On December 15th 2011, Hitchens died from complications from esophageal cancer at the age of sixty two. Hitchen’s contribution to the literary world includes a number of short essays within his books such as “Love, poverty, and war” and “why orwell matters”. Christopher has very strong religious and political views. Forbes magazine listed Hitchens as one of America’s twenty five most influential liberals. His political views are displayed in most of the books that he wrote.
Sam Mercurio Candide Essay Candide is the story of a young man’s journey throughout the world and all of its joys and sorrows. He is significantly influenced by all of the people and places he meets during his travels, but is initially faithful to the philosophy of his tutor Dr. Pangloss. Pangloss’s theory tells us that we live in the “best of all possible worlds” and therefore all this happens, is for the best. Candide’s encounters with characters like the Old Woman and Martin and witnessing of events like the war with the Bulgars and the earthquake at Lisbon lead him to change his thoughts on his mentor’s idea, eventually leading to his statement “but we must cultivate our garden” (Voltaire 130), which indicates that he feels the need for one to change what they believe is not how it should be, rather than lead a life of blind optimism. The foremost target of satire in Candide is the philosophy of Candide’s first tutor, Dr. Pangloss.
The Last Samurai by Helen DeWitt is actually quite an engaging book once you really read it and learn to be open-minded about it. The first half is very confusing, full of digressions and confusing changes of scenes as it is. Despite this, once you get past the bewildering twists and turns of the point of view, and the perplexing dialogue, you start enjoying the wit and intelligence portrayed in the book, especially by the main characters, Sibylla Newman and her son Ludovic. Sibylla is seen using unorthodox ways of teaching Ludovic about the world. She starts educating him at a young age about things that would normally be taught to youths a decade older than him.
Opening up a new hardcover book is almost impossible for me. I find myself unable to concentrate on the story at hand. Knowing that I cannot connect with characters the way an author would like is difficult at time. Honestly, I cannot read the newspaper because the images presented in the newspaper are not sufficient enough like on the internet. Along with myself, Carr believes that the net, as referred to in his article, is becoming a universal medium, the conduit for most of the information that flows through my eyes and ears and into my mind (p.68).
His writing style in this novel really enhanced the point of view. It allows for a more raw and in depth thoughts into the mind of a retired veteran, portraying it as a diary almost. Throughout the novel, not much insight was given about many characters, expect for Lieutenant Henry and Catherine. The novel mentioned about Henry’s background, but not much about Catherine's, however she’s the main character. I felt disconnected to Catherine, because since she’s one of the main characters, and was one of whom the whole novel was based upon, we didn’t learn much about her which I found to be very lacking.
Ultimately though, The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari is a book about getting the most from every second of every day – appreciating what you have now, while you work to achieve all that you desire. Sharma effortlessly blends fiction with a step-by-step guide to creating a life of balance, a life of purpose, and a life in full appreciation of the moment, while teaching how to appreciate everything that right now has to offer. I won’t begin to pretend that I can wrap every valuable detail from this book into one thought, but if I had to pick one gem that stood out as the most impactful, it would be: “… saying that you don’t have time to improve your thoughts and your life is like saying you don’t have time to stop for gas because you’re too busy driving. Eventually it will catch up with you.” The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari, page
I could relate to Maya as in how he’s really nice and caring, and likes to have fun. This book wasn’t predictable you could never really guess what was coming next and that’s one of the best things about the author. I think Maya wrote the book to entertain people, while showing people that theirs always more in life, and that people should really make the best out of their lives. I would recommend this book to people who enjoy books and voice like the author has. It’s an amazing book and filled with funny enjoyable moments that will leave you reading wondering what’s next.
How to win friends and influence people book vs. The fire starter session book I have to say that I have enjoyed my weekend learning as much as I have never imagined from those two books: How to win friends and influence people, and the fire starter session. The benefit is outrageous and they open my mind-eye to plenty of hidden formulas to achieve rather more connections and business starting insights. Herein, I will write about my mere reading experience of those two books, and I will testify in my opinion about their similarities in conceptual lessons they tend to deliver the reader and the differences they might have. How to make friends and influence people book, really, expands your social skills to the maximum.
I did not realize that there are so many characteristics to non verbal communication because I literally lived my life thinking nothing about them. I really liked how the book broke down three aspects of non verbal communication and its intentions- (1) Identity management (2) Define the kinds of relationships we wish to have with others and (3) Conveying emotions (Adler, Pg. 202-203). In order for me to better be polite and have good manners I need to realize all three of these aspects when talking about my relationship with others. I need to know the identity management of me and the other person or person(s) involved in the communication.
I need to learn to get use to books that I never imagined me reading because I don’t have a choice but to do it. Also, I would get very lazy to even try to take a glimpse at the text because I’m not use to reading the books the teachers like to read. My last goal is too use context clues. This is not a big deal but I would like to get a little better at it. When I am answering questions about the book, I don’t pay attention to the big clues.