Coming to an End

The end of the year is near and I never thought that this chapter of my life would come so soon. As we walk the halls as seniors, have our picnics, and move towards prom and graduation, I cannot help but feel somber towards these thoughts. So, in this last blog due in my senior year english course, I want to write about endings. Moving on and leaving high school behind is just like coming to the end of every book that I have read this year. Every book from Things Fall Apart to The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo marked my course throughout this year. Just as all those books came to an ending, so will my "book" of high school. Through the course of high school there have been ups, downs, triumphs, and tears, and I can't help but notice the similarities between these past four years and a truly great book:

The beginning was innocent, sweet, scary, exciting, and boring all at the same time. It is the first chapter of this high school story. The first chapter ends and relief sets in, but along with the relief comes anticipation for the next year ahead. After a long hot summer, the next chapter begins. This is the sophomore chapter and it is exciting and stressful. We are still underclassmen but we are getting older, wiser, and bolder. Sophomore year can lead to trouble and we even find out who our real friends are. This year comes to a close with the anticipation of being a upperclassmen, and starting to get into the deeper plot of this ever changing story. Then, it comes, the third chapter. Finally we are upperclassmen. Junior year is hard to say the least. It is just like the drama filled chapter where the main character realizes what their story entails or find out the truth about themselves. Junior year is filled with expectations that need to be fulfilled. Once these expectations are filled, we are ready to move on to the end, our final chapter. Just as the last chapter leaves a lasting impact and brings all the other chapters together, senior year is the final curtain call before the end of the story. This fourth chapter is full of fun, excitement, decisions, and sadness. This is the coming to the end of the past four years of our lives. When all is done and over the high school story leaves and impact on everyone who experiences it, just like the ending of a favorite book. As we walk the halls for the last time, walk down the aisle at graduation, and say goodbye at the end of the summer, we realize that this is the end and it will never be forgotten. These past four chapters may be the greatest story of our lives, but we wait in hopeful expectation that there are greater things ahead in our next stories.

Framed Flowers & Dragon Tattoos

The last book that I read for leisure was The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Steigg Larsson. This book was attractive to me for many reasons. The first was that so many people had told me to read it, and how awesome it was. The second is because there is now a movie which i can actually visually see the story unfold. So, for both of these reasons I decided to read it. There were things about the book that I loved, and there were things that I was not so fond of. First I will talk about the aspects that I did not like about this novel. The book is very confusing and has a lot of names, places, and facts that have to go with the time period. If you are not a person who enjoys reading "grown-up" or adult books, I would not recommend that you read it. Another facet of this novel that i did not particularly like was all of the politics. I personally am not a fan of history, law, or any form of politics. But, if you are, you would love this novel. The whole beginning of the story is about a lawsuit over journalistic slander. Full of politics and law! Now, I want to move on to the characteristics of the book that I enjoyed immensely. The first would have to be the mystery of the murder and the pressed flowers. It is one of the most confusing mysteries that I have ever read about. From the first pages about the pressed flowers I was hooked, and decided to mull through the whole book just to see the ending. Another aspect of Larsson's novel that I relished was the characters. Lisbeth was especially unique and impressive. The way she cared but did not care at the same time, and how she truly personified the phrase "do not judge a book by it's cover". She is the girl with the dragon tattoo, and she lives up to all expectations. She is a bad ass girl who is a great character in this novel. Another facet that I enjoyed was the writing style of the novel. It is set in Europe and the way that the book is written is different from any book that I have read. Even the speech is foreign and exciting all at the same time. This book was worth the read. If you love a good mystery, and do not mind politics, then this is the book for you!