I just had to recognize that there are still many questions left. We are not supposed to answer them but some of them are quite interesting:
Which audience is Hornby writing for?
For young people in our age. You could use "Slam" partly as a "Guidebook for teenagers: How to become an adult." :P
If you were a teacher, which aspects of the novel would you like to discuss in class?
I would like to talk about pregnancy, becoming an adult, facing it´s greatest fears, love and sex. "Slam" is so full of interesting and discussable topics, it´s unbelievable.
What are the problems or conflicts the characters must confront?
I could list alle problems of all characters now but that would take too much time. I´ll concentrate on Sam and Alicia. Of course, like I surely mentioned it a million times in this reading log they have to deal with having a baby and becoming adults. It´s not easy for them especially because after a while there is not much love left between them that would help them to get through these hard times.
What is at stake for the characters in these conflicts?
What a question! Their life is at stake. Well, not their life in conjunction with life in death, but their life in the way they will live it. Because of the baby Sam´s and Alicia´s life will not be the life they wanted. Their careers, their hopes, their dreams - all of them will change. Either they can deal with that changes or they can´t and their lifes won´t be worth living.
What discovery do the character make?
You can do everything if you just believe in yourself. You can reach all your ambitions if you just want to. That is what they discover and that is the true meaning of the book.
How do you feel about the ending?
It´s good. It´s not a classical end where all is fine and all people are happy until they die. It´s an end that shows that the problems won´t end and that life still will be hard, but it´s also a hopeful end. Hopeful because after all, things are becoming okay and because Sam and Alicia and all the other characters still have a good life.
In the very end:
I´m finished with my reading log. Well, not really. I still have to do some things but I´m finished with writing texts about Slam. I don´t know if I´m happy or not. Sometimes it was exhausting and stressful to come home after a long school day and to sit down and do something, but mostly it was fun (particularly because I was eating alle the time while doing it ^^). "Slam" is a great book and I really enjoyed reading it. And - I must confess (please overread this ^^) - I´ll miss my reading log.
Okay, now I´m becoming sentimental. xD
Stop.
Over.
The End(ing) :)
Sonntag, 16. November 2008
Happy Ever After
I finished the book now nearly a week ago, and it´s time to recapitulate what I think of the book and how it changed my mind (or even if it changed it ...)
After re-reading the beginning of your log: Are your first impressions given new meaning now?
No, not really. My feelings haven´t changed, I still think, "Slam" is a great book. My future predictions were quite misdirected. Of course, Alicia and Sam became a couple but I didn´t think of pregnancy at all.
What did you learn that you never knew before?
I learned how to change a nappy. :P
Okay that was a joke. Earnestly now:
Well, I learned something about skating. Not much but at least a little bit. I also learned about the feelings a boy could have when his girlfriend conceives. But I don´t know if Sam´s feelings are realistic. I hope so.
How have you changed after reading the book?
I´m still the same person before reading the book. Honestly, I´ve already read books about pregnancy of teenagers and they were more realistic and impressive than "Slam". "Slam" is a good lecture if you start thinking about that topic, and it´s a great written book, really, but to change my mind there needs to be more.
Who would you like to recommend the book to?
All teenagers in our age. I think to read a book like this shows it better with what consequences you have to live with when you get a child as teenager than prevention programs in school. It´s also made for people in our age because of the style of writing. It´s clear, direct and just like any normal teenager would think and speak.
Who should not read the book? Why not?
I don´t know. I think it´s a good book for everyone, except for people who don´t tolerate sex before mariage because they just would critisize the book and don´t think about what it wants to say.
After re-reading the beginning of your log: Are your first impressions given new meaning now?
No, not really. My feelings haven´t changed, I still think, "Slam" is a great book. My future predictions were quite misdirected. Of course, Alicia and Sam became a couple but I didn´t think of pregnancy at all.
What did you learn that you never knew before?
I learned how to change a nappy. :P
Okay that was a joke. Earnestly now:
Well, I learned something about skating. Not much but at least a little bit. I also learned about the feelings a boy could have when his girlfriend conceives. But I don´t know if Sam´s feelings are realistic. I hope so.
How have you changed after reading the book?
I´m still the same person before reading the book. Honestly, I´ve already read books about pregnancy of teenagers and they were more realistic and impressive than "Slam". "Slam" is a good lecture if you start thinking about that topic, and it´s a great written book, really, but to change my mind there needs to be more.
