Vonnegut

• 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

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

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

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

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

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

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?