A thousand splendid suns

Who should read this novel? Why? Who shouldn’t read this novel? Why? Use the blog to tell the world what you think.

I guess what I am about to say about this book will be what most would say when they have finished a book that they think is amazing. Namely – everyone should read it!  

Though the story is kind of long, and requires an interested reader. And I think you may need to be a bit older to read it, or well – at least about 15. This may narrow the sphere of interest.

But why should everyone read it? The book embraces tremendously interesting and vital issues, in a deeply personal way.

The author, Khaled Hosseini, was born in Kabul, Afghanistan in 1970. After the family had been living in France for some years they were unable to return to Afghanistan, due to the alarmed situation in the country. Therefore they sought political asylum in the United States.

Even though the author himself have been living in the United States for the major part of his life, I believe that he has embraced the experience of his own, as well as the experience of his parents and are therefore entitled and competent to tell the story of Afghanistan to the world and depict the feelings of the people. This story is needed. Even thought the story itself is fiction, it describes the life how it could be – just as most literary works have, throughout history.

So well, I conclude by saying – read it! Meanwhile I’m off to France!

 C ya!

/ Carro

A thousand splendid suns

Finish this idea: “I love the way the author…” Be complete and give examples to support your opinion.

I love the way the author builds up the tension in the story. He has a fantastic narrative technique within he creates an atmosphere, that reflects the feelings and moods of the main characters and the whole afghan society during the time the story is set. He makes you feel the way they are feeling, makes you feel their hopes and their fears. And the description of the two main characters emotional life detailed and extended.

There is no specifically description of how the author succeeds making you smile, or making yours eyes fill with tears. The feelings appear in a abstract way, created by a fantastic metaphorical and emotional language, like this quote that expresses Mariam's desire for her father; “When it was time for Jalil to leave, Mariam always stood in the doorway and watched him exit the clearing, deflated at the thought of the week that stood, like an immense, immovable object, between her and his next visit. Mariam always held her breath as she watched him go. She held her breath and, in her head, counted seconds . She pretended that for each second that she didn’t breath, God would grant her another day with Jalil.”

Often histories that tells you a story in more than one perspective easily can become a bit muddled and kind of hard to follow, but in this book it does nothing more than enrich the story. By this the author gives hunches of what will happen to one or the other of the two main characters, often through the other persons perspective. “Mariam signed her name – the meem, the reh, the ya and the meem again – conscious of all eyes on her hand. The next time Mariam signed her name to a document, twenty-seven years later, a mullah would again be present. “You are now husband and wife,” the mullah said. “Tabreek. Congratulations.” This quote does not only show how the author reveals a future happening, it also gives us an example how he uses the Arabian language, by taking some words and put in the conversation. This makes you aware of where you are, in what culture the story is set.   

The whole story is melancholy, and the feelings that you experience is enhanced by the fact that everything you want to happen, almost never happens. And everything you do not want to happen happens. Still, you can not predict what will happen.

Finally, I can say – if you want a good story, told in a fantastic way – you should read Khaled Hosseini’s “A thousand splendid suns”

Whispers in the graveyard by Theresa Breslin

This is a poem I made up to describe Salomons dads love to alcohol but later on he changed.

Hey I´m a drunky,
Yeah wodka is my monkey,
I use it every night,
because then I get better sight

Hey Mr Wodka why you so fine,
I wanna keep you mine,
Tomorow comes another day,
When I take you and fly away,

Sorry Mr Wodka time to say Goodbye,
Salomons waiting and wants to say hi,
Thank you for the time we spent,
You know it was all good meant,

You didn´t help me much,
Just gave me months of lust,
I drink you one last time,
Then it´s bye bye time,

Hey Mr Wodka don´t be sad,
I´ll give you to charity don´t be mad,
My son is more meant to me,
Without him I wont get free,

Hey Mr Wodka I know you weren´t imported,
But my son is more importent.

Helena S

Whispers in the graveyard by Theresa Breslin

Who should read this novel?

I think this novel suits the ages 14-100. I think this book would be very useful if it was used in the classrooms. The story is about a boy suffering from dyslexia and he also has problems at home. This book can encourage people who think that they have this same disease to steep forward and don´t be ashamed. Salomon didn´t recive any help from his home. He only had one teacher who saw him try to be lika a normal kid. When he was feeling down from everything he just ran away.

This book I think helps people who is in the same situation as Salomon to see that they are not alone. A lot of people have the same problem, both at home and in school. Something that could have helped Salomon are his parents but he didn´t have them, because of that it took longer time for him to get better. If he would have had his parents help they would have helped him to improve. So what I´m trying to say is that this novel kinda wakes you up and you think am I treating my kid right!

You don´t have to be a drunky to neglect your child. Every parent should read this book, when you read about Salomons dads behaviour you get really sad. He takes out all of his anger on Salomon. The thing that is good in this book is that it suits a lot of people. It gets both serious and exciting. Read it and see things from a childs perspectiv.

Helena S

Whispers in the Graveyard by Theresa Breslin

Summary of the plot

The novel is about a twelve year old boy called Salomon. Salomon has a learning disability called dyslexia. His life is not easy, his mom left the house when he was younger and his dad is an alcoholic. He also has a hard time in school, when he wants to be alone he spends the time on the local graveyard. One day when he´s at the graveyard he hears men talk. Its a man called Professor Miller and a council official, they are talking about the graveyard. Salomon understands that it´s gonna be a construction site.

