The mini review..

The Reluctant Fundamentalist.


So being in France means a lack of english books. I might have died from lacking of vitamin BO (Book), BUT a hero emerged from the shadows... his name was Brendan O'Brien. This hero sent us english books, and amazing ones at that. So I have just finished reading one of these books and decided to quickly review it.




It gets introduced by the main character, who starts to talk to talk to an American, who he has never met before. The character then starts to recount about his life when he was in America. He talked about how he had to hold down 3 jobs to pay for his high school years in Princeton. Even hough he had a scholar ship. He was always the top of the class. He knew he could get any job he wanted except one that he really wanted. He wasn't sure he would be able to do it. Out of several thousand only 8 were selected for interviews. He made the job. He talks about the luxury and other things but through this the author very smoothly changes from the story to brakes with talking to the American. But the interesting part is that we never actually know exactly what the American says. We only know what the main character says. Any ways. He ends up meeting a really nice girl who turns out to be torn up by the lose of her boy friend that she knew since she was 3.

But eventually it turns out that he looses his high paying job, and returns to his home.


This is an excellent book written by Mohsin Hamid. Out of five stars I would rate a 5. A nice easy and interesting read.

Guys if you like it leave a comment. If you think it needs a work, comment. If you don't like it, don't comment.


Thanks for the support and help me get to a THOUSAND VEIWS!

Brendan O'B

Brendan O'Brien

USA VS Germany

USA VS Germany

Germany: had Hitler, can't really get much worse than that.
USA: slavery of other humans
Germany: is now teaching kids how wrong they were at that time
USA: doesn't teach about it at all, or if they do they don't say that, that was wrong.
USA: on the verge of voting Trump in. If you don't see the problem with that then go see a doctor thank you.

Another book review!

Guys this book has under taken my judgment. Only read this book if your options for reading are horrible.

THE ELEPHANT IN THE GARDEN

This is an interesting book that talks about WW2, or at least the end of it. The thing that makes it interesting for me is that is written from a German's point of view. I don’t see this often because I am Canadian (so any history we get of WW2 is from the Canadian point of view).

The author does a not-often-used tactic of getting one character to tell the story to other characters, so that the author can put breaks in the story. In this case it was an old lady who was in a nursing home who wanted people to know her story, and the reason she was telling it to these certain people was because the boy had the same name as her brother  (the boy's mom was her nurse).

Through the book they go through the difficulties that you would have when traveling in WW2.

Here is what happened in the book.

In the beginning they had a pretty happy life until the war came along, but when it did hit the father, who was a very kind man, had to leave. Nearing the end of the war they were always the fear that they would be bombed (because they were in a big city (Dresden), all of the cities had been bombed). 

 One evening the mom decided that they would go on a walk with the elephant that they kind of adopted. The reason they had this elephant was because the mother worked at the zoo, she became bonded with it. And when she heard that they were going to shoot the dangerous animals when the bombing came she knew that she must find a way to save the elephant. 

Conveniently the bombing happened when they were walking, so they decided to head towards their aunt and uncle's home. It takes them a few days of walking all day and night to get there. But they do it eventually. When they get there they immediately start looking for their aunt and uncle, but it turns out they have left, so they have to smash a window to get in. 

The elephant needed food so they went inside the barn and found Peter, a Canadian navigator that knew how to speak perfect German because of his mom, another coincidence? Well the mom the goes on a sociopathic rampage deciding that she will kill this navigator because he helped the bombers that destroyed the city. Wait. Isn’t she supposed to be some kind of saint? Or did the author decide that she was too nice?

Luckily her daughter is able to save the airman by telling her mom that she has no right to kill him and etc. etc. etc. The mom finally trusts him after he saves her son when the son fell through the ice on the lake while he was walking across it to an island. The thing I find improbable is that somehow a man who probably weighed at least three times the kid’s weight didn’t fall through. Interesting. The author even says that, “…Peter was on his knees right beside the hole…” Peter should have broken through also, because the ice would be way too thin to hold his weight.

Anyways he saves the kid so the mom becomes very trusting of him. She doesn’t want him to come with them but he points out that he can get them to safety because of his compass and his skills.

