
I admire Winston because I am ninety percent sure that I am not going to be a Winston in that situation and society. The ending of the book made me so uncomfortable.I thought he is going to find a underground organization and overthrown the Big Brother. Instead, all he falls into a trap. I will be less upset if Winston is simply killed after getting caught by the Big Brother.The most hopeless moment is when Winston finds out his "hope" is part of Big Brother's plan.
All in all, I really like the book because it is so real and cruel. But I did not enjoyed it. I guess I am a person of happy endings.
The story of Pi became so popular as the movie Life of Pi came out. To be honest, I did not know this story before the movie, but I chose to read the book after I saw the movie.
It was less fun to read after watching the movie because I stuck to the scenes in the movies and I cannot enjoy the process of picturing the scene from verbal description. But anyway, I like both the movie and the book.
The reason I love the movie is just because its magnificent setting. The whales and the poisonous island are my favorites.I have to say technology is great though I hate it sometimes.
I read the Chinese version of this book. To be honest, I do not like the translation. I went back and read the original version after I finish the book. English version is simpler, cleaner and smoother comparing to Chinese version.I feel like the translator needs to understand the religion and faith in this story.
The translation of this movie in Chinese is basically the Fantasy of Pi. Though the environment of this story is fascinating, the story itself is cruel.The true story is that all the people die and he is alone on the boat. The tiger is Pi's enemy but he relies on it at the same time.It symbolizes his fear. The Director, Ang Lee, said that there is Richard Parker in everyone's heart. He roars and stares at us when we are in danger, but it also supports us.
The name Richard Parker interested me because it is also a name of a sailor who was eaten by other three sailor. They were in a shipwreck and Richard Parker was killed by others for food.
I read the book called Detail is the key of success few years ago. To be honest, I do not really like the book, but I still learned something from it. This "something" can be way of living and studying, or experience from the examples. I am not sure, but I am sure that I like the concept of emphasizing details.
I do not want to talk about the book much because it is wrote by a CEO of a Chinese big company. Therefore, some concepts are based on Chinese society. I just want to share with you what I gained from this book.
1. Do things that interest you-- You spend lots of time on working. You can do well on something we do not like, but we will never success in that job or area. This also applies to studying.
2. Be your own boss-- You will never become rich working for others because every boss is self-centered. His/her goal is not to make his/her staffs rich. It also applies to study. Finishing your homework for your own sake will benefit you. On the other hand,finding the way to play the game and doing the least amount of work to get a average grade might make you a good student, but not a good learner.
3. Put your heart into one thing and be an expert on it instead of being jealous on others' talents-- Do not try to learn everything at once and expect yourself be good at everything. I used to try really hard on being a well-rounded person, but it did not work out because I have limited energy and time.
4. MAKE GOOD FRIENDS-- It does not mean "make useful friends". My dad told me I should make friends with all kinds of people. Even though you do not like some of them, you can still learn things from them. You can even learn different kinds of wines by making friend with a drunkard.
5. Be a generous person-- Do not get mad easily. It is not solving the problem and it only ruins your health. The person or thing you are mad at is not going to get better. Therefore, be a calm person and use your brain.
These five statements I wrote have nearly no relation with detail; however, I learned them from this book, and the point of reading a book is to obtain knowledge.
