The Stone Monkey Book Review

In my opinion I thought that this book was a very good book. In this chapter I will describe the setting, theme, plot and conflict etc. This book had a few different settings like

The night is crisp and black as the moon lets off an eerie glow, leaves rustle and fall somewhere in the distance. A silhouette dwarfs the blackberry bush in the corner as one’s footsteps refrain, they move closer; you run. Suspense is a state of tension and anxiety which was used in the sentence above and is common in books and short stories. In the short story “The Monkey’s Paw” by W.W Jacobs suspense is created in a variety of ways. Jacobs demonstrates this by using foreshadowing, conflict and surprise endings.

Although Iris Chang’s book provides meaningful details and thoughtful interviews about the Nanking massacre, many argue that her book is seriously flawed. Donald Zagoria asserted, “Chang’s account, based on extensive interviews with survivors and newly discovered documents, is utterly compelling yet, at the same time, in places unbearable to read” (Zagoria 163). The novel is full of good intentions from Chang, but is also full of misinformation and harebrained explanations. Joshua Fogel suggested, “The book begins to fall apart when she tries to explain why such a horror took place. Part of the problem is her lack of training as a historian and part is the book’s dual

I did actually really like this book. I was not sure if I was going to enjoy it when the project was first assigned, but after reading for a while, I became really interested

I wouldn’t recommend this book to the average reader. It is a bit hard to read because the author goes into so much depth that the reader could very often forget the main idea. It is a good, informative book but a bit drawn out.

     This book combines characteristics of a suspense thriller with those of a tragedy and is a very interesting book to read. I liked the detail that the author went into about the psychological aspects of the characters in making the decisions that they made. I thought that the characters were well developed and I liked the detail that the author went into about the settings. A detailed setting can really increase the intensity and realism of a situation in a book. This book contained some difficult words that lower level readers might not understand. I would recommend that anyone looking for a suspense/tragedy oriented book should look to this one. The beginning is a somewhat tedious read, but that is only because the author takes so much time to develop the

My Thoughts about the characters Alex, Alex’s father, Eddie and Lao Xu. Alex was a person who likes to learn more about the history of China. Alex’s father who was just an ordinary person and a reporter. Lao Xu was a nice person until he told the Chinese government on Alex, Alex’s father and Eddie for doing

The plot was a very interesting story that got me hooked real fast. The details explained things well but like I said it is confusing at points so I think at those points it would be better if the author would have put in more details into the book. Tears of a Tiger has very challenging wording and I feel like it is already improving my skills even though I am only halfway through as of right now.

The story "The Case of the Monkeys That Fell From the Trees" is about a man, Ken Glander, and his wife, Molly Glander, uncovering the mystery of why the Howler monkeys were randomly dropping out of trees, to their death. It states that usually the monkeys are quite nimble and good at climbing but they had been dropping dead. The two had been researching the eating habits and discovered that the monkeys only ate 331 of the trees out of 1699 readily available. They looked into it more and found that most of them were poisonous. The monkeys had an advanced system to figure out what trees were and weren't poisonous, but the trees changed due to weather or other conditions.

Birthed from the stone a monkey shall rise. Into the woods the stone monkey goes; a quest he follows to find the answers he seeks. “The Journey To The West” is a well known Chinese epic contains mainly poetic and rhythmic passages to build suspense and expand on the characters throughout the epic. One passage in particular talks about the life of a woodcutter who cares for his ailing mother. From chopping wood to the trip the market he continues the never ending cycle. The passage presents itself in a way that suggests the woodcutter enjoys his line of work and feels at home with what he does for a living.

Throughout Chinese history there has been three main religions or philosophies that were practiced by all within the empire. These include Taoism, Buddhism and Confucianism. Wu-Ch’Êng-Ên is able to depict all of these religions in his novel which is considered a traditional Chinese folk tale “A journey to the West” or also known as “Monkey.” This folk novel depicts the main character Monkey and his journey through life and then later including that of a Buddhist monk Tripitaka, Pigsy and Sandy. All are considered to be examples of human characteristics and flaws of human character, yet all are on a pilgrimage which will ultimately transform their character. Each journey and section of the novel incorporates different aspects of each of the religions which eventually prove to be intertwined in order to attain success and balance.

Lisa See is an American writer and novelist born in 1955 in Paris, and grew up in the Chinatown section of Los Angeles. Her great-grandfather left his village in China to immigrate in Los Angeles at the beginning of the last century. Although she is only 1/8 Chinese, she spent he childhood in the Chinatown of Los Angeles, and her familial background has given her roots in Chinese culture and has had a great impact on her life and work.

I think I got the gist of the China back story that led to this setting, it might be slightly confusing, but I think it still flowed. As a reader, unless that becomes relevent later on, as long as it isn't a big plot hole, the reader doesn't need to know every piece of minutia.

As the book went on, I slowly began to lose a lot of interest, and I really was just hoping the book would end. My interest mostly began to dwindle at chapter 15. This chapter talks about the Cultural Revolution and Mao. They begin to talk about how Mao felt threatened, so he banned 39 artists, writers, and scholars for denunciation. (page 277). I don’t see really how this plays an important part in the main characters’ lives. It then goes more into detail about how Mao organized his own personal chain of command, and how people, like Mr. Chi, were arrested for denunciation. (page 282). I really couldn’t find the will to continue reading this book after this chapter. I want to hear more about the personal family struggle that the main characters had to endure. The reader probably doesn’t care much about Chairman Mao’s fears of unloyalty or strict laws that he had created. At this point in the book, it starts to feel more like a factual history book, not an account of family history and struggle. I personally have never been a fan of politics, and I have never been interested in politics, so, in chapters 16 and 17, when I started to read about the reds, blacks, and grays, I was very uninterested and confused. In order to keep the reader going, especially in a book this long, you need to make sure that you are engaging your audience with things that they want to read. Chang does a poor job of doing this, in my opinion, when she switches over

Absolutely I would recommend this book to others. This book was an extremely interesting story. It gave insight into how most Indians live and the power roles in the family. It also showed the struggle of money or family, which in Balram’s case he chose money. The novel was able to clearly illustrate the different classes and how the poor and middle class get stuck, but the wealthy continue to get wealthier. I really enjoyed the way the book was written as well. It was formatted as a letter to a Chinese official and it allowed Adiga to have a personal message and to tell this life story that so many people experience.. This novel was relatable for me and being a teenager. It showed the attachment to his family and how needy they seemed, the struggle of finding our own path in life, and even about how fair people treat each other. I also enjoyed Balram’s personal conflict with the idea of murdering his master. He did not want to kill him because he was so innocent and always kind to Balram, but never treated him with the financial respect Balram expected. He wanted to be independent and not have to take orders from anybody else which is why he finally committed the murder and lives comfortably in Bangalore.