Tuesday, April 27, 2010
The Frequency of Souls by Mary K. Zuravleff-TW T/F P.2 W P.4
This forum is for specific discussion on The Frequency of Souls by Mary Kay Zuravleff. What are your first reactions? What did you like most about the story and/or the book? Also what question(s) do you have about the book? Students should try their best to answer each other’s questions. See Blog Assignment for additional information!
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My first reaction of the book was that it would not be interesting to me because it does not relate to me based on my reading of the synopsis. When I first made the judgment of the book I quickly thought about the old saying “do not judge a book by its cover.” The book was not completing boring but it was not my favorite .In addition to the title of the book was not a magnetic title to read with out being told. However, it was a different type of book that was out of my usual genre. The book was my personal favorite but it did touch on topics that I do not take interest in unless I am instructed to look in to the topic. .Honestly I did not have a favorite part of the story because it was very different type of reading for me. Even though the topic is different I did like the ability of Niagara Spense speaking to the dead. Although I felt it was kind of creepy I also thought it was a cool ability. I did like George’s occupation because in my selection of reading choices not one has a character that redesigns refrigerators for a living. I also liked when Niagara questioned George about his occupation. My questions for the book is: What inspired the topic? How was the title chosen? Does the book relate to lives of people of today? The book was a step out of the ordinary and I enjoyed that step because it makes me want to branch into other book genres.
The Frequency of Souls is one of those mystifying books. It is raw and down to Earth while being original. It is heartfelt yet funny, clever yet simple. Each character seems so absurd, yet I can still picture Niagara walking out of her home and into her Buick as she travels slowly down Wisconsin Avenue. The characters are original, well thought out, and have tons of personality behind them. In essence, it is the characters that make a plot line what it is. Without well thought out characters it is impossible to have an engaging novel. While this would not be the case with everyone, I enjoyed reading about places I know well. It was easier for me to understand, and I felt like I could relate to George, Niagara, Judy, the Veteran, etc. It felt as if I were making allusions left and right as I read on about people and places I was familiar with. I can relate to George’s seeming restlessness at his job. I am constantly doing things, but unless it is vital I feel empty inside. Like I am doing everything, but I am still missing something that is unobtainable. I loved the cover and title of this book and I really believe that this is what drew me in. The only part of the novel I questioned was the format-everything else was brilliant. I could never quite follow the train of thought. It seemed to get derailed every once in a while and it took me time to get back on track. For example we would be in George’s house, and then suddenly I was in Dino Park. I could not comprehend how one sentence could be in one place, and then the very next sentence could be in another. I am a fan of books that draw the reader in from the first page. I also prefer books that have shorter chapters so that I can get to a good stopping place faster than if each chapter is twenty pages. The novel is sparsely sprinkled with cliff-hangers and I feel that while those were good, I would have liked more. Overall, I enjoyed this novel however I think there could have been a few format tweaks to make the whole novel more accessible.
My first reaction to the novel is that it is comical, but not very appealing to me. The title was very dramatic and deep. The story is obviously meant for an older audience. There were many parts of the story I found to be dull and hard to comprehend. The novel itself was not hard to read, however, it was pretty hard to keep my attention. On the contrary, some parts were very warm such as the bond between George and his son, Harris. The front cover of the book attracted my attention, and when I read the synopsis on the back, I thought the novel would be an interesting read. The thing I liked the most about this book is that its plot was effective and creative, and drew my attention to parts of it. The relationship between George and Niagara was suspenseful in my opinion and, at times, a bit humorous. However, at the beginning of the novel, Niagara was very irritating in the way she spoke and the way she acted. As the novel passed, Niagara became more of an interesting character. Me favorite part of the book is when you start to see George’s son, Harris, expressing himself for the first time. He is very bright and doesn’t seem too self conscious about his weight. He also loves George and is probably the only character that I can even somewhat relate to. I actually do not have any questions about the novel mainly because it was a pretty understandable read. Overall, I did not fully enjoy the book, but it was still a good read.
The Frequency of Souls by Mar K. Zuravleff is a classic story of two people of very different beliefs and upbringings colliding in an event that would change each party. I would first like to point out all the unique aspects of this book. George Mahoney, the protagonist, is not one a reader would expect. He is older than the average main character, married, with a stability in his life uncharacteristic of protagonists. George, although indecisive, is not unlikable in my mind. Niagara, his fellow protagonist, reminds me of other strange girls who filled the pages of the books I read in the past. For example, the infamous Stargirl who arrived at a high school and ended up inspiring a boy to believe that maybe something else is out, something bigger. Niagara inspires the same type of feeling in George. He, who until now has been leading an average life, is astounded by Niagara’s strange dresses and more importantly, discovering the frequency of souls. I will say now that I did not, at any point, like their relationship. George’s obsession with Niagara ruined my view of him. I prefer he see her as a friend and colleague and have their relationship develop in a different way. The book dragged at times, sometimes going too far in depth with the technology that readers can no longer follow the form. Like I pointed out with Niagara’s character, the book’s content and design—although interesting at times—are nothing I haven’t seen before. But it does provide something deeper. It toys with the idea of an afterlife and what, if there are any, souls would like to tell the living. I was highly impressed by the writing, disappointed by the characters and definitely intrigued by the novel.
The Frequency of Souls is not the common book I would go for, if I were not told to read this book, I probably would not have even heard of it yet alone picked it up to read. When I first saw the cover, with two extension cords on it, I had no idea what I was going to be reading. As I got into the book, the cover started to make perfect sense; Niagara Spence, a woman who was obsessed with electricity and George Mahoney, a man whose occupation is redesigning refrigerators. In addition to the cover, the title started to make sense as well seeing how Niagara had this unusual love for speaking to the dead and thinking there was a deeper meaning to the life of past souls. Reading this book changed my previous thoughts, although it is not the typical book I would read. I liked how the book pulled you in as if you were actually in it and the traits of the characters made me feel like I have met them before. On the other hand, I did not like how there were small stories incorporated into the story that sometimes came out of nowhere. I often found myself confused when reading the story because one minute George would be talking to Niagara about a question he had asked and in the next minute we were back to Dino Park. Above all it was a good story and the only question I have is: what was the inspiration for The Frequency of Souls? This book opened my eyes to other books like this and maybe my favorite genre will change.
