What was the author's purpose(s) in writing this book, and how can you tell?
The novel, The Magicians, by Lev Grossman portrays a 17 year old boy, named Quentin, throughout his life at a college for magicians. In the second half of the book, Quentin graduates from Brakebills and moves onto the real world. He thinks that he can avoid boredom by partying all day and all night. He and his friends finally decide to do something with their life and they go on an adventure to Fillory. Fillory was always thought to be fake because it was written in children's book. They had always thought the author just made it up, but then they found out it was real and they took the adventure. there, they faced a beast that ends up killing Quentin's girlfriend.
Grossman wrote this book to show that people should reflect on their life and realize how good they have it and not seek for more. He shows this through telling the failed life of Quentin. He was a really smart, and liked by everyone, but he didn't have the girl he liked so he was "miserable". Next, at Brakebills, the college for magicians, he was completely content when he got there, but after a while, he began to get bored and felt not content. He yearned to get out, and when he did get to the real world, he partied and drank and did drugs all day and night. During this time, her ignored hsi girlfriend and ended up cheating on her. He soon regrets it and realizes what a great girlfriend he had (they got back together later). He was still no content with life and went seeking for more. He then entered Fillory, the place he fantasized of visiting his whole life (the alternate world of adventure. a utopia). Here is where everything feel apart. the fun adventure they thought they were going on turned out to be a mad competition for survival. His thirst for fulfilling his life (which was already complete, with all the greatest things ever) lead to the death of his beloved girlfriend. He then realized how much he already had before, and that he should have never looked for anything more because he had magical powers, people who loved him, and all the money he could dream of. He didn't need anything else, but he was just being selfish.
Grossman sums up all of this in this quote: "You just go from one thing to the next, don't you, and you think it's going to make you happy. Brakebills didn't. I didn't..."(255) here, it shows that Quentin is unsatisfied by small things and tries to move onto the next thing. he tries to move on and make himself feel better. Grossman shows this wrong and that you should look at all the great things that you have in your life because in the end, Quentin lost everything. I think this is true. Some people take things for granted, and they must realize how good they have it.
If you've read other books in this same genre, how does this one compare?
Currently, I am half way through the novel, The Magicians, by Lev Grossman. This book portrays a 17 year old boy, named Quentin, throughout his life at a college for magicians. Instead of attending Princeton, Quentin attends a college for magicians called Brakebills for five years instead of four. There, they learn basic magic. Normally, they are placed into their "disciplines", something like a major, and they get placed into their specific housing area. For some strange reason, Quentin didn't place in any of the Disciplines. Then in their fourth year, they go on a trip to prove who is fit to become a first class magician. They set off on a trip to Antarctica, and there, they make a five hundred mile run to the South Pole, without any clothes on or food. Only Alice, Quentin's girl friend and he made it. They were the only ones that tried. During their fifth year, they graduate. This school hidden from the outside world and the people stay concealed from the outside world. This school reminds me of Hogwarts, and the book reminds me of Harry potter.
It reminds me of Harry Potter because it is about magicians going to a concealed, mystical school. There are some major differences though. They use hand gestures to cast spells, instead of wands. I really liked how Grossman referenced the Harry Potter series in his book because throughout reading it, I always thought to myself, “this reminds me of Harry Potter”. He reference how the magic in each story is difference:
“He’d look at the kids with an obvious flawed feature… and wondered why they didn’t get somebody to fix them up, like Hermione with her teeth in Harry Potter. But in reality it always ended in a disaster.”(page 188)
This was interesting to hear a reference to my favorite series in what seems like my new favorite book. This book also reminds me of the series Percy Jackson and the Olympians, in the fact that there is a whole new world living right in front of our eyes, but we don’t notice it. I like these types because I feel like it can actually happen to me. It can turn my boring life into a life of adventure and excitement. I know; I’m a nerd.
The novel, The Magicians, by Lev Grossman portrays a 17 year old boy, named Quentin, throughout his life at a college for magicians. In the second half of the book, Quentin graduates from Brakebills and moves onto the real world. He thinks that he can avoid boredom by partying all day and all night. He and his friends finally decide to do something with their life and they go on an adventure to Fillory. Fillory was always thought to be fake because it was written in children's book. They had always thought the author just made it up, but then they found out it was real and they took the adventure. there, they faced a beast that ends up killing Quentin's girlfriend.
Grossman wrote this book to show that people should reflect on their life and realize how good they have it and not seek for more. He shows this through telling the failed life of Quentin. He was a really smart, and liked by everyone, but he didn't have the girl he liked so he was "miserable". Next, at Brakebills, the college for magicians, he was completely content when he got there, but after a while, he began to get bored and felt not content. He yearned to get out, and when he did get to the real world, he partied and drank and did drugs all day and night. During this time, her ignored hsi girlfriend and ended up cheating on her. He soon regrets it and realizes what a great girlfriend he had (they got back together later). He was still no content with life and went seeking for more. He then entered Fillory, the place he fantasized of visiting his whole life (the alternate world of adventure. a utopia). Here is where everything feel apart. the fun adventure they thought they were going on turned out to be a mad competition for survival. His thirst for fulfilling his life (which was already complete, with all the greatest things ever) lead to the death of his beloved girlfriend. He then realized how much he already had before, and that he should have never looked for anything more because he had magical powers, people who loved him, and all the money he could dream of. He didn't need anything else, but he was just being selfish.
Grossman sums up all of this in this quote: "You just go from one thing to the next, don't you, and you think it's going to make you happy. Brakebills didn't. I didn't..."(255) here, it shows that Quentin is unsatisfied by small things and tries to move onto the next thing. he tries to move on and make himself feel better. Grossman shows this wrong and that you should look at all the great things that you have in your life because in the end, Quentin lost everything. I think this is true. Some people take things for granted, and they must realize how good they have it.
If you've read other books in this same genre, how does this one compare?
Currently, I am half way through the novel, The Magicians, by Lev Grossman. This book portrays a 17 year old boy, named Quentin, throughout his life at a college for magicians. Instead of attending Princeton, Quentin attends a college for magicians called Brakebills for five years instead of four. There, they learn basic magic. Normally, they are placed into their "disciplines", something like a major, and they get placed into their specific housing area. For some strange reason, Quentin didn't place in any of the Disciplines. Then in their fourth year, they go on a trip to prove who is fit to become a first class magician. They set off on a trip to Antarctica, and there, they make a five hundred mile run to the South Pole, without any clothes on or food. Only Alice, Quentin's girl friend and he made it. They were the only ones that tried. During their fifth year, they graduate. This school hidden from the outside world and the people stay concealed from the outside world. This school reminds me of Hogwarts, and the book reminds me of Harry potter.
It reminds me of Harry Potter because it is about magicians going to a concealed, mystical school. There are some major differences though. They use hand gestures to cast spells, instead of wands. I really liked how Grossman referenced the Harry Potter series in his book because throughout reading it, I always thought to myself, “this reminds me of Harry Potter”. He reference how the magic in each story is difference:
“He’d look at the kids with an obvious flawed feature… and wondered why they didn’t get somebody to fix them up, like Hermione with her teeth in Harry Potter. But in reality it always ended in a disaster.”(page 188)
This was interesting to hear a reference to my favorite series in what seems like my new favorite book. This book also reminds me of the series Percy Jackson and the Olympians, in the fact that there is a whole new world living right in front of our eyes, but we don’t notice it. I like these types because I feel like it can actually happen to me. It can turn my boring life into a life of adventure and excitement. I know; I’m a nerd.
