Reading Journal #6

"It is a decision that would haunt me forever."

This quote was during the segment where the main character had to shoot a M-16 mounted grenade launcher at a group of people who were surrounding the main character and his party's compound. Knowing full well he'd kill many people, he had to do what needed to be done.

This is quote that can be personally applied to every single living human being on this planet. We all have our regrets, and even one or two that will never go away in our life no matter what we try. These type of regrets are the worse, they never let up, pangs within your conscience that make you lose sleep in the night over until you fix it or learn to deal with it. The thing is that even if you learn to deal with it, it just won't disappear. Old scars are left that will never leave, the type that are visible only to you, who made them. These haunting decisions are usually major parts of our lives, kind of like a fork in the road. Once you go down one end, the other is forever lost. But at the end of the day, we live with it, not giving up the fight, even when we worry over it constantly.

Reading Journal #5

"He felt that something dreadful had happened, but he did not know what it was."

This is some of the opening quotes of the book, which signal what was to happen to the main character. He had lost his memory, which he did not find out until later, much to his dismay, so he sets out and finds ways to retrieve it throughout the novel.

Trash:Letter to Mr.Seal

Trash, a rather serious book, was brought to me by my partner, who recommended we read the book together for the book study group. It was a different experience, out of the norm compared to what we usually do, which is reading a novel solo, so I enjoyed the affair rather pleasantly, my partner being a hasty enthusiast, encouraging me to continue on. Unfortunately, our group was limited to only two members, while a bigger party would be more exciting, with greater discussion exchanged between members. Our blogs were where we got to read each others viewpoint on certain matters, and to reply with our own point of view, either conflicting or agreeing with the former. I went against my partner in one vital part:the story. He favors the plot and writing style, while I abhor it, the reason is because the narrator is constantly changing from one character to another, much to my dismay. The ending is a positive one, but of the vacuous happy variety, leaving much to desire. In any case, there was one significant quote that echoed throughout the story, the mentioning that "It is accomplished", which symbolized that the great crime that happened in the story has been corrected. To right the wrongs of the senator that stole from the common people, eventually meeting his downfall.

Trash:Letter from a Character

Gardo here.
It's been a tough ride if you look back at what has happened. Meeting Gabriel Olondriz and relaying him the message Jose Angelico had written in code before he was murdered. The message calmed Mr. Olondriz, who must have passed away peacefully. We did the right thing, righting a terrible wrong that Senator Zanpanta had done to the nation. One of my biggest regrets would have to not being able to help Raphael when he was taken by the police, beaten and bruised to a pulp, but he doesn't blame me. If only I had some way to contact my cousins and tell them of my adventure, but that is impossible now. All that we've been through, I'm proud. We found the money that Jose Angelico had taken back and hid and gave it back to Belhala, to help them with their never-ending trash digging. As far as I'm concern, when evil rears it's ugly head and takes advantage of poor people, there will be retribution.

Trash:Letter to Author

Dear Andy Mulligan,
Hello, I wanted to discuss with you about your book, "Trash". I have a few questions about it, such as the settings and plot itself. Why didn't you explain where the story was set in? You may have wanted to keep it ambiguous, to give it a feel of many third world countries, but not knowing the exact location itself vexes me to no end. I also wanted to inquire about Raphael and his scene in where he got beaten up at the police station, was it really necessary for that? I can't help but feel that the scene was brutal was no other reason than to just fulfill the clique that third world officials are always corrupt, which is oddly enough the main plot point of the story. Despite all that, the feeling of wanting to figure out the mystery remains constant, a page-turner in the words of the common people. I can understand your message of sorts in this story, the message that when you live with so little in a corrupt world, you have to use your wits to stay alive, a survival of the fittest. The world is a harsh environment, for "I learned that the world revolves around money...Without money, you shrivel and die."

Sincerely, Mr. A

Trash:Letter to Each Other

Hey D.,
It's me, A.! I recently started reading this book called "Trash" by a bloke of the name "Andy Mulligan". It's about kids that live in a dump-site in Mexico, yeah, a dump-site, and one of them, named Raphael finds a bag with money and a letter inside. He unwittingly brings two of his friends in on his secret and they soon find out that the police are frantically searching for the bag, and important piece of evidence of sorts. The story then takes a sharp turn towards solving the mystery of the murder of a man, taking some individuals into the fray and stuff. I personally don't like this book too much since it's a little too dull for my taste in that it has kids as the main characters, and the setting is set in Mexico where crime is expected to be anyway. It will probably end up with Raphael and his friends solving the crime and getting a happy ending, like all other mystery stories. You probably wouldn't get much thought provoking questions in your head other than how will the story end. I personally wouldn't recommend it too often, but it has it's positives.

From, A.

The Legendary Leaf Legend

Leafy McTree, a young leaf of about 3 months old, finally left his secure and snug home of Maple Syrup Pineapple village to go on an adventure in the midst of summer. His greatest challenge was that of breaking away from “Mr. Bob, the Really Big Tree”. First, he had to break his leg, his stem that connected him to the old tree. After finally completing the task, he had to endure the rush of the flight downward, which was very violent, causing him to cry from fright and wet his leaf-pants from the ride down to the ground. The next segment of his journey was the most crucial part that decided his fate from life, or leaf-death. Like many of his brothers before him, he had to endure the discomfort of lying among many of his fallen brethren, unable to move, unable to scream. Days passed by, which turned to weeks, which in turn became months, but he was determined, waiting for his day to come. That day would soon come, but it wasn’t as he expected. Sun high in the sky, half past noon, and there was a roar. It was no ordinary roar either; it sounded hollow and a hint of in-leafy terror. He had heard of the tale of such a monster, having been around far longer than his ancestors of the seasons before. Its roar was strong, powerful enough to blow away many he knew. But he was different, for he was not like all the other leaves. He had the power to evolve. He stood his ground, growing a great mane of yellow stems coming from his leaf-like head, increasing his power a hundred-fold. He was strong, godlike even amongst his people, and with the tip of his invisible leafy hand he attacked the monster…...and was promptly blown away like nothing, as if it was a battle between a simple leaf against a leaf blower. He was crushed; devastated over his loss, but despite that, he did not give up, drifting along the river stream to a strange place, home of the giants. He liked the scenery, but he felt there was something wrong coming near. The atmosphere turned dark and heavy, and the sun was covered by humongous floating clouds. The sky started to fall, huge drops of water exploding around him and increasing. Much to his luck, there was a dead comrade lying around to shield Leafy from the worst of the explosions until he found cover under a cave. The water became more rapid, more brutal, and to makes matters worse, the water began to solidify. There was no way such a storm of catastrophic proportions would leave anything alive, it simply wasn’t possible. He resigned himself to his doomed fate, much like his comrade, but miraculously, he survived the intense storm. He laughed, and he did so for a very long time, knowing full well he had found his role in life. After all his adventures, he was now an old withered leaf, enduring all the worst nature had to offer, and lived. He was content, learning a lot from his travels and so he went home, to tell of his stories to the many young leaves, waiting to be carried away to start on their own journey to learn of the world. After much thought, Leafy decided to create a new village to train future young leaves to better prepare them for the future for many generations to come. And so, the legend lives on to this day, the Epic of The Legendary Leaf Legend!