The Hitchhiking Grandmother, Grace Small

The last I read Grace was traveling across the south. Grace went to Chattanooga to visit a few friends. She went back to Ed to see if he would take her back but he didn't want her. Grace was devastated. She traveled to N.Y. to get a job at a weapons plant for WWII. At her new job, she was higher up on the assembly plant as a man and it drove him nuts. Grace's mom also moves in with her, and dies while digging a ditch for her daughter.

This chapter was fun to read, she took a small break from hitchhiking which is probably good for her. Grace said that the government plowed down people's houses to put in these factories which suprised me because I never heard of this happening. I also think that it was rather astonishing for Grace to watch her mom die. Kind of scary aswell. I finished part 1 of the book, so I'm looking foreward to see what part 2 has in store for me.

The Hitchhiking Grandmother, Grace Small

Grace and her husband, Ed, got divorced after having 4 children and all of them had grown up and left. Grace didn't have anywhere to go or money, so she decided to hitchhike to visit one of her daughters in Beloxi, Mississippi. Many People scolded her for hitchhiking. She met a man who was hitchhiking as well and he told her some tips on hitchhiking.

This past reading has inspired me to hitchhike. It seems very fun, even though it is probably pretty dangerous. I'm sad that Grace and her husban got divorced but it's good that they did it after all their children moved out. It's kind of funny to think that he fell in love with young, women because they most likely wouldn't like him, because he's a poor old man. From what I've read Grace has only hitchhiked around the South. I'm hoping that she'll go through Atlanta.

The Hitchhiking Grandmother, Grace Small

Well, Grace's Father got a job at the local telephone company. He got it because it was a steady job and they gave him a house with it as well. Grace tells us the story of how she learned to read and of her marriage. She said that she got married because her father had died and she went through shock. The people who surrounded her arranged it for her and thought it would make her feel better. Before her father died, the phone company he worked for got cars and he became a mechanic. It was the only shop in the city so he got good business.

It seems as though back then people were more free to do what they wanted with their lives and could do things they wanted to do without degrees. It sounds much nicer to me. I think that it's pretty cool that Grace got to work for her father as a mechanic, she said she pulled cars out of ditches for her dad. She made it sound fun. She also described learning how to read in a good way. The woman who tought her to read must have been very smart because she tricked Grace into reading by getting her to come to her house everyday and using reverse psychology to get her to do so. I'm wondering what will happen to Grace and her newly wedded husband because she described them as opposites.

The Hitchhiking Grandmother, Grace Small

I am now reading: The Hitchhiking Grandmother, by Grace Small. Published 1990 by The Pilgrim Way Press. This book tells the story of a woman, Grace Williams, in Illinois. In the first 3 chapters Grace tells the story of her early childhood and all the places she moved to in Mclean county Illinois. Her dad had many jobs, mostly working on a farm. He once owned a hotel, which he liked the best because he was a people person.

I like this book much better than Life on the Mississippi. I think it is rather a humorous autobiography. I'm suprised with this book because I found two errors in the text, so I'm guessing that it was published by a small private company. I stopped reading after Grace told me the story about her father's hotel burning down so I'm excited to read about where her and her family moves next. I was also suprised to hear that her dad bought her a piano, from what I know, pianos are expensive, and I don't think that owning the hotel brought in much money from what I read.

Life on the missippi, Mark Twain

In the next chapter Twain discusses the history of the Mississippe more and in the one after that, he starts talking about the history but, then discusses a chapter in Huck Finn he wrote while he was on a raft in the Mississippi. The chapter tells the story of Huck swimming over to a raft to see what the people were talking about. Huck describes the raft as having atleast 13 men aboard and all of them were drinking. He also tells us the story of one of the men becoming drunk and started to sing.

I think the chapter that Twain talked about was an unpublished chapter, because I don't remember it in the Huckleberry Finn book, the header on the top of the page read "an unpublished chapter". I think that this book is going to be about Mark Twain's experience on the Mississippi and he is telling us random stories about things that happened to him on it. The book hasn't gotten very exciting yet so I'm hoping that something good will happen soon.

