Final blog post: My Recommendations

 Hello and welcome back to the Peerless Page-turner blog! We've come to an end of English and for my final blog post I will be recommending one of the three books I read for my reading study.

For my independent reading study, I chose the three books, The Picture of Dorian Gray, by Oscar Wilde, The Scum Villain's Self-saving System, by Mo Xiong Tong Xiu, and Shakespeare Saved My Life, by Laura Bates.  Out of these three I would recommended The Picture of Dorian Gray the most. 

I find old, classic novels tend to scare off most people my age; they are thought to be boring and full of old, stale, ideas. And while yes, I agree some classics can fall into that, The Picture of Dorian Gray is not one of them. The wonderful thing about literature is that humans have been the same since the dawn of time, we hold the same core ideas as those hundreds of years ago, and that is beautiful. 

Dorian Gray is a truly brilliant novel, written elegantly by my favorite author. The ideas discussed in Dorian Gray, are ideas that are still important today, even if it was written more than 100 years ago. 

Dorian Gray discusses youth and pleasure in an intelligent and well-done way, it is surprisingly the type of story I believe every teenager should read. Indulging yourself in every passing thought and pleasure is something that often plagues the minds of people my age; we've all had that thought, 'what's the worst that can happen?' Well, even though I am certain that nobody here will be selling their soul for eternal youth, I can tell you that Dorian Gray explores that exact idea, and let me tell you, once you finish the book your opinion on the nature of humans and pleasure will have completely changed. 

I implore everyone reading this to head down to their local library and pick up a copy of The Picture of Dorian Gray. I promise you won't be disappointed. 

Approach to the Inmost Cave- Shakespeare Saved My Life

 Hello and welcome back to the Peerless Page-turner blog!

Lets move into todays subject-- the Approach to the Inmost Cave. For this subject I chose my third and final book, Shakespeare Saved My Life. This book is a memoir, about a convicted killer turning his life around with the help of an English professor. 

In this book the ordeal occurs when Larry Newton, a convicted killer who turned his life completely around because of Shakespeare, gets sent back into solitary confinement. After being wrongfully accused of having a cell phone, Larry is sent back into a prison that only knew the old him, the violent, angry and depressed him. He is treated wrongfully by the prison guards and director, he is moved to another cell every three days, strip-searched twice a day, and his precious Shakespeare book is taken away from him. 

Conditions like these would drive anyone to insanity, and Larry himself writes: 

"First there are the psychological conditions: it keeps me anticipating harassment all day. That is as distractive as a drug addict awaiting his next lick. The moving keeps me isolated socially, and that creates a depressed mood." (Bates, Shakespeare Saved My Life, 272)

As we can see in this passage Larry is struggling, he is trying to focus on his work and not fall back into the deadly cycle he was trapped in before he found Shakespeare. But Larry is not so easily tempted by depression. With the help of Shakespeare and Dr. Bates, Larry changed his view on the world, he no longer feels contempt and hopelessness for his condition. Larry found meaning in his life, and that meaning has helped him to prepare for the challenges that face in him his 'Ordeal'. 

Early in the book Dr. Bates asks Larry if he thinks he'd ever kill again, when asked this, Larry has no answer, However, when facing his ordeal Larry says this:

"The answer is no, I will never kill again." (275) 

When faced with the same conditions that caused him to stab a prison guard years ago, Larry does not make the same decision, he does not lash out or try to escape, but instead swears to never cause violence again. That change in attitude, from an angry and violent person, to who Larry is in those passages, was the life-changing preparation that helped to face his 'Ordeal' and come out successful on the other side. 

Tests, Enemies, and Allies (pt 1)- Scumbag System

 Hello and welcome back to the Peerless Page-Turner blog! I hope everyone had a good weekend!

 Let's move into the subject for today -- tests, enemies, and allies. The novel I have chosen to explore this in is Scum Villain's Self-Saving System. As a fantasy novel it has very clear examples of tests, enemies, and allies.

I will focus mostly on the enemies that the protagonist faces.  

The person who has challenged my main character the most is Tianlang-Jun, an ancient king who was sealed under a mountain, and after 100 years returned with the goal of merging the demon and human realms. After the two main characters, Shen Qingqiu and Luo Binghe became trapped in the Holy Mausoleum, the home of Tianlang-Jun, Luo Binghe is knocked out and Shen Qingqiu must try to escape while protecting Luo Binghe from Tianlang-Jun, who wants to kill Binghe. 

