Nick Denn

Vonnegut

2009-05-11T11:22:00.000-07:00

Vonnegut has typically used science fiction to characterize the world and the nature of existence as he experiences them.
American author noted for his pessimistic and satirical novels.
Kurt Vonnegut Jr.'s best known work is SLAUGHTERHOUSE FIVE (1969), which was based on his experiences in Dresden, Germany, where he was a prisoner-of-war at the destruction of the town in 1945
Vonnegut used fantasy and science fiction to examine the horrors and absurdities of 20th century civilization. His constant concern about the effects of technology on humanity led some critics to consider him a science fiction writer, but the author himself rejected this label.
Over the years Vonnegut had come to speak of finding writing more onerous
Vonnegut died on April 11, 2007, in Manhattan, following a fall at his Manhattan home several weeks earlier which resulted in irreversible brain injuries.
http://www.vonnegut.com/artist.asp
Kurt Vonnegut was born to fourth-generation German-American parents (Kurt Vonnegut, Sr., and Edith née Lieber), son and grandson in the Indianapolis firm Vonnegut & Bohn.[3] He attended Cornell University, where he served as assistant managing editor and associate editor for the student newspaper, the Cornell Daily Sun, and majored in Chemistry.[4] While attending Cornell, he was a member of the Delta Upsilon Fraternity, following in the footsteps of his father. While at Cornell, Vonnegut enlisted in the U.S. Army.[5] The army sent him to the Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie Mellon University) and the University of Tennessee to study mechanical engineering.[2] On May 14, 1944, Mothers' Day, his mother committed suicide.[6]

Endwar

2009-01-13T16:15:00.001-08:00

I will finish up my last blog post with the ending of Endwar, written by Tom Clancy. The last few scenes of the book were very interesting. Halverson, the pilot who crashed, was being chased by Russians, she previously stole one of the Russians snowmobiles and drove it until the as ran out. She made it quite far, and then it died, right next to a seven hundred yard lake that she was about to cross. She knew that the only way to get away from the Russians was to go across the huge lake. Halverson activated her beacon which would let the Americans find her, but it would also tell the Russians where she was. Halverson was about halfway across the lake when she stopped in her tracks, the sound of gunfire behind her. A whole troop of Russian soldiers, including a tank, were about four hundred yards behind her, every few men taking shots, but not really trying to kill her. All of a sudden, right in front of her a Russian helicopter loomed out in front of her. The American soldiers had overpowered the helicopter and were planning to rescue the pilot, Halverson had no clue. She started firing randomly, striking the helicopter, until she realized that it was Americans that were in it. She reached the helicopter safely, just as the tank launched a rocket, but they were already in the air. This is an understatement, the rocket missed where they were by abut two seconds. This is not the ending of the book, but very close, and if you want to see how it ends, read the book.

Endwar

2009-01-06T17:45:00.000-08:00

I continued with my reading of the book titled Endwar, which was written by Tom Clancy. I left off when Halverson, the pilot that crashed in Canada, was being chased by the Russians. Halverson ran away through the woods, until she came to a cottage. At the cottage lived a family of three, husband and wife, and one son, the father grabbed his gun from a rack and told Halverson to go down in the cellar with his wife and son. He tried to defend them, was shot, and then his wife ran up and she was shot. As the soldiers were coming down, she shot two and the boy ran up, took their rifles, and killed one more. Then Halverson ran after the boy into the barn, he took out two more and Halverson took out the last one. She looked around and realized that the little boy was on the ground dying, he said one sentence, “it’s not fair” and then he died. I think this is a very important quote in the book for many reasons. There are many unfair things that happen to us in life, and we sometimes can do nothing about them. This was the instance for the boy, the Russians invaded his house, killed his family, all because his family helped out a crashed American pilot.

Endwar

2009-01-03T10:21:00.001-08:00

This week I continued with my reading of the book titled Endwar written by author, Tom Clancy. I will skip ahead to the more interesting part; there is a dog fight in the sky between the Americans and the Russians. The American pilots are named Halverson and Sapphire. Sapphire is engaged with two Russians and eventually is blown up by a rocket from the Russians. After, the Russians switch over to Halverson; she has a missile on her tail, and is unable to get away from it. She is about to be hit when she hits the ejection seat and rockets out of her plane, only to start falling again. The parachute deploys, but she knows she is in trouble because she is headed right for the woods, which could skewer her when she tries to land. The pilot gets caught up in the trees twenty feet above the ground, so she cuts loose her equipment and slides down to safety. Not so mast, a group of five or six Russian soldiers arrive in the woods, all riding snowmobiles, and ready to kill her. Halverson had already radioed in her position, the Russians had not spotted her yet, so her best option was to run away and hide. This is a very nerve racking part for many reasons, when she is walking through the woods she could come up to a Russian soldier any minute, but I have a feeling she won’t die because she is a main character in the book. So far, this is jam packed with action, suspense, and adventure.