At first, I saw the book and was intrigued by the vibrant colors, and bright aesthetics, thinking that it would be a quirky and clever read. However while looking up reviews, I saw that many people felt the book was dry and slow. I was skeptical about reading it. I began reading and at first was disappointed, at this point I had really no desire to read this book. I kept reading for some time, and began to enjoy the book. The inner challenges that George was facing interested me, as everyone has faced some challenges in their lifetime. I enjoyed how George would go off onto a story of his childhood, and you could completely forget he was explaining it to Niagara. As if you were lost in his story. The author’s ability to do this goes along well with the theme of psychological problems within one’s self, and also the whole idea that souls who can communicate from the dead, on a subconscious level. Mary Kay Zuravleff did a good job of describing it too. In my opinion it was just vague enough to become mysterious, yet also got the message across, and still, at the same time it kept me reading the book from around page fifty. However I did not like how George was always admiring Niagara. It became a little too repetitive for my taste, and got pretty boring after a few pages. Yet if Mary Kay Zuravleff hadn’t included the love affair, the book would have hardly any content. Another thing that I enjoyed about the book was that she compared it to real life. She had George living in a neighborhood that I live near, and she also went into detail to describe the surrounding landmarks, which are accurate and exist. Overall I really enjoyed reading the book. For the most part it was really interesting, and had an original and unique idea. My only question about the book is where did she get the idea?
My first reaction to the novel, The Frequency of Souls by Mary Key Zuravleff, was that it would be a short work, and not that interesting. But as I started reading, it became a lot more appealing to me. The novel started off a little slow, but it quickly sped up. It actually ended up moving a lot faster than I thought it would. While reading the book, you start to grasp the feelings of the main character, George Mahoney. For most of the novel, he constantly recognizes the difference in his family, where he feels secure and comforted, and Niagara, the new and unpredictable woman sharing his cubicle. Of all the characters, Niagara is definitely my favorite. She shows a certain personality that women all around the world should have. The novel tells how large she is, she wears a hearing aid, and how she wears clothes that others think is not what they call “normal.” But throughout that, she is still doing what she loves. Even when she tells George about her ideas and he thinks they are weird, that does not make her stop. She has her eye on her goals, and she is going to fulfill them. As said before, the novel flowed very quickly. It captures even the smallest details while it recounts the life of George and his family. This novel was not too long, and I never got really bored with it. At one point, I wished that the novel would go on just a little bit longer. But then again, if it had got any longer I might have had to throw it across my room. All in all, it was a very nice novel.
The Frequency of Souls was a book that turned the plain and ordinary events and people in life miraculous. For example, the character of Niagara Spense, who at first appeared so plain, was quickly brought to life into a fascinating way by author Mary Kay Zuravleff. The character of George, too, seemed at first so ordinary, a middle aged man who designs refrigerators and lives with his wife and two children, but is quickly revealed to a be a complicated person with as many layers to him as an onion stored in one of his refrigerators, with a complex past that clearly affects him even today, and emotions towards his wife and children that were all perfectly expressed by Zuravleff. What I found particularly amazing about The Frequency of Souls was how ordinary the skills of a refrigerator engineer could be, and yet, in the world of the book, the same skills could be applied to creating a scientific way to talk to the dead. I have never read a book quite like The Frequency of Souls and I do not suspect that I ever will.
My first reaction of The Frequency of Souls was that the book was not interesting and was going to be a waste of my time. I based those two conclusions on the first page. For example, the first paragraph starts out with, “Ever since he had built his first radio set from glass tubes . . .,” and then it goes on to explain who “he” was and what he thought. Yet, after I read that sentence, my one and only thought was that this book was completely irrelevant in helping me better myself in life and that it was a strange way to start off a book. However, that is what makes this book unique; it is not a book that is supposed to relate to the reader’s life, it is not a book that is meant to be understood. The cover, for example, is not a typical picture that one would see on the front cover of a book, but it makes you think. Questions like “Why would someone want the front of their book to be two cords?” or “Why would the author name her book The Frequency of Souls?” might pop-up in someone’s mind. To me, everything about this book is to make someone think! No other book that I have ever read has made me think about the story the way that this book does. This is a book that makes you think about the importance of life and what we have. It makes you remember what we have and to appreciate it; it makes the reader think of the good things and not the bad. This is the type of book that starts off boring, but in the end has the reader completely and utterly engrossed in the story. The two things that caused me to be engrossed, and that I liked the most, were the individuality of the characters and the way that Ms. Zuravleff was able to express the feelings and actions of the characters so vividly. As I was reading, I could always picture exactly what the characters were doing and what expressions were on their faces. I could also feel exactly what the characters felt. It was as though I knew every character in the book. My only question is how Ms. Zuravleff came up with the book’s theme and the characters’ totally different, unique, and abstract personalities. The Frequency of Souls is not just a book, is a complete work of art with defining characters, a confusing beginning, but an amazing denouement.
My first reaction when reading The Frequency of Souls were confusing. The language Mary Kay Zuravleff uses confusing language that is not direct. There were a lot of words to express something very simple. It lost my focus. Also there were a lot of flashbacks or thoughts from the main character which confused me about what was happening. I did not like the book. The topic was an interesting topic but she loses the readers’ attention with all of the details and confusion. The main character also had many flashbacks and thoughts to himself. It was confusing making sense of the different thoughts. The main character would think about the past and then jump to think about the present which confused me. There were many details where the main character went off topic and would jump back which was also very confusing. I have some questions for Mary Kay Zuravleff. One question is, “Did you mean for the book to be very modern?” She uses very modern techniques of writing. The situation is also very modern. Another question is, “How did you think of this situation for your book?” I was just wondering was she reading something similar somewhere or how she thought of the story. The final question I have is, “Were the characters based on anyone you know in real life?” Just curious if you chose the name from a person you knew or actually based their personality on someone and how you created these characters in your book.
