Guest Blogger: Landon Murdock
Posted on May 23, 2024
Editor’s Note: It’s a pleasure to introduce junior Landon Murdock as a guest blogger this week. Besides being an avid reader, Landon is an AP student, a Praise team member, plays tennis and golf, and serves as Treasurer of the Student Council. Landon has been a member of the Warrior family since starting with us in preschool.
Enjoying the book more than the movie is a rather unpopular stance but a posture of my personality that
has followed me since I’ve been able to read. From my first novel, Beverly Cleary’s The Mouse and the Motorcycle, to my most recent read, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, I have been faithful to my opinion. This attitude wasn’t achieved on my own but instead the steady culmination of great minds that influenced me to pursue literature in a way that brings honor and sincerity to the author’s work. So, in return for their efforts, I want to show my appreciation for the educators who guided me, fueling my desire for written works by pushing me to excel in reading standards from a young age, and the teachers throughout my secondary schooling who have also fostered such a profound relationship.
The gift of love for literature that was bestowed upon me by my mentors not only has served me with excellent comprehension and a proactive hobby but also enabled me to be transported to whatever fictional world I desired—urging me to pursue my irrational dreams, face my internal fears, and develop meaningful connections. In this, I have fought alongside the nimble mouse Despereaux in defending a castle from rats to save the Kingdom’s fair princess. I have traversed the heart of Africa on a steamboat with Marlow and his crew along the Congo River in search of a missing comrade, spent a week with intelligent scientists researching the paranormal activity of the dilapidated Hill House, hunted for job opportunities with my friends Lennie and George during the Great Depression, partied at Mr. Gatsby’s extravagant mansion, and drove through the Fort Pitt tunnel into Pittsburgh with my friends Sam, Patrick, and Charlie.
Each of these characters and their legacies impact my behavior and have aided in developing my disposition; continuing to shape my personality, not only by teaching me life lessons through their narratives but also by outlining my own possibilities. The authors of these stories accompany me daily, inspiring me with their ability to write and giving me the passion to pursue my own journey. Vonnegut, Rowling, Salinger, Steinbeck, Jackson, Shakespeare, Crighton, Shelley, and Plath, among many more, have shaped the person I am today.
I treasure everyone who has promoted my habits. Whether it be teaching me to read and write, encouraging me to spend my time as a “bookworm” or spending large amounts of money on books, I thank you all because without your encouragement I would have never developed my devotion to literature. While each of these authors and the stories they have written hold a special place in my heart, I write about it in such a way that hopefully entices others to pick up a book. I hope that whoever is reading this can inherit my “gift” and admire an author’s work; searching for inspiration and complexity so that they too can realize that the book is always better than the movie.
