#QuestusLibris – Lindsey Senatore “Blog”

Hey hey hey readers! It’s me again, Lindsey, your favorite blogger back with some opinions I’m ready to share!
As you all know, technology is everywhere and it gives us so many new opportunities and choices of ways to access readings of all different kinds! So many choices….it’s almost overwhelming.
Imagine you’re assigned to read a book for your English class. What do you do?

Buy a physical copy at the book store?
Buy and download it to your kindle?
Buy an online version?
Buy an audio book version?!

Buy…okay I’m actually going to stop here because I think these are the MAIN choices you have and you get my point, it’s a lot. No worries, you don’t have to determine at this moment what you’d choose. However, I definitely suggest it’s something you think about now.

For me,
I have, at different times, resulted on each of these different options. I cannot say one definite answer of one method I like better than another. It is not easy peasy black and white like that. For me, it a lot of it depends on 1. Price (I cannot lie) 2. The genre of book and 2. What my intention behind the read is and 3. Does one method offer benefits over another based my current schedule?

So, when we had to read Melville, I immediately went for the cheaper ebook option and definitely regretted it. I realized that although I let price dictate that choice, I should reconsider in the future because it is VERY hard to read a story book online because they are meant to be invested in.
I also wish I had went to the library to read Poe’s ‘The Man of The Crowd,’ rather than reading it online because I much prefer reading ANY story book in the physical form because I can get comfortable and just really dive in!
The nigh circus. We were instructed to listen to it, but I am happy I did because based on my scheduled at the time, it was much more efficient to be able to listen to it because I had a lot of driving to do at that time and I could just put it on while I was in the car. Wow! 21st century is neat!!!! Driving an reading simultaneously?! Insanity!
I need to make side comments though and say, if we were to be instructed to go buy a nonfiction textbook…I would easily decide to buy it online because it is significantly easier to study that way as I can use the search tool to quickly find terms I need to review.

So! As you can see, my friends, there are actual solid reasons you should have before choosing the medium you want to consume your book in. Do not be like me prioritize price and not consider the full picture of all pros and cons. If you have to read a story, choose the method that you think will enable you to enjoy it most…because if you enjoy it, isn’t that priceless 😉

#Questusreviewus #strangerthanfiction – Lindsey Senatore

I have to start off by saying, if you have never seen the film, “Stranger
Than Fiction,” you need to change that. To my knowledge, there is no
movie that is even comparable to it because the premise is so unique.

!!WARNING!! By continuing to read you will experience *SPOILERS*

.
.
.

Okay, so I hope those of you left are either people who have already
seen the movie or people who just enjoy spoilers (do those kind of
people exist…?)

Moving forward… Who is Harold Crick? When the movie began, we
see him hearing a voice. We are left to wonder for a bit whether he
has schizophrenia or if there is something fantasy-like going on. We
quickly find out that it is the latter. Karen Eiffel, an author in the film,
was writing a novel with a main character, “Harold Crick.”
Unbeknownst to her, she was writing about a real-life person and
everything she was writing about him, came to be! Harold, however,
did not discover this as early as we (the viewers) we told. This caused
him to panic and seek to discover some answers. Why was he so
panicked? Well! He noticed that everything the voice said, was
happening! This made him super terrified when the voice mentioned is
upcoming imminent death!

His search for answers involved a visit with a psychiatrist, a literal
professor, and eventually to Karen (after recognizing her voice and
seeking her down). He explains everything to her and then she
changes the ending to her story in a way that avoids his death.

I urge you all so much to see this movie because it brings attention to the narrator of movies, a role that is so often overlooked. In movies that have narrators, they are one of the main characters but we never wonder “who is this?” or “how do they know this?” Instead, we accept it and don’t give it any thought. Stranger than Fiction, caught us off guard when breaking a type of fourth-wall by bringing attention to this narrator. The character should never hear the narrator, so we are all like, “Woah, what is happening?”

Once we learn it is an author speaking, it only raises more questions! When did she begin writing
about Harold and why is he just now hearing her? Does he have the power to not do something
she says? If he doesn’t have the power, then is she like an all-powerful “God” figure? When she
says ways Anna reacts to Harold, does Anna make these choices herself or does Karen control
her too? Has all of Karen’s past novels affected real-life people as well? HOW IS ANY OF THIS
POSSIBLE?

We know it’s fantasy, but the realist/logical side of all of us cannot help but want ANSWERS…
NOW.

Unfortunately, none of these answers came. I believe this was intentional, rather than a “hole”/
mistake by the writers. The best fantasy has to leave room for the viewers to add on to it and
IMAGINE. Answers aren’t fun because answers put an end to the awe and wonder the curiosity
brings.

