reading log assessment

title: Casino Royale 
Author: Ian Fleming
Text type: a novel

Casino Royale is a novel that is a story about an agent named James bond. Bond is assigned a mission to takeout an agent of the USSR named Le Chiffre. Le Chiffre is at the casino to bet big money to keep on funding a terrorist organisation that benefits his boss. Bond is tasked to try and beat Le Chiffre at a game of baccarat to stop his fund money coming in but trying to do this bond is kept on his toes as Le Chiffre knows who he is and trying to stop him from getting in his way of a massive sum of money. For Bond to do this he needs to sacrifice what he loves to get the job done.

In the novel, there is a part where Bond is sat at a table with all of the high gamblers in a private room. during this Bond has gone bust as he has lost all of his money and is forced out of the game by bad luck. We then see him return to his friends at the bar in the room where Felix Leither a CIA agent gives bond 30 million Francs to continue in the game and says “complements of the USA”. This is a great example of working towards a common goal to continue their pursuit towards the “right” thing this is to stay in the game to stop Le Chiffres money flow. This personally relates to me as I have done things like this with a time where I have been in a team environment with rugby. I have had to encourage my teammates to keep going even though there is a personal block in the way in the form of an injury. This meant I had to step back and been subbed off but I continued to encourage them from the sideline. Felix Leither has done the same to help Bond in the way I have as I would have been a weight on my team’s shoulders they would have had to carry but I gave what I could to keep going and win the game.

Le Chiffre is a character in the novel and is the main villain who is a very dangerous man who will not stop no matter what is in his way he will get the job done. He is a very different villain compared to the cliche villains that we see in many other books, we see this in the way he acts and he does things no other villain would do such as an attempt to disable bond during a big baccarat match. An example of “wrong” where the things Le Chiffre does is all his thoughts from his corrupt mind but he does these things because he is told by his superiors that if the job isn’t done then there will be consequences that frighten Le Chiffre. I have been told to do things I haven’t wanted to do many times but sometimes it can be for the good such as me when my coaches tell me to get “fired up” I don’t always see that as something I want to do. Just like Le Chiffre attempted to get the money Bond won at the table
and run away with it because he wants to be released from the prison of his manipulative superiours but is shut down by him getting killed by a fellow agent from the USSR who knew about his plans to run away. I want to do this runaway sort of thing but sometimes it can catch up to you if you don’t do things you are told to do like when we lost a rugby game because of me not doing what I was told. I think that what Le Chiffre should have done is just listen and do what was told as there would have not been any consequences. 

I would recommend Casino Royale to a person who likes books that make them ask questions but will give you answers later in the book. But also to a person who likes a book that keeps revealing secrets as it goes on. 

Movie: Skyfall
Director: Sam Mendes

Skyfall is a movie about an agent called James Bond who is tasked with trying to take down a man named Mr Silva who was an ex MI6 operative. He has started terrorising MI6 to get revenge on “M” the head MI6 who left him for dead on a mission where he was tortured and was growing hate for “M”. Bond is asked to come back from “the dead”(James is also called the agent who never dies) so he can take down Mr Silva who is trying to do as much damage to MI6 in process of trying to kill ”M”.

In the movie, there is an island off the coast of Japan that Bond is taken to so he can talk to Mr Silva. The island is an old coal-mining town built upon it that has been abandoned and all of the buildings are falling apart, there is also a fallen communist dictator statue “They left the island so quickly, they couldn’t decide what to take, what to leave, what was important. I think this every day reminds me to focus on the essentials. There’s nothing…nothing superfluous in my life. When a thing is redundant, it is…eliminated.”. This place reminds me of the time when I went to Wellington after the earthquake and saw all of the broken and abandoned old buildings in the city with all of the scaffolding around a lot of them
It left a feeling in me of what time can do to things and what the earth can do. This aspect related to right v wrong with how bad things ie wrong can come at any point in time without any warning at all and all you can do is hope it doesn’t affect you. In the film, I felt a sense of abandonment that reappears nearing the end of the movie where he returns to his old home in the Scottish countryside which is all abandoned and left to rot. In both places, I felt a sense of loss where people have died such as the girls who took Bond to the island and James parents graves at his old house.   

