Thursday, March 12, 2009

Daddy Was The Black Dahlia Killer

Janice Knowlton's Daddy Was The Black Dahlia Killer is a thrilling spine chilling epic. One of the most enduringly fascinating crimes of American history.
The fact that the book is real and in such great detail, grabs the reader and holds on tight. The text tells if a monstrous murderer. On January 15, 1947, walker made a gruesome find in a lot of Los Angeles: the body of Elizabeth Short, a mediocre Hollywood actress was naked, cut into two, and babaricly mutilated. The demise of Short jump started a man hunt, people went crazy and the press even nick-named the murdered girl the Black Dahlia. How amazing the crime was for me when I realized the crime went on unsolved for almost half a century until here recently?
The chiling truth shall set you free. When the murders' daughter shared her repressed memories of her father's murders. By the age of ten Janice (the daughter) had many repressed memories of her father killing people in their california home. The Black Dahlia was not the first and cetainly not the last of her sightings.
How can someone let so much time go by without saying anything to anyone? Counselors took over four decades to put the traumaized girl together to get the memories to surface. No wonder she could not speak. The girl watched her father commit over nine sadistic murders including the murder of her very own infant son, a child of incest. Using a huge array of items, Janice exposed her father to the LA police.What's wrong with the father? The Dahlia Killer's crime spread from rape to murder for over thirty years.
Janice Knowlton took bravery and courage to tell the story of her evil father in this gut wrenching novel of America's most notorious serial murderer. If CSI and NYPD Blue dont quite cut the cheese for you i recommend reading this three hundred and sixty three page novel.

Cowboys

Sarah Davidson's novel Cowboy is 300 pages of gritty love. Inspiring without being mushy, Cowboy is one of the most unique rides you will go on.
An older professional woman, an well educated woman who writes books and screenplays moves to the country acres of Arizona. Love comes in unlikely places is proven when she meets a younger man that make bridles. The two magnets meet and fall head over heels. How low will you stoop for love? How coud a educated success fall into a fling with an uneducated bridle maker?
Does your career determine your love interest? In this case yes, for a whie the stature of the two does affect their love. Both think the fling will end soon or at least wont last long, but cupid has another thing coming for the both of them. The fling last longer than the both of them could have expected.
This novel is a page turner, you will be glued to your seat and your eyes will becolme stuck to the pages. Never will you want to sat the book down.

The Cheetah Girls

Deborah Gregory's Cheetah Girs series is a diva packed blast. The series tells the story of how five girls follow their dream of being famed singers and start a pop group. Book number one is Wishing on a Star.
Galleria, Chanel, Dorinda, Anginette, and Aquanette are the founders of the group and are all best friends. They work together to get a mega recording deal and those mega bucks. Everyday they hang out like regular kids, practice their songs, and enjoy their families. Cheetahs prove that fame does not mean you have to change yourself.
The girls go through many problems along the road of preparation. High school days give the girls time to get their priorities together. This is a book of divas and stars.

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Anthem

Ayn Rand's Anthem is a novel of the hopes and dreams of tommorrow. The novel has many ways to approach the text from sci-fi to christian, but the true meaning is clear no matter how you approached the text. Hope is eternal, no matter how bad the times may get, hope will always find a way to survive.


Equality 7-2521(the main character) is different from everyone in the world around him and at first he fights his individuality and tries to be like everyone else. Everyone incuding teachers know that he is not fooling anybody. Individualism is not permitted in this Distopic/utopia, the law monitors everyone and everything that goes on. In reading Equality's journey you learn that being in a group all the time is not good. Having no voice in life is no way to live. Even if you are going to be called evil of damned for being unique then take all the names people through at you.

Another lesson be learned is, how far will you go for love. In the world Equality lived in nobody was alowed to love. Men over the age of 21 and women at and over the age of 18 go to the City Palace of Mating every spring and babies are born every winter. Women and Men never know their children and never get to wonder where there children are? The males of the time have never seen pregnant women ever!!! Love was a word that meant "the emotion you share for your fellow brothers, and no you can not love one person more than your brothers". Equality althrough out the novel took the law into his own hands, so when he saw Liberty he fell in love fast. Everyday he woud go to her job and watch her. They made eye contact and even gave each other new names. Their love was eternal and illegal. Time flew and they when they ran away together, they both agreed their love would get them through any trials that would come.

In the end, I recommend reading the novel and not taking the life we as people from the present are previledged enough to live for granted.

