Danny McCampbell

Danny McCampbell
The book I ended up with was called Lost in Place by Mark Salzman. This story follows a young man in middle school and his desire to devote his life to Kung Fu and Buddhism. When he was thirteen years old he watched Kung Fu for the first time on television and he was fascinated by it, so he decided to concentrate on becoming a Kung Fu master like the actor Bruce Lee. His parents thought he was crazy, considering the purple pajamas, smoke filled basement and bald cap; he had built his own little temple in his basement. He also was interested in the ways of Buddha, how he had reached nirvana after seeing Venus in the sky, and all the suffering he had to go through to get there. So this kid figured that if he followed the ways of Buddhism, and practiced Kung Fu, that he would be set for life, this is what he wanted to do.
I relate to this story in a few ways, one being that he just wants to overall impress his father, and he looks up to him, much like how I used to be and still am with my father. Another way I relate to this story, this kid lived in his own little world, and escaped reality. I used to do that when I was younger, so I know how that is. Finally, one more way I relate to this story is how determined and ecstatic he was to learn about Kung Fu. If I want to learn something that is important to me and my life, I cannot let it go. I think about it a lot until I put my thoughts into actions, and usually it works out until I no longer admire it, or I continue doing my own thing with it because I enjoy it.