Book Club #3

For the second reading assignment, our group read the next three chapters of the novel which included chapters 4-6.  This section delved into a lot of the customs, traditions, and feelings regarding American occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan.  I remember at a few points that some of the Iraqis expressed that they desired normalcy in their everyday lives as the Iraqis often "stood up and reached for it"(82) when it presented itself.  While reading this novel I can't shake that notion that has almost been implanted in my mind that Iraq is bad and Afghanistan is bad and that everyone who lives in those nations is bad.  Why do I feel this way?  My country has portrayed them as horrible people when the majority of them are much like our own citizens who are governed and led by the wrong people.  This happens in our own nation and has happened in the pass.  Not everyone was a member of the Ku Klux Klan but southerners got a horrible reputation because of the group's beliefs and treatments of non-Caucasian races.  At one point in our history we even held a concentration camp for Japanese people on our homeland soil after the attack on Pearl Harbor and the events that ensued.  I was also angry when one of the Islamic people expressed that "the Americans did not allow us to have a proper ceremony" (107).  What right do we have to change cultural customs such as burial ceremonies?  I understand helping to renovate government policies but not something as spiritual and religious as a burial ceremony.  Yes, Saddam Hussein created a living hell for his people however, he was a martyr and the people should have had the right to express any grief they held properly according to their belief system.  As I read further I am gaining a greater appreciation for the people in the Middle East.

Book Club #2

For our first reading assignment, our group was to read Part One, or the prologue and chapters 1 - 3 in The Forever War.  Though only about 50 pages into the novel, this book contains vital information regarding important customs of the Taliban as well as graphic details involving how they deal with crime and how they live their everyday lives.  One instance that stuck with me has been the murder of one man as revenge for murdering another.  Accoriding to the Koran, the victim's family has the right to kill their family member's murderer, in public.  Another instance involved a thief who was caught pitpocketing.  He was ultimately punished by death but beforehand, his hand was severed while he was awake.  These people "fear the past" and in order to prevent certain things to occur again in their country and culture, they take care of problems in the most severe ways.  Because this is their culture, they see their "work" as doing good to preserve order and righteousness within their country.  It's amazing how different our cultures are.  This novel has been a really easy read so far due to the informal langugae and casual tone, however, a lot of terms involving the Taliban and the many names mentioned have been confusing at sometimes.  I'm not sure who they are talking about a lot of the times but that doesn't make the story any less interesting and it does not confuse the events.  I'm sure I'll get the names down as I read further into the book.

Book Club #1

The book I chose for Book Club is The Forever War.  I chose this book because I am extremely interested in firsthand accounts of major world events and personal memoirs.  This is the type of writing I hope to work on someday so reading this book just seems like a good fit for me.  It's a little long but the topic will make it a much easier read than one would expect.  I look forward to reading it.

Possible Profile Topics

For this profile assignment, I came up with three options that might serve as interesting profile pieces.  My first choice is to profile my best friend's father, Stephen McLaughlin.  He is a former Marine, is very involved with his church, and in his spare time, works doing "ghost-hunting" and exorcism work for locals.  I am extremely interested in the paranormal and I believe some of his stories might form a really interesting piece.  My second choice is a my General Manager, Bill Smith.  Every Monday morning I work with Bill one-on-one at 4:30am as we count inventory for the entire restaurant.  I'm always laughing based on the stories he tells me but I'm not quite sure how I would turn this into a profile.  I need to come up with a solid idea that would allow me to show his extremely comic side through a profile.  My third choice would be my Honors English teacher, Donald Burke, from my senior year of High School.  He was involved in the annual blood drive at my school, prepared the students to send in their college essays, and though the topics may not have been that interesting, he was extremely enthusiastic about his work and enjoyed getting to know his students based on more than there graded assignments.  I'm leaning more towards my first option.