Life on the Mississippi, Mark Twain

I am now reading Life on the Mississippi by, Mark Twain, this book did not provide me with the information for when it was published. I would guess it was published around 1890. In the first chapter Twain discussed the history about the Mississippi. He was suprised that it took 150 years since De Soto had discovered the Mississippi for someone else to go back and visit it. He also discussed all the things that happened in Europe after the discovery of the Mississippi.
I thought the first chapter was a good chapter to catch the reader's attention, it caught mine. It caught my attention because Twain gave me a brief history of the Mississippi. I was suprised that he called De Soto a White man. I know that he was considered one but I'm not used to calling someone white who speaks Spanish as their native language. Even though he probably didn't speak Spanish. I think it's kind of funny that he made the Mississippi sound like the greatest thing in the world, I think it was to catch the reader's attention. I'm looking forward to reading the next chapter to see if he makes this book a biography or a fictional story.

Better a Dinner of Herbs, Byron Herbert Reece

In the last part that I read, The preacher slaps his wife and Enid gets really mad at him. The preacher leaves and on his way back Enid intercepts him on a road, Enid taunts the Preacher with a parable. During their talk we find out that Danny is the Preacher's bastard son. The Preacher gets his mare, that he is riding on, to run off and at the same time Enid pushes The Preacher off. The Preacher's left foot gets stuck in the reins and he is dragged to death. Mary finds out about her husbands death later that afternoon, they have the wake the next day, and the night of the wake Enid runs away and is never heard of again. When Danny finds out that his uncle is gone he goes through shock and it takes him awhile to get recovered.
The end of this book was alot different than I thought it would be, but the excitement of the end was what I wanted. I really didn't think that the end would be so sad, having a little inocent boy like Danny cry can really break someone's heart. I also thought that Enid was a little more level headed and really didn't expect him to kill the Preacher. I might think differently though if he had made my sister pregnant and if she died after giving child birth. I think that maybe this book might be much more frightening for an adult to read because these situations are more for adults and someone my age wouldn't probably see the full severness of some of the events that happened. All in all though I enjoyed this book and I would like to read more like this one.

Better a dinner of Herbs, Byron Herbert Reece

The last I read, it told the story of The Preacher and Uncle Enid's thoughts on Mary's baby. The Preacher was furious but he also didn't care at the same because he didn't love his wife Mary anymore. He didn't love her because he loved another woman who he seduced while Mary was visiting her sister. Uncle Enid was paranoid about the baby at first but when the Preacher nor Lady Mercidy(the Preacher's mother) mentioned anything about it he felt fine. Enid was paranoid because he knew that the baby was his.
I think that this part in the book is kind of deppressing because it shows that everyone has something to hide. The Preacher can't get mad at his wife because he had been sleeping with another being aswell. Enid also cannot act as though he is in love with Mary because she is the wife of the Preacher. I think that Reece was influenced greatly by realism because he shows that everyone has something they are hiding.

Better a Dinner of Herbs, Byron Herbert Reece

The last I read described what Danny, and Jason were thinking in a field while they were working. Danny saw Mary bringing water to him and the workers in the field. He started to think of the time he cut himself accidently. Jason brought him to Mercidy and she healed Danny. When Jason saw Mary come towards them with water he began to think of the time, he and Danny were swimming in a pool in the creek near their house.
The book has slowed down a little bit in my opinion. In the chapter about Jason it mentioned his seeing Mary's stomach to grow larger. I think it's a baby and that it's Uncle Enid's baby. I'm excited to hear what the Preacher thinks about this. I think that the book has slowed because it is building up to the climax, I think that the Preacher and Uncle Enid will get into a big fight.

Better a dinner of Herbs, Byron Herbert Reece

The most recent reading I read told the story of Uncle Enid and Danny leaving Enid's farm. On the wagon Danny asked his uncle who his mom was. Enid responded saying that she was a flower. On the way to where Enid was looking for a job, which was a factory called "The Smelters", there was a woman trying to hitch a ride from her sister's house. She was going back to her house,on the ride back Enid told the woman he was looking for a place for Danny to live while he was working at the Smelters. The woman, whose name was Mary, said that Danny could live with her family. At the end of the chapter, the text mentioned that the husband of Mary made Uncle Enid the Overseer of his farm.

