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Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins is a beautiful novel. France is beautiful. Ètienne St. Clair is very beautiful. If you are at all confused, the plot of this novel is as follows. Anna Oliphant is a high schooler in Atlanta, Georgia. Without her consent, her father, a famed novelist, sends her off to a French boarding school for American teenagers so she can be more "cultured". She is dreading the experience, having to leave behind her best friend Bridgette and her crush Toph. Once she makes her arrival at SOAP(School Of America in Paris), she quickly befriend a kind girl named Meredith. Almost immediately afterward, she falls head over heels for Ètienne St. Clair, an American-born boy who grew up in London(with a British accent included) and has a French father. Anna loves everything about him: his hair, his eyes, his smile. The only thing she doesn't love about him is his girlfriend, Ellie. Over a series of events, Anna tries to deny her inner wanting for the boy but she can't deny it after much longer.
This was an enjoyable read. While on the border of cutesy teen romance, Anna and the French Kiss succeeds to be more than that, a novel that makes you laugh and love. Through its wonderful imagery and deep characters, this book has become a favorite of mine. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys young adult fiction and/or romances.
Sunday, January 20, 2013
Thursday, January 17, 2013
West Side Story
On January 1, I watched the Oscar-winning classic film West Side Story. This cinematic masterpiece based on Romeo and Juliet lives up to its name.
The story centers around two gangs in mid-century NYC: the Jets,an all-white group favorable by the police and lead by Riff, and the Sharks, a Puerto Rican group who are thought less of and lead by Bernardo. Fights break out often between these gangs, since they both want to be the leaders of the streets. They are planning to have a big fight and are constantly preparing (in song if course!). The Jets are trying to get former member Tony(yes, that Tony) to come back since he and his best friend Riff founded the group initially. Maria (yes, that Maria) meanwhile doesn't want her brother Bernardo to get hurt. Tony and Maria main priority though is wanting to find love. Ata a big dance they meet each other and fall in love instantly. The gang leaders are not so pleased. The couple decide to only meet in secret, which they do and which makes their love stronger. They even hold a pretend wedding. But tragedy strikes when the rumble begins and love is lost.
This movie is an obvious must-see for many reasons. The two leads played by Natalie Wood and Richard Beymer are great. The songs strike a variety of emotions from joy to passion to melancholy and much more. If you haven't seen do so and I promise it will leave you very satisfied.
The story centers around two gangs in mid-century NYC: the Jets,an all-white group favorable by the police and lead by Riff, and the Sharks, a Puerto Rican group who are thought less of and lead by Bernardo. Fights break out often between these gangs, since they both want to be the leaders of the streets. They are planning to have a big fight and are constantly preparing (in song if course!). The Jets are trying to get former member Tony(yes, that Tony) to come back since he and his best friend Riff founded the group initially. Maria (yes, that Maria) meanwhile doesn't want her brother Bernardo to get hurt. Tony and Maria main priority though is wanting to find love. Ata a big dance they meet each other and fall in love instantly. The gang leaders are not so pleased. The couple decide to only meet in secret, which they do and which makes their love stronger. They even hold a pretend wedding. But tragedy strikes when the rumble begins and love is lost.
This movie is an obvious must-see for many reasons. The two leads played by Natalie Wood and Richard Beymer are great. The songs strike a variety of emotions from joy to passion to melancholy and much more. If you haven't seen do so and I promise it will leave you very satisfied.
Sunday, January 6, 2013
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Hey guys! Sorry I have been posting in a while but I've been pretty busy. Anyway, my blog can no longer be accessed by www.claudiaolson.com just to let you know. On the with the review!
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky is an excellent novel. It explores the life of a modern teenager accurately. Its characters are memorable with fascinating back stories to follow them.
The protagonist is Charlie. His best friend Michael commited suicide recently (by that I mean 1991). Charlie is very depressed about this so he decides to write letters about his life to you. Yes you, the person reading this very novel. That's another reason this book is so interesting, but I will get into that later. Anyway, it is his first day of high school and he doesn't have any friends,a so-called "wallflower". This is until he meets Sam and Patrick, seniors who are step siblings. Sam is a beautiful girl and Patrick is a gay boy. Charlie immediately falls in love with Sam, but he knows he can't have her. These two people lead Charlie into many experiences including performing at showings of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, exchanging great gifts at a Secret Santa, and feeling infinite. If you are confused (which I'm sure you are) this is a feeling Charlie got when they were driving through a tunnel at high speeds with the wind rushing through them.
Charlie's family is also very interesting. His father takes many sacrifices for his family and his mother just wants everyone to be well cared for. His older brother is a college football player on the rise to fame and his older sister has her share of ex boyfriends and failed relationships. But the most fascinating family member by far is Aunt Helen who is Charlie's mother's sister. She died many years before and had a tragic past that no one could forget. Once she died, Charlie had gotten extremely depressed, to the brink of insanity for he loved his aunt dearly. As we arrive to the end of the book, however, we learn Aunt Helen influenced Charlie's life in more ways than one. This twist will leave you speechless.
A recurring theme in the novel deals with Charlie's English teacher Bill. This man realizes that Charlie is wise beyond his years so to challenge the boy, he gives him a series of classic novels throughout the year and assigns him to write a report on each. These books greatly shape Charlie's character.
As you can see, The Perks of Being a Wallflower is an awe-inspiring series of events filled with interesting plot points, a fascinating method of narration, and, as I mentioned before, a great twist you don't want to miss. I highly recommend you to pick up this book and start reading. You won't be disappointed.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky is an excellent novel. It explores the life of a modern teenager accurately. Its characters are memorable with fascinating back stories to follow them.
The protagonist is Charlie. His best friend Michael commited suicide recently (by that I mean 1991). Charlie is very depressed about this so he decides to write letters about his life to you. Yes you, the person reading this very novel. That's another reason this book is so interesting, but I will get into that later. Anyway, it is his first day of high school and he doesn't have any friends,a so-called "wallflower". This is until he meets Sam and Patrick, seniors who are step siblings. Sam is a beautiful girl and Patrick is a gay boy. Charlie immediately falls in love with Sam, but he knows he can't have her. These two people lead Charlie into many experiences including performing at showings of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, exchanging great gifts at a Secret Santa, and feeling infinite. If you are confused (which I'm sure you are) this is a feeling Charlie got when they were driving through a tunnel at high speeds with the wind rushing through them.
Charlie's family is also very interesting. His father takes many sacrifices for his family and his mother just wants everyone to be well cared for. His older brother is a college football player on the rise to fame and his older sister has her share of ex boyfriends and failed relationships. But the most fascinating family member by far is Aunt Helen who is Charlie's mother's sister. She died many years before and had a tragic past that no one could forget. Once she died, Charlie had gotten extremely depressed, to the brink of insanity for he loved his aunt dearly. As we arrive to the end of the book, however, we learn Aunt Helen influenced Charlie's life in more ways than one. This twist will leave you speechless.
A recurring theme in the novel deals with Charlie's English teacher Bill. This man realizes that Charlie is wise beyond his years so to challenge the boy, he gives him a series of classic novels throughout the year and assigns him to write a report on each. These books greatly shape Charlie's character.
As you can see, The Perks of Being a Wallflower is an awe-inspiring series of events filled with interesting plot points, a fascinating method of narration, and, as I mentioned before, a great twist you don't want to miss. I highly recommend you to pick up this book and start reading. You won't be disappointed.
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