All in all, this movie is unique and well-done. It’s an incredibly fun concept to ponder.

So I will leave you with one thing to think about…

What would you do if you woke up tomorrow and suddenly a voice was narrating your every
move?

The OA Questus Review – Lindsey Senatore #questusreviewus

Alright alright alright. I have seen far too many negative reviews about the OA and I am here to set the record straight: THE SHOW DESERVES A CHANCE. Why? I LOVED it. My family members watched it and enjoyed it as well. So, this should show to you that although you might dislike it, you could also LOVE it…and isn’t that possibility alone worth giving the show a shot rather than listening solely to the negative reviews? If you’re still unsure, keep reading and I will do my best to convince you of why this show rocks.

First of all, it was confusing and mind boggling in the absolute BEST WAY.

This was my face throughout each episode:

I saw many reviews complaining about how much confusion there was and lack of character development, but the lack of details and explanations in certain areas is what allowed for 1. The viewers’ imagination to add more exciting elements as they filled in gaps for themselves / continued to speculate AND 2. allowed for certain plot lines to remain open to delve into further in another season (if everything was answered and explained, there wouldn’t be much left to keep the viewers wanting more!)

The confusion I felt through watching the show is what made it so fun and kept me eager to watch the next episode each and every time.

FURTHERMORE, the plot line was extremely unique. It took the concept of other worldly dimensions to a whole other level than I think any other show/movie has ever taken it to before. Therefore, this brought novelty to the show.

So far I hope you understand that the story line and style of the show brought the element of originality, suspense, mystery, supernatural aspects, and excitement all TOGETHER into ONE SHOW.

Without giving too much away, I will say that one of my favorite additions to the show is OA’s premonitions and how we see them come together as the series continues until OA officially understands the meaning. So, if you choose to watch this show (and I hope you do), I suggest you remember those premonitions throughout and try to depict them for yourself for added fun to see if you can figure it out!

Another aspect that added originality to the show is its addition of the story of friendship and the bond it brings. It’s endearing to watch. OA finds 4 other people to help her all so that she can find her old friends to help them and through it all these new people become so bonded as well and it’s beautiful to watch it progress. OA comes from a crazy background, but the people believed her, trusted her, and learned from her which ultimately led to them saving others and helping OA in the end to get to the other dimension she was trying to get to (I believe)…but we will have to watch season 2 to know for sure. So hurry up, take my advice and watch season 1 so you can be ready to binge season 2 when it comes out on March 22nd!

#questusreviewus Pierre; or, The Ambiguities – Lindsey Senatore

Ah, never has a book title been quite so spot on. This story was, in fact, full of ambiguities…all centered around (you guessed it) Pierre!

Now, if you have read other reviews of the story, you may realize many people had a reaction like this:

OR this:

Yeah…same here.

However, I assure you this review is going to take a little bit of a different approach than most. Yes, Herman Melville…you failed to impress us and succeeded in losing us many times. However, I think there may have been a deeper point to your story that was never brought to light.

As I read the story, I more often felt as though I was reading about someone’s real life mess than a story meant to actually interest me. I mean, there was no way he actually thought through whether his story was organized or made sense…right? Could that have actually been his goal? I hope not.

Instead, I think maybe he was trying to let the readers read this story, think about their own life issues, and think, “Well at least I’m not Pierre!” So if that’s the case, I think we should thank Melville for showing us how messy life really can be! So stop crying about your own and realize, “Hey! At least I’m not married to my sister!”

Poor Pierre. Not only was he married to his sister, but he also was having family quarrels (with his mother), and having many side distractions going on… Many have complained about Melville’s inability to stay focused on the plot by going off into these side stories. I want to propose the notion that he added these side plots to, once again, display the reality of life. Life does not have one constant, organized plot. Not by a long shot. I wish everything going on in my life was relevant to one main issue or one main story. Unfortunately, we are always going to have a million different things going on in our life, not just one. In fact, I think a lot of our lives probably look a lot like this:

 

Do you see a scribbled mess? Good. That’s life and that’s okay! (As long as you’re not following too much in Pierre’s footsteps)

In his story, Melville portrayed issues with love, issues with family, and even a bit of an identity crisis (specifically referring to not knowing WHO he should be in relation to his newfound sister…and then deciding becoming her husband made sense….yeah…okay Pierre).

So in an interesting way, I believe Melville was using this novel not to make sense to readers or even particularly be interesting to readers, but to SHOW readers about life, messes, and misguided decisions.

Or maybe I am completely wrong. It’s up to you to read for yourself and decide!