Who would you like to recommend the book to?
All teenagers in our age. I think to read a book like this shows it better with what consequences you have to live with when you get a child as teenager than prevention programs in school. It´s also made for people in our age because of the style of writing. It´s clear, direct and just like any normal teenager would think and speak.
Who should not read the book? Why not?
I don´t know. I think it´s a good book for everyone, except for people who don´t tolerate sex before mariage because they just would critisize the book and don´t think about what it wants to say.
Donnerstag, 13. November 2008
Up to to the end
Hello again together, today (you won´t believe) exceptionally without anything to eat instead with a new CD with Caribbean music I got from my family living there. Let´s go!
What questions would you like to ask Nick Hornby?
Do you have any reason to write about pregnancy of teenagers?
Can you identify with any of the character in the book?
If yes, with which one?
Can you skate?
Summary of the events in the book:
The book is about a boy named Sam, fifteen years old, and a passioned skater. Sam meets a girl, Alicia, and they become a couple. After a while, they have sex without contraception and Alicia conceives. Now Sam has to confront the problems of growing up and of a fatherhood in the same time. First he runs away from them because he is afraid of all, but when he faces them (sometimes with the help of Tony Hawk, who is talking to him and sometimes whizzing him into the future) all ends up fine - or, as fine as a story can turn out when you get a child with sixteen years.
Which idea in the book made you stop and think, what was new and exciting to you?
It was interesting to read a book about an unmeant pregnancy from the view of the father. Normally it´s just the other way around, and the father isn´t mentioned because he bunks or something like that. In this book you can see that it´s not just uneasy for the girl, but also for the boy.
It was also amazing to find out that skaters are not all brainsick (I never could make a sense of it cruising on a board and talking about strange tricks). I still can´t but at least I understand it a little bit more.
Is there anything in "Slam" you truly enjoy or that even feel annoyed of?
I really love the style of writing, but I mentioned that already. :)
I also liked the charakter Sam. Yeah, I know, he is a little bit crazy but I understand him and (you will think I´m manic) I can identify with him - at least under some aspects.
I didn´t like the parts with the whizzing into the future. It was confusing and it didn´t fit in the rest of the story line.
Yeah, finished with English for today. :)
And now, it´s time to do the German homework ... :(
See you all tomorrow!
What questions would you like to ask Nick Hornby?
Do you have any reason to write about pregnancy of teenagers?
Can you identify with any of the character in the book?
If yes, with which one?
Can you skate?
Summary of the events in the book:
The book is about a boy named Sam, fifteen years old, and a passioned skater. Sam meets a girl, Alicia, and they become a couple. After a while, they have sex without contraception and Alicia conceives. Now Sam has to confront the problems of growing up and of a fatherhood in the same time. First he runs away from them because he is afraid of all, but when he faces them (sometimes with the help of Tony Hawk, who is talking to him and sometimes whizzing him into the future) all ends up fine - or, as fine as a story can turn out when you get a child with sixteen years.
Which idea in the book made you stop and think, what was new and exciting to you?
It was interesting to read a book about an unmeant pregnancy from the view of the father. Normally it´s just the other way around, and the father isn´t mentioned because he bunks or something like that. In this book you can see that it´s not just uneasy for the girl, but also for the boy.
It was also amazing to find out that skaters are not all brainsick (I never could make a sense of it cruising on a board and talking about strange tricks). I still can´t but at least I understand it a little bit more.
Is there anything in "Slam" you truly enjoy or that even feel annoyed of?
I really love the style of writing, but I mentioned that already. :)
I also liked the charakter Sam. Yeah, I know, he is a little bit crazy but I understand him and (you will think I´m manic) I can identify with him - at least under some aspects.
I didn´t like the parts with the whizzing into the future. It was confusing and it didn´t fit in the rest of the story line.
Yeah, finished with English for today. :)
And now, it´s time to do the German homework ... :(
See you all tomorrow!
Dienstag, 4. November 2008
Some song lyrics
I´ll bother you another time this evening, I´m sorry, but I realised that a part of the lyrics of a song I´ve written might actually fit in Sam´s and Alicia´s situation after they know that she is pregnant. It´s about two people who´ve done something wrong, but it´s too late for them to regret and they can´t make it unhappen. Now they have to live with the consequences.
It´s too late for us,
to regret,
what we´ve done,
and what we´ll do.
