Review of Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Summary: Cinder is a cyborg, and in New Beijing, that means that she is an outcast. She also happens to be a fantastic mechanic, and that is how she first meets Prince Kai and becomes embroiled in palace intrigue. Prince Kai, meanwhile, is desperately trying to stop the deadly plague that covers the nation and make tentative peace with the Lunar people.

My rating: 8/10 stars.

Plot: For a Cinderella retelling, I greatly enjoyed this story. I loved that the familiar Cinderella storyline was noticeable, yet subtle enough not to distract from the other elements of the story. Marissa Meyer deftly managed to meld fairytale with original tale, adding her own twists to the familiar story. I especially loved it when Cinder arrived at the ball and caused a stir, but not because she was the most beautiful girl there—because she was wearing a wrinkled dress, grease-stained gloves, and had mussy hair!
One tiny qualm that others might have about the plot was its predictability. I guessed the two major plot twists near the beginning, and turned out to be right when they happened. But, since I like to know the end of the story before I finish reading (because the Unknown causes me a lot of stress), I didn't mind at all.
I did feel, however, that bits and pieces of the political plotline could have been explained just a little more clearly, and that other parts of the plot could have been expanded on a bit (like Cinder fixing up the car).

Characters: The characters in Cinder are delightful. I immediately liked Cinder and Prince Kai. I also liked Dr. Erland, though I was a bit suspicious of him. I think Cinder felt that way about him, too, but that didn't inhibit her from learning all she could from him.
And let's not get started on the Lunars... They have something called "glamour," where they can manipulate biochemical energy and make people think, feel, and do whatever they want. Their queen, Levana, wants to take over earth. Like the characters in the book, I felt repulsed by Queen Levana and her threats.
Each character fulfilled their purpose, and left an impression on me.

Would I recommend this book? If you are a person who likes fairytale retellings, and if you are a person who likes quick, easy reads with good plot and characters, then I would definitely recommend this book! (There are, I believe, two swear words in this book.) The other books in the Lunar Chronicles are also great.

Live long and prosper.

Regarding Rewriting and Reading

Instead of writing short stories set in my fantasy world for NaNoWriMo, I have ended up using November thus far to finish re-writing my fantasy novel. As it so happens, I am only ONE chapter away from finishing! Most likely, I will finish the first rewrite of this novel TOMORROW.
When I wrote the first draft, I was so fed up with all the plot changes that had occurred (and, let's face it, I was wiped out from handwriting 60,000 words during NaNoWriMo) that I didn't even write the ending; I only summarized it. Writing the ending has been wonderful, but, at the same time, I'm sad that's it's nearly over. I've been working on this story for nearly two years (I had to the first idea for this book in December 2013).
Yet, I know I need to step back from the story for a few months. I know there are countless character, world, plot, and prose problems to fix, but I can't pinpoint anything because I'm too close right now. I don't see problems and remedies—I see: AKSDKHAKLHASDJFLA.
It's like having the lens on your camera zoomed in too close. When you look through the view-finder, everything is blurry and you are left saying, "Huh? What am I looking at?" As soon as you zoom out and distance yourself from the picture, you say, "Ohhhh! So THAT'S what I was seeing!" I'm at the "Huh?" stage and it will take a few months to get to the "Ohhhh!" stage. Because I'm not sure what my novel looks like at this point, I'm going to postpone letting people (other than my parents) read it for awhile.