At first when I saw the book, I thought it would be interesting because of the colors and title. But when I started to read, I was not as interested as I thought it would be. Reading Frequency of Souls by Mary Kay Zuravleef, I noticed that it was unfamiliar compared to other novels I have read. There were so many confusing scenes and discussions between the characters, while I was reading that I lost the purpose of the whole book. In the beginning of the book, as George was getting to know Niagara, he simply dazed off into another world practically connecting random moments in his life to what was present. In addition to his flashbacks, George’s redundant comments on Niagara simply explain his obsession of her. Although his views puzzled me, I liked how he elaborated on his ideas and connect them to the past in relating it to moments in his life; for example, in chapters two and three, his discussion’s, with Niagara, linked back to a moment in Dino Park where he found fossils of past reptiles. I thought it was very interesting, when I started to read more into the book, because it actually connected to Niagara’s purpose of searching for afterlife. This was interesting to read, especially, when finding hidden connections made throughout the novel between other characters. A question that I have about this novel is: what is the connection between Dino Park and his job as an engineer?
The Frequency of Souls is a book that really caught my eye. It is a heartfelt, thought provoking read, and it deals with your not so typical engineers. Both the main characters George and Niagara are unique in their own ways, through their thoughts and ideas, and are polar opposites of one another! George is the man who works for the sake of working, and really wants to find what to do with his life, since he has never really minded others making decisions for him. Niagara, on the other hand, is the enthusiast who is always putting her best foot forward, no matter what anybody may think. Throughout the book however, I found some aspects of the writing to be passive. By having a passive voice in the writing, when the author had described the thoughts of the main character George, the ideas portrayed about his adolescence seemed to drone on for some time, and I would get lost in the reading, and not be able to focus clearly on the main points. I also found the character, George, to be a little too laid back for my liking. Since George lacked in independence, it seemed to me that he felt out of place in his life. This has thus created other people to lead his life for him, and he did not see the need to fix it. I also wonder how the idea of Niagara and the frequency of souls that she researched came about. All in all, I found this novel to be an interesting, and fun read!
The Frequency of Souls, by Mary Kay Zuravleff, is a story of a man, George, and his transformation upon meeting his new engineer co-worker, Niagara. It is a contemporary story of a man’s quest for love, as well as knowledge of life after death. The book’s central focus is on George’s mid-life crisis; however, I feel the book lacks a realistic aspect. Mary Kay Zuravleff has many original ideas for her book, yet I can see the struggle taken to make the story ends meet. As a reader, I feel as though I am on a horse with no trail, not knowing where the story is going to go next. On one hand, the author goes into much depth about the characters, although I feel the author’s characters still remain two-dimensional and unbelievable. For example, if a smart man knew his son was overweight, why would he give him an éclair for breakfast? There are many examples of how the character’s actions do not add up to their personalities. Mary Kay Zuravleff’s description of a middle aged man and his life transformation is unique, yet lacks certain vigor to keep the audience interested. Even after finishing the book, I only have a vague idea about what the book was about. George may have heard his dead mother speak out of Niagara’s radio; however the book, The Frequency of Souls, did not speak to me.
When I first started The Frequency of Souls I found it to be quite an enjoyable read. However, as I continued reading the book my views quickly changed. I started to think of George in the same light that many think of tiger Woods today, I started to think his actions repulsive, seeing that his fantasies of women other than his wife couldn’t be justified, as I had first assumed. When I first started reading about the fantasies George was having about his co-worker I thought George must have been someone who was lacking a supporting and loving family and was thus cheating on his wife. While most would argue that cheating on a spouse no matter what the circumstance is inappropriate; I would have found it far less offensive if George had not had a stable home life as he did. I also found it quite distasteful that his co-worker was so much younger than him. The age difference between George and Niagara made me feel that George was taking advantage of Niagara because of how much older he was, and this again added to my negative feelings towards the book. Unfortunately I cannot say that the book turned around and I had more positive feelings towards the end of the book as George resumed his normal life with his life and children. At this point I was still left with negative feelings toward the book because I felt that Georg had not truly given up his obsession with Niagara, rather a series of events had made her unobtainable to him thus he moved on. This makes me feel like he is not going back to his family out of his love for them but because he can no longer have what he truly wants; which I don’t believe is the author’s purpose. Thus unfortunately my feelings towards this book are largely negative.
I thought that The Frequency of Souls was an interesting novel to read that is different from what I usually read. When I looked at the cover, I was excited to read it and find out why she picked that phrase as her title. My first reactions after starting the book were that it was quite boring and slow, but still kept me mildly interested. The little quirky actions and thoughts of the characters drew me in, as I wanted to find out more about them and their past. I am very interested in character development and why people act certain ways; reading this story was a fun and new challenge for me. As I read, I looked at all of the different conflicts in the story. It was interesting to see how George’s inner conflict with himself and taking risks stopped him from doing certain things over others. I liked how by being around Niagara, he started to open up his doors to different things. As he grows obsessed with Niagara, there is a lot of awkward tension between them. It started to bother me only because I was so into the book that I almost felt as if I was in the awkward situation myself. As the story went on, I grew steadily more disappointed in George as I would a real person, showing that he is a believable character. While reading, I was never really able to tell when he was dreaming or not, and what actually happened. In the first chapter, he is in the office with Niagara, and in the middle of the chapter he is in his house woken up from a dream. Was the whole first paragraph a dream? It seemed as if the second chapter was a continuation of the events earlier. This story would have been easier to understand if she had clearer transitions. Overall, I thought it was interesting and it has encouraged me to branch out in the types of books I read.
My first reaction to The Frequency of Souls, by Mary Kay Zuravleff, was that it was very dry. At first it was hard to keep reading because the book did not draw my attention in. As the plot progressed, however, I became more and more interested. I felt that it was aimed at a slightly older audience, but, despite that, I enjoy it. Throughout the story, the reader starts to understand and to sympathize with the protagonist, George Mahoney. At the same time, I was angry with him for wanting to mess up his amazing family for a woman he had just. I am convinced that George is not in fact in love with Niagara, but with the idea of her. I wondered if he was going through his midlife crisis during the book. He is tired of the way things are, and instead of trying to work things out with his wife or talk to his boss he wants to have an adventure with Niagara. She is exotic and different, which appeals to George in his search for a new meaning to his life. At the start of the novel I disliked George’s character; he seemed boring and inconsequential to me. As I read I began to understand him more and, though I never particularly liked him, I could see that he was a complex person. Despite its slow start, by the end of the book I had a hard time putting it down. Zuravleff effectively creates suspense as to whether or not George will leave his wife. That question keeps the reader on the edge of their seats the entire second half of the novel. Overall it was a good novel which created conflict within the mind of the reader.