I liked this chapter because it almost confirms that my predictions about what was going to happen are true. The predictions were that the first part of the book was the present and the rest of the book would tell about all the events that will lead up to the Preacher's death. I was also suprised to learn that Danny is a bastard child because his mom gave birth to him single, and she died six weeks after he was born. It also showed realism in the fact that Enid didn't like Danny at first when he was born because he felt as though Danny had killed his sister. I also thought it was a little ironic in the book because Mary called her husband a good man and looked down as if she didn't really mean it. Kind of like the story written by Kate Chopin. I was also suprised in one part when Enid, Mary and Danny had a camp fire and Enid and Mary left Danny to do something she shouldn't be doing with Enid. I think that this might cause some drama later in the book between Enid and the Preacher.

Huckleberry Finn

I really like that Huck Finn takes everything literally and that he is good at surviving in the wilderness, it is quite entertaining. I didn't like the first few chapters because all that they talked about was Huck going to school.

Huckleberry Finn

The narrator uses very simple english and if there is ever an 'and' he will use 'en' instead. He writes down what people say instead of the actual word probably to make it more real because if someone from New York was reading this book then they would know what southern dialect sounds like.

I think thet dis book is very entertainin', I think thet dis Huck Finn boy is very clever. I hope thet sumfin mo' excitin' will happen to Huck seein' thet all we read bout' him is jus goin to school erry day en complanin' bout it mos the time en I think et's kinda funny hearin bout Huck not havin' an emagination.

Huckleberry Finn

"You don't know about me, without you have read a book by the name of 'The Adventures of Tom Sawyer,' but that ain't no matter."
Basically all this sentence is saying is that if you don't know who Huckleberry Finn is then it doesn't matter. It also shows that Huck is a vey gregarious person. This sentence also shows that the book is going to be in the South and that Huck Finn is not educated very well, and that he is probably a little mischeaveous. I also feel as though this book will have more funny parts than sad, if any at all.

Twain ends chapter one where he does because the purpose of chapter one was to catch the reader up on the setting and the kind of person Huck Finn was. Chapter 2 carries on the fact that Huck and Tom are friends and that Huck Finn takes everything literally. Chapter two's focus is a little different because it focuses more on the plot of the story instead of just introducing the characters.

After reading these two chapters, I expect this book to be a little boring. I don't think that it will stay this way though, I'm thinking and hoping that Huck Finn will go on an amazing journey that will change his personality completely.

Better a Dinner of Herbs, Byron Herbert Reece

While Danny and his Uncle Edin were leaving the farm they sold. Danny looked back at the house and started to remember things that happened. The only one that the text discussed was one about Danny's grandmother. There was one memory in particular that stuck out and it was him as a baby crying because there wasn't anyone in the house, he walked outside, cried then his grandma came to the house from the field. She dressed him then that was the end of the memory.

I liked this chapter, it really shows what goes through people's minds when they leave something behind. I think that this kind of thing might have happened to Reece and that maybe he put some of the things that happened in his life in this book. I'm suprised that the book hasn't brought the gold piece back up yet, maybe when there is another chapter about Uncle Enid instead of Danny.

Better a Dinner of Herbs, Byron Herbert Reece

After I finished the Chapters about the death of The Preacher, the book seemed to go into a part two or something. It told the story of Danny and his Uncle Enid selling their farm. When Enid sold the farm he got cash and a twenty-dollar gold piece, which he admired. The chapter told the story of him losing it, he lost it once working in the field and also in a creek. Whenever Enid lost the piece he would go crazy for it. Well Danny stole the piece and his uncle knew it, but he never called him out for it.
I'm excited to figure out what happens when Danny figures out that his uncle knows that he stole the gold piece. I believe that the gold piece that Unlce Enid has it making him a little crazy and I think he knows that and that's why Uncle Enid will not accuse Danny of stealing it because maybe Enid is trying to get rid of his greed by not having the piece. I think that later in the book Uncle Enid will get the piece back and get rid of it because he probably thinks that it is bad luck.

Better a Dinner of Herbs, Byron Herbert Reece

The last I read the book told the story of everyone in the household the morning the preacher died. It described the event through the eyes of a man Danny calls "The idiot" because I think he is mentally challenged. A man named Uncle Edin who acts as Danny's father in the book, The Preacher, ofcourse, Mary, who is The Preacher's wife, and Jason who is the Preacher's son.
The chapter about Jason was the one that intrigued me most, because it talked about The Preacher giving Jason corporal punishment. The book made it seem that The Preacher chastised his son for little or no reason, which makes me wonder what kind of man this preacher was. When I think of a preacher I think of a man who is laid back and very peaceful, and instead of punishing a child he educates them. In the book though the setting is much different, they are in north Georgia around 1930s I think and it is very rural. So, the people back then might have been alot different than what I'm used to. I'm hoping that I will get a better picture of what life was like back then as a read more into the book.

