Book 4 Listicle, 4 Reasons Why Max Cobb is Incompetent

4 Reasons Why Max Cobb is incompetent

Max Cobb, the main character seen in Don't Get Caught, written by Kurt Dinan, is one of the most incompetent characters you will come around (No offense Mr. Dinan). He runs into problems with everyday life, school, and even an evil pranking club. We see him creating all of the most of the schemes and even having the best prank, but every decision he makes puts the group in constant risk and shows his incompetence to run a group like Water Tower Five.

1. He is a below average student

From page 7, till the end, we are given many non-subtle clues to Max being a below average student. "Score in the forty-ninth percentile on the ACT three times running?" (Dinan 7). "Mr. 2.5 GPA..." (Dinan 9). All of these different things show his incompetence as it's defined as "[I]nability to do something successfully; ineptitude" (Websters). as he fails to do well in school and for a national standardized test. The fact that Max resents that he is this way and still doesn't do anything to stop it is why he is incompetent.

2. Max has no social life

While he is introduced as an unintelligent student, we also see his ineptitude to have a social life. We are introduced to a no life student who considers himself "Just Max." He even compares himself to the fact that he doesn't ahve the capacity to be cool thinking, "The only problem is 'cool' and 'Max Cobb' go together about as well as sharp knives and dull minds" (Dinan 7). A main character with no social life will find a difficult path in a book where he needs to get information, create a group of friends, and wage war against somebody. All I'm trying to say, is why would a nobody have something like that done against him... Only time can tell.

3. He constantly makes the worst decisions given the scenario

When life gives max Cobb lemons, he pays for them then sells them at a cheaper price for then what he bought that at. Max Cobb has a consistent problem of making the worst decision when given options. Here is an example (BIG SPOILER!); 1. I go to the meeting with the Chaos Club and tell no one in my group about it, or 2. I tell my Water Tower Five group and go to the meeting and set them up. Guess what our friend does? Here's another; 1. Join the most illustrious group in his towns history or, 2. Not join them, and go back to trying to ruin something everyone in the school loves. If I was the character in this book, not only would my decisions result in a better life for myself, but decisions that also don't aggravate me.

4. Max can't take a hint

After Max "successfully" takes down the Chaos Club we see that his favorite teacher was actually the head of it. Not only does this make him feel bad but it makes him feel guilty for making him lose his job, moving away, and destroying this treasure that was the Chaos Club. This could have all been prevented if "'You're swinging at ghosts'" (Dinan 155). and "'We didn't pull those pranks'" (Dinan 155). had actually been listened to and comprehended. Max Cobb is guilty to destroying what many kids loved and not having the comprehension skills of a first grader.








With all 4 of these reasons given, we can clearly see that Max Cobb is indeed incompetent. Any other character or human being in his place would have avoided all danger and risks he took by understanding what was placed in front of themselves. But maybe that's just the type of character Max Cobb is suppose to be.

Blog #9, Heroes and Villains

Heroes and Villains

    The Protagonist- In the book Don't get Caught by Kurt Dinan, the main character we come to meet is Max, someone who achieves a 2.5 gpa, isn't too athletic and is also known as "Mr. No Social Life." He is the narrator in this wonderful book and also the leader of Water Tower 5, a group in contest with the Choas Club. 

    The Antagonist- There are two possible answers here, but to avoid spoiling anything I'll go with the most obvious option, The Chaos Club. The Chaos Club has been around Asheville high school for a very long time and they have never once been caught. They are very well known for their end of the year prank, (always being the largest), and all the mischief they have caused. 

    Patterns is Max- One pattern we see in all main characters and Max is his willingness to take the fall of the entire group upon himself, so no one will figure out the entire group and plan. Another thing I have noticed about Max that I have seen in other main characters is that he is not an above average person. He has a low gpa, not very athletic, not super well known and very hesitant to make decisions.
    Comparisons- One character I can think of that is the opposite of max would have to be Artemis Fowl. Artemis Fowl is always prepared for anything, does everything for his personal gain, and really doesn't care for others (until the later books). Now for a character that shares the same traits as Max, I would have to say Neville Longbottom,  Neville does everything to help others and the people he cares about. He often has some type of plan, but they usually go awry. Max is a very unique character whose personality shines throughout this book. I enjoyed it very much and can't wait for that sequel. Keep up the good work Mr. Dinan.