Mr Silva is a character in the movie whose main motive is revenge on the people who have done bad things to him over his life and tries to bring back the pain of what they caused him to others. He was tortured on a mission where he was beaten to near death and is trying to cause his pain to M the one who caused him all of his hate “life clung to me like a disease”.
The aspect of revenge being a big motive to the cause of evil things such as times where I have made stupid decisions on the fuel of revenge, but this movie story has taught me that revenge is something that is a very powerful thing with the human mind. This relates to the idea of right v wrong with how revenge is something that can be very powerful in the wrong sense but also can be used in the good where it can be used to put things such as evil back into its place. I think that what Mr silva should have done is let the power of revenge not take him to places that could get him killed such as what he does at the end of the movie where he was killed over his greed of getting what he wants. 

I would recommend this movie to anyone who loves a movie that will keep you thinking about things as you go through also asking questions as you go through that will further explain the actions of certain characters  

Movie: Star Wars: The Last Jedi
Director: Rian Johnson

Star Wars: The Last Jedi is a movie about ray the main character learning the ways of the Jedi from Luke Skywalker. she is treated in a way that she does not see right with how he is ignoring her with her training. While this is going on former princess Leia now general of the resistance is running away with the resistance from the empire. The resistance is now becoming a smaller and smaller force who is no longer a threat to the empire. They are being cornered and being slaughtered by the empire so the dark side can rule the galaxy without the resistance being in their way. Luke is now tasked with helping ray get to her full potential and defeat the empire.

Kylo Ren is a character in the movie who is a ruthless man who is crazy with power and will not stop for anything that gets in the way of his hopes of becoming the commander/lord of the empire. A sense of showing how ruthless he is, there is a part in the movie where he is met by his dad Han Solo (who is apart of the resistance) who is trying to talk to Ben Solo (Kylo Ren). he gets tricked by Kylo Ren into thinking that he is going to change and goes for a hug. he then says “I know what I have to do. But I need your help,” and pulls out his lightsaber and stabs him. This relates to me with how people have tried and tempted me into doing something I don’t want to but I have gone and broken out of my shell and said no to those tempting things that aren’t right. This relates with right vs wrong with how things that may sound tempting but are not apart of your morales are things you should just say no to even though the decision may be tough. What I think Ben Solo should have done is still have said no without the purposeful murder of his father because of how it has affected him in ways of his mind being confused with the future decision he has to make.

Luke Skywalker is a character in the movie who is the mentor to ray the antagonist of the movie. He is a man who has run from his problems though he has the power to face them he under minds himself with his power of what he can do. There is a scene in the movie where he is at the front facing the entire empires fleet and power by himself and is using himself as a distraction so the rest of the resistance can live on and escape from the empire out of the vault they were trapped in. late in the scene, he is shown that he is just some sort of hologram and is not actually there and is still on the island he lives on: “Strike me down in anger and I’ll always be with you, just like your father.”. This shows that anger is a powerful thing that can make you do the wrong thing without a second thought and the regret of that action can stay with you forever. The way Luke as a character relates to me is that I to run from some of my problems and let fear get the best of me. sometimes I have to face them and take control of what is going on. like when I am in rugby and have to tackle some of the biggest people on the field but I just want to run. I know that I can take them on it’s just a matter of if I can take control of my fear and face what is coming. This relates to the theme of right and wrong with no matter how hard it is to face your fears sometimes it’s easy to not think about it and not let them get the better of you in a way that can make you run. Such as Luke did with how he went and faced the empire knowing that at any point that his fears could take over but kept himself together. During this managed to give his friends enough to getaway. 

I would recommend this movie to anyone who likes the suspense of not knowing what is going to happen and wanting to wait and see things link back up to past questions that they have asked.  

Short story: the red convertible
Author: Louise Erdrich

The Red Convertible is a short story about a guy named Lyman and his brother Henry they are best friends who like to do stuff together one day they put their money together to buy a red convertible car together. These to love to drive the car around they take it everywhere. But this fun comes to an end when Henry is called up for army service in the fight against the Vietnamese. When Henry comes back from the war he is a different person. Lyman tries to get his “old Henry back” by bringing the car back into his life and giving him something to do.

