Have you read any interesting books recently? For this weekend we are going to work on a Book Review. You can leave your compositions in the comentarios or give it to me in class next week.For some guidelines, click here, and read p 76-77 from your workbook.
10 comments:
TITLE: Candido or the optimism.
AUTHOR: Voltaire
PUBLISHING: Vergara Editores
Voltaire, Francois Marie Arouet was a french philosopher and writer who lived in the eighteenth century. He died in 1780 and was one of the philosopher who prepared French Revolution's cultural background. One of his novels is Candido or el optimism.
A very kind and naive young man called Candido, lives in baron “Thunder-ten-trock's” castle, in Westfallia (Germany), because he has no parents. There he meets Pangloss, a philosophy teacher, and Cunegunda, the baron's daughter. When he falls in love with Cunegunda, he's trown out the castle. Then he lives all type of faboulous, amazing and incredible adventures, sometimes terrible, all around the world.
Voltaire uses these adventures to explain Pangloss's way of understanding the life: "things always happen in the best way possible", "this is the best world possible". Candido lives his adventures according to this thoughts and Voltaire shows us the results.
In my opinion this book is not a masterpiece, but it's a very fun book. The whole book reminds me of the Spanish novels of the sixteenth century, and some situations remind me of Cervantes because they are as crazy as in El Quijote.
It’s a short novel and if you decide starting to read it, I think probably, you will end it in one sesion.
TITTLE: A Child's Christmas in Wales
AUTHOR: Dylan THOMAS
"A Child’s Christmas in Wales" is an another proof of the Dylan Thomas’ talent. This book has been published in Spain last year for Nordica Libros in a beautiful bilingual and illustrated edition. We all knew his Welsh poet who wrote exclusively in English, but this book is not poetry but a magic, and realistic at the same time, tale for adults with a children’s point of view about Christmas.
The author (Swansea 1914-New York 1953) wrote also plays and scripts for film and radio. In his works always there were some stories of his own live and he was very famous for his readings because he had a sonorous voice.
Perhaps it’s for that reason that his dialogues in this tale are too lively. The main character is a boy, whose name we don’t know, who tells one Christmas “when there were wolves in Wales”. The action is the typical in those holidays: there was not college, it snowed everyday and the children made their mischief. But also there is a bit of fear in an abandoned house and a lot of humor with a drunk aunt, an imaginary hippo on the streets and the strange presents: the Useful Presents and the Useless Presents.
I just chose this book as a Christmas present with the only plan of learning more English but at the end I have discovered a fun and lyric touching story. The difficult part is the vocabulary about the animals and landscapes but it’s worth the reading. It begins like that: “I can never remember whether it snowed for six days and six nights when I was twelve or whether it snowed for twelve days and twelve nights when I was six”. Don’t you want to read more?
Hey! Thanks you both, Esther and Pedro, for showing us what you are reading.
I suggest you all keep posting your work here since other students might get motivated to read thanks to your book reviews.
TITLE: The Hunger Games
AUTHOR: Suzanne Collins
Suzanne Collins started her career in New York in 1991. She wrote scrips for children’s television programs. When she met the writer James Proimos, she decided to write books. In 2008, the editorial “Molino” published his book “The Junger Games” in Spain.
The main character is Katniss Everdeen. She is 16 years old and lives in Panem, which is a country located in North America in the future. The main city, called The Capitol, controls the twelve districts of Panem and every year organises the hunger games to remember the people that he has the power. Every district must send two of its teenagers to a stadium, of forest or bleak, where they must “kill or be killed”. This time, Katniss have to go and try to be the winner and live.
I think this is an interesant story because, apart of that childrens must kill, all about the junger games is broadcast live in the whole country, like a Big Brother. And it’s obligatory to watch it! It looks like a teen novel, but a believe it is for adults too. I invite you to read this book and think over that situation of Panem’s citizens. So “the seventy-fourth junger games start!”
Title: All of us
Author: Raymond Carver
Publisher: Baterbly Editores. Edición bilingüe.
This publication includes poems from four diferent books writed by Raymond Carver: "Fires"(1983), "Where water comes together with other water" (1985), "Ultramarine"(1986) and "A new path to the waterfall" (1989).
The author published them during the last years of his life, and the last one was a posthumous edition. He was born in Oregon in 1938 and he had to live in different places arround the U.S., since he was a child. He also worked in several kind of jobs(in sawmills, as a watchman, in a library), and at the same time he writted stories, plays and poetry. Despite his life was not easy (he had important troubles whith alcohol, economic problems and a troubled relation with his first wife whom he married when he was nineteen) his linking with literature was more and more stronger. He worked at the university and contributed to many literary magazines. Finally, when he was in his forties, he met Tess Gallager a poetess too, and stayed with her until he died. While he lived with Tess, he writted, teached literature and published this four poetry books.
In 1988 a brain tumour killed him.
May be Carver is better known as a stories writter, but his poems are loved by his followers. They both talk about the special Carver´s way to look at and talk about reality, life. Sometimes trough absurd and sometimes throug very normal situations. But in the poems it expresses more purely. The title of some of his poems can give you an idea about their contents: "Late night with fog and horses"; "Woman bathing"; "the best time of the day"; "My work"; "My death"; "At night the salmon move".
The way of writting seems very easy, simple. But is not. It has a strange way to induce you strong feelins without needing to talk about feelings. Only describing things or moments, conversations, people. Sometimes he writes as he was a good photographer or like he was filming a movie. But he knows what to film to communicate you what he wants to.
I loved the book because I loved the stories before. They are two expressions of the same thing.
And I like Carver´s literature to look so american too.
I thing if you like poetry, american writters and a hard opinion about life, you´ll enjoy it.
