Review: Fried Green Tomatoes

By M.R.

Review: Sushi for beginners

By P.S

Book Review: The Catcher in the Rye

Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen (Review)

by L.S.L

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (review)

by N.M

Review: Harry Potter (by N.M)

BOOK REVIEW

"INVICTUS" (previously published as" Playing the Enemy")
by John Carlin

Had I not felt so impressed by the film "Invictus", I would never have discovered this overwhelming book which the film is based on.The author,who lived in South Africa during the interesting period of the transition from Apartheid to Democracy,tries to reflect how Mandela used the World Championship of rugby in 1995 as a political instrument to unite the nation.

It is through conversations with the real-life protagonists that Carling makes us aware of the superhuman effort that Nelson made to put his strategy into action with the slogan"One team one country".What I find most enriching about this book is that although he frames it around this sporting event, the story spans ten years: from 1985 to 1995.It contains extraordinary anecdotes about this not less extraordinary man:how he promoted the secret conversations with the Government to be released from prison,how he befriended his prison guards or how he convinced Francois Pienaar-the captain of the rugby team-that not only was the final an ordinary match,but it also was an opportunity to bond the whole society around the same target.

To conclude I will say that this is a story about freedom,about life and about a man whose charisma, leadership and capacity to forgive after 27 years in prison have moved me. (P.F)

BOOK REVIEW

MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA by Arthur Golden



This novel is an engaging story about the life of a geisha from 1929 to the post World War II in Japan. Not only is it a gripping and beautifully placed story, but it also makes you reflect about the difficult life of a geisha.



Chiyo-san is the fisherman´s daughter from a little town called Yoroido on the Sea of Japan and she has strange coloured eyes. The biggest turning point in her life comes after being sold by her father to an Okiya in Gion - the place where girls are taught how to be a geisha - . There she gets involved in a world of eroticism and enchantment, exploitation and degradation.


If you like ancient cultures you will enjoy this book as well as being captivated by the exotic and painful world of a geisha. This book leaves a mark. (M.U)

REVIEWS

NORTHANGER ABBEY (Jane Austen)

This novel , written by the English writer Jane Austen, is a perfect portrait of the Victorian ages.She presents a society where the hypocresy,the importance of social manners and the excessive sentimentalism might be at the root of the social problems.What is most remarkable about this story is that she describes characters and places in such an abundant detail that the reader does feel as if they were living in the 19th century.However,it may be boring for those who enjoy fast stories.

Catherine Morland ,the main character of this book,is a young girl who has always lived in the country,but an invitation to spend some weeks in the city of Bath will mark a major turning point for her.It is during this period that she discovers a new world of balls,dresses and social life,but it is only when she meets the sensible and sarcastic Mr.Tilney that she becomes aware of the fact that she cannot confuse her gothic novels with the real life.

If classics attract your attention not only will you enjoy this original story, but you will also be led to the 19th century.

THE LOST SYMBOL (Dan Brown)

This vibrating thriller leads the reader to a fascinating world of mystery ,ancient traditions and secret societies. Not only is it an exciting story but it also makes you reflect on interesting questions as some connections between Science and the spiritual world or the existence of lots of symbols in historical buildings in Washigton D.C.

Robert Langdon ,a renowned symbologist at the University of Harvard , is summoned to deliver a conference in the Capitol building.When he arrives everything turns horrific because he finds out that his friend Peter Solomon is thought to have been brutally kidnapped.Despite the fact that a severed hand with Peter´s masonic ring is discovered in the building, Mr. Salomon is thought to still be alive. Professor Langdon gets involved in a trepidant race through most of the famous buildings in Washington D.C .Only after having deciphered a secret code will he be able to save his good old friend.

If you enjoyed "The Da Vinci Code" this novel will grip you from the first to the last page. (P.F)

Review

REVIEW: GOING SOLO, BY ROAL DAHL

I chose this book because I had read other ones written by Dahl and he is a very interesting writer from my point of view. I enjoy the way he tells the stories and how he shows us the characters from the very beginning.

Roal Dahl reveals his life to us, and it starts with a trip to Africa. It is there where he has his first job as an employee of the Shell Company in Dar-es-Saalam (Tanzania). The company provides him with a house and some assistants from Tanzania, so he has a very happy beginning of his new life. The assistants serve him with loyalty and kindness, and it makes him find his life as the best he had ever imagined. During this stunning experience we can see some pictures he himself took, and some letters he wrote to his mother, telling her about his experiences, specially the good ones.

