This month i read the nonfiction book titled The Hot Zone by Richard Preston with Jacob and Tim. Thee book revolves around Richard Preston's research and interviews on viruses in the ebola family. Preston tells seemingly fictitious encounters with this predator like virus. Tracing it's roots up until an out break IN THE U.S! East coast so us Californians are relatively safe... for now. Although the book comes out with a fantastic hook, it only got me for so long. It soon became a dull read for me. I will be covering the following topics: What was the author's purpose(s) in writing this book, and how can you tell? How well was this purpose achieved?, How would you describe the author's style of writing? What's your opinion of the style?, and What are the weaknesses of this book, in your opinion?
I believe when Preston first found out about Ebola and it's devastating effects on the human body he felt compelled to hunt down information on such a deadly virus. In my mind's eye this sort of "side project" of his turned into a fixation and as Preston received more and more information he decided to write a book. Receiving many interviews with people who had first hand contact with the Ebola and it's relatives really gave him the ability to piece together everyone's story and make good documentation. I believe Preston's first target for his book was other virus enthusiasts. If not those people then the kind of people who love reading about modern day events that could strike the population, adrenaline junkies with the passion of reading? The book often retells how "if only Ebola were able to spread through the air in an easier way the human race would be a splinter of what it is now." Ebola can only be transmitted through droplets, although droplets may become airborne. Preston wants to stress how incredibly contagious and life threatening viruses are still capable oh attacking the modern age. Just because we are more advanced, doesn't mean that viruses have stayed the same. Viruses change faster then the human can change, making it a terrifying threat. Preston displays this by explaining, " A virus is normally not dangerous to it's original host. Once the virus hops the species border is when it becomes deadly." The ability for a virus to adapt to spread its information is constantly changing which makes cures hard to make. Preston showed achieved this goal in my eyes. It certainly puts a fear inside of you and makes you more conscious about the things you touch, and how you clean your self after such encounters. I come across the feeling, "Wow this can actually happen to me tomorrow by a monkey sneezing, and those sneeze droplets landing in the wrong place." I see a valid reason for those people in Japan and China wearing the face masks now after becoming paranoid from this book.
I really did not like Preston's way of writing, at all. It was a bit too "jumpy" for me. Here is an example, a part where a house wife, Nancy Jaax, is saying" Monkeys throw and spit stuff up. It is dangerous to work around contaminated animals without proper protection."...(one paragraph later) Preston is speaking of a time ten years earlier about people who are searching for the first cases of Ebola in Africa. I mean come on in my opinion he really should have talked about the doctors searching for the epicenter of the virus in the beginning or save it all for the end. It would have been perfectly fine if Preston never mentioned Nacny Jaax again, but sadly he does. He brings up Nancy's family again in a much later point in the book. Such a point that i barely remembered Nancy, her family, or her significance to the story. I strongly believe Preston should have kept related sections closer together, rather then jump around to and frough. Although i do see one benefit of writing in this manner. It could be a break for the reader to take from all of the gruesome scenes Preston is so skilled at writing. Most of the time he leaves you in a cliffhanger of a subject then brings you back when it's already too late and the information lost. The way a book is written is very important to me. It needs to be smooth flowing and interlocking for me to fully enjoy the book without pausing and questioning what just happened. The intervals between his subject jumps are very difficult to adjust to in my reading experience. I'm the type of person who gets really involved with the progression of the current topic and for it to just suddenly change is rather annoying.
The main weakness that really dug into my brain was the way the author went about writing his information. I already ranted about that in my second paragraph though so obla di obla dah. Another fatal flaw in the book is its audience target. The wording seems rather sophisticated for an average high schooler to just pick up. Although if you read on a average basis it shouldn't be a problem. If he simplified his word usage or at least briefly explained complex scientific terms (that completely went over my head) his reader range would have been higher. Kind of speaks a lot about what i think of the average highschooler... Although it is a top seller so i might be completely spewing bs, i surely hope not. The content was very limited, in a way that it followed a structure, Present day story, background, intense descriptions of what the specific virus does to you and other creatures, repeat. The way i pick a nice book to read (for my self, not school) is to go to a random page plus the inside cover sneak peak. If nothing on either page pops out at me or has an interesting concept i won't read it unless i get an outstanding review from a friend of mine who i know share the same interests as me. Ahem Ahem i would love to try and tempt you to join the fictitious side of books very tastey and lets your mind really say ," WOW i wonder how my students or the world would react to that if that were real?!?!" think about that as you smugly sip your coffee/tea in your little wifi-hotspot little haven. Enjoy your Saturday~
Friday, April 23, 2010
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
hot zone lettah
woah did not mean to prematurely post a blank blog, my bad.
