Finished the book. A reflection.

As popular as "This Boys Life" by Tobias Wolff is, I didn't find it to be all that special. It was pretty much a kids life growing up. The writing style was a bit sharp for me, lacked elegance, but perhaps thats not a bad thing. Diversity must be cherished. I find that everyone has their big events in theirs lives that would make their respective stories just as interesting to read. That's the word I'm looking for, this book was interesting, but that was about it. It started with a road trip as an 8 year old going across the country and ended up with him becoming a young adult. There were many struggles along the way, some self inflicted, some that couldn't be helped. Toby was only 10 and he acheived the title of notorious vandel. Throwing eggs at firebirds and running around crazy with his friends. He then moved with his mother to a small town with Dwight. This turned out to be pure torture for Toby. Dwight was anything but a loving father. After living there for a few years Toby looked into college with his brother and left the home.

I found reflecting back on the book to be more entertaining then actually reading it. I compared myself to Toby and found few similarities but few differences. Social struggles and family struggles are apparent in many of our teenage lives. We're all looking ahead to college (most of us anyway) and are letting go of the family. It was a great surprise to me when I recently purchased my car. The independence is almost scary. Mom and Dad play a very small role in my life at this point. Toby was on his own too. My home may be a bit better then his ended up being but it brought to my eyes exactly how fast we're all growing up. Its simester point next week, finals and all, and I can still remember day one like it were yesterday. This year has been by far the fastest of any year of my life. If highschool keeps going like this, it'll be gone in an instant. Most say thats how it goes, I hope to savor it as much as I can. I think we all should savor it.

Just Like Us

Second to last post so I'm nearing the end. 200 out of 300 pages complete. This week I came across an interesting chapter. It was interesting for me to read because I know its coming up soon for us in our class as well. The two parallels are family issues and school.

Family issues is big for kids our age. Our personal bubbles are growning so our parents are letting go as we find more people our own age to invest in. In the book, Toby writes to his brother who is at college in Princeton. They send stories they wrote back and forth. Toby believes his brother's stories are better, but his brother says the same. Stuck in Chinook with his mother and Dwight's family there isn't much fun Toby has to have. Toby, even though he hasn't seen his brother for 6 years, he misses the only real friendly voice around. The two wanted to link upm, "Geoffrey wanted to see me. That was plain. I had been wanting to see him for years, but before now, evern when I hatched plans to join up with him, I never knew whether he felt the same way" (201). Self doubt runs in Toby's mind because he believes Princeton University is superior to his little home in Chinook. Most would probably agree. However what makes the place truely unbareable is Dwight. The only father figure in Toby's life at this point and Dwight is a major failure. He is abusive and very bad at being sympathetic. This time, "He noticed a jar of French's mustard in the garbagte pain and fieshed it out. Who threw this away? he asked. I told him I had. Why did you throw it away? Because it was empty... Does this look empty to you?" (204). The two challenge each other with every sentence they fire back and forth. It escalates. After making Toby scrape the tini bit of mustard he could from the bottle, "Allright. Now-was it empty? Yes, I said. He leaned across the table and slapped my face" (205). Rarely do healthy families raise hands against each other, but Toby's is not a healthy family.

Being sympathetic to Toby's problem, a plan is set to get Toby away from Chinook. First the brothers go over Toby's strengths, "Yes, well, let's stick with the grades and swimming and the Scouts" (207). In today's world many of my classmates, including me, are beginning to look forward to college if we haven't started to already. To apply to colleges we put together our strengths and letters and send the full application in. The process is complex, "He sent a long list of addresses and deadlines. I would have to be patient. This didn't happen over night" (207). Its a long a irritating process to apply to colleges. To give yourself a chance to see if you even can attend the college. Then you have to visit it and register. All this takes much time and effort. Boy we are in for some fun.