But I recommend to read the stories before.
In this edition you´ve the possibility of reading poems in english and in spanish. I think is a good way of practice english too.
Title: All of us
Author: Raymond Carver
Publisher: Baterbly Editores. Edición bilingüe.
This publication includes poems from four diferent books writed by Raymond Carver: "Fires"(1983), "Where water comes together with other water" (1985), "Ultramarine"(1986) and "A new path to the waterfall" (1989).
The author published them during the last years of his life, and the last one was a posthumous edition. He was born in Oregon in 1938 and he had to live in different places arround the U.S., since he was a child. He also worked in several kind of jobs(in sawmills, as a watchman, in a library), and at the same time he writted stories, plays and poetry. Despite his life was not easy (he had important troubles whith alcohol, economic problems and a troubled relation with his first wife whom he married when he was nineteen) his linking with literature was more and more stronger. He worked at the university and contributed to many literary magazines. Finally, when he was in his forties, he met Tess Gallager a poetess too, and stayed with her until he died. While he lived with Tess, he writted, teached literature and published this four poetry books.
In 1988 a brain tumour killed him.
May be Carver is better known as a stories writter, but his poems are loved by his followers. They both talk about the special Carver´s way to look at and talk about reality, life. Sometimes trough absurd and sometimes throug very normal situations. But in the poems it expresses more purely. The title of some of his poems can give you an idea about their contents: "Late night with fog and horses"; "Woman bathing"; "the best time of the day"; "My work"; "My death"; "At night the salmon move".
The way of writting seems very easy, simple. But is not. It has a strange way to induce you strong feelins without needing to talk about feelings. Only describing things or moments, conversations, people. Sometimes he writes as he was a good photographer or like he was filming a movie. But he knows what to film to communicate you what he wants to.
I loved the book because I loved the stories before. They are two expressions of the same thing.
And I like Carver´s literature to look so american too.
I thing if you like poetry, american writters and a hard opinion about life, you´ll enjoy it.
But I recommend to read the stories before.
In this edition you´ve the possibility of reading poems in english and in spanish. I think is a good way of practice english too.
Title: Remember me
Author: Will Fetters
I want to talk about a book that I like, Remember me by Will Fetters. Actually, it is a book based on the movie Remember me directed by Allen Coulter in 2010. After seeing the movie, I decided to read the book because I liked it so much.
It is set in the summer of 2001 in the city of New York, and it talks about the love story of two teenagers.
Tyler is a rebellious young man who has just experienced the tragedy of the suicide of his brother and doesn’t get along with his father. Tyler believe that nobody could understand his suffering, until the fate guides him to know Ally, who also has had a sad past with the murder of her mother, but she faces it up with optimism. Soon, two lonely young people fall in love. And little by little, Tyler begins to find happiness and some meaning of his life. But when the Tyler’s problems of Tyler start to disappear and life smiles to him again, he makes a tragic and unexpected decision to end his life.
I love this story about sincere and young love. Besides, it reflects some problems and the pressure of teenagers in the society. Furthermore, the unexpected and sad ending surprised me and made me consider my own life.
I think this book can remind us to positively and actively face the problems in our life. It is worth seeing and teenagers like us probably will like it.
Title: Othello
Author: William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616) was a prolific author. He wrote many plays that he played in his theater called The Globe. One of the most famous plays is Othello.
At that time, the theater was very popular and Othello was one of most famous plays.
This edition of Othello (Black Cat, Reading and Training) is for English' students.
The action begins in Venice. Othello is the army general and he's just married Desdemona. Everyone admires Othello, but one of his officers, Iago, hates him and wants revenge.
The story continues in Cyprus, where they should go to defend the island. There, Iago makes Othello doubt Desdemona's love and triggered the tragedy.
This book includes an audio CD and exercises to do bebore and after each chapter.
If you are learning English, you'll love this book. The story is very interesting with very real characters. The exercises will make you learn English in a fun and easy way.
Gloria E.
"THE YELLOW EYES OF CROCODILES"
BY KATHERINE PANCOL
Publish in Spain by Esfera de los Libros
The author is a French woman, born in Casablanca (Morocco). First journalist, later she lived in New York, met many writers and took lessons to learn "how to write a novel" at Columbia University. Today she says that she likes to write and write again.
The bestseller novel takes place in Paris where the main characters live. The plot is the story of a lie, mixed with love, friendship, betrayal, money and dreams. It's full of laughter and tears as well. We can say "it's like life itself".
The novel begins when Josephine, 40 years old and full of insecurities, is aware of her marital failure, is convinced to write a novel by her sister, Iris, pretty an full of vanity, who had been talking on TV and released the lie that she was writing a book. Josephine will have the money she needs and Iris will look for the fame.
The medieval heroine's life will change according to Josephine's life, depending on her own life and relationship with her two daughters, her remarried mother or even Antonio, her previous husband, who lives abroad, rearing thousands of crocodiles.
Let me recommend a fresh and refreshing story about tenacity and faith of a woman who was alone and won by herself.
Maldito Karma by David Safier. Editorial Sex Barral
The main character of this novel, Kim Lange, an ambitious success presenter on TV, dies suddenly crushed by a toilet; from then, Kim, will want to return to the life again, but for it, she will have to accumulate good karma and ascend for the scale of reincarnation and return to be human. But the way will be plagued by setbacks.
This novel, it looks a hindu fable that helps us reflect about our priorities, values and decisions to get a question: “Are we really aware the lucky that we have or live inmersed in that our problems are always the most serious of the universe ?
Besides being a fun book, it is really extraordinary, the dissection that his author does of the protagonist, like the novel is written in first person, it seems that the writer was a woman.
Javier Felipe
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