So what's next on the writing horizon after I finish this rewrite? Well, I've been asking myself a lot of writing-related questions lately, such as:
-"How much of writing is inherent talent, and how much of writing is learned skill?"
-"How much editing is too much?"
-"If I nitpick every detail to make sure that everything is textbook perfect, will the story be too formal to be enjoyable?"
-"Are books like Harry Potter so consistent in detail because of copious planning and brilliant editing, or because the author is a highly-organized writer, a genius of his trade?"
-"What makes two people into a 'ship*'?"
-"How can I present important information without dumping it into my reader's heads via a boring, page-long block of text?"
-"How do I describe perfume?"
I'm going to take the Sleeping Beauty retelling I wrote in June for the Five Magic Spindles contest and experiment with it, attempting to answer some of the above questions (especially the ones dealing with editing). It's important in a story for each scene to either advance the plot or the character arc*, so I'm going to take each scene in my Sleeping Beauty story and analyze whether it achieves that goal. I'm also going to work on evoking emotions in the reader by writing my characters a certain way (for instance, writing my two main characters in a way that makes the audience "ship" them), and I'm going to work on creating a comprehensive and descriptive world so that the reader can clearly picture what I write about.
I'm hoping that, through this experiment, I can refine my editing techniques so that, when I start working on the plot, character, and worldbuilding issues in my fantasy novel, I can have some idea of what I'm doing, instead of aimlessly blundering about.

So, what have I been reading lately, you may ask, glancing back at the title of this post.
Good question. I've been reading a plethora of fiction, though I haven't finished a lot of it. For instance, I started the final book in the Mistborn trilogy by Brandon Sanderson, but I couldn't get into it (I feel my friend glaring at me through the computer; sorry TMG!). Then, I started reading The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien because for the past few years, I've always read it in November or December in preparation for the movie coming out in theater. I couldn't get into that either and put it down.
I read Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen a few weeks ago and started Mansfield Park by the same author. I've read both books before, but Jane Austen is worth a reread. I've gotten more than halfway through Mansfield Park, but the going is slow.
I'm also reading Winter by Marissa Meyer. Winter is the final book in The Lunar Chronicles, a Young Adult sci-fi/fairytale retelling that is very good (though each book gets steadily more romantic and the novella, Fairest, can be skipped entirely, in my opinion). My friends and I went to the Winter release party a few weeks ago since it was nearby. That was really fun, and we all ended up buying signed copies of the book! Unfortunately, we didn't get to meet Marissa Meyer because the line was too long.
Finally, I'm reading Vango by Timothee de Fombelle. (Jack made me do it!) This book takes place in pre-World War II Europe and is so random and crazy and wonderful. It has chases and escapes, pirates and a zeppelin (unfortunately, the pirates don't fly the zeppelin, like in a certain implausible series), and a very mysterious, very Tintin-like main character. It's fun, too, because it was translated from French and, occasionally, there is a really weird metaphor or a really weird, random sentence that makes me think that something was lost in translation. Overall, it's a fabulous book. And it has a gorgeous cover.
My reading challenge was going well until October when I had to read The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. I didn't get very far in, partly because I found out how it ended and I really don't see the purpose of reading a huge book written in a style I ABHOR (this is the style where every sentence is so beautiful and poetic that it would be really profound if I could figure out what it meant. Can someone hand me my metaphor-cracker and symbolism-index please?) only to have all the characters... well, for spoilers sake I won't say. I don't particularly care for World War II stories anyway, so I decided to put it off indefinitely. The last two books in my challenge are from the horror genre and, at the moment, I'm just not feeling like reading that. Maybe some day I'll get to Dracula and Something Wicked This Way Comes, but today is not that day!

So, what are YOU reading? If you are a writer, have you ever asked any of the questions that I have been asking myself? Do you have any answers for me?

 

Live long and prosper

*Ship: Fangirl language for two people that are either in a relationship, or are wished together by the fans.
* Character arc: How a character grows and changes over the course of a story.

IN SUMMMEEERRRRRR

My mom and I are in Minnesota with the grandparents. Those who are familiar with Midwest summers may find it strange to hear that it's nice to escape the heat in the Pacific Northwest to the coolness of Minnesota! It's been about 70 degrees with a cold wind the past few days. At home on the west coast it's been in the 80s and 90s the past few days!
So what have I been up to?

