The scarlet “A”: Is it really an old tale?

Nathaniel Hawthorne published his first novel in 1850, when he was 46 and believed he never could earn his living by writing. However, The Scarlet Letter made him a rich man and turned into a classic of American literature. The story is set in the Puritan New England of the seventeenth century. It is the tragic story of a woman´s shame and the cruel treatment she suffers at the hands of the Puritan society. But it is, mainly, a criticism of intolerance and ignorance when based on dogmatism and cruelty.

The major conflict of the novel may be summarized: a settler in New England, Hester Prynne, has waited two years for her aging husband to join her; when he arrives from Europe, finds her in a pillory (a wooden frame, with holes for the head and hands, which people were locked into in the past as a punishment) with a baby in her arms; she is wearing a scarlet letter “A” (for “Adulterer”) embroidered on her breast; anyway, sworn to keep secret the identity of both –her husband and her lover– Hester slowly wins the respect of society by her charitable acts and her moral strength.

This book depicts, as well, one of the main features that Renaissance writers like Hawthorne poured on their works: the tendency to look for a close communion between man and nature, and the belief that God could be found in it, or perhaps that God is actually it. In fact, it is clear in the book the opposition civilization versus wilderness, as a metaphor of repression and hypocrisy versus freedom and honesty. A rosebush next to a prison door, as well as the appearance of a meteor are also symbols of the ability of nature to overshadow man’s activities.

Although many years have passed since the time in which this story is set in, we can learn through it to what extent dogmatism and fanaticism may turn human’s souls into evil and against  the principles that, paradoxically, most religions have established as their moral codes. Within a different context, we could fit it in our times: the Vatican blesses missiles, and the outbreaks of many conflicts and wars were by religious causes; “holy wars” they are called, what is an oxymoron. Hawthorne shows us, yet today, that individuals themselves can oppose it, and can win the battle.

Blue Worm

“The Langoliers”

“The Langoliers” is a science fiction novel written by the American author Stephen King.

It tells the thrilling story of ten people who awake on a red-eye flight from Los Angeles to Boston to find out that all the other passengers have vanished, including the crew. When they manage to land the plane, they discover that there are no signs of life. There is no one there, the air is still, the clocks have stopped… and a dread evil presence is headed straight for them.

An off-duty airline pilot, a young blind girl with psychic powers, a teacher, a retired engineer, a businessman, a talented violinist, a teenager with drug problems, an irritable investment banker, a mystery author, and an assassin for the British Army make up the characters of this chilling and frightening novel that could only come from the mind of the master storyteller of our times, Stephen King.

This novel is so intriguing that really catches the reader’s attention from beginning to end. From my point of view, it’s simply brilliant.

Kite

“A JUDGMENT IN STONE “

“A judgment in stone” is a crime-fiction novel written by the well-known British writer Ruth Rendell in 1977.This novel is about an illiterate and psychotic woman called Eunice Parchman, who having killed her father, moved place and using false references achieved to be taken on as a housekeeper by the wealthy and well-educated Coverdale family. In her eagerness not to be discovered neither her illiterate condition nor her criminal record, she began to behave in more and more bizarre ways as time passed .Unfortunately, the youngest of the family, Melinda, discovered that the servant is illiterate, but Eunice had heard a conversation in which the girl told her boyfriend that she had an overdue. Eunice used that information to threat the girl in order not to reveal her secret. However, Melinda broke into tears and let her mother know all about it. Although Mrs. Coverdale asked Eunice to leave the house, Eunice stole Mr. Coverdale guns from his collections before leaving the house. Eventually, on the 14 th February night, on Valentine´s Day -while the four members of Coverdale family were watching a soap on tv -she shot them down in their living-room.
I strongly recommend this novel because its plot is so intriguing and full of suspense that makes the reader not to want to stop reading.Furthermore, the author recounts the events in such a vivid way that it is impossible not to feel caught by it.

