Nobel Prize winner William Golding's classic "Lord of the Flies" explores and exposes the darkest parts of human nature, and the childhood desire of independence. Shield your eyes if you must, as insanity and gore take hold.

When a group of British boys crash land on a desert island, their first reaction is "Yeah! No Adults!". But when it comes time to govern themselves, that's when they start to head down a slippery slope and the tension starts to rise. 

Ralph, the main character, discovers a conch shell, and when he blows it, all the other boys that were on the island come to the sound of the shell. This earns him the spot as Chief, much to the other main character, Jack's, dismay. 

Ralph's goal as chief was to keep a fire burning all the time, so that if a ship passed by, it would see the smoke and come rescue them. Jack, however, could've cared less about the fire, and more about hunting, and his role as head of the hunters.

As the chapters progress, the tension between the two rises, and is ultimately pushed over the edge when a ship passes by, but Jack and his hunters had let the fire go out so they could go hunting. A furious Ralph calls Jack out in front of all of the boys, and Jack leaves to form is own tribe. 

But his new tribe didn't play by the rules. Each day, the members grew more and more savage in their hunting clan. Their only cares were the hunt, and trying to one up Ralph's group. They attacked them unprovoked, and stole from them. They were aggressive, and highly dangerous as more and more savagery was brought out in them.

The book also speaks of a "beast", whose existence is unjustified. The thought of it strikes terror in some, but challenge in others. The boys attempt to find it and kill it, but are never successful. 

But the "beast" also strikes respect, especially from the "savages". During a fateful hunt in the heart of the climax, the savage tribe hunts down a pig for their feast and pyretic dance. As an offering of respect to the beast, they cut off the pig's head, and put the bloody thing on a stick, and jam it into the ground. This "Lord of the Flies" represents the craze and bloodthirst in these boys, but also the so called "beast" being the humans themselves.

This boiling conflict can definitely be described as people versus people; Jack versus Ralph and their building tension that is ultimately set over the edge. But also, Jack's lot of boys versus Ralph's lot. It can also be described as person versus self, with Jack and Ralph both unaware of what this island has birthed and planted in them. This fast paced, high intensity, inter webbing conflict is exciting and engaging throughout the entire book.

Another significant character, and my favorite, Piggy, is also a boy on the island. As his name implies, he's fat, but as Ralph realizes, he's very bright and is an excellent thinker. This earns Piggy Ralph's respect, and friendship. They use Piggy's glasses to light the fire. This is a symbol of how someone may seem useless-- fat and lazy, but are more valuable then perceived. Piggy is also a significant symbol in the book. He represents civility, as he keeps this while everyone else is being subconsciously changed by the island and the lack of rules and civilization. His appearance, paired with his intellectual capacities and ability to stay rational justifies this. Much would be different in the book without him and his mind. 

As it seems every character and item is symbolic, there is much to take away from this masterful craft. The Pig Head represents the humans being the beast. The conch, I believe, represents order and something to go around or follow. Something sacred and divine, but fragile at the same time. Ralph represents order, and civility, while Jack represents savagery and primal instincts. This balance, or fight, between order and savagery is a main theme to take away, and how people's desire for power can bring out these primeval surges.

I think I, and many others can relate to this book and learn from this book. While I've never been stranded on a deserted island having to govern myself, I feel I can relate to Ralph. I have had many experiences where I have tried to keep everyone orderly but their "primal urges", or craze, was difficult to. Like Ralph, I got very frustrated by that, because when everyone is going nuts while your trying to keep things orderly, it's annoying.

I also feel that if some of my friends were in this position, they would be succumbed to the beckoning of the urges of savagery and human darkness, but in society, they're not. We never see what these boys were like before landing on the island, but we can get a pretty good idea from how they develop, evolve, and change when going through this.

Overall, I feel this craft of literature is stellar writing. From the deep symbolism, heart-racing conflict, and picture-painting detail, I loved the book despite the grossness of it, and despite the lunacy and bloodshed that took place.

The rich symbolism is a strong strength. So much can be learned and taken away from this story, from each character and item, and this quality is a distinct strength.

However, while I thoroughly enjoyed it and was thoroughly impressed, there were a few easy to spot weaknesses I would have changed. Golding uses the same words over and over, and it was slightly infuriating to read. There was too much word repetition, such as "savage" and "hunt" being way overused. In the same way, every time he said "Ralph's fair hair" was aggravating, like the word repitition. Also, I feel he included things that didn't matter or affect the plot. like four pages about a littlun crying.

Despite all this, I thought this was a phenomenal book. It's quick moving pace, deep symbolism, and powerful themes made it a keeper in my eyes. If you can get past the gore, the savagery, the killing, and the insanity, I would recommend this book because of all this. There is much that can be learned and interpreted from this book, and if you dare look past the present topics that make us nauseous, it will challenge your analytical capacity and leave an impact.

