Park and Eleanor (entry 2)

                I have noticed throughout my novel that Park and Eleanor are both very complex characters and reach depths that I have not seen in other books. I have seen this especially throughout Eleanor’s personality. Because she has such a troubled home life Eleanor is very emotional and a deep thinker about practically everything she does. I am seeing that she looks up to Park and wants to be like him because through her eyes he is perfect, wealthy, kind, and warm hearted. She wants to be like Park and have everything he has. She wants to live in a big house, have fancy clothes and lots of friends. This is probably why she craves to be around him so much. In the novel it always describes that the moments on the bus that she is around him are the best moments of her life, this shows how bad her life really is. On the switch side I am seeing that Park has the same feelings about Eleanor always wanting to be with her. He likes her because she is different and isn’t afraid to show her true colors to people. I like the way the book is structured because every chapter it changes back and forth from Park and Eleanor’s point of view. I like this because I know what each of the characters are thinking about one another. I am noticing some themes that are starting to develop. One of which is if you are around positive people you will have a positive outlook. Parks joyful attitude is clearly feeding off to Eleanor and she is now not worrying so much about her messed up family and focusing on more of the positives of life and trying to be happy.   

Park and Eleanor (entry 1)

I am about halfway through my novel Park and Eleanor. So far the book is very different than anything I have read and I am enjoying it.  The main characters are Park and Eleanor.  The book takes place in the 1980s in Ohama. I liked the way that the book drew me in because of its unique setting. This time period has always fascinated me. The novel had a slow start but I became more intrigued when I started reading about Eleanor’s troubled life.  I learned shortly after chapter 6 that no matter what, she was a strong individual. It seemed she had always been this way. Even if she wasn’t a new student; spending a year couch surfing followed by being thrown out by her odious drunkard of a stepfather, Richie. I’ve noticed that Eleanor’s troubled home life is the major conflict throughout the book so far. She has to reach through tough times and bullying at home and school and become her own person.  Luckily, Park helps her get through these hard times. On her first day of school he offered a seat on the bus next to him even though he knew she was “different.” The first few weeks they ignored each other but after a while Park started to admire Eleanor’s unique mannerisms. He started looking at her every day until she noticed. I made the connection to this particular part of the book to the Fault in our Stars by John Green. Augustus did the same thing to Hazel in a church support group. He admired her so he gave her attention by staring at her for a long period of time. After reading both parts of each novel I noticed that this was a good strategy and worked. I started to wonder if they are going to start to fall in love just like Hazel and Augustus did. I am now in a place in my book that Park and Eleanor are sharing recoding cassette tapes and reading comics together on the bus. This shows how their relationship is escalating just like it did in the other novel.