Endwar

2009-01-03T10:08:00.001-08:00

Right now I am reading a book titled Endwar written by Tom Clancy. The book is about World War Three, between three different countries. The book starts out and it is kind of confusing. The Russians and Americans are in a battle against each other, the Americans have taken a Russian captain as their hostage, and the Russians want him back, or he has to die, so he will not leak any secrets. The Americans use a decoy man for the Russian, while the real captain is taken back to the American headquarters to be questioned. The American Special Forces do not know that there is a decoy, so when the plane the Russian is supposed to be on is shot down; they go to grab the captive. The Russians ambush the Special Forces, after they realize there is a decoy, and many Americans are killed. The Americans retreat with heavy losses. This is the part of the book where I left off at. This is my second Tom Clancy book I have read and I am beginning to like them a lot, they are full of action, adventure, and fighting, which are always fun to read about. Tom Clancy’s novels are kind of confusing but they are always a fun read, it just takes a little time to understand them, and a little more time to get interested in them. Overall, this book seems very interesting and I can’t wait to keep reading to see how the Americans deal with the Russians.

Ghost Recon

2008-12-17T16:54:00.001-08:00

This week I started a new book, titled Ghost Recon, written by David Michaels. This book is one of the best books that I have ever read in many ways. The book is full of action, but at the same is very discrete and secret. There is a group inside the army that are very classified, they are called the Ghosts, and they are used only in the hardest times. The ghosts are the ones who do the hard work, assignations for example, and they have to do it with out being seen, caught, captured, or killed. The main character is named Captain Scott Mitchell and he is a very accomplished soldier who is a captain in the ghost company, and is always the best of the best. The book starts out when Mitchell is just an officer in the army, and he is on a mission. The Taiwanese are also with the Americans working side by side, there comes a time when the Americans are being mowed down and they are desperate for help. Mitchell begs the Taiwanese officer, Fang, o help them but he does not answer. After the battle only three out of twelve of Mitchell’s soldiers made it, and then out of nowhere the Taiwanese army comes up over the hill, not even sweaty. Mitchell asks where they were, Fang said he did not want to risk his soldiers lives for the Americans, Mitchell obviously didn’t like this, and then the two fought. This is just the beginning of a very interesting book and I can’t wait to read the rest.

The Magician

2008-12-10T15:33:00.000-08:00

This week I decided to change pace a little on my book. I decided to blog about a book I am also reading, called The Magician, written by Michael Scott. It is a very interesting book about people who have special abilities. These people are able to shape their auras and use them for magic and other uses. The main characters are Sophie and Josh, they are twins, Nicholas Flamel, and then Scatty, and they are all able to use their powers in good ways, except for Josh, because he has not yet been awakened. there is certain people called elders who used to rule the world, they were worshiped as gods, and they want to take the world back. Only elders are able to awaken people’s powers and Josh needs his awakened for many reasons. Josh and Sophie are the two twins in the Book of Abraham. It says one will save the world, while the other can destroy it. The Book of Abraham will give the elders their power back, they have the book, but Josh has the two final pages, without these pages it is useless. Josh and Sophie are the only ones who can save the humans from the elders. Sophie had her powers awakened earlier by the witch of endor, and know Josh wants to have his powers so he can be equal with his twin again, he does not like being different. The elders say they can awaken him, but he still wants to be with Sophie, he doesn’t know what to do. I can not wait to keep reading and to see what Josh chooses, Sophie, having his powers awakened, or both?

2008-12-07T11:27:00.000-08:00

Should the government work harder to provide more jobs for citizens?

Boodhoo, Niala. "U.S. government to provide more aid for people who lost jobs to hurricane." Business Network. 24 Oct. 2004. 7 Dec. 2008 .

Niala Boodhoo is a resident of South Florida and agrees that the government should work much harder to provide jobs after major catastrophes. Fir example, after Hurricane Katrina many were jobless, and now the government is working much harder, and receiving bigger grants, to help with the number of jobs available.