When the novel, a Frequency of Souls by Mary Kay Zuravleff, was introduced to our class as a reading assignment, I was unsure of my opinion on the book. The cover looked intriguing, and the synopsis on the back sounded like the book was going to be clever and full of interesting action. Even with all these seeming interesting plot lines stuffed into the book, the author still had trouble keeping my attention on the book’s story. Although the language was not difficult and the story was not boring, the amount of filler between action and dialogue seemed to serve no purpose but to extend each scene of the story. I did, however, enjoy how relatable all the characters in the story were and how the novel expresses an idea that I find extremely important, which is that people can be flawed and different and that is absolutely alright. Looking back on the characters now I believe that I could link each character to a person in my life. This element of the story and the plot made reading through the book all worthwhile. Even the most cold-hearted reader becomes attached to this story’s characters who are full of human flaw and wit. Over all I found the novel enjoyable and heart-warming.
In the Frequency of Souls, a novel written by Mary Kay Zuravleff, it exemplifies humor, somewhat, but is not a novel I would consider reading again. When I first look for a novel, I sometimes would choose a book based off of its cover and the title. Basing the novel, The Frequency of Souls, off of its cover and title, I expected the book to be a mysterious and also interesting reading. After reading the title and examining the cover I began to ask myself,”What does the author mean by the frequency of souls?” “What was the inspiration behind this novel?” “What does the one plug symbolize?” This made me want to actually take part in reading the novel to see what the inspiration was behind the title and cover and also the use of color. I enjoy reading novels and short stories that are interesting and make me deeply engaged in reading the book, making it nearly impossible to stop reading. I particularly take an interest in very comical or based off of true story books that are usually controversial. Like most books, the beginning is slow and builds up later, usually near the middle, which is where the reader’s interest in the novel then emerges. Reading The Frequency of Souls, my interest never emerged. Yes, it did start off slow, very slow, and did build up getting a little more interesting, but my attention nor interest emerged throughout the entire book. This made it very hard for me to follow the story and the characters. I quickly lost interest in the book and read it just for the sake of it was a school assignment. This led me to not comprehend most of what I had read. This novel was overall just an ok read. When you are used to reading certain genres of books, reading and following a book of a different style is difficult.
My first reaction to the book was that it was different from the average book I read. Normally most books don’t involve designing refrigerators, so it made the book unique. The part of the book that I liked the most is that Niagara follows her dreams no matter what others think of it. I like this part because it shows that there is more to life that meets the eye. The part of the book I do not like is the fact George looks at Niagara in a romantic way when he has a great wife and kids at home.
When I first looked at this book, in my head I said “Here’s another book that I have to read.” Plus, the title is called the Frequency of Souls, and I didn’t want to read anything about science fiction and death. When I started to read the book, I was introduced to this man name George, and I really do not like reading from a male point of view. Also, this book was very thoughtful, with a great plot and great details. Usually when I read a book I can’t follow it because of all of this character jumping into the story. In the Frequency of Souls, I understood the plot and I also learned that no matter the title of the book you should read the book first and see if you like or love it; even if you don’t like at least you enhanced your vocabulary.
There were three things that really surprised me about this book. First, there was romance; I was not expecting to see any romance in this story because of the cover. Second, I could not believe that George, the main character, would have a crush on a woman that he only new for a short amount of time when he was married. Third, it was creepy how Niagara wanted to find souls, and I was kind of scared when I heard that. As I continue to read the book, I still thought that it would be a boring book, but the reason that I started to like the book is because I never knew what would come my way. This story was not what I inspected.
I thought that Mary Kay Zuravleff’s The frequency of souls was a boring yet incredibly depth book. My first reaction was that this was about a man that wanted to share his feelings about his love life. My favorite part was when he went into great depth about his feelings and really connected with the reader. I think that from the outside perspective a reader may think that it is a boring read and really surfacing. But after I got into the book and really understood where the author was coming from I realized that it was much more. Some of my questions are why did the author choose to write about this topic? Why couldn’t it have been about a girls thoughts? And why wasn’t there a real climactic plot to the story?
I did not enjoy reading Mary Kay Zuravleff's "The Frequency of Souls" because it was not as interesting as I expected it to be. I expected the book to be a lot more enternaining since the author was coming to visit us. I had a hard time getting pass the first page of the book because it was so boring. I think that I probably did not enjoy the book as much because the characters seemed as if they were all old, and there was no one my age, or close, to my age that I could relate to. But one thing that stood out to me was how George began to like Niagara. She was very weird, and she could talk to the dead. Not only was she weird, she was awkward too. Niagara was six feet tall, she sewed her own clothes that did not even fit her well, and to top it all off, she had to wear a hearing aid. Typically, a person like this would not be liked by many peopple in society because they would be considered outcasts, so this made me wonder why George would like someone like Niagara? Also, why would someone even like someone that is able to talk to the dead? My first reaction to this book was it is boring and the characters have weird personalities, strange attractions, and unusual talents.
The first thing I noticed about this book was its title, “The Frequency of Souls”. It sounds mystical as well as creepy which made me want to understand why the book was named that. After reading the synopsis, I became even more intrigued by the unusual story plot and title. However, as I read, I quickly found out that the book was not appealing to me. I thought that the book continued to drag on at parts of the story making it difficult to continue reading. Also, the book was never straight forward and would constantly add too much to small insignificant details. This made the plot confusing at times leaving me confused. Because of this, I thought that the book was overdone and it barely grabbed my attention to want to read more. Aside from the story being a bit boring, the characters were made up well and I appreciated their quirkiness. George’s crush on Niagara was a bit weird because I could never tell if he liked her for being the complete opposite from his wife or if it was because she was actually pretty because the way he described her was not very appealing. In my opinion, the book talked too much about George’s feelings for Niagara which was another reason why the book bored me. My favorite part of the book was when George explained his experience at Dino Park at the beginning of the book to Niagara. This was when George was able to answer the performers trick questions about dinosaurs and after telling his story George and Niagara exchanged witty jokes which were able to make me chuckle. I thought it was a clever sub plot and was very creative. I want to know how long it took to write this book and what was Mary K. Zuravleff’s inspiration?
