Thursday, November 17, 2011

Is Seven Deadly Sins Good For You?

Not only do I feel the need to reccomend this book to everyone that I see; I also feel that this book should be mandatory to read at some point before you're let off your leash after high school. So many people nowadays seem to lack common sense. It terrifies me that so many people fail to think before doing ANYTHING. I couldn't agree more with just about everything Corey Taylor said in this book, he found the words to say everything that I have wanted to say for a very long time. As a fan of Taylor's I feel that it may be a bit of a biased opinion, but in complete honesty, this was an incredible book; it was nearly flawless. I reccomend that everybody reads it because it really makes you think.

A Summary of Seven Deadly Sins

Seven Deadly Sins starts with Corey Taylor's perception of what is going on in the real world. He slams celebrities and celebrity wannabes as well as the literary world. He provides reasoning for why he felt obligated to write this book, even though he explains that he has little faith that anyone will actually read it. The first chapter includes the beginning of many of Corey Taylor's stories; an unforgettable night when Corey lived all seven of the deadly sins. After a detailed explanation of the occurrences of that night, Corey Taylor proceeds to denounce the seven deadly sins, explaining that we are all human and that we all deserve a get out of jail free card every once in a while. The idea of committing a sin should be so much more unbearable than it is now, but in the world of the seven deadly sins, taking the last slice of pizza at a family gathering is just as negative as drowning your kids in a moment of frustration. This is not true at all, and this is the concept that Taylor tries to point out in his novel from the first chapter and onward.
The second chapter of the book is dedicated entirely to cardinal sin wrath. In this chapter, Corey Taylor tries to explain that everyone gets angry. We have all wished death upon a complete stranger because he was driving slowly in front of us while we were in a hurry, or someone who is taking too long staring at fast food menu while you are trying to patiently wait your turn. Everyone gets angry, and that is what makes us human. To think anything else would be completely ridiculous.
In the third chapter of the book, Taylor speaks about lust. Above any other chapter in this book, this is the chapter that is least appropriate for anyone in the classroom. Lust is probably the only sin that we can all identify with one single action, and Taylor talks about that quite a bit in this chapter. Again, he makes the point that this is a part of our lives that we should not feel insecure about beause it's one of the seven "ingredients" that make us who we are.
Corey Taylor proceeds to talk about pride in the fourth chapter and his innumerable personal experiences encountering it. In the fifth chapter, Corey Taylor explains that we are all lazy, but that is no reason to feel guilty. Everybody deserves  personal day, maybe even a personal week.
In the sixth chapter, Corey explains everything that he went through as a teenager, and I can't help but wonder how he survived. Anyone else that reads the book will know exactly what I'm talking about.
In the 7th chapter, Taylor talks about envy. Although it's ugly, envy is natural. We shouldn't try to hide the fact that we are all jealous of eachother in some way.Taylor talks about all of the rockstars that he is jealous of as examples. In chapter 8, Corey talks about greed. This is something that affects all of us from a young age and never goes away. Chapter 9 is dedicated to gluttony and how weak of a sin it really is.
Chapter 10 provides us with Corey Taylor's list of what the Seven Deadly Sins really are. The final chapter holds almost no relevance to the rest of the book, but there is a definite shock factor.

The Best Chapter of Seven Deadly Sins

This is the hardest part of the book report that I've had to do so far. What is the best chapter of the book? I honestly have no idea what to say, I really enjoyed every chapter. I feel that on a shocking level, the 6th chapter, My Waterloo, is the best part of the book. In the center of the book, Corey Taylor takes a break from his argument on the seven "deadly sins" in order to share excerpts from his past. There is a lot of strong, emotional content in this chapter. This chapter makes everyone empathize what Corey Taylor went through as a child. This chapter pulls more emotion out of a person than anything else I've ever read.

Corey Taylor's Tone in Seven Deadly Sins

Strong language, really bad language. A lot of what was blocked off in the Stephen King essay can be seen in every page of this book, just a warning for what you're about to read.

