Biblioteca de la EOI de Oviedo

Titolo: Esco a fare due passi

Autore: Fabio Volo

Editoriale: Mondadori

Livello: Avanzato

Il protagonista, un giovane deejay di 28 anni è confuso sulla vita in generale. Il suo migliore amico, Nico, compie 33 anni. La lettera di “Buon Compleanno” a Nico  ci mostra il rapporto del protagonista  con la sua immaturità. Fabio Volo, racconta con un linguaggio giovanile temi importanti della vita di un ragazzino nel corpo di un uomo. 

Consiglio questo libro perchè come tutti i libri di Fabio Volo è molto semplice da capire e anche perchè si possono imparare un sacco di parole del vocabolario fra amici di questa età.

Valutazione: 5/5

Rosa Pérez  1ºNA

WINNER of: The Language Learner Literature Award 2007

TITLE: Rabbit-Proof Fence

AUTHOR: Doris Pilkington Garimara

RETOLD by: Jennifer Bassett

PUBLISHING HOUSE: Oxford

LEVEL: Intermediate

REVIEW: It is called Rabbit-Proof Fence and it is written by Doris Pilkington Garimara. It is a true story and the narrator is not present in the story, but she is the daughter of one of the main characters. The story takes place in Western Australia for about three months. The book is about the long journey of three girls who were far away from their desert home. Molly is a brave girl who, with her cousins Gracie and Daisy, escapes and walks back to Jingalong, their home, after being taken away from their families. They were sent to Moore River Native Settlement because they were mixed-race Aborigines and they had to go to the camp to learn how to live like the white man. They finally arrive at Jingalong following the rabbit-proof fence. The main characters are Molly, Gracie and Daisy. Molly is a fourteen-year-old girl who takes care of Gracie and Daisy during the entire trip. Gracie and Daisy are Molly’s cousins and they are younger than her. 

From my point of view, the book is rather entertaining and absolutely worth-reading. The most exciting part of the book is the last one, when they arrive home. I found this last chapter quite interesting; it’s very touching. It was really easy to understand and follow because the vocabulary is not too difficult.  

Título: Italian Shoes

Autor: Henning Mankell

Obra adaptada: NO

Once a successful surgeon, Frederick Welin now lives in self-imposed exile on an island in the Swedish archipelago. Nearly forty years have passed since he was disgraced for attempting to cover up a tragic mishap on the operating table. One morning in the depths of winter, he sees a hunched figure struggling towards him across the ice. His past is about to catch up with him. The figure approaching in the freezing cold is Harriet, the only woman he has ever loved, the woman he abandoned in order to go and study in America. She has sought him out in the hope that he will honor a promise made many years ago. Now in the late stages of a terminal illness, she wants to visit a small lake in Northern Sweden, a place Welin’s father took him once as a boy. He upholds his pledge and drives her to this beautiful pool hidden deep in the forest.On the journey through the desolate snow-covered landscape, Welin reflects on his impoverished childhood and the woman he later left behind. However, once there Welin discovers that Harriet has left the biggest surprise until last.

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/m/henning-mankell/italian-shoes.htm

IDIOMA: Inglés  

TÍTULO: Treasure Island 

AUTOR: Robert Louis Stevenson 

EDITORIAL : Vicens Vives 

OBRA ADAPTADA: SI 

NIVEL: Básico

RESEÑA: The story is about Jim Hawkins, who is the main character, and his friends on board the Hispaniola for an exciting voyage to Treasure Island. 

I invite people to read “The Pirates” where you can find out all about the fascinating world of buccaneers. I loved it and I recommend it because it is an adventure easy to read that I enjoyed a lot. 

VALORACIÓN: 5/5 

Mª Benedicta Vegas Platón  2ºNB

Título: The Prisioner of Zenda

Autor: Anthony Hope

Editorial: Pearson

Obra adaptada: SI

Nivel: Intermedio

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Review:  Today’s book is “The Prisoner of Zenda”, an adventure novel by Anthony Hope, first published back in 1894.

The main character is Rudolf Rassendyll, an English gentleman, who travels to Ruritania to see the King’s coronation. During the journey to Ruritania he meets Rudolf the Fifth, who is going to be crowned King the next day. That night Rudolf ’s brother, Duke Michael, drugs him so that he can’t assist to his coronation. Colonel Sapt, an old soldier in the service of the new King, urges Rudolf Rasendyll to act like Rudolf the Fifth, given the physical resemblance that exists between them, to save the kingdom from his evil brother Duke Michael.

The most amusing part of the book is when the trick is done and Rudolf Rassendyll must act as if he was Rudolf the Fifth.

The book is quite enjoyable and moving but a little bit predictable. I would recommend it to anyone because it is short and easy to read, with only just a few difficult words.

Valoración: 3.5/5

Pablo Aller San Juan  2ºNI

Título: Frankenstein

Autor: Mary Shelley

Editorial: Heinle Cengage learning

Obra adaptada: Sí

Nivel: Intermediate to Upper-Intermediate + Audio CD

It was written by Mary Shelley in 1816. It is a graphic novel adaptation of a literary classic about a scientist who discovers the creation of life and he succeeds.The story is told by the creator of the monster: Victor Frankenstein, who is obsessed with the idea and builds a man using old body parts. Once the monster has life he escapes and later a series of tragic events happen around Victor. To finish with it,  Victor tries to kill the monster.