I agree with Katherine T. in that The Frequency of Souls used confusing language that seemingly went against everything we learned about redundant expressions. The flashbacks did serve a purpose in the novel, but they definitely could have been better worded so that the reader could easily follow them. I think that the details were good to a certain extent, but as with everything in life, you can have too much of a good thing. Once again, I think that the flashbacks to George’s childhood were functional and vital to the novel, but they could have been positioned in better places. This novel seems to be modern, but I did not feel that it was. At first I thought that it was something relating greatly to our times, but as I read on, my views changed. “You were a budding paleontologist, so look at it this way. I’m listening for the bones of souls.” This is something that Niagara Spense said. I do not believe that this is something that anyone in this decade, much less century would say. I believe the reason I felt it was even remotely modern was because I was mistaking my relating to the location for my relating to the time period. I think that anyone my age who did not live in Washington would have a difficult time even remotely relating to this novel. I also agree with Macrina W. in the idea that The Frequency of Souls is lacking a little bit in the realism department. It is fine to write a novel that is not based off of realism, but it had some realistic aspects included also which confused me. To answer Macrina’s question about the characters being unbelievable, I would say that they are not unbelievable, but rather contain a lot of emotion. While the character descriptions may lack a bit of realism, I feel like Zuravleff’s writing displayed what I pictured George to be. If I was living in the same world as George, and I knew him as the author described, I feel like he would be “quirky” enough to feed his portly son an éclair.
I agree with Stephanie the book did not seem relatable to my life. Nevertheless, to answer her question I say George liked Niagara because of her flaws. To him her flaws were better than the average life he was leading and that maybe she can bring in some charisma to his life. I also agree with Jahise the book was a step out of the genres I am used to reading. However, I believe the inspiration of the book was the author herself being an engineer at once. In addition I believe Mary Kay Zuravleff actually pulled the concept from her everyday work life as engineer and took the concept of many of her co-workers to the concept and pushed it to a height of mystery and make it intriguing to show the inside of an engineer's mind. In addition, I agree with Macrina the characters were not people you would think of or relate those to sensible people you knew. You would not want your son whom is already over weight to have health complications because you want to feed him an éclair for breakfast instead of something nutritional. However, I believe George gave Harris the éclair to simply please because he was not happy with his decisions and wanted to please someone even though he was secretly betraying his family. Lastly, I agree with Daulton his fantasies were not something a married man should be thinking however, I do not believe that it George was taking advantage of Niagara because George did not force her to talk to him and after one conversation and then to continue talking to him. I simply believe that it was Niagara decision to continue to interact with George.
I agree with Cyerra when we she said that she thought the book would not be interesting because it does not relate to her based on the synopsis. I said the same thing when I read the first couple of pages and realized how old the characters were. I realized that Niagara had to be old when Zuravleff wrote, “George hadn’t known women Niagara’s age still sewed,” (3). Also the author’s description of George, “He had grown into his once-bulging eyes, and as his body muscled up, his hair calmed down…” (4), made me think that George was also old. Although I agree with Cyerra when she said she thought the book would not be interesting based on the synopsis, I disagree with her when she said the book was not completely boring. I thought that the book was completely boring because of the occupation that George had. He redesigned refrigerators for a living, and I think that there is nothing interesting about this job. I think that Niagara even thinks that George’s job is boring when she asked him, “How did you come to be in Rockville, Maryland, designing refrigerators?” (4). Her question seems as if she could be asking him why didn’t he come to Rockville to do something better. I also agree with Joycelynn when she said that from the beginning she thought that the book was going to be a waste of time. I said the same thing when I first looked at the book and read the first couple of pages. The first page does not have an intriguing hook, it starts off with, “Ever since he had built his first radio set from glass tubes and a spool of lead…” (3). The sentence makes me think that this is going to be a boring book about mechanical things. I agree with what Cyerra said, but I mainly agree with Joycelynn.
I agree with Stephen M. when he said the title was dramatic and deep. When I first received the book, I was looking forward to read it because the title and cover looked interesting. I disagree with Stephen M. when he said that <iThe Frequency of Souls? was comical. There was not any humor in the book at first. As Stephen M. said, the book was confusing and could not keep my attention for long. I was finding myself forcing me to read, but each time my attention would turn to something else. I disagree again with Stephen M. when he said the book was a good read. He was contradicting himself because the book could not be a good read if he does not like it. Jade D. also thought the book was going to be an interesting book but it was boring. I definitely agree with Jade D. when she said that the book had many confusing scenes. The random flashbacks while talking to Niagara was very confusing. Jade D. and I were both confused between flashbacks and the present. I disagree with Jade D. when she said the book gets better as it goes along. It does not get any better but it does not get worse. It just stays boring and neutral. I do agree with Jade D. when she said that it was nice to figure out hidden connections between other characters but there were too many details needed to do so. Jade D. you were confused about the connection between Dino Park and his job as an engineer. I think the connection between it was that when he was little, he was extremely interested in dinosaurs. He learned everything about them. He then got interested in how the dinosaurs actually worked at the Dino Park, which was mechanical. Then he just stayed in the mechanic field and became an engineer.
I agree with Crystal on the title of this book and its quality to keep the reader interested. The Frequency of Souls is very mysterious making you wanting to read it and see why the title is the way it is. Also, I never really got into the book and it was rather boring most of the way through. Although it was humorous at times, it was not enough to keep me in it. One thing about the book which could get a bit creepy and boring was George’s crush on Niagara. We can see this here when George says, “The fantasy was fueled by his observation that everything that was held close to Judy’s body was splayed and dangling on Niagaras’s… George fantasized about Niagara’s breasts spilling down to the lower half of her rib cage”, (17). In this excerption from the story George compares Niagara to his wife. This was an example of where George’s fantasies unnerved me a little bit because the verb, “spilling”, was used and I found that to appear grotesque. The story always referenced back to these fantasies and I personally got bored of it. I felt the same way that Andrew did about this aspect. I also agree with Andrew that the book was unique, however, I disagree and did not find it to be a great read. Andrew, Crystal and I also had a similar question which was asking where Mary K. Zuravleff got her idea for this book from. If I were to guess, I would think that she had a family history of working with refrigerators.