While running from Tianlang-Jun, Shen Qingqiu had to carry the unconscious body of Luo Binghe, despite being heavily injured himself. The following two quotes show Shen Qingqiu's "toughness" during this scene:

"The more he walked the sharper the pain in his stomach grew, but he walked faster instead of slowing down. It was partly because he had an increased pain tolerance, but more importantly, he knew he absolutely could not collapse now." (Tong Xiu, Scum Villain's Self-Saving System, Ch 62)

"Shen Qingqiu couldn’t hear clearly through the buzzing in his ears and his sight was blurred, but he knew he had to drag Luo Binghe to the entrance and throw him through." (Ch. 62)

I believe these quotes showcase the courage and perseverance that Shen Qingqiu had when facing Tianlang-Jun. At the beginning of the novel Shen Qingqiu only cares for himself and his own life, but now, we can see that he's changed. In this scene Shen Qingqiu faces death, but instead of sacrificing Luo Binghe to save himself, he gives his own life to save Binghe. He is injured, in pain, and knows that he cannot beat Tianlang-Jun, but he is also determined to save Luo Binghe, even if it means he'll lose his own life. 

 In the end Luo Binghe manages to escape, but Shen Qingqiu is captured by Tianlang-Jun.  Shen Qingqiu's 'toughness', growth, courage and perseverance is apparent in this situation, which represents growth from what he was like at the beginning, where he was only focused on saving himself. 

Crossing the Threshold- The Picture of Dorian Gray

 Welcome back to the Peerless Page-turner blog! Today we'll be talking about the stage, Crossing the Threshold. The novel I have chosen to represent this is The Picture of Dorian Gray.

Unlike most stories involving the Hero's journey, Dorian Gray's journey will end in his own ultimate ruin; instead of growing and becoming a better person, Dorian Gray is doing quite the opposite. 

A lesson that Dorian Gray has failed to learn is his choice to live only by the first part of this statement:

“Nothing can cure the soul but the senses, just as nothing can cure the senses but the soul.” (Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray, 27)

The senses and soul work together, the senses are driven by your own pleasure, and the soul by the needs of others. The soul can motivate one to be kind and righteous, but the senses do the opposite, the senses seek their own pleasure. These two work together; the person who is driven only by their senses is cruel and self-important, always acting with their own best interests in mind, while the person driven only by their soul can spread themselves too thin and might never find happiness within themselves in their drive to help others. 

Now, what does this have to do with Dorian Gray?

In the novel, Dorian is driven solely by his senses; he indulges in drugs. extravagant gems and other luxuries, rare musical instruments and other such material pleasures. Dorian Gray tries to fill his soul with anything but kindness and thoughts for his fellow humans. He follows every passing  pleasure, ramping up until he has murdered his once best friend and begun using Opium. 

Dorian Gray failed to learn the lesson that in life you need to feed your soul as a way to not over-indulge your senses, and in the end he will drive himself to destruction in search of pleasure.

Meeting the Mentor- Scumbag System

 Hello and welcome back to my blog! To start, I'll explain a bit of the plot of this book, as it can get a little confusing. Scumbag System, also known as The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System, is about a fan of novel who is transmigrated into the body of the villain/mentor of this book. The plot centers on this character, Shen Qingqiu, as he tries to change the outcome of the book, so that he doesn't end up with the terrible fate of the original Shen Qingqiu. However Shen Qingqiu is controlled by something called 'the system' which forces him to follow the events of the original plot of the novel. The book is a satire on badly written fantasy novels and pokes fun at the common tropes and plot holes of the genre. 

Now let's meet the mentor of this novel!

The mentor is an important role in every story, and has become an archetype in itself. The role of the mentor is to guide and/or motivate the protagonist. Mentors often teach the protagonist valuable lessons about life, and help give the protagonist the strength they need to complete their end goal.

However, in the novel I'm currently reading, it is a bit different. The story centres on the mentor of the novel's 'protagonist', Shen Qingqiu, as he tries to avoid his eventual death at the hands of the protagonist. In this book the role of the mentor is satirized, as the author makes fun of the disposable nature of this role, and how the mentors always seem to die at the hands of the protagonist. We see this in the following passage:

"Especially Luo Binghe's [Protagonist] master, that Shen Qingqiu, basically an idiot among idiots, scum among scum! His only purpose was to dig his own grave, and when he didn't manage to finish, get killed by the protagonist!" (Tong Xiu, Scum Villain's Self Saving System, Ch.1)

Like all mentors, Shen Qingqiu has the same key characteristics:  kindness, bravery, and a willingness to self-sacrifice. To progress the plot of the novel, Shen Qingqiu must throw Luo Binghe, the protagonist, into an abyss, in order for Luo Binghe's character arc to complete. However leading up to this Shen Qingqiu does show kindness to Luo Binghe, often saving him from being harmed. We can see that Shen Qingqiu does care for Luo Binghe in this quote-

"'Silly child.” He smiled weakly: “……The original purpose was for you not to get hurt. If I hit back and hurt you, would there be any meaning?'" (Ch. 17)

Along with helping Luo Binghe achieve his true potential, Shen Qingqiu also teaches him kindness. I believe that is just as important.