Your heart is splitting up,
falling into pieces,
bursting on the floor,
and never be repared.
Our luck,
destroyed,
lying on the dirty road,
never coming back.
Our hearts are splitting up,
falling into pieces,
bursting on the floor,
and never be repared.
And now goodbye (hopefully for the last time this evening), see you all tomorrow! :)
It´s too late for us,
to regret,
what we´ve done,
and what we´ll do.
Your heart is splitting up,
falling into pieces,
bursting on the floor,
and never be repared.
Our luck,
destroyed,
lying on the dirty road,
never coming back.
Our hearts are splitting up,
falling into pieces,
bursting on the floor,
and never be repared.
And now goodbye (hopefully for the last time this evening), see you all tomorrow! :)
In the middle
Good evening, my dear readers! Enjoy my next entry while I enjoy my grapefruit-tea, some french salami, christmas cookies, lots of olives, a tangerine and some gummy bears. And no, I´m not greedy and I´m not pregnant (if you might wonder about the strange combination of my dinner). ^^
In fact it´s another person who is pregnant and that leads me straight back to "Slam".
How do your feelings change?
Well, my feelings have changed, that is clear. And they didn´t change in a good way. I mean, hello? First, you have Sam and Alicia, all is perfect, all is fine. Greatest love story ever, pink hearts everywhere, some sex here, some sex there, oh, I love you forever. And then? Suddenly Sam thinks, oh wait, pink hearts have gone, sex is getting boring, let´s break up. And it only becomes better. Alicia is pregnant and Sam has nothing better to do than to run away. What a disaster! I mean I was sure that something would happen that wouldn´t be good but this is not the way I expected it to be, and it is not the way, I like it.
Which questions would you like to direct at a particular character in the novel?
To Sam: Why did you run away? Why did you leave Alicia alone with her problems? You have a responibility now. I know it´s not easy but please stop to behave so coward.
To Alicia: Have you ever thought of doing abortion?
What are you confused about (events or characters)?
I was confused about Sam´s dream. At the beginning, I thought, what is that now? And in the end it wasn´t much better. I don´t understand why Sam thinks Tony Hawk sent him in the future to see what his life will be. I mean, it was just a dream. Talking to a person you admire or love who isn´t really there is quite normal but this is just manic.
I´m also confused about Alicia´s parents. I don´t see why they treat Sam like a person who is not very clever, just because he is not rich. I mean you cannot say, so much richer you are so much prudent are you. But if you think a litttle longer about it, you might guess that Alicia´s parents just fear that Alicia is not clever enough to get a good job and all that stuff and because of that they are acting like that.
How would you as author would have changed the book?
I would not have written that Alicia becomes pregnant. Just the idea of her and Sam as parents is weird, unthinkable. I would let have happen another accident or event to let Sam become adult.
To summarise all my thoughts: I think the style of writing is still great and some passages are quite funny, but I don´t like the story line anymore. I hope it will become better.
And now, to end this entry I´ve found a song on whose lyrics quite fit in my imagination of what Sam and other skaters might think if they are practising a new trick. Unfortunately I don´t understand how to put a video from Youtube on my computer.
Enjoy listening :)
In fact it´s another person who is pregnant and that leads me straight back to "Slam".
How do your feelings change?
Well, my feelings have changed, that is clear. And they didn´t change in a good way. I mean, hello? First, you have Sam and Alicia, all is perfect, all is fine. Greatest love story ever, pink hearts everywhere, some sex here, some sex there, oh, I love you forever. And then? Suddenly Sam thinks, oh wait, pink hearts have gone, sex is getting boring, let´s break up. And it only becomes better. Alicia is pregnant and Sam has nothing better to do than to run away. What a disaster! I mean I was sure that something would happen that wouldn´t be good but this is not the way I expected it to be, and it is not the way, I like it.
Which questions would you like to direct at a particular character in the novel?
To Sam: Why did you run away? Why did you leave Alicia alone with her problems? You have a responibility now. I know it´s not easy but please stop to behave so coward.
To Alicia: Have you ever thought of doing abortion?
What are you confused about (events or characters)?
I was confused about Sam´s dream. At the beginning, I thought, what is that now? And in the end it wasn´t much better. I don´t understand why Sam thinks Tony Hawk sent him in the future to see what his life will be. I mean, it was just a dream. Talking to a person you admire or love who isn´t really there is quite normal but this is just manic.
