Abbie's Best Seller's Blog

Thursday, December 18, 2014

Book 4 Post #7

My Dear Liars,

I write this from my lonely hospital bed in Connecticut, where I was treated for the injuries I received from whatever happened in summer fifteen. I have sent many emails to all of you while I was away in Europe, but no response. Not a single one. I thought that I could count on my cousins and best friends for support during a difficult time while being away with my awful father. All I wanted was a simple email back just acknowledging that you have been receiving my messages. Especially you, Johnny. I only ever wanted answers to my questions. Once I returned to Beechwood, everyone was distant. Mirren my best friend, you claimed of being sick and never left Cuddledown. Johnny, my silly, carefree cousin, you refused to go boating or cliff diving like we did when we were kids. And Gat, my soulmate, you were to worried about my grandfather that I felt ignored the whole summer. This is my letter you all of you Liars, asking why?

To Mirren,

I never understood why you never left the house and why you never came to family lunch with grandfather. I tried so hard to reconnect with you after my accident, but you never opened up. I felt closed off and alone when all I really needed was my best friend. I wanted to gossip about the aunties and the boys, like we used to before summer fifteen. Why didn’t you tell me what happened that summer before my accident that changed everything? Everyone knew I had amnesia and I was treated differently because of it. All I wanted were for things in Beechwood to go back to normal and for you to be my best friend again. I wanted you to be there for me when I had my bad days and help me get off my Percocet. Without you, my pain medication and mummy’s bottle of vodka were I had. I just needed my Mirren back, and now that I know what happened summer fifteen, I never will.

To Johnny,

I know we had our conflicts about grandfather and his inheritance, but I still love you. You were my fun, crazy cousin that always knew how to have a good time. I remember going across the lake in our miniature speed boats that granddad had bought for our twelfth birthdays. Everything was simpler then. I wish we could rewind summer fifteen and not do all the stupid things we did. Even though it wasn’t your idea, you still went along with it because that’s just who you are. I wish you would have told me about my accident sooner, Johnny. I know now that you were just scared of the consequences, but granddad always protects his eldest. Why didn’t you return any of my emails about Gat? How long would it really take to type a simple response? I only wanted to know if he was alright. Now I will never know how Gat is doing because you’re gone, like the rest of them.

To Gat,

I am most disappointed in you. I thought what we had was something real and big. After my accident, I emailed so many times and never got one response. I was starting to think that I had imagined our relationship but my feelings were too strong to ignore. When I came back to Beechwood, summer seventeen was underway. I saw your face and I knew I wasn’t lying to myself. We loved each other, Gat. You were mine and I was yours. But the only thing you were worried about was what my grandfather thought about us. I tried telling you it didn’t matter what he thought, but you wouldn’t let it go. You felt inferior to our family, even though I only saw you as superior. You were intelligent, passionate and caring, unlike so many members of my family. We could have been everything Gat, but now I will have to wait a lifetime to be with you again.

I hope you all understand why I am writing this to you. I know I won’t ever receive responses to my questions but I needed to ask them, for my own sanity.

Your Fellow Liar,

Cadence

Monday, December 15, 2014

Adapting Book 2 Post #4

Blog Post #4

1. The first thing that I think is the most important for adapting The Perks of Being a Wallflower is the cast. The book is told from a shy high school boy, Charlie, who doesn’t have any friends and is writing journal entries, which makes up the book. It’s important to cast him as he is described in the book. Also Sam and Patrick are very essential to cast correctly. They both are carefree kids that struggle with a lot of things real high school students struggle with. I think how they were cast in the film adaptation is perfect. All of the characters are played very true to how they are in the book.

2. Music is also very important in Perks because Charlie likes to make mixtapes and loves when his sister gives him mixtapes she receives from her boyfriend. Music also plays a role in describing how Charlie feels when he is with Sam and Patrick. Since the book was written in the 1990’s, a lot of the music is old and dated, so to reach the target audience, I would incorporate more modern music to the film.

3. When Sam, Patrick and Charlie are driving and go under the tunnel is an important scene in the book because it’s the first time Charlie feels happy and wanted. When filming this scene, I would include the music that was playing on the radio. I would also have close up shots on Charlie and Sam as they both stand up in the wind.

