post 7: final project

Missing You and The Stranger were very different in a lot of ways but also very similar. Harlan Coben seems to stick to a certain genre/story line. The mystery of the missing person.

Missing You was about Kat trying to find a missing mother while simultaneously trying to figure out who murdered her dad. On top of all of that, she recently found her ex fiancé on a dating website who turns out to be someone who she never even knew. She gets caught up in between lies and the truth and soon can't determine the difference between the two. 

The Stranger was about Adam trying to figure out why his wife, Corrine, lied to him about being pregnant, where she disappeared to, and who The Stranger actually is (since no one knows his actual identity). Adam, much like Kat, gets caught in all the lies and doesn't even know what the truth is anymore. 

Harlan Coben uses the same writing style for each book. He also incorporated the technology aspect in to both of the books, making them more modern for his audience. 

post 10: reading wishlist

• Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close 
• The Girl on the Train 
• Room 
• more books by Dennis Lehane 
• Gillian Flynn 

Book 5: The Shinning 

post 8: Book Talk presentation

post 5: the truth in a memior

Nonfiction is defined as a piece of work or literature that is based on facts and real events, sometimes composed into a story. In order for an author to write a nonfiction piece, it must be all facts, all real or else it is not considered truly nonfiction. If events, characters, settings, or anything are changed or altered then the book is not TRULY nonfiction. If an author claims a book is nonfiction but bits and pieces are changed to make the story “more interesting” then the book should be considered realistic fiction. In that situation, the author could also say that their novel is based on a true story but it cannot be considered nonfiction.

It is understandable when dialogue is altered a little bit when the exact conversation can’t be remembered. But any other changes that would change the plot line of the story wouldn’t be considered completely true or nonfiction. When authors write memoirs, their stories and events should be 100% true. If someone finds out that what they wrote about themselves is a lie or actually didn’t happen, then their credibility will go down the drain and probably ruin their career (depending on how bad it was). If the author really feels that they have to change their own life around to make their story interesting then maybe they shouldn’t be writing about themselves in the first place. People need to be able to trust the author and if what the author wrote is a lie then the trust between the author and their reader is broken.

post 7; book 4 check in 1

As I read Harlan Coban's book, Missing You, it's very easy to pick up on his writing style. His book has two stories intertwined with each other. Every chapter, the stories switch back and forth between each other.

The first story is the primary story. This where the main characters are introduced and where their problems occur. This story is the story with Kat, a detective for the NYPD. This story moves rather quickly and a lot of details and information is given as the story is told in third person.

The second part is the secondary story. This story is very vague and as the reader, you don't get a lot of information about the current situation that is occurring. The chapters for this story tend to be very short. It is also told in third person point of view but the narrator has an inside loop into Gerard's thoughts and feelings. Gerard has been kidnapped and the audience knows little to nothing about the situation that he is in.

These two stories put together compliment each other very well. As it goes back and forth, Kat's story is more indulging for the reader. The reader becomes concerned for Kat and wants her to solve her problems with her ex fiance and her father. She is relatable and the reader can develop sympathy for her because we know who she is as a person. But on the other hand, the other story is what throws the reader through a loop. Sometimes, I got so into Kat's story that the next chapter would start and I would think/want it to continue to be about Kat but then it would be about Gerard. The reader doesn't even know Gerard's last name but we know he is suffering through something horrible. It never reveals much detail about anything so this portion of the story moves much slower. It leaves the reader asking a lot of questions. I know I have myself asking a few. Is Gerard's struggle related to Kat? How is Gerard important? Will he ever be saved?

Sometimes the change in the two stories gives me whiplash because the chapters are relatively short and it switches back and forth quickly. It makes me curious to see how another one of Coben's book will be different; if his other books switch perspectives as well or if they have similar plot lines. This is what my main focus for this project will be.

post 6: book 3 listicle

Why Dennis Lehane is a Literary Genius

In the novel, Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane, there are so many twists and turns that occur in the book, at some points it’s almost hard to keep up. But it’s the plot twists and the unexpected turns that keep the readers intrigued and involved in the story because they want to know the answers just as bad as the characters in the book do. With everything that occurred in the book, it would’ve been extremely hard to just come up with all the tiny details needed to execute the mystery that unfolds throughout the book. For this story in particular, Lehane would’ve had to come up with an elaborate plan on how to execute everything. From the characters, to the back-story, to the tiny clues and small fragments of foreshadowing that happens throughout. This elaborate thought process and piecing everything together to create and execute such an amazing story, makes Dennis Lehane a Literary Genius.