Writing:
I've been getting a lot of writing-relating things done in the past month! In June, I wrote a Sleeping Beauty retelling. My motivation for this was for this story was Rooglewood Press' writing contest, but I don't know if I'll end up submitting it. I'm not sure it's Sleeping Beauty-ish enough. However, I fully plan on editing it in July (and perhaps sending it to a beta reader or two?) and, if I decide not to enter it in the contest, share it via installments on my blog. 
I've also just finished a whirlwind week of editing/beta-ing a book for a friend. Now that I'm finished, I have more time to work on my own projects. Not only will I be editing my Sleeping Beauty story this month, but I will also be working on my fantasy story. Remember that mysteriously hinted-at story that I wrote last year? Probably not, because I'm far too secretive about my writing and don't tell you anything.
Back in March I did a post proposing my editing plan for my fantasy story. I started Step Two—"Go through story again, this time writing down each scene on a separate note card. Also, note (in the notebooks) all character traits and quirks with sticky notes"—and got through the first notebook (of three) and then realized my plan wasn't working. I had written out, scene-by-scene, the first twenty or so (out of sixty-some) chapters and I already had fifty or sixty note cards! That was too many! So, I cut up all the note cards that I had already written out (because I'm that paranoid that someone will steal my ideas. That's why I don't talk much about my writing on my blog, too) and decided to write out a synopsis of each chapter on separate note card instead.

The cut-up note cards.

I began writing out the chapter synopsis' the other day and it's going so much quicker than it was when I was writing out each scene! I've already gotten through one notebook and am hoping to get through the second one by tomorrow night. After I finish writing out each scene, I am planning on going through them all and changing the ones that need changing (filling in plot holes and such).

Then I will rewrite it and it will be so great that I will feel confidant enough to share it with a few select people. And then, taking their suggestions in mind, will continue editing until the book is finished. And then, I will publish it and it will become the next New York bestseller. And then, I will take over the publishing world and make millions of dollars and then it will be turned into a movie and then the next best seller will come along and I will be all alone in my New York apartment rocking back and forth on my knees wondering what went wrong while surrounded by ten cheap, knock-off sequels to the first book that I wrote to try and reclaim some of my former fame.

...I may be a tad overconfident.

Reading: 

I am currently reading...
The Three Musketeers by Alexander Dumas. However, I fear that this one may have to be put on hold until August. This month, I have too many other things to read! I'm really enjoying it thus far, though. Alexander Dumas is funny!
Mistborn: The final Empire by Brandon Sanderson. This was my June fantasy read for my 2015 reading challenge. Oh, dear, I'm falling behind. Anyway... Mistborn is FANTASTIC! Any fan of fantasy should pick up this book. I haven't enjoyed a book this much in a really long time. (I especially think one of my cousins would enjoy this book... once he finishes with Wheel of Time, of course. :D).
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. This is one of my favorite books. I'm rereading it before the sequel comes out (ONE MORE WEEK!!!). We are planning on going to Sioux Falls to pick it up and I'm so excited!
The Gershwins by Robert Kimball. This is my nonfiction for the month. It is a book all about my favorite person and his brother: George and Ira Gershwin! I love this book because it has SO many pictures of George Gershwin that you wouldn't normally see, including pictures of his paintings.

"Self-portrait in an Opera Hat" by George Gershwin. Did you know that he was a painter as well as a brilliant composer? And he never had an art lesson in his life.

What I will be reading soon...
Homecoming by Christie Golden. This is a Star Trek novel that tells what happens after Voyager returns to earth (because the TV series ends as they enter earth's orbit). This one has to go back to the library in the next two or three weeks so I need to start it soon!
The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson. Mistborn, book 2.
From the Earth to the Moon (& Around the Moon) by Jules Verne. This is my reading challenge book for July. I haven't started it yet. Whoops. Since August's book is Cinder by Marissa Meyer (I changed it from an Isaac Asimov book, which I still plan to read this year), I think I will survive if this month's book trickles into August, like June's book has trickled into July.