Unfortunately, the Second World War is coming and will make a huge change in Dahl's life. He has to give up his fantastic job, his house, his assistants and his happiness to follow the duties of his Country and participate in the war, even if he does not understand anything about it. He endures a hard period of training to become a pilot. His optimistic point of view makes the training enjoyable. However, one day he has to fly to the real war, a big step for this young boy. All these new experiences will have an influence on how he will solve future problems.

I have found this amazing story easy to read, specially the moment when he settles in Dar-es-Saalam, because he describes his personal feelings and thoughts. I also gathered up some interesting and useful expressions, such as "give it another week", "do something in ones", "how on earth did I manage that?", "it shook us all" and "without a sight of another human being for a full day and night".

However, I lost some interest when he starts the training; from my point of view there are too many descriptions of the war (planes, camps, weapons, etc.) and they make the reading difficult to follow. By contrast, the moment when he copes with the real world and begins to describe his feelings instead of how a plane is made, my interest raised until the end. My attention grows as much as I discover the character's mind.

Dahl's writing is amazing because the problems are not exposed with morbidity, they are shown as first-hand experience from the character's point of view. He also makes me imagine an unreal world, I guess the pictures are in the book as evidence of a true-life story.

Finally,I would recommend this book because it shows us the World War from an interesting and different point of view and it teaches us a boy's strength of mind when he is alone and when his only way of communication is to write some letters that are never replied. (S.A)

BOOK REVIEW

Book Review: Jared Diamond "COLLAPSE: HOW SOCIETIES CHOOSE TO FAIL OR TO SUCCEED".


In his book COLLAPSE: HOW SOCIETIES CHOOSE TO FAIL OR TO SUCCEED Jared Diamond examines why ancient societies, like the Anasazi of the American South West, the Viking Colonies of Greenland, the Polynesian society of the Eastern Islands or the Maya Civilization have collapsed and draws parallels to modern societies such as the ones in Rwanda or Haiti and the Dominican Republic. According to his exposition not every collapse has an environmental origin, but an eco-meltdown is often the main catalyst, particularly when combined with society's response to (or disregard for) the coming disaster. On the one hand, the author makes clear that this cannot be the mere case of an environmentalist's condemnation, in fact giving also examples of how environmental concerns are tackled successfully to the profit of all sides (such as the oil fields in Papua New Guinea exploited by Chevron). On the other hand, he makes it plain, why societies sometimes are not willing (or cannot be willing) to face the problems.

He begins by setting the book's main question in the small communities of present-day Montana, where they have to face a decline in living standards and a depletion of natural ressources and goes on to deal with issues like the leak of toxins into the soil, logging, wildfires etc. among others in the course of his argumentation. Diamond provides good and well-reasoned historical and current examples, making the case that many times economic and environmental concerns are one and the same.

I found this book most interesting because the author's explanations and arguments are very convincing and the issues he deals with in his book are of vital importance for the survival of our planet in a way that it might be worthwhile living on it. Moreover, it provides a lot of interesting vocabulary of very different areas, may it be geographical, historical, biological, economical etc.. To cut a long story short: this book is highly recommendable
Mariette Lebrun, 10.30. am

Book review: Felicia's journey.

Review

Felicia's journey is the story of a young girl from Ireland who goes to England in order to find
Jonny, her loved one, because she is pregnant. At first, when you realize what the story is about, you think
that it is the typical book with the typical love story. But it is not!
In her journey she meets Mr Hitdich, a strange man. The main story is the relationship between
Felicia and this man who is "obsessed" with her. He pretends he is helping her to find Jonny
but he lies to her and steals her money so that she stays with him longer. But, at the end of the book, she discovers
that it is all a lie and she escapes from him. He acts as if nothing had happened but he gets
more obsessed.
It is a book which keeps your curiosity until the final pages. It is not difficult to understand the main plot, but sometimes there are
some chapters that are difficult to understand because the story back down in time a llot of times, and you do not
realize it at first. It is a good book, I have enjoyed it!

N.G

The curious incident of the dog in th...

 

The curious incident of the dog in the night time tells us the story of a very special boy with autism who does not know anything about emotions. Really surprising it is when he achieves everything he wants, because he is a really clever child, and he demonstrates it whenever he talks about maths, some planets, or whatever it comes to his mind.

 

This book is amusing and really interesting. I must confess that it is kind of tedious at the beginning, since nothing really interesting happens there, and the little boy always tells the same things. But as you go through its pages, you realise that you have got hooked! Then, there is a sad part of the book which touches your heart (at least it has certainly touched mine) and ever since that moment our emotions get compromised.

So, if I were you, I would not miss the oportunity of reading it, definitely.