Better a Dinner of Herbs

I started a new book called "Better a Dinner of Herbs" by Byron Herbert Reece. It was published in 1950. This book is a lyrical story. It tells the story of one event through the people's eyes that were involved in it. The first story tells the story of the morning of the death bed of a preacher. The first chapter of the story starts with the youngest member of the house, a boy named Danny. It starts with him waking up, and describing what he sees and hears. It then goes into more detail about who he sees and their relation to him, some of the descriptions are through his eyes and the others are through the eyes of the narrartor.

I like the way Reece writes, it's similar to the way Washington Irving writes, except he uses more modern English. I think that this first part of the book is going to be the end of the book and that the rest of the book is going to talk about how Danny and his uncle ended up at the preacher's house. I also hope that the book goes into more detail about how the preacher died because all it said was that there was a dead preacher downstairs, and I have been wanting to know since the first chapter. I'm thinking that Reece might want the reader to make it up themselves.

The ugly American

I finished the book. The last chapter told the story of MacWhite and his distress with the ways U.S. foreign policy was being conducted. He wrote a letter to the Senate explaining that things done in foreign policy were only discussed by the U.S. officials and the Asian government officials, and not the people living in those countries. MacWhite gave examples of people who actually helped, such as men who set up pumps and a man who started powder milk. MackWhite said that if things weren't changed then he would resign. The senate responded saying that nothing would be changed. MacWhite resigned and the book ended.
I really liked where the book ended, I think it ended at the point before war with Vietnam. I'm glad that MachWhite stood up to the government in a laid back kind of way instead of telling reporters that the government was screwing up. It seemed as though MachWhite wanted the Americans to figure out, that the U.S. government was wasting money on foreign policy, for themselves. It would have been nice for MacWhite's wishes to come true, to make a happy story and show that the American government wasn't corrupt at all, but it is also nice to have something that is realistic, even though the information might be twisted.

The Ugly American

The last chapter I read was very funny and heart warming. It was about a woman named, Emma Atkins, she was the wife of Homer Atkins. He was an engineer hired by MacWhite. Emma observed that every person over the age of 60 in the village of Chang Dong had a bent back, she figured that it was because they used a broom with a small handle. For months she looked for something to use as a longer broom handle. One day she found a reed that was 5ft tall to use as a handle. She brought a dozen back and everyday used the reed to sweep her porch. The old people watched her everyday until they finally asked her for one. Then all the old people started using long broom handles. 40 years later, Emma recieved a letter from Chang Dong, it said that now none of the old people had bent backs and that they built a shrine of her.

I really liked this chapter because it is the only humorous passage in the book,so far, and it is nice that the authors of this book put a relaxing chapter in. I thought that it was funny because none of the people in the village wanted to improve their backs and that finally an outsider came up with a solution. I think they put this chapter in the book to lighten the reader's spirit because something really bad will happen next chapter.

Ugly American

In the last chapter I read "How to Buy a Junior Grade", it told the story about a man, hired by the U.S. government, to help people raise their chickens in Cambodia. He went to a meeting between the Cambodian agricultural department and the U.S. foreign affairs. The man told the officials that all they needed was more chickens and better food, but the U.S. officials wanted to put in highways and buy the people mechanized farm equipment, which would cost millions of dollars. The man who helped the people with the chickens said that if their farm equipment was mechanized he would go back to the U.S. and write to every congressman about this idiocy. The U.S. officials didn't change their mind and the man quit. Before he left the country he was offered a deal to travel from Cambodia to the U.S. visiting India and France on the way back. He accepted the offer, but when he got back to the U.S. he couldn't figure out what to write to his Congressmen because he had forgotten about how angry he was.
I personally liked this chapter alot. It seems like this kind of thing happens all the time. The government thinks that they know what is right for everyone and won't listen to someone who knows what people need. To me it was very sad because the U.S. spent a buch of money on something that is not needed and wouldn't listen to a man who knows what the farming people needed in Cambodia.

