The Soloist, Final Post

My experience reading The Soloist was very different from my experiences reading the other works I read this year. I found this novel to be the most interesting novel that I have read all year. I think part of why it was so interesting was because it is a current story, a story of a real man, still living and still struggling to this day. Another reason why I was so interested was because I made the connection with him as a musician, and I can understand the joy Nathaniel Ayers receives from playing his instruments. The novel also opened my eyes to schizophrenia, a disease I had heard of but didn't really know much about. I now know that this disease, which I never thought could be a really huge problem in one's life, could actually hinder one's dreams and goals, which it did to Ayers. I'm happy this book was chosen for our class to read and I'm very glad to have read it.

The Soloist

While reading The Soloist, I have been trying to figure out Steve Lopez's purpose for writing the novel and the goals he wished to have achieved by writing it. One of the most obvious reasons why he might have written The Soloist was to spread awareness about schizophrenia and how it can affect one's future. I also think he wrote it to demonstrate a fact of life. In life, nothing is fair. One can have the best luck in the world for the longest time but could one day find himself or herself faced with unbearable misery. All that is good in one's life can be taken away in an instant, as was the case with Nathaniel Ayers, whose bright career in music was blocked by the obstacle of schizophrenia. I think Steve Lopez is trying to tell the world through his novel to take nothing for granted, that everything is not a right but a gift which must be cherished and never forgotten.

*Please tell me if anything I have said is off topic. Thanks.*

The Soloist

The Soloist continues to be a very intriguing novel. I am so amazed that a gifted musician, a student from Juilliard with a bright career ahead of him, ended up homeless, the street his concert hall and the passersby his audience. Even though he has schizophrenia, with the variety of treatments readily available there should be no reason for him to be living the life he is living.  I like that Steve Lopez did not just write a column about Nathaniel Anthony Ayers but did all he could to help his situation, such as collecting instruments to give to Ayers and attempting to get him into a facility to help his schizophrenia.

The Soloist, Chapters 1-6

"Music is a meditation, a reverie, a respite from madness. It is his way to be alone without fear."

Overall, I find the book The Soloist to be a fascinating one, one unlike any other book I have ever read. Although every sentence and every page keeps me interested in the story of Nathaniel Anthony Ayers, this quotation really stood out to me. Ayers, as a homeless schizophrenic, could probably be considered by some to be a lunatic. He is very much unlike us, yet something about him is similar to us. We are not all musicians, but we all have some passion that we turn to to keep us going when times are tough. Ayers's passion happens to be music, playing it for himself and those passersby who wish to listen. When playing music, the weight of the world, the weight of all things bringing him down, is lifted off of his shoulders, and he is in his own little peaceful world, doing what he was born to do: use his music to bring the joy and peace he feels to others. 

*Please tell me if any points made in this post are in any way not consistant with The Soloist."

Catcher in the Rye

There were many good and bad things I found in Catcher in the Rye. The novel read more like an entry from Holden Caulfield's journal than an average novel. I kind of liked this because in a personal journal, a person writes down every detail and every emotion, so having the novel set up in this way allows the reader to more deeply enter the thoughts of Holden Caulfield and have a better understanding of how he feels about certain situations. What I didn't really like about this setup is that in a journal, there is no novel structure to it, so therefore there is no rising action, climax, falling action, etc. This is what keeps me interested in a novel, and at times I found Catcher in the Rye to be a bit boring and unorganized at times. Another thing I really like about Catcher in the Rye was how Holden addresses the reader as "you." It makes the reader feel like an old friend of Holden's and allows the reader to have an active part in the story. 

Overall, I felt that Catcher in the Rye was a very good choice for our class to read. I would recommend it to others, but I would warn that the lack of structure might make for a confusing or difficult time reading it.

*When reading my writing, please tell me if anything I have said is off topic.*