ipl-logo

The Soloist Book Analysis

582 Words3 Pages

In the words of Steve Lopez, “You're only as good or bad as your latest attempt to make some connection with the world.” The novel, The Soloist, by Steve Lopez is an insight to Lopez’s time helping and connecting with Nathaniel Ayers, a homeless schizophrenic. When Lopez meets Nathaniel he is awed by his musical talent and soon discovers he once attended Julliard, a prestigious school of performing arts. Lopez’s story was transformed into a film produced in 2008. Lopez’s character in the book and film share similarities and differences in his personal life, attitude towards Nathaniel, and struggles that contribute to the overall theme of the novel. Lopez’s personal life is portrayed in different ways in the book and film. A person’s personal life overall is important to the storyline which makes the book and film very different. In particular, Lopez’s family in the film does not resemble his family in the book. In the book Lopez is married and has a daughter, whereas in the film, Lopez is divorced and has a distant relationship with his son. Lopez’s relationship with his family, makes Nathaniel’s friendship more important. Furthermore, another difference in the movie is, Lopez’s life is more detailed. The book does not show the smaller portions of …show more content…

The recurring theme of “The Soloist” indicates that a problem, such as an illness, takes time to recover from but persistence and hope is key to the process. Both the film and book are similar in that they show Lopez trying to help SkidRow, an area in Downtown Los Angeles, filled with homelessness and poverty. Lopez contacts the mayor to put a stop to SkidRow’s living conditions, just as he seeked professional help for Nathaniel. Lopez’s attempt to help the homeless demonstrates a problem that is not easy to solve and requires persistence. Overall, the film had aspects that varied from the novel, and changed the portrayal of Lopez’s

Show More
Related

  • The Long Walk By Stephen King: Chapter Analysis

    264 Words  | 2 Pages

    Rusty Crowder Period 2 Quarter 2 Commentary #1 The Long Walk by Stephen King Pages 1-25 (Chapter 1) The story starts off with the main character, Raymond Davis Garraty. He is a 16-year-old boy from Maine. The only one competing from Maine, where the long walk takes place, and is supported by big crowds of people.

    Read More

  • What Are The Similarities Between The Soloist And Radio

    959 Words  | 4 Pages

    Every movie has main characters, and so in these two movies. The main characters for the Soloist were Steve Lopez and Nathaniel Ayers, while

    Read More

  • Age 7 In America Film Analysis

    599 Words  | 3 Pages

    Age 7 In America Film Age 7 in America is a film narrated by Meryl Steep about detailed lives of 7-year olds from diverse social classes and ethnic backgrounds in the United States. They are fifteen kids in total. Each place of stay for the kid is mentioned and other details to do with the family status, family structure, and their different thoughts on issues such as drugs and crime, education, the opposite gender, on the future, on the world, and so on. Integrated into the film explanation is Bronfenbrenner’s theory as regards child development.

    Read More

  • Where The Red Fern: Comparison Of Book And Movie

    309 Words  | 2 Pages

    It had more narration so the reader could understand what is happening. Secondly, the movie. The movie was different than the book. It had some parts that were in the book, but it lacked some details.

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Watson's Go To Birmingham

    402 Words  | 2 Pages

    Another difference is that in the movie they go into town, but in the book it 's never mentioned. Something else that was different was that in the book the mood was happy most of the time, while in the movie the mood was sad. A difference between the book and the movie is that in the book momma was going to burn Byron, but in the movie she does not burn him. A big difference is that in the

    Read More

  • Going Solo By Roald Dahl Analysis

    729 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the story of ' 'Going Solo ' ', Roald Dahl meets many different, strange, and interesting people along with his journey during the setting of " The First Encounter of the Bandit" on pages 26-30, two characters from the story that Dahl vividly remembered was two men who went by the names of David Coke and Corporal. Both characters were a part of the same training camp. These two people in his life-telling story had been remembered in interesting ways in which they were compared in drastic ways. David and the Corporal were expressed in two dissimilar ways that lead to the chapter in which Roald felt about their personalities. In the story of "Going Solo", chapter " The First Encounter with a Bandit", Roald met a man that was known as the

    Read More

  • Character Analysis: Alabama Moon

    633 Words  | 3 Pages

    And, details were added and deleted in the transition from the book to movie

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Nathaniel Ayers Symptoms Of Schizophrenia

    592 Words  | 3 Pages

    In The Soloist (2009), the beginnings of Ayers’s symptoms were shown immediately, so his prodromal stage was never portrayed: the active phase was shown first. As a child, Ayers experienced loose association and hallucinations. His loose association first appeared at his cello lesson. Nathaniel went on and on about Beethoven and his love for music, hopping from one subject to the next, merging the separate statements together (The Soloist, 2009). Still a child, Ayers’s first hallucination was seeing a burning car roll passed his window (The Soloist, 2009).

