The Maze Runner Is "WCKD" Good

Confessions of a Hopeless Reader

 by Eric Power

I'm a big reader. Okay okay, I'll confess; I'm a pitiful nerd-level reader. I'm the guy who laughs at all the book memes on the internet, fanatically follows pages like Grammarly on Facebook, and has the Goodreads app on my phone, looking for the next good book to bury myself into. I'm also just a tad wee bit of a spelling Nazi, but hey, we all have our quirks, right?

Early Beginnings

I started early, cutting my teeth on Dr. Seuss and Sesame Street books with Grover (the monster at the end of his book "scared" me every time) , then working my way up through classics like Peter Pan and Robinson Crusoe. I spent my 2nd-grade reading challenge plowing my way through 100 biographies written especially for children about the iconic giants in American history, such as Ben Franklin, Davy Crockett, and George Washington. Sure, it wouldn't be a big stretch to imagine that my social life was...lacking, even at the tender age of 7.

"Never Out of The Fight", Lone Survivor!

My Thoughts on Marcus Luttrell's Thrilling Biopic by Eric Power

The story of Marcus Luttrell and his SEAL brothers is told in a gritty, unrelenting fashion in the movie adaptation of his book from 2007, "Lone Survivor: TheEyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEALTeam 10". I took  my 14 year old son, Alex, to see it on opening night (and then saw it again with my wife, a week later). It was a hard movie to watch, and I admit that I was moved to tears at many points throughout the movie. Before the credits rolled, they played a dedication to all the men who perished in that operation. I am not one who cries easily, certainly not in public. But seeing the sacrifice that these men gave for their country, their loved ones, and their Brothers-in-Arms, in living color on the big screen, was more than I could handle. It was probably a good 10 minutes before I could trust myself to speak steadily with Alex about what we had just seen. These guys have more honor in their left hand than I have in my entire body and I am humbled to know their story, and more importantly, to pass on their story. If seeing his old man in tears helps him to understand that point a little better, then so be it.