Beginning The Age of Innocence

I'm So Mad. I just posted an entire post and it didn't save. Let's give this another shot.
So, post #2. Basically what I tried to say was how Edith Wharton promises The Age of Innocence is not just any love story. It's a story of how a young man discovers himself inn another woman who is not his fiancee. There is a lot of back- stabbing and mischief


Unlike the last book I posted about, I will not be sharing every detail of the story. I believe it would be a better read this way. Although I will describe all of the events and my reactions to them. In this post specifically I plan on going over the characters. There are few who enter quickly in the beginning but i found them to be important is they're characterized right away.  
 Archer Newland is a successful lawyer in what Wharton calls Old New York. He lives with his family in a wealthy home in NYC. He is very well known among his peers and others. His family has power and money. He therefore expected to get along with strictly the upper-class and it's society. Wharton discusses that he has to play their games. He is engaged but is quick to question his situation and how he ends up there. He doesn't often agree with what he does. This is obvious from the start.
May Welland is Nweland's fiancee. She is very beautiful and a perfect match for Archer Newland. Their marriage is an anticipated merger between both families. Mary was brought up by her mother to be the perfect wife. She is what a wealthy young woman should be and acts the way she is expected to act. 
Mrs. Welland is a controlling woman who has a strong hold on her family. She has trained her daughter to follow tradition. She has also taught her husband to conform to all her needs. She feels things should be her way and her way is the only way.
Elen Olenska is May's cousin and Mrs. Mingott's granddaughter. During her marriage she became a countess by marrying Polish Count Olenski. She fled her marriage because her husband was cruel and abusive. She rejoined her family. She easily attracts the eye of every man in the Opera House in the beginning of the book. Mostly this is because of her exotic beauty. More importantly she attracts Archer Newland.
I don't know much about Mrs. Mingott yet but so far, I'm aware she is a very strong woman who is head of one of the most powerful families of the time. She is also incredibly obese. 

The End and My Thoughts

*Spoiler Alert* If you intend to ever read the book and would not like to ruin the ending, don't read this.


Before I get into the ending, I'd like to share my thoughts on the book. Personally, This is the type of book I would have picked if I had known what it was about. I picked it at random and got very lucky. I love the action and adrenaline associated with fast-paced books. My blogs comment on the plot and share with you guys the bland version of everything that happens. I'm not one to ruin the excitement for another reader. If I could go back and read this again, I would until I could recite it. It's full of surprise. The mood constantly shifts. When you think the agents are safe, they're not and something completely unexpected happens. I have not listed them all in my blog because like I've said, I'm not one to ruin a good book. What got me hooked was how hilarious the main character was. In most action books I've read the focus is on the adventure. A certain amount of time was dedicated to Sam's personality. I loved how the author let the reader get to know Sam. His sarcasm on every subject made the book exciting and amusing all at once. 
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In the end, the agents do a little research on diseases able to kill the slugs. they come upon "Nine-day Fever." If left untreated, it can be very dangerous. They find that the disease kills the slugs faster than it has time to effect the human hosts. They note that if they kill the slugs than treat the human hosts, the odds of saving the human race and defeating the slugs are great. They discover that there was a previous outbreak of this disease in communist countries suggesting that this has also happened before. The United States was not the first to have the slugs attack.


The Old Man knows that Sam is a born leader and knew that he would someday take his position when he earned it. The reader is informed that that time has come and the Old Man resigns. Sam was in shock but had hardly enough time to be with the counter attack he was planning. 


The agency waits a few days and people who have come down with the disease are calling in to be treated before they grow weak and give into it. Hundreds of thousands of agents parachute into where the disease has caught on. They dive in with guns filled with vaccines. All of the agents think they've won the war.


One single healthy slug escapes with possible others. This slug attaches to the Old Man and kidnaps Sam. The slug tries to take the two into hiding so it can start a new invasion. Sam is terrified when he watches the slug multiply in order to attach to him.Tied up, Sam crashes the saucer they're in and kills the slug.


In the final section Sam writes in his journal about a trip he is about to go on with Mary. They are both going to Titan to try and stop the slugs all together. He lets the reader know that the slugs will always be a problem on Earth because they're too dispersed and there are too many of them but, they will never take over.

All About the Slugs

This portion was about the slugs and getting to know them. It was almost like the author was finally unleashing the history and the habits of the slugs. I was excited because through the whole book they were left an unbeatable mystery. Now however, the reader learns about them and what they're capable of.