Blog #8, Reaction to book 3

(I changed my book from The Passage because as much as I tried to read it, I couldn't get myself to not fall asleep while doing so, but will finish the book in a better time.)
                         The Lost Island
Gideon Crew, a master thief who has been tasked with the impossible, must steal a page from the Book of Kells (One f Irelands most treasured pieces). Even as it seems impossible he manages to get a hold of it and help discover something even greater, a treasure map leading to the lotus. This lotus has been said to heal all injuries at the price of memory. And did I mention Gideon Crew is living on borrowed time. The journey only becomes even more dangerous when they realize that it connects to the Odyssey.
   This book was both extremely exciting and fun to read as the connections to the Odyssey only furthered my excitement into the book. As a kid I would always play video games and read books based on Greek Mythology so every step of the way I was more drawn into the book. The connections that the reader would normally slowly put together as the book went on was quickly assessed and put together by myself.
    Another good thing to note about this novel would be this constant anxiety you feel as they are always in a dangerous situation ranging from pirates, mythological creatures, and dangerous mind-alluding plants. There was never moment when Amy and Gideon would consider themselves safe and that just compelled me to never put the book down. What most books lack, this compelling attribute, is exactly what was brought to me with The Lost Island.
   I would recommend this book to anyone as it is an amazing read that anyone could come to love. Not too long, not too short, always on edge, compelling, and an amazing back story that the reader can follow once they finish this book.

Blog #7, Reaction to Debates

    I will first start off with the discussion seen between Jonathan Franzen and SL. The first topic they discuss is the matter of adults reading YA, (Young Adult). While we see Ruth Graham slamming the adults who read and recommend YA, Franzen is seen saying that he couldn't care what people read and while some people read it for the encouraging, uplifting messages in that genre that is not seen in the others. Which surprised the interviewer.
   My take on YA is one similar to Franzen's. I do not care what other people read as long as it doesn't affect me. As long as I can be left to myself with what genres I read and to what I do with that I am as happy as I'll ever be. However, once others start to force these "great pieces of literature" onto me, I become slightly irate and annoyed at the consistency and perseverance to get me to read those books. YA might not be my favorite genre but I certainly won't trash on it.
   Another topic brought up in this discussion is women in literature. The main part of this topic was how women are given less press time than men, and following this SL asks Franzen about what he thinks of Jennifer Weiner. Now as I have never heard of this writer I assumed she might be a new upcoming writer or one of books I don't read. But as it turns out with a little research, shes been writing for quite a while. SL goes on to ask about her being the head of this organization leading the charge to equal representation for women in the writing field, but Franzen doesn't quite like this "leader". What Franzen tells us about Weiner is that she uses this organization and attention to get more readers to herself, while being the only one to benefit and not the other women who she is supposedly representing. He also says that he has never read any of her books because he has heard of no one ever recommending them.
   While that last thing is quite confusing, there is some truth to it. The leader of the association is one of little merit and apparently has little to offer the literary world. If infact, she does use VIDA to just purely benefit herself, it would show one way that she cares little for furthering the literary world. However, as I know little about this organization and what they do, I can't say much, but I can say that I do not believe women are misrepresented in the media or press.    

