What did you read/watch over Winter Break?

Posted on June 14, 2016 by nobles

Chris Desanges ’16: Over break and currently, I am reading Another Country by James Baldwin. In the book, he shifts through the perspectives of eight main characters who live in New York who are all connected to each other in various ways. English Teacher Adam Cluff: 1. “VEEP”: Hilarious political satire about how vacuous, frivolous and totally image-driven our politics have become. 2. The Big Short: Brilliant treatment of the Michael Lewis book that explains the 2008 market crash with clarity and wit. Annika Harrington ’18: Over break, I read The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa. This story was about a housekeeper who goes to work for a brilliant math professor who only has 80 minutes of short term memory. It was incredible to read about the connection that the professor formed with the housekeeper and her son despite the fact that they had to reintroduce themselves every day. It was a unique story that evoked a lot of different emotions, and it was a very enjoyable read that I would strongly recommend. Diversity Initiatives Teaching Fellow Paulina Jones-Torregrosa: I enjoyed Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn, which I got from the Nobles library! It was a gripping mystery by the author of Gone Girl that I could not put down. English Teacher Josh Accomando: I binge watched four seasons (2-5) of “Downton Abbey”… It is not a very good show [IMO], but I like the costumes. I’m pretty sure it was only successful in the U. S. because Anglophiles are easily amused by British accents. It oversimplifies important social and political issues to the point that it becomes nonsensical. I saw Star Wars Episode VII twice (after re-watching IV-VI) and decided that the original three films weren’t actually all that good, but Harrison Ford is awesome. Episode VII is the best yet… because Harrison Ford… and Daisy Ridley. Oscar Isaac, John Boyega and Adam Driver were good too.  J.J. Abrams is abandoning us for Episode VIII and I am really nervous. Rian Johnson will direct Episode VIII. Not sure what to expect, but I re-watched the diner scene in Looper and felt reassured. I saw Joy (meh) and The Big Short (yay!). Joy was incoherent at times and I’m not sure if that was deliberate or not. The Big Short lived up to expectations and I thought it did well to explain and critique the American financial system—more so than Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps or Wolf of Wall Street. Breene Halaby ’19: The Danish Girl! One of the most aesthetically beautiful movies I’ve ever seen, with an equally-as-beautiful (though historically inaccurate) story. Eddie Redmayne is pretty in any gender. English Teacher Kim Libby: Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan Novels (My Brilliant Friend, The Story of a New Name, Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay, and The Story of the Lost Child): a collection of four books published between September 2012 and September 2015. In a voice that is raw, honest and mesmerizing, the protagonist tells the story of her life–and the singular and complex friendship that defined it. The truest depiction of female friendship that I’ve ever read. Katie Doyle ’21: Over break I read a few of the books from the series Gone (it was on our reading list).  They are great books, in my opinion, and I really liked the creativity and word choice. It is very fast-paced and entertaining.  I would definitely recommend it! Science Teacher Chris Averill: I read the first two books In the series The 5th Wave (The 5th Wave and The Infinite Sea), a young adult sci-fi trilogy. The third one is due out this spring. It is a soon to be released movie, and let me tell you the books are great! There is an alien invasion, the first four waves wipe out nearly all 7 billion humans on the planet in a matter of months! The book follows the stories of several survivors. It is full of plot twists and hair-raising adventures. It is smartly written, and I loved how each chapter was from the point of view of a different character. In this way the story is told through the lives of the main characters often talking about similar events from their point of view. I couldn’t put the books down! The second book continues the story as we learn what the 5th wave is and the ongoing battle between the remaining humans and the alien invaders. Director of Academic Support Gia Batty: 1. I read The Marvels by Brian Selznick after I heard Talya and Emily promote it to students in a Middle School assembly. As promised, it was a GREAT story that unfolds in beautiful pencil drawings and prose. Part adventure story, part mystery, part coming of age, this is a book that would appeal to a really wide audience. I read it with my 10 year old, and we both loved it. 2. I finally listened to Between the World and Me, which is as good as everyone says it is. The cool thing about the audiobook is that Ta-Nehisi Coates reads it himself. Assistant Controller Rachel Weinstock: I really enjoyed The Muralist by B.A. Shapiro. It’s art world mystery in both the pre-World War II years and the current day as a young researcher at Christie’s investigates her aunt’s role in the American Abstract Movement. Equally interesting were the insights into the Abstract Movement and Holocaust from the view point of an American trying to save her European relatives. Math Teacher Bill Kehlenbeck: I read and loved Rescue Road by Peter Zheutlin. It tells the story of a man who has driven over 30,000 rescue dogs from southern states to “forever homes” in the northeast (including the wonderful dog my son adopted in 2010). It is both heartbreaking and heartwarming—highly recommended! Director of Human Resources Nicole Anastos: I saw Joy! I have to admit it was sad and somewhat depressing for the first hour, but it is a wonderful true story of hard work, perseverance and ultimately success. Definitely feel good movie by the end. 😉 Lulu Wright ’20: Skinny Dip by Mark Hiaasen–I loved this book! It was so interesting and I could not put it down! I would not recommend it for sixies, but it is extremely entertaining. History Teacher Jenny Carlson-Pietraszek: Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi. I read this because I will be teaching about the Iranian Revolution in HHC in January and because all ninth grade students will read it in February in their English classes. It follows our HHC summer reading book–Iran Awakening, by Shirin Ebadi–wonderfully, too. Persepolis is a graphic novel. It is powerful and poignant as well as a very accessible, quick read. Mikki Janower ’16 I read Earthly Powers, The Stockholm Octavo, Numero Zero, Inside the Dream Palace, Slade House and a couple other things–I’ll talk about any of them, but my favorite was Earthly Powers. The novel is written in the tradition of Tolstoy, and its prose is just as engaging as its plot, which is rare in modern fiction. English Teacher Alden Mauck: I read In the Heart of the Sea by Nathaniel Philbrick because I thought Mayflower was so good. I was even able to stomach the section on cannibalism… get it… stomach… I also read two novels by Carl Hiaasen: Bad Monkey and Skin Tight... lots of South Florida delinquents and detectives, perfect for poolside. William Wang ’16: Over break I read journalist Benoit Denizet-Lewis’ Travels with Casey. Lewis drives across the United States in a RV with his nine-year old Labrador mix named Casey. The focus of the book is about the relationship between humans and dogs, across the U.S. and as a human theme. I really liked the book because of thorough research, nuanced features on American dog culture, and Lewis’ personal and humorous tone. If you are interested in dogs, road trips or animal psychics, this will be your book. Angie Gabeau ’21: I finished the Harry Potter books (again) and watched all the movies (again).