Lyman is a character in the story who is the brother to Henry. Lyman is a guy who is determined and loving toward his brother Henry when he gets back from war Lyman wants to get the old Henry back as Henry has changed from his time in Vietnam. Apart from in the story that shows us where Lyman goes out to the shed in his backyard where Lymans and Henry’s car is stored. Lyman purposely takes a hammer to the car making it look awful by banging up the exhaust, denting panels, pulling the seats apart and bending the hood of the car. Lyman does this to get Henry’s attention and make him spend his time fixing the car instead of being all weird “I thought the car might bring the old Henry back somehow”. This shows how the determination is a powerful thing that can push us to do stuff that we thought we couldn’t do just like Lyman when he took the hammer to his brother’s car thinking that making him spend time with that car it would “bring back the old Henry”. What Lyman thought is that what he couldn’t do was bring his brother back but he was able to find a way so Henry would find himself again. The way Lyman as a character relates to me is how he is determined to get things done just like I have when I was learning to do backflips on skis. I failed many times before the power of determination kept pushing me to keep trying until I got it though it hurts. the feeling of accomplishment made me feel as though it was all worth it. This part of the story also relates to the theme of “right vs wrong” with how though it may feel as if you are doing the wrong thing such as Lyman bashing up the car. But it can sometimes be leading to the right thing with how it helped Henry becoming this old self again.

The car is a symbol in the story of the relationship between the brothers it is loved by both of them and is driven around a lot and enjoyed by the two brothers. The car is important to the story for both of the brothers as it is what brings them together and keeps their relationship back together. A part of the story that shows how the car is important is when Henry and Lyman take the car for a drive over the summer they end up driving around for a while going where they feel they do this over the whole summer just travelling. They also pick up a girl who wants to go to Alaska back to her home so the boys say sure and off they went up to Alaska. They spend the rest of the summer in Alaska driving around over the long days just enjoying themselves “ Some people hang on to details when they travel, but we didn’t let them bother us and just lived our everyday lives”. This shows how the time you spend with people you love time just flies by as you enjoy yourselves. such as what the brothers did when they were driving around they didn’t bother to worry about what was going on and just let themselves have fun. The car in this story reminds me of the motorbike my dad and I shared the time of taking apart and putting it back together. similar to the car it was a connection between me and my dad, the time flew by when we were working in it. The car in the story relates to the theme of “right vs wrong” of how good things (“right”) can be a great part of your life that can bring you many memories but can come to an end at some point. In the story, I felt a sense of love between the brothers and the car. this love comes back when Henry comes back from Vietnam and is all changed because of the war but Lyman used the car to bring the 2 back together reigniting the love between the 2.

I would recommend this short story to anyone who enjoys watching a relationship between the 2 characters be torn apart and later be reconnected by something that brings back the great relationship between the 2 characters.

Short story: beware of the dog
Author: Roald Dahl

The story Beware of the Dog is about a man named Peter Williamson who is an RAF pilot. At the start of the story, he is thinking about what he is going to do when he gets back to base and what he is going to tell them about what happened to his leg. But blacks out and wakes up in a hospital where he finds that his leg has been amputated and is wondering where he is told he is he does not believe. He finds out he is not where he is told and is in fact in France. He was later interviewed by 2 men from that claim to be from the RAF and all he has given them is his name, rank and squad number.

Peter Williamson is a character in the story we don’t find out his name to the end of the story, from what we know he is a curious man who doesn’t believe what people say but he is also stubborn as we see later in the story. A part of the story that shows Peter’s curiosity is when he arrives at the hospital where he has had his leg amputated, he has been told that he is in Bristol but the more time he spends in the hospital, the more he grows curious. His curiosity grew from when he is first bed bathed he feels that water does not feel like it is from Bristol as he is familiar with the place. So later when he is left alone he gets up and looks out of the closed curtains that he is France “So this is France,” he said. “I am France.”. This shows how curiosity can get the better of people and lead them to do things that will end their curiosity like when Peter goes to the window to find he is in France after wondering where he was. Peter as a character relates to me with how he is curious about things around him just like I am when I’m told not to do something or go somewhere the curiosity grows and can make me do the things I’m not told not to do. Like the time where I was playing at number 8 for the first time and was told not to do a pick and go from the back of the scrum as it could lead us to lose the ball and give the opposition a try. I didn’t listen to this and did it anyway to see what would happen and it luckily paid off. Peter as a character relates to the theme of right vs wrong with how he knows he is doing something wrong by leaving his hospital bed to find out where he is just like many people would do if they are told not to do something but still do it despite being told not.

