Since my last post, I have finished the book 1984, and am in the middle of Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand. This book was recommended to my social studies class by Ms. Green, and I had nothing else to pick from, so I decided to give it a try. Its turning out to be a remarkable book. Its a biography about Louie Zamperini, who is a world class miler who served in the Air Force in World War 2. He grew up in a relatively poor neighborhood, and wasn't really good at anything, except for thievery and getting in lots of trouble. He was overshadowed by his brother, who was a straight-A student and known for his respectfulness. Louie grew up to realize that he was a fabulous runner, breaking almost every record in the mile he came across. He even participated in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. When he found out that the 1940 Olympics were cancelled, he enlisted in the Air Force, and eventually his bomber crashed into the ocean. This left him stranded thousands of miles from any land with two other men with an astonishingly low amount of provisions. I'm actually way past this part in the book but saying any more about the plot would give too much away.
This story has really impacted me just in the extreme unlikelihood of all of the events (good and bad) that happen to Louie, and just that such extraordinary things could actually happen to someone. This story makes almost anyone's life appear dull and lackluster. It was also interesting how some of Louie's traits as a child that were frowned upon probably ended up helping to save his life after he joined the military.
I am reading a new book called The Gates of Rome by Conn Iggulden, it is about two boys name Gaius and Marcus. Gaius is the son of a wealthy patrician in the Roman Empire and Marcus was adopted into their family. In the opening pages the two boys are running through the woods having fun during the summer and make the mistake of going off their property. Unfortunately for them some older boys see them as they run onto their property and come to get them. They end up being beaten and strung up like pigs.
ReplyDeleteMarcus is the smaller of the two and they are both around eight years old. Gaius is adventurous and bold, he was friendly to Marcus from the time he was adopted and they became good friends. Marcus on the other hand is more reserved and shy but, he can keep up with Gaius, he always tries to be brave but it is harder for him. Despite his smaller stature he is actually faster than Marcus by foot, which is what Gaius always catches himself thinking about. I am hoping that this boo will give me a better insight into what life was like for a kid in Roman times and so far it has been very interesting I would recommend it to anyone interested in this topic.