The Magus by John Fowles The Magus, by John Fowles, is a six-hundred-and-five page book, which I have read all of. It was copyrighted in 1965 by Little, Brown & Company (Canada) Limited, and was dedicated to Astarte. John Fowles has written many other books, such as: A Maggot, Daniel Martin, Land, The Tree, poems, and literally dozens of others. The critiques of these books state they are all fiction, but are in a wide variety of areas. The main character, Mr. Nicholas Urfe, is extremely bored with life. He attended Oxford and taught for a year at a public school, before becoming an English teacher at the Lord Bryon School in Greece, on the island of Phraxos. Nicholas talked to a former teacher who warned him to beware of "the waiting room" without explanation. Paying no mind to this warning, Nicholas continues his journey and meets a young lady named Allison Kely. During Nicholas's first six months in Greece, he finds the school claustrophobic, but island beautiful. Before the end of the first of three parts of this book, Nicholas is seriously contemplating suicide. He meets an old man named Mr. Maurice Conchis, and that is where things begin to get weird. He goes through many experiences with this old man and that's what this book discusses. The book is in first person told through the eyes of Nicholas Urfe in the 1940's. Although Mr. Conchis is Nicholas's friend, he is also an antagonist. You find later in the book that he has been playing tricks on Ni...
There are many meanings inside stories; “Gregory” by Panos Ioannides is a heart-wrenching short story that follows the protagonist through the execution of his friend. E.M. Forster explains a want to keep friendships strong even at the expense of one’s relation to one’s country. The main character in “Gregory”' has multiple thoughts showing a tie to what Foster explained, as well as the internal fight that happens when one has two forces pulling at one. The Narrator wants to follow his gut and skirt tragedy, but in the end he wants to save himself from his superiors.
The book begins with a writer named John researching for his book about the day the atomic bomb was dropped. He talks with Newt, son of Dr. Felix Hoenikker, the creator of the atomic bomb. He then goes to Illium, the town where the Hoenikkers grew up, and there he learns of ice-nine, one splinter of which could freeze all the oceans of the world. John soon discovers that Frank, the other son of Felix, is on a small island called San Lorenzo. He goes there to research more for his book. On the plane he meets Newt in person, who turns out to be a midget, and the Crosbys, a married couple. John reads a book the Crosbys give him on the plane all about the religion of Bokononism and it's customs. One custom is Bokomaru, touching the souls of feet together to grow closer. He also reads of how Bokonon, the creator of Bokononism, was outlawed.
In his book, An Imperfect God, Henry Wiencek argues in favor of Washington being the first true president to set the precedent for the emancipation of African-American slaves. Wiencek delves into the evil paradox of how a nation conceived on the principles of liberty and dedicated to the statement that all men are created equal was in a state that still preserved slavery for over seven decades following the construction of the nation. Washington’s grandeur estate at Mount Vernon at its peak had the upkeep of over 300 slaves 126 of which were owned by Washington. First, it must be understood that Washington was raised on slavery receiving ownership of 10 slaves at the age of 11 years old and that Washington was a man of his time. However, it must also be understood that Washington’s business with slavery was in the context of a constrained social and political environment. Weincek maintains that this does not exonerate the fact that Washington maintained slavery however; it does help to quantify the moral shortcoming by which Washington carried until his last year of life.
As much as generous and honest Nick Carraway is, he still needs a few important improvements in himself. Nick went to Yale, fought in world war one and moved to East of New York to work in finance. After moving to New York, Nick faces tough dilemmas throughout the story such as revealing secrets, and witnessing betrayal. His innocence and malevolence toward others was beyond his control. He did not have the ability or knowledge to know what he should have done in the spots he was set in. He seemed lost and having no control of what went on- almost trapped- but indeed, he had more control than he could have ever known. Because of the situations he has experienced and the people he has met, such as Gatsby, Tom, Jordan and Daisy, his point of view on the world changed dramatically which is very depressing. Trusting the others and caring for them greatly has put him in a disheartening gloomy position.
