Coco Chanel: The Legend and the Life.

                                     I just started reading "Coco Chanel: The Legend and the Life" by Justine Picardie. This book is about the incredibly influential, legendary, trend-setting, Gabrielle Chanel, better known as Coco Chanel. This book talks about how the orphan from a poor-house in France became the most influential, most powerful, and most revolutionizing person in fashion. This book discusses Chanel's childhood, possible influences, her incredible home and jewels, her rise and fall in fashion, her love life, and her lies. Aside from her massive fame in fashion, Chanel was also known for telling different stories about her childhood, never allowing people to know what the truth was and whether or not she was lying.  Chanel's past was discovered through documents and records, but the entire truth could never be discovered, thanks to Chanel's many stories and lies. Claiming she lived in an upper-class home, Chanel actually grew up in a poor-house then lived in an orphanage. Why would anyone want to hide their past?

                                  A big problem Coco Chanel had, was that she never wanted to reveal her poverty-filled past. I think this was because Chanel had so quickly sky-rocketed to fame and she may have been worried her not very wealthy past would bring down her and her label. In the stories Chanel would tell about her life, she would talk about how her father was an upper-middle class traveling businessman who left her to live with her three aunts in a very elegant, large house. This was definitely not the case in her childhood. Chanel's boyfriends were all very wealthy and powerful men and she also may have felt the need to talk about her "wealthy" past in order to keep them, as explained in the book.

                                This is definitely a problem in our world now, not just Coco Chanel's. many lie about their past just to keep up an image of themselves that they have created, and are worried about their past destroying it. I have also read many books in which people try to destroy their past, worrying it will interfere with the person they have become, and the image of themselves that they have created for people.

                              In conclusion, many in the world try to hide their past worrying that it will interfere with who they have become. Coco Chanel for example, did her very best to hide her past from her lovers, clients, and collegues to keep up with the image she had created for herself.

Gossip Girl: Book 4, What I noticed about Blair Waldorf

                                I have just finished the fourth book of the "Gossip Girl" series written by Cecily

Von Ziegesar. This series is about beautiful, young, privileged, and scandelous teens living on the

Upper East Side. Blair Waldorf, Serena Van Der Woodsen, Nate Archibald, and Chuck Bass, have it

very easy with their easy access to trust funds, powerful last names, and money, and take it all for

granted. Blair Waldorf, the slim, Audrey Hepburn type girl, who dominates her exclusive Upper East

Side private school with her mean attitude and impeccable clothing. Serena Van Der Woodsen, the

previously wild, partying It-Girl of manhattan who returned from her boarding school with an entirely

new "good-girl" personality. Nate Archibald, the incredibly handsome, shy, boyfriend of Blair Waldorf

who doesn't care about anything but smoking, partying, and his best friends. Chuck Bass is Nate

Archibald's billionaire best friend who is more outgoing than Nate but loves to do the same things as

him. As happy, easy-going and carefree as all of these characters may seem, they are all a bit troubled

and not as happy as they seem.

                            Blair Waldorf, the incredibly mean, stylish, and wealthy best friend of Serena Van

Der Woodsen, always likes to have things her way. Blair gets angry every time something does not go

according to Blair's perfect "life plan", she tries to make it that way. She always likes knowing what is

going to happen in her life and knowing what to do. For example, when Nate asks Blair why she insists

on watching the same Audrey Hepburn films all the time, Blair replies "Because I like knowing what's

going to happen". This quote doesn't only apply to why Blair likes to watch the same movies over and

over again, it mostly applies to her life. She always likes knowing what will happen. Why? I think Blair

likes knowing what is going to happen in her life, because she will know what to do in every event.

Blair is always on top of things, being the best student, best dressed, best groomed, best everything, and

I think that she feels the need to always know how to handle things and be perfect. However, if her life

does not go according to her plans, she won't be able to be perfect.

                         Always wanting to know what will happen in life doesn't only apply to Blair Waldorf. I

think that can apply to anybody! Everyone (or almost everyone) wants to be their very best, and be as

close to perfect as possible. Knowing what will happen or having a plan for their lives can make a

person feel like they can't ever do anything wrong! It also gives a person a sense of security. For

example, in the book "Room" by Emma Donahugh, a little boy named Jack was raised by his mother in

an 11' by 11' room, never being allowed to see the outside world. When Jack and his mother are

released from the room and Jack finds out that there are other people and things in the world besides his

mother and the things he was provided for in room. Jack doesn't like not knowing everything and

everyone. Jack doesn't feel safe when there are so many undiscovered things in the world and he can't

discover all of them. I think that knowing everything can make someone feel safer and that nothing

wrong can happen to them.

