Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell up to page 130

I'll save all my comments for the end of this summary this time, simply because if I comment now, it wont make any sense. So here's the summary!

Twelve Oaks is bustling with people for the ball and barbecue. Scarlett notices a tall, dark, and powerfully built man staring at her without proper deference and his boldness thrills and shocks her. She learns that he is Rhett Butler, a scandalous man from an aristocratic family in Charleston, South Carolina. Rhett once took a girl out without a chaperon and then refused to marry her, even though he should have married her after such a socially unacceptable ordeal. In defense of his sister’s honor, the girl’s brother challenged Rhett to a duel who ended up killing the brother. Scarlett commands the largest circle of suitors and admirers at the barbeque, including Charles Hamilton. Charles, Melanie’s timid brother, showers Scarlett with awkward attention. He even proposes to her, although he is already Honey Wilkes’s beau. Scarlett hardly hears Charles, fixing her attention on Ashley. Sitting with Melanie, he seems oblivious to Scarlett’s admirers. The talk of war has attracted men young and old, who boast that they will defeat the Yankees in a month or less. Rhett contemptuously interjects that there are no cannon factories in the South, only a few iron foundries, and no naval power to keep the Southern ports open. He claims that the Yankees will prevail easily and excuses himself before the outraged men can respond. After the women and girls go upstairs to take their afternoon naps, Scarlett slips into the dark library to intercept Ashley. When Ashley enters, Scarlett confesses her love. To her dismay, he says that he plans to marry Melanie and tells her that she would come to hate him if they were married because they are too different to make a good match, which reminded me of what she thought of her parent's relationship. Scarlett slaps him out of angst. He walks quietly out of the room and she hurls a bowl at the wall, shattering it. Unfortunately for Scarlett, Rhett has been lying on the couch, and he now he sits up and teases her about her unladylike manner. Furious and humiliated, Scarlett storms out and goes upstairs and overhears Honey jealously telling Melanie that Scarlett is “fast.” To Scarlett’s disgust, Melanie, who can see only the good in people, defends Scarlett. Scarlett runs back downstairs just as news arrives that President Lincoln has called for troops, signaling the start of the Civil War. Charles spots Scarlett and again asks her to marry him. Strange enough, Scarlett says yes to him, except her motivations are only to hurt Ashley and Honey.

This section really surprised me. The last thing I expected to happen at this get together was Scarlett to accept a proposal...from a boy in the family of the girl she has come to hate for stealing her man. I guess her plan to hurt the two is kind of genius and I have to give her credit for her courage in accepting such a proposal. Maybe it just seems so odd to me because of the difference in setting. Like these days, nothing so bizarre would have occurred. Anyways, I can again relate to Scarlett in some ways, since she is so angry and hungry for revenge. I can't say I would have done exactly what she did in the situation though. But I'm interested to see how it plays out!

Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell up to page 76

I still love the book! I know it will only get more interesting from here and Scarlett is such an intriguing character that makes me crave reading more about her. Here's what I've read recently:

Scarlett thinks about the differences between her and her mother's personalities. Her mother is gently and sweet while Scarlett inherited her temperament from Gerald, who fled his unremarkable life in Ireland after killing another man in a feud. Gerald won his first slave, Pork, and his plantation in a poker game. Though lacking good breeding, Gerald won over the neighbors’ hearts with his kindness. Ellen, a placid, serious woman from the aristocratic Robillard family of Savannah, agreed to marry Gerald after the death of her first love, her cousin Philippe. She blamed her family for driving Philippe away from Savannah and from her, and out of frustration and revenge she married the low-class Gerald. Scarlett, the oldest and most strong-willed O’Hara daughter, lacks beauty. Still, she has learned ladylike behavior from Ellen and Mammy and has used her charms to become the most-pursued belle in the neighborhood. That day, Gerald has purchased a slave named Dilcey from Twelve Oaks so that Dilcey can be with Pork, who is her husband. At dinner that night, Dilcey thanks Gerald and offers Prissy, her daughter, to be Scarlett’s personal maid. Ellen returns late from the Slattery’s house. As Ellen leads the nightly prayer, Scarlett concocts a plan to win Ashley from Melanie. She resolves to tell Ashley she loves him at the barbecue. Scarlett overhears Ellen telling Gerald that Jonas Wilkerson, Tara’s Yankee overseer, must be dismissed. Scarlett realizes that Wilkerson was the father of Emmie Slattery’s dead child. On the morning of the Wilkes’s party Scarlett chooses a dress that will show off her seventeen-inch waist. Mammy persuades Scarlett to eat something to discourage an unladylike appetite at the barbecue. Ellen cannot attend the barbeque because she must go over the plantation accounts with Jonas Wilkerson before he leaves Tara. On the road, the O’Haras meet the Tarleton women. Gerald and feisty Mrs. Tarleton talk about horses and the possibility of war. In bed, Scarlett thinks about how she would like to run away with Ashley and how if he knew she loved him and not one of the Tarleton boys, he would leave Melanie. In her opinion, he is only engaged to Melanie to please his family since he thinks he cannot be with Scarlett. She insists she knows he loves her. The chapter ends with a brilliant quote, "she lay in the silvery shadows with courage rising and made the plans that a sixteen-year-old makes when life has been so pleasant that defeat is an impossibility and a pretty dress and a clear complexion are weapons to vanquish fate."