When the workmen starts to take down the trees that night Salomon has some bad dreams. Driven by his fathers bad behaviour when he drinks, Salomon decides to spend the night at the graveyard. When he sits there hidden in his special place he hears a man screaming. The workmen is being swallowed up by the ground. The man had touched a chest with the name "Malefice". Later on in the book Salomon finds out that "Malefice" means witchcraft.

He also finds out that the one who was burried in that chest was a person who had been a victim of the scottish witch hunt. It seemed as she was awake and wanted to take revenge for what happened to her. Professor Miller has a daughter, Amy. She and Salomon becomes good friends after he discovered her also being a lot in the graveyard. Salomon feels that the bas spirit wants to hurt her so he follows her and protects her.

After this nightmare Salomon takes the decision that he want to change his life. He gets a lot of help and support from his teacher Ms Talmur. Salomons father also tries to change, he attends an Alcoholics Anonymous class.

Helena S

Who should read A clockwork orange and who should not

The ones who should read A clockwork orange first has to have the patience with the language and maybe the the fascination of languages and a will to understand it. The language in the novel is called "nadsat" and is a mixed up combination of brittish slang, "nadsat"/russian and a children-like language. Examples of this: "Babooshka,-old lady/grandma and ptitsa-young woman" These are russian words. "Eggiweggs-eggs, skolliwoll-school, appy polly loggies-apologies" These are the child-like versions of the words. In some way you learn what all these words means by reading them in a whole sentence time after time but sometimes it can be very hard for you to guess your way out of it. So I strongly recommend this novel to someone that is interested in languages and has the patience of learning. It wouldn't hurt to fancy the dark side of the world in some way or at least not having any trouble with reading about harsch violence and melancholy scenes. This novel is a dystopia. The plot is taking place in the future where criminality has developed into something far more horrible than we could have imagined and it is told by a psychopatic teenager who loves to torture, rob and rape. This novel is not for the sensitive ones that usually read about lovestories and drama and that can't stand some violence.

Also you should be interested in psychology and philosofy. You should want to understand the psychopath Alex the maincharacter and take it from his point of view. And when he's taking part of the experiment "the ludovico treatment", to get out of jail it is a lot of psychology to catch up with. So if you don't understand psychology and thinks it's boring, then this novel is not for you. As the same as the philosofy. This novel brings up a lot of hard questions like: "What makes a man good?" , "How far can you go to keep the society safe?" and "Do we have the right to mix with others brains even if he's a criminal?" If you find these things hard to recognize while watching the movie for example, then you shouldn't read the novel. I you find these way of reasoning boring or difficult then this novel isn't for you.

By Emelie S

A missing scene from a clockwork orange

This being the second spended raz at the café next to the milky bar Korova, me not choosing any of the old moloko oh my brothers but slurping som hot cup of chai, I was waiting for my droogs to settle about the dratsing yesterday. Somehow I felt a malenky bit uneasy about that. How . We will plan for this nochy however without Pete going about Dim, and me ripping his cables and vessels (chepooka-nonsense). The biggest crast we ever did oh my little droogs. My sheeps will do whatever I ask without that sarky attitude or any vehina. I am and has always been the leader , don't see why some malenky Will the English with new ways should inspire my little droogs to mutiny. You shouldn't do to big crasts or some millicents will hear about you sooner than you think. Better living of things you can take without any bigger . To sneety too much will do you no good. It will drag you down to "the stready hole" as my dear P.Deltoid puts it. Snuffing away with my hot chasha of chai I tried to imagine Dim falling behind and ending up in the claws of the aggro owner. To bad he's too dumb for having in my shaika, he is even though his bezomny way of reason very polezny. He is better handy than any of my little droogs. While my thoughts made me smecking away I viddied a very young and molodoy ptitsa holding her granny babooshka in the hand. It was the beauty of old Bog sending down some his young angels my brothers, smiling very happily and running. She had the most beautiful voloss and litso I'd ever seen. I could picture myself taking her home on bedways without any platties on. Her little plott coming out and it would be choodessny. I'll be taking her to my mesto and she going booohooohooo, creeching, blubbing and being all poogly as she can be and yet for me the very most sladkvat and enjoyable ptitsa ever. If any of these lewdies all around could hear my thoughts they would be going "Such of a merzky horrible and bolnoy malchick!" As the old babooshka and the very lovely ptitsa passed my table. I nodded and said "Such a wonderful pleasure to making you an acquaintance! I'm delighted to ask how are thee this fine evening?" The old babooshka smiled and said " Oh fine fine fine, my young man, we're about to taking some sweeties for little Mary here, you have a good day sir" They walked by and I viddied little Mary closing up to her granny. Again I was slooshing about us lubbilubbing and me taking the neezhnies and her as a plenny. I'm not baddiwadd, that together with some of dear old Ludwig Van would be real horroshow.


This is a scene after the incident with the fighting between Alex the maincharacter and two of his "droogs". He's thinking about how he deserves the leader-role and is reflecting about the whole situation about his droogs ganging up on him. I think that this is really Alex in a nutshell. He's a bit narcissistic and views himself as the smartest and the strongest. Later on you get to see the really nasty, horrible and criminal side of him in contrast to his polite, classy and fake-gentle side. He's a real psycopath, knowing exactly what to say to manipulate people in is surroundings at the same time as he's sadistic and evil. it Is a perfect descripton of him.


