This is probably the best book i've ever read so far. It is 500 pages of author Claude Brown's life which is extremely eventful. Any kid who grew up in the inner city can somewhat relate to this book especially if your from Harlem, which is where the story takes place.
It talks about his childhood which was great. He used to be a problem child doing poorly in school and playing hooky, stealing, and fighting. He began playing hookiy at about 7 years old. He found school so boring and would rather be out in the street reaking havoc. I can relate to how he's feeling because like most kids I know I hate school. I didnt always however. It seems that I hated school according to what level I was in but when I left that school and moved on to the next level I always wanted to go back to that place I disliked so much. I hated elemetary school until I went to junior high where I wished I could go back. In junior high I always complained that I hated school until I reached the eighth grade and dreaded leaving. Presently im in high school and wish I was in junior high, but this will never go away seeing that I dislike my current school with a passion. There is nothing I can do but tough it out, however this was not the case with Claude Brown. When feelings for disliking school arose to hime he just didn't go. He hung out with his nieghborhood friends all day everyday until he was forced by his parents to go whenever they caught on to his absent streak. He and his friends got into all sorts of what I consider fun. I read that to get money they did things like rob stores, but not using weapons. They had a scheme where one of them entered the store and knocked something over, when the propitier came to investigate the other ran behing the counter and emptied the register. They did this to get mooey to go to the movies and buy things they wanted. They also stole sheets off clothelines and sold them. Brown was extremely unlucky one day and ended up getting shot by a man who thought he was a crackhead.
Drugs played a mojor role in this book. Around the time Brown was growing up drugs ran rampant on harlem streets. Browns first encounter with drugs was a terrible one where he used a heavy derivative of cocaine and ended up almost dying. Many of his friends in childhood became junkies in the future which is terribly sad and his mother was attacked by a junkie when he got older. His younger brother also began experimenting with drugs and became hooked. The use of drugs is a terrible thing and it can be understood why the police are always trying to crack down on users and especially dealers. They are the cause of many crimes including homicide and robbery. In the book fiends were always breaking into someones house or robbing someone to get money for their habits. These habits are so strong that the fiend will do anything to support it. in the book Brown had a childhood girlfriend who became addicted to heroin. She didnt have money to get the drug so an unbearable pain came over her an she was in the street writhing in oain clutching her stomach. the only thing to help situations like that is to get the addict the drugs because when you become hooked the drugs sort of become part of your survival. Its terrible when people profit off of addictions that people can't help that;s whyu I think ciggarettes should go into category with addictive substances.
Due to his enviroment Brown was kind of forced to do certain things like fight and sell drugs. He was raised by certain codes of the street. One of them is to never let someone disrespect your name. In the book he got in many confrontations because of this alone. In inner city enviroments the rules of the street are all the same. The rule of honoring one's name is extremely important because if you dont defend what's being said to disrespect you people will take it as what they're saying is true and that you are weak. Brown wasn't actually forced to sell drugs but he kind of was. He attended school at one point in his life where the kids were all dressed nice and had the newest clothes and accesories. Brown always looked bad since he grew up poor and his family didnt have money to but him the things he wanted. To get the money he began hustling. He sold weed to his classmates and on the street. He made a lot of money and was one of the best dealers on the street. When poeple live in places like where Brown grew up getting a job seems so distant from reality and its so much easier to sell drugs. The life of a drug dealer is so much more appealing than the life of a man who works 9 hours a day for table scraps. When selling drugs you make your own hours and basically work for yourself.
Even though Brown had a wild chidhood he still became successful in life. These are the type of stories I like to read about because I like to see the types of things that someone that I could aspire to be like, got into as a child and how they changed their ways to become to success they are today. Through all of the fights, arrests, stealing, drug dealing and all other conflicts Brown went through he still fixed up his life, went to college and became an author of a great book. These stories can be inspiration to all kids because they can see that people like them make it in life.
It talks about his childhood which was great. He used to be a problem child doing poorly in school and playing hooky, stealing, and fighting. He began playing hookiy at about 7 years old. He found school so boring and would rather be out in the street reaking havoc. I can relate to how he's feeling because like most kids I know I hate school. I didnt always however. It seems that I hated school according to what level I was in but when I left that school and moved on to the next level I always wanted to go back to that place I disliked so much. I hated elemetary school until I went to junior high where I wished I could go back. In junior high I always complained that I hated school until I reached the eighth grade and dreaded leaving. Presently im in high school and wish I was in junior high, but this will never go away seeing that I dislike my current school with a passion. There is nothing I can do but tough it out, however this was not the case with Claude Brown. When feelings for disliking school arose to hime he just didn't go. He hung out with his nieghborhood friends all day everyday until he was forced by his parents to go whenever they caught on to his absent streak. He and his friends got into all sorts of what I consider fun. I read that to get money they did things like rob stores, but not using weapons. They had a scheme where one of them entered the store and knocked something over, when the propitier came to investigate the other ran behing the counter and emptied the register. They did this to get mooey to go to the movies and buy things they wanted. They also stole sheets off clothelines and sold them. Brown was extremely unlucky one day and ended up getting shot by a man who thought he was a crackhead.
Drugs played a mojor role in this book. Around the time Brown was growing up drugs ran rampant on harlem streets. Browns first encounter with drugs was a terrible one where he used a heavy derivative of cocaine and ended up almost dying. Many of his friends in childhood became junkies in the future which is terribly sad and his mother was attacked by a junkie when he got older. His younger brother also began experimenting with drugs and became hooked. The use of drugs is a terrible thing and it can be understood why the police are always trying to crack down on users and especially dealers. They are the cause of many crimes including homicide and robbery. In the book fiends were always breaking into someones house or robbing someone to get money for their habits. These habits are so strong that the fiend will do anything to support it. in the book Brown had a childhood girlfriend who became addicted to heroin. She didnt have money to get the drug so an unbearable pain came over her an she was in the street writhing in oain clutching her stomach. the only thing to help situations like that is to get the addict the drugs because when you become hooked the drugs sort of become part of your survival. Its terrible when people profit off of addictions that people can't help that;s whyu I think ciggarettes should go into category with addictive substances.
Due to his enviroment Brown was kind of forced to do certain things like fight and sell drugs. He was raised by certain codes of the street. One of them is to never let someone disrespect your name. In the book he got in many confrontations because of this alone. In inner city enviroments the rules of the street are all the same. The rule of honoring one's name is extremely important because if you dont defend what's being said to disrespect you people will take it as what they're saying is true and that you are weak. Brown wasn't actually forced to sell drugs but he kind of was. He attended school at one point in his life where the kids were all dressed nice and had the newest clothes and accesories. Brown always looked bad since he grew up poor and his family didnt have money to but him the things he wanted. To get the money he began hustling. He sold weed to his classmates and on the street. He made a lot of money and was one of the best dealers on the street. When poeple live in places like where Brown grew up getting a job seems so distant from reality and its so much easier to sell drugs. The life of a drug dealer is so much more appealing than the life of a man who works 9 hours a day for table scraps. When selling drugs you make your own hours and basically work for yourself.
Even though Brown had a wild chidhood he still became successful in life. These are the type of stories I like to read about because I like to see the types of things that someone that I could aspire to be like, got into as a child and how they changed their ways to become to success they are today. Through all of the fights, arrests, stealing, drug dealing and all other conflicts Brown went through he still fixed up his life, went to college and became an author of a great book. These stories can be inspiration to all kids because they can see that people like them make it in life.
No comments:
Post a Comment