Outside Reading Blog #6

I have now finished the novel, Outliers, by Malcolm Gladwell. It finshed by putting everything that Gladwell had conveyed throughout the novel and put together and showed you how it worked. It showed how everything together made it easy to understand how success actually happens. I really liked this book because it took my idea of success and turned it in every direction. Sitting down and reading this book, I really had to think and I couldn't just flow through the pages like a childrens book. Gladwell made you involved and made you think things before you could understand the next part and he made me try to start thinking outside the box. I use to believe that successful people were just better than everyone else and that they were naturally that way. That is not the case though, it depends on who you are, where you are and where you are from, why you are here, when you are here or there, what you do here or there, how you that here or there, and many other factors that must be added to the equation. For example, someone like Lebron James, its not as simple as make baby=greatest basketball player living. It would be something like make baby+make baby at this time+live here with kid+kid gets these opportunites+kid does this+kid has this ethnicity=greastest basketball player living. People should read this novel and start realizing that and stop just glorifying could have been normal people. They should thank places and times and people and everything that helped that person become successful, they deserve the credit not the successful person who just got lucky. That's why I liked this novel and I would recommend it to anybody out there wanting a book that is just a normal perspective. Something that makes you think more and look more closely at things.

-Jason

Outside Reading Blog #5

I am reading the novel, Outliers, by Malcolm Gladwell. For this blog read pages 160 through 220 and I wanted to follow up on my old letter and write a new one on the things I have read since the old letter. Here it goes:

Dear Mr.Gladwell,
my name is Jason Swenson and this is the second letter I have sent to you. I am reading your novel, Outliers, which I believe is a fantastic and interesting novel, and I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions. I have tested some of your theories on me and people in my life to see if they were spot on. I came to some bumps in the road on your topic of why people are successful in school (Read Blog #1). You see, I am one of the youngest kids in my grade and I have never had the situations given to the younger side of a grade occur to me. I feel in no way less mature or intelligent to my peers. Not saying I believe I am better but I am not worse. So how do you explain that your theory isn't right in this case? You seem to believe that success has nothing to do with personal merit and I fully agree with your beliefs, but there must be something personal involved if I am a younger one and I am not what you think, "younger=no success". Maybe I just have not looking back far enough or tried to find reasons for this but also you maybe have to say peronal things do have to do with it. Anyways, I don't want to have you sitting, reading a letter all day written by someone who doesn't even have their high school diploma. That would just be a waste of your time that could be spent reaching those 10,000 hours of writting you need to perfect and master it. I also want to know how such ideas come up in your head. You have written two other novels that I have read that have been just as interesting as the one I am reading right now. How do you come up with such thinking-outside-the-box type novels that all have such an interesting perspective? You must have spent 10,000 hours on thinking differently, lived around inventors and engineers, living in the industrial revolution when new ideas flourished. That is me talking in your way and trying to create something the way you do. I hope you can answer the questions and reach me as soon as possible.

-Jason

Outside Reading Blog #4

I am still not finished with the novel, Outliers, by Malcolm Gladwell. For this blog I read pages 120 to 150. It was about Jewish immigrants during the early 1900's. It talked about how when and where you were affected your success. For the jewish immigrants coming from Europe to America, living in New York would bring them great success. Having knowledge of clothes making from their homeland, they used their skill to become successful clothes sellers. Selling clothes was just being explored at the turn of the 19th century and that was the best time to get involved. Jewish immigrants had experience and knowledge needed at the time giving them a head start in the eary industry. Back then, most people didn't buy pre-clothes, they bought their own cloth and they then made their own clothes. Jewish people changed that by selling clothes on the side streets of New York. It marked the birth of the clothes industry. Since they were in New York, Jewish Immigrants, and it was the end of the 19th century, they were going to be successful. Thats how Gladwell show how who when and where tie into success.

I wanted to see another "success" story that I could seem to see if that worked for and it turns out the easiest one I could think of was the Z Boys of the 1970's in southern California. They started a new type of skateboarding and the reasons why are shown now. They were surfers, so they new how to control boards and they got ideas from surfing that they tried on skateboards. They lived in California, a place with hot climate which meant alot of backyard pools. They had access to pools so that they could try their new styles and tricks. So who is Z Boys, where is southern California, and when is the 1970's. In the 1970's skateboarding was just starting to be explored. HMMM!?! This makes me think when the jewish immigrants were successful in the clothing industry is when that was just starting to be explored. This looks like a pattern. Anyways, since skateboarding was just starting to be looked at and people were just starting to expirament with new tricks and be creative anybody could make something. If the Z boys lived now they would just be skateboarders and nothing special but they live when skateboarding was just a blank peice of paper and new ideas were easy to make yours. So that is why the Z boys were successful and it shows that success is not based on personal merit but everything else surrounding you. It is actually the opposite of what society sees, when someone is successful they were smart and new what to do. Maybe they did but if they weren't where they were, when they were there, then maybe success would have never reached their grasp.

