Book Blog #3Everybody Sees The Ants by A.S. King was a great book. The author wrote the book in the perspective of the main character named Lucky Linderman. Lucky's personality changes a lot throughout the book. Sometimes Lucky does not care what others think, or how his actions affect them. There are times when he's strong and confident, and there are other times when he is terrified of his bully. He would do anything just to stay away from him. After meeting Ginny and her friends, Lucky becomes a new person. He tries to spend time with his dad (whom he compares to turtle), and races his mom in the pool just to spend time with her. For once in his life life, Lucky didn't care about being called a "mommy's boy". Lucky decides that he cannot save his grandpa. It's impossible to save someone who is twelve thousand miles away through your dreams. His grandpa tells him that he is only coming here to escape his reality. Lucky realizes that his wise grandpa is correct.
The ending of Everybody Sees The Ants makes me angry. It's a very unexpected ending. It's not at all what I was expecting or hoping it to be. I was hoping for more information, but it instead left me with more questions than answers. Even though this book infuriates me, I strongly suggest others to read it. It is definitely one of my favorite books.
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This song is called State of My Head by a band called Shinedown. This song is fairly new, it was released in their newest album Threat To Survival earlier this month. Due to this song being stuck in my head ever since the day it came out, I figured I would write a review and explain what I think the lyrics mean.
"It’s been a long bumpy ride sittin’ back in the saddle. It’s time to get down, dirty up our knees in the battle. Come on, round up the boys, gonna make the walls rattle." This part of the song makes me think he's in a fight and is rounding up the boys to defend himself, or win the fight. "Oh, our flag is tattered, And our bones are shattered, But it doesn’t matter, ‘Cause we’re movin’ forward. Round ‘em up, round ‘em up, let’s go. Round ‘em up, let’s go. Oh, my eyes are seein’ red. Double vision from the blood we’ve shed. The only way I’m leavin’ is dead. That’s the state of my, state of my, state of my head" These lyrics make me think that it's some sort of war because it talks about the flag, and shedding blood. Maybe they are losing the war. "They don’t know, where we’ve been. We got that concrete street skin. The only way I’m leavin’ is dead. That’s the state of my, state of my, state of my head. That’s the state of my, state of my, state of my head." This reminds of of being tough and standing up for yourself. They're using the things they've been through as a way of saying they can deal with anything. They have concrete street skin (tough skin). "We’ve been shot up, beat up by the fallin’ of the arrows (arrows, arrows, arrows). Yeah, I’m full of deep cuts right down to the marrow. But there’s no doubt we’ll get out from the bottom of the barrel." Talking about arrows in this part of the song definitely makes me think about war but wars that happened long ago. We don't fight wars with arrows anymore, we use bullets. "Can you hear me now, can you hear me now. I’m comin’ back for more. Do you feel me now, do you feel me now. I’m breakin’ down your door." Earlier in the song it sounded like they were losing the battle, so now he's saying that they're coming back for more. They're not giving up. He's breaking down the door to try to win the fight. "I’m not speakin’ under my breath. ‘Cause the harder you push, the rougher I get. ‘Cause I’m not shakin’, when the earth starts quakin’. Got my own foundation with no hesitation and the Oh, my eyes are seein’ red. Double vision from the blood we’ve shed. The only way I’m leavin’ is dead. That’s the state of my, state of my, state of my head." Now it sounds like he is winning the war. Where it says "the harder you push, the rougher I get." makes me feel like he's overpowering the enemy. "They don’t know, where we’ve been. We got that concrete street skin. The only way I’m leavin’ is dead. That’s the state of my, state of my, state of my head." He's telling the enemy that he is not going to give up. The only way he'll leave is if they kill him, because that's what his head is telling him to do. (Lyrics below.) Happiness, based on sociology, is not completely up to you. Your happiness can come from the influence of others, from the place in which you live, and surprisingly, your genetics. In fact, according to sociology, we are shaped by other people around us. We are not individuals, we are a community. The person, sitting quietly in the classroom, has more in common with you than you may think. The person in front of you, driving slowly, has somewhere to be just like you. Everything that you feel, think, imagine, hope for, everything that you do, down to the smallest and most private actions, are influence by others. Everything that happens in your life is shaped by factors that you will never see or even understand. According to sociology, you have no control over your life whatsoever.