By Emelie S

Redeeming Quotes!

While reading Redeeming Love I found several quotations that filled my heart with love, comfort, joy and warmth. They touched my heart and left me with great awe! Hear follows some quotes that filled me with something beyond exquisite….

“This one, beloved!”

                            /God

Well, perhaps this quote doesn’t fill you with awe or warmth, but these words create an answer to one of my prayers. I have asked God that he one day will show me my future husband, as Michael asked for a wife in Redeeming Love. Perhaps it seems like a silly dream to you, but love and marriage is a beautiful and holy thing for me so I want it to be blessed by God.

(And one more thing; no dancing for me on the prom, I will save it for my husband.)

“Do my will, beloved. I drew you up from the desolate pit, out of the miry bog, and set your feet upon a rock.”

                /God

Sometimes God can ask us something that we feel we are not brave enough to do. But then we have one of his eternal promises, that he once have placed our feet on a steady rock and that he will do so again if we would fall. If we fall seven times seven, he will forgive and lift us up seventy times seven.

“Trust me with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding”

                                                                                                                   /God

This is a quote that includes words worth reminded. Quite often I want to take care of everything, do things in my own way and try to understand things that I can’t control. But then God reminds me, He is God. He has everything under control.  If I feel I can’t handle something and keep on trying to, I need to let go. I need to trust in God, that he will hold everything in his hands. And when I do, everything will turn out right and at the same time He will teach me something beyond my own understanding…

“So whatever you wish that men would do to you, do so to them.”

                                                                                       /Jesus, Matthew 7:12

I don’t think I need to say so much about this one. It’s the golden rule, a rule that everyone should follow because love is stronger and more beautiful than hate. Another quote that is similar to this one is: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself!” /Jesus, Matthew 19:19

“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for Thou art with me.”

                                                                                                                                         /Psalm 23:4

This is a well known quote from the bible and it means a lot to me. Even though it feels that everything is black and you ask yourself too many times “WHY”, He will be by your side, His hand in yours. I have been through a great deal in my life, despite the fact that I’m only 19, but many times I have felt like I’m suffocating or not worthy any love. But then I can remind myself of these words, soak them in and lean on them. Because even though it feels like I’m walking through the valley of death I don’t need to be afraid, because my shepherd and my father will always be there by my side.

“I am!”

     /Jesus

These two words are words that fill my heart with joy, love and awe and that makes my eyes fill with tears.  With these two words Jesus declares with humbleness and with authority that HE IS. He is now, he is yesterday, he is tomorrow. The message is that he will never change; he will always be the same. He is the king of heaven and earth and he will always comfort us, guide us and help us. He will give us the redeeming love.

I know that many of you don’t believe in these quotes or that they are coming from God as I do. But perhaps you can learn from some of them and as a said in my last blog; don’t be afraid of love, because love is something that everyone needs, a love that can redeem!

/Rebecca Q   

A thousand splendid suns

"What do you get to know about the society, the culture, the traditions and the way of living for the people in this book? Compare with conditions in Sweden." 

Hi! Time for my first entry – kind of hard to figure out how this thing works, ehe. Well for a starter I figure it’s of some importance that I tell you that I have read “A thousand splendid suns”, by Khaled Hosseini”.  The book depicts the conflicts in Afghanistan through two women’s perspectives – Laila and Mariam. Through these two women we get a personal insight into the afghan culture. It shows us how the country and the culture itself changes as the conflicts culminate, and how the afghan people’s lives are affected in line with the wars that succeed each other. 

We follow these two women through life, how they are forced into marriage – because of various reasons. Mariam was only fifteen years old when she was sent to Kabul to marry Rasheed, who was thirty years her senior. After almost two decades Laila, fourteen, suffer a tragedy and is forced into the household of Mariam and Rasheed.

The difference between the afghan culture and our own is immense. The perspective of how grand our choice and freedom are in the western world is striking. Laila and Mariam’s lives are determinate by the social rules of what a woman can do, and perhaps above all – can’t do. It’s about honor, and it’s about shame.

This destructive pattern in the afghan community is partly based on the vulnerable situation of the country. Afghanistan has been affected by invasions and conflicts, which have damaged the development of the society and prevented the culture to transfer into a more accepted system, in our perspective of seeing.  But although we are entitled to criticize the oppression that surely exists in the country, we also have to analyze the occurrence of this behavior. Maybe our culture’s equality has had more chances to evolve, just because the society itself has, and maybe this at the expense of countries such as Afghanistan.

The culture that Laila and Mariam have been born to live in is surely something far different from what we expect and accept. This book does not only depict the lives of two women, it depicts the beginning of understanding how, and why cultures such as the one in Afghanistan works, and can continue its existence.

/ Carolina

Summary of the plot

Dreamland

Caitlin is sixteen years old. She lives with her parents and her big sister Cass. Cass is popular and “perfect”, while Caitlin is shy and lives in the shadow of Cass. One day Cass leaves the family, with nothing but a book left for Caitlin: The Dream journal. Through the book they will be able to communicate, even though they’re many miles apart. When Cass leaves, Caitlin wants to do something that Cass never did, so she starts with cheerleading, even though she hates it.