The Ugly American

My most recent readings I read about Macwhite again. But this time he is fighting communists in Vietnam. The western style of fighting wasn't working, and someone suggested reading Mao Tse-Tung's writing on war. He read it and realized that he must destroy the central base to beat the Communists. He and his men destroyed one base in Vietnam. Later an American General got extremely mad at him for doing that and didn't listen to Macwhite's suggestions and continued with the western warfare then had to surrender.

I thought that these chapters were quite ironic because the western people were sure that their tactics were the best. Mao wanted the Americans to think that, so that they would fall right into his traps. It also taught me a lesson which was, learn about your enemy before trying to fight it. At the very end of the chapter it re-introduced a man who was framed for a really bad crime by the Communists earlier in the book. He was framed because he was an American man who was trying to start a dairy industry in Sarkhan, and I am excited to read about what happens to him next.

The ugly american

I started reading "The Ugly American" again. It is by William Lederer and Eugene Burdick, it was published in 1958. When I picked it back up I was reading about the American Ambassador in Sarkhan, his name is Mr. Sears. He is being interviewed by an American news reporter about an Airbase in Sarkhan. Rumour has it that the airbase was constructed then was demolished for land to be sold. The American people would be very unhappy if that happened. The reporter asked Mr. Sears he had a comment on it and Sears replied he didn't know what was going to happen.
The next chapter was completely different. It was about a man named Gilbert Macwhite who succeeded Mr. Sears. Macwhite had two servants who he thought did not know english. One was Sarkhanese and the other was Chinese. He was having a meeting with a man from Sarkhan who was against the communists. The man he was meeting with was named Li. The servants were in the room that Macwhite and Li had their meeting. Macwhite asked Li who were the men who needed to escape from the government of China who were against communism. Li looked at Macwhite and called him an idiot. Li knew that one of the men did not know English but had a hunch the other one did. He investigated the other man and figured out that he was a spy for the Chinese government. Macwhite was very shocked and felt very dumb.

Sketchbook, by Washington Irving

My most recent story that I read was called "The Mutability of Literature". It was about Irving going into an old castle's library, and a book started talking to him. Basically all it was about was Irving arguing with the book about how good literature will end one day. Irving argues on the point that literature will end and the book says that it won't. At the end the librarian walked in and the book stopped talking, so that was the end of it.
I thought that the story was entertaining, and that Irving was just trying to explain his opinion. I think that he was probably making fun of current literature and saying that it will never be as good as Shakespeare and authors from his time. I think that it is kind of funny because people now say that Literature in Irving's time is so much better than now.

Sketchbook, Washington Irving

I read a story called English Literature in which Irving talked about how English writers can describe a place extremely well, but will have a bad opinion about it. Irving said that he would never trust an opinion from an English writer. I don't know what to think about this because I have never met an English writer. I also think that it's funny that he's bashing Englishman.

Sketchbook, by Washington Irving, second entry

I read a story called, The Wife. It was about a man who marries a woman who grew up as a rich girl. The man had a great job and they were living like rich people. When the man lost his job, he didn't tell his wife, he went into deppression. He was afraid that if he told her that she wouldn't love him anymore. He went to Irving and told him the story. Irving suggested that he tell her the truth, the man told his wife. She was happy that he told her. They moved out of their big house and into a small cottage. The wife still loved him and she seemed happier than before. I think that this story was supposed to teach a lesson, the lesson was that love will not change nomatter the economic situation.
The second story I read was called Rip Van Winkle, it was about a man who did favors for everyone and none for himself or his family. One day he ventured off into the forest with his dog to hunt squirrells. He met a man there who led him to a house. At the house the man had brought a keg full of liquor. He told the men there not to drink it. Rip Van Winkle drank it anyway. 20 years later Rip woke up on a stump near to where he met the man. He walked into town and no one recognized him and alot of things there were new. He asked the people there about his friends and they were all dead. He told them who he was. One old lady recognized him and she approved that it was Rip. He told them the story then lived the rest of his life there with his son. I liked this one alot. I think I'm understanding the english alot better than I did before. It seems that in every Irving story there is a lesson to be learned.

Sketchbook, by Washington Irving

This book has a bunch of short stories. The first one I read was called Voyage. I think it was about Irving sailing from America to Europe. When he got there, there wasn't anyone there to give him a hug or was happy to see him. First of all, I couldn't really understand the text very well because it was old english. I could understand the basic plot though.

The second short story I read was called Roscoe, it was about someone that Irving met. I wasn't sure what happened between them because I couldn't understand the english.