Papercut discussion

For the final book review, please do the following:

1. Initially, write the title of the book with link and the number of pages of your book.

2. Overall, be sure that you are writing a persuasive review about the book. Discuss answers to questions such as, “What do you think about this book?” and “Would you recommend this book to others? If so, who? If not, why not?” The review should focus on your reaction to the book—positive, negative or both.

3. You need to discuss the impact that this book had on you as a reader. Why did you read it and how did your perspective change given what you read? After having read this book, are you inclined to take any particular action? (This could be as simple as reading another book by this author.) Why or why not?

4. In order to receive full credit, you need to refer to at least one of the six literary elements (point of view, mode of discourse, allusion, special effects, purpose, or tone) that you discussed in the journal. Try to blend your reference into your other discussion instead of doing this as a separate entity within your review. Please italicize/capitalize the reference so I can identify it easily.

5. In order to receive full credit, your book review must be at least 300 words.

6. Remember that you need to use 4 vocabulary words in this journal post. Please bold/italicize/capitalize.

7. Remember that you need to include a short, meaningful quote from the book.

8. Remember that you need to include some sort of rating of the book.

9. Remember that the review must be written with a persuasive tone.

10. After you have completed the review, in 3-5 sentences, respond to another group member’s posting.

Act of Treason- 467 Pages
Act of Treason offers a politically incorrect view of the darker side of humanity in today’s world. While on the surface, it is just another espionage thriller, a mix between James Bond and Fox’s 24. On the surface maybe, but the focus of this story is quite a bit different. This is not an “action” novel. The main character, Mitch, is very good at what he does finding and assassinating terrorists. Prolonged gunfights are not present in the story. Instead, Mitch uses his formidable intellect and instincts to stay one step ahead of his opponent, both politically and in the field.
The novel caused me to alter my perspective to favor the actions of the men and women in this country who protect us. A major “snag” that Mitch runs into occurs after he is able to locate and capture the man who blew up the presidential motorcade. Mitch travels to a foreign country to hunt a man who is on his home turf. The man has an excellent knowledge of his surroundings, friends that will look out for him, and contingency plans for if he is ever caught. The author weaves a tone of foreboding: Mitch knows that he is at a severe disadvantage. Yelling “freeze” is unlikely to deter this man, and giving the man time to react will almost certainly end badly for Mitch. So he decides that the simplest way to neutralize the man is to shoot him four times, once in each hand and foot.
An average person, and certainly the characters in this novel, are abhorred by his actions. Headlands of “CIA shoots unarmed man” are plastered all over the fictional news media. As a reader, I immediately side with Mitch’s position; I was privy to his thoughts prior to the attack. I was able to determine that self preservation meant that illegal and abhorrent action needed to be taken. At this point, the novel causes me to think critically about how I would react if something similar should happen in our world. Likely, I would believe that our government had done something horrible. I would simply read the inflaming headlines and follow a path that has been laid down by others. Giving me, fictional, insight into the darker side of human society has caused me to alter my views. It is impossible to experience the full panorama of a situation by reading about it in a newspaper. One must put themselves into the positions of others, in order to gain an educated viewpoint.
This book receives four stars to me, simply because it offers a reader to step into the mind of someone who we will likely never meet. Mitch is not a bad guy; he will gladly risk his life to protect people who he deems as innocent. But Mitch is a guy who has already made up his mind about the world. We the reader encounter no moral dilemmas that we would expect to find in a story that is about killing. Most writers like to allow their protagonist to maintain the moral high ground, no matter what they do. Mitch doesn’t care about morality; he is concerned with saving American lives. He tortures, breaks laws, shoots people in the back, manipulates his underlings, yells at US senators, yells at his boss, and gets yelled at by his wife. Even for a bona-fide “badass” there is no escape. In any situation that arises that would be repugnant to the average person, Mitch has already visited and he has his justification at the ready. He lives in a different world than the rest of us, and his misanthropy shows through “…that was what the mullahs and clerics preached in places like Iran and Saudi Arabia. Death to America, the Great Satan. Death to Israel. Nuke the entire Zionist state and push the infidels into the ocean.”
This biased attitude serves as one of the greatest lures for a reader like me. An educated author that is willing to take a controversial stance. He even propounds his view of the courage of the suicide bomber, and relates them to American soldiers. Young men and women who die to protect their country, and to serve their leaders. For, whether I agree or disagree with his views, the character of Mitch has already taught me to not simply agree with the words of others, but to gather as much information as possible, think critically about the topic, and formulate my own response.
I could ask for little improvement upon the part of the author, he adopts his biased stance that morality and political correctivness have no place in decisions that deal with the life and death of millions of people. The author’s message is almost a wakeup call to people, that sometimes one must sacrifice personal morals and their clean soul to protect others. The author practically rams this message down the throats of his readers. The final words of Act of Treason: “Mitch stay away from him until I say the time is right.”
“Fine but we are going to kill him, aren’t we?”
“Yes, we are.”