Playing: 
I was SO happy to stop playing my senior recital songs! After playing solely the same songs for six-nine months, I was desperate for new music. Now, I'm playing a boogie woogie version of "Awesome God" by Rich Mullins; "The Russian Rag," which is a ragtime version of Rachmaninoff's "Prelude in C# Minor" (which I played for my recital); and another Claude Debussy song: Arabesque no. 1.

So, what have YOU been up to this summer?

Live long and prosper.

1984 by George Orwell and The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

 (These are reviews for my 2015 Reading Challenge.)

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD! Also, some sensitive content.

Short reviews: I liked 1984's writing, but not the plot. I liked The Hunger Games plot, but not the writing.

Longer reviews:

Title- 1984 by George Orwell.

Summary- The year is 1984 and Winston Smith works in the Ministry of Truth distorting history to make it politically correct. Even though Winston has lived most of his life with Big Brother's tyranny, he hasn't been completely brainwashed with the fanatical patriotism of his comrades. Winston knows that he's living in a fabricated reality, and longs to join the whispered-about rebellion. Then, Winston meets Julia and they begin a steamy relationship. Eventually, they are caught for their rebellious thoughts and actions and tortured until they succumb to Big Brother's brainwashing.

My rating- 4/10 stars.

Plot- I'm sure that 1984 is an incredibly original, powerful, and even prophetic novel... But I just didn't like it. For two reasons:

1. Winston and Julia's way of rebelling against the oppressive government was to have sex whenever they could, wherever they could, because the government had turned sex into a necessity instead of a pleasure.

"Listen. The more men you've had, the more I love you. Do you understand that?"
"Yes, perfectly."
"I hate purity, I hate goodness. I don't want any virtue to exist anywhere I want everyone to be corrupt to the bones."
"Well then, I ought to suit you, dear. I'm corrupt to the bones."
"You like doing this? I don't mean simply me; I mean the thing in itself?"
"I adore it."
That was above all what he wanted to hear. Not merely the love of one person, but the animal instinct, the simple undifferentiated desire: that was the force that would tear the Party to pieces.
Page 126.

Sex is not going to bring down the government. The Party is a very well-run, brainwashing machine. It's going to take a lot more than promiscuity in the Inner Party to destroy it.
In 1984, it seemed like promiscuity and hope were synonyms, which isn't true. Promiscuity is wrong and shouldn't be looked to as a solution to the world's problems. Besides, the proletariats, who make up most of the population, are freer than Party Members in that area and they haven't overthrown the government. Winston even says, at some point, that hope lies with the proles, if they would ever awaken and realize their potential (which sounds suspiciously like the plot of Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson, which I am reading right now. Maybe I am getting the two confused?).
This segues nicely into my second reason for disliking 1984...

2. Hope. Or, rather, the lack thereof.
The world is horrible in 1984: the government has absolute control over everything, even love. Children are taught to turn in their parents if they see their parents doing something wrong. Displaying the wrong emotion on one's face could get one killed. And Big Brother is always watching through the telescreens, which cannot be turned off.
But there are rumblings of a rebellion, of an underground fighting against Big Brother. There is hope! Winston is determined to find the underground; he even thinks he knows one of its members: O'Brien, who has given Winston one or two secret looks. Sure enough, O'Brien invites Winston and Julia to join the underground. They do, eagerly; but, as they are reading the rebellion's book in bed together, the police come to arrest them. It turns out that the underground is a fabrication of the Party to weasel out members who may not be completely loyal to Big Brother. Winston and Julia are tortured until they both relent and join Big Brother, all thoughts of hope for the future out of their minds forever.
I believe this to be unrealistic because there is always hope; there is always be hope in Jesus Christ. For over 2,000 years, Christianity has survived all over the world despite terrible persecution.
George Orwell wasn't a Christian, but even if one doesn't believe in God, one can still have hope. Humans are very resilient and creative. Someone in the world of 1984 had to have been working on some sort of rebellion against Big Brother. George Orwell obviously didn't decide to follow that person's story and that's fine... But the story he did choose to tell is depressing. I don't like reading depressing stories. If I wanted to be depressed, I would watch the news. Even without watching the news, I hear depressing real world stories all the time. Though I don't read to escape, necessarily, I enjoy hopeful stories where good triumphs over evil. Eventually, that is how this world will turn out, after all. God has already won the battle.