I´m also confused about Alicia´s parents. I don´t see why they treat Sam like a person who is not very clever, just because he is not rich. I mean you cannot say, so much richer you are so much prudent are you. But if you think a litttle longer about it, you might guess that Alicia´s parents just fear that Alicia is not clever enough to get a good job and all that stuff and because of that they are acting like that.
How would you as author would have changed the book?
I would not have written that Alicia becomes pregnant. Just the idea of her and Sam as parents is weird, unthinkable. I would let have happen another accident or event to let Sam become adult.
To summarise all my thoughts: I think the style of writing is still great and some passages are quite funny, but I don´t like the story line anymore. I hope it will become better.
And now, to end this entry I´ve found a song on whose lyrics quite fit in my imagination of what Sam and other skaters might think if they are practising a new trick. Unfortunately I don´t understand how to put a video from Youtube on my computer.
Enjoy listening :)
Montag, 3. November 2008
A Long Way Down
A quick insertion from me because I thought you might find it interesting:
A few days ago I went to the library looking for (you will not believe!) books. And as I was lingering through the room, a book caught my eye.
Well, it was not the book itself, rather the name on it. Nick Hornby. And, as it turned out, it was a very good one. I´ve read a part of it already, and it´s really great. It´s called A Long Way Down and it´s about four people standing on the roof of a skyscraper at new year´s eve. And they are not there for celebrating the next year, they all want to commit suicide. But no one of them wants to jump down while the others are looking at them, and so they start to talk. Maureen, who was abandoned by her fiancé and has a boy who is lying in a coma vigil. Martin, a TV-celebrity, who slept with an fifteen year old girl and now is despised, Jess, whose sister has disappeared years before, and JJ, whose band and relationship to his girlfriend broke up. For them, the talk to other persons who understand their problems is restorative, and so they decide not to jump - for now.
A great telled story with a lot of irony about committing suicide!
Sonntag, 26. Oktober 2008
After the first chapter
Here I am again with my next entry, a cup of coffee and some cookies. I´m going to be fat, when I´m finished with this reading log. :)
Anyway, let´s go!
How do you feel after reading these pages?
I feel great. The book is easy to read, and except of a few words, I understood it completely. I really love the style of writing, I´m merging into it. It´s like Sam talking to me, telling me his story. I like his character, and with it, I like the whole book.
What emotions does the book invoke in you?
I just read the first chapter, and I´m not sure, what I´m feeling exactly.
For one thing, I´m a little bit confused about Sam talking to Tony Hawk. Not about the talking itself, but about Tony Hawk just saying things from his book and about Sam, having to make them fit. So Sam doesn´t really talk to Tony Hawk, he just thinks about what Hawk would say, doesn´t he? And for the other thing, I´m unconsciously checking, if I´d fit in Sam´s idea of a “cool” person. Well, I think, I do not, particularly, because I´m not interested in skating. J
Did you find any connections between the book and your life?
Actually, I did. When I was fourteen, I had a person to talk to, like Sam. It wasn´t Tony Hawk, for which I´m thankful, because I can´t imagine about what I could talk to him. ^^
It was my granddad, who had died a short time before. He didn´t talk to me or something like that, but I knew he could hear me and he was the best listener I ever had.
Did you find any words or phrases that caught your eye while reading?
“TH … He wasn´t me. But he was who I wanted to be, so that makes him the best version of myself …”
What makes me think so much about this sentence, is the clearness of Sam´s thoughts. He´s not blinded by his fantasy, he´s not dreamy. He knows how the things are, and he speaks them out loud, even if they are unpleasant, and because of that, I admire him.
What are your predictions about possible future developments?
Surely, Sam and Alicia will become a couple but that´s all I can guess. I mean, it´s clear, that something will happen that confounds Sam´s life, because if all things stayed as well as they are now, the story would become boring. But what it is? I don´t know …
How long did it took you to read a certain number of pages?
You will think it´s crazy, but I truly had to do this with a stopwatch because I don´t have any sense of time. So, it were eight minutes for ten pages.
Enough of writing for today, I need another coffee! So goodbye to everyone and have nice holidays. :)
Alindra (Hanna)
Anyway, let´s go!
How do you feel after reading these pages?
I feel great. The book is easy to read, and except of a few words, I understood it completely. I really love the style of writing, I´m merging into it. It´s like Sam talking to me, telling me his story. I like his character, and with it, I like the whole book.
