Review: An Abundance of Katherines

I just finished reading the book An Abundance of Katherines. It was about Colin Singleton, a child prodigy who learned to read after age two. He had dated nineteen girls in his lifetime, all named Katherine and all had dumped him. He had just been dumped by Katherine XIX, and was a pathetic heartbroken mess, lying on his bedroom floor. His best (and only) friend Hassan decided to intervene and take him on a road trip. After several days, however, they stop in Gutshot, Tennessee, to visit the grave of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, and decide to stay in Gutshot for a while. They meet Lindsey Lee Wells, the daughter of a woman who owns a tampon string factory. In Gutshot, Colin and Hassan work for Hollis, the factory owner, and soon develop a bond with Linsey and her friends.

I was fairly impressed with this book. The way that it was written really shows the author's voice, and you can hear the sarcasm, or humor, or whatever emotion that John Green is trying to portray in this book. This can be shown even in the footnotes, "Like a smart monkey, Colin possessed an extensive vocabulary, but very little grammar. Also, he didn't know dead was pronounced ded. Forgive him. He was two." (Green 17).

I really enjoyed this book, and I think you would too, if you enjoyed humor and have a high tolerance for anagrams and ridiculously long math formulas (which I don't, but everything else was good). I would give it a solid 9/10.

Krista Ramsey Column: "Locking Into the Magic of Legos"

This column article is about the strange infatuation that kids have with Legos, even today, when video games and electronic devices are more popular.

Hyperlink: http://www.cincinnati.com/story/opinion/columnists/krista-ramsey/2014/02/15/krista-locking-into-the-magic-of-legos/5521245/

"The first time a kid constructs a new set, he'll sit on the floor, contents before him, and pore over the instruction booklet spread out before him" (Ramsey). This line is very well-written because it describes the concentration that a small child has when playing with Legos. The diction and syntax in this line implies that the child is completely focused and immersed in the toy, and builds the blocks with determination, as he "pores over the instruction booklet spread out before him."

Ramsey's writing style seems to be trying to relate to something that we have all observed before, whether it is a teenager hunched over a phone, people dressing more casually than is appropriate, or a small child playing with Legos, it is an image that most people are accustomed to seeing, and will help the people understand the article better. For example, in her article about cell phones and eyesight: "You see it all the time. Your teenager at the dinner table, waiting for his checkup at the orthodontist’s office, sauntering to his car – continually hunched over his smartphone or iPad" (Ramsey). Ramsey purposefully puts the familiar image in our heads to make her article more relatable. Or, in her article about dressing up: "It’s a hopeful sign in a nation that now accepts flip-flops and jeans as appropriate wear for weddings, graduations, awards banquets and funerals. At work, “Casual Fridays” have morphed into sundresses and golf shirts every day. And almost no one dresses up any more for things that were once considered something of an event – dinner at a nice restaurant, religious services, plane flights" (Ramsey). Most people have seen someone, or have been guilty of dressing way too casually for any sort of event, and the author puts that image in our minds to make her point. This can also be seen in her article about Legos: "Then feet will pad up the basement stairs to show parents what's been created. And they'll pad right back down to tear it apart and move on to freestyle" (Ramsey). Many people are familiar with the way that small children play with Legos, and the processes the go through when recieving a new set. This serves as proof that Legos, at this time period, are still very popular.

If I were to meet Krista Ramsey, I would ask her these three questions: Have you always wanted to be a writer? Are there any components of an article that you always include? How was your high school experience?

Characters: An Abundance of Katherines

An Abundance of Katherines, by John Green, is about a guy named Colin Singleton, who had dated nineteen Katherines and had just been dumped by Katherine XIX. He is a supposed genius, who learned to read when he was two years old and enjoys making anagrams out of sentences, phrases, and words.

I haven't gotten very far in the book, but so far, Colin seems to be aware of his own genius, however, his parents made him stay in "normal school", so he wouldn' become so socially incompetent, such as, say, Sheldon Cooper of The Big Bang Theory. But, unfortunately for him, he was bullied relentlessly, because he had different iterests from his classmates.

Regardless of however many years he spent in school, Colin still seems to be oblivious of the supposed social borderlines and limits on what he can and cannot say. He doesn't seem to be particularly interested in making friends, either, because as of page 23, he had clearly stated that he was only interested in people named Katherine, his parents, and his best friend Hassan. "But they never spoke, because Colin had given up on pursuing inividuals not named Katherine. He hated almost all of the students at Kalman, which was just as well, since by and large they hated him back" (Green 23).

Hopefully, as the book progresses, Colin will begin to come out of his shell and develop awareness for the people and experiemces around him.