                               In conclusion, as happy and perfect as Blair Waldorf seems, she is incredibly

worried all the time about being perfect. The idea of "falling out of line" doesn't exist to her and she

hates not knowing what will happen in life, and she hates it when things do not go according to her

perfect plan.

Room: Reoccurring things in "Room"

                                       I have just finished the incredibly intriguing, wonderful, and very original book, "Room", written by Emma Donoghue. It was about a five year old boy named Jack, living with his mother (whom he calls "Ma") in an 11' by 11' shed in a crazy kidnappers garden. Ma was kidnapped from her college campus when she was nineteen, had a child with her kidnapper and raised him in this room, letting him think that Room was the world, and that everything else was fake, or "outside" and not in the world. Jack was raised to believe that everyone on TV was fake, all the activities he saw on TV were fake, and the only "real" foods were the cheap, canned ones that Ma's kidnapper gives to them. None of these foods were very tasty, however they were the only foods Jack knew of. Jack's mother raised him very well. She made sure Jack could speak very well, write, read, draw, be athletic and be smart. Jack actually ended up being much smarter than the children he met when he finally left room!
                                         I noticed that in Room, there are several things that constantly reoccur. When Ma defends her parenting, and when Jack talks about things he doesn't know or was taught wrong.

                                       The first reoccurring thing I noticed was that Ma is constantly defending her parenting skills. She worked very hard to make Jack an educated kid on her own and wants people to be aware of that. For example, while Ma is being interviewed by a very obnoxious and pushy interviewer, she is questioned toward her parenting skills, and is told that Jack may have been taught wrong. Ma got incredibly defensive about this and insulted the interviewer.  Also, whenever Ma's mother asks her about how she raised Jack, Ma is defensive about her parenting and tells her mother she hasn't done anything wrong so far. I think Ma gets so defensive because she herself, is worried that she may have made Jack too confused about the real world, and wants others and herself to think that she is a perfect parent.

                                        The second reoccurring thing I noticed in Room was when Jack talks about things he doesn't know. Every time Jack experiences something new, he questions it. For example, Grandma says that he is having "too much fun" and needs to go to sleep. Then Jack says "I didn't know there was such a thing as too much fun". Also, when he buys the same book, and people tell him to get a different one, he says "I didn't know you're not supposed to buy the same books". These are very minor things that usually wouldn't catch the attention of the average person, but because Jack has missed out on so much of "real life" he questions these minor things.

                                    In conclusion, there are things in Room that constantly reoccur. When Ma is constantly defensive about her parenting skills, and how Jack is always questioning very minor things that he has missed out on.

                                    

                                   I am currently reading the book "Room" by Emma Donoghue. It's really interesting and unlike most of the books that I have read! It's really impossible to put down. It is about a boy named Jack and his mother (whom he calls Ma) who live in a room in the home of a crazy fifty-fiveish year old man (whom Jack calls Old Nick, because he comes in the night) who kidnapped his mother seven years ago. Jack and Ma are not allowed to leave that room. Jack thinks that anything outside of "Room" (he names everything, for example, TV, or Wardrobe), isn't real. He hasn't ever left his home and thinks that Room is all there is to the world.
                                  
                                Jack's mother has to figure out ways to somehow explain to Jack why there are so many different people and things that he has not seen. Ma has to make up an explanation because she can not tell him she was kidnapped and that he is being deprived of the outside world intentionally. So, she tells him anything he sees on the television is fake. Ma tells him that anything he sees outside their window is outer-space. If Jack sees a food on television that Ma and Jack can not have (they only have canned foods), Ma has to tell Jack that the food is not real. While reading the book, I notice Ma is always telling Jack things are not real, to prevent him from asking more questions. I view Ma's ways of parenting in very different ways. I think it is sometimes good, and sometimes has a negative affect on Jack.

                                    Ma's parenting skills can also have a good affect on Jack. If Jack finds out that there is so much more to the world than Room, he will desperately want to see it. This will really upset Jack, because it is impossible for him to escape the room because of Old Nick's high tech security locks. Jack gets incredibly upset and angry when his mom can not explain everything to him and can not answer all of his questions. Jack doesn't like not knowing things! If his mother told him about the outside world he would insist on going out and seeing everything and knowing everything, which would get him in a lot of trouble with Old Nick. In conclusion, Ma's parenting skills are pretty good, for now.

                                   Jack's mother's parenting skills can also have a very bad affect on Jack. As Jack mentions in his narraration, he loves living in Room. He knows everything that is in there and loves it. However, when Jack discovers the outside world, it will not seem normal to him. It could be nearly impossible for him to adjust, because he is so used to the life he has now. He will have to understand that there are billions of people he doesn't know, different places, different animals and many different things besides whatever is in room!