More Books That I Haven't Finished...yet (Mateo Hernandez)

                                    More Books That I Haven't Finished...yet (Mateo Hernandez)

            I love to read. But unfortunately, I have continued to leave some books unread due to several reasons. If you recall, I posted an earlier blog in which I listed some books that I hadn’t finished and why. With the stress of school and not much free time, I haven’t been reading as much as I would like to. But I’ve made some progress. I’m happy to report that I finished Huck Finn a few months ago and have made a little bit of progress on the Bible. Anyways, here are a few more books that I haven’t finished and why:

1.     1. Dune

Originally published in 1965, Frank Herbert’s classic novel is commonly referred to as one of the most revolutionary science fiction novels of all time. It is set in the distant future and follows the young prince, Paul Atreides. After his noble ‘house’ accepts to take on the responsibility of mining a valuable drug which is known as ‘spice,’ Paul’s family takes control of the planet Arrakis. Although the process is not as simple as it seems. There are native inhabitants called Fremen who desire to protect their planet, and there is much political turmoil between empires. Paul rises to become a leader among the Fremen and discovers what he is destined to accomplish.

 When the second Dune movie came out just a few weeks ago, I was struck by the plot of the film. The idea of having complex empires battling over a sand planet set in the future sounded like too good of an opportunity to look over. So, I watched the first movie with my dad and really enjoyed it. (On a side note, I would highly recommend the first movie. Although the first two hours are pretty slow, there’s an exciting battle at the end). Later, my dad mentioned that there was a book associated with the film that he claimed was one of the best sci-fi books of all time. It sounded great to me, but after I picked it up from the library, I started to have second thoughts. First of all, it is a ridiculously long book. I put my Bible and Dune side by side and discovered that my Bible was around half a centimeter shorter that the book. (To be fair, after I did further research to discover which one was longer, the Bible beat it by far. Don’t judge a book by how fat it is). Anyways, the length is not the only reason that I didn’t finish it. The actual plot line is extremely slow. I think it’s great that Herbert wants to go in depth on how Paul feels every time he wakes up, but after reading the first 30 pages or so, I found that there is a lot of excessive commentary, and I had a hard time continuing the read. Nevertheless, the plot of the novel is a fascinating one, so I would recommend that you watch the movies first and if you enjoy them, take a shot at reading the book behind the film. I’ll definitely continue this book after I finish reading the next novel on this list.

2.     2. Beautiful Boy

Some of you who are in coach Rachel’s section of health class may recognize this title. During our drug unit, we learned some real-life stories about individuals who struggled with addiction. One story that she mentioned is a film called Beautiful Boy. I was instantly interested in this particular story, so I did some further research on my own. I discovered that this movie was based on a book of the same name. David Sheff’s memoir is a touching one, but unfortunately a relatable story for many. Set during the 1990’s, Sheff recounts his son’s struggle with a methamphetamine (meth for short) addiction. Nic is a bright student. He plays varsity level athletics, is a strong leader, and after being accepted into the college of his choice he has a good-looking future ahead of him. But when he began experimenting with drugs during his early teens, Nic quickly falls into a pit of despair that destroys his body and relationships. But David remains hopeful throughout the novel, trying to save his son.

Wow. This is a heavy book. I have a very close relationship with my dad. I couldn’t imagine how hard Nic’s addiction was to his family and friends. I find it so sad how Nic’s story is, but I understand how many factors led to his addiction. It all began with a divorce between his parents at a young age. After the divorce, his mom moved away from the family’s hometown of Inverness (close to San Francisco) to Los Angles. Sheff sadly puts it bluntly: Nic has more frequent flyer miles than any adult. David notes that this stress may have been one of the leading factors to Nic’s experimentation with marijuana. But he drops it for a time and lives a mostly great life throughout high school, excelling academically and generally being a great kid. However, after he discovers meth, Nic becomes an addict and begins his descent. Throughout the novel, David remains hopeful, but questions himself. He worries often about whether he is making the right decisions and if he has been a bad father. As I am reading the book I question him as well. One day during the summer of Nic’s senior year, David is on a walk with his son. Sort of out of the blue Nic asks his father if he wants to smoke some pot (marijuana). And wanting to connect with his son, David ACCEPTS?! He later mentions that he was an addict himself during college and that is also a reason why Nic began using. David openly talks about how he was addicted but how he turned out fine, leading to Nic believing that since he turned out fine, that he’ll be ok as well. Anyways, this is a very deep and complex memoir about a father trying to save his son from an addiction. I wish that I could have written a review on this book, but I didn’t finish it in time. I would highly recommend this novel to anyone who is looking for a moving story. I do need to warn you that this book does contain some profanity and the obvious triggering subject of drugs.

3.     3. Fahrenheit 451

Returning to some science fiction classics, Ray Bradbury’s dystopian novel is the final book on this list that I haven’t finished. Guy Montag is a fireman. But he doesn’t put out fires. He starts them. Set in a future American society, books have been outlawed and it is the responsibility of fire men to burn any that they find, and the owners of them. Although Guy begins to question his duties after he meets a unique teenager called Clarisse. Guy then becomes a book-reading rebel and challenges the idea of no complexity or contradiction in their society.

This sounds like a great book. It’s based on a completely original idea set in a messed-up society featuring a protagonist who discovers its flaws and tries to bring back the idea of choice. But after I began reading the novel, I quickly lost interest in it. I read up to the halfway point but felt like nothing exciting was going to happen. The way that Bradbury shows how Guy is beginning to realize that something is wrong in his reality, is through his thoughts. Guy THINKS a lot on his own, questioning what he believes and works for, questioning his priorities, questioning his purpose. But he really doesn’t do anything. The most exciting thing he did by the halfway point of the novel, is that he told his boss that he couldn’t go to work because he wasn’t feeling well. And if this is the most rebellious thing that Guy can think of, then why should I keep reading? This is a relatively short read. If you like to contemplate societal issues then this is the book for you. But if you want to see stuff happen, then maybe it’s time to go find another book.

In the end, there are a lot of great books out there. Stories about futuristic empires, others about drama, and then those that are quite though provoking. If I could give you advice about how to finish books, I’d say find the book for you and JUST READ IT. It might take up 2 hours, it might take a lot longer then that, but to finish your books you just have to have dedication. With summer coming up in a few weeks, I’ll be dedicating a lot of time to finishing these books, and then finding some more. If you have read to the end of this blog, I really hope that you read over the summer because I don’t know what excuse you’ll have to say that you didn’t read anything over the long, long break. Anyways, happy reading and I hope that you’ll check out one of the books that I recommended, even if I haven’t finished them myself…yet.

-Mateo