4. In the book, Charlie only subtly mentions that he was molested by his Aunt Helen. I think to bring that out on film, there would have to be flashbacks to when Charlie was boy. Also flashing back to Helen’s death would be important as to why he was so upset when she died. Adapting this part of the book on the screen would be hard because Charlie still loves his Aunt Helen a lot even though she molested him, so that can be hard for an audience to understand.

5. The story is told by journal entries of Charlie’s, so I think that having him narrate the movie with his thoughts and feelings will bring more of the book to the screen. It would be easy to do because the book is already kind of written like a script due to the fact that Chobsky is a screenwriter and director.

What is a Book? Post #2

A book is a place to escape from reality, no matter the form. Personally, I love to read actual books, feeling the pages in my fingers as I reach the next chapter and physically holding an author’s work in my hands means something to me. As much as I enjoy reading the tangible book, I still find myself diving in to plenty of e-books because of their convenience. Reading on a Kindle or iPad versus an actual hard copy of a book is very different, but it doesn’t make the content of the book any less.

All readers have a preference on how we read our books. There are some very strong opinions about the “death of the book” because of the very recent switch to electronic reading. I think that the spike in e-book sales is encouraging because that means people are actually reading. E-books have made the idea of reading not seem like such a chore to the non-readers out there. The accessibility of the electronic reading has so much appeal to people who don’t like the idea of going to a book store and buying physical copies of the book. Also buying e-books is less expensive than buying an actual copy, so you are getting more for your money.

I think that the idea and image of a book is evolving. The days of carrying the extremely battered copy of your favorite book are coming to an end. Now you can carry your entire library in your pocket. Every book you can think of could be yours with a tap of a button. The popularity of e-books and e-readers is a great thing for authors and readers. It makes books easier to obtain and authors are getting more readers to buy their books. Even though the physical book is becoming rarer, I still would rather have the comfort of cuddling up on a rainy day and reading my favorite book..

Book 1 Project Post #3

Book Project 1: The Night Circus

Imagine being able to jump into the mysterious and exciting world Erin Morgenstern created in the bestselling novel, The Night Circus. Well, now you can! The Night Circus will be a traveling replica of Le Cirque de Rêves that is beautifully described in the book. The circus will only be open from sundown to sunup and contain all of whimsy and magic created by Celia and Marco, the main characters. The circus is open to everyone, whether you read the book or not. It will create a new way for fans to experience the different tents and also interest people who haven’t read it to pick up the book and read.

The idea of the circus came straight from the main setting and plot of the book. When Hector and Alexander started the competition between Celia and Marco, they created the idea of the circus for the two magicians to battle there. Le Cirque de Rêves is described in the novel as a place that is filled with light and imagination. One of the characters says that the circus, “glows from the flames to lanterns to stars.” (Morgenstern 117). When the circus is brought to life, it will be as close to the book’s description as possible. The first thing that people will see when entering the Night Circus will be a huge archway of lanterns and hanging twinkle lights. This directly relates to the novel because one of Celia’s specialties, which is light. She manipulates light and fire when she performs her shows. In the Night Circus some of the exact tents and exhibits will be recreated. For example, one of the tents will be the Hall of Mirrors. In the book, patrons of the circus describes the tent as a complicated hall, “with floor-length unadorned planes of mirrored glass, as you half expected, but hundreds of mirrors of varying sizes and shapes, each in a different frame,” (Morgenstern 211). In the replica, the Hall of Mirrors will be almost exactly how it was in the novel. The two main characters, Marco and Celia, are magicians put in a competition but they were never told their opponent or when it will start. All they knew was that only one would survive the competition. They both worked for Le Cirque de Rêves and eventually fell in love. In the Night Circus, there would be two magicians playing Marco and Celia playing out their star-crossed love for the audience. People will be free to visit all of the tents at any time, but in the middle Celia and Marco will be performing. Another example of a tent that will come directly from the book is the acrobat show. “Acrobats, trapeze artists, aerialists are illuminated by dozens of round glowing lamps hanging from the top of the tent like planets or stars,” (Morgenstern 343). There will be very talented acrobats performing a magical routine much like the one in the novel. These are just a few tents or performances that will be held at the Night Circus.

The Night Circus will bring attention to this best-selling novel because all of the fans will come out and attend and all non-readers will be curious to what it is. The mystery of the circus will be intriguing to the people of the town it’s visiting. People who haven’t read the book will be more likely to read it after they attended to the Night Circus. It will bring in more readers and it will keep the current readers engaged.