In the Distance by Hernan Diaz- Book Review - Book Summary & Background

In the Distance by Hernan Diaz- Book Review Pt. 2 - Summary & Background

Title: In the Distance

Author: Hernan Diaz

Publisher: Coffee House Press

Publish Date: 2017

Rating: 5/5

Summary(blurb): A young Swedish boy finds himself penniless and alone in California. He travels east in search of his brother, moving on foot against the great push to the west. Driven back over and over again on his journey through vast expanses, Håkan meets naturalists, criminals, religious fanatics, Indians, and lawmen, and his exploits turn him into a legend. Díaz defies the conventions of historical fiction and genre, offering a probing look at the stereotypes that populate our past and a portrait of radical foreignness. 

**This book review contains heavy spoilers**

This section is for those of you who want to read my Character Analysis, but haven't read the book, and also doesn't intend to do so. If you are NOT one of these people, this post is not for you. 

Here, I will provide a brief part-by-part summary of the book, and provide some background as well. 

Elemental Exasperation

Elemental Exasperation

I was in eighth grade when I realized that since element symbols were made out of English letters, they could be combined into words.

For example, the element symbols of Krypton, Yttrium, Platinum, Oxygen, Nitrogen, Iodine, and Tellurium spell out ‘Kr Y Pt O N I Te (Kryptonite)’. The elements copper(Cu) and tellurium(Te) make the word ‘cute’, ‘C Ho Co La Te (chocolate)’ comes from Carbon, Holmium, Cobalt, Lanthanum, and Tellurium, and so on.

Yet,

I cannot spell anything I would like to spell with these elements.

I can’t spell ‘Lego’ or ‘Drum’ or even ‘DJ’ with the elements. Believe me, I’ve tried. Nothing’s worked.

After experimenting with numerous combinations– I wasn’t ready to give up– I concluded that the primary reasons for the unspellable words was that the Table of Elements did not have an element with a element symbol of “E” and another with “D”.

When I first learned about the periodic table and chemical symbols, I was told that element symbols are usually the first letter of the element name, and if the first letter is taken by another element, then it’s the first two letters. For example, hydrogen has the symbol H, and helium has the symbol He because only the first letter- H- is taken by hydrogen. The same goes for many other element pairs- sulfur’s symbol is S while silicon’s symbol is Si. Boron’s symbol is B while Beryllium’s symbol is Be.

But why, just why, did scientists decide to give Europium the symbol of Eu and not E? When they had another chance with Einsteinium, why was it set as Es and not E???? And the same goes for Darmstadtium, Dysprosium, and Dubnium!! Why are there symbols of Ds, Dy, and Db with not a single element of D????????

My only hope is to synthesize two new elements and give them the symbols of D and E respectively.

Calculetters

 

Calculetters

Scientific calculators– specifically the ones with stickers at the back showing you how to put in variables(fx-991ES)– are amazing.

In the first semester of tenth grade, I discovered that with my calculator I can type out almost every letter of the alphabet, and I even found how to use fraction signs for longer messages to fit on the small screen.

This was an amazing, amazing discovery. Wow! Amazing!

I was in love with the calculator and it became my favorite toy for a few months. Sorry, legos.

The calculator soon became a part of my daily life. I memorized how to type each letter so I didn’t have to refer to the back of the calculator, and I typed faster on the calculator than on my phone. I literally started sending my friends calculator shots instead of texting them. Messages like ‘I love legos’ and ‘recommend me a book’ were prevalent, and I probably could have cleared a few game levels in the time I typed on the calculator.

And then one day, I noticed a small problem- I could not type any of the letters J, Q, V, or W on the calculator! I could type the names of practically everyone– Able, D.Seo, Angelina, Yun, Christina, and more– but my own name was beyond my reach (including Jay, Jane, Jackie, Savannah, Ava, and Victoria’s names). More than that, I wasn’t able to type all of the 5Ws and 1H (who, what, when, where, why, how), so I couldn’t ask “what’s the answer” in calculetters. Instead, I resorted to the crude command of ‘gimme number 3 solution’ and whatnot.

Gradually, as the second semester started, there weren’t any opportunities to take out my calculator in class, leading to a decline in my calcummunication. I have yet to find innovative and legible ways to create J, Q, V, and W with my calculator.  

"Stop Procrastinating And Do Ur MP"

Talking Animals

Talking Animals

We all have standards for the books we read. Some of us love psychological fiction and horror, some of us focus on anything fiction, and some of us– oddly enough– need to know the book’s whole plot before reading.

Some of these outlandish standards I can understand– but there is one I have no idea how it came about or why it’s even a standard at all.

Spending A Day With the Kids In JK

 Spending A Day With the Kids In JK

By Daniel Jin

First Post!

 Hello, any and all readers!

Welcome to DJ's Stories, a blog where I post book reviews and some of my own writing. 

I hope you enjoy your experience here!