I could really relate to Scarlett in this part, especially with the last quote. It's so typical of a teenage girl, laying in bed dreaming about a crush, believing beauty was all it took to win a boy's heart. And really, the better and easier life is the harder it is to accept tragedies. But is it true that beauty is all it takes? Even more so after reading this, I don't think it is. I think we (girls) have the misconception that guys really only like pretty girls. And as helpful as being pretty may be to draw the boys in and encourage them to talk to us, how do you build a friendship off of beauty? You don't. I really like how the dress and clear skin were described as weapons...it makes it seem as though Scarlett is at war, possibly a microcosm of the Civil War going on around her that she refuses to take part of? I really like how much this book makes me realize!

Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell up to page 41

I started to read the book Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell because a friend recommended it to me based on the reading I said I liked. I have to admit, I'm impressed at the person's ability to pick out books I'd like! Here's a short summary of what I've enjoyed recently:

Scarlett O’Hara, a charming young woman is on the front porch of Tara, her father’s plantation in northern Georgia, in April 1861. She's with the twin brothers Brent and Stuart Tarleton who proudly inform Scarlett of their recent expulsion from school and how their brothers also left the school because they could not go somewhere that did not accept their brothers. They also discuss the rumors that a war will soon break out between the North and the South. Scarlett changes the subject to the next day’s barbecue and ball at the Twelve Oaks plantation. The gossip continues and Brent and Stuart tell her that Ashley Wilkes, the son of the proprietor of Twelve Oaks, will announce his engagement to Melanie Hamilton, his cousin, at the ball. They don't just tell her this though, she has to promise to give them all the dances and sit with them at the meals at the ball and barbecue if they tell her the information. Scarlett, who wants Ashley for herself, tries to act normally but cannot maintain her vivaciousness. The twins leave, baffled by Scarlett’s sudden silence. They think that maybe she has just come down with a headache and ask their slave if he heard them say anything that might have offended her. Distressed by the news of Ashley’s engagement, Scarlett hurries to the road to wait for her father, who was visiting at Twelve Oaks. After Scarlett probes for a while, Gerald confirms that Ashley plans to marry Melanie. He warns Scarlett that she and Ashley would make a terrible match. Gerald says the Wilkeses are too interested in music and poetry, and though Ashley excels at masculine pursuits like riding and shooting, his heart is not in them. He says she should not tell her mother about this either because she does not need to be worried with heartbreak nonsense. On the porch, Scarlett and her father encounter Ellen, who is rushing out to help baptize Emmie Slattery’s dying newborn. Mammy, an old slave who has been with Ellen since childhood, and Gerald do not think Ellen should help Emmie, whose “white trash” family lives adjacent to the O’Hara plantation. As Scarlett and her dad walk back up the steps, she wonders how her parents ended up together since her dad is so loud and insensitive.