A hospital is a place in the story where the main character Peter is at after his accident. The room has grey walls and green curtains with a washbasin in the room beside a table “This is a hospital, he thought. I am in a hospital”. This place reminds me of the time when I broke my finger and had to wait for 7 hours in the Dunedin hospital ER, in that part of the hospital it was all grey and sad no windows no colour just plain old colours with no life, it made me feel empty and sad with the way it was in that part of the hospital. The theme of right vs wrong with this room in the story is how good (right) can look so grim and sad but it has no need for those appearances to perform its good (right) such as the hospital room. In this setting in the story I felt a sense of sadness in this room as they can take lives this is displayed by the way the rooms are decorated with all of the sad colours but I also made me feel like there was some sort of life in that room as Peter has been saved by them from dying.

I would recommend this story because of the way it is written showing us the story of a person we don’t know we know nothing about him, not even his name he just tells us a story of what is happening to him and what he is experiencing himself.

Novel: from Russia with love
Author: Ian fleming

The novel “From Russia With Love” by Ian Fleming is about a spy named James Bond who is now seen by the Russian secret service “SMERSH” as their biggest threat as he has just killed 2 of their best operatives Le Chiffre and Mr Big. Bond is tasked with keeping himself alive as he is being hunted by SMERSH. Bond meets a woman by the name of Tatiana Romanov she has been sent to subdue Bond to make the job easier for the assassins. But his friend Kerim is warning him about his suspicions about Tatiana, Bond takes no worries towards his suspicions leading to Kerim’s death putting Bond on edge.

Kerim is a character in the book “From Russia with Love” who is James bonds friend in Turkey. Kerim is a man of many secrets and loyalty to bond who is a massive help with the information he can give to bond about the people they encounter and about the mission bond is on. Apart from in the novel that shows kermis secrecy is when Kerim is murdered on the train ride that Bond and Tatiana are on. Kerim is killed in an attempt to lower Bonds guard for the Russians to get to Bond and kill him easily. But when kermis death become public, links back to earlier in the novel as he has the SMERSH hideout in turkey rigged with explosives so when he dies that place will go up in flames “How can a friend be in debt?”. This quote shows how loyalty is a strong thing people can give to each other in an exchange of friendship like Kerim did for bond giving his life to helping bond with his mission. Kerim is a character that relates to me with how he is loyal to his friends like where is have stood by my friends in situations they have faced and helped them through those situations. Such as the time that I helped my friend Sam with getting his motorbike out of a mud pit. Kerim relates to the theme of right vs wrong with how some of his ways may be wrong with how he deals with things but the person he is to his friends is the right person as he gave his lifting he to bond giving Bond a chance to get his mission finished.

Tatiana is a character in the novel who is sent to subdue bond to make the job of killing him easier. Tatiana likes to be a person who is easily manipulated in ways that can make her do things even though she may not want to. But she is also a person who is good at lying keeping true to her story about who she is. This is represented in the scene where Tatiana is the first encounter with bond, bond asks her many questions about who she is and what she wants with him. Tatiana can keep true to her lies she has been given and manages to trick bond on who she is “how could she be fake? there is no fault in her story”. This quote shows how lies can be used to play with a person’s mind and make them think otherwise of the liar showing them as something they aren’t. Tatiana is a character who relates to me with how she is a good liar, as I can be with things I have told my friends as a kid trying to make them think higher of me as we were all gullible little kids who didn’t know when to stop believing people. This relates to the theme of right vs wrong with how lying can only get you so far until it catches up with you and causing your demise just as it happened to Tatiana when her lies got the point where there were more unanswered questions than answers.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys watching someone come to there demises over mistakes they have made. But also to someone who enjoys a good thriller actions book