In reference to the novel, The Frequency of Souls by Mary Kay Zuravleff, I am in agreeance with Cyerra. At first glance, I assumed the book would be extremely boring and irrelevant to any aspect of my life. I immediately judged the book, and I happened to be proven wrong. No, the novel was not one I would reach out for if I were walking through a bookstore, but it was interesting and enjoyable to read. To tell the truth, if I had never been instructed to read this novel I am not sure that I would have ever took time to read it. However, the book proved to be much more than I thought it was. It kept my attention, and I often struggled to put it down. Reading this novel has helped me realize that there are a lot of other novels in the world that I could be reading, but I choose not to by the looks of them. I should be more open to new things. Also, I agree with Grisselle that the relationship between George and Niagara sort of changed the way I saw him as a person. Instead of them being just co-workers and friends, the novel portrayed George as having somewhat of a fixation on Niagara. I felt like their relationship should have evolved into something other than t hat. Additionally, the novel often went into much detail on certain things that slowly lost the reader. Preventing that may have made the novel a lot easier to follow.
After reading my peers comments, I began to think somewhat differently about The Frequency of Souls. My classmates brought up good points that changed my perspective. I agree with Sophia regarding the characters George and Niagara. At first they did seem very much boring and dry, however as the book progressed, the author, Mary Kay Zuravleff, added new depths to their personalities. Doing this made them more reasonable and relatable characters. I would also have to agree with Katherine, when she states that Zuravleff’s diction can be confusing at times. She does write in a more modern tone, however at some points this can be difficult to understand. I also agree with Katherine that the author uses a lot of words to express a relatively simple idea that could be addressed with far fewer words. This is not always a bad thing, but in this situation for a novel, I found it very confusing. I even agree with Jahise when she states that reading the book changed her views, especially when the book dealt with the deeper meaning of life, life after death, and communication with deceased souls. I also have the same question of Joycelynn and Katherine regarding how Mary Kay Zuravleff chose her characters. I felt that the characters were too complex to have been made up on the spot, and I flet that there was probably a friend or family member that she based her characters on. Overall I thought it was a great read. Writing the first and second Blog comment also made me enjoy the book further.
I agree with Anatol when he said it barley grabbed his attention to want to read this novel because when I read the first couple of pages, I thought it was not interesting like I thought it would be from what I saw from the cover of the book. The plot did not necessarily connect to the title because throughout the book it was confusing at times when George started to talk about Niagara, but then wonders off into his own world opinionating on his surroundings randomly; for instance, throughout the book he kept mentioning Dino Park when it was not relating to what was going on at the present time. Although it was random, I actually liked when he shared his experience about Dino Park because it was very much similar to what Niagara was truly looking for, which were ghost. The purpose of her searching for ghost is to prove that there is still evidence of the past, which I thought was cool on how the author inserted that in the text. The connection I found was that Dino Park was the location of fossils from millions of years ago, but what George does is that he relates it to ghost hunting, which also is a way to find out what happened in the past. Also, I agree with Anatol about the characters quirkiness because in the novel George had a crush on Niagara, which was very strange, because the way he described her was so detailed and admiring that I was confused on if he really cared about his wife or kids while he kept this to himself. Therefore, that is why I agree with Anatol’s reaction towards the book.
I Agree with Grisselle R and Kimkia H. thoughts on The Frequency of Soul by Mary Kay Zuravleff. First, I Agree with Grisselle R because The Frequency of Souls was a very intriguing book, and I thought that the Main Character, George, should have had a different relationship with Niagara. First, George was pertained as a stocker type of person who always looked at Niagara. In this quote you can see how obsessed George was with Niagara that he even had dreams about her, “In the hip pocket of his Dreams was not of his high-school girlfriend, but it was a portrait of Niagara Spense…” (Zuravleff 6). In the plot, George should have had a different kind of relationship with Niagara because he was already married to his lovely wife, Judy. Second, I agree with Kimkia H. because Niagara Spense is my favorite character of the book, and she shows a wonderful example of a great woman. Niagara Spense is described from George point of view as an out of the ordinary girl. “…One of the only places Niagara showed any variety in her wardrobe was in her choice of earrings” ( Zuravleff 6), and “…Niagara was a blur of movement outside the rim of his corrected eyesight. She seemed bent on disorder… the breezes she created carried the musky candle smell of a basement or it could have been her waxy lipstick” (Zuravleff 7). In these quotes you can see that Niagara was describe as a different kind of female then George was used to, but she was also a great example of a woman because she had one goal, and she was very ambitious, and did everything that she could do to achieve that goal.
I agree with Grisselle that The Frequency of Souls has a certain uniqueness about it because of its characters. It is true that George is not your average character, when you read a book, depending on the genre, most characters are young and unmarried. I also agree with Grisselle that sometimes the author went too far in depth with the technology that it was hard to understand what was going on. However, I disagree with Grisselle that the characters were disappointing. The characters, besides the theme and writing technique, are what actually give the book its uniqueness. If the characters were the same that you see in every book, the reader would not be challenged to think. Knowing that every book you read is going to have the same types of characters gets boring after a while. However, the moment that a book, with not only a different theme and writing technique, but different types of characters is written and read, it makes the reader think about the whole book. The Frequency of Souls is an enchanting and unpredictable book because of its characters. I also agree with Stephanie that when George started to like and fantasize about Niagara in a romantic way, it was a little surprising. When I started reading the book, I would have never thought that there would be a romantic relationship with George and Niagara. To answer Stephanie’s first question, George started have romantic feelings for Niagara because they were both awkward outcasts. Even though George was able to blend in more because of his clothes, he always stood out because of his height. Thus, George was probably attracted to Niagara because she was similar to him. Now my answer to Stephanie’s second question is that later in the book, Niagara did not have romantic feelings for George, it was more of a one-sided romantic relationship. However, besides having only platonic feelings about George, she was fascinated by him because he knew when someone close to him died and could talk to them. Her goal was to be able to talk to somebody after they were dead, and she was intrigued by George because he could do that. Both Stephanie and Grisselle made really good observational comments that I agree and do not agree with. However, they make me think about the book from a different angle.
