The Lovely Summer Reading

Summer reading. The fantastic, highly anticipated, highly acclaimed summer reading. Most students find it hard to detach their minds from the lethargy of summer and attach their brains to the commitment of reading a book. This was my train of thought as I struggled to start one of my required novels and actually get into it. However, I did find one book that really caught my attention, Lord of the Flies. I believe the setting of the book was the main reason why I was reeled in. I am a big fan of survival shows on the Discovery Channel and many of the survival scenarios are based on deserted islands. By watching these shows, I have many real life images in my head about what a deserted island looks like. These previous images contributed immensely as I was able to vividly imagine the world of Lord of the Flies. This led to a better understanding of the book. 

The book I struggled with the most was Sula by Toni Morrison. I felt lost throughout large parts of the novel. I discovered it difficult to keep track of the plot, the characters, and what Morrison was talking about. Many times I wondered the role several characters played in the book. A good example is Shadrack. I never quite grasped his part in Sula. He would appear at random points in the book such as his National Suicide Day march. Additionally, I was not a fan of the plot and the sequence of events. Maybe my dislike of the plot and the novel in general can be accredited to the fact I am a male reading a book meant more for females. 

Yet another summer reading book I struggled with was The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay. The primary reason why this novel presented a challenge was the length. In a summer where I was extremely busy, I could only read short sections at a time. While a steady reading schedule is usually beneficial when tackling a novel, it proved detrimental to my summer reading progress as it took up a large chunk of my break, thus forcing me to speed read several books at the end of the summer. Although The Power of One frustrated me with its duration, it was a very good novel. I enjoyed the story of Peekay. His triumphs throughout the The Power of One are incredible. Many people can learn from Peekay's determination and will to survive in any situation. Furthermore, the reading was relatively smooth even though it seemed to take forever to complete. Despite my previous memories of summer reading, I had a better experience this round, mainly due to the large number of well written novels I read.