Jeremy Ross

  Neil Gaiman’s work filled with magic and the hardship of love has something that seems to control the entirety of the characters from the novel: Luck. As a matter of fact, his own father dubbed him “Fat Charlie”, a name that would haunt him throughout his life. Already sensitive, his father never really helped him with his condition. Further along in the novel, we even learn that he was actually split into two, his other part being Spider: the inheritor of all his good fortune. What was left for him was his good personality, however that didn’t seem to do much good for him in most of the novel.  As a matter of fact, Spider has all the magic in the world at his hands, he can get whatever he wants. He steals Charlie’s fiancé, ruins his job, and eventually even becomes the cause for Charlie’s imprisonment. You would think that his deal with Bird would help him, however, after getting freed, his brother puts him right back in prison, and when he reveals the location of his bos...

 46 pts from blogs and an additional 7 for attendance = 53

In Morgenstern’s novel the primary driver of the plot is the rivalry between two magician, Hector and Mr. A.H. Through the telling of the story we come to learn the downfall of such a drastic competition, as it comes to affect not only them, but everyone around them. In fact, Hector’s passion for competition even blinded him from noticing his own daughter. His wife, his daughter’s mother, left a note after her suicide and he didn’t even budge at the news and failed to take care of his daughter. The only time he notices her is when he realizes that she too has magic within her. This makes him realize that she could be another ploy for his rivalry. This gives him another opportunity to compete. As a result however, he now pushes his daughter to live the same way he has throughout is life, in solitude. His magician existence has pushed him to isolate himself in order to protect his identity, however he couldn’t even find friendship with fellow magicians as he only sees them as competito...

The hobbit, precursor to the Lord of the Rings truly is a classic. It is short (unlike the movies, am I right?), yet packed with action, courage and adventure. What I want to discuss here is the importance of the theme of “Home”. Even from the very beginning you have the stark contrast between the lives of the dwarves and Bilbo. On one hand you have a life with nothing else but adventure and freedom, on the other, you have the calm and relaxing nature of the mundane. However, both are missing something that to them, seems incredibly important. The dwarves seek that stability back, as it is demanding to live without a home. Whereas the hobbit eventually became tired of his boring and repetitive lifestyle.  What’s interesting is the fact that what brings them together is the sheer yet familiar contrast of their ambitions. The dwarves want what Bilbo has, the same way Bilbo desires what they have. This thus makes you realize that unlike the typical Hobbit philosophy, it is important t...

          After reading about half of this book, I am left quite disappointed. In fact, I felt that this book had quite nothing new to offer. It follows the same generic, and now cliché characteristics of an appealing protagonist. And quite frankly it almost appears too similar to even Harry Potter. As a matter of fact, Sunny, as many other characters in fiction, is bullied for being different, which is always an issue worth discussing, however we are introduced to it in a way where you know she will one day stand up for herself, but in a distasteful way. What way is that? By her good fortune of course. As many other works have done before, Harry Potter and Spiderman being the first to come to mind, it is never their dedication or own pride that allow them to stand up for themselves. It is their abilities which are given to them at birth (or by other fortunate events). Nonetheless, they are naturally gifted individuals that could never simply be put into th...