So then they stay off the main road and Karli teaches Peter how to cough and wheeze so that he has that cover story of an asthmatic brother (to explain why he’s not a soldier, all the young men were soldiers at that time). The only time they hit trouble is at a sanctuary where Karli gets very sick. They stay there for a while but then the butler (WHY BUTLER WHY ARE YOU THE ONLY ONE THAT NOTICED THAT PETER DOESN’T HAVE A GERMAN ACCENT!) tells the cops that there is a Canadian in their midst. But the lady of the house pulls rank on the officer and they are allowed to leave. After a long time they finally make it to the American line.

Even though Peter tells the Allies that the German family is good, they get thrown into a camp. Then Peter seems to be lost but after a year he comes marching back to their town and finds them. The daughter (Lizzie) and Peter marry and everybody lives happily ever after.

Karli

Young boy who has asthma, although he might slow them down he always brightens the mood with his tricks and jokes.

Karl

A young boy that the elderly woman tells him her story because of his name. 

Mom of Karl

She takes care of the old woman in a nursing home.

Lizzie Old woman

She is the main character in the story. She tells the story from her nursing home bed.

Lizzie Old woman in her youth

She faces many hardships, and has to do a lot to help the family.

Peter

A charming young man who helps the German family a great deal by leading them, finding shelter and getting food.

Mother of Lizzie (from Dresden)

She is a nice woman and works hard to get the family money and keep them safe.

I MADE MARSHMALLOWS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

June 15, 2016

So today I made the most amazing marshmallows in the WORLD. We made two types. RASPBERRY and COCONUT, my two favourites. They are even better when you put them together.

Helena (the woman who was teaching us (my mom and I) how to make marshmallows) uses real ingredients, not extracts or any thing like that. She is a very small business and is very friendly.

We first did raspberry marshmallows. Helena had already made the “juice/pulp” of the raspberries, to prepare them she just cooked them and took out most of the seeds, because most people don’t like the seeds. Personally I like the texture. We then cooked until it boiled. We then added sugar, and gelatine. After everything melted we put it into a large mixer. For the raspberries it only takes a couple of minutes to solidify and fluff up. She then layered it out and evened it out, so it could dry.

After about twenty minutes we cut the raspberry marshmallows into big sections and placed them in trays, because it takes them several days to dry.

We then got to work on the coconut. We did the same process just it took longer for the mixer to solidify it. This is because grease (from the coconut) takes a longer time to cool down.

To Make Marshmallows

1.     You need to prepare your flavouring ingredients according to what kind of marshmallows you’re making.

2.     You then boil and add sugar. The amount of sugar you use depends on how acidic your flavouring ingredients are.

3.     When it reaches boiling point you then add gelatine that needs to be added to water a couple minutes before. You keep stirring until the gelatine is dissolved.

4.     After this you NEED a specialised mixer. It needs to powerful enough to stir it for a long mount of time. YOU CAN’T DO IT BY HAND. So you add the ingredients to the mixer and wait until it has snowy peaks like when you make whipping cream. Actually know that I think about it I was making industrial amount of marshmallows, you could be fine by using a normal electric mixer.

5.     You then need to lay it out on a clean counter with wax paper underneath, so it doesn’t stick.

6.     Afterwards you need to level it out. It is handy if you had rods or something like that to make a box shape it gives you a solid barrier to level it out.

7.     You leave it to dry for a couple of days (this may take less time if you do a smaller batch, I was making big batches, example when laid out it was an inch thick and five feet long.) You then need to sprinkle sugar on the marshmallows so that they don’t stick. And the you can eat them! You should look up on the internet how to do the flavouring ingredients.

1 DOLLAR COFFFFEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Guys I have not only done a lack of posts, BUT a lack of photos. Sorry, but I have been leaving my camera behind all the time.


ANYWAYS...


