After finishing the novel

Re-read the beginning of your log. Are your first impressions given new meaning ?

My first impressions were quite different from the "reality". When I saw the cover I was thinking that the story would be abaut skating. Of course it was abaut skating, but not as much as I expected. And i don´t like Sam anymore. I think he´s an idiot. He doesn´t care abaut anything but him. I was really dissapointed of him, when he breaked up, whithout telling Alica, but when he run to Hastings leaving Alica alone with all her sorrows, I was so angry with him.

Who would you recommend the boook ?

I would recommend the book someone who has too much time. It´s better than sitting in front of the TV. And it´s ideal for a person who is learning english and is not that successful at the momend, because that book is so easy to read, but that´s it. I have to say I didn´t like reading the book. At first it was quite ok and I liked the stile of writing, but very soon I got bored. I starded to count the pages I still had to read and I was so happy, when I had finished. I´m sorry to say this, but in my opinion that book is nothing more than wasting time. I wouldn´t have read it at home, but for school it´s ok and much better than most of the books we had discussed in class.

Which audience is Horby writing for ?

I think he wrote the book for teenager in my age. You don´t have to think while you read it, because the content is rubbish. If you have problems with love or other problems which are typical for the teenager-time, the book will help you to forget the problems for a while.

Did you find any pictures you want to add ?

Yes, there are a few pictures I wanted to add, but unfortunately it wasn´t possible to adjoin them.

The first one was the cover of the book. On the second one was Nick Hornby representing his book. The third one is a little baby.

I try to add them as soon as possible!!!

How does the author use the idea of time ?

I think time is an important thing in that book. At first time goes by very slowly. Everything is explained detailed. But at the end much time has passed by and you didn´t notice it. I mean, Roof is born, Sam´s sister is born that´s a long period, isn´t it?

Another obvious feature is t´he whizzing-thing. Sam gets twice whizzed into the future and after a while everything he saw becomes true.

So you can see, that time plays an important role in that book, but In my opinion it would be much more exciting, when not everything he has been through would become reality.

Did you enjoy reading the novel ?

No I didn´t. I think it depents on the reader, whether a book is good or not. And I didn´t like anything of this story. It was very unreal, I mean, how often do we get whizzed in the future? How many boys talk to their posters? I really like fantasy storys, but this one wasn´t supposed to be fantasy. It was in the middle between real and unreal. I could never forget, that this is a book, when I was reading and I couldn´t dip into the story.

BUT for school it´s a good book to read. You have many topics to talk abaut and ít´s written so easily, that everyone understands it.

After having read more than half the novel

What question would you like to ask Nick Hornby ?

Does the story have a true backround, or is everything made up?

Do you want to teach the reader something, or is it just for entertaining?

Are there any poems, music or picture you want to ad to your blog ?

The video I choose is written by Avril Lavigne and is abaut a skaterboy, who loves a pretty girl. But she doesn´t want him, because of his baggy clothes. But in the end, he gets another girl and becames very famous.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pULa7F1gWZM

He was a boy, she was a girl, can I make it anymore obvious?

He was a punk,she did ballet What more can I say?

He wanted her, she'd never tell

Secretly she wanted him as well.

But all of her friends stuck up their nose

They had a problem with his baggy clothes.

Refrain:

He was a skater boy, she said see you later boy

He wasn't good enough for her.

She had a pretty face, but her head was up in space

she needed to come back down to earth.

Five years from now, she sits at home

Feeding the baby She's all alone

She turns on TV Guess who she sees

Skater boy rockin' up MTV.

She calles up her friends,they already know

And they've all got tickets to see his show

She tags along and stands in the crowd

Looks up at the man that she turned down.

He was a skater boy,she said see you later boy

He wasn't good enough for her

Now he's a super star

Slamin' on his guitar

Does your pretty face see what he's worth?

Sorry girl but you missed out

Well tuff luck that boy's mine now

We are more than just good friends

This is how the story ends

Too bad that you couldn't see

See that man that boy could be

There is more that meets the eye

I see the soul that is inside

He's just a boy, and i'm just a girl

Can I make it anymore obvious?

