An English book for a French boy...
mercurr
I'm a French boy and I'd like to read a book in English in order to improve
my level. The problem is that I don't know what book to choose and that's
why I come here to ask your help !
Here are the criteria I'd like to respect concerning my choice : I'd like to
find a book :
- in English, not in American
- that dates back to the 2nd half of the XXth century or after, but not
before since I'd like to learn this English which is spoken nowadays
- not too short but not too long either (not in several volumes !!)
- not too complicated not to be discouraged at the first page !
- entertaining : I don't care if it is a drama, a polar, a comedy or
anything else even if I'd rather avoiding science fiction, fantasy and
theater !
Thanks a lot for your help !!
Sincerely yours,
Olivier
Robert Cohen
PORTNOY'S COMPLAINT, Roth
To understand how absurd reality is, though you'll only have to read a
few chapters and maybe borrow the overly-criticized Mike Nichols
version from a Blocke-busteres:
CATCH 22, Heller
To get some insight into something or other
GARP or anything by Updike, also the movie w/ Robin Williams would
help, though nobody actually knows what the helle he is about
To
mercurr
"Robert Cohen" <robt...@msn.com> a écrit dans le message de news:
1150210743....@i40g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...
Robert Cohen
best too, so please consider his wonderful "waspy" works.
Here's a tout/precis/take of John Irving's GARP, which has the
confusing movie & audio cd/cassette versions:
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
"Garp was a natural storyteller," says the narrator of John Irving's
incandescent novel, referring to the book's hero, the novelist Garp,
who has much in common with Irving himself. "He could make things up
one right after the other, and they seemed to fit."
Irving packs wild characters and weird events into his
classic--officially recognized as such in a Modern Library edition with
a new introduction by the author--while amazingly maintaining the rough
feel of realism in every scene and the pulse of life in every heart.
Many novelists of his time might have populated a novel with a novelist
protagonist whose life and books comment on each other and the novel
we're reading. Transsexual football players, ball turret gunners
lobotomized in battle, multiple adultery, unicycling bears, mad
feminists who amputate their tongues in sympathy with the celebrated
victim of a horrifying rape--Irving made them all people. Even the bear
is a fitting character.
In a crucial episode, Garp's wife's seduction of a young man
coincidentally occurs at the moment when Garp is delighting their young
sons with a reckless car trick (one of the few scenes beautifully,
eerily, heartbreakingly captured in the film version as well). Many
authors would have been content with the harsh comedy of the scene, but
Irving respects its integrity, and he builds the rest of the book on
the consequences of the event. How does he get away with his killer
cocktail of slapstick and horror? Because it's simply what we all face
daily, rearranged into soul-satisfying art. "Life is an X-rated soap
opera," according to Garp, and who can contradict him?
Rereading Garp 20 years later, one is struck by how elegantly Irving
structures his bizarre and complex story. Take the two most celebrated
bits in the book, the Under Toad and Garp's story "The Pension
Grillparzer," which shimmers like an exquisite Kafkaesque insect in the
amber of the novel. When Garp warns his son about the "undertow" at the
beach, the boy imagines a monster out of Beowulf who lurks beneath the
waves to suck you under: the "Under Toad." It's funny at first, but we
soon find that the Under Toad is a metaphor with teeth--he connects
with a prophetic dream of death in "The Pension Grillparzer," set in
Vienna. Garp's son's last words are, "It's like a dream!" And as
Irving--who studied at the University of Vienna--can certainly tell
you, the German word for "death" sounds precisely like the English word
"toad."
All that death, and yet Garp is mainly exuberant. This story is, as
Garp's stuttering writing teacher puts it, "rich with lu-lu-lunacy and
sorrow." It enriches literature, and our lives. --Tim Appelo
>From Library Journal
"In the world according to Garp, we're all terminal cases." This
sentence ends both Irving's comic and tragic novel and its wonderful
audio adaptation, read disarmingly by Michael Prichard. We hear the
familiar story of T.S. Garp; his mother, Jenny Fields; and Garp's wife,
family, friends, and lovers. We also see Garp's efforts to establish
himself as a serious author and his involvement in sexual politics. In
contrast, Jenny's memoirs establish her as a feminist leader. This work
is funny, sexual, serious, and sad. Prichard's narration adds a
wonderful dimension to the story. Plus, Irving opens with a terrific
introduction to mark the novel's 20th anniversary. This wise and unique
tale is as fresh today as it was when first published in 1978.
Obviously, a required purchase for all audio collections and required
listening for all Irving fans. Irving's (A Son of the Circus, Audio
Reviews, LJ 12/94) new novel echoes Garp through tracing the
complicated life of novelist Ruth Cole. Divided into three parts, the
book views Ruth's life and relationships at age four in 1958, age 36 in
1990, and age 41 in 1995. In the first part, Ruth's mother, devastated
by the loss of two sons, leaves her daughter and womanizing husband
after a brief love affair with a teenage boy. Part 2 focuses on Ruth's
book tour in Europe while coming to grips with a poor love life and
considering marriage to an older man. Part 3 traces Ruth's short
widowhood and her marriage to the Dutch policeman who solves the murder
to which she was a witness. Like Garp, this is a complex, sad, and
quite compelling tale. Narrator George Guidall's reading adds to the
texture of the story. And like the audio adaptation of Garp, this
wonderful novel is a required purchase for all audio
collections.?Stephen L. Hupp, Univ. of Pittsburgh at Johnstown Lib., PA
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to
the Audio Cassette edition.
See all Editorial Reviews
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Product Details
Hardcover: 720 pages
Publisher: Modern Library; Modern Library ed edition (April 20, 1998)
Language: English
Robert Cohen
I get 'em mixed-up: They are all considered leading literary artists,
and since I do not read them, I should not be commenting, but I am
because I am name-confused.
By-the-way: The GRAPES OF WRATH--circa 1930--by John Steinbeck is the
most important political book/movie/propaganda of which I can presently
think.
Try to read it, or at least borrow the movie from your Blocke-busteres.
Robert Cohen
http://csmonitor.com/2006/0613/p14s03-bogn.html
bar...@cix.co.uk
mercurr wrote:
> Hello !
>
> I'm a French boy and I'd like to read a book in English in order to improve
> my level. The problem is that I don't know what book to choose and that's
> why I come here to ask your help !
Hi Olivier
The books Robert suggests are good ones, but they are all American.
Here's another suggestion:
A book published a couple of years ago called "How I Live Now", by Meg
Rosoff. It's aimed at younger readers (14 years or over) so the
language is not too difficult, but it's enjoyable for adults too (I'm
almost 40 and I loved it).