Caitlin is looking for something new and adventurous in her life when the boy with dark eyes and curly hair shows up. His name is Rogerson and they start to date. In the beginning their relationship is wonderful, but after a while Rogerson starts beating Caitlin. After that she takes distance from her friend Rina, the cheerleading-squad and her parents. She is so ashamed about it, that she doesn’t tell anyone, not even the Dream journal. After a while she has built her whole life through Rogerson. She has met a new best friend, Corinna, through him, and many of his friends have also become her friends. This leads to many devastating consequences, and a totally changed Caitlin.

/Mikaela

Main character portrait

The maincharacter in “Dreamland” is Caitlin. Caitlin is sixteen years old and she is quite shy and lives in the shadow of her sister, Cass, who is very popular and likeable. Caitlin haven’t got many friends. The only person she socialize with is her best friend, Rina. In the beginning of the book Cass leave the family to run away with her boyfriend. Caitlin now gets a chance to take place, instead of her sister.

In the beginning Caitlin is a quite anonymous girl and people isn’t talking about her very much. People around her seem to like her, but she lives in the shadow of Cass. Her parents live in the impression of that she is fine and it seems like they don’t really know her very well. Her parent doesn’t even notice that she is being beaten and that she looses a lot of weight and gets depressed and so on.

In the beginning of the book, Caitlin starts with cheerleading, and that gives her a good reputation. But after that she ditches a football-guy to be with Rogerson, everything changes. The longer she is with Rogerson, the more practices she starts to skip, and soon after that the whole cheerleading-squad starts to talk shit about her. After this people haven’t got very good things to say about her, and she gets bad reputation. I think people starts talking about her because they doesn’t know exactly what is happening with her and they doesn’t know why she suddenly never shows up on practices. When they get annoyed by that fact they start to give her bad reputation.

Caitlin treats the other people in the novel in a good way. She almost never gets mad, but she stops being with her friends to be with Rogerson. She never expresses her anger about always being a standby for her sister, out loud. Instead she let herself become a smoker and a drug addict.

Caitlin changes a lot during the book. She starts a relationship with Rogerson, and she starts taking drugs and starts smoking, and she also start with cheerleading (witch she actually hates) to test something new and to make her mother happy. She feels like she never is good enough, and never could be as good as her sister. During the book , Caitlin also become a really good liar. She is lying to everyone around her. She lies about that she is fine, that she is feeling good and that nothing special is going on. 

/Mikaela

Who should and shouldn't read 1984

1984 is a novel that presents the reader with a alternative future/reality. Personally I didn't like this book. So, who should read it? Well, I would say that if you into politics and political science this might be a book for you. Whereas this is a book that is mostly about those things. The main story in the book is not really about the main character but about how the party has taken control over the society. The people in the book seems to become a sub story in the book and some parts of the novel doesn't contain them at all and at some points the author's just rambling facts about a made-up reality.


The language in the book isn't particularly difficult and it pretty easy to understand, although the author writes in a very complex and far-fetched way that sometimes made me wonder what I just read. The book is also filled with long explanation about how the language in the society is built or their warfare strategies and I found that very, in lack of better words, boring. There's not very much that is happening in the book it's more like you get to hear the main characters point of view, his thoughts about the society and how it's built. 


I believe that this book is written for pretty much anyone, whether you like it or not has more to do with you as a person rather then your age or gender or whatnot. Although I don't think the reader should be to young because, like I said, the book is quite complex and it takes a bit of thinking. 


So if you're more into love, cuteness and happy endings in a world where everything makes sense,  I don't think you should read this book but if you on the other hand are looking for a book that is quite different and special and you want something of a challenge, give it a try...


/ Sofi

THE SHACK - YES OR NO?

I know I said that I was going to take some time of in my recently posted entry, but I couldn't help myself... Hope you like it! And hey, this is my last entry.

If I stood in front of a fork, with a sign where it is written: "Would you like to read THE SHACK? Yes or no?", I would without a doubt in my mind say a definitive yes. Over and over again. Sorry, I would
SCREAM so loud that the birds in the wood nearby would be frightened. That's my opinion in the matter if you should read THE SHACK or not. But we are all different, and we all have various interests. But
even though I would like to recommed this amazing novel to everyone out there. I know that I have praised this work of art before, but you need to understand how brilliant it is!

Of course it's better if you are interested in questions about God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit, THE SHACK is after all a religious book. I assure you that you will find the answers you've always been looking for.
If you're not interested in religion, please read it anyway. Give this precious book a chance.

THE SHACK presents so many different perspectives and you learn so much. You get to know about the main character Mack, but most importantly the Holy Trinity. The best thing about this book is all the
conversations between the characters. It's almost like reading a very small part of the bible. So if you're curious, read it!

I totally understand if there's people out there who would never read this novel. Some think it's scary and some think it's crazy. But to have an opinion I think it's important to also know facts about religion. So
I encourage everybody to read! And I think everybody can learn much about life in this novel too, that has nothing to do about religion. That is how many-sided this novel is.