Any who hello there ladies gentlemen and freaks of all kind, to this book that would make the hairy-lady's beard curl in a hurry. Like what i did there? Just for you Jacob. Jacob I think it's perfectly fine to leak SOME spoilers. People wouldn't just willy nilly click on a hot zone letter THREE thread without expecting a tad. I agree with you Jacob that the very beginning of the book seemed to have a very bloody hook to drag you within its gruesome pages. Although Charles Monet didn't seem to be a like-able character and is easily forgotten as new characters appear, such as the Stay at home mom who actually works with level 4(incredibly high) agents. The author seems to portray characters he likes with much more background then the ones that are a bit of a "filler" type in my opinion.
Somthing i havnt tried before, I am going to stray from talking about the book and answer/ ask questions with you guys (Jacob and Tim). For some reason i thought you asked some questions...... Ok well i guess i will just ask and speculate.
If an outbreak of the disease were to explode right now how would alameda react? In my fantasy i guess i see myself as being that one of the handful who are immune to the disease and go out and do heroic things. In an actual reality i fear that something similar to the move The CRAZIES would happen. Get rid of the disease by getting rid of the town. Blame it as a nuclear missile from another country? Honestly i think i would freak out. The question in my head is when i break would i be the kind of person who hides in the corner and silently dies away or the kind of person to go out into the world and seek help/attention. I don't think i would be able to risk the lives of so many if i could just die in a corner and contain the virus. But who knows? Maybe when your as sick as that survival instincts kick in. I'm pretty sure no one is morally perfect.
If a loved one were infected? I see two ways that i would handle this. Choice one make sure they are contained and killed painlessly, stopping the spread of the virus. Or i would be close to them if i really loved them. Share what they felt, and share their fate.
I'm curious what would happen if we sent a virus into space. Would it act differently without gravity?
All this talk of viruses makes me think of how humans are in a way a virus on the Earth. Using up all of it's resources so quickly while quickly copying ourselves within it. Maybe soon we will move on to a new host? Perhaps this isn't our first host after all? Were humans a bothersome virus that some alien race banished to that planet which held other bothersome creatures? Perhaps we are on the trail to becoming less of a virus? Perhaps we are becoming an even more powerful virus. Not related to the book, but just some thoughts that ran through my head as i was reading. Let the mind wander....
Any who hello there ladies gentlemen and freaks of all kind, to this book that would make the hairy-lady's beard curl in a hurry. Like what i did there? Just for you Jacob. Jacob I think it's perfectly fine to leak SOME spoilers. People wouldn't just willy nilly click on a hot zone letter THREE thread without expecting a tad. I agree with you Jacob that the very beginning of the book seemed to have a very bloody hook to drag you within its gruesome pages. Although Charles Monet didn't seem to be a like-able character and is easily forgotten as new characters appear, such as the Stay at home mom who actually works with level 4(incredibly high) agents. The author seems to portray characters he likes with much more background then the ones that are a bit of a "filler" type in my opinion.
Somthing i havnt tried before, I am going to stray from talking about the book and answer/ ask questions with you guys (Jacob and Tim). For some reason i thought you asked some questions...... Ok well i guess i will just ask and speculate.
If an outbreak of the disease were to explode right now how would alameda react? In my fantasy i guess i see myself as being that one of the handful who are immune to the disease and go out and do heroic things. In an actual reality i fear that something similar to the move The CRAZIES would happen. Get rid of the disease by getting rid of the town. Blame it as a nuclear missile from another country? Honestly i think i would freak out. The question in my head is when i break would i be the kind of person who hides in the corner and silently dies away or the kind of person to go out into the world and seek help/attention. I don't think i would be able to risk the lives of so many if i could just die in a corner and contain the virus. But who knows? Maybe when your as sick as that survival instincts kick in. I'm pretty sure no one is morally perfect.