I think it's quite obvious now that I really like books about girls around my age that I can relate to. Teenage love drama? That's what really interests me. Not because I'm obsessed with romance novels, but because I'm going through the same things, or at least observing them happen to friends. And the more I read about a situation outside my friend circle, the more ridiculous it all seems that we spend our teenage years so consumed with our feelings that we don't even know are real. Idk. That's just my two cents for the day. I'll post more later :)

A Really Awkward Story

Similar to an awkward facebook experience I read about on the blog MonkeySquirel, I too have had the unfortunately awkward situation of deleting a facebook friend. In my case, however, I was the one who deleted the friend. I met this friend at another friends get together one day and we got along great! We had similar personalities and were friends by association (friends of friends) so I had no problem adding this person as a friend on facebook after I got home. Unfortunately the friendship was short lived...This person alwayssss commented on everything on my wall. statuses, posts, pictures, you name it. I was getting really annoyed with the constant involvement in my life and to add on to the annoyingness (yes, I am aware it is not a word, but I can't find another way to describe the feelings I felt) the person was constantly asking me to hang out! It was sooo obnoxious especially because I angered the person whenever I was unavailable! So I had no choice to defriend the person, and block the person so that I could simply say "I deleted my facebook" and lose almost all cyber connections with this person. It seemed like the easiest solution for both of us. Am I crazy for acting this way??

Reading Totals

Since the beginning of this semester I've read...
705 pages of popular fiction!
168 pages of Everything is Illuminates
428 pages of Memoirs of a Geisha
35 pages Ladies of Grace Adieu
74 pages of Icy Sparks

For My Personal Post...

Yes, another personal post. I kind of almost dread these, much more so than the reading, because it takes much more effort and thought to find something important enough to put on a blog and call it a personal post. So I guess I could post some of the things I've stumbled upon recently. Seriously, if you haven't tried stumbling yet, you're missing out!

Pretty awesome game...I've only got past level 1! Try to change the whole board to the same color by clicking different colors on the side. When you click a color, red for example, it turns the first square red, and you can match that first corner square to surrounding colors and repeat to cover the whole board with one color in less than thirty turns. So hard!
http://www.flashbynight.com/drench/

For those of you looking for an artsy thing to do in your spare time, these bracelets look super cool to make. Im definitely putting them on my list of things to make!
http://www.etsy.com/storque/how-to/how-tuesday-sailors-knot-bracelets-9314/

All the Pretty Horses Prompts

My favorite prompt is Over and Out's character prompt:
What is McCarthy trying to say by having Blevins die and Rawlins return home?

I like this prompt because it brings up a good point about what the author did...Is there a legitimate reason Rawlins was able to leave Mexico alive while Blevins was killed? I think so. In my opinion, Blevins was the hero wannabe. He wanted to be the typical cowboy that runs away from home and lives an adventurous lifestyle. Rawlins, on the other hand, was the bad guy, who insulted Blevins and who cared only for his own well-being. In Mexico, the good guy doesn't always win because rules do not matter as much to the people. Blevins death and Rawlins leaving shows that the bad guys survive the hardships while the good guys are killed off. Also, by having the bad guy return home, it shows that the bad guys really aren't that tough and mean, and when faced with a problem or possible death they run away from the situation. This prompt would be good for evaluating one of the major themes in the novel.

Icy Sparks to page 74

Icy Sparks by Gwyn Hyman Rubio has started out to be a really great book. It's told in retrospect and starts out when Icy turns ten. Her eyes are very itchy about a week after her birthday and suddenly pop out of her head. Everyone says she has frog eyes and she is teased constantly. This struck me as interesting because the novel starts with Icy saying to her mother the hairs above her lip are turning gray. In response to this, her grandma says calling to people's flaws isn't nice. This event foreshadows into the conflict in the story, Icy's bulgiing eyes. There's a boy who also has bulging eyes like her and is teased who has a crush on her. She doesn't seem to fond of the idea of boys yet. Also, she is convinced her teacher, Mrs. Stilton, dislikes her. But toward the end of chapter 6, where I stopped, Mrs. Stilton tells the children she has a surprise for them for Halloween. While she is getting them the surprise, Icy turns to her friend and says "It's probably some poison." She proceeds to lists a bunch of nasty things it could be and her friend tells her she is a liar and wants her to be quiet. Mrs. Stilton brings out a cake, and no one ends up sick or poisoned. Icy claims Mrs. Stilton had cast her spell with that cake, because afterward her friend would not speak with her. On the bus ride home, she talks badly about Icy, and how she thinks she is sooo smart, and the teacher sees right through her which is why she hates the teacher. The whole bus and even her whole class turns agaisnt her, even the boy that once had a crush on her. Her class starts to ignore her, and she feels as though she has lost her identity as she can no longer share humor with her classmates while making fun of the teacher.