MELMAN

'The lady in the sacque' by Walter Scott

'The lady in the sacque' by Walter Scott is an extraordinary story in which the writer tells us what happens to an American General after coming back from the American War of Independence.
Browne, the main character is invited by Mr. Woodville to spend a whole week in his friend's mansion in order to relax after so many battles. The General enjoys an excellent first day with his friend and some other visitors. At night, Mr. Woodville takes him to the bedroom which he himself has assigned for his special guest. In spite of the fact that the castle is very attractive, this antique room has a peculiar feature. Woodville has specially selected that bedroom for ‘the brave soldier’. Browne discovers the reason during that first night there, when the relaxing time in the castle happens to be terrifying.
I highly recommend interested readers to have a look at this terror story. Written by the Scottish novelist Walter Scott, this story also exhibits a historical background and perspective which is closely related to the American Revolution.

Jackie

Cat´s Eye by Margaret Atwood.

By the time I had to prepare my reporter I was doubtful about what I was going to write. At last it came to my mind a novel, a fiction novel that I had to read years ago for an English Literature course.It is called Cat´s Eye written by Margaret Atwood.


This novel deals with the story of a famous painter Elaine Risley, who after having lived abroad for many years,decided to return to the city of her birth, Toronto. The story narrates memories about her childhood friendships mainly. And it also describes very in detail ow cruel a child can be on others, whose personalities are weaker. According to the writer Margaret Atwood ,Cat´s Eye is about , how girlhood traumas continue into adult life.

Well I must say that I enjoyed to read this novel a lot. The story of different experiences and situations that the main character suffers in her relationship with the rest of her friends, made me feel identified in a way with some personal experiences in my life, when I was a child. During the reading certain memories about my childhood came back to my mind and that was good.

Ambar.

"Travels with my Aunt" by Grahan Greene

Some years ago I read the novel "Travels with my Aunt"(1969). It was written by the English writer Graham Greene (1904-1991).The author depicts the dull life of Henry Pulling, a man in his fifties early retired from a bank. He is not married and devotes most of his time to growing dahlias, his passion. On occasion of his mother's funeral, he meets his aunt Augusta a rather eccentric and bohemian woman in her seventies. Augusta invites him as a companion on a series of travels to other countries. Although he is not interested, he accepts because he was intrigued as regards some affairs of his mother and father.

When the adventure starts they become to know more about each other and also about themselves. During their trips, the reader can experience the irony and amusement with the funny stories Aunt Augusta tells Henry. As time passes by and the adventurous trip progresses, the reader can perceive the real bond between Henry and his aunt. He was raised by his aunt and his real mother is Augusta.

I would highly recommend "Travels with my Aunt "because it is a well - written book with a simple style that makes the story easily enjoyable. Besides, the humorous situations the characters undergo amuse the reader from beginning to end.

Spoon

Christmas’ Carol By Charles Dickens

This time I decided to write about this novel. As most of you already know, this story was written by the end of the 19^th Century.It describes the main characteristics of that time: how poor and  rich people used to live; their differences, values and political issues.

 The story takes place at Christmas time. It is about a poor old man’s life, poor of soul, because it was really very, very rich. He had his own accounting firm. He  was doing very well with business. Scrooge, that was his name, was a lonely man, because he was selfish, stubborn, moody, mean ,and he doesn’t care about anyone except himself. As it was Christmas time, people was grateful, happy. They greeted each other wishing Merry Christmas. Scrooge could not understand that attitude, for him it was not a happy time. It has only one meaning: “bills to pay”. That night when he went to sleep, Scrooge was visited by  his partner’s ghost,who had died seven years ago, at Christmas time. He warned Scrogge that that night three ghosts would visit him to show him his own destiny. By the withdrawing of his friend’s ghost, scrooge was quite shocked from what he had heard and seen. After some minutes, therefore,  he decided to accept what had happened and wait for such ghosts .

That is the way the story goes, one by one ghosts started to appear . Each of them represent a different Christmas time: past Christmas, present Christmas,and future Christmas . Each of them takes Scrooge on some kind of journey through time and space, showing himself at different times of his life and showing people’s life, who was around him, but he despised . Throughout the story, we can see how those trips affected Scrooge’s feelings and emotions, as well as, how nearly instantly he reflects on his actions throughout his entired life. He realises that despite his dull personality, there were people who appreciated him; who believed and hope that he could change the way of being and thinking. After finishing ghosts’ visit, Scrooge fell asleep. When he woke up, he felt himself like a different person. He felt cheerful, generous, friendly ,and happy. 

