The Sea Inside

I thought that this movie was very well done the only problem was that it was in Spanish. The plot was excellent and the acting backed up the story very well. It was a very meaningful message. The fact that it is actually a true story also makes it more meaningful. I believe that every human being has the right to die. I think that the courts should have allowed him to die. They should have done this because it is his life and he can do what ever he wants with it. I would not want to be one of those people that participated in the suicide. While I agree that he has the right to die I wouldn’t kill any human myself.

This book relates to Diving Bell and the Butterfly in the fact that both of the characters suffer from problems with their spinal cords. They differ in the fact that one can move one eye lid and the other can move his whole head. They also differ in the amount of time that the person has lived with their disease the main character has been a quadriplegic for 28 years the other has had locked in syndrome for a matter of months. They both however have written books. I believe that The Sea Inside was more powerful.

When they were on the beach in Ramon’s dream. The director used a extra close shot to show the audience how much they loved each other. If the director had done any other shot you wouldn’t fell the same emotion in that scene. But, the extra close shot made you fell like you were there experiencing it.

Week 6, post 1

In the last section of the book Lance begins the Tour de France. He leads after the first time trial. His two greatest rivals were Alex Zulle and Fernando Escartin. They were the two favorites to win. Going into the mountains Lance was winning by 2 minutes and 20 seconds. After a breakaway in the mountains Lance was up 6 minutes and 47 seconds. Since he was doing so well the French press thought that he was doping. Lance had to take quite a few blood test to prove his innocence. Finally the Tour was over and he was victorious. He was an American hero. Not long after his Tour win his wife went into labor and Lance had his first son.

Week 5, post 2

After Lance was healed Bill, his manager, looked for a team that Lance could race on. Trouble occurred when teams didn’t believe that he would amount to anything in pro cycling any more. He finally singed with the US postal team but it wasn’t nearly what his salary was. He raced one in Europe, then got angry with cycling and moved back home he almost retired. After marrying Kik he wanted to have a child but he was sterile so they went through a long painful process to get her pregnant. She did get pregnant though.

It is amazing to see that even professional athletes also go through hardships with what ever sport they play. Lance nearly quit cycling for ever. Although, that feeling, is common for most cancer patients after they don’t have cancer anymore. Luckily though Lance was surrounded by people that loved him and they protected him from making a decision while his mind was clouded. If Lance Armstrong had said right there that he was going to stop cycling I wonder how would cycling have changed. Would it have ever gone across the Atlantic and come to America. We wouldn’t have him as an American hero. His cancer foundation wouldn’t be nearly as successful. Lance has a child with Kik but the process is scientific. Kik is impregnated in a science lab with guys in white coats. There are to views that you can look at this from. The side that thinks that this is wrong and shouldn’t be done because it isn’t natural. The other side is that they love each other so much that they would go through an insanely painful process just to have a child. At the end of the reading his coach talks about how Lance will look great on the podium in the tour de France. His coach thinks that Lance can win the whole thing

Week 4, post 2

In this section Lance talks about how brutal the last treatments of chemo were. He also talks about how weak he is and how out of shape he is. Then after months of treatment he finally is normal. After this realization he begins to worry about the fact that cancer might come back. He describes this feeling as almost scarier than having cancer. Then he begins to talk about Kik the women that he meets while undergoing his treatment. They seem to have a future together.

Week 4, post 1

"Lance your normal" page 160, It’s Not About the Bike by Sally Jenkins.
This quote is important because after months of intense chemotherapy Lance’s blood tests are finally normal. That means that he is cured and the cancer is dead. It struck me as important because Lance finally won his battle over cancer and was still alive.

authors picture

Diving bell book feelings

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly to me was a good book and a bad book. Prior to reading this book I hadn’t thought about the emotion of being locked inside my body. This book opened my eyes to a whole new punishment that could enslave anyone of us. The thought of not being able to communicate verbally with people and not being able to move any limb in my body would terrify me. I enjoyed the basic idea of the book, being stuck in a diving bell but your mind is free like a butterfly. I enjoyed the simile the he used to describe his entrapment. It shows his feelings clearly and precisely. One the other had I didn’t like how he wrote about strange dreams that he had. They seamed irrelevant to me. In his writing it was hard to tell if he could actually move and speak or if it was just his imagination. But, it was a very well written book I don’t know if it was the English translator that made it sound so good. I would like to learn french and then read it in french and see how well written it was. Because the author was originally a magazine editor he uses loaded words and writes with deep emotion and feeling. Which can hook you and make you think about his current situation. The book makes you look into everything that you do, without even thinking about, seem so amazing. Over all I think that it was a good book and the originality of it made it so interesting.

Week 3, post 2

This book so far has been about Lance Armstrong’s life before and after cancer. Lance before cancer rode his bike just because. Now during cancer he starts to realize the true meaning of riding his bike. Cancer totally changes the way he thinks from food to family. He actually says in the book that he thinks that cancer was a good thing for him. I personally like the way that it is written because it sounds like he is talking to you. I have found no weaknesses. This book relates to my life because the most traumatic things in your life can be the things that you are the most thankful for. I predict that Lance will survive and create a charity to help cancer patients. Feelings associated with this book are ones of amazement that Lance is still alive.

Week 3, part 1

Lance wanted to know everything there was to know about cancer. So he read every source that he could get his hands on. Thanks to Dr. Wolff Lance looks at other treatment possibilities. He recommended that lance look at other hospitals in Indianapolis, Houston and New York. He then learns that he might have cancer in his brain and that he should take an MRI scan. After the MRI it was confirmed that lance had cancer in his brain. The next day they left for Houston. In Houston the doctors told him that he should do their therapy otherwise Lance would die. Lance wanted a second opinion though so he left for Indianapolis the next day. There he meet Craig Nichols and Scott Shapiro. He liked their way of doing things so he decided to get treated in Indianapolis. In Indianapolis they immediately did brain surgery. Lance survived he stayed 7 days in the hospital and then went home.

sally Jenkins worked for the Washington Post until 1990. She also wrote for Sports illustrated and she has written 5 books. She now works for the Washington post as a sports columist.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/sports/columns/jenkinssally/