millionlittlepieces

Person A:
The main character is James. James has many issues. He appers to have a carefree presonality, even though he really does care. He wants to get better though he comes across that he really doesn't care. James backround is that he has been drinking since he was 10, and doing all kinds of drugs since he 12. He uses every day and drinks as much as he can everyday. He starts off on a airplane not knowing where he is going. We are drawn to him because he is really the only character this book is focusing on. His story is very interesting so far. Roy is a character that we don't like. He is supposed to be helping the patients through this rough time in their life and he is not treating them nicely. When he told James to clean the bathrooms better, Roy started screaming at him, and cursing. James gets upset and tackles Roy. Roy blames everything on James, even though Roy started it.

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5). "I sit alone at a table. It's dark and I don't know where I am or how I got here. There are bottles of liquor and wine everywhere and on the table in front of me is a large pile of white cocaine and a huge bag of yellow crack"(46).=====

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On the first week of book club, we discussed about the different aspects of James and his personality. His personality is very carefree and he has a lot of issues that began at a very young age, which led him to be crazy, which got him to the rehabilitation center. Other than the interesting character James, we didn’t like as much, Roy, who acts nice, but in reality, is just a jerk that doesn’t care about anyone but himself. They both have short tempers, which lead them to bullying each other and being abusive.=====

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The questions we discussed were mostly about his parents and how he shows no affection for them. He doesn’t say I love you to them or to anyone for that matter. Also, the fact that he was destroying his life and the people that care about him, because he was hurting himself, which hurt them. We also discussed about the fact that there are many rules in that place, like how the women weren’t allowed to talk to the men. We thought that the rule was fair, but yet unfair, because they do need to focus on getting better, because that is what they are there for, but they should be allowed to talk to other people and their experiences of how they got to this place and what other people have been through in their lives.=====

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So far the book is hard to read. The book is conversational, rather than classic, because there are more conversations that go on in the book, than summaries of what is going on. They use a lot of language that we used today, as young adults, but there are a lot of curses that are said throughout the book, especially by the main character, James. We think that this book is for adults, but young adults could read it if desired, even though it might be a little bit difficult to understand.=====

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I walk past Roy and I walk out of the room and I go to the Upper Level of the Unit and I drink a cup of coffee and I smoke and I smoke a couple of cigarettes and the nictotine and the caffine feel good inside of me. They speed up my heart, slow down my brain, settle my hands, and jump start my feet. (98) =====

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“I finish dressing and I leave John with his memories and the Bald Man and I go to the Supply Closet and I get a mop and a bucket and a bottle of cleaner and some paper towels and I make my way to the Group Toilets. Although I don’t want to clean them, I am still here and while I’m here I will live up to my responsibilities.”(119 James) =====

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I wake up and I go to the Bathroom and I take a shower and I wash my hair and I brush my teeth and shave. I am waiting to get sick, but I don’t. As I walk out the bathroom, I stop and stare at the toilet. The toilet has been my friend and my enemy every morning as long as I can remember.” (144) =====

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This week in reading workshop, we talked about the book //A Million Little Pieces.// This book is about the struggles and adventures that a man goes through while he is in rehab. We talked about James and his feelings about being in rehab. James doesn't have a positive attitude towards rehab. The one thing that makes him feel better is when his friends come and visit him. Doctor Baker and James had a talk and Doctor Baker told James that if he left he would die. Also we talked about why James doesn't show affection towards his parent/family. We thought that he didn't show affection to his parents because he thinks that he is a disappoinment to them. He wants to seperate himself from them to subside the pain from his parents. I think that this is an adult book but is you are younger and you choose to read it, then you may do so. I can't wait to read more this week!=====

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In the book, “__A Million Little Pieces__”, we think that the theme could be depression. The book’s theme is depression because if it were written any other way you wouldn’t get the full effect. Willingness is the main theme because it shows that you have to fight and to never give up. He goes through many struggles but for every one he bits his lip and goes through the pain. The examples that back up the claim is that he is in rehab. Even though he was kind of forced to go to rehab but he stilled had the right to say no, he sucked it up and went to rehab knowing what was going to happen.=====

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2) “The hair on the back of my neck is standing and the hair on my arms is standing and my heart is thudding and my ears are ringing and it’s louder and more intense with each step. I want it to stop. I’m scared. Poor child.” (181)=====

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3) “You’re the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. Your hair, your eyes, your lips, your body that you haven’t grown into, the way you walk, smile, laugh, the way your cheeks drop when you’re mad or upset, the way you drag your feet when you’re tired. Every single thing about you is beautiful.” (186)=====

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4) “I wake shaking and shaken. I know I was dreaming, but it doesn’t matter. The liquor was real. The crack was real. The ghosts were real and the dealers were real. It was all real. I am shaking and shaken.” (219)=====

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5. What is the reason you think he like Leonard so much even though they told him not to be friends. =====

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For this week of book club, my group and I discussed any important things about "Million Little Pieces". Fist, we talked about the mood. The mood is very sad and depressing. The main character James is going through a tough time in rehab and is going through a roller coaster of emotions. Which also leads James to make friends that is not always good for him to get better. Like, the policy at the clinic's policy is that males must not get involved with females. But, James has already broken that rule. He also has friends that support him, but the supervisors don't believe so. So far, james has had some improvement, but his attitude towards it is not good, so he is not getting as much out of it then he should be. But, he did stop vomiting every day. Finally, we talked about the title and what could it possibly mean within the book. Our book club this week was very productive & we got a lot out of it. =====

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Some images used in the book are used when we has his withdrawal symptoms. Or like when the doctor reset his nose. The book is described very gory. The images represent how is falling apart in "million little pieces". He is a mess and he is described in the book how he overcomes being an ex-addict. These images represent his steps to getting better & before, while he was an addict. The images the author portrays are very graphic. He gives depressing & scary images because it is a depressing book not a happy one.=====

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Person D: We talked about images that a used in the book. We thought some were his withdrawl symptoms. The book is described very gory. The images represent how is falling apart in "million little pieces". He is a mess and he is described in the book how he overcomes being an ex-addict. So far, we are not a fan of this book. The story is good, but it is a very hard read.=====

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No, we would not recommend this because to people our age it might be difficult to read and very advanced to 14 and 15 year old people. I think adults would enjoy this book. The topic has not been expressed to our knowlegde a better way. We liked the story, we just thought it was confusing. We think this book should be part of school cirriculum for junior and senior classes. It shows the bad effects of addiction and how it ruins their lives. James stated how he did drugs from a long time, al through high school, and it ruined his life. Juniors and seniors are about to leave the high school scene, and this book might show them the drugs and alcohol are something they shouldn't do.=====

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On the final week of book club, we discussed whether or not it is a good book to recommend to someone. Three out of the four of us agreed that it shouldn’t be a book that kids our age should read. We all enjoyed the story line, but found parts of the book boring, too graphic, and some parts were just too confusing to understand what was going on. This book would be better off being read, by older kids around the age of seventeen of eighteen.=====