If a loved one were infected? I see two ways that i would handle this. Choice one make sure they are contained and killed painlessly, stopping the spread of the virus. Or i would be close to them if i really loved them. Share what they felt, and share their fate.
I'm curious what would happen if we sent a virus into space. Would it act differently without gravity?
All this talk of viruses makes me think of how humans are in a way a virus on the Earth. Using up all of it's resources so quickly while quickly copying ourselves within it. Maybe soon we will move on to a new host? Perhaps this isn't our first host after all? Were humans a bothersome virus that some alien race banished to that planet which held other bothersome creatures? Perhaps we are on the trail to becoming less of a virus? Perhaps we are becoming an even more powerful virus. Not related to the book, but just some thoughts that ran through my head as i was reading. Let the mind wander....
Friday, April 16, 2010
plans for weekend
This weekend I am really excited for. Two things are happening. On Saturday I'm headed to Berkley to go on a date with my girlfriend. We havn't had a nice hangout day in so long, im really nervous. Then on Sunday I have a Judo tournament to attend and help run. I was never in a full on match with someone i never met before. This makes me a lot more nervous. I dont want to embaress myself in front m=of my sensei and friends. My goal for the tournament is to get at least 3rd place so that i win some kind of medal to show off. Plus it would proove that i am not utterly useless in Judo.
Today (Friday) I spent countless hours setting up for the tournament. Okay so maybe not countless but from fifth period all the way up until 6:30pm i was hard at work. First we had to take all of these heavy mats from the boys locker room. At first its a really easy task, but eventually all the mats that you pick up and with add up a heavy toll on your arms. The sunny afternoon weather hardly helped at all. A really awesome thing that happened though, was that i was excused from sixth period, SPANISH. I'm really not a fan of spanish i think its dull. Plus i didn't really do my spanish home work. After we cleaned and loaded all of the mats up on the truck I had to sweep the outside, kind of difficult since nature kind of magically conjures dirt everywhere! After that we had to set up all of the mats in a specific order in the new gym. THAT TOOK FOREVER! The design had to exact and so tight. very hard to make mats tight when they have so much traction on the bottom. After countless mats and sore feet we were done. We also had to move those yellow/black tables that you see all the asian kids sitting on, those are also VERY heavy. After taking a quick look at it i was excited that we made something look so neat and professional. Although every time i think of the match my hands begin to shake with either fear or anticipation.
So Alexa is my long time girlfriend. I first attracted her by showing my stalker potential, yes we are not the average couple and i LOVE it. Recently she moved pretty far away so our time together is scarce but precious. She is the most artistic person i know. She completely loves the whole drawing aspect. She recently got a new camera from someone who must like her alot, alot. So now she is taking pictures of all kinds of things that spark her interest. Although I'm sure she enjoys being with me, she has picked up some bad habits from me. I'm the kind of person who sleeps from anywhere between 1-5 on fridays-sundays. When i first began talking to this lovely lady she would fall asleep at ten or even earlier. At first i didn't believe she slept so early, but just wanted to stop talking to me. Now i can get her to stay up until 1 if im lucky but normally 12 is her cut off time. I love talking to Alexa since we have really open minds we can talk about anything and it will be fine. Although with such a variety of topics its sometimes hard to choose something to talk about and we end up taking a long time just talking about nothing.
But the one thing i can decide about in an instant is that Saturday is going to be a really enjoyable day.
