Book Three Review

Is Heaven For Real?

In Heaven Is For Real, Todd Burpo brings to life the mind of a four year old boy who supposedly has traveled to heaven in back, all in three minutes. Colton Burpo, Todd’s son, begins to feel sick and after one thing leads to another, is rushed into emergency surgery to repair his burst appendix that has been leaking poison into him for the past couple of days. After Todd and his wife spend hours worrying, pacing, and shouting at God, Colton finally comes out of surgery safe and sound. The fact that Colton even survives is a miracle in itself, and not long after surgery, the Burpo family discovers a much more fascinating miracle that lies within their son. After a few suspicious occurrences in which Colton makes an insignificant reference to Jesus, he claims to have been watching his parents while he was having surgery. “Colton said that he ‘went up out of’ his body, that he had spoken with angels, and had sat in Jesus’ lap…’You were in a little room by yourself praying, and Mommy was in a different room and she was praying and talking on the phone’”(Burpo 61). This leaves Mr. and Mrs. Burpo wondering if there could be something more than just a creative imagination coming from Colton, and throughout the novel they question their son and discover that he really has done the unimaginable...traveled to heaven and back.



Todd and Colton Burpo



 Overall, the book is a success. Burpo manages to describe the complicated story of Colton’s experiences in the most uncomplicated way possible. Most people who are able to read in general will be able to pick up Heaven Is For Real and go from start to finish with ease. So, if you’re looking for a more difficult novel, this one is definitely not for you. How well written a book is doesn’t depend on the difficulty, it depends on the actual content of the story. Having this in mind, Heaven Is For Real is the prime example of a good book. It causes you to think about your faith, whatever it may be, and in some cases renew your beliefs in that faith. A lot of controversy came with the novel from parts such as when Colton told his father that if a dead person didn’t know Jesus, he couldn’t go to heaven. Colton shouts, “‘He had to! He had to!’ Colton went on. ‘He can’t get into heaven if he didn’t have Jesus in his heart!’”(Burpo 59). Putting something like this into a novel that anyone anywhere has the ability to buy is a risky move, and in some ways it turned out troublesome for Burpo. He shouldn’t have to take the brunt of the criticism though because readers could easily have read the title, seen Heaven, and put it back down if that isn’t their faith. They have the ability to choose what they read, and shouldn’t blame the author for writing something controversial.

In the middle of the book, Burpo includes multiple pages of family pictures that lighten the mood and help to illustrate his family timeline. The pictures also consist of Colton’s deceased grandpa, who he claims to have seen during his trip, which allows readers to grasp the impossibility of Colton even knowing who his grandpa is, let alone seeing him in an afterlife. Although, like I said, the book is mostly successful, there were multiple parts of the story that were just plain annoying. Of course it’s shocking to hear from your young son that he has done the unheard of, but Burpo describes every instance of his son’s recollection as earth-shattering. Phrases like, “That set my head spinning” (63), “My mind reeled” (66), “My heart skipped a beat” (79), and “Try hearing that and staying on the road” (136) all support the fact that Colton’s father was in awe of his son’s stories, but also suggest that every single time Colton said anything, Burpo literally couldn’t believe it, even though the same thing basically happened to him 20 pages earlier. The pattern is this: Colton recalls something extraordinary, Mr. Burpo freaks out, repeat. Especially with him being a pastor and all, you’d think his jaw wouldn’t drop that much every single time.



Colton Burpo, present



The most important aspect of every novel is the message, and if there’s anything that Heaven Is For Real does well, it’s put across an inspiring one. Flipping the pages of the book, every element of Christianity is explored in a creative, but in depth way. Even if you aren’t Christian, who’s to say you can’t do the same with your own faith. The inspiring story causes the reader to think about eternity, and what it might have in store. For a believer or non-believer, the novel throws you into the mind of a child, exposing the innocent imagination of a four year old boy. I’m sure if what happened to Colton happened to an adult, many would only think of it as a good dream. That’s what’s so special about Colton’s perspective. It’s not like a four year old child who barely knows how to read is going to make up a story like that. You’re unknowingly forced to believe what he says, for the simple fact that Colton is truly genuine from start to finish.

Sites for Books

Check out these book websites!

http://kathrynstockett.com/ (Kathryn Stockett's Website)
http://heavenisforreal.net/ (Heaven Is For Real Website)
http://www.suzannecollinsbooks.com/ (Suzanne Collins' Website)
http://www.nytimes.com/pages/books/index.html (New York Times Book Page)
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/ (Barnes and Noble Website)

My Top Five Books

Blog Post #7

Is It Non-Fiction?