For those that are not completely sure what sociology even is, the definition of sociology is the scientific study of social structure. The sociologist, a scientific fellow, studies society based on social structure. If we had the perspective of sociologist, we would see that we are never alone. Our problems are not only ours. Our problems are everyone's problems. I watched a Ted talks video about sociology and he used this example. (Although this is a sensitive topic.) Say in some town, there are approximately 100 suicides every year. Imagine someone is sitting in their room alone, and they are having tough times. The person wants to kill them self, and they have some pills in their hand. They know, that if they take the pills, they will die. A sociologist would look at the situation and think, 100 people would decide to take the pills. This is because none of us are are alone, we are all connected whether we like it or not. In the video he said that person troubles, are public issues. Think of it this way, when you're having some sort of issue or you're angry about something, we go tell our best friends or the people closest to us. Does our problem not become theirs now as well? Lucky Linderman has been through a lot so far in this book. On top of trying to save his grandfather, Harry, every night in his dreams, his mother has now left his father. His mother told him that they just needed a break from each other, so he and his mom are staying with her brother Dave and his crazy, pill obsessed wife, Jodi. Jodi is convinced that Lucky is not normal, that he is depressed. She even called some professionals into her home to "help" him. Although Jodi wants to help him, she's also hurting him. She convinced the 15 year old that it is his fault that his mom left her husband, how rude, right? One night Lucky went out for a walk, and he met a girl named Ginny. Lucky compares Ginny to a ninja and thinks that she is incredibly attractive. At the same time this is all happening, the book is also telling a story in the perspective of Lucky while he was in school. Lucky got into trouble at for making a survey about suicide. The survey asked what method they would use if they wanted to kill themselves. He has gotten several of the surveys back from one girl named Charlotte. The last survey he received from her read that she would hang herself, and she would do it next week. The book I am reading is called Everybody Sees The Ants by A.S. King. The book is about a boy named Lucky Linderman. Lucky's grandfather (Harry), his dad's dad, was drafted into the Vietnam war, but he never returned home. Lucky's grandfather and his grandmother (Janice) would write letters back and forth to each other explaining what exactly is happening in both of their lives at the time. Lucky's grandmother sent a letter one day, and never received one back. Harry was a prisoner of war. Janice was told hat her husband was presumed to be dead, even though they found never any proof or body parts to prove that he is no longer alive. Janice would speak in rallys and hold speeches talking about Prisoners of War (POW/MIA), because she knew in her heart that her husband was still alive.
When Lucky was just 7 years old, he was visiting his grandmother, but she was not well. She was dying. The book doesn't give a whole lot of details about how this happened, except for the fact that she had colon cancer, but Lucky's mother called him into the room and told him to say goodbye to his grandmother, and she said to him, "Lucky, you have to rescue my Harry! He's still in the jungle being tortured by those damn gooks!" Lucky's mother tried convincing him that it was just the medicine making her crazy, but Lucky doesn't believe that. In fact, Lucky has had terrifyingly real dreams about saving his grandfather. They are so real that if he gets wet, he will wake up with dipping hair. If he had Chicken nuggets in his pocket, he would wake up with them in his hands and bed. By now you may be wondering, where do the ants come into play? Well, Lucky sees red ants. The ants talk to him and comment on things that happen in his life. Something strange is, no one else can see the ants. There are people who love writing. They would write twenty four hours a day, seven days a week if they didn't have to eat and sleep. They view writing as a sanctuary or an escape. Writing takes them on an adventure. Writing helps them meet people they have only dreamed of meeting, whether the people are real or fantasy is up to them. People who love writing write about their trips to Rome or Greece, or to Hogwarts and Narnia. There is not a limit to the places they will go, the people they will meet, or the experiences they gain. Of course they realize it is not real, it's only a document on the computer or a paper on the table, but it feels real to them.
There are people who hate writing. They will do everything in their power to stay away from ever having to come up with a story, no matter the extremes they have to endure. They view writing as torture or a trap. Writing is just a complete nightmare for them. They don't find any use in meeting fictional people that they create in their heads. They don't care to write about someone else going to some foreign land or a fictional world. They are not interested in fake magical powers. Of course they see others having fun writing, but they themselves can't find anything enjoyable about it. Which type of person are you? |
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