-Jason

Outside Reading Blog #3

For my outside reading book I am still reading, Outliers, by Malcolm Gladwell. For this post I read pages 90 to 120 in the novel. In this part of the novel Mr.Gladwell starts taking personal stories and explaining them with his theories. Every page he adds on to his idea of success and he shows it in an example. He was talking about Bill Gates in the section I read and the reasons why he became such a successful computer programmer. The idea being conveyed Gladwell this time was still the 10,000 hours idea. This was the idea that to master something you have to have done it for at least 10,000 hours. I wanted to find someone who seemed successful and a master of an art and see if they did it for 10,000 hours. My neighbor, a piano instructor, talked to me and told me he plays the piano for 5 hours a day and been doing that for 15 years. He had played before that for many years but this was just for instucting. So, I did the math 365 times 15 equals 5475. then I times 5 hours times that and I get 27375. This is way past the 10000 hour mark and so obviously my neighbor must be a master at the piano. He is a very good player and I don't think I have ever seen him make a mistake but I don't believe he hasn't ever taken a vacation or a break for a day. Even then I still believe he has achieved his 10,000 hours and so he is good to go. I wanted to know how long it would take me to become a master at skateboarding and be skilled enough to be succesful. I skateboard atleast 5 hours a week and have been doing it for 5 years. I haven't had as much time as other years so 5 hours is very small compared to how much I skated a week in middle school. Still I took 365 times 5 then divided that by seven then times it by five. That brings me to about 1303 hours, meaning I have still a very long way to go before I become a master at skateboarding according to the 10,0000 hour theory. This discourages me alittle and makes me feel like I have barely made a dent in my 10,000 hours. I want to tell Gladwell that his book is to tell you how success happens and what you should try to do. Take opportunities and seize them. But he discourages you in many ways, like I am one of the younger kids in my grade like I said in my first post and that you need 10,000 hours to master something. That makes me feel like I am destined to be unsuccessful, and maybe I will get lucky. Maybe Gladwell is just trying to turn success into a very interesting thing and make you think outside the box.

-Jason

Outside Reading Blog #1

For my outside reading book I decided to read, Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. This story is about how success isn't based on personal merit, it's based on where, when, how, why, what you have done, are doing, and what you are going to do. For my first blog I read the first fifty pages. They talked about how when you were born effects if you are successful in school and sports. I wanted to test this on myself and see if I would and have been successful at school and sports.

For school, to be successful Gladwell said that you would be one of the oldest in your grade. This meant you would have matured faster and been able to comprehend stuff better and faster. He says that this also then puts a disadvantage for the younger kids in the grade who haven't matured yet because then they would be considered slow and be put in classes for people who need that extra bit of help. THis would put them at a disadvantage, it is not that they aren't as smart as the others who are in AP and enriched classes, it is just they haven't matured that far yet so they can't comprehend it yet. This gives the younger kids a sense of being dumb and it will stay with them through high school. I used this on myself to see if his ideas were spot on and if they were true. My mom told me that I just barely made the date for people allowed in my grade. This means that I am one of the youngest in my grade, meaning I should be in foundation classes and classes that are under the skill of the normal class. This is not the case, I am in enriched chemistry and I am in no foundation class. So obviously, Mr.Gladwell's theory isn't fullproof but I still can see it being the case many times.

Next, I wanted to see if I hadn't been successful in team sports for that same reason. If since I just barely made the cut for the age requirement of a team than maybe that is why I didn't do so well. I played soccer and I was one of the younger ones on the team just like in school. I was athletic, not clumsy and uncoordinated. I could play but maybe because I wasn't as good as the older ones I was put on the B and C teams. Also I was pretty small compared to the average soccer player that was trying out. It seems to me that Gladwell was right on this one. I did quit playing soccer cause I felt wronged being on the C team and now I feel my age contributed to it. Also, I feel that since I was smaller and not as matured as the others that were sometimes 2 years older than me that I didn't get as many opportunities that I could have recieved if I played in a year younger. So Mr.GLadwell's theories hit right on the dot with my case in soccer and why I wasn't successful in my middle school soccer years.