This is a book with a moral about the danger and responsibility of knowledge.  A classic comic that is very easy and enjoyable to read. A modern English version of the original script with reduced, simplified dialogues for faster reading. It has two audio CDs to follow the conversations that you can easily understand, even the monster! 

If you want to get deep into the theme, as a suggestion I recommend you to see the film “Young Frankenstein”  by Mel Brooks.

Valoración: 3/5

Alfredo Fernández Fernández

2009 National Book Award Winner

Título: Let the Great World Spin

Autor: Colum McCann

Obra adaptada: NO

 “This is a gorgeous book, multilayered and deeply felt, and it’s a damned lot of fun to read, too. Leave it to an Irishman to write one of the greatest-ever novels about New York. There’s so much passion and humor and pure lifeforce on every page of Let the Great World Spin that you’ll find yourself giddy, dizzy, overwhelmed.”– Dave Eggers, author of What Is the What

“Now I worry about Colum McCann.  What is he going to do after this blockbuster groundbreaking heartbreaking symphony of a novel? No novelist writing of New York has climbed higher, dived deeper.”–Frank McCourt, author of Angela’s Ashes (See Frank’s full review on Amazon.com)

http://www.colummccann.com/

Título: A Gate at the Stairs

Autor: Lorrie Moore

Obra adaptada: NO

Now, in her dazzling new novel-her first in more than a decade-Moore turns her eye on the anxiety and disconnection of post-9/11 America, on the insidiousness of racism, the blind-sidedness of war, and the recklessness thrust on others in the name of love. As the United States begins gearing up for war in the Middle East, twenty-year-old Tassie Keltjin, the Midwestern daughter of a gentleman hill farmer-his “Keltjin potatoes” are justifiably famous-has come to a university town as a college student, her brain on fire with Chaucer, Sylvia Plath, Simone de Beauvoir. Between semesters, she takes a job as a part-time nanny…

This long-awaited new novel by one of the most heralded writers of the past two decades is lyrical, funny, moving, and devastating; Lorrie Moore’s most ambitious book to date-textured, beguiling, and wise.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/sep/27/gate-at-stairs-lorrie-moore

Título: Il tempo che vorrei

Autor: Fabio Volo

Obra adaptada: NO

Il tempo che vorrei è il nuovo romanzo di Fabio Volo, che, con due milioni e mezzo di copie e un passaparola entusiasta e incessante è uno degli autori più letti in assoluto. Ci sono un padre e un figlio su un treno, non si sa per dove nè perchè. Il figlio ha l’età dell’autore e questa non è l’unica somiglianza. In treno, si sa, è facile perdersi nei pensieri. E allora il figlio pensa e ricorda. Un’infanzia fatta di fantasie assurde, le stesse che passano per la testa a quasi tutti i bambini. Un amore finito male. L’amicizia, la malattia, il lavoro, il riscatto sociale. Ma il figlio pensa soprattutto al padre. In “Il tempo che vorrei” Fabio Volo tratta temi cari a tutti con una sensibilità e un’efficacia sorprendenti

Título: Che la festa cominci

Autor: Niccolò Ammaniti

Obra adaptada: NO

Nel cuore di Roma, il palazzinaro Sasà Chiatti organizza nella sua nuova residenza di Villa Ada una festa che dovrà essere ricordata come il più grande evento mondano nella storia della nostra Repubblica. Tra cuochi bulgari, battitori neri reclutati alla stazione Termini, chirurghi estetici, attricette, calciatori, tigri, elefanti, il grande evento vedrà il noto scrittore Fabrizio Ciba e le Belve di Abaddon, una sgangherata setta satanica di Oriolo Romano, inghiottiti in un’avventura dove eroi e comparse daranno vita a una grandiosa e scatenata commedia umana. La comicità di Ammaniti sa cogliere i vizi e le poche virtù della nostra epoca. E nel sorriso che non abbandona nel corso di tutta la lettura annegano ideali e sentimenti. E soli, alla fine, galleggiano i resti di una civiltà fatua e sfiancata. Incapace di prendere sul serio anche la propria rovina.

Título: La tomba di Alessandro

Autor: Valerio Massimo Manfredi

Obra adaptada: NO

La storia della tomba di Alessandro è la storia di un’avventura. Districare le infinite leggende dai fatti, interpretare le fonti storiche, lacunose e contraddittorie, addentrarsi nel mito equivale a muoversi verso “una meta enigmatica e sfuggente come i miraggi del deserto”. Con l’affermarsi del cristianesimo, infatti, il sepolcro di Alessandro, eretto nella città che portava il suo nome e oggetto di venerazione e visite continue per sette lunghi secoli, in pochi anni cadde nell’oblio. Forse per cause naturali o eventi bellici, forse per una sorta di damnatio memoriae, forse per tutte queste ragioni insieme, di esso si perse ogni traccia. Tuttavia su Alessandria continuò ad aleggiare il fantasma del suo fondatore, che riprese vigore a partire dalla campagna napoleonica in Egitto, da quando cioè molti archeologi e una serie di avventurieri e cacciatori di tesori, ma anche tante persone comuni, si sono cimentati nell’impresa di ritrovare il corpo del più grande condottiero di tutti i tempi. Inseguendo un mito e un’illusione sorti con la morte stessa dell’eroe invincibile, del giovane dal carisma ineguagliabile, incarnazione dello splendore e della ferocia e delle diverse contraddizioni del genere umano. “L’illusione che, qualora arrivassimo un giorno e per assurdo a toccarlo, potremmo, chissà, finalmente capire.”