I disagree with Cyerra when she said that the title was not magnetic. I thought that the "The Frequency of Souls" created a mysterious wonder before actually reading the book. On the contrary, I do agree with her when she talks about Niagara's special ability to speak to the dead and that it was creepy. When I reached the part of the book when her ability was revealed, it reminded me of the TV show "The Twilight Zone." It sort of sent chills down my spine. Answering Cyerra's question about how the title was chosen, I believe that the title reflects the concept of the dead and the living. How the souls of the dead are still present because of Niagara's ability. I also agree with Crystal that The Frequency of Souls was hard to get used to because it was a different genre. At certain points, the book caught me off guard because I was used to books that were not as humerous. Answering Crystal's question about the cover of the book having the plug, I believe that the two plugs could represent George and Niagara. the red plug could represent George. It has a weird pattern across the plug, so that could represent that George was unsure about his proffession. The yellow receptical at the bottom could represent Niagara. The red plug (George) alone could mean that George is incomplete, but if he meets, or plugs into the yellow receptical, he can come to realization and be complete.
Griselle’s opinion of the book, “The Frequency of Souls,” is quite interesting. I am in total agreement that the characters were a disappointment. I also agree that the novel was, at times, intriguing. On the other hand, I was not impressed by the writing. I feel that the book lacked a roadmap and jumped all over the place. I would sometimes have to read a passage several times, before fully understanding it. Other times, I would be confused by the sudden turn of events. For example, George decides that he will remain with his wife, Judy, and then he has a vile dream of Niagara. When he awakes at one o’clock in the morning, he decides that he must see Niagara. He goes, uninvited, to Niagara’s trailer. There he finds her entertaining Travis Jr, the son of Veteran. This enrages George. Once Niagara and Travis leave, George begins to deface her property. Out of the blue, he hears his dead mother’s voice, coming out of a radio. In my opinion, the scenario is completely contrived. The fact that he has a Eureka moment in the midst of an angry rage and decides to try to put a radio back together again is absurd, in my opinion. I also agree with Cyerra, when she said Niagara’s ability to communicate with the dead was creepy yet interesting. I do admit that someone proclaiming that they can communicate with parted souls, through a radio, is odd. Yet, I was always interested to see how far Niagara’s radios would take her. Niagara’s experiments were one of the small page turners, which kept me reading on.
I agree with both Anatol S.’s and Sasha R.’s perceptions of The Frequency of Souls for different reasons. As stated by Anatol S., the book seemed to drag on for some time, and there seemed to be many insignificant details throughout the story. I had even felt that the book never seemed to reach a state of simplicity or economy through the various side comments that Mary Kay Zuravleff would add into the story. I became very unclear about what the main idea of the story was. For example, when George talks to his wife, Judy, about what may occur after you die, they then dived into talking about Dinosaurs, and George began to think about his sex life with Carol Greyson and how he loved being with her, and how he wondered where she might be. In one part of the novel, there is a section that dives into George’s personal life with Carol Greyson, which states, “Carol Greyson used to recite selections from the Dino Park pamphlet as she and George messed around, kissing in the shade of the triceratops’ shield”, (60). Do you see how there tend to be many transitions from the main idea into an idea that is completely irrelevant to the subject at hand? I also agree with the comments made by Sasha R. She had stated how George is tired of the way things are, and instead of trying to work out the various problems in his life, he is just coasting, and thinks he does not need to take any interest in his life. For example, by the end of the fifth chapter, there is a description of how George approaches his life, which states, “He didn’t ask where she was driving; as in so many aspects of his life, he just let himself be taken for the ride”, (93). This shows how George does not take out the time or consideration to make his life the way he wants it to be, he just seems to be perfectly content at the fact that others can just lead his life for him, without having any say in the matter at all. Both Sasha R. and I also seem to agree on the fact that the reason George may enjoy being around Niagara is because she is so different, and she is so enthusiastic and out there that George cannot help but what to know more about her, which answers Stephanie Little’s question.
First off, I agree with Cyerra W. and her opinion of the novel, Frequency of Souls . We both agree that we are used to a certain type of genre, so reading a novel that is completely different from what we are used to became a struggle. When I picked up the book and began to pay close attention to the title, colors, etc., I became interested in wanting to know what the author was trying to get across as her point or main idea of the book. Although it was not a book I’d usually pick up, like Cyerra, I did not want to judge the book by its cover. The novel was not the most exciting or a bad read, but it was not a read that I was fully engaged in. Also, I did not have a favorite part in the novel either. Because of the fact that it was such a different read, I was not able to connect to the writing, so I could not enjoy it as much. I also agree with Stephanie L. I felt the novel, was in fact, quite boring. When first reading the novel, it does start off slow and it made it difficult to comprehend what I was reading, so I had to go back and read it again. I would lose my focus and interest. The novel seemed as if it were written to trigger the attention of an older audience, not a bunch of kids in high school. The characters were of an older age and there were no young roles present in the novel. The characters in the novel had “interesting” qualities and characteristics.
I agree with Olivia Sakai that the characters in The Frequency of Souls were very well done. Also, I agree with her on the fact that characters are the most important part of the story, besides the plot of course. I felt that even if people did not necessarily enjoy the book, they would at least be encouraged to read on because of the characters. Throughout the book, I wanted to know what would happen to George and Niagara in the end. At times, I felt more worried for George than he was, partially hoping he would not get caught, but also wanting him to learn his lesson. I found it different and somewhat difficult for me to read a book where the protagonist was going after what he wanted, but it wasn’t the right thing to do. At times I just felt like hopping in the book for a second to slap George in the face for being so stupid. I just wanted to say things like, “You should probably stop now. You’re only making it worse for yourself, and you know it.” I also agree with some of Grisselle’s points on the book. I agree with her that George’s obsession was at times creepy and awkward. The way he would just stare at her and forget what he was doing seemed weird to me. I agree that it would have been better if they just remained friends and still had the exciting adventure they did. One thing I did not agree with Grisselle on was her view of Niagara. I did not like Niagara so much either, but I feel like she is not so much like girls you read about in other books. She has her quirky side and does inspire George to be more risky with his life, but I feel like she is different from most main characters in the way that she gave George mixed signals about their relationship throughout the story. I feel like in other books you can usually tell the way the characters feel about other people. I kind of liked that though because it kept me interested in how she really felt about him.