Before meeting Shen Qinqiu, Luo Binghe is hated and outcast by his peers. He has no friends and is forced to sleep in a wood shed instead of the boarding rooms that others his age stay in. He is made to do all of the chores, and his belongings are stolen. However, with the help of Shen Qingqiu, he learns to value himself a little more, and that what doesn't kill him makes him stronger. Shen Qingqiu showed Luo Binghe kindness when no one else would, and that is the greatest gift you can give someone.  

 Ultimately Shen Qingqiu significantly impacts Luo Binghe and his journey, from initiating Luo Binghe's ascension to power, to throwing Luo Binghe into the abyss so that he can find his true potential, and finally sacrificing his own life to save Luo Binghe. It is clear that Shen Qingqiu has had a significant impact on the protagonist's journey. 

Call to Adventure: The Picture of Dorian Grey

  For this reading response I have chosen to do The Picture of Dorian Grey, by Oscar Wilde.

At the beginning of the novel Dorian Grey is the muse of Basil Hallward, a poor painter who is trying to get his artistic career off the ground. Dorian is innocent and unware of the world, a kind young man who leads a simple life. He is described by Lord Henry Wotton as such:

"There was something in his face that made one trust him at once. All the candor of youth was there, as well as all youth's passionate purity. One felt that he had kept himself unspotted from the world. No wonder Basil Hallward worshipped him." (Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Grey, 24)

In Dorian Gray's ordinary world he was a charming, youthful, and kind boy; as stated in the quote above, he was easy to trust and felt untainted by the world's misfortunes. Objectively Dorian Grey's ordinary world was conventional, although deep down he longed for something more, something which he found in the twisted words of Lord Henry Wotton.

The sources of conflict, change, circumstance, longing, pain or sorrow that lead or compel Dorian Grey to leave his ordinary world are as follows:

Upon hearing Lord Henry Wotton remark that someday Dorian will lose his youthful charm and become old and ugly, and that, once that happens, no one will enjoy his presence anymore, Dorian is thrown into a panic, lamenting that he will grow old but his portrait never will. His lament is captured in this passage:

"How sad it is! I shall grow old, and horrible, and dreadful. But this picture will always remain young. It will never be older than this particular day of June.... If it were only the other way! If it were I who was always to be young, and the picture that was to grow old! For that- for that- I would give everything! Yes, there is nothing in the whole world I would not give! I would give my soul for that! (30)

Here Dorian is succumbing to the shallow ideas of Henry Wotton, so much so that he would offer his soul to stay young forever. Here he is accepting his 'Call to Adventure', but unlike most stories, this is a threshold that Dorian would be better off not to cross.

But against all odds something happens to halt Dorian's acceptance of Henry’s poisoned words, to refuse his ‘Call to Adventure.’ Dorian Grey falls in love with an actress named Sibyl Vane.

Enchanted by his love for Sibyl, Dorian refuses the cynical ideas of Henry, and for the first time since he met Henry, is able to feel and express emotion and is excited about life. Yet this all falls apart when Sibyl performs badly at a play and Dorian’s love for her is shattered. He breaks off their engagement and Sibyl, heartbroken, kills herself because of this. Upon looking at his portrait when he returns home, Dorian notices that the face has turned cruel. The once boyish and gentle expression has become cold and hardened. At first Dorian is thrown into repentance; he swears to do better and to make up for his cruelty. But after a chat with Henry Wotton, he changes his mind and accepts the changing of his portrait, as shown in this quote:

“What did it matter what happened to the coloured image on the canvas? He would be safe. That was everything.” (77)

Dorian Grey has succumbed to the treacherous and cynical words of Lord Henry Wotton, he has accepted his Call to Adventure and begun his path to damnation.

Reading and myself

  Welcome to the Peerless Page-turner blog! For my first post I will be discussing the quote I chose for the top of my blog. 

The quote I chose was: "A room without books is like a body without a soul" said by  Marcus Tullius Cicero (Link!) 

I chose this quote because in my life, family and house, books seem to be around every corner. There is not a room in my house (other than perhaps my bathroom) where books don't exist in abundance. I have stacks of books on my dresser, as does my brother and mother. They seem to give each room a personality; rooms filled with young adult fiction have a modern, bubbly feel, while rooms filled with old books feel like an ancient beast, wise and powerful. Books can fill normally dull and lifeless rooms with energy, they can make these blank places feel truly alive. 

And so that is why I chose this quote, because books are like sugar, they make life richer.