The best thing about THE SHACK is that it's not boring to read, not at all. The novel offers you a mixture with an interesting story and questions about the Holy Trinity. This novel is very down to earth, so I
think it's a perfect match for everybody who enjoys reading about adventure, humour, struggle and most importantly unconditional love.

If you stood in front of a fork, with a sign where it is written: "Would you like to read THE SHACK? Yes or no?", what would you say?

// Ida

Major point from the author

Melvin Burgess wants the reader to remember the witch times. The horrible times when no one was safe from the witchfinders. From the beginning the witches was friendly and the religion was to pray to a Horned Man, but not the devil. The religion still exists today. There was two types of witches they who worshiped the devil and they who wants peace but they were treated the same.  The author wants us to see how it was to be a witch during the witch times.  He wants us to remember the horrible time when human was burned and afterwards it was a mistake. A mistake that claimed thousands of lives.

/Emma

Main character portrait

Issy is a 12-year old girl. She is living whit her stepfamily and she is called burning Issy because of her fire marks which she received when she was little. Some thinks she is a witch and that she has sold her soul to the devil.

They who think she is a witch are afraid of her. She burned the witchfinder and he is both afraid and angry, ha want to torture her so she will confess. Iohan says that Issy is not a witch but she has power from the the Horned Man. The Horned Man is not evil, it is a figment from the Christian.  The parson wants to help Issy, he is not afraid of her. All he wants is that she will confess. Her family is not afraid of her, they want her to be safe, and her father even punched the person when he tried to make her confess by holding her hand over the fire. All people was afraid of witches during this time, they didn’t care if they were innocent as long as they confessed during torture.  

/Emma

Burning Issy by Melvin Burgess

Issy is 12-year old. She has living with Nat, a healer as long as she can remember. Every night she has a nightmare of hellfire and in the fire she can see a face she didn’t dare to look at. She has powers she doesn’t know where they come from. She can burn those who wish tom harm her or the people she loves. Some witches wants Issy to join them, if she doesn’t they will kill her step brother. But then come Iohan hand rescued them.  Iohan had given Issy to Nat ten years earlier and now she wants Issy to come with her. Issy follows Iohan home and there she will help her to find out about her past and how the faces in her dreams belong to. More details about the religion how not worship the devil but pray to the Horned Man will come. Is Iohan an evil witch or not? Issy become confused so she runs away from Iohan. Iohan has been captured and broken down by the witchfinder. Issy is helped by the Goddess and the Horned Man to break free from prison. Issy is determined to keep Iohan religion alive. This novel have capture the moment of witch hunt over early 17th-century England.

/Emma

Redeeming Love!

Imagine yourself being admired for your appearance, your beautiful smile, your heavenly blue eyes and your long blond hair. Imagine you being admired and loved by every man in town. Any man would give completely everything and anything, just to get ONE chance to talk to you. And you are that specific woman. Every girl’s dream.

But behind this beautiful appearance hides something deeper, something that never will heal. You were sold to prostitution at the age of ten, your father never wanted you and you were deprived the chance of ever having children. Your father even made you a visit when you were “working”, not knowing it was you. Your soul became hard like a stone and no one was ever permitted to even try softening your heart. But deep inside yourself you are desperate to feel worthy and whole. Who or what could ever set you free?

The redeeming love coming from the cross!

Redeeming love written by Francine Rivers wants to teach us how much God loves us and that he can lift us up from the deepest pitch and place us on a steady rock. Angel, in Redeeming love, is this woman who is admired by everyone but whose soul has been damaged forever.  Until she meets Michael Hosea.

Michael trusts God with his whole heart and one of his prayers has been that God one day will show him his future wife. Angel is God’s choice for him! “This one, beloved!”. Despite Michael’s doubts in God´s choice, he is determent to love and help Angel out of her misery, a task that would not be easy. Angel’s heart is frozen and Michael tries to help her in the only way he can, showing her the love of God. But for every little step Angel takes to a final bloom, she becomes more desperate to be worthy of Michael’s love and starts to see faults in herself behind every corner. Angel leaves Michael three times. The first two times Michael went to look for her and he brought her back home, but the third time God told him to let her go. “Let her go, beloved. Give her to me!”

Michael loved Angel and he showed her what true love is. But another important message with the book is that God loves us for who we are and not for all the things we do. Angel did learn to love Michael but she became dependent on him, he became her god. So the third time she left, God wanted it to be so. Michael had helped her with all his heart and soul, but now she needed to find God on her own. She had to understand that she was loved for who she is and not for what she does.

Even if you feel you have been deprived your childhood, if you feel that no one loves you for who you are or if you feel that you need to deserve love, there will always be a redeeming love from the Lord. He loves you for who you are.  And even if you don’t believe in Him, don’t be afraid of love. Because love is something everyone needs!      

(Ps.  Angel came back! And she told Michael her real name: Sara. A name that became a promise from God, that she one day would give Michael a child!!!  Ds.)   

/Rebecca Q

Who should or shouldn't read the book "Dreamland"?

The book “Dreamland”, written by Sarah Dessen is about a girl, Caitlin, who is sixteen years old, and one day her big sister leaves their family. Soon after that Caitlin meets a boy called Rogerson. After a while Rogerson starts beating Caitlin.

