Freaky Green Eyes

Freaky Green Eyes by Joyce Carol Oates

Fiction

This book is about two people. One of them is Franky Pierson who is in denial about the abuse her mom suffers from her dad. The other person is Freaky Green Eyes, a part of Franky who knows the truth and wants to save her mom.

While Franky is at a party over the summer she is almost raped, but Freaky Green Eyes gives her the strength to attack her assailant, a college student named Cameron. As Franky runs away Cameron yells, “You f-freak! You should see your eyes! Freaky green eyes! You’re crazy!” (Oates page 17). Freaky Green Eyes is the part of Franky that she fears and respects the most, and it is also the part that saves her.

Franky lives in Seattle, Washington where it is perpetually cloudy, but the weather isn’t the only thing clouding her vision. Her dad, Reid Pierson, a famous sportscaster, makes a living by using his good appearance and confidence to belie his abusive personality. Franky believes her dad when he says that he loves her, her mom betrayed them, and he doesn’t know anything about her mom’s disappearance. It is much easier for Franky to believe what he tells her than the alternative, but Freaky knows better.

Oates renders a realistic portrayal of an abusive parent which helps the reader better comprehend the internal struggles Franky faces. If she reports her dad’s abuse she would be going against what a part of her wants to believe and in a way does. She is split between her mom and her dad, the truth and her dad’s lies, what she wants to believe and what she knows to be true, between Freaky and Franky. 

The Westing Game

The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin

Fiction

I know I’ve already reviewed this before, but I think my previous review did not do it justice. I’ve read it again recently, and this time I read it carefully, unlike last time. The Westing Game transports the reader to Sunset Towers where there are bombers, murders, a 200 million dollar inheritance, and one great big mystery.

                On Halloween night, Sam Westing, millionaire and owner of Westing Paper Products, is murdered. Later when Sam Westing’s heirs are all gathered to hear the reading of his will, they are surprised and shocked to discover that the murderer is one of them. In his will, Sam Westing pairs the heirs up, and then gives them clues to discover the killer. Everyone desperately tries to win so they will receive the 200 million dollar inheritance. As the game progresses, the players soon realize that this is not an ordinary game.

                The reason why I liked this book so much was the same reason why I didn’t like it last time. In my last review I thought it was confusing and too complicated. When I read it this time, I appreciated the small details and unsuspected plot twists. The plot was laid out perfectly so it formed a well-constructed mystery with puzzles in every chapter and the characters were so well developed I felt that I knew them personally. As the story progresses, small pieces of the puzzle form a picture that brings sixteen unlikely people together  in the most unusual way.

Tell-Tale Heart

Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allen Poe

Fiction
          In Edgar Allan Poe’s short story, The Tell-Tale Heart, the insane narrator blames a milky blind eye for driving him to murder. The narrator is the caretaker of an old man to whom the eye belongs. Night after night, the narrator watches the old man while he sleeps, waiting to kill the old man. One night, the old man stirs, the eye opens, and the narrator lashes out and kills him. After this, the narrator begins to hallucinate the beating of the dead man’s heart, which causes him to scream and rage.

Poe uses a lot of symbolism in the story. One symbol is the eye. The narrator refers to the eye as a “damned spot”. The phrase “damned spot” comes from the play Macbeth by Shakespeare. The phrase occurs when Lady Macbeth is overcome with guilt because of the part she played in King Duncan’s murder and she begins to imagine blood on her hands.  The narrator, too, feels guilty about his desire to murder the old man and the eye symbolizes his guilty conscience. The heart also represents the narrator’s conscience.  It beats to remind the narrator of what he did. The narrator’s conscience -- the heart and the eye -- remind the narrator of his responsibility to the old man. And it can be noted that the more the narrator tries to escape his responsibility to the old man by ignoring his conscience, the more obstinate it becomes. If the narrator had not denied his responsibility to the old man, the narrator wouldn’t have killed him, therefor avoiding his capture by the police and the consequences that would surely follow. Tell-Tale Heart is Poe’s way of saying that one should be responsible for one’s duties.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time  By Mark Haddon

*****5/5 stars   Fiction

Christopher Boone can remember every moment of his life. He can’t understand other people, but he can do any type of math or science. Christopher lives with his dad and his mom is dead. When the neighbor’s dog is found killed, Christopher’s curiosity is stirred and he sets out to find the murderer. What will an autistic fifteen-year-old kid uncover?

          This book was unique because the author wrote it from Christopher’s point of view and it was interesting to see how he thought of things.  That was one of the reasons why I liked it. To have the book from Christopher’s view made dialogue seem a bit plain because he is autistic, but the writing was so good, you could still tell what a person was trying to convey through Christopher.

The Westing Games

The Westing Game  By Ellen Raskin

*** 3/5 stars  Mystery

I rated this book 3 stars because I didn't get the solution. It was well written and interesting until the characters started to find the solution. Maybe I didn't read it carefully enough.  Anyway, it is about 16 people who all live in the same apartment building. They are all called to the reading of Sam W. Westing's will. The will says that Sam Westing was murdered and in order to find out who did it, the 16 people have to play a game called the Westing Games. The 16 players are paired up with partners that Sam Westing selected and are given 8 clues per pair.   The answer to the game is the murderer.  The one who wins gets the 200 million dollar inheritance!