Lester, Will. "Video: Obama's Plan For 2 Million Jobs by 2011." Time. 22 Nov. 2008. 7 Dec. 2008 .

Will Lester, a writer for time wrote an article on Barrack Obama’s plan for two million jobs by 2011. Barrack Obama believes that if it goes quickly through congress there will be plenty of jobs for the events in the future. Lester does not really have an opinion on what the government should do, but Obama says that this will not just instantly take us out of the recession; it will take time and effort.

A thousand Splendid Suns

2008-12-02T15:45:00.000-08:00

I continued reading A Thousand Splendid Suns, but really focused on how Mariam was treated. This was earlier in the book, but the reader really notices that Mariam really has no choices she can make on her own, in her life. Everything is either Jalil or her mother, Nana, and she does not like it. We see that as a child Nana always discouraged her of playing with the neighborhood kids, even though she wanted to and now we see that Jalil is giving her a life that she never chose for herself. She has to marry some old, weird stranger, live in a completely different city, and be thousand of miles away from her father, not really what she wanted right after her mother died. I think it is really sad and disappointing women were treated and how they never really had much of a say. Men could pick their wives while women had to hope that they would like their new husbands. It is just sad how less of role women played in society, they did not have many rights, and they could not make their own decisions in life, and overall were just not treated fairly. Mariam experiences this when having to marry the suitor, but she knows that she can not do anything about it.

A thousand Splendid Suns

2008-11-27T19:56:00.000-08:00

I continued my reading with the book A Thousand Splendid Suns, written by Khaled Hosseini. This was a very interesting part in the book because Mariam was starting to realize that she did not belong in Jalil’s world, and he did not want her there either. Jalil set up a suitor for Mariam, and then a few days later the two were married, and Mariam would be 500 miles form Jalil, far enough so there would not be any trouble. Mariam did not like her new husband; he scared her, smelled of beer and cigarettes, and was about thirty five years older than her. She was not a very good wife, her husband said, and she had to get her act together. She cleaned, cooked, and did everything a wife was supposed to do, in his point of view. I think this is a very important part in the book because it really shows how independent and alone Mariam is. She has lost her mother, her father doesn’t want her anymore, and so she is living with some old, big, smelly, creepy guy. Not the best situation to be in, in her point of view. Overall this book is very interesting and I am waiting to see how she learns to be a wife.

A Thousand Splendid Suns

2008-11-18T18:10:00.000-08:00

I thought of with my reading of the book titled A thousand Splendid Suns. This is getting very interesting because of Mariam, the child. Mariam is very curious and she really loves her father, Jalil. Her mother, Nana, hates Jalil because the two if them divorced after Mariam was born. Nana is a servant and Jalil a wealthy noble, so the relationship would not work within the two completely different social classes. Jalil comes and meets Mariam at the house once every week, and he always come at the exact time, and always at the exact same spot. One day Jalil doesn’t come and Mariam wants to go down to the town where he lives, just over the hill, and find him. Nana says that if Mariam goes she will not live anymore, she will take her life, because Mariam is the only one that she has. Mariam decides her mother is not serious and walks down the hall. She finds her father’s house, but is not let in, even though he is inside. She sleeps outside to wait and in the morning Jalils butler makes her go home. He takes her into his car, and takes her home. Once they are in her yard, they start walking toward the house, and then the butler yells stay back, but it was too late. Mariam saw her mother swinging from the tree tops, with a rope around her neck. She had told Mariam the truth. I think this is a very important part in the novel because it shows how desperate Nana was and how much she hated Jalil.

A Thousand Splendid Suns

2008-11-11T17:13:00.000-08:00

For my outside reading project, I chose to read the book titled A Thousand Splendid Suns, written by Khaled Hosseini. It is a story about Afghanistan’s last thirty years. The main character is a girl called Mariam, and she is a girl, and she was treated very poorly by her family. She was called things by her mother that she never understood until she was older, her mother said that Mariam was a waste of space, and that her mother didn’t deserve a child like her, for all the suffering she has been through. I am not very far into the book yet, but I am very excited to read it because I like Khaled Hosseini’s style. I previously have read the book The Kite Runner and really liked it. This was one of the main reasons that I picked to read this book, because I have previous experience with Khaled Hosseini and his writing, I understand it more. I think this book will be very interesting, also learning about the past of Afghanistan. It is very interesting to learn about the history of the country. All of the past rulers, the good ones and the bad ones, and just the past events that made the country what it is now. I can not wait to keep reading this book and am ready to find more about the character Mariam, and who she really is.