Caitlin and Rogerson are both teenagers and therefore the book is supposed to be read by teenagers. Although I wouldn’t recommend it for teenagers under the age of seventeen. I think you need to be quite mature to read the book and to be able to have a healthy relationship to it. Rogerson is a drug dealer and through the novel Caitlin starts taking drugs and starts smoking on a regular basis. They both drive while they’re stoned too. This is being portrayed in a very nerutralt way in the book. It doesn’t seem like and odd thing to do and I think that young teenagers can get the wrong impression of drugs by reading the book. The book never mention any consequences or other bad thinks about drugs, instead the book almost encourage drugs. At one point Caitlin says like this: “By 3:15, it was clear I needed something to help me get through this. I droove to Corinna’s with one eye on the clock, just wanting a few minutes of peace.” (p. 129)

The book can be used to warn young people who are about to fall into the same situation as Caitlin. A warning that says it’s easy to get into wrong company, and how easy it could be to get into a drug addiction.

Women who are being beaten by their men, but are keeping quite about it, can also get help through the book. Through the book, they can find out how much the assault actually changes and destroys people, and that they have to report their men.

“Dreamland” can be read by both men and women, but I would recommend it for women because it’s depicted from a woman's perspective. Men can get into the same situation as Caitlin, but I think it’s easier for women to get into these situations. It could be as easy for men and women to get into the wrong company and start taking drugs, but I don’t think very many men get beaten by their girlfriends.

There is nothing that says that grown ups shouldn’t be able to read the book. They can get into the same situation as Caitlin, but I think that it is easier for teenagers to get into wrong company. Everyone who should ready the book have to be able to face a hard reality. The book isn’t funny or lighthearted. It’s reality. 

/Mikaela

AFTER READING THE SHACK - YOU WILL NEVER GO BACK

Hey! Before taking some time of before the weekend, I thought I could post my second entry, a poem written with delight. Enjoy and I hope you'll have a great weekend!


A story where tragedy confronts eternity,
We get to witness the greatest paternity.
Oh dear God, our source to life,
Can you help Mack with his strife?

With all of your glory,
We can share a beautiful story.
Your son became our sacrifice,
And indeed, it had its price.
God said: "Go and sin no more",
We could do nothing but to adore.

Filled with hatred,
Mack came to you with his breath bated.
You gave him what he desired,
God, you need to know how much you are admired.

You helped Mack with The Great Sadness,
And was able to get him out of his madness.
Oh dear God, our source to life,
Can you help me with my strife?

// Ida

My own idea

For my second entry, I came up with an idea of my own. So Emmy Petersson hereby presents: Why I think "Romeo and Juliet" has become such a popular work and why it is still popular. Enjoy!


"Romeo and Juliet" is, as I said in my first blog post, a masterpiece written 400 years ago. I think that one of the reasons why it became so popular in first place is the author. William Shakespeare was a very busy man while he lived. He acted  together with a playing company called "Lord Chamberlain's Men" (later; The King's Men) and this company held exclusive rights to preform every play written by Shakespeare. This company also had access to a theatre with the very resourceful name "The Theatre". Although, this theatre got dismantled and moved to Southwark in London (for you who aren't so familiar with the London geography, this is the south bank of the Thames), this was also the time when the theatre got the name "The Globe". Most of the geniuses that have been born to this world have gotten their acknowledges after their deaths (for example Van Gogh). But not William Shakespeare, he had the actors, the playhouse, the audience and of course the plays while he was alive. So since he was famous, his legacy to the world had to keep maintained and therefore people kept preforming the plays written by William Shakespeare.

Second, I believe "Romeo and Juliet" has kept its popularity because it never gets old fashioned and this is also why it's still popular today. Sure, it was written 400 years ago, so it's not actually up to date but even so it's not old fashioned. Do you guys understand what I mean? No? Ok, let me explain.
People have always fallen in love, right? And people are hopefully planning to keep falling in love. I believe that as long as there is love, people need love stories. People need love stories that ends with a "and they lived happily ever after" and people need love stories that ends in misery.
"Romeo and Juliet" is the perfect miserable love story and it has everything a tragedy needs!
* Love at first sight
* An aspiring fiancé who happens to be rich
* Something, in addition to the fiancé, that stands in the way for the lovers
* An ending which you hope will be happy, but it's not.
So, love and forbidden love is something human beings always have enjoyed reading about and it's a topic that never gets old fashioned.
Take "Hamlet" for example (another play by Shakespeare, for those who don't know). That play is all about retaliation and how common is that in 2011? Sure, "Hamlet" is famous as well and everyone should know the phrase "To be or not to be..." Though, I still believe that "Romeo and Juliet" is far more well-known and more of a "role model" for past, present and future authors just because of the forbidden love, which is always a popular and relevant theme.

So, this became a pretty long and confusing entry, didn't it? If you have any questions or comments, feel free to let me know :)

/ Emmy

Summary of 1984

Although the year of 1984 is long past, George Orwell's vision about the future does not cease of amaze. The year is 1984 and the world is a different place then what is known to you and me. The government knows everything about everyone and every step you take is supervised by "big brother" through the tele-screen on the wall. You can't move or talk without being spied on. George Orwell paints a picture of the future of negative utopia. A completely plausible, nightmarish future, where there's no such thing as freedom and where the act of thinking for yourself is a sin that won't go unpunished. Where there's even a new language on the rise built to keep you from expressing your emotions. As a citizen of the, now broken, city of London, Winston Smith gets to find out what thinking for yourself gets you and what it's like to fight a power so much greater than just one man. Living in a society where the reality is altered and twisted to the very point that he can't even trust himself or his own senses. A society where nothing is certain, everything and nothing is true and no one is ever safe.