It's really a sad and moving story about this girl's life as she is teased and ridiculed by her peers, but remains strong through it all. Im excited to keep reading what else she will endure and to see if life will treat her better.

The Ladies of Grace Adieu...up to page 35 and the end of the first tale

Yes, its only been about 6 pages. But I realized it was the end of the first tale. I guess those three women, Mrs. Field, Cassandra and Miss Tobias are also magicians. Which is kind of unheard of in those days I guess...The home in which Miss Tobias is a governess is said to be haunted, by owls, and Im a little confused on this whole concept of magic and witch craft. Like when Miss Tobias was talking to the two men with the owl on her shoulder and they like disappeared and the owls had something in their mouths, was that the men? I was very very very confused at what was going on, and to be honest a little weirded out. It was pretty cool i guess but not really my first choice of reading. For that reason, I've decided to stop reading the book. I guess magic really isn't my genre of reading :/ But I'll start a new book soon enough!

The Ladies of Grace Adieu by Susanna Clarke

I started reading the first 29 pages of this novel. And I have to admit, it is quite interesting. Unlike the last book I read, this book is more ficticious, since it talks about magic and about women who i presume to be from the 17th century. The book begins with a background about the importance of magic. I really loved one of the first few lines, "our magic comes from the dark and dreaming heart." I think Clarke did an excellent job of starting the novel, as well as making a good story. The book is separated into different sections about certain things. The book talks about a Mr. Field, his niece Cassandra, Mrs. Field his new wife and Miss Tobias a governess. It also mentions in another section Mr. Strange and Mr. Norrell, two practicing magicians. Strangely the characters are almost all inter connected. Im really interested to see where the inter connected leaders will take me, and what effect it will have later on in the book!

What Would Teens Do?

Today I read an article about a study conducted on teenagers, found at this website:
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/03/teenagers-friends-and-bad-decisions/?src=me&ref=general

The study conducted tried to evaluate the effects of peer pressure on teenagers. In the study, 14 young teenagers, 14 college students and 12 young adults were asked to play a video driving game four different times while in an MRI scanner. The players were given cash prizes for completing the game at faster times, and for two of the four trials were told friends that accompanied them to the study were watching them play. The study showed that among adults and college students, there were no major differences in risk taking, regardless of whether friends were watching. However, the young teenagers ran about 40 percent more yellow lights and had 60 percent more crashes when they knew their friends were watching. The regions of the brain associated with reward showed greater activity when they were playing in view of their friends. This shows that peer pressure has an effect on brain signals involving risk and reward and young people are more likely to misbehave and take risks when their friends are watching. I think this was a very beneficial study, and I hope more teens will realize how dangerous it is to show off in front of your friends!

For My Personal Post...

I decided to share a website I found!

http://www.flowers2mail.com/

I stumbled upon this and decided it was one of the most clever things ever! I've been sending bouquets to everyone after I found out how easy to use this website is. Plus its a lot cheaper than buying real flowers :)

All the Pretty Horses to the end of Part III

This past section of reading was quite violent and fulfilled my expectations of a Mexican prison. John and Rawlins are still in prison, and get in many fights with the other prisoners. The guards don't seem to care if the prisoners get into fight, either because they don't want to get hurt themselves or don't think the prisoners deserved to be helped. The other prisoners also seem to have many problems with John and Rawlins, probably because they are American. After Rawlins gets stabbed I was almost sure he was turned away from the concept of staying in Mexico. When the two are bailed out by their ranch friends, Rawlins decides to go home while John Grady decides to stay in Mexico.

I can't really understand why John Grady thinks he'll be better off in Mexico at this point. Hasn't he seen enough troublesome events? I feel like after seeing a friend be murdered and enduring prison, he'd be extremely tempted to go back to the safety of home, no matter how much he thinks he'll be miserable. I hope John Grady changes his mind and goes back home before he gets into trouble like Blevins...

