All the words can’t sum up this book. The struggles and problems have a feel of some closure. The reflection of the year afterwards, gives this book the final closure.
I have always wondered if a medical condition can be blamed for someone’s actions. Can a medical condition like Post Traumatic Stress Disorder be the “thing” to blame for what Peter did. To a point, I can understand that high school drama and bullies, places an emotional hardship on the outcast students of the school, but I still don’t think a medical condition is to be solely blamed. I also believe that situations other than school shootings would hold the same principle. I believe regardless what medical condition a person may have that might compromise their outlook of what’s right and what’s wrong should still be held somewhat accountable. What do you think?
I also have a good point to bring up about the title. Right now, I am studying Shakespeare and he uses numbers to symbolize several main events, conflicts, or resolutions. I wonder which accounts in the book “19” would refer to. I can think of several possibilities like that number of minutes it took for the school shooting to be over. What other events in the book would you think symbolizes the number 19.
I was very surprised by the ending of the book. To believe that Josie played a role in the shooting, and being found guilty of manslaughter wasn’t a major shock. After reading for awhile, I thought that Peter was completely innocent. I started to believe that Josie was saying she couldn’t remember anything to get off the hook of shooting everyone. It would make sense that Peter would take the blame if Josie was the one who did the shooting.
Overall, I really liked reading the book. I was placed into a perspective that shootings affect not only the victims and families, but the entire community around them.
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Sunday, October 5, 2008
Sunday, September 28, 2008
As I continue to read through Nineteen Minutes it amazes me how the story trudges onward. Every passage seems to bring some new layer to the story. Sometimes you see it coming and other times, like the suicide of one of the victim’s mothers, it hits you in the face and you are like: Did that really just happen?
On the ongoing suicide note as section preface reading further has only enhanced my opinion that it is Josie’s. The one where it talks about trying to be popular really makes me thinks it’s hers because Peter never really tried to be popular. He just didn’t want to be hated.
And finally for this lovely evening, I find it astounding the utter ability of those closest to the victims to settle right back into the way they lived before the death of their friends. In this I mean not to say their routines but rather the way they treat others. If you’ve read the section you know I’m mostly talking about Drew. Leave it to him to let himself think that the girl whose boyfriend just died may want him because of course he is god almighty and what was even more appaling was when he shot the spitball at the kid at lunch. Dude wake up! Peter didn’t kill kids because they were nice to him—-get a grip and stop being a complete self-centered prick.
236 Words
On the ongoing suicide note as section preface reading further has only enhanced my opinion that it is Josie’s. The one where it talks about trying to be popular really makes me thinks it’s hers because Peter never really tried to be popular. He just didn’t want to be hated.
And finally for this lovely evening, I find it astounding the utter ability of those closest to the victims to settle right back into the way they lived before the death of their friends. In this I mean not to say their routines but rather the way they treat others. If you’ve read the section you know I’m mostly talking about Drew. Leave it to him to let himself think that the girl whose boyfriend just died may want him because of course he is god almighty and what was even more appaling was when he shot the spitball at the kid at lunch. Dude wake up! Peter didn’t kill kids because they were nice to him—-get a grip and stop being a complete self-centered prick.
236 Words
Blog # 2
I've been thinking lately how much I wish I loved to read, but it's a fact, when i pick up a book, i have enough patience to read 10 to 20 pages before i get bored and or fidgety. However, with Nineteen Minutes, I'm happy to report i can not put it down. For me, the beginning was rocky, and i was confused with all the characters, but after the shooting all was up hill. Again in the second section, I can't help but to get so into all of Jodi Picoult's details about the characters and what is going on. I especially enjoyed this feature during the trial, she didn't leave me guessing on how anyone was reacting or what their emotion was, it was as if i was right there next to them. Also, i liked her use of flashbacks that allowed us to learn about Peter and Josie's past relationship. However, their story kind of angers me a bit. I Felt bad for Josie at first, because she was a victim and all, but when i found out that she was part way responsible for the bullying through Matt, all pity for her went down the drain. How could you go from being best friends with someone as a child to watching your own boyfriend, and by the way we all know girls have control over what their boyfriends do, bully them constantly. I'm not saying you have to be best friends with the kid, but if i saw my childhood best friend, who i am not too fond of anymore, being bullied, you better believe I'd be over there in a heart beat sticking up for them, I don't care who else is involved. I'm also a little bitter about the whole bullying situation right now because i have spent all week reading bully stories for a speech I'm writing, and i have come to the conclusion that it is one of the biggest evils because it is so looked past, but causes so much harm. I actually didn't hate Matt for the whole 20 pages of the book he was alive for until i found out that he was the world's biggest bully, but now that i think about it, all the research i have done this week says that bullying is a cry for help, so maybe i should really be feeling bad for Matt, because he obviously had some problems...hmmm.