Page 33-34

"It is not the emotion you are experiencing but the experience you are engaging. You cannot be defined by the feeling if no one knows what you are feeling, so it is the reaction that is the quote-unquote "sin." Why is the church so scared of people feeling anything? I have a theory. I think it is because organized religion makes such an effort to control what people do that it makes sense to control how people feel, rage in particular because it is a natural reaction to anyone or anything controlling their lives. So how do you get people to stop getting mad when you tell them what to do and how to think? Tell them it's a sin. That is what's called a self-realizing philosophy. It is also virtually impenetrable the further you get away from the actual inception. In Martin Luther's day, you might have been able to reverse something so manipulative. Today, with, with hundreds of years of dogma and successful brainwashing under their belt, you can pound your first against the walls of blind acceptance all you want. All you will end up with are bloody knuckles and modern frustration.
Yeah, if you could not tell, I have a big problem with religions. Organized religion has been the blueprint for more missteps than anything I have ever seen in my life. The thing I realized early on is that for an organization that preaches the benefits of love and calls anger a sin, they certainly breed a very opinionated and angry group of people, don't they? As I have said, hypocrisy is one of the biggest sins in the world. The effect of hypocrisy is that people are told to be one way, while the righteous can do what they please.
These people can sincerely go fuck themselves.
Much like lust, the only other "sin" that can be miconstrued as an emotion, there's a stigma attached to rage that has been dog piled by years of misrepresentation and fear. When a person gets mad, people are conditioned to think that person is immediately going to do something terrible. Some of this can be attributed to what they call "the caveman gene," but a lot of it comes down to propaganda. If I get angry, a majority of the people will automatically think I am going to kill someone or beat my kids or rape a horse or something else equally insipid. What is the bigger sin: the anger or the mudslinging about the anger?"

I chose this page to analyze because even before reading this novel, I felt a bitterness towards the majority of the followers of any religion. No religion should control how you would like to live your life. I'm a Christian and I do believe in a God, but I also believe that he is looking down at us in shame for everything we've done. From The Crusades of the late 11th century, to the recent protests of the Westboro Baptist Church, we Christians don't have anything figured out. I have a feeling that if I ever meet God at the Pearly Gates, the first thing he's going to say to me is "I apologize on behalf of my other followers." I'm sorry for getting off topic, just venting.

Corey Taylor clearly shows that he is frustrated. The book is written as if he was just at the bar venting to one of his friends for hours. I can also see a bit of persuasion, particularly when he is speaking about why he believes anger is not a sin, but for the most part, he leaves everything up to the reader to decide.

Line Of Events - Seven Deadly Sins

NOTE: I did not know how to write a series of events based on Corey's argument on whether or not the Seven Deadly Sins were valid. Instead, I took all of the biographical information provided by Corey Taylor in this novel and illustrated a chain of events that lead to the book's production.

1.) Corey Taylor is homeless in Florida for a few years as a child. He learns to appreciate the important things in life as his family struggles to get by.

2.) At the age of 10, Corey Taylor moves back to Iowa, to a town called Waterloo. Living in a trailer park, Taylor is exposed to more than most kids could possibly handle.

3.) Corey Taylor is introduced to metal music by his only friend at the time. This slowly develops over time into Corey's future career.

4.) Corey Taylor is left for dead in a dumpster by his "friends" after overdosing on cocaine at 15 years old. He slowly realizes what a mess he has become, but makes no effort to get clean.

5.) Corey Taylor forms the band Stone Sour in Des Moines, who eventually break up when he moves to Colorado. After Taylor returns from Colorado months later, Stone Sour is reformed.

6.) Corey Taylor's inspiration for writing a book on the Seven Deadly Sins begins when he partakes in several vulgar events at a party at the age of 22. Corey claims that he committed all 7 of the deadly sins that night, which started his recognition towards them.

7.) Corey Taylor joins Slipknot. Slipknot becomes a huge success.

8.) Corey Taylor is introduced to his future wife by a few close friends. He starts his family with her. Taylor slows down his rockstar life.

9.) Paul Gray, the bassist and songwriter of Slipknot, dies in 2010. Corey is devastated and takes a break from everything. Corey even contemplates quitting Slipknot. He later decides to stick with both bands.

10.) While writing and recording Audio Secrecy with Stone Sour, Corey Taylor is approached and encouraged to write a book. Taylor immediately begins writing based off of everything that has happened to him. The book is finished in less than a month.

Seven Deadly Sins - Where It All Happened

Corey Taylor discusses plenty of different settings in his book, but the 2 most significant places he discusses are Waterloo, Iowa and Los Angeles, California. Corey Taylor dedicates an entire chapter to Waterloo, a place that he wishes he could forget all about. Corey Taylor lived in a trailer park in Waterloo as a teenager. Taylor is hated, raped, and left for dead after an accidental overdose of cocaine. Above all else, this is where Corey Taylor discovers his passion for music.
Corey Taylor currently resides in los Angeles, California. This city is used as a comparison to what Taylor's life was like before. Additionally, Corey Taylor gets a kick out of making fun of all of the stupid people living there.

Characters of Corey Taylor's Seven Deadly Sins

In Corey Taylor's book, there aren't many different characters that are mentioned. The obvious entities of the book are the Seven Deadly Sins. Taylor speaks of several different people throughout the novel, but he avoids mentioning their names "in order to avoid getting sued." He talks about his wife and his son frequently, but they don't hold much relevance to his stories. Many of the things he talks about happened before he had even met his wife. For the most part, the book focuses on the Seven Deadly Sins and the life of Corey Taylor. There aren't really any other significant characters.