The main character in the book was Thomas small; he is a young boy about 12 years old. He is shy and timid but is very mature for his age. He sees things for how they should be, and he often gives too much due to his kind-hearted nature. Thomas best friend is Pesty Darrow a girl his age who lives on the property that borders theirs. The Darrows are a feuding family and believe that there is gold buried on the Small’s land. They feel that it should belong to them and pull many risky stunts to try and find it. Mrs. Darrow is Pestys mother and the key to many secrets of the house and the tunnels that were once apart of the Underground Railroad. Due to her mental illness, she cannot speak and remember things clearly. Thomas’s father has known the location of the gold, and being the good man that he is, arranges for the Darrows to find it. He did this so they could live next to each other without feuding.
All of the characters have loose ties to one another, but where all there paths seem to intertwine most is in their relationship with Singer, the deaf mute. The other four main characters all begin to confide in singer early in the story, and believe that he is the only one that truly understands them. Singer is a very kind person, and is always there for his new found friends. However, what Singer really longs for is his former companion, Antonapoulos. Antonapoulos means the world to Singer, but they are separated when Antonapoulos is sent to live in an asylum. Antonapoulos is a very crude character in this book. All he seems to care about is self gratification through food, drink and whatever else pleases him. While Singer demonstrates a very deep and real love for him, Anto...
has the mental age of a child and does not see the reason why George
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck Steinbecks novel, Of Mice and Men portrays the
one day want their own plot so they can 'live off the fatta the lan'
Many tell us to keep dreaming. To chase our dreams until they come true, and that the unattainable can always be achieved with enough pursuance. Is this saying really true? In the novella Of Mice and Men, the story follows the life of two immigrants, George and Lennie. Lennie a gigantic man with a mental infirmity travels with a man named George, they dream of owning a farm, and living off of the land and thus only working for themselves. With Lennie’s disability, he repeatedly gets into trouble. As result, both Lennie and George flee from their old town, Weed, to find new jobs in the hopes to collect enough money to buy a piece of land. They find employment as barley buckers on a ranch and meet the other workers, Candy, and old swamper who’s hand is missing, Crooks, a black man with a bad back, and the only woman on the ranch, who is Curley, the boss’s son’s wife. Not long after does Lennie get into trouble once again. He breaks the neck Curley’s wife and runs to the stream where George told him to go if he were to get in any trouble. George then shoots Lennie in the back of his head to end him of his misery. They could not live by constantly running. Throughout the novel, a motif of unachievable American dreams is presented. American dreams are always a thirst, and although they are highly sought out, several unfortunately never make it to reality.
First of all, the book follows the themes of isolation, innocence, and corrupted maturity through the setting. In
This is an odd little book, but a very important one nonetheless. The story it tells is something like an extended parablethe style is plain, the characters are nearly stick figures, the story itself is contrived. And yet ... and yet, the story is powerful, distressing, even heartbreaking because the historical trend it describes is powerful, distressing, even heartbreaking.
This novel, although funny on the surface, is the Alice in Wonderland of Spain. His imagination of ups and downs through turns within turns, along a crazy roller costar that his characters take and retake over and over again four hundred years ago. This is a classic story filled with adventures that seem as if they will never end. Don't let anyone tell you this book is old-fashioned.
The main character and protagonist in this story is a boy named Colonel Sartoris. In this story, Sarty is faced with the decision of either going along with the views and actions of his morally challenged father or asserting his own morality and individuality by running away and leaving his family and his pain behind.
My author william sydney porter had a astonishing life changing experience while he was in prison. William Sydney Porter, later known as O. Henry wrote in a dry, but yet very humorous style as suggested in “The Gift of the Magi.” He generally used coincidences and many surprise endings. As a child he had a rough time working multiple jobs. He had a life changing experience that lead his work to be well known in american literature. His legacy all began from a crime he committed as a bank teller.