We are in love, haven't you heard

How we rock each others world

Refrain:

I'm with the skater boy, I said see you later boy

I'll be back stage after the show

I'll be at a studio Singing the song we wrote

About a girl you used to know

Please summarise the events of the story you´ve read so far.

Sam is a normal fifteen year old boy, who skates a lot. His best fríend is TH,who is a skatingprofi and has written a book abaut his whole life. Whenever Sam has got a question he goes to the poster of TH tell his problem and try to get an answer out of the book.
But then his life change, because his mother (she´s only 16 years older) wants his son to get known to Alica. They become a couple on the party of the mother of Alica.
Sam can´t be without her anymore and visits her ervery day. They use to have sex and watch TV, but one day Sam gets sick of her and wants to split up. But then Alica tells him, that he made her pregnant. I that night Sam gets whizzed into the future and sees, that he´ll life with the baby, called roof, in Alica´s house and he´ll go to university and he´ll get a sister. That all is so bad in his view, that Sam trys to run away and flees to Hastings, where he wants to life for the rest of his life.But because of the very bad lifeconditions there, he changes his mind quite quickly and returns at the next day.
Then Alica phones him and asks him to help her telling her mum and dad, that she´s pregnant and that she wants to keep the baby.
When they tell them Alicas parents get very angry and force Sam and Alica to came with them telling the bad news to Sams mum.
Then Sam gets whizzed in the future again. He sees, that he´ll have a sister and everything seems to be fine, apart from that Sam seems to be very, very useless and he can´t help Alica with the baby.
At the next day everything is normal again...

Which idea in the novel made you stop and think, or was new to you ?

The thing that made me think of from the very beginning is: why does Sam talks to a poster? He has so many people around and such a nice mum, he could tell his problemes, but he always seach the solution for his problem in a book, he has read abaut a hundred times. And whenever he has a question he takes the book and answers the question, but sometimes he doesn´t like the things "the book tells him" and than he complains abaut the answer. I think that´s redicolus, because it´s his decision tho answer like that.

Is there anything in Slam you truly enjoied or that even feel annoied of ?

I really like the scenes, in which Sam discribes, what he think, that others think. For example that one, in which Sam is on the bench watching a family playing golf. Because, when I think abaut that, what he wrote, I absolutly agree. It´s like nobody is happy with the things he has at the moment and wants to have the ones of other.
But I really feel annoied of the language now. He explains everything again and again and mixes his own view with the reality, whitch is very confusing sometimes, but when he writes for the 3rd time "I know, your not interested in that" I don´t feel like reading anymore.

Up to the middle of the novel

How did your feelings change ?

My feelings abaut Sam and Alica have changed dramatically. Of course, they became a couple as I expected, but now I think these two characters are mad. I mean, you dont need a boy or girlfriend just for having sex. They don´t do anything together, probably they don´t even know abaut the habbits of the other one. But ok, it´s up to them, whether they want to live like that or not. On the other hand after beeing together for such a short time and sleeping together nearly every evening, they get bored of each other?!What´s that supposed to be? They seriously can´t be happy, because in my opinion a boyfriend or girlfriend is a person you can trust blind. You can tell him or her everything and you know he or she will be there for you, whenever you need him or her.

Another bad thing abaut Sam is, that he´s not able to tell Alica, that he wants to split up. He just stayes at home and doesn´t think abaut her. But there is an even worse thing. He runs away, when he noticed, that Alica is pregnant. That´s absolutly senceless and egoistic. So he leaves Alica with her confusing feelings alone. He could have help her so much, but he didn´t do it.

Which questions would you like to ask a character in the novel ?

At Sam :

- Why didn´t you tell Alica, that you wanted to split up? Don´t you think that´s unfair?

- Why did you run away, when you knew, that Alica was pregnant? Didn´t you think abaut her feelings?

- Have you been thinking abaut the sorrows of your mum, when you run away?

At Alica :

- Are you very confused abaut getting a baby? Do you think you can handle that?

At Alicas parents :

- Why do you always think or pretent that Sam is silly and stupid and something like a fool?


What are you confused abaut ?

I´m confused abaut many things.

- How can two people who don´t know really many things abaut the otherone become a couple?

- Is it a good way, to run away of your problems? Does it help you?

- Does Alica still love Sam deep in her heard?

