Siddhartha (pgs 81-end)

Summary: So I ended up finishing the book and the ending turns out to be pretty good. Basically what happens is that Siddhartha ends up being a successful samana because he went through all the lows of a samana and now he is on top. So basically he pretty much ends up where he started in the book. The difference from the start to the end though is that in the start, he had success without really knowing how he got it and doubted if he should. In the end, he becomes successful and knows it is coming from being a samana and that is why I like the whole outcome of the book.


Quote: "Govinda bowed low. Incontrollable tears trickled down his old face. He was overwhelmed by a feeling of great love, of the most humble veneration" (Hesse 153).


Reaction: Govinda was Siddhartha's close friend, so I suppose it seemed appropriate for him to start crying due to Siddhartha's success as a samana. Siddhartha did do things that nobody thought he would ever do in his lifetime and Siddhartha challenged those thoughts and became a samana. He was a successful samana because he made it all the way from sleeping outside in the cold to wearing fancy clothes. Becoming a samana really gave the meaning of life to Siddhartha and Govinda is very proud of that.

Siddhartha (pgs 31-80)

Summary: So basically what happened during this period of the book is that Siddhartha meets this girl named Kamala. Kamala is also a samana like Siddhartha but she is a higher level than him. Basically, Siddhartha gets non-needed help from her and that is how he starts to become a higher level as a samana. With being in the higher level, you are able to have clothes, food, water, and etc. I think in this section of the book, he may be coming of age because he already knew what it was like to be on top and now he is almost at the top again but this time he started over and worked his way up to this point.


Quote: "Siddhartha had learned how to transact buisness affairs, to exercise power over people, to amuse himself with women; he had learned to wear fine clothes, to command servants, to bathe in sweet-smelling waters" (Hesse 78).


Reaction: What I think about this quote is that he already knows how to do these things basically. He has already lived this life but during that time, it was given to him. This time, he earned it by being a samana, starting all the way at the bottom, now he is almost at the top again. So basically it is like he rightfully earned the right to have these nice privileges and I feel happy for him because I feel like he really earned his way almost at the top. Hopefully he can go all the way to the top and finally live his life the way he originally lived it before becoming a samana.

Siddhartha (Pgs 1-30)

Summary: A good amount happens in these first 30 pages of my novella called Siddhartha. To start off, Siddhartha is a person and he is considered "the handsome Brahmin's son", which is a compliment but also somewhat of an insult because most Brahmins were thought to be evil, lazy, and wicked. Even though most Brahmins were thought of that way, Siddhartha was clearly different and special and knew almost everything that had to do with education. He was very scholarly but somehow he felt empty inside. He made everyone else happy but was not happy with himself. Therefore he decides to become a Samana, which are a group of poor people who take the days as they are given to them.


Quote: " Siddhartha had already long taken part in the learned men's conversations, had engaged in debate with Govinda and had practiced the art of contemplation and meditation with him" (Hesse 3).


Reaction: Govinda was basically Siddhartha's shadow but more importantly, his good friend. This was the part before Siddhartha wanted to become a Semana and when they were both noblemen. Since Siddhartha became a Semana, so did Govinda. Siddhartha's ultimate goal was to become empty and I found that peculiar because usually it goes the other way around. Empty people want to become full but in this case, a full person wants to become empty. I find the whole thing somewhat odd but I should see more in future pages.

Can't Stop Won't Stop (pg 61-127)

Summary: I learned something new while reading. Looking in the table of contents, I saw that this books is written in loops. I don't know if a loop is a literary term or something that he made up. If it is something that he made up then it sounds pretty interesting and could be used forevermore. So basically what goes on in this section is that hip hop is actually invented and the violence and whatnot doesn't come along in these parts of the book.


Quote: "At the same time, discos were shutting down and house parties were declining, partly because gangs like the Spades were making them unsafe" (Chang 77).


Reaction: My reaction to this is that discos may have been gettting old. I say that because the quote says they were shutting down. Therefore I think that it was too old. Anyway, this is where hip hop starts to generate.

Can't Stop Won't Stop (pg 31-60)

Summary: This section of the book contains a good amount of information. It talks about how people are in jail due to various reasons. One reason is that people were caught with illegal things when they were frisked by the police. In that instant, they were arrested and heading off to jail. The people who weren't arrested smashed police cars and set them on fire. There was a sea of bad things these people did to the cops for just one little action.


Quote: "We got hit with three firebombs, Molotov cocktails from across the street. The grapevine had it that it was done by some gang members" (Chang 47).


Reaction: My reaction to this quote would be kind of surprising if it was a different situation. What I mean by that is if it was a diferent type of book or maybe even a different type of setting, then I wouldn't necessarily expect this. But just because it;s the type of book it is, then something like this is pretty much anticipated. I don't think those things were thrown by gang members because the police had a serious feud with them so maybe it could have been the police.

Can't Stop Won't Stop (pg 1-30)

Summary: So I decided to choose a hip hop book for my term 4 ROAR book. I figured I would want to choose something that is pretty modern and interesting because I probably wouldn't have interest in a book that its history begings a very long time ago. So in the start of this book, there are two guys who are going to seem very important. Their names are Neil Howe and William Strauss. They're described as "baby boomers and self-described social forecasters" and that seems to be very interesting.