    Read More

  • The Soloist Analysis

    735 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Soloist Mental health is becoming a major section of health care. The movie “The soloist” exquisitely demonstrates how mental health is very important to make a living, take care of yourself and interact with the community. The Soloist film follows a journalist, Steve, who is on the hunt for a good story for his column in the LA Times.   He hears a homeless musician, Nathaniel, playing one day while on lunch who mentioned that he attended The Juilliard School.

    Read More

  • What Is The Theme Of Always Running By Luis J Rodriguez

    521 Words  | 3 Pages

    Luis J. Rodriguez is an author who had a hard life with the exposure to drugs,gangs,and violence at a young age and in 1993 he became alcohol and drug free and started to get his life together. Luis has written twenty books most of them were biographies the book I read “Always Running” was a biography about his life and how he was exposed by thing he should've not been at the age he was. What struck my attention was for a few main reason one was that it is a book that is based on my race and the movie “Stand and Deliver” a movie that i watched in two different classes, In english we talked and read about Martin Luther King Jr. and how the equality for African American were not equal as American but in the movie and the book it talks about how mexicans who were born in the barrio were automatically considered lower- class and not inteligente.

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast The Hunger Games Book Vs Movie

    1148 Words  | 5 Pages

    There are details left out of the movie that were in the book, the movie doesn 't demonstrate the ongoing theme of hunger as well as the book does, and the the movie does a better job with

    Read More

  • Dear Martin By Nic Stone Book Analysis

    856 Words  | 4 Pages

    Imagine being a 17 year old African American kid always being judged just because of his skin color. Everywhere you go you feel like all eyes are on you, especially when you go to a school that only has eight black kids. That's exactly how Justyce McAllister felt in Dear Martin by Nic Stone. In the book, the main character Justyce goes through a lot of conflict involving his skin color. Even though he has a full scholarship at Braselton Preparatory Academy, and is a very smart student, he still gets judged.

    Read More

  • Theme Of Mental Illness In The Perks Of Being A Wallflower

    884 Words  | 4 Pages

    In the last few years, the representation of people suffering from mental illness in popular culture has greatly increased, showing actual teenagers that characters and idols have real problems in everyday life. One of the literary leaders in this psychological revolution is the novel, and recent film, The Perks of Being a Wallflower. Throughout this story, the viewer learns about different types of mental disorders from depression, to post-traumatic stress disorder, to schizophrenia. The events that occur throughout this storyline show real-life situations and struggles that teenagers go through. Stephen Chbosky expertly handles the topic of mental illness in the novel and film, The Perks of Being a Wallflower.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Toni Cade Bambara's The Lesson

    1386 Words  | 6 Pages

    In The Lesson, written by Toni Cade Bambara, it begins with Sylvia giving her own description on Miss Moore. She is confused as to why Miss Moore always gathers the kids from the neighborhood and takes them on boring outings. Sylvia mentions that Miss Moore is one of the few who has a college education, but she does not seem too impressed and would rather spend her day at the pool with her cousin, Sugar. As they enter the taxi cab, Miss Moore hands Sylvia a five dollar bill to tip the driver at the end of the trip. However, Sylvia has a difficulty time figuring out how much she should give the driver and decides against tipping him but would rather give him nothing.

    Read More

  • Identity In Sonny's Blues

    813 Words  | 4 Pages

    Doesn’t everyone need to be rescued sometime in life? The narrator in “Sonny’s Blues” struggles with his own identity and finding himself. He has a sense of insecurity and conformity to escape his past and where he comes from. The narrator finds himself focusing on his brother’s mistakes in life when in reality; he is questioning his inner insecurities. The narrator believes he must rescue his brother but realizes first he must find rescue himself.

    Read More

More about The Soloist Book Analysis

Open Document