Neuromancer Book review

Neuromancer was written in 1984 by William Gibson. It was one of the first major works in the cyberpunk genre, and won multiple award, including the Nebula Award, the Hugo Award, and the Phillip K. Dick award. It inspired movies such as The Matrix and video games such as Shadowrun. The cult classic Johnny Mnemonic was based on a William Gibson short story of the same name, set in the Neuromancer universe. There have been numerous attempts to adapt Neuromancer to media such as video games, movies, comic books, and even opera. They have mostly been unsuccessful, but a movie adaption is rumored to be in the works.

Neuromancer tells the story of a computer hacker named Case who, after being caught stealing from his employer, has had his ability “jack in” to computers destroyed. He becomes a hustler in the slums of Chiba City, Japan, relying on hard drugs to keep going. After running up numerous debts to crime lords and nearly killing himself with drugs, he is picked up off the street by a mysterious woman named Molly. She pays off the the crime lord and takes him to her boss, Armitage, who repairs Case’s brain and liver, but with a catch. He has had toxin sacs inserted into his liver. If he does not finish the job in time, he won’t be able to jack in anymore.

In the first part of the job, Case and Molly steal a Flatline Construct from the company Sense/Net. The construct contains the consciousness of one of Case’s mentors, named Dixie.

Armitage is shown to have a mysterious past. Case and Molly discover that he served in the Battle of Screaming Fist under the name Corto, and went through a large amount of trauma.

The group heads to the colony Freeside, where an AI named Wintermute resides in the Villa Straylight, a massive home owned by the family/corporation Tessier-Ashpool.

It is revealed that Wintermute is only one half of the AI inside the Villa Straylight. There is one other, which is hinted to be much more powerful, but Wintermute is prevented from merging with it by Turing regulations. Lady 3Jane, a member of the Tessier-Ashpools, has the secret word that will allow them to merge. Molly and Riviera, a member the team recruited in Istanbul, go into the Villa Straylight to retrieve it.

It is revealed that Wintermute has been controlling Case and the others the whole time, through Armitage, Finn, and Case’s old friend Julius Deane. Wintermute took Corto’s shattered personality and rebuilt it into Armitage.

Case and Dixie, the flatline construct, unleash a powerful virus on the Tessier-Ashpool software defenses as tasked by Wintermute. Armitage’s personality begins to break down, and reverts into that of Corto. Responding to this, Wintermute kills him. While in the Villa Straylight, Riviera turns on the group, siding with a ninja and Lady 3Jane to capture Molly. Case and the Zionite pilot Maelcum go after her. Case jacks into cyberspace, and while the virus is destroying the Tessier-Ashpool defenses, retrieves the secret word. Wintermute is able to merge with the other AI. Case’s toxin sacs are removed, and Dixie also gets his reward by being destroyed.

Case has a conflict with himself. He loved cyberspace, and when his brain was sabotaged he lost it. Towards the beginning of the book, Case says that he “still dreamed of cyberspace, hope fading nightly. All the speed he took, all the turns he'd taken and the corners he'd cut in Night City, and still he'd see the matrix in his sleep, bright lattices of logic unfolding across that colorless void…” Case tries unsuccessfully to block everything out and forget, and it puts him in a vulnerable place for Wintermute to exploit him for his plans. While Case is breaching the Tessier-Ashpool defenses in preparation for merging Wintermute with the second AI, he loses contact with Dixie. Case starts to lose hope, but then Wintermute says “Hate'll get you through. So many little triggers in the brain, and you just go yankin' em all.  Now you gotta hate.” Wintermute has manipulated Case to the point where the only option is now for him to hate. Since Case has so many things to hate, such as Wintermute killing Armitage, frustration at the slowly dissolving toxin sacs in his liver, and others, he is able to retrieve the secret word and merge Wintermute and the other AI, Neuromancer.

My favorite character is Wintermute. In the beginning of the book, the job that Armitage has tasked Case to do seems so simple. But as the plot unfolds, you find out that Wintermute is controlling not just Armitage but other people that Case knows to fulfill his own goals, without much care for any of them. When the personality that Wintermute has built on top of Corto into Armitage starts to break down and revert, Wintermute kills Corto and sabotages one of the ships, knowing it is a sacrifice but it will cause less damage in the long run. It’s also fascinating to compare Wintermute to its counterpart, Neuromancer. Neuromancer is able to see patterns in behavior, similar to psychohistory in Asimov’s Foundation but on a much more detailed scale. While Wintermute can only directly interact with humans by changing things in the environment and manipulating certain people, Neuromancer can see patterns about to happen - such as that someone is about to die - and then make it happen to manipulate someone that way.

One of the important themes from Neuromancer is to not rely on something too much, because if it gets taken away, you can be ruined. Case thought he was invincible, so he stole from his company without thinking of the consequences. He ended up losing the most important thing to him, and trying to compensate, ruined his life.