/Sofi

1984 Quotes

I've read the book 1984 by George Orwell. I've chosen the following quotes:

"He understood how; he did not understand why" (About the main character Winston, page 217)

I chose this one because it's the question the main character keeps asking himself and it's pretty much what he tries to find out throughout the book and the main point of the book. It says a bit about the character as a person. The question comes back a couple of times and it's always the same frase.

"WAR IS PEACE, FREEDOM IS SLAVERY, IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH" (The "big brother"- slogan, page 16)

This one is the slogan of the party and there are posters and things all over town that saya the same thing. It really reflects how the society looked and what kind of values they had or wanted the people to have. This also comes back repeatedly and it's always written in capital letters.

"Who controls the past controls the future, who controls the present controls the past." (A party member named O'brien, page 248)

One very high-ranked  party member says this to the main character Winston. I think this is a good example of the kind of weird logic the people have in the book and it also says a bit about the way George Orwell has written. The whole book is written in a pretty complicated way and this is the kind of quotes the re-occurs frequently. The words in the book, the language he uses, is not difficult, per say, but the thoughts are pretty complex and it really takes some thinking to sort out what he means.

"If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face - forever" (O'brien, page 267)

Once again, an example of the way it's written. The author uses many parables in this book and this is just one. This is uttered by the same party member and he talk about how the party intends to make the future for the people and the fact that it's not even an option to have an other future shows how much power the party has in the book.

"All the confessions that are uttered here are true. We make them true." (O'brien, page 254)

This yet again a display of the party's power. The can make things true by altering the reality or by making everyone so certain that it in the end becomes true. For instance , they keep saying that 2+2=5 and in the end that is the truth.

I hope you've been able to make sense of this...

/Sofi

Collection of quotes from the novel "A clockwork orange"

"Oh oh oh. I said, smiling very wide and droogie:" Well if isn't fat stinking billygoat Billyboy in poison. How art thou, thou globby bottle of cheap stinking chip-oil? Come and get one in the yarbles, if you have any yarbles, you eunuch jelly, thou"


I chose this quote because I was very fascinated about the main character "Alex's" way of saluting Billy. It is a polite, at the same time rude and well put invitation to a fight. This is a very typical way of Burgess, the author to give a feeling of discomfort but fascination and confusion about a scene at the same time. This mysterious undertone is repeated at many times in the novel.


"Oh bliss! Bliss and heaven! Oh, it was gorgeousness and gorgeousity made flesh. It was like a bird of rarest-spun heaven metal or like silvery wine flowing in a spaceship, gravity all nonsense now. As I slooshied, I knew such lovely pictures!"


This is among the most beautifly described thoughts that the main character Alex has. But in the same way he associates the music to his so called "ultra violence". At the same time as he listens to classical music he slooshes and fantasies about torturing people, suffering and blood and flesh flying everywhere. It is a very strong contrast between something very evil and something very good and beautiful. And that is what fascinates me about this whole character. 


Suddenly, I viddied what I had to do, and what I had wanted to do, and that was to do myself in; to snuff it, to blast off for ever out of this wicked, cruel world. One moment of pain perhaps and, then, sleep for ever, and ever and ever.


This is when Alex is ready to take suicide. After the experiment he has developed an anxiety as an effect off listening to a special song of Beethoven. The cruelty of this is that they have made him hate the only good thing of his interests and joys. Though, in this sad scene you can really relate to Alex way of thinking and you feel for him even though he is the villan of this story. That is what made this quote speciall interesing.


By Emelie S.

THE SHACK

- Wm. Paul Young

I've decided to evaluate THE SHACK, a novel where tragedy confronts eternity. It's an astounding story where a young girl gets kidnapped and murdered and her dad, Mack, who blames himself, gets to meet the Holy Trinity; God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. You get to follow his journey trough sorrow, disbelief, gratitude and forgiveness. This novel has brought many tears in my eyes and has giving me wisdom about several questions in life, in particular when it comes to faith and my belief in God. Based on that I would like to share a collection of quotations from THE SHACK and explain for you why I love them so much.

"Will you at least consider this: When all you can see is your pain, perhaps then you lose sight of me?" (p.96)

- A quote from God, also known as Papa

Life is not always easy, everybody knows that. It contains struggles, pain and sorrow. And many times we forget the beautiful things in life, like love and friendships. When we hit the ground, maybe when someone in our family gets sick, we lose sight of the good things. We only focus on the terrible occurrence. But I think it's then and there, when we need to not lose sight, to lose sight of God. I believe it's where we need God the most. 

"Growth means change and change involves risk, stepping from the known to the unknown." (p.115)

- Author Unknown (Opening for the eighth chapter)

When we grow up, we change a lot, not only in our appearance, but as human beings. During my years at Brinellgymnasiet, I feel that I have grown so much. And for me to do that, that involves taking risks, "Stepping from the known to the unknown" as the quote from this brilliant unknown author writes. Growth requires stepping out of the comfort zone and facing obstacles that are meant to overcome. And when we actually overcome these obstacles we discover our growth.