Memoirs of a Geisha up to pg. 428...(The End)

Finishing up the novel, I was extremely satisfied with the brilliant end to a fascinating story. The Chairman meets Sayuri at the teahouse back in Gion, and talks to her about he has always known she was the girl he had cheered up so many years ago. He says he arranged for Mameha to become her older sister and that he had always planned to become her danna. However, when Nobu fell for her he felt he had to give her up since life had treated Nobu so badly and Nobu had saved the Chairman's company. After seeing Sayuri with the Minister though and having Pumpkin tell him that she was really supposed to bring Nobu to the place, he figured out that she was trying to stop Nobu from becoming her danna. Therefore, he decided to tell Nobu about what he had seen. When Nobu had reacted angrily, he decided Nobu was not fit to be her destiny. The Chairman proposes himself as her danna and has her resign as a geisha so that Nobu will never know that Sayuri is his mistress. The Chairman takes Sayuri to the United States several times and eventually Sayuri ends up moving there and opening her own teahouse. She cuts ties with Mother, who pays back every Yen she owes to Sayuri. When the Chairman dies, Sayuri comes to understand "the world is no more permanent than a wave rising on the ocean."

This was by far my favorite quote in the book. It gave me the same realization about life that Sayuri reached and it made the book leave so much more of an impression on me. I'd definitely recommend this book to anyone looking for a great read!

Memoirs of a Geisha up to pg. 404

As always, a lot has happened in these last 50 pages. Since the last post, Sayuri wrote to Mother about returning to Gion. Soon after, Auntie comes to the house and brings Sayuri back to Gion. Once she is back, Mother reopens the okiya and the three must clean up the place since it has become dusty since they have lived there. When Sayuri goes to visit Mameha, Mameha tells her that English will get her farther than dance these days because of all the American soldiers visiting Gion. Sayuri prepares herself for her first appearance back as a geisha and goes to entertain Nobu and the Minister at the teahouse. The Minister turns out to be a very boring person, who only grunts for responses. He drinks non stop and eventually throws up out of the window of the room in the teahouse. He makes such a fool of himself that night with his drunken stupor, Sayuri is sure he is not having a good time. Nobu really dislikes the man but must obey his orders. To their suprise, the Minister requests Sayuri's present again after this awful meeting. Sayuri tells Nobu he should bring the Chairman, mostly because she wants to see him more, and she says she will also bring more geisha the next time. When she tells Mameha of this, Mameha says she should also invite Pumpkin, who Sayuri hasn't seen in a very long time. Apparently, Mother did not allow Pumpkin to move back into the okiya after the war so she had to move into a "sad little okiya" as Auntie put it. Sayuri goes out and finds her and invites her to the meeting with Iwamura Electric. Pumpkin does not believe her presence is wanted and is somewhat rude to Sayuri. Nevertheless, she turns up at the party which turns out to be fun and exciting because of her presence. The geisha are invited back for more parties with the men throughout the winter and following spring. After a while though, Sayuri's presence is requested to entertain Nobu and the Minister, shortly after her arrival the Minister gets very drunk and Nobu orders him to go home. Nobu and Sayuri stay at the teahouse though, and Nobu tells her that the Minister inquired to become her danna that night and since the mistress of the teahouse said it could not be arranged he asked if he could have one night alone with Sayrui, which is why Nobu was so angry with him. Nobu was mad that the Minister only wanted to use Sayuri and thought he had a chance when her when men like Nobu actually had feelings for her. Then Sayuri and Nobu get into a fight. Nobu says he would never want to see Sayuri again if she had chosen to go through with spending the night with the Minister (I think you can guess what that implies). After Sayuri lies and says she would not do such a thing, Nobu tells her to bring the rock he gave her when he told her to come back to Gion, which is a symbol meaning he will propose himself as her danna. Sayuri does not want to give him back the rock, because she does not want him to become her danna since it will ruin her chances with the Chairman. She tries to do what she is told though and when she returns to the okiya tries to get Auntie to stop her from going back to the teahouse to avoid Nobu. Auntie makes her go back though and Nobu tells Sayuri that "things are possible now that were not before." Afterwards, Mother tells Sayuri that Iwamura Electric is taking the usual dinner group to Amami, an island, for the weekend. During her first airplane ride, Sayuri comes up with a devious plan to make Nobu not want to be her danna anymore. She decides Nobu must walk in on her and the Minister which will make him hate her. She has to force herself to do this though because she does not believe she is strong enough to break his trust. She lures the Minister to an abandoned place though, and beforehand instructs Pumpkin to bring Nobu to the place, and specifically says to make sure the Chairman stays away. Pumpkin responds to this in a somewhat rude way but Sayuri believes she will do what was asked. As Sayuri has succeeded in seducing the Minister, she sees Pumpkin with....the Chairman. Uh oh right? I can only imagine what is racing through Sayuri's mind.

