Picture Comparisons

I completed The Accidental Billionaires by Ben Mezrich this afternoon. One of the advantages of reading nonfiction is that you can research what the characters actually look like. I am a visual learner, so imagery and character development are important to me when I read. While reading The Accidental Billionaires, I pictured the actors in the movie The Social Network as the characters. My completion of The Accidental Billionaires prompted me to find images of the real Mark Zuckerberg, Eduardo Saverin, and Sean Parker and compare them to images of the actors who portrayed them in the film.

I first researched Mark Zuckerberg. I applaud the casting director. That hair, the nose, and the beady eyes equal perfection.

 Next, I looked up Eduardo Saverin. Andrew Garfield, the actor that plays Eduardo, looks much more "Hollywood actor" than the real Eduardo Saverin.

Finally, I looked up Sean Parker. Overall, I think they are the most identical pair.

I need to watch The Social Network again to draw further comparisons.

"TheFacebook" to Just "Facebook"

I'm still reading The Accidental Billionaires by Ben Mezrich. It's not that long of a book, it's just difficult to find time to read between homework and after-school activities. It's a shame I can't read more during the school year--luckily this class forces me to! The Accidental Billionaires is an easy read and provides a relaxing break from homework. However, the subject matter is not mindless. Now that's what I call my kind of book.

At this point in the book, there are absolutely no connections I can make between the characters and my own life. Mark and Eduardo are plunged into the dark and money-crazed world of Silicon Valley, California. The setting has mostly transitioned from Harvard to California. Likewise, the mood of the novel has changed completely. At Harvard, Mark Zuckerberg and Eduardo Saverin are just two geeky college students that are chasing a dream. They consider "thefacebook" to be an experiment. After Mark moves to California, the mood changes from casual to intense. Sean Parker immerses Mark into the dog-eat-dog world of Silicon Valley, the infamous mecca for hotshot investors and businessmen looking for the "next best thing." Symbolically, "thefacebook" changes to just "Facebook," representing a new stage in the plot and a metamorphosis of Mark's character. Mark is swayed by Sean Parker's vicious business strategy and manipulation and comes into direct conflict with Eduardo. Because I saw the movie, I know that Mark's conflict with Eduardo leads to the climax of the story.

Like I said, The Accidental Billionaire is easy to read. The story becomes increasingly fascinating and exciting.

Friday (although now it's Saturday)

My personality type is INFJ. According to the Keirsey Temperament website, I am a counselor. Their description is partially true. I have a strong desire to contribute to the welfare of others and I work well with individuals and small groups of people. To prove this, I am a freshman tutor this year. Also, I have "extreme sensitivity" to others. However, I do not think I have a "mysterious" personality. Every emotion plays out on my face. It is quite obvious when I am hungry, upset, happy, or anxious.

I love personality tests. It's always interesting to see what the website says about you.

Currently

The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook, Ben Mezrich

This week: 132 pages

Sentences of the week:

1. "It wasn't until about seventy-two hours later that Mark found out exactly what he'd done." The Accidental Billionaires
2. "Eduardo closed his eyes, imagining the tiny packets of information ricocheting out into the world, whizzing down copper tubing and bouncing off of orbiting satellites, ripping through the ether, tiny bursts of electric genius leaping from computer to computer like synaptic flashes in a vast, worldwide nervous system." The Accidental Billionaires
3. "Summers shook his head. His jowls reverberated with the motion, like fleshy waves in a swirling epidermal storm." The Accidental Billionaires 

My favorite sentence this week is by far number 3 . I laughed out loud when I read it because I picture Summers as a fleshy, pale man with a gut and beady eyes that gaze into their onlooker's soul. It's hilarious that the author compared Summer's jowls to waves in an ocean storm. The imagery created from the simile is so vivid that I can easily imagine Summer's almost comical appearance.

