Book Reviews

By Jenna Dawkins

Ahhh, a breath of fresh air. Or incense. Maybe the whiff of a candle. Now a burning log. An aerosol can. Wait a second...

Yes, I'm back, and yes, I'm writing about Hunter and his suggested Path to Synchronicity. Let me start off by saying that yeah, the book is as dense in philosophy as it sounds. But Hunter's total infatuation with self-discovery and "inner light" definitely serves him better here than it does elsewhere (for example, his text on memoirs). The book varies between how-to, as seems to be his specialty, and “let me tell you about my life.” I will admit that he makes the recounting of his own experiences relevant and admissible. His stories are short, relatable, and seem to be influenced by “synchronicity” itself.

After reading I kind of feel like it would be appropriate to plop down on one of those round, poofy chairs from Pier I. I'd play some Enya, do that thing where you make an “O” shape with your thumb and pointer fingers, hum then ponder it. I like that feeling. When Hunter talks about flow, I feel relaxed, more able to just let it slide and let life happen. Of course, every once in awhile, I feel like I’m embedded in a Chicken Soup book. It can get sappier than a pine tree. But the book seems to work because it is focused around a specific type of person. Someone who wants to see change, to understand their own path, their own influence. As a random read, I think it’s stuffy and probably loopty-loop in its philosophy. Almost as loopty-loop as the phrase, which I just made up.

I did learn something from Hunter. Stay motivated. I’m glad it was encouraging, or it probably would have been difficult for me to keep trudging through the metaphors. Honestly, though, I think this is because I’ve had less life experience than the general target audience. If I was 60 and divorced, or jobless, or having a midlife crisis, or 30 and just had triplets, I really think I could get something good out of it. I really think I would be able to use it to my advantage. There is a lot of sage advice in here, and I can definitely store it in the memory bank for future use, but it’s hard to really take advantage of it without really pulling that trigger of experience. After a little bit of time has passed, maybe the air will clear.

Jenna Dawkins, Associate Editor, is a senior English-Creative Writing major and Professional Writing Studies & Music minor at Elon University.

By Zachary Harr

Is there life on other planets?

The Eighth Day is a science-fiction thriller that takes its readers on a ride through two continents while trying to examine that same essential question.

When a parasite from outer space is found inside of a meteor that hit the small town of Havenbrook, Iowa, a group of classified men must do everything they can to keep it hush. Their plan to take control of the world and create a new utopian society by destroying the current one is almost set in stone, but two high school seniors hold the key to saving mankind. Just your normal weekend, right? I don't think so.

18 years ago, Jay Anderson and Kathy Winters were two of the six subjects tested in a top-secret assignment by the U.S. Government, labeled Project Centurion. As a result, their hyper immune systems allow them to be the only two people powerful enough to stop the deadly parasite and the men behind it. Jay Anderson and his friends are put through Hell and back when they risk being thrown into prison for their actions.

O'Neal puts his readers in the front seat making stops all over the U.S. and Russia. His ability to break down the difficult world of science and simply translate it to the reader is extremely helpful. It allows people like myself with little background knowledge to completely understand what is going on during each of the 307 pages.

Throughout the entire story, I wanted more between the friendship of Jay and Kathy. O'Neal successfully teases its readers from start to finish on the possible progression of their friendship. While I waited for their bond to take the next level, I focused more on the whole story. The Eighth Day dangled along the lines between predictable and unexpected, but that imbalance ultimately kept my attention.

The amount of characters can be confusing at times, but O'Neal submitted a list of all involved in the beginning pages. When you are first introduced the cast of over 50 people is alarming, however, I felt as if I was included with them—going through the trials and tribulations as they were.

It's a story about two teenagers and their friends, trying to save all of humanity from a group of terrorists with alien life on their side. This novel takes on a subject that is ever-growing in popularity nowadays and does a pretty good job of doing it. I can guarantee that anyone interested in science-fiction will love it but for those of you who aren't, you will soon be after reading O'Neal's The Eighth Day.

Zachary Harr, Editor-in-Chief of WNW, is a Nonfiction English Writing major at the University of Pittsburgh with a Theatre Arts minor.