Word Count: 408
Nineteen Minutes part two!
So I couldn’t help but read the rest of Nineteen Minutes straight through once I really delved into the second part of the book. Everything about it is so good! The characters are so severely flawed and realistic that they never stop giving and adding to the story. That, and I think the use of flashback is just unbelievable. I love finding out about the past of all the different characters.
I like the way Piccoult gives us ideas about the history of the different characters by pinpointing different parts of their past, instead of just running down that it was either good or bad or something really general like that. Nineteen Minutes reminds me of another book I read, called Give a Boy a Gun. It’s about a similar situation (two kids are tired of living dreadful high school lives and decide to shoot it up), but the two approaches are unbelievably fascinating. Give a Boy a Gun focuses more on the present, with no reflection on the characters’ pasts. I prefer Piccoult’s way of observing both the present and the past with hints at a possible future.
The past that Piccoult illustrates really infuriates me at times, though. For example…I absolutely cannot stand Matt Royston! Oh my. He really was just an awful person, and while that’s not exactly going to make it okay for him to die… Come on. He’s the one character that (posthumously) stands out to me consistently throughout this section. It seems like he’s constantly hurting Josie and constantly breaking her down and ruining her in front of his friends…and yet they both keep convincing one another that they love each other? Whatever, Josie Cormier.
Again, this is a situation where I just don’t think everything is exactly realistic. Would Josie really take that? I honestly hope no girl ever would.
On a final note…I wonder how much Peter knew about the Josie and Matt relationship, and how much of it affected his decision to really hurt everyone, in addition to the other pains he was experiencing.
Word Count: 343
I like the way Piccoult gives us ideas about the history of the different characters by pinpointing different parts of their past, instead of just running down that it was either good or bad or something really general like that. Nineteen Minutes reminds me of another book I read, called Give a Boy a Gun. It’s about a similar situation (two kids are tired of living dreadful high school lives and decide to shoot it up), but the two approaches are unbelievably fascinating. Give a Boy a Gun focuses more on the present, with no reflection on the characters’ pasts. I prefer Piccoult’s way of observing both the present and the past with hints at a possible future.
The past that Piccoult illustrates really infuriates me at times, though. For example…I absolutely cannot stand Matt Royston! Oh my. He really was just an awful person, and while that’s not exactly going to make it okay for him to die… Come on. He’s the one character that (posthumously) stands out to me consistently throughout this section. It seems like he’s constantly hurting Josie and constantly breaking her down and ruining her in front of his friends…and yet they both keep convincing one another that they love each other? Whatever, Josie Cormier.
Again, this is a situation where I just don’t think everything is exactly realistic. Would Josie really take that? I honestly hope no girl ever would.
On a final note…I wonder how much Peter knew about the Josie and Matt relationship, and how much of it affected his decision to really hurt everyone, in addition to the other pains he was experiencing.
Word Count: 343
19 Min. Numero Dos
Let me say even though this section was about three times as long, I probably read it in the same period of time as the first assignment, because my eyes were glued to the pages. The section starts off strong, and a little creepy. Peter says to his attorney, "How many did I get?" and thats creepy enough to make a person soil himself. It's cool though, because as it turns out, all he is doing is blurring the lines between his video game and reality. In his video game, the one where he, well, shoots up his high school, he always knows the score when its over. He never saw what his score was, and now he wants to know.
Meanwhile, back on the farm (or in this case, the Cormier household), Josie is going through all the elements that make up a Hallmark made-for-TV movie (not that I would ever watch one of those....okay fine, I was home sick oe day and there was nothing on...but whatever) with all her teenage angst and drama and whatnot. All it does is lead to a rhetorical question from a soap opera (more daytime television); If she had the baby, would Matt really have stayed with her? On one hand, Matt's a jock, and he could pretty much get any other girl, but on the other hand, it's a small town, so word gets around fast. I'd like to think that he would have left Josie, because he seems like he treats Josie like a trophy he can bang on a daily basis, and getting too involved really doesn't seem like his "thing". You all may think that Matt is (was) genuinely in L-O-V-E with Josie but think about this; whenever he says something romantic to her, doesn't it result in immediate sex? Sure he says things but honestly, all he is doing is getting into Josie's pants.