Lots of plans for the weekend, hey mr clouds dont rain on my parade ;3
Today (Friday) I spent countless hours setting up for the tournament. Okay so maybe not countless but from fifth period all the way up until 6:30pm i was hard at work. First we had to take all of these heavy mats from the boys locker room. At first its a really easy task, but eventually all the mats that you pick up and with add up a heavy toll on your arms. The sunny afternoon weather hardly helped at all. A really awesome thing that happened though, was that i was excused from sixth period, SPANISH. I'm really not a fan of spanish i think its dull. Plus i didn't really do my spanish home work. After we cleaned and loaded all of the mats up on the truck I had to sweep the outside, kind of difficult since nature kind of magically conjures dirt everywhere! After that we had to set up all of the mats in a specific order in the new gym. THAT TOOK FOREVER! The design had to exact and so tight. very hard to make mats tight when they have so much traction on the bottom. After countless mats and sore feet we were done. We also had to move those yellow/black tables that you see all the asian kids sitting on, those are also VERY heavy. After taking a quick look at it i was excited that we made something look so neat and professional. Although every time i think of the match my hands begin to shake with either fear or anticipation.
So Alexa is my long time girlfriend. I first attracted her by showing my stalker potential, yes we are not the average couple and i LOVE it. Recently she moved pretty far away so our time together is scarce but precious. She is the most artistic person i know. She completely loves the whole drawing aspect. She recently got a new camera from someone who must like her alot, alot. So now she is taking pictures of all kinds of things that spark her interest. Although I'm sure she enjoys being with me, she has picked up some bad habits from me. I'm the kind of person who sleeps from anywhere between 1-5 on fridays-sundays. When i first began talking to this lovely lady she would fall asleep at ten or even earlier. At first i didn't believe she slept so early, but just wanted to stop talking to me. Now i can get her to stay up until 1 if im lucky but normally 12 is her cut off time. I love talking to Alexa since we have really open minds we can talk about anything and it will be fine. Although with such a variety of topics its sometimes hard to choose something to talk about and we end up taking a long time just talking about nothing.
But the one thing i can decide about in an instant is that Saturday is going to be a really enjoyable day.
Lots of plans for the weekend, hey mr clouds dont rain on my parade ;3
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Beams out of your eyes
Ever have the fanatasy to be able to shoot beams out of your eyes? In actuality the idea is not all that absurd. In Texas they have done experiments showing that when someone stare at you you can kind of feel it. full article in link.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Psychiatrists-Research-Finds-iw-2733973438.html?x=0&.v=1
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Psychiatrists-Research-Finds-iw-2733973438.html?x=0&.v=1
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
combined letter
Hey Jacob and Tim I am quite positive you fellows are far ahead of me in page numbers. I'm certain i cant catch up with Tim but Jacob watch yourself! The Hot Zone dosnt take its time setting up the gut turning events. I'm up at the point where every time before i begin to read I make sure I didn't just eat. There has so many gruesome scenes and death. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the description usage since i can vividly see everything the author describes (to my dismay).
The first person we are introduced to is Charles Monet, Monet was a very adventurous person. Although lonely he was a satisfied person living in Kenya. He loved to go on hikes and camping trips, nature seemed to call him out. On this particular adventure Monet decides to bring some company, female of course(prostitutes). The two ventured off towards the base of Mount Elgon, a volcanic mountain with lushes surroundings. The mountain is full of millions of different species some probably never found yet(ominous for a disease book huh?). Monet had a knack for getting animals to trust him. At the entrance to the camp site he enticed a monkey to sit on his shoulder and eat straight from his hand. Sanitary? I highly doubt it. They made camp the middle of trees that towered over them like skyscrapers. Hmm escaping the city to get into a city of trees, well its a step up i guess? During the heavy rains that often occurred in this part of the forest Monet and his company went at it in the tent. Aids was not yet a huge fear among the human race. Hmm did they have condoms in Kenya? Do they now? I wonder how they prevent pregnancy back in the day.When the rain finally subsided our Monet decides to venture into the cave with his friend girl. Inside the cave the floors and walls were coated with guano (bat poop). Monet noticed the scratched up walls from elephants grinding their tusks to get minerals, and touched crumbling stone. As they went deeper they ran into a sticky film that was all over the back of the cave. Curious Monet also felt the texture and elasticity of the goo. OK RED FLAGS PEOPLE A GUY TOUCHING EVERYTHING IN A CAVE.......I dont expect him to live too long.