- Will Alica be able to get/have a baby?

How would you as the author have changed the book ?

Hmm... to say the truth, I´ve no idea. It´s alway so easy to criticise something, but mostly not easy to improve it. But If I had to give the book a different action, I wouln´t have let Alica and Sam sleep together every evening. And, because I´m a romantic person, I would change the feelings of Alica and Sam a little, so they would keep beeing a couple forever...

Which images/pictures did you like ?

There was a situation I kept in mind, that I really liked. This situation was after Sam left his home and went to Hastings. He sat on a bench and watched a family playing minigolf. Sam
was jealos, because the boy could feel free playing golf and having his family around. But because he was not really good his family laughed at him and Sam realised, that the boy was jealos, because Sam obviously could do whatever he wanted and didn´t have a family that were laugung abaut him. So Sam felt better, because the thoughts of the boy were true.

After reading the opening chapters of the book

How do you feel after reading these pages ?

Im very excited, because i don´t know, what could happen next. I enjoyed reading the story so far and really like the protagonist Sam. The book is written in a first-person-narrator style and I like that, because then you can share the feelings of Sam (who tells the story) and you can unterstand the developments of a story even better.

What emotions the book invokes in you ?

I admire the mother of Sam, because she managed her live all alone when she was 16 and beared Sam . And she is a person her son can talk to and he can be sure, that she´ll be there for him anytime.

Are there connections between the book and your life ?

Hmmm, thats a difficult question. I think Sam likes doing sports like me, but he skates and I´m playing football. And he needs to talk to someone for example his Tony Hark poster. I mean I don´t talk to a picture, but I don´t like being allone so that I can´t speek with someone. But I think thats it. My my was of age when I was born and my father still lives with me...

Are there any words or phrases that caught your eye while reading ?

- "I´ve ever heard for having a kid at sixteen." I didn´t like it when she said things like that. It alwas felt like my fault, somehow.(P20, L 2-4)

-We were so carefully arranged that we must have looked like plastic models, the sort of thing you can get in a happy meal (P22, L 17-19)

- You know how you´re nor supposed to make face, because the wind might changeand you stay like that? (P30, L 2-4)

What are your predictions abaut the future developments ?

I think Alica becomes Sams girlfriend. It´s so obvious. I mean they´re sitting in a room on a party, because Sam´s mother wanted him to get known to Alica, who could be a possible girlfriend for him. And he starts to like her. Maybe his mother will mary another huspand, that Sam gets a new dad, but I don´t know what else could happen. But that´s good, isn´t it!? I mean, if you know the whole story after reading the first pages, you wont finish reading the book, will you?!

How long did it take you to read a certain number of pages ?

Oh, I didn´t check my watch while I was reading. I think I didn´t need much time, because the book is written in a very exciting but also easy way. It´s not difficult to picture the story in my head.

First entry: Before start reading

How do you feel abaut reading this book ?

I´m happy, whenever i can read an english book, but i don´t know, what i should think abaut the titel "slam", because this can have many different meanings. Nonetheless I´m looking forward to read that book and I guess I´ll enjoy it.

What are your expections ?

The cover of this book looks quite interessting and the autor is also very famous. After reading the introduction I reconised that this book is abaut a 15 year old boy, who is a skater. Skating seems to be his greatest hobby. I think he´ll fall in love with Alica, who is mentioned on the backpage too. So I guess I´ll have lots of fun to reading "Slam".

Did you read other english novels ?

Yes, I did and I have to say: English book are much better written than german ones. It´s hard to explain why, but i think it is because of the differences in the way english people express themselves in english. They have so many opportunities to say for example "sorry" so the books become more interesting. But now to the novels i read. I think the most importent ones are the "Harry-Potter-books", but I also read "The Golden Compass" and at the moment i try to read all the books of John Grisham, which are very good.

What do you think abaut studying texts in the classroom ?

I think talking abaut a book in our class is very important to unterstand the content better. But to many dicussions can give a false impression of a book and create confusion. When you analysed too deeply, you don´t know anymore, what to think. After all every person has his/her own view abaut the story and in my oppinion, thats very good and talking abaut that in lesson makes the book much more interessting. So this means: Disscusion ? YES, but not too much!