On a side note, my theory of Josie commiting suicide is further enhanced when she says, "I dont't think I can do this". Drew (who I also have labeled as a d-bag) thinks she is talking about having a relationship with him, but she knows the real meaning behind her words; she doesn't think she can live without him (Romeo and Juliet anyone???).
2nd Assignment
I finished nineteen minutes not too long ago, and I really liked it. The middle section held a lot of interesting background information about the characters.
As I read the book, the more and more I disliked Josie. I hate the way she doesn’t care about Peter anymore, and just watches him get bullied and picked on and doesn’t do anything about it. It’s sickening. The way she tried to get rid of her baby also really upset me. I don’t understand how someone could just basically not have a heart. She’s selfish and only cares about not getting humiliated in front of others.
Matt never fails to make me dislike him more every time I read about him. I hate the way he treats Josie, and I hate the way Josie puts up with it.
It made me really sad when I read the part that says that the Glock under his pillow will help Peter sleep better at night. I feel bad for him, but I just don’t understand how anyone could do what he did. The fact that he shows no real remorse for a while makes me wonder if there really is a person in there. When he was younger, he would have seemed like the last person who would do anything like that. If he was just treated a little nicer when he was little, none of this would have happened.
As I read the book, the more and more I disliked Josie. I hate the way she doesn’t care about Peter anymore, and just watches him get bullied and picked on and doesn’t do anything about it. It’s sickening. The way she tried to get rid of her baby also really upset me. I don’t understand how someone could just basically not have a heart. She’s selfish and only cares about not getting humiliated in front of others.
Matt never fails to make me dislike him more every time I read about him. I hate the way he treats Josie, and I hate the way Josie puts up with it.
It made me really sad when I read the part that says that the Glock under his pillow will help Peter sleep better at night. I feel bad for him, but I just don’t understand how anyone could do what he did. The fact that he shows no real remorse for a while makes me wonder if there really is a person in there. When he was younger, he would have seemed like the last person who would do anything like that. If he was just treated a little nicer when he was little, none of this would have happened.
Second Blog
I am glad to say that the characters are a lot easier to remember. The second section of the book was the same “page-turner” feeling. Once again, I became emotional through each page relating each scene with a reference to me.
After reading this section, I couldn’t help but feel sorry for Peter. At one point, I even forgot that Peter was the shooter. I imagine myself sitting across from Peter’s attorney, trembling. I wouldn’t know what to do or what to say if I did anything that Picoult describes. I would even look back at the different times that my previous excluded me to be with the popular crowds. I could feel the seriousness and severity of his situation. After learning a little more about Josie and Peter’s childhood relationship, the pieces started to make sense. I could see Peter’s motives and Peter’s intellectual processes that would make him do something so extreme in society. But his voice keeps echoing inside my head, “How many did I get.” My jaw dropped and my eyes wouldn’t read anymore. Did Peter say what I thought he just said? For the first time in my life I wanted to chuck this book across the room and never pick it up again! It was so early in the section and I wanted to stop reading. The entire time, his actions of sitting of sitting quietly resembled remorse or sadness, but this was just outrageous. How could a person block out something as extreme as death? Even with rage building up day by day, how can a person be so anger they can’t feel emotions?
(271)
After reading this section, I couldn’t help but feel sorry for Peter. At one point, I even forgot that Peter was the shooter. I imagine myself sitting across from Peter’s attorney, trembling. I wouldn’t know what to do or what to say if I did anything that Picoult describes. I would even look back at the different times that my previous excluded me to be with the popular crowds. I could feel the seriousness and severity of his situation. After learning a little more about Josie and Peter’s childhood relationship, the pieces started to make sense. I could see Peter’s motives and Peter’s intellectual processes that would make him do something so extreme in society. But his voice keeps echoing inside my head, “How many did I get.” My jaw dropped and my eyes wouldn’t read anymore. Did Peter say what I thought he just said? For the first time in my life I wanted to chuck this book across the room and never pick it up again! It was so early in the section and I wanted to stop reading. The entire time, his actions of sitting of sitting quietly resembled remorse or sadness, but this was just outrageous. How could a person block out something as extreme as death? Even with rage building up day by day, how can a person be so anger they can’t feel emotions?
(271)
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