So for my case, Mr.Glawell is 1 of 2 and so that means he was only fifty percent right for me. I still believe his theories are smart and probably true in alot of cases but not all.

-Jason

Outside Reading Blog #2

As I continue my reading through the book Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell, his research and ideas continue to intrigue me and make it hard for the book to be out of my sight. A new idea he has brought up is the 10,000 hour theory, where one must have done something for 10,000 hours to perfect it. His ideas of success also are eye-opening but I want to ask Mr.Gladwell some questions. So I am going to write what my letter will say to Mr.Gladwell.

Dear Mr.Gladwell,
You are an amazing writer who can make a boring subject very fascinating. Your ideas have left an impression on me but at the same time I try to find flaws in ideas. One question I have for you is, do you believe that your ideas on success are foolproof? I have heard of many "successful" people, who seem to have just gotten lucky they don't have talent they just have an incident that just puts them in the public's eye. I am sure you have had heard this question many a time and have a very well tought out answer by now. Another question for you, is do you consider yourself a successful person? If so, could explain your theory and ideas in terms of your story of success. How have you become such a successful writer? Does your birthday have to do anything with how you became successful? These are just a few of the questions that have popped up in my mind while reading you book, Outliers, which I believe is an amazing book. It is just great, but as my teachers says, "you can't have a good opinion on something unless you have a degree in Enlish". Thank you for your time to read this and hopefully you can get back to me.

Sincerely,
Jason

Coleman's Campaign sues Franken's over Political Ads

I recently read an article by The Star Tribune about Norm Coleman and Al Franken's Compaign. Coleman's campaign is sueing Franken's for having his ads contain lies about Coleman. They say it is violating the state campaign law. Coleman's campaign says many of the things said in the ads are very false. A Coleman spokesperson says, "Al Franken has chosen to push the lines of believability far beyond the bounds of truth". They say one claim came from a strong Democrat and and friend of Al. Complaints have been made by the Coleman campaign in earlier elections also. The complaints were dropped after the elections. A DFL spokesman says that it's a desperate attempt to change the subject. I agree, the statements that the Coleman campaign are saying are false have been in TV ads for months. Why complain now when the election is almost to an end? That is stupid, and a waste of time if you ask me. To tell you the truth, I am very sick of politics and I am only fifteen. I bet you I have seen over 10 hours of campaign ads, for the presidential, senate, and representative elections. I cannot wait for November 4th to come around.

-Jason

Do Americans trust their Voting System?

I just read an article by Miller-McCune about Americans and their voting system. Do we trust are voting system? The article talked about how there have been many problems at the polls in the past two elections and there is already some glitches in the early voting this year. A study was taken in July of 2008 in The Journal of Politics asking the question, Are Americans Confident Their Ballots Are Counted? They used a survey to help them in their study and the results were amazing. Sixty-nine percent of whites said that they were very confident that their votes were being counted. Only 30 percent of African-Americans reported that they were very confident that they were very confident. 8.5 percent of whites and 32 percent of african-americans said they were not confident their votes were being counted. That is surprising to me how different the percentages are between african-americans and whites. The article goes on to ask why do blacks feel less confident about their votes than whites? They believe it is because of the history of treating african-americans badly that makes them less confident. It even says that Democrats are less confident about their votes because of the polls in the past two elections. If Barack Obama wins, they believe that the confidence in African-Amercian and Democrat voters will go up. They want people to be confident in how they choose their leaders. Personally, if I was a voter I would be not be very confident about my vote because of all the flaws and glitches that have happened in the past two elections. Maybe, when I am able to vote I will have full confidence because they will have stopped all the poll problems.

Skateboarding Heroes (Heroes in a Box)

My "Heroes in a Box" project was based on skateboarding heroes. Some main qualities of skateboarding heroes are creative, courageous, nice, and outgoing.

ARTIFACTS

VIDEOS:

Natas Kaupas



This is Natas Kaupas, a legendary skateboarder. This is a video of him from the late 80's skateboarding. He was very creative and made skateboarding what it is today. He revolutionized everything about it. Natas was a nice guy and he was also courageous. The guy had the guts to go and try new tricks, and just have fun. He mad many new tricks including the Natas Spin, wallride, street kickflip, and handrails. He always was one step ahead of everyone else. He was polite and respectful also. All these traits made people look up to him and admire him. This artifact is significant because it shows Natas and all the creative tricks he made up. This video made him alot more famous when it came out. Without this guy, skateboarding might have never been as popular and well-known as it is today.