"And besides, you have judged many throughout your life. You have judged the actions and even the motivations of others, as if you somehow knew what those were in truth. You have judged the color of skin and body language and body odor. You have judged the value of a person's life by the quality of your concept of beauty. By all accounts, you are quite well-practiced in the activity." (p.158)

- Sarayu (The Holy Spirit)

This quote teaches us a lesson. We all judge. It doesn't matter what, the point is that we judge. And we really don't have any right to judge others. If we don't want to be judged ourselves, then we can't require the power to judge others. I don't know about you guys, but I think this is a lesson to learn.

"The darkness hides the true size of fears and lies and regrets," Jesus explained. "The truth is they are more shadow than reality, so they seem bigger in the dark. When the light shines into the places they live inside you, you start to see them for what they are." (p.175)

- Jesus

God said: "Let there be light!" And there was light. Before God created the light, the earth was coal black. He brought light to the world, but he also brought light into our lives. And when darkness comes upon our minds, we tend to lose sight of the light we once had. The darkness makes everything much bigger and scarier, and we think it's impossible to meet the light again. But if we fight to see the light God gave us from the very beginning, we are going to comprehend that the darkness never had a chance.

"Let's say, for example, I am trying to teach you how not to hide inside of lies, hypothetically of course," she said with a wink. "And let's say that I know it will take you forty-seven situations and events before you will actually hear me- that is, before you will hear clearly enough to agree with me and change. So when you don't hear me the first time, I'm not frustrated or disappointed, I'm thrilled. Only forty-six more times to go. And that first time will be a building block to construct a bridge of healing that one day- that today- you will walk across." (p.187)

- Papa

This is my favorite quote, by far! It brings so much hope and longing to my heart. To hear to words; "I'm not frustrated or disappointed, I'm thrilled", gives me the chills. God never gives up on me, on you and on us. And if we don't hear Him, He won't be mad, he will be THRILLED.

If I had the time, I could go on and on and on. It would be possible to make a book only by quotations, because THE SHACK contains so many of them! Since THE SHACK is not mine, I have written down every quote I like, so I can look back whenever I need it, whenever I need some answers or comfort. I could read this novel over and over again, that is how exquisite it is.

This novel may or may not be reality-based. The author never tells us readers if it is. I believe it is.

 Ps. I know my entrie is very, very detailed, but it's sooooo hard to leave the good parts out. Ds.

// Ida

Pride and Prejudice - Themes

Themes: Pride and Prejudice

The two major themes in the novel Pride and Prejudice are summed up in the title. Pride and Prejudice contains a cherished love story between Fitzwilliam Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet. As in many good love stories, the lovers must overcome and conquer several stumbling blocks, beginning with the tension caused by their own personal prides and prejudices.

          The pride is one of the foremost barriers that create an obstacle between Darcy’s and Lizzy’s relationship. Thanks to Darcy’s position in society he has a lot of pride which eventually leads him to scorn anyone outside of his personal social circle. Even the character flaw that causes Lizzy to dislike Darcy on their first meeting is pride. Her perception of him is a cold, an arrogant and a proud man, but yet Lizzy herself suffers from the same flaw: her own pride. Lizzy’s pride makes her misjudge Darcy on the basis of a poor first impression and then it also leads her to think ill of Darcy.

          Prejudice is another thing that causes trouble between Darcy and Lizzy. Darcy has prejudices against Elizabeth’s poor social standing which completely blinds him and Lizzy has prejudices about Darcy as a proud and an arrogant man. Both Darcy and Lizzy realize that they are wrong in their judgments towards one another. Darcy realizes that he’s wrong when he judges Lizzy after her social position and Lizzy realizes that her judgments and prejudices about Darcy were based on vanity and pride, rather than on reason. Darcy proves that Lizzy’s prejudices about him are wrong when he treats the Gardiners, who are a much lower class than him, with great civility.

          It’s also obvious that Lizzy’s prejudices about other characters have been incorrect. In fact her prejudices about different characters are only correct half of the time. Her judgments about Mr. Collins and how absurdly selfish he is and about Lady Catherine de Bourgh and how snobbish and proud she is turns out to be true, while her first impressions and prejudices about Darcy and Wickham steer her incorrectly. At first Wickham is thought to be a gentleman. His easy manner and good looks fool many people in his surrounding, including Lizzy. She even believes every word he tells her about Darcy. Lizzy’s prejudices about Wickham are proved wrong when she realizes that everything he has said about Darcy have been a lie.

          Jane Austen enclosures a happy ending when she shows us that there’s something about love that empowers it to overcome all the pride and prejudice that society throw in its way.

// Rebecka Belge

Pride and Prejudice - Poem

A poem based on Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth from Pride and Prejudice

That annoying mansion has been let at last,

Do they all have to confront the man so fast?

He’ll look everyone out within a week.

He’ll find all the girls too bleak.

Your silly people are dizzy

Mr. Darcy will marvel when he sees our Lizzy.

Mr. Darcy, such a big jerk!

Socializing overly much work.

Didn’t want to wrinkle his pants,

By asking me for a dance!

On the other side,

Netherfield is extremely fine.

To live here have to be divine.

Stay with me or I’d get lost.

How much did this mansion actually cost?

// Rebecka Belge