The Hot Zone First Lit. Circle Letter

Dear reading group members,

This is my first literature/reading circle letter on the supposedly highly acclaimed book titled The Hot Zone by Richard Preston. My reading group members chose this book because it seemed to appeal to our style of reading. I personally enjoy reading books that involve a large amount of tension, but normally those books that I choose to read are fictional. The Hot Zone feels a bit different to me due to the fact that the story is true. So far I have the understanding that the book is about extremely deadly and contagious viruses that lurk around all the parts of the world. But, as I read further in the book, I learned that these viruses not only "live" (I put live in quotations because biologically, viruses do not show any signs of actually being alive compared to other microscopic organisms) in foreign countries. It turns out that a select few of the millions of Americans have the opportunity to work in government labs to better the understanding of these dangerous "agents." The scientists have a wide range of backgrounds ranging from hunters, to fishers, to your average American house-wife. The plot takes a while to develop. About half-way through the book, I'll just say that a virus may possibly place the safety of the United States in jeopardy (I am still not done reading, so I will just half to find out). I have to give Richard Preston a lot of credit for having the ability to change a compilation of interviews and research into such an intense story.

The book is written in a sort of third-person form accompanied by a ton of information about the viruses. This made it a bit difficult for me to adjust after reading the novel, Parable of Talents. To me, I do not believe that there is a main character. The book seems to jump from character to character revealing their thoughts at certain instances and their surroundings from their own points of view. This made it a bit more odd to annotate the pages because I had to find something to center my annotations on (it helps me annotate to find some sort of topic or center point to focus my notes on). So, instead of just letting myself sit their confused reading the book, I decided in my own mind that I will make the various viruses the "main character(s)." I have to admit, at first, this seemed quite bizarre for me, but then it started to make sense for me. I decide to mark and comment on pages that gave background history and information on the viruses, and how the viruses affected the lives of the people that it infected or the people that had to work with it. I might end up regretting this soon when I will have to write an essay reviewing this book, but it appears to be working for now.

Literature/reading group members, I apologize for reading so far ahead of you guys. I just wanted to stay on schedule. But, I hope that we all can eventually catch up to a certain point where we have all read up to a relatively equivalent spot. This would make it a whole lot more easily for us to discuss things in class just in case if any of us get confused. I am confident that you guys will catch up and probably even surpass me because you guys are obviously faster readers than I am. Oh well, I guess all that we can do is keep reading and allow the story to unfold before us.

Sincerely,
Your reading group member