Yesterday we went into town to get bikes. It was a great day to walk. The sun was shinning the skies were blue, just not yesterday. Yesterday it was pouring rain none stop. But we walked anyways. We did get a lift while we were walking. They were kind people from Paris here for the weekend. After we got to town we found the bicycle shop and asked if we could rent or buy some bicycles, and we got this response, well pretty much. I WILL NOT SELL YOU BIKES! So we walked around wondering what do now that we were in town. First we bought half a chicken (that was already cooked), and some AMAZING white pudding (we went back and bought more). We then found this café that sold 1 euro COFFEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!! But just to blow your mind even more, it was good.

 Ya crazy.

We then got enough energy to go to the museum. We had lots of fun. The gun powder room which had a curved roof that made all the sound waves come back to you that = coolness sound. The reason this happens is

After the museum we saw this parade devoted to Acadians, being Canadian that means a lot to me. The reason they celebrate is that after the Brits burned killed, pillaged, and other mean suff, 78 families came back to the island. On an island that is only 20 km long that is a lot of people.
But after this the rain had gone through my rain jacket, through my hoodie, and through my shirt. But my mom very kindly got me a very awesome and dry hoodie. Then I got a pizza. It was ok. We stayed at this bar while a guy sang in french and english. It was a pretty awesome day overall.
Hope you guys have a great day tooooooooooo:)

SHORTYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That is the word in french for wet suit that has short sleeves.

Yesterday we bought it instead of bycicles. So know I am planning of swimming as much I can. Today was the first test trial. They are so coooool, they make you praticaly float, and you stay amazingly warm. I am still in amazement from how awesome they are.
So guys if you are by a coldish and biggish surface of water GET ONE!

Book Report, Alone on a Wide Wide Sea

Hey guys, this is my very formal and sophisticated review on this book. :p

Sorry if there are any mistakes. I copied and pasted this from a word document. I did actually write it though.

 Characters

           1.    The main character, Arthur Hobhouse

This guy pretty much had one of the worst lives ever. It starts at Cooper station. After he is sent to Australia. He is not one of the toughest kids in a bunch, but he isn’t small. But unfortunately he is the youngest of the bunch when he’s on the boat Australia. So many of the kids pick on him. On the boat he meets Marty, the tallest and toughest of the bunch. After throwing up at the same time on the edge of the boat, the two bond and become best friends.   Marty always has Arthur’s back. Read on to learn more about Arthur.

      2.          Secondary Character Marty

             He has a little bit of humour, looks out for Arthur and is really tough. When he got whipped                           psychomaniac (read about him later) he would say thank you to the psychomaniac after he got whipped by him. Sadly he dies of depression and alchohol, but he has happy adventures with Arthur.

      3.    Meg

Through the story Arthur and Marty escape Cooper Station and wonder in the out back for a little and are found by some natives. They get taken to this hill where Meg picks them up. Meg is a woman in her late 50s for most of the book. Her husband died in the war on a battle ship, and her son has left her over a big row. She picks up animals that have been injured and need to be treated for a while. She likes poems and models ship making. She teaches Marty and Arthur many things, like reading and writing and other school studies.

    

    

       4. Allie    

She is the very persistent daughter of Arthur. She insist that they go on a voyage to England to find Arthur’s sister, whose only proof of existence is the lucky key that Arthur’s sister gave to Arthur. But unfortunately Arthur dies. So she has to go alone. Her mom and grandpa try to stop her from going alone, but she persists, she also does a little Dale Carnegie by getting the mom to be in charge of all communications, they buy her computers and other fancy electric stuff. In the end they help her search for the long lost sister. She faces many hardships on her way to England.

   

      5.    Mum and Grandpa

The Mom is a very strong woman who held the decision of whether Allie gets to go on the voyage. But after the computers she is decided, Allie is allowed to go. She is also the one who finds the long lost sister. They grandpa is a cool guy who is obsessed that Allie try’s to tell every body that the boat that she is sailing on was made by there companies. But he also ends up getting NASSA to get in touch with Allie as she sails across the sea.

           

THE PLOT SUMMARY!

It starts out with Arthur and his sister getting separated in England and Arthur getting sent to Australia.

On the boat Arthur gets bullied, because he gets seasick all the time. But he meets Marty, who looks after him.

