Why I don't go to readings.

The reason that I do not go to poetry readings or literary readings is the same reason that I do not watch DVDs with commentary. When I read, I like to make my own opinions out of things and go from there. I actually never want the input of the author. I feel that that can ruin any personal experience I may have from a book.

Poetry and Fiction are fun to figure out on your own. If you have someone telling you what it is all about and the method behind the madness, then it takes the fun out of it for the readers. Any time that I have been told what a piece is about, I have hated it. Any time I have figured out, on my own, what I think a piece is about, I've enjoyed it much much more.

SO, if you want me to read anything that you have written, then don't tell me why you wrote. Don't discuss it with me. I don't wanna hear from you. I'll figure it out.

Tom and Huck

This semester, I did not have to read any books in any other classes. To, me, being that I am an English major, this was amazing. I don't think I have ever had a semester with such little reading to do. In one way, this was good, because it gave me more time to focus on other aspects of my classes. In another way, it was not good. I enjoy reading and I like being introduced to new stories and ideas. Sometimes, I end up hating them, but other times, I end up loving them. So, this semester was a win/lose situation

One book that I was forced to read over the summer (which was the last semester I had) was The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain. It had actually been a really long time since I read that story, and I enjoyed doing so. It is a classic story and there are many more important themes in it then I remembered there to be. This may be because the most vivid memories that I have of Huckleberry Finn are from the Johnathan Taylor Thomas movie Tom and Huck and the episode of Wishbone (the show where a Jack Russell Terrier played different roles in classic stories in order to teach them to kids) in witch Wishbone played Tom Sawyer. So, in retrospect, the story was more adult then I remembered it to be.

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was actually a book that I was pleased to read, so my summer class went pretty smoothly. The themes of slavery, women, prejudice, and more are very prominent in the book, and being that the story is being told by an abandoned boy, it makes it much more easy to relate to. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn are both classic books that I will be able to read at any time for the rest of my life.