The Night Circus trailer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgQItoeXjjI

THE GLASS CASTLE (VIDEO)

THE GLASS CASTLE (VIDEO)

Hi girls, since I didn't have the chance to show you the video, here you have it in case you're interested in watch it ....

Review-March 19th

Dear students:
-Remember that you must bring a copy of your review for each of your classmates. (We are 13)
-Be ready for a 10 minutes oral presentation of the book you chose.
-Your review should be between 700 and 1000 words.

El Perfume, by Patrick Suskind, Review

"El Perfume"

By Patrick Süskind

Review 

Jean-Baptiste Grenouille is an uncommon character who is made for people that love different and excellent jobs, Grenouille is a particular and, most of all, a bizarre man whose life is not a banal one and whose desires are not the one that people use to have. Coldness is the word that describes Jean-Baptiste, that is an abominable man whose mind is a kind of wicked, however with that wicked mind he can do a lot of astounding things and those things are done by this zealous guy that during all his wretched life is looking for his place in that world that does not seem to be made for him.

This is an unforgettable character was created by Patrick Süskind in El Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (1985) who is a German writer and screenwriter, and who is recognized for this magnificent book which was made into a film in 2006 by Tom Tykwer and is the only story of his to have reached the cinema to date. With more than 12 million copies sold and translations into 46 languages, he is probably the most well-known contemporary German writer in the world. In this sumptuous book Patrick Süskind go back to the Bildungsroman that is a literary genre that focuses on the psychological and moral growth of the protagonist, that in this case is called Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, from youth to adulthood and in which change is thus extremely important.

Jean-Baptiste Grenouille a guy who was rejected since the first second on his life, neither his mother nor people would care about him, his mother was a cold woman who have killed three other sons and who did not care about killing another, that in this case was Grenouille, but, fortunately for some ones and unfortunately for some others, he did not die, he could not do it, he was unique, he was the only one in his specie. Odors were his entire life, he can describe the odor of whatever the perceive in the environment, that was striking for me I do not know, and I truly admire, the way Patrick narrate with exquisite description that is unique and that makes me feel frustrated, because I cannot describe something the way he does it, is something that impress me, since description is vivid and the story is compelling.

It was the first interesting novel that I read, I was eighteen years old and I have to say that there is not a better way to start reading good literature. I love the way it starts presenting an abominable person and you start to perceive the tasty way you get involved in this master piece and you continue reading and for me it was impossible to stop I loved the terrific way he did murder, it was full of passion and curiousness. Almost the whole book is narrated in third person and I never get fatigued of it.

El perfume narrates the story of a murderer who is mad about odors, and most of all, about teenagers odor, he starts being a poor and wretched man but, with the time and having a really low profile, he turn in an important person who people admire and he have all the power he want to, but he just want to have an odor because unfortunately he does not have one, which is a big paradox, so he decided to assassinate little virgin girls to keep her aroma and to have all them together and to have the best fragrance in the world.    

By the other hand, in terms of content, in this book we can see a lot of subjects like personal identity, self-esteem and social exclusion, those thing that everybody know but it is the most authentic way to show those aspects. In this book Grenouille in playing a game where he wants to be God because using his power of perfect smelling he could charm every human been he want to.

I recommend this book to people that really want to have a good experience a vivid experience because I think that nobody is going to be repentant about reading this outstanding book, it is without doubt a book to be desired.   

By: Ludy Tatiana Giraldo Dávila

The Perfume by Patrick Süskind

The Perfume

THE STORY OF A MURDERER

By Patrick Süskind

Review

Even when you know Jean-Baptiste Grenouille is a frightening character from the beginning of the story, you cannot feel a total hatred towards him. Shame and concern are feelings which remain along whole the story, because this is a person who births, grows-up, suffers and becomes a killer in your hands while you are reading this master piece of literature. But the most strange and superb perversion of Mr. Grenouille is his passions for odors. His anxiety to get the most exquisite smell will be the reason of their murders, which will be achieved thanks to his extra-developed sense of smell. 

The perfume narrates the life of a girl-murderer in Paris, XVIII century. Jean-Baptiste Grenouille was born in a putrefied place in the heart of Paris. He is the fifth child among others who did not survive after were born on fish wastes, directly on the street. But Jean-Baptiste Grenouille did. His mother did not have any intention of take care of him, she preferred leave him die as the same way her other children did. But this natural born killer is not ready for leaving this world without has stolen some lives and their fragrances before.  

After a terrible childhood, when he was rejected and misused, but at the same time feared by everyone, child or adult, this murderer survived to any kind of illness and abuses, and became a special perfumer. His better perfume was created by the odor of virgin French girls. In order to get their fragrances he must kill them and do the same procedure that perfumers do with all kind of things to catch their perfume, the essence of life.  

Patrick Süskind published this first novel and best seller in 1985. This narration divided by four parts has been translated in more than 40 languages around the world. In Germany, it was considered as a literate occurrence after The Tin Drum by the Nobel Prize-winning author Gunter Grass. In Great Britain readers would say this was “the novel of the year”, and in France it was compared with The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco. All Süskind’s works are about isolation, for instance, The Double bass, The Pigeon (1988) and The History of Mr. Sommer (1991). Thanks to this novel, Süskind has won some prizes like the ones of Literature of Gutenberg, Tukan and FAZ but he did not accept anyone of them.

Not all sensations are possible to be described by words. Odors are one of them. How many times have you smelled something especial which brings a little memory about your childhood or about a person, or a travel you have done? Sometimes your nose remember better than your mind because when an odor breeze brings to you some memories, you know that odor reminds you something, even when you cannot put your finger on the moment, situation, travel, or whatever  aspect in your life is touched by that little odor breeze. Finally, even if you achieve clarify the relation between that odor with your memories, you could not describe that odor. Probably you can use a few adjectives like sweet, bad, nice and their synonyms, or you can describe the situation reminded or your feelings about it, but it would not be enough to give a clear idea about how that odor is. But when you read this novel, you can know exactly how the characters perceive a rose smell, a woman one, a lamp, a metal bar, a baby. That was one of the most impressive things that caught me when I read this novel at my 21 years old.

Not just odors are very good described in this work. Also each character and the entire atmosphere transport the reader to century XVIII’s Paris and all Grenouille’s world. It was an époque where children were not considered as important and dedicated as they are in our times, so it was more difficult to survive for a childlike Jean-Baptiste Grenouille. In the same way, this book shows the society differences and their injustices. All of that is narrated carefully in details that you almost can see and smell everything narrated by the only narrator. This is a determining book that enriches your experience as a reader. 

Sara González Muñoz

Sara Tomate: Draft

Review Draft

Original tittle: “THE SECRET LIFE OF SALLY TOMATO” by Jean Ure. It`s a particular reading for children an younger people, it`s literature from England. It talks the story of Salvatore a teenager who is beginning to explore the sexuality and love at his 12 years. At this special time of his life, he is always thinking in girls, but he has focus in One of them at the school, and he decides to start a countdown making an alphabet poem where he writes about anything, and the main target is to be kissed befor end his alphabet poem. It`s an entertaining and interacting story because much of the time you feel identified with Salvatore and you can go back to the childhood and remember how were all those experiences in your life.    

Review

Dear students:
-Remember that on Tuesday you must bring a copy of your review for each of your classmates. (We are 13)
-Be ready for a 10 minutes oral presentation of the book you chose.
-Your review should be between 700 and 1000 words.