Sam and Mary go back to the agency hospital for recovery. When they wake up they notice everyone is working without cloths on. Before, I stated that everyone was a suspect who wore cloths. One would never really be able to tell who had a slug. So, they were all told they must work without clothing on. Whoever is spotted with clothing will be shot. The thing is, I'm not quite sure how far this law goes. The book said even the local average police force supported it so it probably applied to the outside world also.


Sam starts thinking about how useful his original slug thought he was. Sam knows he would be an asset to any slug attached to him. Sam knows secrets that no other person in the country or agency know, aside from his father. What makes him most fearful is how quickly that message could be passed along along all the slugs. To communicate all they have to do is have their hosts sit back to back while the two slugs merge and share everything they know. Being so, the slugs that were products of his original slug by the original slugs multiplying himself and the slugs he might have communicated with all know about Sam and chances are that they've all passed his use on.\


What came next wasn't exactly a surprise. The slugs declaring was something that the reader could tell was going to happen. I was wondering how they would fight. That's what got me so interested. I suspected they might use the important people they controlled who had a higher position in the country to fight. Then, the human forces would have a hard time shooting them because if they shoot at the slugs and kill the hosts that would lead to a lot of the nation's important leaders being lost. Instead they used animals such as dogs and even elephants. 


Sam, Mary and the Old Man go back to the root of the problem. They go to investigate the flying saucer that landed in Mississippi. As soon as they enter the saucer, the see these small elf-like creatures. They had used these creatures on their planet as hosts. When they made contact with the air on Earth it killed them all. Mary notices the ship has people suspended to use as hosts. This makes Mary breakdown. The people in captivity she continues to watch remind her f her childhood with the slugs. She was part of a colony of people who traveled to Venus to create a new planet to live on. The slugs took over while she was there and she was captured. Just like these people in the ship, she was put in a tank for a number of years. Lucky for Mary, she caught a disease that killed her slug. That's probably why she has so much experience and is so important to the agency in this instance. She knows more about them than anyone and knows how they work.

The Takeover

The source of the takeover began in the center of the country. Sam again figures that it's his duty to take on a mission into Kansas. When he arrives, he notices that the population of slugs have increased drastically. They haven't just attached to the important people they need to control, they've attached to everyone they can reach. I wasn't quite sure what happened next, but I believe a majority of the Old Man and Sam's time was used up trying to get the president not to send out all forces to defeat the slugs. Because the slugs are able to multiply they easily took the military. I didn't like this plan from the start. I knew it would be a failure and would have benefited the President to listen to the agents. Considering before when he hadn't listened to them and they were right, he should have listened to them now.


This next part is one of my more favored parts. Mary and Sam fall in love and get married. They've decided it was time to leave and moved into the Adirondack Mountains. The book says that they live a generally happy life with a pet cat. Over time the slugs spread and reach them, though they are isolated. First, a slug attaches to their cat, then to Mary. Sam has to thing quickly to figure out how to save her. He pushed her into a fire which leaved them with horrible burns but, his plan does rescue Mary.   

Sam at the hospital

All these posts are late and are on my phone, so I'll be posting a few at a time.


The next small portion isn't too important. It's mostly just details about how Sam wakes up in a hospital. I remember the agency made it a rule that anyone dressed that was inside of the agency was considered a suspect. Because the Old Man caught Sam, he also obtained access to the slug that was on him. Back at the agency, the Old man proposes that someone should wear the slug so they can preform research. Mary Volunteers. Sam was against someone having to wear the slug but since Mary was the only one to volunteer and because he cares about her, he decides to volunteer in place of her.


Through the process, Sam is aware of what's going on while under the slugs abduction. during the short time under research the slug dies due to electric shock torture. After Sam pulls through he learns that the slugs they were trying to learn about actually come from a planet called Titan. I think the book said Titan was one of Saturn's moons. I thought the part where he found out that Mary tricked him was interesting. She didn't exactly trick him., she was tricked by the Old Man do trick Sam. I didn't think she would deceive him like that with the relationship they have. But, I guess when given an assignment, it must be followed. I'd probably do the same thing if the human race depended on it. Sam was so upset when he found out that he was debating on whether or not he was going to quit. This opposed his earlier state of mind. I finally understood at the end of this section why the Old Man was given his name. It's because he's Sam's father.