Drew Hesp ’21: I watched “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”…

SPOILERS AHEAD!!!!!!!!!!! I loved the movie and pretty much everything about it.  First off, it was great how the trailers did not spoil that much (except for Han’s death… more on that later). The opening scene was amazing. Seeing the scroll for the first time in theaters gave me the chills… I really liked how there was no dumb plot about trade routes and other things like that. The description of the hunt for Luke Skywalker really made me feel like this movie really fit into the Star Wars saga. John Williams did an amazing job with the opening music to set the scene for the raid on Jakku. The flame troopers were so freaking cool and ruthless.  The way Kylo Ren stopped a blaster shot in mid-air showed how strong his powers of the Force were. His crackly light saber felt like it portrayed his ruthless and unstable character. BB-8 was really cute, and his relationship with Poe was well-written (UNLIKE SOME POORLY WRITTEN SCRIPTS… *cough cough* GEORGE LUCAS *cough cough*). Sorry, still not over how bad the love story in Episode II was. Anyway, on with the review. The return of the Millennium Falcon was quirky and smart. There wasn’t a grand, ‘TA-DAH’ scene. If I recall, Finn and Rey were running towards a ship and Finn asked if they should take ‘that one’, pointing to the Falcon. Rey replied saying it was garbage. Then the ‘nice ship’ got destroyed or something like that, and Rey replied with, “The garbage one will do” That was much better than I was expecting, and it set the tone for the film: not too serious and over-the-top with politics, but not a comedy either. For example, when the Resistance nurse was treating Chewbacca, and she was saying things like, “Wowwwww… That must have been scaaaaaary!” (as if Chewbacca was a kid) and Chewie was just nodding his head like, “uh huh… yep”. I just found that scene hilarious, but not stupidly over-the-top. I could go on with the quirky jokes in this movie… BB-8 giving Finn the thumbs-up, the troopers walking towards Rey’s prison room, etc. But I won’t, as there’s more to get to. Han and Chewie’s introduction was far less ‘grand’ than I imagined it would be… And I liked that. There was no grand lighting and intense, blaring music (at least I don’t recall there being any). It was just like, “You want Han and Chewie? You get Han and Chewie.” And the way C-3PO (human-cyborg relations) ruined the intense scene of Han meeting Leia again was freaking hilarious. The whole ‘I didn’t know if you would recognize me with this new arm’ thingy when Han and Leia were having a moment was classic C-3PO; always blurting something out at the wrong time. As for the things I didn’t like so much about the movie… there wasn’t a TON. A few things here and there left me puzzled. First off: why another Death Star? Call it what you want (Starkiller Base) and say what you want, but it’s still the same idea as a Death Star. It felt lazy and kind of made me roll my eyes a bit. The fact that Rey somehow learned everything that took Luke three entire films to learn in about 30 minutes felt odd. I mean, even if the Force is strong with her… it can’t be that easy to tap into the Force! Kylo had extensive training, and a shot to one of his arms is not even close to a legitimate excuse as to why his butt was kicked by somebody who learned the ways of the Force a few minutes prior. Maybe I’m overthinking this too much? Moving on to the bridge scene…some criticize Abrams for ‘ruining their childhood’ with this scene, but I thought it was done really well. I was about as angry and sad at the same time as I have ever been while watching a movie. I wanted Han to live, but that dream was crushed when he proceeded to fall off the bridge. I can’t help but say that I really wished on his way down when he put his hand on Kylo’s face that he would push Kylo off as well and give that little brat a taste of karma. In all seriousness though, I like the way Kylo was portrayed as a guy with high expectations, lots of fear, and an extremely bad temper.  But, boy, I was definitely cheering Chewie on when he shot down all those troopers out of anger. The destruction of Starkiller Base just seemed too easy, but I was still happy about the end result. Captain Phasma was a complete idiot for allowing them to lower the shields. If she sacrificed herself, she would have allowed her entire army to survive. She didn’t seem that important, other than remembering Finn’s ID (FN-2187). I feel like she may have had a more important role, but most of her scenes may have been cut out of the final edit, but since the character already had a line of costumes and toys, they couldn’t remove the character from the film. Maybe she will have a larger part in the next film. The similarities between TFA and “A New Hope” were nice. Luke’s location inside BB-8 was a reference to R2 holding the secret message. Starkiller base was a reference to the Death Star… And my favorite one: Bringing us back to the argument about a parsec being a measurement of distance, not time! There were many more that I will not be able to get to right now. So…