Part One of Sarah's American Literature Reviews

Hello there! This is Sarah! It's been some time since I have written anything on here but I have decided to write a quick review of the books I read for school last year!

The Crucible by Arthur Miller - Definitely enjoyed this one. It's not a long book and even though the dialect is really weird, it isn't hard to understand. I probably appreciated it more than the average person because I was in the play. Everyone knows that it's about the Salem Witch Trials but it also parallels the Red Scare during 1950's America. Abigail Williams is a great villain (haha :) and Elizabeth Proctor an unlikely hero. I recommend it to all!

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne - Interesting, but all the characters are major creepers. I like how Hawthorne mixes in a sort of surreal fantasy element with his references to fairies, witches, the Devil, The Scarlet Letter itself and baby Pearl. Oh, and speaking of Pearl, that child is downright disturbing. She is the kind of baby that would touch you at night. Hester Prynne is sort of stick in the mud but she is a good person. Arthur Dimmsdale is an annoying pastor who doesn't do anything except whine about his life.

The Last of The Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper - I loved this book! It is so suspenseful and full of adventure! The story is extremely interesting and it moves fairly quickly. Some parts are scary, and others hilarious! There are even some sad parts. The book tells the tale of two sisters who are captured by an evil Indian (Magua) and how Hawkeye (the hero) and his friends try to rescue them. Magua is an extremely terrifying bad guy and Hawkeye is a really cool character! The movie is alright...oh, except for the mullets.

Moby Dick by Herman Melville - I realize that this is considered one of, if not the greatest American novel of all time but I just didn't see it. I didn't actually finish it, which I normally might feel bad about, but in this case I feel justified. The book is extremely peculiar and oddly humorous. I might have kept on reading if it wasn't for the BILLIONS of weird pages about paintings of whales during the renaissance, paintings of the tales of whales, stories of the blue whale from the Orient, the whiteness of the sea, the whiteness the whale, the hair on the lower side of his left pinky toe. I mean, hurry up and get to the action! Kill the dang thing!

Where the Broken Heart Still Beats by Carolyn Meyer - This is the story of a white pioneer girl who is captured by Indians as a child. She grows up as an Indian girl and gets married to a chief and has two sons and a daughter. She is then "saved" by her white relatives who take her away from her home and her family to try to "civilize" her. The book is really quite sad but also very interesting.

True Grit by Charles Portis - I despise everything to do with this book and the film being made about it. No, no, I'm kidding. It's not like I'm bitter because I waited for seven hours to audition for the movie and didn't get chosen to play the main character. Of course not. So anyways, this is a really incredible book about a kick-butt girl named Mattie Ross and the terrifying adventure she goes on to find her father's murderer. Mattie is a very interesting and complex heroine. I loved this book and I truly hope they don't screw up the movie.

I'll review more of the books later!

-Sarah