Why I Read

I read because I love stories. I think it’s so interesting to hear all of the creative ideas that authors come up with. Even when I just hear a summary about a book I get interested. There are so many creative possibilities for stories that you could never get bored reading. Not all of the stories created are super interesting but it’s cool to just hear the idea.

I love to think that when I am reading I’m basically getting to know the author more personally. They thought up this idea that you are reading and put it into their own thought up words. Every author has their own style of writing and trying out each author’s writing style is fun for me. I love people so when I read a book and I’m getting to know a person better, it makes me happy. Another reason I read is because there are so many good books. People who say they don’t like to read just haven’t found books to appeal to them. If you think you are too manly to read then there are books that have blood and violence and action. If you think you’re too cool to read there are books with characters modeled after people just like you. There is always a book for everyone, no matter what your story is. I like that aspect of reading. It’s something everyone can fit into. I’m not a bookworm or anything but there is are days when I find a really good book, and it’s usually an easy read like Harry Potter or Hunger Games, and I just read the whole day. Then I may go a week or more without even picking up a book. I don’t think that makes me a bad reader, just more of a specific type of reader. I’m kind of a bandwagon reader. But when I am on the bandwagon, I get super on the bandwagon. I guess I don’t really have a specific reason why I enjoy reading. I’m not great at organizing my thoughts. But it’s pretty simple that I like to read because books are good. And sometimes they’re not.

Capitol World

Capitol World My idea is to have a Capitol World, just like they do Harry Potter World. It could look all futuristic like the one in the book does and have a really fast train around the city. People could ride the train; visit the districts, sort of like Epcot only for Hunger Games. The workers would be dressed in colorful clothes and weird and crazy makeup/hairstyles. The workers would reenact the scenes of interviews that happened in the book like when Katniss is first doing her interview in front of the crowd. They would also have parades where they reenact the parade from the “girl on fire” scene. An actor meant to play Katniss would stand up in the dress worn in the movie. Many of the Movie stars would come to the park, signing autographs, meeting with fans, and acting out scenes of the movie. Guests would stay in the hotel that Katniss and Peeta stayed in in the book when they were waiting to start the Games. They would use similar technology like the shower with many buttons and the instant room service. To keep things from getting repetitive the park would give Caesar, the TV host, a television show to put on live at the park every day. On his TV show he would create fake Capitol drama, give updates on the districts and have fun segments that promote more audience interaction. Another idea is to create other thrill rides for the park that are related to the actual games themselves. They would have realistic simulators of the games. In one it could be an IMAX theater where the screens show fireballs coming at you in 3D or giant dogs running towards you and the audience is supposed to react like the tributes would and run or duck, etc. That comes from the book when Katniss gets attacked by the Capitol’s dogs and fire. They would even make a real forest/lake area for kids to go around and explore. It would be a scary simulation so it would probably cater more towards the older kids. The forest would be filled with actors playing the tributes, obviously they wouldn’t kill you but they could still make it scary. One actor would try to “kill” the others, use props such as fake knives, fake blood, etc. and fight each other, putting on a thrilling show for the audience. Quotes: “…a woman with aqua hair and gold tattoos above her eyebrows …” pg. 61 (What the workers and actors will model themselves after) “…she pipes in her silly capitol accent.” pg. 61 (How they will model their speech) “What must it be like, I wonder, to live in a world where food appears at the press of a button?” pg. 65 (How to design the Hotel) I think this idea would be good because it would attract a lot of different people. People would bring their smaller kids for the train rides and other amusement rides and adults/older children would enjoy staying in the hotel and seeing the parade, making the book come alive. It will keep people interested in the books because it’s like an ongoing amusement park that you can always come back to. You won’t get bored with it because there will be real people talking with the Capitol accent and entertaining you with activities that are related to the Hunger Games. It doesn’t always have to be direct scenes from the book, as long as it is something they might do, like the TV show. Something indirect that they could do would be to create a Capitol Zoo. They would have a zoo filled with animals, some mentioned in the book like Mockingjays, Tracker Jackers, and the dogs. They could also create other animals that would have come from the Capitol but weren’t really mentioned in the book. If you only used things from the book(s) people would get bored and not want to come back.

Future of Books

March 22, 2012

When I think of a book, I think of a paper or cardboard bound stack of papers with a story printed on neat black inked letters inside. But in these times that's not necessarily what a book is. Book are online, able to be downloaded (legally and illegally) and read on an electronic reading device. To me, a book will always be the cardboard bound papers with the neat black inked letters that fills the shelves in my den. I don't have any problem with "E-Books", but I think they shouldn't be called that. Something, instead, like "E-Stories". Because when you buy an "E-Book" you aren't getting a book, you are getting a story. The story is still the same story it would be inside the cardboard, typed in the fresh black ink...in the most technical sense. However, the BOOK itself no longer exsists. A book needs pages. It needs to give readers the satisfaction of getting further and further as you read more and more. The struggle of trying to pry open a stiff spined book and grasp the first 3 or so pages when you start and the last 3 or so when you end. Books need to smells. They need to smell like the basement it's been living in, or the old man's house you bought it from for $.25 at a garage sale. Even if it just smells like fresh paper straight from the Barnes & Noble press, a book needs a smell. I dare everyone with a kindle to right now sniff the front screen and I can almost guarantee it's not going to be anything special. I agree with Tom Piazza when he says that everything becomes 2-dimensional and flat. The screen traps the stories behind it, opposed to unleashing them in your room and allowing you to get lost.

 I made up like 95% of what I just wrote because it sounded good. It doesn't make a huge difference to me. Although I loved the thing about grasping at pages in a stiff spined book, and like everyone, I do appreciate a good book-smell, I don't think the kindle kills the story. A book and a kindle are the same dimensions, if you want to get lost in the book, you can, no matter the medium. I do agree with Victor LaValle when he says it's very Old Testament way of thinking but there is a line. Obviously my 2004 copy of Magic Tree House isn't my most prized possession, but a copy of Jane Eyre, however dull it may be, that was one of the first ever copied and printed with the pretty gold edges and the fancy leather cover is going to be more treasurable. I liked the part LaValle wrote about "Other melodramatic nonsense". That's all this issue is. I'm sure that Charlie Sheen, Steve Carrell, and Hilary Swank would be just fine posing for their tasteful library posters clutching a kindle in their hands. Publishers and authors just don't appreciate the pay cuts.