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night by Mark Haddon.

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16...
221 pages
This novel was narrated by a boy with Asperger Syndrome, so it had a rather interesting style that was primarily informative and denotative . At first, the style was pretty interesting, but as the novel went on it became a bit tedious and I was more interested in plot development than the way that the narrator, Christopher, viewed the events that were going on. Even though it was tedious at times, I would still recommend this book to an avid reader or to someone looking for a quick read.
As a reader I wanted to read through the book quickly because I wanted to find out what was going to happen next. However, plot developments were sometimes ambiguous because Christopher’s narration of events were as they happened in his head and his observations were limited strictly to factual observations and devoid of connotations of the things he heard and emotions experienced by those around him. It is ironic that he noticed hundreds of details about the things around him and he remembered them for years, but the observations of the emotions his family experienced did not go beyond seeing if they were happy, sad, or angry. I also found it interesting as a reader to see a new perspective on thought and to explore the thought processes of Christopher and see how he interacted with his family and the world around him.
I may read another book by this author to see if this same style is ubiquitous in his novels.
Now that I have finished the novel, I can see that Haddon’s purpose was not only to show us the perspective of a boy with Asperger Syndrome, but also to write a bildungsroman about someone with a disability and show that someone who is so different can have the same coming-to-age as someone without a disability.
“…I will become a scientist. And I know I can do this because I went to London on my own, and because I solved the mystery of Who Killed Wellington? and I found my mother and I was brave and I wrote a book and that means I can do anything.”
I would give this book a 3.7 out of 5.

After reading your review I am pretty interested in reading Act of Treason. It sounds like it would be a pretty intense and possibly give a few insights to the veiled fight on terrorism. Other than that, it was a well written review and has caused me to consider reading Act of Treason instead of the novel I had planned on reading after The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.

Executive Power – 482 Pages
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/77...
This book always kept me wanting to read more and was very enticing. My overall reaction to the book was definitely positive. I chose to read Executive Power because I am interested in the way society works and what goes on in our world. This book is basically an action-thriller movie, only on paper. Although this story is fictional, it takes place in present day and is quite realistic. Throughout the book, each chapter flip-flops the focus onto two different people (One being a protagonist and one being the antagonist). Towards the end of the book, the two men’s stories finally cross paths. The book focuses on a venerable CIA operative who is bold, dangerous, and intelligent. The book exemplifies the dangers that can and do happen in our world today. Some of the scenes are grotesque, but it’s fascinating to think that they can and might actually happen in reality. This book made me begin to think critically about the various methodologies of governments around the globe. Some countries handle things differently than others, sometimes taking no action at all. Frequently while reading, I would look at a map of the world and pinpoint where certain parts of the book were taking place. I actually learned a number of things about geography in South East Asia and the Middle East.

After reading this book, I have fortified my decision to never join the military or any other armed force. Throughout the book, some of grave situations are presented. Those situations get me thinking “Could I actually do that [torture or brutally cripple:] someone?” It does not seem like something that I could take pride in. I’d prefer just to live a simpler life with less philanthropy. The overall tone of the book was a positive outlook on patriotism, freedom, and justice.

I would rate this book a 9 out of 10. The only thing that could have made this book better would be if the author included mysteries and puzzlers that would encourage the reader to analyze what has been said or try to solve a mystery in their own minds before it is solved in the book. A quote in the book that stood out to me was “You will never defeat the Israelis until you learn to control your own people.” This quote is basically saying that you must control your own self or your own people before you can even think about affecting another person or group of people. In other words, you cannot fix a problem until you’ve fixed all of your own problems. This quote relates to countless things in life, and is a good quote to keep in mind when trying to accomplish something.

Steve wrote: "Act of Treason- 467 Pages
Act of Treason offers a politically incorrect view of the darker side of humanity in today’s world. While on the surface, it is just another espionage thriller, a mix be..."

Steve, first, you are an excellent writer. Your review was interesting to read; I was completely involved throughout the entire piece. The end of your review made me want to read this book as well. Effective vocabulary use enhances this review, too. Good job!

Joe wrote: "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night by Mark Haddon.

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16...
221 pages
This novel was narrated by a boy w..."

Joe, solid review. I wanted to have more explanation and integration of the quote that you included. The idea behind this book seems interesting (but I could also see how it might become tiresome).

Kevin wrote: "Executive Power – 482 Pages
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/77...
This book always kept me wanting to read more and was very enticing. My overall reaction to the book was de..."

I am really interested in geography so that sounds appealing about this book. I like how you took the message about fixing local problems and applied it to your life. Nice job with this review.