Capturing the Slug

Sam stays the night over at Mary's. I was hoping at that point they would focus more on their relationship, but this isn't a book on relationships. So as usual they stay in the moment. Finally after a few hours they won the Old Man over and they re-teamed up.Sam then chooses to go into Iowa. This is because the slugs have highly populated the area at this time. The people who aren't taken by the slugs will be. Same takes a few agents along with him. Mary get's upset because the Old Man won't let her go, she's too important. Ultimately they group of guys bring bring back a slug, but not in the way they've arranged. They let the reader believe that during their attempt to capture a slug off an old acquaintance, They lose it and leave unsuccessful. I was a little alarmed for the Agency because them, going after the slugs practically makes them aware them that they're going into war. When The group gets back to the agency, Mary notices one of them has the slug attached to them. She knows this because she can tell if a man doesn't respond to her beauty there's something wrong with them. I don't know how realistic that skill would be but I guess in the book it was. All in a short amount of time the slug escapes captivity and is loose in the building. They are all forces to strip do determine who has the slug. The Old Man's older secretary ends up being the one with the slug. I found this a little humerus because this little old woman is stronger, faster, and more intelligent than every agent. at the end of that chapter, the Sam catches up to the slug unknowingly and the slug attaches to him. Both escape. After this I was super excited to see what would happen because the book follows Sam. Naturally it would continue to follow Sam.

Sam & Mary

When They realize the President won't give into their explanation, the Old Man, Sam, and Mary all are stuck in a  hard situation. The Old Man tells Sam that they have nothing more to do. If the President won't back the agency up, they'll have no forces to fight with and'll easily be defeated. The Old Man says he plans on going to Florida to wait out the end of the world. Mary and Sam both decide that's not good enough for them. Sam then goes to a library to research Extra Terrestrial Beings. While in his research he notices a clear pattern. This isn't the first time these slug-like things have shown up on this planet. There have been reports of them coming too Earth, sort of like a sequence. I believe the book said it was about every 30 years or so. The only thing is, these things have never actually came so aggressively before. This explains their sudden invasion. They were planning to take over this whole time. When Sam goes to pick up some books, he runs into Mary who has also come to the library for the same thing. Knowing what they both know and both being against giving up, they team up and work together to find answers. At this point, Same makes it obvious that he has strong feelings for Mary. It's is still unclear whether or not she feels the same way. She hints at it every now and then but it's assumed she plays it off as if it's unimportant to her.

Late, Again.

This post is late again. I've been reading and writing down my thoughts on the book.

Last I think I wrote about how the tree agents were going to meet with the president. They do end up going, but when they try to explain what's going on, the president doesn't believe them. It's obvious the Old Man is close friends with him and has been since before he was elected. They try to get him to understand that the nation and possibly the entire world is under attack. He disagrees with them and tells them to leave. While they are being escorted out, they notice some people in his office are infected. My earlier claim to the slugs attatching to people's chests was wrong. As I read on it was explained that they attach to human backs. They do so by pricking and attatching little needle like things into the skin. they also wrap around the neck and over the shoulder which creates a round shoulder effect. This is how they would try to tell if someone has a slug.

James Bond

Sam is the James Bond type. he seems to be well experienced. He's obviously not as important as Mary because he keeps mentioning how much more "expendable" he is than she. Something he isn't too proud of. they have to undergo another procedure. 


In this section I've read, they come in contact with whatever the unknown inhabitants of the flying saucer ( a flying saucer they have not found yet, the first one was a fake) are. The so far only call them parasites, which is what they are. they are capable of attaching to hosts and are able to control them. 


Sam realizes he's been lonely for a long time. He changes his appearance back to his normal self and ties to be intimate with Mary. I especially found this part funny because Heinlein (the author) again plays on the sarcasm Sam has. They come into a specific discussion concerning relationships. Sam mentions that an agent should only marry other agents. Mary disagrees and states that agents should never marry. The chapter ends with the three going to the White House.

Starting the Book The Puppet masters by Robert A. Heinlein

I've been writing down what I have been reading on my phone so some of my posts might be late. The following were my thoughts as I began the book during the first few chapters.

As I start the book, immediately the reader can see the author has a large sense of humor. Within the first few pages the main character, given the name Sam, was not what you'd call excitable in any manner. Though, his sarcastic tone made the read comical and captivating. Sam explains his job along with  the gadgets he owns as something out of a SciFi movie. (I believe there is actually a movie remake of the book). He shares with the reader that he comes from a secret agency of sorts that not even the UN knows about. Sam proves to be a very dedicated agent to his boss who he calls the "Old Man." The Old Man also has a wide sense of humor which makes the book more enjoyable. Right off the bat he was given a mission with a redheaded woman who he was told would play his sister.  their disguises never last long. they only played these roles for a day or so. After going to Cosmetics they bleached his skin, changed his hair color,  and moved his facial bone structure. They did the same to the bald headed Roman-looking Old Man so they would look related.


Heinlein, unlike most authors did not hesitate to create an interesting atmosphere from the start. It was not slow what-so-ever. Even ending the first chapter the Old Man mentions that he will take Sam and Mary, the girl, to inspect a flying saucer.