As stunned as I was at the end of this section, I guess I should have seen it coming. Sayuri had taken Pumpkin's place as adopted daughter of the okiya. And Hatsumomo and Mameha's bitter rivalry only made the situation worse. I feel so bad for Sayuri, because in doing something wrong to try to save herself from a destiny she does not want, she may have diminished her chances at being with the man she has loved all along. I hope she can explain herself to the Chairman, because I really do believe he is her destiny.

Memoirs of a Geisha up to pg. 356

These last 20 pages or so have been more exciting than I had expected them to be. The tensions of World War II are heightening in Japan. Since Sayuri's danna is General Tottori, their okiya is able to keep some of the items the government has prohibited due to the war effort. However, this ends quickly after the General is taken into custody for abusing his powers and the okiya is stripped of their prized possessions. Things continue to get worse when the government announces the closing of geisha districts. All the geisha stress over finding a way to get out of working in a factory and go to all the men in power they are acquainted with to try to find help. Sayuri goes to the General who is staying at an inn, but he says he doesn't have enough power to help her. Sayuri goes back to Mameha, who's relationship with the Baron ended months earlier, and asks what to do. Mameha says the Baron refuses to help her, and warns Sayuri to find someone quickly. That evening, Sayuri goes to a teahouse for farewell parties, and is led into a room where only Nobu sits. They talk for a while and Nobu says he has found a way to save Sayuri from the factories. She will go to Arashino Isamu's home, and make parachutes with his family. Mr. Arashino used to be a famous kimono maker, but the government ordered him now to make parachutes. During her stay with the family, they treat her very kindly. Sayuri has plenty of time to think though and realizes the problem with what she has expected her destiny to be. She realizes she will probably never see her sister again, and her life may never lead her to the Chairman as she had hoped. Afterwards, the war ends, and Sayuri describes not only the physical destruction of her country, but also the mental destruction. She then points out, though, that in the spring after the war they realized they would overcome the ordeal of defeat, and life starts to return to normal. Mr. Arashino is encouraged to start making kimono again and Sayuri helps out. Soon enough, Nobu visits her and instructs her to get in touch with Mother to have her come back to Gion since the geisha districts were reopened. Nobu also says he will soon be Sayuri's danna, but she has to help him impress the Minister of Finance so that his company can survive and he can afford to be her danna. Nobu also scowls at her peasant appearance, but she promises to return to Gion ASAP.

I don't think I've come across an uneventful section of this novel yet. Sayuri's life is so full of adventure and events. This section was also more meaningful because it contained a perspective of World War II from a woman in Japan. In US History, we've been studying World War II, and I feel like this section was a good addition to what I've learned recently since we mostly studied the American side of the war. Anyways, I also enjoy how prominent Nobu has been in the book. Sayuri mentions in this section that maybe her destiny wasn't meant to be with the Chairman as she had hoped, but with someone who had always been there, just in her "side view." She had never expected this person to be her true destiny, and had avoided the signs that pointed to him because they seemed unfavorable. Sayuri realizes Nobu may be the man she is destined to be with, and I'm beginning to agree with her.

All the Pretty Horses up to pg.180

As exciting as the last few sections have been, I definitely think this was a turning point in the novel. John Grady and Alejandra’s relationship abruptly and unfortunately ends because Alejandra leaves to go to France. The story becomes even more disheartening and serious when John Grady and Rawlins are arrested. They are taken out to the town where Blevins took back his horse and are reunited with Blevins, who was also captured. The police captain doesn’t believe anything Rawlins and John Grady tell him about Blevins, so the two are helpless in saving Blevins and possibly their own lives. Blevins is in prison for killing a few people, something I would never have expected from him since he is so childish and inexperienced. According to Mexican law, there can be no executions as punishments for crimes which you would expect to be beneficial for Blevins. However, the captain agrees to take revenge for the brother of a man Blevins killed. The three men are taken out to an abandoned place where Blevins is murdered. During the event, I was shocked at how Rawlins had tears in his eyes. I didn't know he was capable of feeling bad for Blevins after the way he treated the poor kid. I also feel bad that the two men could do nothing to save Blevins. I wished that the three would be reunited, but I didn't think it would be like this. I don't know that I will be enthusiastic to keep reading the book since I really have nothing to hope for. But that's not really up to me I guess :/