When they got to Australia people try to separate them. But Marty made sure that they stay together (this condemns one of them, because now both are going to Cooper station.).

At Cooper station both of them work hard because they have to. Arthur almost becomes friends with Ms. Cooper. One of the kids goes on a hunger strike then try’s to escape. But he fails because he was so week that he fell out of his saddle. After a while Arthur and Marty escapes on Black Jack (the horse) and a group of natives pick them up, and they hang out with them for two weeks. Then they get dumped and Meg picks them up.

Meg also has them do hard work, but they gladly do it because they want to. They help her nurse the animals that need nursing, and also do what ever needs to be done. After they are old enough she finds them a job as ship builders. She sadly parts with them.

They soon become master ship builders at their job and enjoy it a lot. They also get over there seasickness. But it ends sadly when the owner is going through hard times and try’s to do a insurance scam.

Marty then starts to go into depression and drink and then dies because he slipped into the water and never came back up.

Arthur goes back to Megs and they have some happy years, but Meg dies and has no will so Arthur has to move out.

He wonders around and gambles all his money away that he makes. He tries to commit suicide but a doctor saves him. A nurse then falls in love with him they marry and they have a child, Allie.

When Allie is older they start to build a boat that they will use to sail to England. But Arthur is diagnosed with four big blood tumours, and only has 5-6 months to live.

Allie goes on with out him. An albatross fallows her as she sails. She is convinced that it is her dad’s spirit. One day though she finds that she has killed him.

She goes into depression. She comes out of it etc. etc. Finally she reaches England. Her mom introduces her to the long lost sister, Kitty. And she lives happily ever after blah blah blah.

The reasons I like this book:

The author is always descriptive, but never over does the descriptiveness QUOTE “…we may have come from a beautiful ship with pillar-box red funnels and an orchestra, but we were prisoners just like them…”He also uses new ways to describe. He uses poems, and metaphors, and also a little of your general descriptive tools.

 But what really brings this story out is that I have never read anything like it before.     He tells us stories that we all know but he puts a new perspective on them. Like the orphans going to Australia, I knew that they had sent, first criminals, and then I learned that they sent children later. But in this book we learned what happened to some of them. Not all the orphans got a happy life surfing, and drinking piña coladas. NO! Some of them went to people like… BACON COOPER! This dude is your classic psycho crazy maniac. This is his idea getting kids ready for heaven “THESE KIDS HAVE CAME FROM HELL, AND ARE DAMED! THEY MUST BE REDEEMED AND…” etc. and etc. Pretty much, you are my slaves, and you will work for me, to make me a garden, and if you disobey me I will whip you. In fact I will whip you if I feel like it. MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH

AHAHAHAHA! The author also brings out the hardships you could go through. Example, when they where looking for work, the main character’s friend went into depression, and started to go out drinking every single night. Then one night he fell into the water, and never came back up.

I am pretty sure this author was having a good time beating the stuffing out of the main character.

HIS LIST OF HARDSHIPS!

      1.     He endures Cooper Station (Crazy dude). 

      2.     Best friend dies because of drink and depression.

      3.     He goes into depression, because he looses everything.

      4.     Then he is not allowed to go with his daughter sailing to find his sister that he lost when he got sent to Australia, because he has four major blood tumour that kills him in 5 months.

      5.     And as if that is not enough his spirit goes into an albatross to keep his daughter safe as she sails to England to find her last Aunt. But one day she comes up and finds that he was dragged in the fishing line over night, so now he got doubled killed.

Nice dude the author is, EH?!

 IF I WAS THE KING OF THE WORLD THIS IS WHAT I WOULD CHANGE IN THIS BOOK!

1. Marty does not seem like a drinker. Through the book I got the impression he was the kind of guy who never touched alcohol.

2. Meg seemed like a person who would leave a will, not leave Arthur by himself.

3.Also Mister Dodds (the owner of the boat making company) did a insurance scam, but he seemed like the kind of guy who would give every body a good chance. Not ruin their lives.

I have to say if I was asked where this author is placed on my list he would be pretty close to number one. I look forward to reading his other books.