Danny Way jumping Great Wall of China!



Danny Way is also a skateboarding legend. He is very courageous and brave. This video shows him jumping The Great Wall of China not many years ago. He has done many other things such as do the first front flip on a MegaRamp. He isn't very well-known outside of the skateboarding world but he inside the skateboarding world he is know for his love and dedication for the sport. This is significant because it shows how far skateboarding has come. China let this guy skate over The Great Wall of China! Now thats an honor. Also it shows a quality that many skateboarders have, courage.

Rodney Mullen Biography Part 1


Rodney Mullen Biography Part 2


Rodney Mullen Biography Part 3


Rodney Mullen is just like Natas Kaupas but alot more famous. They call him the godfather of skateboarding. He invented more tricks and more things for skateboarding than anyone. He has a down to earth personality and is loved by everyone. He is nice and is also like Danny Way, very dedicated to the sport. He has more focus and conentration than many people. This is a significant artifact because Rodney Mullen is a skateboarding hero and this is a biography of him. So this is very important in information I acquired.


Leo Romero- First Love



This video is about a professional skateboarder, Leo Romero, and how he just loves to skate, it was his first love. This is significant information because many people know this feeling, just loving skateboarding and everything about it. It is a first love to many.

Bob Burnquist-Oakley Our Life



This is a video about Bob Burnquist. In the starting he talks about his love for skateboarding and how it has allowed him to do other things. It is is significant because it show how skateboarding can change a person's life forever.

PHOTOS:



Rob and Big


Rob and Big is a show on MTV about the life of professional skateboarder, Rob Dyrdek. Him and his security guard and best friend, Big Black, go skateboard and on crazy adventures. Rob Dyrdek is a skateboarding hero and is very well-liked. This is significant because it shows how popular skateboarding has become. Many people look up to professional skateboarders now a days. You don't see many baseball players and basketball players with there own TV shows. It also shows that skateboarding heroes are outgoing.

Skate Plaza



The picture above depicts a new kind of skatepark called a Skate Plaza. The idea was thought up by professional skateboarder Rob Dyrdek. The first one was made in Kettering, Ohio and now there are hundreds over the world. This is significant because it shows how creative skateboarders are. There is a documentary out call, Groundbreaking which is about the first skate plaza ever made. Rob had to design the whole entire park. He thought up the whole concept.

SONGS:

Kick Push by Lupe Fiasco



This song is about skateboarding and a guy who has been surrounded about skatebooarding his life. This was a very popular song 2 years ago. It is significant information because it shows like many things I have posted how popular skateboarding has become. Many people who I know who don't skateboard listened to this song and liked it alot. I was even surprised how popular this song had been. Even rappers skateboard now a days.

Heaven is a Halfpipe by OPM

This song is also a very popular song about skateboarding. The guy in the band is talking about if he goes to heaven, at least he will be able to skate. This is significant because it shows yet again how popular skateboarding has become.

QUOTES:

"Do what you love and try not to look at what other people occupy themselves with. Most people seem restless and bounce around too much to focus or even pay attention enough to themselves to figure out exactly what they really do love, as opposed to what the people that surround them are doing."
-Rodney Mullen

"Skateboarding is not just about doing a kickflip here and there its about the love for the sport and the progression."
-Dave Perry

The only sound I ever remember is the sound of the pop, the landing and the riding.
- Rodney Mullen

"I don't have much to say except I love skateboarding"
-Rodney Mullen

"I won't quit skating until I am physically unable"
-Tony Hawk

"Its a strange Phenomenon, how a piece of wood, wheels, and a turning system, has made so many people, so happy."
-Chris Cole

"It is this unexplainable feeling that is addicting and you can only understand if you skateboard"
-Matt Feller

"You know that feeling, like all day thinking, I can't wait to go home and skate"
-Ryan Gallant

"Skateboarding has given me everything in my life, it has opened so many doors for me. I owe my life to skateboarding"
-Bob Burnquist

"It's a way to step out"
-Ryan Sheckler


CONCLUSION:

After looking over all my research and artifacts, I have found many things. Skateboarding is a popular sport that has grown in the past couple decades and it is continuing to grow into a bigger phenomenon. Many people's lives have been changed by skateboarding such as Bob Burnquist, who lived in Brazil as a child with asthma. He has come along way and now is very popular in the U.S. and in his home country of Brazil. He says, "I owe my life to skateboarding". It's not just Bob either, I have heard many stories of people have been changed so much by skateboarding. Something else I have found is that skateboarding is very disliked by many people. They think it is a bad thing because of all the false rumors that go along with skateboarding. You shouldn't judge a book by it's cover. Every sport and hobby out there has good people and people who have done bad things. I skateboard and I am a nice, polite guy from Edina, MN. I have done nothing wrong and still I have seen people give me glares when I skateboard past them. Some people just don't understand it I have learned from my research. Skateboarding is also well-liked though I have come to learn also. There are many TV shows that are based around skateboarding and skateboarders. I also have learned many traits of skateboarding heroes such as nice, outgoing, courageous, and creative. Many people I have seen in my research were nice and very creative with their skateboards. They think of new ways to do tricks. You never would think that there would be such things like skateboarding heroes but I have learned one very important thing from this research. Heroes come in different shapes, sizes, lifestyles, and anything you can imagine. The image isn't everything in a hero it's what they are like inside and what they have accomplished as a human or as anything else. You can find a hero to admire anywhere just keep your eyes open.

_Jason

Who's a Better Joker? Heath or Jack?

The Batman movie, The Dark Knight, came out this summer and I loved it. I just read an article by The Patriot Online about who played The Joker better. They compare and contrast the 1989 Jack Nicholson Joker and the 2008 Heath Ledger Joker. On Jack Nicholson's Joker, They talk about he wasn't crazy until he fell into a vat of toxic waste. Even though he becomes crazy, the say he shows a softer side to a reporter in the movie and a sense of mental stability. Heath Ledger's Joker shows a more insane and mental guy. He comes out of nowhere and shocks the Gotham City with his evil. Unlike Jack's Joker, Heath's Joker has no human emotion and doesn't care who he kills or what happens. He is heartless and shows no mercy to anyone even the criminals helping him. The article says that both were good in different ways and were very popular at the time their movies came out. I have seen both movies, and Heath Ledger's Joker had more to himself. He showed the way I think the joker should be played.

-Jason

New Google Phone! The G1!

I just read an article by The Star Tribune about the new Google G1 phone for T-Mobile. The G1 has big expectations says the Star Tribune but they also say don't expect it to stand out in the crowd. Google created the software for the phone. They say, 'the touch screen is a little like the iPhone's, but less full-featured, while the pop-up menu with rows of icons resembles the BlackBerry'. I really wanna test this phone out and see what it is like. It looks kinda of cool and fun to use but I personally think the iPhone will still more entertaining and cool. As you read on, they say how they are not trying to make the phone stylish, they are more focused on mass marketing. T-Mobile is said to be focusing it towards consumers and not very much at business. They say the G1 is just like any smarphone out there, so just don't get your hopes up.

Arrest in Plan to Kill Obama and Black Schoolchildren!

Are you serious!?! What is up with some of the people in this world! I was looking for something interesting to write a blog about when I came across this article. The article, written by The New York Times, tells how two men were arrested in Tennessee who had a plan to kill Obama and black schoolchildren. Who is that stupid and cruel to even consider the idea. These guys must be idiots! The article says, 'The two men “planned to drive their vehicle as fast as they could toward Obama shooting at him from the windows". I am glad to see that the article says that noone wanted to be a lawyer for the two. I am so amazed still at people like this in the world that have that much hatred at someone or something just because they are not like them. The article even says, 'The men talked of “killing 88 people and beheading 14 African-Americans,” according to the affidavit'. WHAT!? BEHEAD!? These guys obviously need help and just really need to grow up!

Final Words

Hello, I am Jason and I have a very hard time communicating and so this is very hard to make but I wanted to say something. To those who are reading this I was in a fatal car accident which left me handicapped with something called Locked-In Syndrome. Locked-In Syndrome has made me literally trapped in my own body. It has changed my perspective on life alot and it has changed me in a good way. I want you guys to learn from my experience with this sad, and horrible disease in the next page. Many people take life for granted, before my accident I was one of those people. I lost everything when I got LIS, even the ability to communicate easily. You shouldn't take things for granted and I learned that the hard way. Many people should just stop, look around, and see how lucky they are. Most people can walk, talk, see, eat, breath, do almost anything, and just be free. Many people don't have these things that you have always had and they probably think about everyday. Also, you shouldn't ever be mean to ANYONE, no matter who they are. I have done some mean things and I regret those actions almost everyday. I wish I could say sorry personally to everyone I have ever hurt but that would just be to hard. So I am sorry to all of you and I hope that you will forgive me. I am mad because of having LIS but at the same time I have learned so much and now I understand what it is like to be handicapped. The only thing that I have left to use is my mind and imagination. That's what makes me not go crazy, it is what keeps me company. So go out and live life and be happy.