Reading Jade’s response, I was reminded of the old saying “don’t judge a book by its cover.” Most people think of this saying as meaning that you should still give a book a chance even if the cover is not very interesting. In Jade’s case, however, she judged that the book would be interesting based on the cover and was disappointed. I agree with Jade about the beginning of the book being very confusing. It took me quite a while to start to understand it, but once I did it was interesting. To try to answer Jade’s question, I believe that there isn’t a direct connection between Dino Park and George’s job. A major part of the book goes to trying to explain the importance of Dino Park to his character and I think that, because of Dino Park, George would have become an archeologist had it not been for his mother. George’s mother constantly pressures him to be better than he is and because of this, George does not become an archeologist. In response to Macrina’s post, I would have to say that I disagree. Despite some confusion during the book and a few parts were the characters were stretched, I thought that the characters were the most entrancing part of the whole book. Even as I began to come to understand them I was still surprised by what they did. This, to me, was enticing because it constantly kept me guessing what would come next. While many books have a cookie-cutter plot where you can tell from the very beginning that he will end up with her, The Frequency of Souls was unpredictable up to the very end. In addition to the hair pin turns of the plot, the magnetic characters kept me reading towards the end. Each character was unique and deep, unlike characters in many books. They were more like real people because they were not perfect, not by a long shot. Also, they faced problems brought with them from childhood which had to be dealt with before they could move on with their lives. I found the characters to be dynamic as they interacted and, by accident, brought forth and then solved each others problems.
While reading The Frequency of Souls, I also had the same idea as Olivia S. It was my first experience reading a book set in a city I’ve lived in all my life, Washington D.C. Whenever the author provided a description of, let’s say, Dupont Circle, I thought: Wow I know exactly where he is. I enjoyed this aspect of the book very much. I was part of the reason for why I was able to plow through it. Actually walking the streets that the characters walked brings a new dimension to the book I never had. Keeping the book in a positive light, I would also like to comment on Jade D’s view of the book. Although she also found the book hard to read, she continued on to comment on an aspect of the book I hadn’t given much attention to, George’s flash backs. These, I am just realizing, are very important to the development of the protagonist throughout the story. George begins as an average man but as one reads on, he becomes a more defined character. I began to notice how negative his outlook was of the world. The reader would go on to connect this point of view to his unstable relationship with his mother. He describes his mother as a nagging woman who always expected the worst of George. And George, now a grown man, expects and sees the worst in the people around him. All of this, I deduced from his flashbacks of a lonely family life spent away from home and exploring the wonders of Dino Park. Dino Park becomes a symbol of the yearning for knowledge that he’s lost and, throughout the story, strives to regain.
I agree with a couple of my peers on various aspects of the book, A Frequency of Souls by Mary K. For example, I agree with Andrew K. when he said that cover was very interesting. However once reading the book we both felt disappointed by its slow start. The book was not very interesting me. I feel as though the author was trying to reach a different group of readers. I disagree with Cyerra when she said that the title was not magnetic. I felt as thought the whole cover made me want to read the book. The book did have very good characters. The book was probably not as interesting to me because I read A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines first. This book was very exciting and started off with action from the beginning. I agreed with Cyerra when she talked about Niagara Spense speaking to the dead. That is an ability most people do not have and I thought of how my life would be if I had that ability. Like most of my peers I felt if given the chance I probably would not have chosen this book to read. In addition, I agreed with my peers when they stated that the characters were very interesting. In a weird kind of way I enjoyed the book, but it was not because it was interesting, but probably because it was something in it that connected with me. However, I do not know what it is.
I agree with Cyerra, because we both had the same reaction to when we first saw the book. We both did not know what the book was going to be about but in the end we liked it. In addition to the whole “don’t judge a book by its cover” I also think it was interesting how Niagara was able to speak to the dead. As I said in my first response, I think that hobby she has corresponds to the title. I also agree with Olivia about the short stories incorporated into the main story. We both were confused about them, and in a way we did not understand what they had to do with the main idea that Mary Kay first started talking about. For example, How Olivia said one house in his childhood while he was minute we would be at George’s while he was explaining a question Niagara had asked him and the next thing we know we are back at Dino Park with out an introduction letting us know the change in the setting. On the other hand I disagree with Stephen, I actually laughed at his comment about Niagara being annoying to him based on her characteristics, I understand how you can get annoyed by her actions, but Mary Kay made her that way for a reason. I am not quite sure why that reason is, but that is what made Niagara and I think that the story would not be the same without Niagara’s personality
A lesson before dying by Ernest J. Gaines was an incredible novel. I really enjoyed that even though I leaned about certain events in history before such as the Great depression, and the Great Migration, the book gave me more of a real understanding about how people were living and felt. It was a rough book to read because of the struggle and pain he was going through. This novel gave me a very vivid plot, which made the book more understanding, and interesting to read. When we first received the book many of people had already read it saying it was a really good book, this got me even more motivated to read it. When I first began the novel I knew it was going to be deep it started out with him picturing himself in a courtroom, so I knew from the first chapter to prepare myself for a drama full book. I really enjoyed how people in the book were saying things that kind of inspired you, things they said that will really make you think, such as when Grant tells Jefferson “I want you to show them the difference between what they think you are and what you can be”. I absolutely love this quote because it makes you look at yourself and think about how people may look at you. This novel did an amazing job trying to make it just like real life. Some things that I do not understand completely is how we never really get to much information on Vivian's children, who they are, where they are, anything. I do not see why they were even mentioned if they were not going to be focused more in the novel. It just seems like there was no real purpose for them in this novel. However everything thing else was easy to read, understanding, and overall a well thought out put together novel.
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