Wednesday Reaction

My favorite part about this book so far is the dry British humor. It keeps me interested and engaged as I wait for the next joke, plus it reflects on the characters. The four boys are all unique in their own ways, even in regards to their favorite philosophers, but they are all really intelligent (to the extent that they are somewhat pretentious) and curious about life. The juxtaposition between the youthful boys and their older parents is really interesting because I see it the same way. I’m sure my parents have experienced the same things that I am going through as a teenager, but I like to think of my experiences as different from their experiences. I base it on the fact that we grew up in different eras and the times have changed. The youth are dealing with more stress and expectations than any previous generation and society has made us compete against one another to do better things, accomplish more, and think more creatively than any of the previous generations. I’m sure that I am only sensationalizing the cause for my own interests. I feel like I can relate really well to the boys in the book because we are all fighting to find an identity for ourselves in the midst of great philosophers, historians, and artists.

I’m only 30 pages deep into the book and am enjoying the coming of age tale. Although the boys seem really intellectual, they aren’t that mature and are somewhat unaware of how some of their remarks are ignorant. On page 17, the narrator asked “What was the point of having a situation worthy of fiction if the protagonist didn’t behave as he would have done in a book?” Of course there is a difference between reality and fiction because books are very isolated and authors are free manipulate their stories. It’s impossible to live one’s life according to what he or she reads in a book or sees in a movie.