Marta Sainz-2av-8.30-THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST

THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST

 

I enjoyed the book very much. The style is formal but it is easy to read although the language is not the colloquial English of nowadays. The author is very ironic about the Victorian society in which he lives and very often creates funny scenes with double sense language. The notes in each page make the book easier to follow and the jokes more clear. I heard the story on the CD too, it takes around 50 min and it is very useful for pronunciation.

I recommend the book, especially if you like theatre.(M.S)

THE EDGE OF REASON

The Edge of Reason continues the fortunes and misfortunes of Bridget that started on Bridget Jones's Diary. As you might know, Bridget who is the main character of the book, describes herself as a Singleton*. That will be clearly reflected in the book. The whole story revolves around the subjects of looking for, keeping and satisfying the perfect man, or getting social acceptance.

Not only does Helen Fielding tell a story, but I reckon that she is also trying to make us feel related to one or more of the characters. The way she has managed to reach her goal is by exagerating some common bad habits men and women have in relationships.

I earnestly recommend you this book due to two main aspects:
- First of all that you will find at least 5 words we have learnt along the last weeks (Just in one page! ) , and you will get used to them easily. Verbs like "to moan", "to whine", "to roar", which are really useful for reported speech.
- And last but not least loads of colloquial words. The only problem is to identify which ones "Bridget" has invented and which ones are real.


(Judith de la Fuente)

Book review by Rebeca Mayo (2avm)

“Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban” is the third book of a series of seven fantasy novels written by J. K. Rowling. This collection tells us the story of a special boy, who actually is a wizard, during the time he spends in Hogwarts, School of Magic and Wizardry. In the third book, Harry Potter is a thirteen year old boy who is starting his third year in the school, together with his inseparable friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger.

As in the previous courses, Harry will have to deal with many issues during the year. Magical lessons, quidditch matches (that is a sport practised in the magical word over flying brooms), dangers and surprises. However, this year some people related to Harry’s past who will make Harry remember his childhood with his parents will appear, both of them murdered twelve years ago by a terrible wizard called Lord Voldemort, who almost killed Harry then and also in the first and second books of the series.

Those who love adventures, suspense and fantasy literature will find this book very interesting and amusing, and also the previous ones. Harry Potter’s books are a mixture of fantastic and mythological creatures, such us centaurs, unicorns or phoenixes; magical animals like hippogriffs, half-horse, half-bird; magical people, such us wizards and witches, and of course non-magical people, that they call muggles.

Although the vocabulary of these books sometimes is a little bit difficult, you can manage to understand the global meaning, so in general they are quite amusing and easy to read. In one word, I consider it as an unputdownable book, not only for teenagers but also for adults who enjoy letting their imagination fly.

Book review by María José de la Cruz Salas

UNDER THE DUVET



This book is a funny selection of short articles written by Marian Keyes in newspapers and magazines.

In these articles, she talks about different themes like her travels, her experiences in London (she is Irish but she moves there for some years), her British husband, the difficulty of finding a house to buy, her family…

Through these articles, which are not in a chronological order, we can have a vision about the mentality of the writer, her opinions, and her point of view about current events.

It is a very funny book, which I recommend, as I think is very amusing and easy to understand.

My Family and other animals, by Gerald Durrell

Sergio Sánchez Sánchez-2ºavmA

The Durrells are fed up and depressed by the unfriendly climate of England, so they decide to go to the Greek island of Corfú where the climate is much milder and where they will be able to recover themselves from their personal problems. The book is divided into three sections represented by the three villas in which the family lived on the island and is told from the point of view of a 10-year-old boy.

The members of this unusual family are:

Gerry,10 years old, the youngest one in the family, amateur in the study of nature. He tells about his expeditions around the island while studying the native fauna of the zone and collecting new species to add to his personal collection. At the same time he talks about the weird,funny and embarrasing situations caused by bringing a new pet into the family and the consequences that follow. His 23-year-old brother Larry is the eldest followed by Leslie, Gerry and Margo. He loves hunting and is a big support for his mother. Leslie, 19 years of age; their diet-obsessed sister Margo ,aged 18 and finally their widowed mother,Lovie, who is always peaceful and seems to be very relaxed. There's also a pet, Roger,the dog. They are all protected by Spiro Hakiaopulos the wise “guide”who is like another member of the family and gets the whole family involved in the customs of the local life and their way of living in that area. All of this is mixed with a particular sense of humour creating an entertaining story.



Personal opinion


First of all I must say that I had no idea who Darrell was before I read this book. I certainly reckon that the book was quite readable although sometimes it seemed a bit too heavy on references about the landscape, animal life,very descriptive about the fauna and imaginative, as everything is seen through the eyes of an imaginative 10-year-old child. All in all recommendable .