Maximum Security

2008-10-28T16:02:00.001-07:00

The book that I am currently reading is from a new author. The book is titled Maximum Security, written by Robert Muchamore. It is about a boy named James Adams, who is involved in an organization called CHERUB. This is an organization that houses children with “special talents”. The children become secret spies, which they can put all over the world in different situations depending on when they’re needed. In this book, James is sent to a prison with Dave, an older CHERUB, and they are trying to catch one of the world’s deadliest weapons dealer. Her name is Jane Oxford and her son, Curtis is cell mates with James and Dave. It starts out, and James and Curtis start to become friends, this is when James also learns about all the stuff he can have, if he had good connections. James also learns he can receive protection from the other thugs, by hanging around with Curtis. Later in the book James and Dave are planning to “escape” and Curtis wants in. Of course they want Curtis to come, so then he will take them to Jane, so they let him in on the plan. They have a spectacular break out, knocking out the guards, but most importantly coming out quietly. After they knocked out the guards they are free, no one notices them, they still a car and then Curtis calls his mom for the pick up. So far this is a very cool book, it is filled with lots of action and it is just fun to read. Overall, this is another very good adventure book, so I recommend you read it.

Ark Angel

2008-10-21T15:53:00.001-07:00

This week I finished my reading of the book, and the series, titled Ark Angel, written by Anthony Horowitz. I will write about the end of the book, which I think is the best part. First off Alex Rider discovers many horrible things, first he discovers that Drevin is one of the biggest criminals in the world, and second he finds out that the terrorist group Force Three was made by Drevin as a scapegoat. Alex is at Drevin’s palace, where he is getting ready to launch a key piece to Ark Angel, a space hotel, and Drevin finds out who he really is. He tries to kill Alex, by drowning him, but amazingly he escapes. Alex is rescued by the secretary, who was secretly working for the CIA, then they swim back to the island and are taken captives. There Drevin tells Alex of his plan, Ark Angel is a billion dollars in debt, and he doesn’t know what to do. Also he knows that the Americans have been building a case against him and have been keeping all the papers and files at the Pentagon. Drevin wants to crash his space hotel into the Pentagon, and destroy all the files against him and also receive money from the insurance. Later, Alex breaks out and has to kite surf back to where the CIA are, which is ten miles away. He is almost there when three of Drevin’s boats pull up, and they take aim. The book was a really fascinating read, full of action and adventure, but to find out the end you will have to read it.

Ark Angel

2008-10-14T19:14:00.001-07:00

Right now I am reading a book called Ark Angel, which is written by Anthony Horowitz. I am in the middle of his series and like the books a lot. This one again is with Alex Rider this time he has just recovered from a major injury. Scorpia, an assassin group, recently tries to shoot Alex, but somehow he survived and is put in the hospital. His room is right next to Paul Drevin, the son of a multi-billionaire. A group of terrorists called Force Three try to kidnap Paul, Alex thinks for money, but Alex can’t let that happen. He creates diversions and defeats four of the men but at the end is knocked out and taken prisoner. He is taken to a building where they interrogate him and he tells them he isn’t Paul, his name is Alex Rider, and then they plan to kill him. They set the building on fire, but by a miracle Alex escapes off the roof. He then is invited By Mr. Drevin himself to tea and then to a vacation where he can recuperate. I think this vacation would be awesome because you would get to be with a multi-billionaire and use all their stuff, pretty much do whatever you want, but Alex is hesitant. I can see why he would be hesitant, his past experience with a multi billionaire had almost gotten him killed. This book seems so good because it would seem like nothing could go wrong, but at the same time it is too good to be true. All of Drevin’s riches, it just doesn’t seem to fit all together, and that’s exactly what the CIA think.