       

The Firm, Book vs Film

    Oh, my, god. Talk about two entirely different stories. But before reading this I must let you know there will be spoilers, and lots of them. As I will discuss most of the differences between the book and the movie from beginning to end.
    One of the first differences we notice is how quickly the first 100 pages of the book go by in the movie. His struggles and troubled upbringing that is described in so much detail is never seen as it starts with the scene of a basketball game which is immediately followed by his interview for his firms. But as this is a movie with a limited amount of time I can see why this change had to be made. During the beginning of the movie you also aren't truly shown the poor apartment that they live in as there was no background to this either. And before you know it they are off to Memphis in a Mercedes-Benz, not a BMW.
    The next major difference we are shown is his confession to having sex with a woman in the Cayman Islands. In the movie he is threatened by Oliver Lambert and to make sure the FBI and the firm have nothing over his head he tells Abby. As you can guess, this causes quite a-bit of distrust and anger between the two as she takes the stance of no longer trusting or wanting to be with Mitch (Tom Cruise). In the book, he never tells Abby as he doesn't want to cause this distrust and there is a scare when an envelope is sent to his house containing nothing.
   Now for probably the biggest difference between the two, is the reasoning behind framing the firm. In the book its by breaking the attorney client pact that no attorney can break without ever wanting to be hired again. He does this by printing all the illegal business' earnings and showing all the other illegal operations happening throughout the Firm. In the book, we figures out that the firm is over billing all the businesses connected to firm, allowing a higher salary to be paid to everyone working. A scheme that doesn't break the attorney client pact so Mitch is able to continue working as a lawyer.    The last difference we see is where the two different Mitch's end up. In the book he ends up in the Caribbean with his wife and Ray and Abanks. In the movie ray is off with the secretary and Abanks and Abby is living with Mitch who is looking for a job.
    Overall the movie was amazing and can't be compared to severely to the book as it took two entirely different angles. I would highly recommend both the movie and the book as it will be thoroughly remembered by myself.

Blog #5 The Story of your life

The Story of Your Life

   One thing my grandpa noticed as he walked out of the theater once seeing The Arrival, was that you could ask 14 people, and every single one would have a different interpretation of the movie. And this couldn't be more true. The decisions made by the producer to prolong the knowledge that came with Hetapod B allowed the audience to consider what was happening throughout the entire film. And without having read the short story, I would have no such clue as to what was happening as well.  

   When it comes down to which one did I prefer, I would have to say the movie by a long shot. Even though there were some scenes that I thought would never end, it depicts the hardships that I couldn't have seen in the short story. Such as the impending threat of the other high power countries and the rouge soldiers. Or even the knowledge of having a daughter. I just couldn't see those while reading the short story. 

   One of the main differences I saw between the movie and short story was the difference of 12 years and 26 years, (I don't want to spoil what this means but you will know once going through both). It made the decision at the very end so much harder as one is a good age to live to while 12 is much too young to die at, Another difference would be the communication they had with the hetapods. One was through a device and the other was through almost direct contact with a division of glass between them. One similarity that they held between both forms was the advantage of knowing hetapod B. If they were to at all change this, the story would have changed drastically so it was really a must do. 

   Overall the movie and book were both exhilarating to read, and the film adaption couldn't have been handled better. 

Blog #4 Film Adaptations

   I, John Curran, read books as an escape from this world and to imagine places unseen of and undiscovered. Places where anything is possible; flying, super natural activity, virtual realities, etc. While for others, this is not why they read: they read to only then watch the film adaptation of that book. Now, there is nothing wrong with this, but it does come with flaws as these realities you've created in your head don't always match those on the big-screen. On this topic however, I will mention some of my favorite and least desired film adaptations.
   Let's start with some of the bad adaptions, and I believe anyone who has seen the Last Air bender movie would agree that this is one of the worst movie adaptations possible. Not only did it rush every meeting with the four different clans, Earth, Wind, Air, and Fire, but it also made the journey seem as pointless as CD's. Another one of these terrible movie adaptations is the Percy Jackson series. It enraged probably 90% of the readers and destroyed any preconception they made of the characters and events that happened in the book. These 2 different movies show why not every person is born to be a movie producer.
   Now onto the good adaptations, such as Enemy At The Gates or Das Boot. These films were able to express not only the feelings of everyone in these wars, but also display their struggles to overcome every challenge. We all know the Germans are the villains of WWII but in the movie and book Das Boot, you can't help but cheer them on through every hiccup in their journey. These adaptations are what make reading books to see the movies an actual probability.
   While not all movies are good, its reading the book before and experiencing the journey that makes it all worth the while.