Book Review: Survival of the Sickest by Dr. Sharon Moalem

Finished reading it on the airplane!         

        I have to say, I wouldn’t consider this book to be “my type” or my go-to read on most occasions. For starters, it isn’t a fictional book. It’s not a novel, and it most certainly does not have a main character falling in love as the reader goes through her progression into adulthood, like many of my favorite romance genre books. This book is about biology, the science behind life on this planet, plain and simple. Except Moalem makes takes this informative book way out of the biology textbook spectrum. He goes beyond what we would normally classify as a “simple cold,” for example, and describes theories explaining why some diseases require more from their hosts than others, such as malaria, in only the most intriguing and exciting way. 

        I was introduced to this book by my AP Biology teacher, Mrs. Garza. With the original intent of having her students read only the first few chapters for content on some quizzes, Mrs. Garza accomplished one of the biggest goals, I think, of a teacher: she encouraging me, as well as some of her other students, to complete reading the book on their own, indicating a passion for learning. And boy am I glad I did. 

        Moelem has a very important point made in the book: humans, particularly those with a thirst for curiosity, tend to ask a lot of whys. Within eight chapters, Moalem explores the interesting questions of why many European descendants inherit the surplus of iron in the body (called hemochromatosis), the genetic traces of Type 1 diabetes, the tendency and reasoning behind the ways diseases manipulate their hosts, the almost magical power of epigenetics, and more, all while connecting it to any species’ goal on Earth: to survive. Hence the name, Survival of the Sickest. Because many diseases prevalent today exist due to their solution to our ancestor’s need for survival. Moalem does an amazing job providing cutting-edge research from the scientific community (and I guess it does help that he happens to hold a doctorate in human physiology, neurogenetics, and evolutionary medicine) all in a book with a span of 200 pages or so. However, the most exciting thing about this book was the fact that I, who am neither scientist nor professional in the field of medicine, was pulled in. While science may not be comprehensible or of much interest to everyone, Moalem is effective in making this a good read for anyone. He makes it relatable, and worth your time to read. 

Marching Season Wrap-Up!!!!

So...we've reached November. The end of the marching season.

I am thankful for my band, my school, and the people I surround myself with everyday. This year's show, Silent Night, turned out to be a unique and special production.

Four years of marching band has taught me way more than just marching. I learned responsibility, endurance, discipline, and the power of teamwork. I learned how to win humbly, how to lose gracefully. I learned how to be a leader, and how to genuinely care about helping others become better for the sake of everybody.

Here is a video I compiled from a football game performance. See what it's like from the perspective of a marcher. If you want to see our school's performance from the audience, I'm sure if you just search it up on Youtube it will pop up. Enjoy :)

Book Review: A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway

From the beginning, I knew what I was getting myself into. Hemingway. An author known for his contribution to the Lost Generation. In addition, I had heard mixed reviews about this book from my classmates. However, it was one person, Archer French, that convinced me to pursue reading it. 

This book follows the story, told in first-person, of Lieutenant Frederic Henry, an American ambulance driver serving  the Italian army during World War I. Through his friend, Rinaldi, Henry meets Catherine Barkley, an English nurse helping a British hospital. She expresses to Henry her grievances for her fiance's death and thus shows passion for Henry, who is otherwise detached from the war situation. Henry goes back into the battlefield but is brought to Milan shortly after he receives a blow to his knee. There, a surgeon named Dr. Valentini operates his knee, and Catherine is transferred to the hospital Henry is recovering at. There, Catherine and Henry's relationship develops to something that resembles more of one with genuine love. Henry eventually has to leave to the front after his recovery, and before he leaves Catherine informs him that she is pregnant. However, soon after Henry travels to travels to the front, Italian forces have to retreat as German troops begin breaking through Italian lines. However, the Allied battle police, fearing German soldiers in disguise in the Italian army, accuse Henry and sentence him to death. Henry escapes by jumping into a river and boarding a train to Milan. He reunites with Catherine in Stresa, and from there, they escape to Switzerland. In the spring, the couple move to Lausanne so that they are closer to the hospital. Catherine dies soon after delivering a stillborn baby boy from a hemorrhage. 

The first thing I noticed about Hemingway's writing was the similarity to Camus's, which I read earlier this year. Like in Camus's novel, Hemingway includes many concepts pertaining to Existentialism. After his injury, Rinaldi visits Henry at the hospital and tells him he will get a medal for his injury, and pushed Henry to admit to a heroic act he did causing the injury. Even though Henry refuses to say he did a heroic act while being blown up, Rinaldi still maintains that he should be awarded a medal. Rinaldi attempts to impose meaning to Henry's wound, which in reality was only a byproduct of the war and was not caused by him doing anything special. The fact that Henry was blown up by chance, to Rinaldi, is worthy of a medal. Like the characters in Camus's book, Henry and Catherine do not have a religion. Instead, an older character in A Farewell to Arms makes the connection that "love" is a "religious feeling" (263). I believe that Hemingway replaces society's need for religion with love, as seen with Henry and Catherine's relationship. 