Scorpia

2008-10-07T18:26:00.000-07:00

Now I am reading another book written by Anthony Horowitz, called Scorpia. Again it is another story about the teenage spy, Alex Rider and this time he’s trying to find out about his past. Earlier in his life, an assassin called Yassen, told him to go to Venice, find Scorpia, and find his destiny. That’s exactly what he did. Scorpia is a group that you could consider terrorists, they are assassins and Alex goes to find them and he does. One of the main leaders, Julia Rothman, is having a party in Venice, and Alex wants to do to it. He breaks into the party with a disguise and then goes to Julia’s office and searches around. He doesn’t find any important files, but a man called Nile finds him. Nile works for Scorpia and when Alex meets him he questions about Scorpia, then Nile and him fight. Nile knocks him out and then takes Alex down to a cell. Alex thinks he is just being held captive until water starts seeping in from the floor and he understands, he’s supposed to drown. He breaks out by swimming through the well into the river, where he is safe. I think out of all of his adventures this one is the most threatening, he is about to drown, he was just beaten up, and all just to find about his past. I think Alex’s life, yet again is very stressful and is full of many adventures. He tries so hard and never receives praise, just to figure about Scorpia was a huge accomplishment, and he was punished severely for it.

Snakehead

2008-09-30T13:29:00.000-07:00

I chose to go back to the book s started with, Snakehead, written by Anthony Horowitz. I am at a very interesting part where Alex Rider, the teenage spy is sent into Bangkok as an Afghan refugee with his father. The ASIS plan to have a cover story where he and his father, Ash, who works for ASIS, try to get into Australia. They are getting help from the group called Snakehead, and this is their major business, people smuggling. The Snakehead gives them an address and a place they are supposed to live ion Bangkok until they are contacted. Later at the home, the Snakehead come and take Alex to their headquarters where he is supposed to get all of their paperwork that will help make them citizens. When he arrives at the headquarters he is told that he has to box another person and then he will get all the paperwork. He sees how tough the opponent is and realizes he has to cheat. He took a big sip of water and when he got close enough to the man he spit at him, the man was blinded, and then Alex knocked him out. Then the Snakeheads were very mad, shots were fired, and Alex was ready to leave. The main Snakehead at the headquarters was named Anan Sukit, he was aiming at Alex, and then the lights when off. This was when I stopped and I think it was a good time because it was at a huge climax in the story. It was just such a good place but I put the book down and waited to find out what happened later.

The Alchemyst; Nick's blog

2008-09-23T15:55:00.000-07:00

I changed my book the The Alchemyst, written by Michael Scott. I would call it an action and fantasy book. There is magic in it, but it is not like a Harry Potter, it is learning how to control your body energy. The main (good) characters are Nicholas and Perenelle Flemel and Sophie and Josh who are twins. The bad character is Dr. John Dee, and the story is about how the secrets of life. The Flemels and the doctor both have the elixir of life, which they learned in separate ways. The Flemels have a book called the Book of Abraham which contains all of the secrets. The doctor wants it a lot, and has been chasing them around for centuries, since they both have the elixir of life. Josh and Sophie are involved because they try to stop Dr. John Dee from hurting Nick, Perenelle, and stop them from taking the book. The doctor succeeds in taking the book, but Josh ripped out the last two pages, on accident, but they are essential for the magic to work. This was as far as I read and I think it was a very interesting and catchy book. It had a very exciting intro and I liked it right when I picked it up. I think this is a good action and fantasy packed book with many exciting turns in it. I like how it leaves you hanging at the end of each chapter and I want to find out what happens. Overall this book has so far been interesting and I look forward to reading more.

Snakehead By Anthony Horowitz

2008-09-19T14:03:00.000-07:00

Snakehead, written by Anthony Horowitz, is a story about a teenage spy. The spy’s name is Alex Rider, and he works for MI6, and once in a while the CIA. This book starts out with Alex coming back from his past mission, which took place in space. He landed in the ocean, near Australia, where he was picked up to Australia by the Australian secret service. While he’s trying to get back to England, he experiences visa trouble, and cannot leave the country. Later on, he brings in one of the major threats, a terrorist group called Scorpia. They are planning an attack on an island with a bomb called Royal Blue, they want to blow up the island, with everyone on it. Then Scorpia devises a plan to take the bomb, they execute it successfully, and leave the vicinity. Then Alex is getting de-briefed from his past mission and he’s asked to help in another one. He is asked to go and help the Australians recover Royal Blue. He doesn’t want to, but finally agrees and then he’s tricked into a trap to see how good he is. He passes and then is asked to go and help, which he agrees and this is the end of the chapter. I picked this book because it is an action packed adventure book, and these are the kind of books I enjoy reading. It is very interesting and I like to think about the idea of a teenage spy. I think it would be very cool, but also scary at the same time. You would never know if you would live tomorrow and I think that it would be a very stressful life. Overall, the beginning of Snakehead is very action packed and an interesting read if you like adventure.