The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling

Dear Mr. Kipling,

I would just like to apologize on behalf of present humanity for what Disney did for your book. Like most people I grew up watching the Disney version of The Jungle Book. I loved it. I loved the animals that could talk, and their crazy antics throughout the jungle. All this belongs to your book. I finally read your book after 21 years of watching the movie. They are NOT the same. I'm not saying that one is better or worse than the other, they're just different.

I expected the book to be a longer version of the movie. More stories about Mowgli and his friends. More adventures throughout the jungle. Instead, I got three chapters about Mowgli, and then a collection of short stories about various animal/human interactions. I felt lost and confused. Disney has once again let me down. I don't know why I keep trusting them to tell the story as the author(s) intended. Most of the time, when I read a book that Disney based their movie on, I just get disappointed. Like with Alice and Wonderland (see my post from last summer about that one).

I wish you were still alive to sue Disney for what they've done to your book. They've raised several generations believing that The Jungle Book follows one story, when really... it's so much more.

End of One Thing, Start of Something Better

Well, the semester is finally coming to a close. I've taken 2 out of 5 finals, and can't wait to finish the rest!! This has been an interesting semester for me in terms of reading. I had my first English class where the professor was so bad that I never wanted to go to class (never take a class from Dr. Harris... luckily she's retiring after next year!) and read a lot of disturbing literature (see the post below about Native Son for an example). However, I've also had some great experiences. My other English classes have been phenomenal, and I've decided that if I ever decide to pursue a Master's in English, I'll definitely specialize in Modern and Post-Modern American literature. Going into the English major I thought I would focus my time on Romantic Era English literature... turns out that I hate the majority of it, and the only thing that makes the time period bearable is Jane Austen (who I love and adore).

However, now I'm off to something bigger and better... THE SUMMER!! (I bet you all thought I was going to say "married life." Well that's a part of the summer that I'm very excited for, but I'm equally excited for a chance to read a lot of great books and hopefully see this country come out of a recession so that I can get a job at a library!! Also, Andy and I are going to be living across the street from the Provo City Library which means it will be much easier for me to get involved on some level at the things that go on there... and just be able to check out books and movies there. I foresee Andy and I watching a lot of the old classic movies because we can rent them for free from the library.

And most importantly, I've started my summer reading. Right now my Goodreads "to read" list has 130 books on it, so we'll see how far I get this summer. Even if I read a book every single day I won't finish up my reading list, so my goal is just to see how much of a dent I can make in it. I've decided to start things off easy though and right now I'm in the middle of The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling. I bought a collection of his stories, so for the first month or so I'll be reading a lot of him. So give me a week or so and you'll get your post about my musings on that.

Native Son by Wright

Sometimes I think it's so unfair that a book that I have every intention of hating turns out to be really good. Case in point Native Son. It was written in the 1930s as a protest novel to the treatment of African Americans and the author said he wrote it to make you feel it in your gut. He didn't want to write a book that bankers' daughters could read, cry over, and then go to lunch. He wanted something that would change people's lives.

And this book did. I can't say too much about it without giving everything away, but if you don't like blood and violence you shouldn't read this book. I had to read it in the library because I refused to associate it with my apartment because I would never be able to sleep again if I did (luckily my professor had warned us that it was graphic and would cause nightmares). So I was dead set on hating it after reading the first 2 sections. The main character just made me so angry and I did not like him at all and I felt no sympathy for him whatsoever. But then I read the last section, and everything changed. Sure I didn't like the guy a whole lot, but I came to understand him a lot more.

And even though this book was written to protest the treatment of African Americans so many decades ago, I couldn't help but think about how it still applies. How each of us contributes to the creation of another person (not in the parent/procreative aspect, but in shaping a person's beliefs and attitudes). Every interaction we have with a person affects the rest of their life. If we continually treat someone poorly they will remember it. Even if its just the guy that gives us our food at McDonalds, our treatment of him affects him. You cannot have an interaction with someone without it affecting their life. So give that a thought. The next time you're in a bad mood and don't want to talk to the guy next to you on the bus, or in the elevator with you, just think about what you want to be accountable for... and try to make that person's day a little better.