Day 2 response

I chose the book “lost in place” by Mark Salzman. The reason I chose this book was because of the description on the back. The first thing that caught my attention was that it was about an American adolescent who wants to become a zen monk. I instantly felt a connection with this character. I found it fascinating that there is a book about this, and that it has Bruce Lee in it. When I started to read the book it was just how I pictured it. It started off with the kid introducing him and how he wanted to become a Zen monk. He wanted to become one just because he had seen movies and read books about it. The most interesting part is that he is still in high school and he has such dedication for becoming a monk. He does everything he can to embrace the Zen culture and ways, but his parents don’t like it as much as he does. His parents told him that he could only commit to becoming a monk once he finished high school and he didn’t seem to care that he was considered a strange kid at school.

I think this book is living up to my expectations just the way I thought it would. It reminds me of myself when I was younger. Having a strong passion for something at a young age is usually hard to commit to, but if you put your mind to it, you can do anything. One thing that surprised me was the way he talked about his dad. His dad was a man who went to work every day and hated his job, but he would talk to his son about the crappy day he had and his son would then make him feel better by telling him how crappier his day was. I thought it was clever how the author did these counter acts, mainly with the dad and son, but I noticed that the mother was sort of different from the too. His dad wasn’t enthusiastic about the idea of him giving up all material things and beginning a life of a monk. He told a story about he wanted to become an astronaut and his mom told him to send a letter into NASA asking how it was possible to become one, but his dad didn’t think it was a good idea. He sent a letter to NASA and four weeks later he got a package with pictures and facts about the space program. I felt that that was the moment he began pursuing his ambitions. So far I love the book and I can’t wait to read more!