- Jul 2019
-
static1.squarespace.com static1.squarespace.com
-
So I decided to write to you. I’m going to write in the paper animals I made for you that you used to like so much
This has to be one of the sweetest things I have ever heard. The ingenuity his mom had to write in those animals and deepen the bond the kid has to them is heart warming.
-
By the time an ambulance finally carried her in, the cancer had spread far beyond the limits of surgery.
I saw this coming as soon as the previous paragraph. Cancer really is the silent killer and it's a shame we don't know more about it considering how many loved ones are lost each year. I lost an aunt I was extremely close with to cancer, only took cancer a few years to infiltrate, remiss, and come back twice as worse before she couldn't fight back anymore.
-
Mom finally stopped making the animals when I was in high school. By then her English was much better, but I was already at that age when I wasn’t interested in what she had to say whatever language she used.
Typical mom and teenage son relationship. At least the main character had that going for him in terms of normality in American society, No?
-
“We should eat American food.”
A lot of immigrant families try to eat more American foods to better custom their families to our society which is funny considering American society is just a big melting pot of other nationalities. Almost all typical American food can trace its roots back to another culture.
-
“Here’s your stupid cheap Chinese garbage.”
Main character should have asked for a Jar Jar Binks paper figure to quote "HOW RUDE!"
-
Mark punched me, hard. “This was very expensive! You can’t even find it in the stores now. It probably cost more than what your Dad paid for your Mom!”
I wouldn't imagine kids old enough to realize what was going on between his Mom and Dad, that is unless the surrounding neighborhood was talking about it behind their backs and talked to their kids about it, either way its a shame.
-
“Xiao laohu,” I said, and stopped. I switched to English. “This is Tiger.” Cautiously, Laohu strode up and purred at Mark, sniffing his hands.
It's amazing how much detail the author puts into Laohu;s actions, reactions, and words. It really makes you feel that it was alive as much as you and I would be. Great story telling.
-
Mark, one of the neighbourhood boys, came over with his Star Wars action figures.
Most recent generations can trace back at least part of their childhood to something Star Wars related. It's something most people can relate to that is also of the Sci-Fi topic.
-
-
drive.google.com drive.google.com
-
I practiced Heptapod B at every opportunity, both with the other linguists andby myself. The novelty of reading a semasiographic language made it compelling ina way that Heptapod A wasn’t
I wonder how similar these two languages actually are. If it's like comparing American to British English, Korean to Chinese, or even very different like Celtic to Sanskrit? Makes you think twice about how many different languages we speak just on this planet alone.
-
Calculus for us; elementary tothem.
Very few renditions of aliens include intelligence rated at or lower than that of humans. We must not think very highly of ourselves.
-
Inoptics,whereFermat’sPrincipleapplies,timeistheattributethathastobeanextreme. Inmechanics,it’sadifferentattribute.In electromagnetism, it’s something else again. But all these principles are similarmathematically.”
This is what got me through Physics 1250 and 1251, being able to correlate all basic principles and relate between them. Glad to know I'm not the only one, even if this is fiction.
-
“IthoughtlearningHeptapodBmightbemorelikelearningmathematicsthan trying to speak another language, but it’s not. It’s too foreign for me.”
Language and Math come very differently to me as well which is odd to think about considering both come from the same side of the brain. Anyone else prefer one over the other or are strong at both?
-
I had reached the pointwhere it worked better when I didn’t think about it too much.
As is life.
-
“That’s right; the notion of a ‘fastest path’ is meaninglessunlessthere’sadestinationspecified
The Heptapods seem very basic in this nature, with their language being compared to GPS directions and the fastest most direct route is often the one that people relate with as any other alternative would waste time, money, or energy making it less desirable.
-
There’saJokethatIonceheardacomediennetell. Itgoeslikethis: “I’mnotsureif I’m ready to have children. I asked a iend of mine who has children, ‘Suppose Idohavekids. Whatifwhentheygrowup,theyblamemeforeverythingthat’swrongwith their lives?’ She laughed and said, ‘What do you mean, if?’”
I don't know why but this reminded me of Seinfeld
-
nitrogen,argon,and oxygen; and fieen twenty-eighths of the planet’s surface was covered by water.
Along the same lines of Earth, no wonder the Heptapods decided to investigate here. We have the same curiosity towards Kepler 438b.
-
VCR
Seems odd that a world with aliens would include dated technology, even for the year 2000.
-