What emotions does the book invoke in you?
I just read the first chapter, and I´m not sure, what I´m feeling exactly.
For one thing, I´m a little bit confused about Sam talking to Tony Hawk. Not about the talking itself, but about Tony Hawk just saying things from his book and about Sam, having to make them fit. So Sam doesn´t really talk to Tony Hawk, he just thinks about what Hawk would say, doesn´t he? And for the other thing, I´m unconsciously checking, if I´d fit in Sam´s idea of a “cool” person. Well, I think, I do not, particularly, because I´m not interested in skating. J
Did you find any connections between the book and your life?
Actually, I did. When I was fourteen, I had a person to talk to, like Sam. It wasn´t Tony Hawk, for which I´m thankful, because I can´t imagine about what I could talk to him. ^^
It was my granddad, who had died a short time before. He didn´t talk to me or something like that, but I knew he could hear me and he was the best listener I ever had.
Did you find any words or phrases that caught your eye while reading?
“TH … He wasn´t me. But he was who I wanted to be, so that makes him the best version of myself …”
What makes me think so much about this sentence, is the clearness of Sam´s thoughts. He´s not blinded by his fantasy, he´s not dreamy. He knows how the things are, and he speaks them out loud, even if they are unpleasant, and because of that, I admire him.
What are your predictions about possible future developments?
Surely, Sam and Alicia will become a couple but that´s all I can guess. I mean, it´s clear, that something will happen that confounds Sam´s life, because if all things stayed as well as they are now, the story would become boring. But what it is? I don´t know …
How long did it took you to read a certain number of pages?
You will think it´s crazy, but I truly had to do this with a stopwatch because I don´t have any sense of time. So, it were eight minutes for ten pages.
Enough of writing for today, I need another coffee! So goodbye to everyone and have nice holidays. :)
Alindra (Hanna)
Mittwoch, 15. Oktober 2008
Before reading
Okay. So this is my first comment in my blog and reading journal for "Slam". A very good idea, to do this in the internet, especially with a cup of self-made hot chocolate beside me. :)
But enough of that. Let´s begin!
First question: How do you feel about reading this book?
I´m quite happy about it. I like reading books, whether they are in German or English, so I hope, it will be great fun.
What are your expectations in general?
I think, the book will be understandable, even if I don´t know every single word, and also very interesting. After reading it, I hope, that I´m going to be better in writing longer texts in English.
What other novels have you read in English?
Uff. That´s a hard question. I´ve read many books in English. The most important ones are surely the Harry Potter books, C. S. Lewis´ Narnia books, and also "Breaking Dawn" from Stephenie Meyer, as well as Jane Austen´s "Pride and Prejudice". And (I nearly forgot it) "Of Mice and Men" from John Steinbeck, which we have read last year in English (Some of you will remember ... ^^)
What do you think about studying texts in classrooms?
I don´t really like it, because reading is so much better when you sit on a comfortable chair, with something to drink or to eat and maybe a little bit music in the background, than in a loud, uncomfortable classroom. But at least it´s better than grammar stuff. :)
Well, so this was it, my first comment to "Slam" or rather to reading books in general. See you all on Thursday!
Alindra (Hanna)
But enough of that. Let´s begin!
First question: How do you feel about reading this book?
I´m quite happy about it. I like reading books, whether they are in German or English, so I hope, it will be great fun.
What are your expectations in general?
I think, the book will be understandable, even if I don´t know every single word, and also very interesting. After reading it, I hope, that I´m going to be better in writing longer texts in English.
What other novels have you read in English?
Uff. That´s a hard question. I´ve read many books in English. The most important ones are surely the Harry Potter books, C. S. Lewis´ Narnia books, and also "Breaking Dawn" from Stephenie Meyer, as well as Jane Austen´s "Pride and Prejudice". And (I nearly forgot it) "Of Mice and Men" from John Steinbeck, which we have read last year in English (Some of you will remember ... ^^)
What do you think about studying texts in classrooms?
I don´t really like it, because reading is so much better when you sit on a comfortable chair, with something to drink or to eat and maybe a little bit music in the background, than in a loud, uncomfortable classroom. But at least it´s better than grammar stuff. :)
Well, so this was it, my first comment to "Slam" or rather to reading books in general. See you all on Thursday!
Alindra (Hanna)
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