The Silver Linings Playbook: Character

     In my book "The Silver Linings Playbook" by Matthew Quick, the main character Pat Peoples has a mental illness called Bipolar Disorder. He has had this illness for over four years. His illness has caused him to act very impulsively which led him being led into a mental institution for the last four years.
     Before he was in the mental institution, he lived with his wife, Nikki. He loved her much more than she loved him. Because of this cheated on Pat and his mental illness caused him to nearly kill his wife's lover. This shows that with bipolar disorder Pat is not stable and is dangerous to be around before he was in the mental institution.
      Pat also doesn't realize what horrible things he's done because he doesn't remember them until the climax. I think part of it is because he doesn't remember, but also I think he chooses to block his bad experiences out. I think he tries to block 'bad' things out and thinks about silver linings to his problems because in the text he says" 'Just as soon as apart time ends' I say,and his face falls as if I said I was going to kill his wife, Natalie, and their three blond-haired daughters-Kristen, Jenny, and Becky-because that's how much he does not believe in silver linings, making it his business to preach apathy and negativity and pessimism unceasingly." This shows that he thinks others are negative and apathetic when they are just trying to be realistic.
     I think not only does Pat not focus on unfortunate things, but he also can get violent or extremely emotional about them. I think this because in the text, after he finishes Hemingway's 'A Farewell to Arms' he says " I am crying so hard at the end, partly for the characters, yes, but also because Nikki actually teaches this book to children."This shows that Pat blocks out negativity which, sometimes doesn't seem healthy because he needs to learn to accept some of it and become realistic.
     In conclusion, Pat Peoples in the book 'The Silver Linings Playbook' is affected a lot by his mental illness and what they taught him in the mental institution, which is not all good. Throughout this book he learns to be more open to things not going as planned and learns to cope with it.

Summer Reading Book: The Future of Us

  One book I  read over the summer was The Future of Us by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler. This book is about two teenagers who live in 1997 and one of them, Emma Nelson gets her first computer. She also gets a CD-ROM from her best friend (the other teenager) Josh Templeton. Once she downloads it she finds herself on a website she has never heard of called Facebook. She doesn't know about this website because it hasn't been invented yet.
  When it is invented Josh, her and their  other friends will join so they get to see all their futures now. They soon learn things about themselves and their friends . Also, every time they go on Facebook they learn their futures have changed slightly because of their actions that day. Emma learns who her husband is and that her marriage is unraveling. Josh learns his wife is the prettiest girl in school and that they will have children. Emma also learns that her other best friend is going to become pregnant before they all go to college. Soon Emma starts doing things on purpose to change her future like calling her future husband and kissing Josh. What she doesn't know is actions have consequences.
  I did enjoy this book but I had mixed reviews on how it was executed. One thing is that none of the characters are very likable. Emma is very unlikeable because she only cares about herself and almost destroys her friendship with Josh just so she can get what she wants. Josh is a better character than she is so that makes him easier to relate to but you don't get to know a lot about him. The other characters like Tyson, Kellan, and Graham also seem underdeveloped and I didn't learn much about their personalities now or in the future.
  I would recommend this book though. I think its one of those books that you have to read. I would recommend this to people who liked Thirteen Reasons Why also written by Jay Asher. I would also recommend this book to older people who would understand the 90's references better.