Make Me Want to Holla

When I meet someone I often ask, what they are reading, or what kind of books charm their interest. I discovered that a few young men have told me the last book they read was a book by Nathan McCall called make me want to holler. Since, I heard of this book so often I decided to check the book out at the local library to see what makes this book so great.

After, I read the summary on the book I figured that it would be the typical story of a young man with a lack of guidance, constantly getting into trouble and somehow fixing his life in the end. I have read a few books similar to that outline, and wanted to see what would make this book so different since has such a strong influence on so many people. I started to read the book and discovered a young man who got into trouble as I was warned.      

The interesting thing about the book was how it shifted my attitude. I lacked compassion for the main character, and asked myself several times during my reading, "When is he going to jail?". In most books I can relate to the main character as I get pulled into the story. In this case I did not like the character, I wanted him to suffer the consequences. I was so ready for him to go to jail, but I could not accept him getting anyway with with his reckless habits and irresponsible behavior. The more I read the more angry I became with the character. I looked at the cover of the book and looked at the picture of the author and though " I can believe you would do something like that. I feel sorrow for his community , sorrow for his victims and fear that anyone in my family or community become the victim of the type of crimes this person commits.

Finally, through my reading I notice that the character finally experiencing irony. I felt a sigh of relief, we will see how he will handle life. As, usual the character went through some soul searching and looked at what good and bad qualities he possess, the intergity of others, and where he wanted to be in life. After, going through the mind of the character "Nathan McCall" I felt that he was in a better mind state, and I wanted to see success for him.

Unlike many people who victimize or terriorize people I did not feel the "Nathan McCall" lacked self esteem or intelligence. He strived, pushed, and used several techniques to become a productive citizen. I admired how "Nathan" who could have easily been any communities worst, strived towards being the best. My attitude finally changed and I started to see why many of the young men I knew, felt this was something they wanted to share. I started to respect the author because he demonstrated that no matter how bad your circumstances are you can always improve your life.