Characters-
Winston: He's very... gray. He doesn't have much of a personality and seems to be beaten and downtrodden, even though he does have thoughts of rebellion against Big Brother. I think Freud would probably say he has problems with his mother. He certainly has a fascination for women. 

Julia: Julia is a very good liar. She pretends to be a perfect citizen while living promiscuously on the side. Here is her mindset:

Life as [Julia] saw it was quite simple. You wanted a good time; "they," meaning the Party, wanted to stop you having it; you broke the rules as best you could... Any kind of organized revolt against the Party...struck her as stupid. The clever thing was to break the rules and stay alive all the same.
Page 131.

Neither of them are very admirable protagonists. None of the other character's made enough of an impact on me to be mentioned.

Writing- As I've said before, I like George Orwell's writing style. It's simple, and he doesn't include any extra or distracting information.

Good advice, Georgie.

Title- The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.

Summary- Every year, two children from each of the twelve districts is chosen to take part in the Hunger Games—a brutal competition where the children must kill each other until there is only one person left: the winner. This year, Katniss Everdeen volunteers as tribute to save her little sister from the Hunger Games. What will happen in the arena, especially now that Katniss' plan includes saving the other tribute from her district, Peeta Melark?

My rating-7/10 stars.

Plot- I enjoyed following Katniss around District Twelve as she went about her day-to-day activities, I enjoyed traveling with her to the Capitol, I enjoyed watching her prepare for the Hunger Games, and I enjoyed watching her survive in the arena. The magic of the plotline lies in Suzanne Collins' world. She created a fascinating world and showed us all the different aspects of that world. We get to see several of the district's distinct personalities. We get to see the crookedness of the Capitol. We get to see the preparation the tributes go through before entering the arena. We get to see the tributes fight in the Hunger Games.
This book definitely held my attention and I enjoyed reading it, though, occasionally, it does get a little too gory for my taste.

Characters-
Katniss is a wonderfully done character (much, much better than Bella Swan from Twilight). Circumstances have made her suspicious and a fighter. Every day, she struggles to stay alive and keep her family alive. The skills she learned in the woods, hunting with her father, help her tremendously in the Hunger Games. She's very smart and able to adapt to whatever is thrown her way. Her ultimate goal stays the same throughout, however: to keep her family safe. But we do see Katniss change over the course of the story. When she returns home after the Hunger Games, she is different than when she went away.

Peeta is good character, too. He's the opposite of Katniss. While Katniss is all about survival, Peeta is more open and trusting. He's a genuinely good guy, which, I suppose, could make him a little boring at times. As a good person, though, people don't expect it when he does something sneaky and epic.

The other characters in The Hunger Games are great, too. Each has his or her own personality which makes him or her endearing to the reader. The first time I read this book, my favorite character was Cinna. This time around, however, I really liked Katniss.

Writing- I didn't enjoy Suzanne Collins' writing style very much, but maybe that's because I'm not a huge fan of first person present tense writing, which is what The Hunger Games is written in. I found her writing a bit simple. Nothing wowed me or stuck out to me.

Final thoughts: If you're looking for a thrilling story (perhaps a summer read?), try reading The Hunger Games!
Unless you have to read 1984 for school, I would skip it.

Live long and prosper!