When Monet returns to his isolated hut in his Kenyan village he starts to feel a lower back ache and migraines. After not showing up to his usual locations in a few days friends came by to check up on him. Noticing how sluggish and horrible he looked they sent him on a small plane to a hospital nearby. During the flight Monet couldn't stop vomiting. Vomiting fine right? NOT IF THE VOMIT IS BLOOD...oh just blood? thats fine right? NOT IF ITS BLACK BLOOD. EW. Black blood is when your blood cells are infected. Once black that means the cell is about to explode with the virus. It's the way the virus is able to reach other hosts easier.
Once inside the hospital Monet was told to wait. Too bad the virus inside his body disagreed and made his anus fall off. Blood pooled from his body. Infected blood pools away from the mangled body. The virus made all of his muscles deteriorate in his body, it also liquidizes the organs within his body. The people who had to operate on Monets body said they were "up to their elbows in blood" his blood wouldnt clot, a severe problem. Monet died. I totaly saw this coming WHOOT. Hot Zone is incredibly gory something i wasn't really expecting, but now im sort of used to it and i can hang on to my lunch.
The first person we are introduced to is Charles Monet, Monet was a very adventurous person. Although lonely he was a satisfied person living in Kenya. He loved to go on hikes and camping trips, nature seemed to call him out. On this particular adventure Monet decides to bring some company, female of course(prostitutes). The two ventured off towards the base of Mount Elgon, a volcanic mountain with lushes surroundings. The mountain is full of millions of different species some probably never found yet(ominous for a disease book huh?). Monet had a knack for getting animals to trust him. At the entrance to the camp site he enticed a monkey to sit on his shoulder and eat straight from his hand. Sanitary? I highly doubt it. They made camp the middle of trees that towered over them like skyscrapers. Hmm escaping the city to get into a city of trees, well its a step up i guess? During the heavy rains that often occurred in this part of the forest Monet and his company went at it in the tent. Aids was not yet a huge fear among the human race. Hmm did they have condoms in Kenya? Do they now? I wonder how they prevent pregnancy back in the day.When the rain finally subsided our Monet decides to venture into the cave with his friend girl. Inside the cave the floors and walls were coated with guano (bat poop). Monet noticed the scratched up walls from elephants grinding their tusks to get minerals, and touched crumbling stone. As they went deeper they ran into a sticky film that was all over the back of the cave. Curious Monet also felt the texture and elasticity of the goo. OK RED FLAGS PEOPLE A GUY TOUCHING EVERYTHING IN A CAVE.......I dont expect him to live too long.
When Monet returns to his isolated hut in his Kenyan village he starts to feel a lower back ache and migraines. After not showing up to his usual locations in a few days friends came by to check up on him. Noticing how sluggish and horrible he looked they sent him on a small plane to a hospital nearby. During the flight Monet couldn't stop vomiting. Vomiting fine right? NOT IF THE VOMIT IS BLOOD...oh just blood? thats fine right? NOT IF ITS BLACK BLOOD. EW. Black blood is when your blood cells are infected. Once black that means the cell is about to explode with the virus. It's the way the virus is able to reach other hosts easier.
Once inside the hospital Monet was told to wait. Too bad the virus inside his body disagreed and made his anus fall off. Blood pooled from his body. Infected blood pools away from the mangled body. The virus made all of his muscles deteriorate in his body, it also liquidizes the organs within his body. The people who had to operate on Monets body said they were "up to their elbows in blood" his blood wouldnt clot, a severe problem. Monet died. I totaly saw this coming WHOOT. Hot Zone is incredibly gory something i wasn't really expecting, but now im sort of used to it and i can hang on to my lunch.
Friday, April 2, 2010
purpose
In the beginning of the year i believed this blog was pointless and noone would ever read it, besides you of course. I thought that this was useless and that i would eventually run out of ideas rapidly. It felt like such a burden to stray from my everyday routine to blog about something i felt half-heartily about.I would write the bear minimum and passed it off as something i worked hard about and spent a lot of time thinking about. In the beginning i thought that my friends and I would just brainstorm together and blog about the same ideas week to week. Since that is a really easy way of getting ideas and thoughts together.