One thing I did not enjoy at all was Hemingway's portrayal of women. Catherine is a submissive, clingy woman that craves the attention of Henry. In contrast to Catherine, Henry is more masculine and therefore seen as the stronger character. Catherine tends to say things without logistical meaning, such as her statement, "I'm afraid of the rain because sometimes I see me dead in it" (126). I learned later that this was supposed to serve as foreshadowing. 

Overall, this book was unnecessarily sad and showed the true pointlessness of the war. I did not enjoy it because Henry never reaches an epiphany, even with the death of his girl and son. 

Book Review: Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy

In the summer of 2015 during my trip to Europe, I watched the movie adaptation of Far From the Madding Crowd in Switzerland. I found myself watching this movie with my Swiss-French cousin and her neighbor, who was a retired American English teacher. She was astonished to learn that Far From the Madding Crowd was not a required high school novel where I came from. So ever since then, I had made it my goal to read this book.
Three years later, I finally worked up the motivation to read it. Although it was a little difficult to get through in the beginning, the story hooked me in as it developed. The author, Thomas Hardy, was a known poet, and so I imagine that this is the reason why many of his descriptions and narration in the novel are wordy and superfluous during several instances in the book. This read was a great contrast to the previous book I had read, Bird Box, because of the poetic phrases and extended descriptions that include tons of imagery. I can see why my cousin's neighbor was surprised that it was not on my curriculum reading list. This book is exploding with literary analysis potential; Hardy implements more mythological, literary,  and biblical allusions than I could possibly count (I had to spend some time apart from reading to search up vocabulary and certain meanings).
Despite the lack of complete comprehension I had while reading this book, I enjoyed it. I especially love how Hardy, a nineteenth-century man, was surprisingly a big advocate for women independence. This is seen in Far From the Madding Crowd as it centers around the life of Bathsheba Everdene, a woman who inherits a large farm estate and runs it by herself while confronting criticism from the rest of the town. Hardy paints Bathsheba as an independent woman; however, her pride and "womanliness" are what lead to her downfall. This line especially spoke to me: "Bathsheba loved Troy in the way that only self-reliant women love when they abandon their self-reliance. When a strong woman recklessly throws away her strength she is worse than a weak woman who has never had any strength to throw away." Because of this, I believe the way Hardy matched his characters to people in the real world creates a timeless effect. Alongside Bathsheba's representation of independent women, the three very different suitors Bathsheba has in the story are almost like Hardy's way of categorizing the history of the entire male population, even for centuries to come.
This book is a classic, and includes some humorous scenes in between poetic narration which makes it that much more enjoyable. 

Happy reading! 

xx 
Kristina 

Physics 1 End-of-year Project

Here is my school group's project covering the topics of work, power, and energy as we learned this year in our AP Physics 1 class.

Book Review: Bird Box by Josh Malerman

It is a gloomy, thundery day, so I figured I write this book review while the time fits the genre. I have to admit, this book was not my typical read - horror - but I'm glad I read it. This week was also a period of time filled with rainy weather, and with nothing entertaining to do inside the house, I read Bird Box by Josh Malerman in less than 24 hours. I heard wonderful reviews of this book, and I must say, it is not exactly what I expected.

Yes, this book was Malerman's debut novel, and for being a musician, I applaud his work. However, I was not entirely convinced by his writing.

The plot was genius: the story revolves around Malorie, a young woman who struggles to survive with her two children in a desolate post-apocalyptic world.. The story follows two time lines, one when Malorie was pregnant and encounters the other survivors, and the other when she tries to escape her current situation with the children. In this new world, there are "creatures" that roam around, but nobody knows what they look like. Apparently, if a person sees these creatures, they turn mad and kill themselves. Because of this, Malorie and the other survivors live cautiously, covering all of the windows and never going outside without a blindfold.

Despite being a grappling story, Malerman did not satisfy me with the connection of the reader to the characters. I was never really "pulled in" to the book, and I felt like the vague descriptions of the setting left a little too much to the reader's imagination. The writing style was blunt, and although this type of writing suits certain novels or authors (such as Camus), I felt like this writing did not match some of the scenes. I expected more description of the characters and their personalities, but was disappointed when all the author provided was dialogue or indistinct emotion. Nevertheless, I did experience intended moments of suspense and terror.

Also, maybe this is a coincidence, but the day after I finished reading this book, I went to the cinema to see John Krasinski's A Quiet Place for the first time. I was astonished to find the similarity between Bird Box and this new popular movie. Much like the setting in Bird Box, A Quiet Place also takes place in post-apocalyptic America and centers around a family that struggle to survive. There are creatures in this world that hunt by sound, which forces the family to live in silence. While the medium of survival in this movie is sound, the characters in Bird Box have to restrict their sight to survive. To my surprise, Bird Box is also being made into a movie that will supposedly release at the end of this year. Looks like apocalyptic movies with mysterious creatures are in high demand!

