Holden, Salinger

I believe this book will be easy to follow, written in stream-of-consciousness, because my thoughts are the same way. When I think about somethings that are really random, I try to think back through my thoughts and find out how I got there. Salinger is unique to me because I don't recall any other books I've read that have been written this way. Holden, so far, has been easy to follow because we are alike, a little, and I think I'll be able to stay with him throughout the book. Holden seems to me like a shy individual that doesn't have many friends. When he sits on the hill looking down at the football game, I feel bad. I think that this will be a good book and I look forward to reading it.

Movie Compare

Mitch is in a hotel room, flipping through channels when he sees Morrie on television. On this ABC news interview, Morrie is laughing about his illness and how he wants to make it an experiment, Mitch had no idea Morrie was even sick. When Mitch goes to visit Morrie, the scene begins the same as in the book, with Mitch finishing his business and pretending to look for his keys while Morrie waits in his wheelchair outside his house.

The original interview seemed real, and I didn't feel the one that Mitch saw on television seemed realistic. In the movie interview, Morrie didn't carry himself with a purpose like his time was slowly coming to an end. However, Morrie in the original interview spoke with knowledge and about things he wanted to accomplish before his time here was over.

I believe that watching the video clip is beneficial because it helps put a picture of Morrie in your head. After I watched the video clip and began reading again, Morrie to me seemed more real like in other books. When I can picture the characters as people, the book flows in my head like a movie. The movie helps people visualize Morrie's dependency on others and puts the condition that he's in into perspective. Also, the movie is not helpful because you already have pictures of the characters in your head. The people in the movie are most of the time totally different that what you originally pictured. The Mitch I pictured is not the same Mitch that was casted for this movie.

Morrie's Interview

I feel that I was not picturing Morrie in the correct way from the book. He looked more fragile to me, and the way he spoke was like he planned everything he was going to say. In the book, these things did not occur to me so much. Even though Morrie looked fragile, he still seemed strong and carried himself with a purpose. He was not ashamed to die and wanted people to know that. He still wanted to make the most of his life and didn't want his illness to become what he was as a person. Morrie didn't want his friends and family to remeber his disease, but to remember how he tried to still do things that made him happy.

When I was listening to him talk about the list of things, I didn't think of his time as coming to an end. Morrie made me believe he had many more years and that he'd been studying the effects of dying for his entire life. He was a very happy man that knew what he still wanted to do with his life. Morrie is a good example for how I want to live my final years, if I know that I'm dying or not. I don't want to dwell on the fact that I'm not going to be on this earth much longer, but that the time before I pass on will be the greatest that I can make it. He doesn't make me feel sorry for him, but proud. I feel proud because he was trying to help others live their final days cherishing the many things that they have.