Character Development: As the story develops, the characters develop with it. They begin to mold into each other. Lehane does an absolutely stunning job of developing his characters into real people. He develops the character through Teddy Daniels point of view, which gives the character more life. It was a very good choice made my Lehane to have an outside person tell the story with access to Teddy’s thoughts rather than just having Teddy narrate himself. With that in mind, you think that everyone is against Teddy and is trying to stop him from doing his job because that is the way that Teddy sees it. Especially Dr. Cawley. He appears to be plotting against Teddy because that is what Teddy’s predisposition of him is. This particular way that Lehane develops the characters is what makes the ending so incredibly amazing.

Setting Development: Almost immediately, the setting of Ashecliffe Hospital for the criminally insane on Shutter Island is introduced. The emotion portion of the island is developed through Teddy and his fear of water. Along with his fear comes the violent vomiting and Lehane draws a very descriptive picture in the readers mind about Teddy’s issue. “Teddy started the trip down on his knees in front of the toilet, heaving into the bowl as the ferry’s engine chugged and clacked and Teddy’s nasal passages filled with the oily smells of gasoline and the late summer sea. Nothing came out of him but small streams of water, yet his throat kept constricting and his stomach banged up against the base of his esophagus and the air in front of his face spun with motes that blinked like eyes.” This paragraph helps to build Teddy as a character but also the setting with the “late-summer”. It’s only later that Teddy realizes he will be trapped on an island; land completely surrounded by his biggest fear. “ “It’s the sea,” his father said, a hand lightly rubbing Teddy’s back as they leaned against the stern. “Some make take to it. Some men it takes.” ” Lehane creates the setting to set up Teddy’s demise almost immediately, which takes time to plan and work out before you can actually put the final product together.

Plot Development: Lehane develops the plot right from the beginning. He begins with a very short backstory about the death of his father then moves on to Teddy’s late wife, Dolores. Teddy’s flashbacks about Dolores are very important to the story. “Dolores, of the facts of her being on this earth for thirty-one years and then ceasing to be. Just like that. There when he left for work that morning. Gone by the afternoon.” Although they seem almost irrelevant, they are the bases of the entire story. Lehane does a very good job at hiding it. Not that it’s supposed to be hidden, but that fact that everything comes together in the end and everything relates back to something that was said in the very beginning of the book. The fact that Denis Lehane pieced everything together so perfectly is still an absolutely amazement. Nothing is to be given away about the ending of the book but just every single little piece to the plot is just so important to the resolution and it baffles me how someone like Denis Lehane isn’t talked about more.

post 4: book 2 adaptions

American Sniper will be a book that everyone will remember. As a filmmaker for this book would have to be very careful about how they would depict the life of Chris Kyle and be respectful since he is now gone. The type pf adaption would be best off as a movie. This story can not really split up into different pieces to be a TV show and as far as a play goes, the battle and action scenes would be nearly impossible to perform on stage.
A lot of different event occur very quickly in the book and time moves fast. Before you know it, it's three years later and Chris is being diploid to Iraq. But some very essential scenes that must be kept when turning the book into a film is when Chris first decides that he wants to be a SEAL. Along with that, is his dedication and hard work that it took to get him there; BUDS training camp, SEAL training, sniper training. The next very important scene to have in the movie would be when Chris meets Taya for the first time at the bar and their conversations they have about being a SEAL and her sister marrying a SEAL. The battles in the middle of the book, from the time 9/11 occurs to the end of his last tour, are all important. But as a filmmaker, you have to pick out what is more important for the audience to see.
A sensitive part of this film would be casting. First off, it's a very demanding film with a lot of action and very serious roles to play and shoes to fill. Also, you would need to keep in mind that this is a very true and very real story so the family will be effected by the film you create. You have to keep in mind that Taya is a widow and now a single mother. As you compose the characters of the book you should keep in mind Taya's feelings and that one day her kids are going to watch this movie and get to see the story of their father. Whoever plays the characters in the film would have to be well respected actors who can perform their best work in front of the camera to truly portray the characters that were developed in the book. Having it be that American Sniper is already a movie, I agree with the casting of Bradly Cooper. He is an amazing choice, someone who would take the role to heart and perform it with grace and honor. That's what is important about casting for this movie, since it is a very touchy and also very real story that is being told.
For this film, it would be hard to create a soundtrack that would fit well with everything. The movie is so serious and so real that you almost can't add music to it. Yes, music makes things more dramatic and helps set the mood. But for American Sniper, the scene itself will set the mood. The battles themselves will give the feeling of intensity. There is almost no music that could be added to a scene that would make the audience feel more than they already just because the story is so real.