Nightstand Books—April

April. Otherwise known as Month of Crazy. My two online classes finish this month so I will be studying for exams, as well as my two AP tests and the second SAT test. For some crazy reason, I decided to do Camp NaNoWriMo. I'm going to a board game "convention" with my dad. Choir concerts are starting. I have three editing/beta-ing projects in various degrees off progress which need finishing, plus my own fantasy novel. And don't forget that senior recital to practice practice practice for!
And, I have a stack of books to read:

At the top is The Penderwicks on Gardam Street by Jeanne Birdsall. The fourth Penderwicks book came out last week and I devoured it in two days. I was feeling withdrawal symptoms, so I started to re-read the second book again, even though I re-read the series in December. They're just so good! I don't know how I will be able to wait another 3-5 years for the final book. I could have my own children to read this books to by then! O.o

Next is Five Complete Agatha Christie mysteries. I just finished The ABC Murders last night. If you aren't sure where to start with Agatha Christie (she does have about a hundred books), I would suggest starting with The ABC Murders. It was fantastic. I am berating myself for not seeing what was coming at the end. Next I'm going to read Cards on the Table which will be great because it has Ariadne Oliver in it. She's my favorite Agatha Christie character.
Other great Christie mysteries to start with are Murder on the Orient Express and And Then There Were None. The Mysterious Affair at Styles is also quite exciting. It was her first novel and introduces the character Hercule Poirot.

1984 by George Orwell. I don't know why I had it in my head that I would love this book. I started out enjoying it, but it's gone downhill. More in my review.
I'm reading 1984 for my reading challenge. It was supposed to be done in March but I'm having a hard time getting through it. Since April's book is The Hunger Games, and since I'm expecting it to be a short read, I figured it would be okay to finish 1984 in April. I'm nearly finished so I think I might plow through the rest over the weekend.

The Inimitable Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse. Every few days I pick this up and read a few pages. I don't actually consider myself reading it... more like browsing through it.

The Year of Reading Dangerously by Andy Miller. Isn't that a fantastic title? This is my nonfiction book for the month. Last month I was reading a book on the history of showtunes and Broadway by the fabulous William Zinsser, which I only got two chapters into. Instead, last month's nonfiction was Red Scarf Girl, a memoir of the Chinese Cultural Revolution. I was going to have the Broadway book be this month's nonfiction, but it sadly has to go back to the library. Instead, I will read The Year of Reading Dangerously (dun dun dun!), which is a book about a man's journey to read classic fiction that he missed reading earlier in life. It sounds like a great read!

And finally, A Tale of Time City by Diana Wynne Jones. This was on my pile last month and I still haven't read it. I think I will start it after I finish the Penderwicks book (and maybe after 1984).

Tomorrow I should be back with the 777 tag that has been circling blogger. I'm also hoping to have my reviews for both Twilight (last month's reading challenge book) and 1984 out sometime this month as well.

What are YOU reading?

Live long and prosper!

Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare

"For never was a story of more woe than this of Juliet and her Romeo."

Act V, Scene iii

(This is the first review for my 2015 Reading Challenge! I will be reviewing according to plot, characters, theme, word choice/diction/syntax.)

Summary: The Montague family and the Capulet family are feuding. Romeo, a lovesick, young Montague falls in love with Juliet, the daughter of the head Capulet. Their romance (and stupidity...) causes many deaths.

My rating: 7/10 stars.

Plot: What can I say... it's Romeo and Juliet. A teenage boy falls in love with a 13-year-old girl; they get married; they make some bad decisions; they die. It's a pretty stupid story... So, why can everyone quote from Romeo and Juliet, whether they know they are or not? Examine the following passages from Act II, Scene ii (aka, the famous "balcony scene").

"But soft! what light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun."

"O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo?"

"What's in a name? that which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet."

So, why is Romeo and Juliet one of the most popular, enduring stories of all time?