Innocence

I have read 40 more pages of The Accidental Billionaires by Ben Mezrich since my last blog post. The plot moves forward rapidly in those 40 pages. Mark launches his own website called "thefacebook.com." To the Winklevoss twins' dismay, the website  turns into a viral hit on campus.  Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss are infuriated by the launch of "thefacebook.com," which they view to be a copy of their idea (the Harvard Connection). Consequently, a major conflict arrises between the Winklevoss twins and Mark.

The twins  meet with Mr. Summers, the president of Harvard University, to complain about Mark's breach of  the student code of ethics. It is in this chapter that profound character development of Tyler Winklevoss occurs. Although Tyler is not a major character and his development is not a vital part of the plot, Tyler's moment of self-reflection in Mr. Summer's office struck a chord with my own life. Summers has no sympathy for the twins and concludes that the "facebook" issue is not the school's problem. Tyler is deeply upset that Summers does not recognize Mark's deceit as a breach of the Harvard code of ethics. He feels "betrayed...by [Summers], by the system, by the university itself" (130). As he walks out the door, he notes that his meeting with Summers marks the "true end of his innocence" (131). This line spoke to me, and I began to consider what innocence is. I conclude that I am like Tyler. I believe my innocence is fading away, and my eyes are gradually opening to the injustices of the world. Through literature, journalism, and music, I expose myself to the unfairness and cruelty of humanity. I do not consider stealing an idea as cruelty, but the same concept of innocence applies.

The Accidental Billionaires is exciting because it actually happened. I love nonfiction literature because it can be inspirational.

Dramatic Irony

I am currently on page 92 of The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook by Ben Mezrich. I am enjoying the book for various reasons. First, my favorite genre is autobiography. Although the book is not an autobiography, it is a detailed account of Mark Zuckerberg's college life and journey to the founding of Facebook. Second, the narrative, which is told mostly in Eduardo Saverin's point of view, gives intimate details about the inner workings of Harvard University. I am fascinated by the descriptions of the exclusive "Final Clubs" on the Harvard campus.  Most importantly, I already know how the story is going to end.

The reason I know the resolution of The Accidental Billionaires is not because I saw the movie The Social Network. Because Facebook is enormously  popular today, it is obvious who ends up on top. It is well-known that Mark Zuckerberg, not the Winklevoss twins or Eduardo, is the founder of Facebook. Thus, it is almost as if I create my own dramatic irony as I read. Additionally, I infer that Ben Mezrich realized  his reader knows that Zuckerberg is considered Facebook's creator. Mezrich includes a chapter in which the Winklevoss twins and their friend Divya contemplate why Zuckerberg is ignoring their calls and avoiding conversing about the Harvard Connection (the idea Zuckerberg steals that is similar to Facebook). They eventually conclude that Zuckerberg is "just another computer geek without any real vision" (91). Of course, the reader knows that Zuckerberg is the opposite of "just another computer geek," who in fact has as much vision and drive as all three of them combined. While the twins think Zuckerberg is working for them, Zuckerberg is in fact stealing their idea and making it his own. Consequently, the reader knows more than the characters do.

So far, the story of Eduardo Saverin and Mark Zuckerberg is compelling and entertaining.

Number One

This is the first sentence of the first blog post of my first blog. Creating a blog is certainly the most technologically creative task a teacher has assigned in my eleven-year-old academic career. I am excited to begin. First, however, I would like to explain my alias name. I chose the name Estella Havisham from Charles Dickens' Great Expectations not because I am like her or aspire to be like her. Estella is cruel and manipulative of poor little Pip. She is certainly not a kind soul. Rather, I chose Estella Havisham for a petty reason--I think she has the most beautiful name in the world. It sounds especially ravishing when spoken out loud in a British accent. I encourage you to say it out loud to yourself. It just drips class. 


The first novel I am reading this semester is called The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook by Ben Mezrich. I was fascinated by the movie The Social Network, so this book has been on my to-do list for a while.

Happy reading!