Now that I've spent so much time blogging I've realized that this blog is in no way pointless. Through this blog i have explored ideas, thoughts, topics, myself, and other people closely. I was able to explore my own thoughts in depth and sort them out into a one way conversation with the reader. Then after a few hours to minutes if what i put out there was interesting enough someone would put there own little thoughts and i would be able to expand my ideas and see from a different vantage point. I would be able to spark conversations in topics that i was obviously interested in since Ive already posted it online. Another huge milestone of me realizing that this blog was far from pointless is when the author of a book i reviewed actually commented on my review. I was simply stunned. I was in a hyper frenzied mode for the next few hours. Someone who is famous and sold millions of books actually read my review and had the heart to comment on it. It gave me the knowledge that I'm not only posting to my class mates or to my teacher, but to whom ever stumbles upon my work and decides to take a read.
This gives me a whole new drive to to put stuff out there that will catch people's eye. Currently I am working on my own fictional story. I was overjoyed when i convinced my friend to also write his own story. The fact that i inspired one of my own friends to take up his own creative imagination is fascinating. We get to exchange story ideas and the whole works. It makes me want to keep going on with the story even when i hit slow spots, knowing that i could at any moment inspire someone with one chapter, one paragraph, or even on sentence is just so inthrilling.
Instead of blogging being a detour from my daily life it has become something of a reload point in daily life. When something has me engrossed in it so much that it can't escape my head then I must blog about it. If i think its so good someone else must also share the same interest somewhere in the world right? Blogging is now a time for me to unload all the contents of my brain into a stored and organized place. "i wonder what i was thinking about that week?" simply just head over to my own blog and i can self analyze.
I want to continue with my story more then anything right now. Then every now and then i would love to blog about whats happening to me in the NOW. Such as politic events or other major events that have captivated my attention. I want to explore my own interests and possibly learn even more interests that have eluded me so far. ANYTHING that makes me go, "wow that's amazing" will instantly be put into the blogging choices section of my brain.
I want my audience to be anyone with an open mind and an interest in all things. My audience is for me also, it's similar to an online diary. A diary that I'm happy to share with the world, and i hope the world will like the stuffs i blog about :3
Now that I've spent so much time blogging I've realized that this blog is in no way pointless. Through this blog i have explored ideas, thoughts, topics, myself, and other people closely. I was able to explore my own thoughts in depth and sort them out into a one way conversation with the reader. Then after a few hours to minutes if what i put out there was interesting enough someone would put there own little thoughts and i would be able to expand my ideas and see from a different vantage point. I would be able to spark conversations in topics that i was obviously interested in since Ive already posted it online. Another huge milestone of me realizing that this blog was far from pointless is when the author of a book i reviewed actually commented on my review. I was simply stunned. I was in a hyper frenzied mode for the next few hours. Someone who is famous and sold millions of books actually read my review and had the heart to comment on it. It gave me the knowledge that I'm not only posting to my class mates or to my teacher, but to whom ever stumbles upon my work and decides to take a read.
This gives me a whole new drive to to put stuff out there that will catch people's eye. Currently I am working on my own fictional story. I was overjoyed when i convinced my friend to also write his own story. The fact that i inspired one of my own friends to take up his own creative imagination is fascinating. We get to exchange story ideas and the whole works. It makes me want to keep going on with the story even when i hit slow spots, knowing that i could at any moment inspire someone with one chapter, one paragraph, or even on sentence is just so inthrilling.
Instead of blogging being a detour from my daily life it has become something of a reload point in daily life. When something has me engrossed in it so much that it can't escape my head then I must blog about it. If i think its so good someone else must also share the same interest somewhere in the world right? Blogging is now a time for me to unload all the contents of my brain into a stored and organized place. "i wonder what i was thinking about that week?" simply just head over to my own blog and i can self analyze.
I want to continue with my story more then anything right now. Then every now and then i would love to blog about whats happening to me in the NOW. Such as politic events or other major events that have captivated my attention. I want to explore my own interests and possibly learn even more interests that have eluded me so far. ANYTHING that makes me go, "wow that's amazing" will instantly be put into the blogging choices section of my brain.
I want my audience to be anyone with an open mind and an interest in all things. My audience is for me also, it's similar to an online diary. A diary that I'm happy to share with the world, and i hope the world will like the stuffs i blog about :3
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