I could relate in some ways to Case’s love of cyberspace. I love computers, and rely on them without thinking for many of the things I do. If I could somehow never use computers again, it would probably be a devastating thing for me.

In my opinion, Neuromancer is without a doubt one of the best books I have ever read. It is full of amazing details in scenery, characters, and plot and has many interesting inventions specific to its universe. I would strongly reccomend it to anyone who has an interest in sci-fi, especially cyberpunk - it practically invented the genre. It is an exciting novel with a lot of depth, and definitely worth a read.

Creative Project

My creative project is a scene from Neuromancer in video game form. Near the beginning of the book, Case asks Dixie if he ever tried to hack an AI. Dixie responds by telling him the story of how he tried, and ended up flatlining(dying, so called because of the flat EEG). To play my game, click the download link and decompress the zip file downloaded. Launch the application extracted from it. For best results, choose 1280x800 resolution, uncheck windowed, and choose “Fantastic” graphics quality, unless you are lacking in the graphics card sector(in which case choose a lower setting). To melt ice, click the mouse button. To move, use the WASD keys. To quit, press esc.

The Catcher in the Rye is one of the most controversial novels that have ever been written. It was written by J. D. Salinger in 1951, who died in 2010, and was based loosely of off of his teenage years. It took him a decade to write it Many people think that it is one of the greatest books that have ever been written, where as others find it be pointless, and to lack any real plot. Despite all of the controversy The Catcher in the Rye was on the New York Times Bestsellers list for twenty nine years. Despite it’s popularity, The Catcher in the Rye has not been made into  a movie because J. D. Salinger did not sell the movie rights.

The Catcher in the Rye is very controversial book. Many people, tried and are still trying to ban the book, and it’s not kept in some book stores and libraries. Many schools consider the book to inappropriate for students. This is due to the fact that the book consists of a lot of bad language, and profanity. It deals with some suggestive themes, such as under age smoking and alcoholism, sex, sexual harassment, and prostitution. When the book was published in 1951 these themes were seen as inappropriate to put in a novel. Times have changed, but the book is still very controversial. Personally I think think that the book is’t that inappropriate and it should not be banned. 

Holden Caulfield is an upper class sixteen year old boy from New York, growing up in the 1940’s. He is cynical, unhappy, and confused, and doesn’t have a lot of direction in life. He doesn’t like many people because he finds them to be “phony”. 

He attends Pencey Prep school in Agerstown Pennsylvania, and he doesn’t like going there because he thinks that it’s full of phonies. He is expelled due to his poor academic performance, and he runs away to New York City.

He stays in New York for two days. During those two days, he basically goes around the city. He goes to bars and clubs, where he drinks, smokes, and meets women. He meets people lots of other people too. The mother of a boy whom he went to school with, a cab driver who argues with him about where the ducks in Central Park go when the lagoon freezes over, and a prostitute. He also runs into people he already new, like a former male english teacher who flirts with him, a girl friend who annoys him, ad his little sister Phoebe who he likes. Holden doesn’t really like most people. The conflict in the book is basically Holden Vs. the world. His character is very interesting, but he’s so cynical and whiney that I don’t really like his character that much. My favorite character would have to be Phoebe because she’s nice, and caring, and she cares about Holden and understands him. Throughout these two days Holden has an opportunity to reflect on his life. He reflects on his past, his future, and the rest of the world. 

It is difficult to summarize the plot of The Catcher in the Rye because there really isn’t one. It’s sort of a personal Journey of teenager growing up and finding his place in the world. Holden is alone in the world, and reader should take away that it is ok to feel alone sometimes, and that everybody does. 

I think I can relate to Holden because I am also  a teenager, and going through the same awkward stage in my life. I’m still trying to find my place inn the world. I hate a lot of people. I find many of them to be obnoxious jerks. I also sometimes feel alone in the world. 

I would say that I liked the book. It really made me think. It kind of shows what it’s like to be a teenager, and what it’s like to be alone and hate everybody. J. D. Salinger has some interesting thoughts and ideas that about the world that he shows in this book. It’s a very unique kind of story. It doesn’t really have much of  a plot, but maybe thats how the story is met to be. I might be nice if there was some sort of bigger climax, but maybe that would ruin its appeal. 

I would highly recommend this book. It  makes you think about the way the worlds is. I would especially recommend it to teenagers, because it deals with the awkward teenage experience. It is very relatable for teenagers. I think that it’s relatable to all people, because in some way or another we all felt that sense of being alone, and against the world that Holden Caulfield felt in The Catcher in the Rye. 

Here's a link to my creative portion. It a collection of poems write from the pint of view of Holden Caulfield, based on events that occur in the book " The Catcher in the Rye"
It does contain some profanity, but any profanity used in the poems is from things he says in the book