Seven Deadly Sins - Title Relevance

We've all heard of the Cardinal Sins: Wrath, Greed, Sloth, Pride, Lust, Envy, and Gluttony. In this novel, Corey Taylor explains why the Cardinal Sins, also known as the Seven Deadly Sins, shouldn't be considered sins at all. In fact, most of these sins occur in our lives on a daily basis. Corey Taylor provides many of examples from his own life where he has been involved in all 7 of these "deadly sins." Each chapter of the book analyzes a different sin from the infamous list. At the end of the novel, Corey Taylor provides his own list for what the seven deadly sins really should be.

About Corey Taylor

Seven Deadly Sins is Corey Taylor's introduction to the literary world. Taylor has not yet written another book but he has revealed that he plans to continue writing. Since Taylor's birth, his name has become one of the biggest names in music of this generation. Corey Taylor is the singer/frontman of the world-renown metal bands Slipknot and Stone Sour. While writing and recording his new 2011 album, Audio Secrecy, with Stone Sour, Taylor was also writing this novel. The book was finished in less than a month.
Corey Taylor was born in Des Moines, Iowa where he spent the first few years of his life. As a small child, he moved to Florida with his mother and sister. During his time in Florida, Taylor and his family were homeless. At the age of 11, Corey Taylor and his family moved back to Iowa, this time to a small town by the name of Waterloo. Waterloo is described by Taylor as "the backdrop of the worst moments of my life." During his time in Waterloo, Taylor is exposed to domestic violence on a daily basis, living in the trailer of his mother's friend. Corey is raped at 12 years old, and by the age of 16, he already overdosed on cocaine...twice. Corey Taylor grew up without a father; he and his father reunited in 2005 and remain good friends today. Music saved Corey Taylor from inevitable death at a young age and Taylor spends a portion of this book explaining what rescued him as well as what he was rescued from.

Seven Deadly Sins MLA Documentation

Taylor, Corey; "Seven Deadly Sins: Settling the Argument Between Born Bad and Damged Good." Da Copo Press; 12 July. 2011

Saturday, October 15, 2011

Why I Picked Seven Deadly Sins by Corey Taylor

I have been a huge fan of Corey Taylor's work as the lead vocalist in both Slipknot and Stone Sour since I was in fourth grade, and my view towards him has not changed since then; I still think he's a genius. Nobody believes that the singer of a metal band is allowed to have brains, and I wanted to read this book so that I could prove them wrong.

I had heard about this book before it was released and I was interested immediately. I'm already 40 pages into the book and I am in no way regretting my choice; I have agreed completely with everything Taylor has had to say so far and I'm honestly excited to read more, I would really reccomend this book to anyone, although the vulgar language may be too much for some readers.

"Anyway, between Tony Robbins and Dianetics, I really do not know what the hell is going on in the literary world today. People shill get-rich schemes on late-night TV disguised as tax dodges and government grant programs. "Celebrity" wannabes suck off traffic cops once or twice and are thrown book deals like fish to porpoises at Sea World. When Paris Hilton can top the bestseller's list, we are one more Connect Four move closer to Armageddon."
This is one of my favorite quotes from the book so far, I'm really enjoying it.

Monday, October 10, 2011

Why I Write: Timothy Ferris on Writing to Learn

In short, Timothy Ferris explains with lengthy reasoning, when and how reading is beneficial. Ferris explains that in order to write competently, you must know what you're writing about. Regardelss of what you are publishing, you must be aware of the topic. Additionally, Ferris makes a point that you don't just learn, you also create.

Timothy Ferris demonstrates the importance of a powerful subject, using the example of science. Ferris continues to ramble about his subject, showing that he is aware of his topic. He ends his paper with the following statement:

"Science writing may seem daunting, but you're going to fill that blank page with something: Why not make it something that's not just beautiful, but also true?"

Why I Write by George Orwell

While reading George Orwell's piece, I felt a connection. Although I don't have enough interest in writing to make it a career if mine, I do enjoy writing with the little spare time I now have. I shared George Orwell's early ambition because I too enjoyed writing and at one point, I thought I may become a writer. I consider myself to be a decent writer with one struggle; my punctuation skills. Regardless, I had an immediate connection to Orwell in the opening paragraph.

Throughout elementary school, I was shy. I would have even considered myself a little awkward. I had plenty of friends in my neighborhood, but very few friends at school. I wasn't able to "come out of my shell" until after I moved to Allen Park. I don't feel my childhood was as lonely as Orwell's, but there were times in my early childhood where I could relate to him.

I chose to publish my reaction to George Orwell's writing instead of Myers' or William's because I shared a personal connection with this piece.