Call of the Wild

The novel Call of the Wild is a timeless classic. Call of the Wild touches many topics but the most stricking is related to Charles Darwin's theory of survival of the fittest.
Charles Darwin, a world reknown scientist developed the theory of survival of the fittest, which stated the strongest or most suited organism survives in the environment while the weak shall perish away. Organism may adapt to new conditions although not all organisms do. In the novel Buck a huge race dog most become well duited to his new life of racing. Just like the theory states Buck survived because he adapted to the cold wilderness environment.
Although surviving in the wilderness may have saved buck's life the massive dog was no where near eady to live in every day society by the end of the novel. The wild wolf ancestors of Buck's had taken over and he was not adiquit for being around humans like in the beginning of the novel. Does surviving come with a cost? In order to survive in rough situations do you have to give up all of your home training? Buck did, and had to pay the price of losing the life he had become so acostume to.Buck went through many hard tests and tried to stay true to himself as much as could. But the great dog could only bear so much of the burden. Buch had to endure horrible weather, brutal beatings, and creul dogs. When conditions get just right the urge takes over and your body goes into survival auto pilot.
If Buck was loved so much by the family he had grown with, why did no one come looking for him. The novel mentioned nothing about lost posters,search teams, or even someone establishing that he was missing. If my beloved dog was missing I take a stand and go to the edge of the world and back to fing him. For a dog that has been in the family for so long they really did not seem to heart broken to see him go. Why was that I wonder?
In the end, surviving takes a toll on you, you must decide if getting through another day is worth throwing away a whole lifetime of work or even if the situation is worth trying to survive.

To Perfect My World

The definition of Utopia is a perfect world for all of mankind. In my own unique Utopia there would be diversity, emotion, and freedom. My word would be vperfect in all the chaos of life.



Being an individual is vital to the world,for without individuals nothing could be accomplished. People that are content with being ther own man come up with ideas and trends of the future. Benjamin Franklin discovered electricity while paying in a storm, people of the time probably thought he was crazy, but his adventurous thrill for knowledge allowed him to discover electricity. Individuals are the future and woud most definately be included in my utopia.

Next in importance to diversity, emotions keep my imaginary utopia functional. Love, hate, lust, sadness, anger, and everything else the mind and heart ccan ponder are free to be felt in my world. Nobody has to monitor their feelings and thoughts, and everyone is free to as angry of happy as their hearts desire. Many mistakes can be made from some of these emotions but most of the mistakes are worth making. how can amyone enjoy living in a world like the one in Ayn Rand's Anthem? The law calls you evil if you have emotions for yourself!! Not ever in my world would someone be able to say that their emotions got them refered to as evil without just cause. Emotions are highly valued in my utopia.

Last but certainly not least is FREEDOM, the virtue of all of mankind. Freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of the press, freedom of life itself are all offered in my world. People wont live like mummies going from day to day without any say in their lives. There is no fear of the law enforcement deciding your every move. Every indivdual is free and able to achieve their pursuit of happiness what ever that may be. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr said, "Letb Freedom Ring" and i shall let freedom ring from nation to nation in my world. In this amazing world of mine people can express there true selves and have no shame in being thereselves. If you are punk rock you are allowed to have a mowhawk and funk colored attire, even if you change your style everyday, you are free too. Amazing advancements would be made with the free people of my utopia.
In the end, no world that is filled with control 365 is worth living in. Citizens need diversity, emotions, and freedom to truely live in utopia. People have to have hope for the future and diversity, emotions, and freedom give way to that hope. My utopia is perfect in all the chaos and trials and tribulations that come with living in a perfect world.

Friday, February 13, 2009

Antigone Review

Sophocles' Antigone is an exeptional novel that shows people how taking a stand can alter life. I personally loved the novel and the major pionts hidden within the writting.
The main character Antigone, a young girl with a goal takes a stand for her beloved brother. Against all odds she does what she believes in no matter the consequences. Antigone gives proof that love conquers all. The headstrong girl fights authority and and buries her brother. A tragic hero Haemon portrays love by defying his father and comitting suicide for the love of his life. This novel raised questions to me like: what would one do for love?, How far would you go to save the love of your life?, and Is love as strong as Antigone and Haemon made the emotion out to be?.
Love is not the only important subject in the novel. Pride is not always the way to go. Pride ruined many lives in the novel. The major tragic hero Creon, pride filled and stubborn distroyed his whole life. Pride is an important part of life, but too much pride can kill. Creon killed Antigone and his son with his king size pride. Reading the book i wondered how could a father be so blinded to the fact that his own son was trying to persuade him to save his loved fiance? Or how could a man/leader of a city be so high and mighty that he can tell a sister that she can bury one brother but has to disown the other? I mean a good leader should not force a citizen to do a task he himself would not perform. In retrospect Creon could be considered a corrupt leader in a sense. He thought of his position before he thought or even felt a ounce of humility towards others. Pride can people everything.
What would family do for family? Not only did our Tragic hero lose his son he lost his whole family yoo. Antigone was Creon's neice along with being his soon to be daughter in law. How a true man could kil his neice is beyound my mental compacity. But even so, Creon should have known that the true love Haemon had for Antigone was not going to permit him to let her go without a hard core fight. In haemon's case he fought and gave up his life. Creon should have just admitted to being wrong and spared Antigone's life, therefore saving Haemon and allowing Creon to not lose another son.
This novel is full of minor tragic heros but the greatest of all is Creon, the pride filled father. I recommend reading the novel, because it teaches so many lessons and makes the reader think twice before letting pride get the best of themselves.