Final White Mountains Blog Post

For my final blog post, I've picked #2 - Write a letter to one of the three main characters. I've chosen to write to Beanpole, because he is not 'mentioned' as much as Will and Henry, and I'd like to have HIM in the spotlight for once. Well, here goes.

'Dear Monsieur Beanpole,

I am a journalist from the "Interesting Experiences Journal".

I'd like to ask you how you get all your ideas about steam kettles, flying balloons, etc. It isn't exactly natural, even for an un-Capped boy! Did you get them from the old book you learned English from, or do you just make them up, just like that? I'd also like to ask you, how did you feel cutting the button from Will's arm? Was it really gross? Must have been. I mean, tearing an arm open vouluntarily... must have taken a lot of your guts to scoop all that flesh away, especially from an arm of a friend.

Something else I'd like to know was: How did you feel when you made the choice to accompany Henry and Will on their journey? Had you wanted to do it all the time, or did you just make the choice then and somewhat regret it later, or did you not regret it at all? From your actions, I think you wanted to go, because, as you pointed out, Capping would be the end of inventing for you. So, another I'd like to ask you about is the Ancient City. Why did you want to go through the city instead of around it? Weren't you scared about going through the city, or did you actually WANT to go through the city? I mean, when you found all that interesting objects, how did you feel? I guess you must have felt really excited, especially when you found those 'egg-like' things. Wonderful inferences about your ancestors, by the way. You could be right!!

I still have a couple of questions for you, so could you please keep reading on for just a few minutes? When you were found by the Comtesse, how did you feel? You must have felt very surprised, perhaps confused, and maybe even scared. With all the pressure about reaching the White Mountains, you must have felt very frightened, I guess. And when they took Will, how did you feel? Did you feel annoyed, scared (again)... well, HOW did you feel? I'll just leave you to answer, please. And now, for the last question, how did you feel when you finally reached the White Mountains? With the Tripods tracking you, and you succeeding in outwitting them and reaching the White Mountains, you must have felt ecstatic and exhilirated! When you finally met the White Mountains folk, you must have just rejoiced... in your own way.

Thank you for taking the time to read this, and please consider writing back.

Once again, thank you.

Rita Camacho, Journalist of the 'Interesting Experiences Journal'.'

Book Review

Personally, I kind of liked the book. One thing I really liked about the book in particular, was how we had a 'hard' time discerning-at the beginning-if the time period was set in the future or the past. Another thing I liked about the book was the way the author, John Christopher, could hold us in suspense. He also let us formulate all the different kinds of questions in the world, making the book even more interesting. One particular section I liked about the book was Chapter 5: 'The City of the Ancients'. It was interesting to see how he thought of the broken cities and what they looked like after the Tripods had taken over. His description was vivid, enabling us to see the cities. The way he described the cars and trains was a very interesting piece of writing in particular; it was as if he did not know what the objects actually were; he was describing them as if he were the boys himself. All in all, I liked the book.