Book Review: Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

One day as I was watching TV, I came across the Starz channel and saw a commercial for the new season of a show called "Outlander." I did not think much of it, except for the faint resemblance of the commercial to The Pirates of the Caribbean. I later learned that this was the commercial for the third season of Outlander, for the beginning of the show is about as close to ocean traveling as chalk is to cheese. A few months down the road, I was conversing with my Godmother over the phone when she suddenly remembered her urgency to turn on the TV. "The last episode of season three of Outlander airs TONIGHT, I can't miss it!" She abruptly hung up the phone, leaving me in the middle of my saying "Alright."
Hmmm...Outlander. I had heard that name before. I searched it on my phone, and found that it was the same show I had seen previews for on the TV. What the heck was it about? As I began reading the page on Wikipedia, I immediately picked up that it was definitely not about pirates. Finding the beginning story plot interesting, I decided to begin watching the show...And I fell head over heels in love. In love with the scenery of the filming, in love with the acting, the plot, and most of all, with the character of Jamie Fraser. It was no surprise to me when I finished the entire three seasons of Outlander. In less than two weeks. When I should have been studying for the SAT. Oh, well. 'Living life with no regrets,' is it?
As summer approached, I found myself having somewhat more time to kill. While cleaning my Godmother's house, I found her copy of Outlander, the book from which the first season of the highly popularized show was based on. It was thicker than any of the books I had read in a long time (high school gets in the way of such pleasures as reading for fun), but I decided to give it a try. Evidently, I had loved the show, and I needed to see for myself how similar the book was to its Hollywood companion. So here are some words about Diana Gabaldon's renowned book. Simply put, these seemingly-wordy 850 pages were 850 pages of pure bliss.

It is 1945, and Claire Randall, a former combat nurse for the British Army in World War II, is enjoying a second honeymoon with her husband, Frank. Frank's historian-type mind led him to take his wife to the Scottish Highlands for their trip. While Claire does not mind much for Frank's search for historical accounts on his British ancestors while on the vacation, Claire finds solace in her growing interest in botany. After watching a group of Scottish women perform a traditional dance around the stone circle of Craigh na Dun one day with her husband, Claire returns the next morning in search of a plant. This next part is the game-changer: she places her hands on one of the standing stones, and miraculously ends up in the year 1743.
While still trying to understand where she is, Claire gets taken by a band of Scotsmen after being almost raped by -- coincidentally? her husband's sinister six-times great-grandfather, Captain Jonathan Randall of the British Eighth Dragoons. Because she is an Englishwoman, Claire is immediately dubbed as "Sassenach," or outlander, in the clan community. However regarded with high suspicion, Claire is welcomed to Castle Leoch, where she engages into the role of a healer for the clan MacKenzie. After a series of complications, Claire, to keep out of the hands of Captain Randall, is forced to marry Jamie Fraser, a young and attractive Scotsman who happens to be an outlaw due to his tough history with the cruel British army. Despite her attempts to reach Craigh na Dun to return to her time, Claire makes the decision to stay in the eighteenth century after realizing her genuine love for Jamie (it's pretty much inevitable to fall in love with Jamie - he's charming, strong, kind, a natural leader, and not to mention an amazing lover). The rest of the book is a complete emotional roller coaster: filled with vivid imagery of passionate as well as torturous moments that really touch the heart, I cried a total of five times while reading this book.

The way Diana Gabaldon creates this novel is truly amazing. Each one of her characters are crafted with incredible detail. The story itself is astonishing. Many times, I was left gawking, wondering how in the heck Gabaldon was able to write with such historical accuracy, covering a large range of subjects (war, medicine, eighteenth-century lifestyle, etc.), while using only the most impressive vocabulary and syntax. Gabaldon translated the emotions of the characters such that it got me, the reader, emotionally invested to the story line. I held authentic laughter, anxiety, and joy all while reading through the striking scenes. I fostered a new obsession, as I'm sure many Outlander fans have, of Scotland and their historic culture. I completely TORE APART during the scene when Claire broke into Wentworth prison to save her poor husband from grievances of Captain Randall, and Jamie ransoms his life for the sparing of her's. Jamie reassures Claire, despite his horrid condition, as Gabaldon writes, "He drew me close again, kissed me gently and whispered in Gaelic, 'He will let you go because he thinks you are helpless. I know you are not.' Releasing me, he said in English, 'I love you. Go now' (722)." I broke down. Claire had been an outlander to this time period, and even more so to the Scottish culture she had married into. Earlier in the book, she expressed her frustrations with not knowing Gaelic. However, at this crucial point in the book, Claire understands the language that is native to her husband, once foreign to her. Gaelic, in this situation, is used by Jamie to communicate to her from his heart while preventing Captain Randall to pick up on his last sentence to his wife.

Overall, I enjoyed this book very much. As much as the rest of the series is compelling to read, I have many other books on my reading list that I ought to begin. However, knowing myself, I will probably get around to them.

Thanks for reading!
xx