Reader Response: Indian Killer

Sherman Alexie's Indian killer was a fast paced, interesting, and easy to read book. I enjoyed the book and would definitely recommend it to my friends. It was surprisingly full of violence and sexual content. I'm embarrassed to say that this aspect of the book kept me hooked and turned this assignment into a quick read. The characters in the book were all very relatable and interesting. The author did an excellent job in making the characters believable. I thought it was very controversial dealing with issues of racism and reverse racism. The people were quick to blame Native Americans for the deaths of white people just because the killer scalped them and left owl feathers on their bodies. I was aware of the racism that takes place among other minorities, but I never thought about Native Americans having to deal with discrimination in modern times. He also pointed out how many white people would like to be Native American. I have witnessed this first hand. I was glad that the killer did not kill the little boy, Mark Jones, I know it's silly to say but I probably would not have liked the book if he had. My favorite part was when he returned the boy to his mother's arms. It was so creepy how he walked into the house unnoticed by the cop or the child's parents

Reading Response: Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas was an interesting and challenging book. I wouldn't say that I enjoyed the book, however, I did enjoy the challenge that the book posed in reading it. Thompson's look at the drug culture of the late 60's and early 70's made for a difficult read as much of the book seemed to flow out of the mind of a person whose brain seemed to be in the firm grasp of a permanent bad acid trip. The narrative was "sketchy" and "spotty". The story continuously digressed to possible future hallucinations due to his constant paranoia. The constant flash forwards disrupted the flow of the story and made it less enjoyable in my opinion. The protagonist was also difficult to relate to. His motives and behaviors were difficult to understand and his actions seemed unrealistic and forced at times.

One aspect of the book that I enjoyed was learning about all the different drugs. I was drug naive before I read Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. I had no idea that there were so many different drugs and that one person could do so many and still function somewhat. Much of the book read as an encyclopedia entry on different drugs and drug use. I also enjoyed how some parts seemed to glorify drug use and then immediately showed the ugly downside to drug abuse. The book took the mystery out of drug use by showing the consequences of drug use.

The American Dream

The people of the United States have many different dreams for themselves and for the American people. Most of their dreams are centered around freedom. The United States was founded on principles of freedom of religion, eventually freedom from Brittan, and freedom from a too powerful government. It was important to our founders that we have the right to vote for our leaders. Today, most of those ideas are still the dream of the population. Americans enjoy modern conveniences because they believe they should be free to do so. Most Americans feel they deserve big screen tvs, vacations, hand bags, and hundreds of shoes. They dream to live comfortable and have the freedom to do so. It's not necessarily a bad thing to dream about the newest electronics or to desire big screen DLP tv's and the newest ipad. Americans' love the freedom to obtain these things the most. Freedom is at the heart of the American dream. They also practice freedom of speech through many outlets, blogs, facebook, and twitter. Americans' also revel in the freedom to express their ideas with the rest of the world. The United States people dream for fairness and equality for all their fellow citizens.