Kelro

Gabriel García Márquez (biography)

   Gabriel García Márquez was born in Aracata, Colombia, in 1927. He is a Colombian novelist, short-story writer, screenwriter and journalist. He has been a remarkable writer of the Spanish literature during the second half of the twentieth century. In 1982, He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.

  He was raised by his grandparents until he was 8 years old. Both of them were of a great influence in his writings. His grandmother used to tell him superstitious ghost stories, tales and popular  beliefs (she always claimed her stories to be true). “This was the origin of a magical, superstitious and supernatural vision of reality”, said once Gabriel. He has been related to the literary genre labeled as “magical realism”, which he would then use to write “One Hundred Years of Solitude” (1967), one of his most popular novels.

   He went to a Jesuit college and when he finished it he began to read Law, but his studies were soon broken off for his work as a journalist. He wrote and made interviews for “El Heraldo”, local paper of Barraquilla, and he became member of a group of journalists who inspired and motivated his literary career. Then, he published on “El Espectador”, a set of chronics based on interviews to a young survivor of a shipwreck ,“Chronicle of a Death Foretold” (1981). This publishing was so controversial, because he was accused of discrediting the official version of the shipwreck, that in 1956 he was sent to Europe to work as an international correspondent for the paper. Since then, he has almost always lived abroad – in Paris, New York, Barcelona and Mexico- in a more or less compulsory exile.

   Gabriel has always been interested in politics that is why he took active political roles and founded an organization of human rights in Mexico city in 1978. He also established personal relationships with Fidel Castro and the Panamanian dictator Omar Torrijos.

   Among his most famous works  we can find “Love in the Time of Cholera” (1985), a meditation of fidelity in love, “The General in his Labyrinth” (1989), a fictional account of the Latin American liberator Simon Bolívar, and “Chronicle of a Death Foretold” (1981), which examines the events surrounding a murder  for honor  in a Latin American town.

    I have read some of his novels  and I find him an excellent writer. It´s easy to read, it´s captivating, and his particular style of writing makes him unique. Particularly, his novel “One Hundred Years of Solitude” is one of the most wonderful  books I have ever read for which I would like to recommend it to you.

IZZIE

Volpone

This is a play written by Ben Jonson. The story takes place in the seventeenth-century Venice, over the course of one day. The play is about Volpone, a Venetian nobleman. He is rich and has accumulated his fortune through dishonest means and he likes to use his money extravagantly. As volpone has a lot of money and no children, he has attracted the interest of three extremely avaricious characters: Voltore, a lawyer; Corbaccio, an old gentleman; and Corvino, a merchant. They want to inherit all his money after his death. So, in order to deceive them and at the same time to have some fun, Volpone, with the help of his servant Mosca, pretends to be dying. This is why, each of his hunters decide to give him gifts in order to be his legal heir. His legacy hunters do not know that Volpone is actually in excellent health and merely faking illness for the purpose of collecting all those impressive "get-well" gifts. But Volpone decides to spread the rumor that he has died and then tells Mosca to pretend that he has been made his master's heir. The plan goes off perfectly, and all three legacy hunters are fooled but at the end it backfires. Mosca, after all, has a will, written by Volpone and with his signature on it, stating that he is Volpone's heir. Now that Volpone is believed to be dead, Mosca legally owns Volpone's property, and he tells Volpone that he is not going to give it back. Realizing that he has been betrayed, Volpone decides that rather than let Mosca inherit his wealth, he will turn them both in. So, Volpone takes off his disguise and reveals the truth about the events of the past day. Volpone is sent to prison, while Mosca is consigned to a slave galley