In order for a book to be considered non-fiction, I think that 99% of what the writer says happened, actually needs to have happened. When readers pick up a book that looks good then notice that the book is also non-fiction, they are probably more likely to read it because it’s neat to think that the events in the story were once reality. I say 99% because it’s probably next to impossible to get every little detail about an event perfectly correct. Half the time, I don’t even remember what I did yesterday. So, I would give a little leeway to writers in that perspective knowing that the facts aren’t going to be 100% accurate. For me, I can apply the non-fiction to fiction aspect to movies that I watch as well. I think non-fiction movies are more interesting and intriguing if I know that the story is real. Also, I think we do need fiction and non-fiction genre labels. Many readers rely on genre labels alone to make their decisions, and if you take them away, those people wouldn’t have the guidance they need when choosing a book. If I were an author, I too would want the distinction of my book between fiction and non-fiction. A novel that is written and labeled as non-fiction comes across as somewhat more sophisticated for some reason. As you read, you take the events more seriously and for me, I can better analyze the book if I can play it out easily in my head, which is usually the case for non-fiction books. Also, most non-fiction books can have a fiction label put on them and no one could tell the difference, because they easily could have been made up. It’s important to distinguish between what’s a true story and what’s not.

Blog Post 6

Readicide

In my opinion, exclusively teaching literary fiction in the curriculum during grade school shouldn’t be the standard. Even though books from our history that may be considered “great” are beneficial to students’ understanding of literature, who’s to say that books written in the present aren’t just as helpful? We need to realize as a society that kids these days don’t always enjoy reading the books they are assigned in school, and half the time use Spark Notes in place of reading the book at all. I agree with Gallagher’s idea to teach some literary fiction novels in class as well as some genre fiction ones. This way, students will want to read more of the books assigned to them in the classroom. They might also have an easier time breaking down the true meaning of the book if they are able to compare it to something much easier to understand. Comparing “Romeo and Juliet” to “Rebecca” would be hard because a high school student may not fully grasp one or both of the books. If you compared “Romeo and Juliet” to “Twilight” on the other hand, you would be comparing a rather easy to comprehend book to a more difficult read. In other words, it would be easier to digest the meaning of older, more difficult novels if they were to be put in terms of today’s literature. Schools should definitely not cut out literary fiction in its entirety. Students gain important knowledge from them that they wouldn’t get from today’s popular culture. The main goal of English class though, should be to gain student’s interest in reading, so that they will continue to read throughout their lives. I personally consider English as my least favorite subject because of all the critical thinking we do with each novel that we have to read. I’m positive I would enjoy the class much more if I could look forward to the novels in class, and say I get to read it, not I have to.

"The Help" Book Trailer

Blog Post #4

A Movie Adaptation of The Help

               For my book #2, I am reading The Help, by Kathryn Stockett. Adapting the book into a movie would have been difficult because of the time period set in the 60’s. Because everything has modernized so much since then, going back to that time period and choosing the right clothes, hairstyles, and landscapes would have been a hard challenge. Although this would be difficult, the setting set in the past is essential in an adaptation of the novel due to the events that take place. African-American maids and racial discrimination were more prominent occurrences back in the day. This is an appropriate time to set the book in because Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech was in August of 1963, when segregation was extremely common. Another scene that would be essential to include in the adaptation of the book would be when Minny was offered her job cleaning for Miss Celia. This would be important because it gives a new hope for Minny after being turned away so many times due to her bad reputation.  A third element/scene from the novel that should definitely be included in the movie is when Mae Mobley, the child Aibileen takes care of when she house keeps for Miss Leefolt, is potty trained and refuses to use the toilet unless it’s Aibileen’s toilet. This is significant because not only is it Aibileen’s, but it is a special toilet that Miss Leefolt had built that so that she wouldn’t have any black people going to the bathroom in her house. It is an important scene to keep from the book to the adaptation because it shows how much hatred there was towards the African-American race. When Mae Mobley uses the “black” toilet, her mom, Miss Leefolt, begins to scream at her because of how awful and disgusting she thinks it is. This scene stood out to me because it demonstrates the extreme segregation of the past.

                In the book, Minny is always at Miss Celia’s house, describing the work she has to do and what not. I don’t think that it would be necessary to include all of the times that she is at Miss Celia’s, but to only include the important ones like the first time ever and when Miss Celia’s husband comes home during the day unexpectedly. Also, after Miss Skeeter gets a job as a columnist, she goes to Aibileen often to get advice on what to write about. You could probably include some of the times that she goes for help, but times when she doesn’t get much help or when she is told to come back and ask for it at a later time, it wouldn’t be necessary to adapt into a movie. All and all, I think most of the scenes in the story would be beneficial to a movie adaptation, but there are definitely some scenes that could be altered or cut entirely to better play into the movie.