The American Family as Strong as Ever!

I just read an article from The Star Tribune saying that the American family is as strong as ever, thanks to cell phones and the internet! That is not surprising to me though because cell phones are made so it is easier to contact and communicate with people and same with the internet. Anyways, the articles says that many thought that new technology would do the opposite, it would weaken family life. Barry Wellman, a sociology professor at the University of Toronto , said, "There had been some fears that the Internet had been taking people away from each other, we found just the opposite". In a new poll that was taken last week, 60% of adults surveyed said it did not affect how close they were to their families. 25% said it brought them closer, and 11% said it had a negative effect. I find it really amazing that 71% say it has not made them closer or had a negative effect. Cell phones make it so much easier to reach people and also with the internet. The internet has e-mail and lots of things you can communicate with. I always show my family funny videos I find on YouTube and we always show each other cool things we find. That has broughten us closer together. I don't see how it could have had a negative affect other than the kids are spending way to much time playing video games and not socializing with their families. Back to the article, Wellman also said families appreciate the innovations because, "they know what each other is doing during the day". But the article also says that technology could have some drawbacks, like families with multiple communication devices were less likely than other groups to eat dinner together daily and to feel satisfied that they had enough family time. I still think that technology is a great thing and it has improved are life in many ways. Even though it may be confusing at times it has alot more positives than negatives.
-Jason

Sarah Palin does SNL!

I read 2 articles about Sarah Palin's appearance on SNL (Saturday Night Live) this Saturday and I was surprised at what they said. The first one was from The New York Observer and it said that SNL was very mean to Mrs.Palin. They say it didn't disappoint, but SNL was very harsh on Sarah Palin. They mocked Mrs.Palin, called her names, and made fun of her, WHEN SHE WAS RIGHT NEXT TO THEM! As you can see in the video at the top of this blog post they make fun of her when she is sitting next to them. Even then, she still doesn't look mad at all, she just goes along with it and waves her hands up in the air. The article says Palin did a great job and, "With Amy Poehler set to go on maternity leave following the election, perhaps America's favorite maverick has her next job lined up. ...". It was the highest-rated SNL in 14 years!!!!! In the 2nd article I read, from www.contactmusic.com, it talked about how Chevy Chase was laughing about Sarah's appearance on SNL. He thought it was a "BIG MISTAKE" to invite her on to the show.  Chevy said, "Quite frankly, it's a big mistake to let her go on. What was brilliant about (SNL producer) Lorne (Michaels) was that he had nothing written for Sarah and that apparently she cannot improvise herself out of a paper bag!". He said that she had her chance on the Weekend Update but did nothing. Chevy even believes it effected the McCain/Palin campaign badly. He says it was a very dumb idea on their part. Although it was very funny, I agree with Chevy Chase, it was a dumb idea on their part.

'Brisingr', Boring?

Today I read an article by The Salt Lake Tribune saying Christopher Paolini's new book, Brisingr, was boring. Many people I have seen reading the book said it is awesome and just as good as the first one, so I wanted to see why The Salt Lake Tribune thought it was so bad. Here is the article, Books: 'Brisingr' bores with its meandering. They say that the book has no meaning and that it just goes on and on. They say, "Paolini simply doesn't know when to stop". I have read the first to books in what was originally suppose to be a trilogy and I liked them alot, but I really wanna know if the book is worth the price. In the article, they say that much of the book doesn't advance the story or develop the characters. I am going to make a poll and ask people who have the read the book if it was good and worth the money. The article isn't all negative. At the end, they say that the last 50 pages make a great riveting ending and it is worth the 700 page wait.
-Jason

WELCOME/First Blog

Hello, and welcome to my blog, jasonlovesenglish. I love english, reading, blogging, and MORE! At the moment I am reading a book call, Animal Dreams, which is a very interesting book. It confuses me a little bit, but for the most part it is easy to understand. I encourage many people to check it out! Also, don't forgot to check out my blog weekly to see if I have posted any new blogs about many things like Animal Dreams. I will try to keep my blog as up to date as possible. Thank you for checking out my blog. I welcome anyone, and everyone. Talk to you soon. -Jason