Sun

Mrs. Dalloway

In this novel, three stories of three different people are developed at the same time. The first one is about Clarissa Dalloway, an upper-class housewife, who is about to give a party for all her friends, something that makes her feel really anxious. When she returns from flower shopping, an old suitor and friend, Peter Walsh, drops by her house unexpectedly. Years earlier, he proposed to her but she refused, a fact he never forgot. Peter asks Clarissa if she is happy with her husband, Richard, but before she can answer, her daughter, Elizabeth, enters the room. Peter leaves and goes to Regent’s Park where he thinks about Clarissa’s refusal, which still obsesses him. After that, there is a shift in the story towards Septimus, a veteran of World War I who was injured in trench warfare and now suffers from shell shock. Septimus and his wife, Lucrezia, pass time in Regent’s Park while waiting for Septimus’s appointment with Sir William Bradshaw, a celebrated psychiatrist, who thinks Septimus is crazy and decides to send him to a mental institution. As he doesn’t want to go because he thinks the doctors would destroy his soul, he jumps from a window and dies. The third important character that appears in the novel is Clarissa’s husband, Richard. Richard Dalloway eats lunch with Hugh Whitbread and Lady Bruton, members of high society. After lunch, Richard returns home to Clarissa with a large bunch of roses. He intends to tell her that he loves her but finds that he cannot, because it has been so long since he last said it. All these three characters meet at Clarissa’s party, which turn up to be a success. Everyone is enjoying the party but Clarissa, who feels dissatisfied by her own role and acutely conscious of Peter’s critical eye. Sir William Bradshaw arrives late, and his wife explains that one of his patients, the young veteran (Septimus), has committed suicide. Clarissa retreats to the privacy of a small room to consider Septimus’s death. She identifies with Septimus, admiring him for not compromising his soul and she feels, with her comfortable position as a society hostess, responsible for his death. The party is about to end when Clarissa enters the room to say goodbye to the guests.

Sun

My son the fanatic

This story written by Hanif Kureishi tells us about the conflict between a father and his son. Parvez is a Pakistani immigrant who is living with his wife and his son, Ali, in London. The story begins with Parvez worries about his son´s behaviour which has changed significantly. Parvez discuss his worries with his friends and they come to the conclusion that Ali is taking drugs. On the contrary, Ali´s attitudes have nothing to do with drug´s adiction, but with the fact that he wants to keep his identity by practising his religion strictly. Besides, Ali is very upset with his father because he is "too implicated in Western civilization" and he breaks the Koran’s rules by drinking alcohol and eating pork.
Personally, I think this story is really interesting because it shows us that wherever you are you have to keep your own roots in order to avoid losing the characteristics, beliefs and feelings that distiguish you from other people in a society which is not yours. In other words, “keep your ancestors´traditions to avoid losing your identity.”

Bryana

The Picture of Dorian Grey

The story is about a young man, Dorian Grey, who is the inspiration of a painter named Basil Hallward. Dorian is completely innocent both of his beauty and of the world until he meet Basil’s friend Lord Henry Wotton. He opens his eyes to the nature of his own beauty and advices him to enjoy life. When the portrait is complete, Dorian whishes that the painting would grow old, and not him. His wish is granted. After he leaves Basil’s studio, he decides to live his life as a pleasure-seeker with no regard for conventional morality. He falls in love with Sibyl Vane, but his love proves to be as shallow as he is. When he breaks Sibyl’s heart and drives her to suicide, Dorian notices the first change in his portrait—evidence that his portrait is showing the effects of age and experience while his body remains ever youthful. After a while, the painting fills him with fear and locked it up in an old schoolroom in his house. Dorian finds a certain joy, over the next years, in committing sinful or pleasurable deeds and watching the painting change and become old and ugly while he loses none of his beauty or youth. It is not until the end of the book that he realizes what he had done and decides to change. He decides that from this time on, he will be good; and to do this, he must destroy the portrait. He stabs it.But when the servants enter they see the portrait as it was when it was new, and a horrible, old, ugly man lying dead on the floor.
I chose this book for two reasons. First, because I wanted to show what people is capable of in order to be young and beautiful as long as possible. Second, because I wanted to advise people to be real and to accept and respect themselves and their bodies and never to change to fix in an ideal and unreal stereotype.