I believe Romeo and Juliet's allure lies in its love story and in its message. Romeo and Juliet isn't so much a love story as an infatuation. Romeo sees Juliet across a crowded room... he falls instantly in love. Before the party is over they have sequestered themselves in a corner and are kissing. The next day, they marry.
Our culture is obsessed with love stories; especially love stories where the love is instantaneous, "unending," and passionate. If the story ends unhappily it adds to the appeal, for sad stories tug at the heartstrings.
So, why is our culture obsessed with love stories? Because perfect, earthly love eludes us. At a young age we are indoctrinated with the idea of "true love." Most movies, television shows, and books include a love story where the couple are "perfect" for each other. He adores her and she finds her identity in that adoration. Unfortunately, real life doesn't work like that. People are flawed and, therefore, relationships are flawed. When we base ourselves and our expectations in earthly relationships, we will only find disappointment. Watching "perfect" love stories unfold in fiction gives us hope that somewhere out there is The One... All the disappointing relationships we've had already are just stepping stones—"practice"—for The One. Only, The One doesn't exist, because there are no perfect relationships on earth. Even "perfect" relationships in fiction aren't perfect, because they are missing the most important element. Yet, we still search for perfection...
It's a vicious cycle.
The reason we search so hard for perfect, earthly love is because we've chosen to disregard the only perfect love out there: the love of Jesus Christ, when he died on the cross to save us all from our sins. He wants a relationship with us—a relationship that will be perfect in heaven—but we push him away, and try to fulfill our longing with flawed, earthly relationships.
That's why people love love stories so much.
In the end, however, Romeo and Juliet is a testament to the failure of earthly love. Romeo and Juliet fall in love quickly and passionately and, for a few short hours, everything seems perfect. Then reality shatters their illusion. They are reminded of their feuding families. Romeo killed Juliet's cousin. This posed a problem because Romeo was exiled, and Juliet was promised to another man (because her father didn't know that she had secretly married Romeo). Due to miscommunication, Romeo and Juliet and a host of others end up dead. Their love was not perfect; it caused many problems.
One message to take away from Romeo and Juliet is don't expect everything to fall into place immediately just because it's "true love." As Friar Laurence says, "Wisely and slow, they stumble that run fast." Or, as another wise sage says, "Don't be hasty, bararoom."

Characters: O, Romeo, Romeo! *shakes head* Romeo met Juliet at a party, but did you know that he came to that party looking for ANOTHER girl? He was in love with a girl named Rosaline! She shuns him and, as a result, Romeo spends the first few scenes listlessly meandering around, bemoaning the fact that Rosaline doesn't love him. He comes to a party put on by his enemies, the Capulets, to find Rosaline, and ends up meeting Juliet instead, whom he falls desperately in love with. Friar Laurence sums it up quite nicely in Act II, Scene iii:

"Holy Saint Francis, what a change is here! Is Rosaline, that thou didst love so dear, so soon forsaken? young men's love then lies not truly in their hearts, but in their eyes."

Juliet grows from girl-to-woman over five days. When we first meet her, she says that marriage "is an honor that I dream not of." After meeting Romeo, she displays normal signs of a crush: stalking. Since she can't check Romeo's Facebook timeline, she gets Nurse to find out who Romeo is, and if he's married or not.  "...Dream[ing] not" of marriage soon turns into a desire for marriage ("If that thy bent of love be honourable, thy purpose marriage, send me word to-morrow... And all my fortunes at thy foot I'll lay, and follow thee my lord throughout the world"). After marrying Romeo, she decides to stay by his side, even after he kills her cousin. She shows the most growth out of all the characters.

Friar Laurence is Romeo and Juliet's confidant. He marries them (without telling their parents... um, child consent laws, anybody? Anybody? Bueller? Bueller? Bueller?) in hopes that their union will stop their family's feud. Later, he orchestrates the plan to bring Juliet and Romeo together again after Romeo is banished. He acts in what he believes to be the best interests of everyone; unfortunately, his good will doesn't stop things from going terribly, terribly wrong.

There are a myriad of colorful side characters including Romeo's friends Benvolio and Mercutio, Juliet's relatives Lord and Lady Capulet and Cousin Tybalt, Juliet's nurse, Lord Capulet's friend Paris, and the Prince of Verona. These characters act as comic relief or they insinuate dissension.

