The Mezzanine Nicholson Baker Close Reading

The dignified formality of Nicholson Baker's The Mezzanine describes the unusual tolerance the narrator feels for escaltors in his work place. His strange admiration is expressed with metaphors like "the free-standing kind: a pair of integral signs swooping upward" and "a temporary, steeper escalator of daylight" which help make a mental picture of the escalators as well as give an appreciation for the escalators. Baker's scholarly yet straightforward lexicon holds the flowing simile "like the radians of black luster that ride the undulating outer edge" to convey the graceful energy the narrator feels toward escalators.

Quarterly

Throughout this first quarter, I have read way more than I think I've read in my whole life. I find myself reading a lot of like pop fiction sort of books. Romance novels and teen novels are also a genre I find myself being attracted to most. When I read, I usually read at night, right before I go to bed. It helps me sleep. I get all cozied up in my bed, read a little, and then I'm set up to easily fall asleep. Since I started reading, I feel like I've started picking more challenging books. I started off with an easy read, just to get into the habit of reading. Now, I'm reading a book my mom recommended to me, and it is really challenging. A lot of our vocab words are in it. It's more of an adult book. But, I'm really starting to enjoy it. For the next quarter of this class, I want to try to read even more books. I think I want to try to get out of the romance novel genre and start to read different types of books. Maybe more literature, classic literature that is. I think that will help me expand my vocabulary and just help me gain a little more knowledge in other relms of the lit. world.

Meeting the Orphans

So, as I said, Leo had been on probation for some reason that the author has yet to reveal this far into the book. Leo's mom has taken Leo's actions as just unexcusable and unforgivable. She looks down upon Leo and expects so much more from him, just because Leo's brother Steve, was absolutely perfect. To try to make up for his illegal wrongdoings, Leo's mother makes him do chore-like tasks for her. After Leo and his parents go out to breakfast at their nomal diner that their friend Cleo works at, Leo's mother reads off a list of things that Leo needs to do for her. She considers these "things" hours of community service to her for Leo's bad acts. Although the list is long, the main focus of Leo's day is to meet the brother and sister pair who have been brought to the city's orphanage. They are rude, runaways, that have been in numerous different foster homes. Starla and Niles are the brother and sister orphans. Their attitudes and personalities are harsh and rough, with little to no kindness or happiness in them. Leo is assigned to help them get to know the high school that they will attend with Leo better and to give them advice as to how to get along in the city and with other kids. Leo only wants to help them have the best time they can, without making mistakes like Leo has. At first, Starla and Niles resent Leo, and don't want his help, but after Leo admits the Sisters at the orphanage can be quite violent, Starla convinces Niles to give in to Leo's plea and lets Leo help them. The orphan's attitudes become a little more refreshing and polite, and here is where Leo begins his first friendship to start the formation of the becoming tight knit group he will have for life.

South of Broad

South of Broad by Pat Conroy has become, almost depressing. Leo has started to share even more details about his live, and his brother's death. Leo tells of how his brother lead the absolutely perfect life. He had great grades, he was charming, he had the best looks of the family, and everyone he met, loved him at first meeting. Leo was opposite. He was shy, but polite, wasn't the smartest kid on the block, and didn't have the best genes in the family tree. Leo's parents favored Steve, his brother, in every way possible. Steve was always the talk of the town, while Leo just sat and listened. But, although Steve's external life seemed absolutely perfect, inside he didn't feel that way at all. Steve wasn't satistifed with himself. He was a definite perfectionist and felt as if he wasn't living up to his standards. So, he commited suicide. Leo's parent's never felt the same after that day when Steve took his own life. Leo never felt the same either. Leo knew he had new standards to live up to, and now all eyes were on him. As the newspaper delivery boy, Leo tried his hardest to satisfy every customer he served to make sure he kept everyone happy, and to not make a mistake or embarras his parents. Leo's father, was much  more appreciative of Leo than his mother. Leo's mother was a harsh, cold woman, who only saw Leo's failures. Up to this point in the book, I've learned that Leo was just let out of probation. But, the reason for his probation, hasn't been stated yet. Leo says it wasn't a very big mistake or big deal, but his mother looks down on Leo, even more than she already did because of it.

Currently

Pages this week: 150

Pages this semester: 1107
Currently reading: South of Broad by Pat Conroy

1. If you live to be a hundred, I want to live to be a hundred minus one day, so I never have to live without you.
Winnie the Pooh

2. The past can hurt. You can either run from it or learn from it.
The Lion King

3. No matter how your heart is grieving, if you keep on believing, the dreams that you wish will come true.
Cinderella

As you can see, all of my sentences of the week have been from Disney Movies. I was in the hospital on Thursday night, until Friday morning, and have been sitting home all weekend so I've had nothing to do but watch movies. If you haven't guessed yet, the only movies I've been watching are Disney movies. Although I am a teenager, and even getting ready to go off to college, I still love these movies. There is always some kind of hidden message under the theme of these movies. They always hit close to home with me. My favorite quote of the week, from Winnie the Pooh is probably one of the cutest things I've ever heard. I've always been the kind of girl who loves love, and this quote has love written all over it. It could be with a lover, or even a friend. I think in this case, Pooh was meaning it to his friends. He loves them so much, as I love mine. I wouldn't want to go a day without my friends either. I want to have them in my life forever.

The Beginning

South of Broad has definitely proved itself to be a great pick. It has a very sophisticated feel to it, which is a good change from the other books I've read before. The vocabulary is much more intriguing, adding a different feel to the book. So far, from reading, only one character has been introduced and his life has been described. He's a 17 year old boy, named Leo. His father is a teacher at the local high school and his mother is an ex-nun. Leo is a newspaper boy and an absolute perfectionist. He concentrates really hard to make his newspaper route perfect. All he wants to do is make the people he sees and helps happy. Behind his perfectionist exterior, Leo and his family do struggle. Leo's brother commited suicide when Leo was only 10 years old. Leo was the first one to find his brother dead in the bath tub when he came home. His brother was the perfect child, and seemed to lead a happy life. On the inside, nothing felt right to him. So, in the end, he decided to take his own life. That took a toll on the family, and the close knit family started to grow apart. Leo's parents work constantly, and they rarely spend time together. Leo has started to feel unworthy, and left out of the family.

South of Broad

So, I'm finally starting a new book! It's called South of Broad by Pat Conroy. It's a much much more sophisticated book than all of the other books I've read. My mom recommened it to me, saying she absolutely loved it. It's plot consists of a group of teenage kids who grow up in 1960's together. Each kid has a different background to their life. For example, one boy has a father who is a local high school teacher, an ex-nun for a mother, and had a brother who commited suicide. He becomes friends with this tightly knit group of kids who have similar stories to himself. There are twins with an alcoholic mother, and a prison-escaped father, runaway brothers, and a popular couple. Their circle of friends grows up together through two decades. They also encounter the AIDS
crisis in the '80's.
The group endures eachother's company for years. They survive marriages, loves, longings, and success as well as breakdowns. But, in the end, they are always there for each other. Toward the end of the book though, which I am excited to encounter, the friendship is tested and brings the group San Francisco for an event that no one is prepared for.