Shreyas’ Blog

I was reading a kind of book called a graphic novel. A graphic novel is a book, which is mainly described by pictures, with a theme that runs through the whole book. The book I was reading was the Chronicles of Narnia, The Magician’s Nephew.

Our class has finished reading Black Boy, at long last. I think it was a moving book, and it moved my heart. It was a shameful record of how whites treated blacks. The whites hated the blacks but wanted them to stay, and the blacks just wanted to go away and stay at the same time. In the end, Richard managed to get up to the Union North, and joined the communist party.

I feel a bit disappointed at the fact that there are quite a few lies in the book, which would have changed the whole outcome of the book.

These two chapters show how horrible Richard’s life can be. When he was 12 years old, he did not have 1 continuous year of school. If he was a boy of our time, I would have felt very sorry for him. When the boys at his new school try to test him, he has a fight. When nobody wins it, the boys had to accept him. 

After some time, he moves back to his Granny’s home. There, he is forced to pray 5 times a day and to go to his aunt’s religious school. There, he does not enjoy and he feels that his life is being wasted. He thinks that if he becomes religious, it will only add to his suffering.

One day when he was at school, his aunt sees some peanut shells on the floor. She wants to get at Richard because she thinks he has lots of power. When she asks Richard if he did it, he says no. She then asks who did it. He says I don’t know. Then she beats him for no reason. When she gets home with him, she asks ‘Who did it?’. Richard says the boy in front of him. Then his aunt says that he lied and she wants to beat him again. Richard grabs a kitchen knife and fights for his right. 

The book I am reading right now is Black Boy. Black Boy is a book wherein there is a lot of racism and hostility. The ‘whites’ discriminate the ‘blacks’ in many ways and so it leads to Richard Wright writing this book. He describes himself in this and how it feels to be discriminated in this way. After he burned his house down and his father leaves the family, his family start traveling around the U.S. and see and live through many more atrocities. In time, Richard moves to the North, where it is a bit better for him and other ‘blacks’, but still similar.

This week, I was reading a book called ‘The Siege of Krishnapur’. The author of the book is J.G. Farrell. I do not think the book is good. It is not good because it does not grip you from the beginning. I read on though anyway, so I came to the middle of the book.

This book is about the Indian mutiny of 1857. In this, the Collector of Krishnapur, Mr. Hopkins, senses danger right away because in some distant place in India, called Meerut, there was a revolt. Everybody else was thinking that he was being silly to put up a defensive structure around the Residency. So after a month, the sepoys (Indian soldiers) in Captainganj (a place close by) revolt on their generals and British people in the place. Soon, they decide to attack Krishnapur. Many people die in the fighting.

Book: Stravaganza: City of Secrets

Q1: What were you like before you stravagated?

A: I thought I was stupid and I am dyslexic. I thought I was the big lanky guy who was strong and was good at rugby.

 

Q2: Where did you find your talisman?

A: I found my talisman in the antique shop owned by Mr. Goldsmith.

 

Q3: What did you feel like when you first stravagated?

A: It felt fine. It was weird too. One moment I was sleeping and the next I was awake in a ‘Scriptorium’.

 

Q4: Were you surprised when you found out Nick, Sky, Alice and Georgia all knew about Talia?

A: I was pretty surprised.

 

Q5: Did you like Talia?

A: I did like Talia. It is a cool place. It has all sorts of bizarre things going on.

 

Q6: What was the most fun thing in Talia?

A: The most fun thing was when I was able to help save Padavia from a fire.

 

Q7: Why did Ayesha think your relationship with her was weakening?

A: I have no idea. Most likely because I was stravagating too much, I wasn’t giving her enough attention.

 

Q8: Why were you so important in Talia?

A: I have no clue. I think to save the Manoush from death and saving Padavia.

 

Q9: Why do you think Luciano and Fillipo should never have been friends?

A: I don’t think so because Fillipo had bad intentions from the beginning so Luciano should never have tried to be friends with him.

 

Q10: Was stealing from the di Chimici right?

A: At that time it was the right thing to do.

 

Q11: How did you feel when the Di Chimici imprisoned you?

A: Horrible. They did horrible things. They hit me and they did very bad things.

 

Q12: How did Luciano look when he was drugged?

A: He looked dead. Many people thought he was dead.

 

Q13: Could you describe Luciano’s lodging?

A: Yes. It was a big place. It would cost millions if it was made in our world.

 

Q14: What did the burning pyres look like?

A: They were big structures, with a lot of wood on the bottom and wooden poles to which the people would be tied.

 

Q15:  How did it feel to work in Professor Constantin’s secret scriptorium?

A: Sometimes it felt horrible. Most likely I was meant to work for him because he couldn’t manage with two people.

 

Q16: How did it feel to save Padavia from being burned to the ground?

A: It felt good to know you had saved a city.

 

Q17: How did it feel to you to know you have superpowers in another world?

A: It was a good feeling to know you have superpowers somewhere else.

 

Q18: Why did you cast the evil eye on Jago?

A: I don’t want to talk about that, because it wasn’t nice.

 

Q19: How did it feel to be out of Talia?

A: it was a good feeling at times because I could catch up on my sleep.

 

Q20: When was your last moment in Talia?

A: It was in the scriptoriums of the University of Padavia. 

Hello world! My name is Shreyas. I am a Year 1 Middle School student. I like reading, any games and saying random stuff. My favourite games are on the internet. My favourite sport is cricket. I always keep up with cricket results, so if you want a result, ask me!