Theme: I already talked a bit about the theme of love in Romeo and Juliet, but there are other themes too. Hate, for one. The Montagues and the Capulets hate each other and this, obviously, plays a part in Romeo and Juliet's romance. The young lovers question family loyalty, but eventually choose each other, even if it incurs their family's wrath. (Such is the case of poor Juliet. When she refuses to marry Paris, because she's already married to Romeo, her parents threaten to shun her.)
I think honesty is a theme as well. What would have happened if Romeo and Juliet had told their parents that they had gotten married instead of keeping it secret? Would it have instigated one final confrontation between the families, or would it have brought peace?

Word choice/diction/syntax: Aka, what language the author used to portray his story. This includes word choice, sentence fluency, and the use of rhetorical devices and writing strategies.
I made a video about this because to do justice to Shakespeare and iambic pentameter, you really have to read it. (By the way... when I say "Capulet's speech," I mean "Capulet's invitation" :P)

Here is the video on Shakespearean original pronunciation that I mentioned: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPlpphT7n9s

Interesting fact: Romeo and Juliet is based on a poem called The Tragicall History of Romeus and Juliet, written less than 50 years before Shakespeare penned his play. You can read the poem here: http://www.canadianshakespeares.ca/folio/Sources/romeusandjuliet.pdf

Favorite quotes:

"What say you? Can you love the gentleman?

This night you shall behold him at our feast.

Read o'er the volume of young Paris' face

And find delight writ there with beauty’s pen.

Examine every married lineament

And see how one another lends content,

And what obscured in this fair volume lies

Find written in the margin of his eyes.

This precious book of love, this unbound lover,

To beautify him only lacks a cover.

The fish lives in the sea, and ’tis much pride

For fair without the fair within to hide.

That book in many’s eyes doth share the glory

That in gold clasps locks in the golden story.

So shall you share all that he doth possess

By having him, making yourself no less."

Act I, scene iii, Lady Capulet (not Capulet, as I said in the video) comparing Paris to a book.

"We cannot be here and there too. Cheerily, boys; be brisk a while, and the longer liver take all."

Act I, scene v, 3rd serving man.

Welcome, gentlemen! Ladies that have their toes

Ah, my mistresses! Which of you all

Unplagued with corns will walk a bout with you.—

Will now deny to dance? She that makes dainty,

She, I’ll swear, hath corns.

Act I, scene v, Capulet, saying that any girl who does not dance must have corns on her feet.

"Come, he hath hid himself among these trees, to be consorted with the humerous night: blind is his love, and best befits the dark."

Act II, scene i, Benvolio talking of Romeo's love for Juliet.

Ready to go, but never to return.

O son! The night before thy wedding day

Hath death lain with thy wife. There she lies,

Flower as she was, deflowered by him.

Death is my son-in-law. Death is my heir.

My daughter he hath wedded. I will die,

And leave him all. Life, living, all is Death’s.

Act IV, scene v, Capulet, on discovering Juliet "dead" on the day of her impending marriage to Paris. 

Keep a weather-eye out for my review of Twilight.

Next month, I jump into the dystopian genre with 1984 by George Orwell.

 

Live long and prosper!

2015 Reading Challenge!

If you want to join me reading one, two, or all of these books, feel free!

Forbidden Romance-
January: Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
February: Twilight by Stephanie Meyer

Dystopian-
March: 1984 by George Orwell
April: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Fantasy-
May: The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald
June: Mistborn: The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson

Science Fiction-
July: From Earth to Moon and Around the Moon by Jules Verne
August: The Complete Robot by Isaac Asimov

Historical Fiction-
September: Death Comes For the Archbishop by Willa Cathar
October: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Horror-
November: Dracula by Bram Stoker
December: Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury

Some nonfiction I will be reading this year-
Claude Debussy by Paul Roberts (January)
The Bookshop Book by Jen Campbell
On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King
On Writing Well by William Zinsser
John Quincy Adams: American Visionary by Fred Kaplan
J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography by Humphrey Carpenter
The Gershwins by Robert Kimball
The Piano by Jeremy Siepmann

Do you have any reading goals this year?