Quote: "The act of determining a group of people by placing beginning and ending date around them is a way to impose a narrative" (Chang 1).


Reaction: First of all, I thought this quote was pretty powerful because it just seems like it has a lot of meaning to it. Chang believes that if you give people a definitive beginning and end, it'll tell a type of story about people. So it seems like he belives that you can tell a story about a person through what they did during their timeline. So I am pretty sure that what is to come in the book should be quite interesting.

Slumdog Millionaire (Pgs 148-215)

Summary: I can't really get much from this section of the book. All I can get is that a lot of people are getting arrested. I came to that conclusion because Ram always kept mentioning that jeep with the flashing red light. The jeep with the flashing red light usually meant that someone is going to get arrested. Another thing I got from this section is that Salim wants to be an actor and Ram believes that Salim has matured up enough to become an actor. So I guess the big question is will Salim be able to become an actor like his role model?


Quote: " I am out shopping with Neelima. She doesn't own a car, so we take a taxi. I don't enjoy going out with her. She buys only cosmetics or clothes, and I have to carry her heavy bags. She never goes to a McDonald's or a Pizza Hut. And she never, ever, buys me anything" (Swarup 214).


Reaction: Well one OTHER thing that did happen in this section of the book is that Ram becomes a servant for a girl named Neelima. Neelima is a nice person according to Ram, but not her grandmother. If you read the book, you would think Ram is working for Neelima's grandmother instead of Neelima. It's somewhat of an interesting part of the section of the story, but like I said, nothing really happens in this section.

Slumdog Millionaire (pgs 81-147)

Summary: Through these pages, I began to learn more things about the book. One thing I began to learn was that each chapter is indeed related to a question on W3B. This means the events that happened in Ram's life helped him answer each question correctly on W3B. I think that if this situation happened in real life, in America, the person that won wouldn't be accused of cheating. I also learned that it wouldn't be possible for Ram to tell his story unless he learns English at a later time in the story because from certain points in the story, it is told that Ram speaks of another language, which is not English. The highlight of this section is this woman named Julie appears and Ram says that he and Julie are married. I think he was kidding around though. That's basically the highlight.


Quote: " Smita laughs. 'It's not magic, you idiot,' she tells Prem Kumar on the screen. 'It's voodoo!' Suddenly her eyes dart down to something lying on the bedroom carpet. She bends down to pick it up. It is a small button with four slits. The type used on shirts. She looks at my shirt. The third button is indeed missing. She hands it to me. 'Here. Better hold on to your buttons' " (Swarup 147).


Reaction: It is usually difficult to pick only one sentence from this particular book because the sentences are so simple. Anyway, I chose this quote because Julie knows voodoo or something like that. Therefore, Ram got one question correctly due to Julie. I guess he should be glad he met her even though he isn't anymore. So that is why I chose this quote.

Slumdog Millionaire (pgs 61-80)

Summary: With advancing forward in the book, I start to realize how the structure of the book is set up. Each chapter relates to one question on the 12 question quiz show "W3B". I realized that because at the end of every chapter, it refers back to the beginning of the book where the video tape of the "W3B" episode with Ram featured in it. Well what happens in these pages is basically Mr. Shantaram (a drunkard) harming his wife and daughter and Ram is next door listening in on all of this.


Quote: " One night he exceeds all limits and throws a piping hot cup of tea at his wife. Gudiya tries to shield her mother, and the burning liquid falls on her instead, scalding her face. She shrieks in agony. Shantaram is so drunk he doesn't even realize what he has done" (Swarup 62).


Reaction: I didn't really have a surprising reaction because usually people who are drunk are going to act out and end up doing something such as this. I would say that the only thing that may have threw me off was that this man was never found out about (yet). The only reason why he isn't found out yet is because Ram keeps his mouth shut and is really letting Mr. Shantaram get away with things here. Let's see what happens later on in the book...

Slumdog millionaire (pgs 1-60)

Summary: The book I chose for Term 3 ROAR is Slumdog Millionaire by Vikas Swarup. So far I have been able to understand the gist of the book. I also have been able to see that this book will have an interesting resolution if what happens in these first 60 pages continues to go on throughout the book. The main point of this book is that a character named Ram Mohammad Thomas is accused of answering all 12 questions correctly on W3B (Who Will Win a Billion). The reason he is being accused of this is because the show has not aired on TV in a large number of places and therefore, people are suspicious. Ram lives in a town called Dharavi and Dharavi is a place where the police are always lurking. Ram is also an orphan who lives with two priests. So basically what happens in these 60 pages is that Ram got accused, arrested, and interrogated for winning the 1 billion dollar prize on W3B. He ends up not getting the 1 billion dollars but now the book has him living with two priests and so far, it seems pretty interesting.


Quote: "The Brain is not an organ we are authorized to use. We are supposed to use only our hands and legs" (Swarup 2).


Reaction: My interpretation of this quote is that Ram believes that we should not be allowed to use our brains. I disagree with that because knowing how to do things require using our brains. You literally can not do anything if you don't use your brain. Your brain is arguably the most important organ in your body so therefore, we should indeed be authorized to use our brain, and we can use our hands and legs too.