Sun

The Scarlet Letter

I had to read this novel for Language and Culture III. It describes the historical background of the seventeenth century in America, When Puritan people came in to settle down looking for a better place to live. The story is about a married woman, Hester Pryne, who had committed adultery. She also had a child as product of that relationship. She was considered as a sin and was forced to wear a scarlet letter on her bosom. She never revel against that punishment imposed on her because she was proud of her actions. That, demostrates her strength. Throughout the novel, it is seen how her strength helps her to growth and at the same time to bring up her little child in such marginal frame.
I know that most of you have read this novel if not, I recommend you to read it carefully. It is long and difficult to read because it is written in old english but once you get familiar with the reading, you could enjoy it.

Kelro

Veronika decides to die

I decided to make a post on this novel from Paulo Coelho because I really loved this book, its characters, the concepts I found between lines and many other things it would be better, if you have the possibility, to find out by your own. Veronika is a girl that has it all, nevertheless, she is not happy, there's a gap in her life that doesn't fulfil her expectations, an emptiness she can bearly manage. One day, she resolves to kill herself, but she fails...From that moment on her life makes a turn, changing her world view altogether. In the search of sense of life she comes accross deep characters that mark her way of thinking and acting. I wouldn't want to develop the plot because it would be great if you have the chance of reading it. When I go back with my memory over this novel, I think in some periods of our lives we may see ourselves reflected upon Veronika. As I see it, this novel is highly recommended. You will find an enjoyable reading full of passion, life, madness and hope, in which every minute of life counts.

Slavonic

The Picture of Dorian Gray by O. Wilde

The Picture of Dorian Gray is a novel written by Oscar Wilde in the 1890s, in which art, youth, and beauty are mixed together to develop the sense of the story.
Dorian was a young and beautiful man who captured the artistic imagination of Basil Hallward, a well-known artist. He depicted Dorian as he truly was, but he was disappointed by the painting because it revealed how much he felt about beauty and youth. His friend, Lord Henry Wotton, a famous wit, disagreed with him, saying that the portrait was Basil´s masterpiece. Dorian met Lord Henry at Basil´s studio and got strongly influenced by Lord Henry´s world view in which youth, beauty and pleasures were the main characteristics. Then, Dorian cursed the portrait, because it would remind him of his youth and beauty, and promised his soul if only the painting allowed him to stay young for ever.
Under lord Henry influence, Dorian started a life dedicated to the pursuits of pleasure. He fell in love with a young actress, whom he adored her acting. But, having she found and tasted real love ,she could not pretend to love on stage anymore, giving up acting. Soon after this, Dorian broke his engagement with her and returned home, where he noticed that his face on the portrait had changed. He was afraid that the curse could take place an decided to reconcile with the girl. However, this was impossible for Lord henry Told him that she had killed herself. Dorian hid the portrait in an upper room of his house, where no one could see his transformation, and started to live a life even worse; a life of sin and corruption, with new sensations and experiences, so far away from morality. Over the next eighteen years, he lived this luxurious life, and he remained young and beautiful. On the other hand, the figure on the portrait was wizened and hideous.
Dorian tried to mend his life and all the sins he had committed by destroying the painting, so he picked up a knife and plunged it into the portrait. His servants heard a cry coming from the upper room of the house and found his body stabbed in the heart. He was and old man, horrible and disfigured. Besides him was the portrait, reverted to its original form, in which Dorian was a beautiful young man.

QueenV

“A confederacy of Dunces”

I want to talk about a novel I read last year; its name is “A confederacy of Dunces”. It is an awesome masterpiece, written in the sixties by John Kennedy Toole. A confederacy of Dunces is a hilarious novel, full of bitter black humour and absurd situations, most of them caused by its main character called Ignatius Reilly and his alcoholic widowed mother. Reilly is a scornful beefy man in his thirties, whose repulsive appearance and attitudes draw people’s attention. A tweed cap, and a bushy dirty moustache, together with a pair of chubby cheeks are part of his physiognomy. Ignatius’s abominable behavior disturbs not only the people around him, but also the reader. He is a smart liar, who is constantly spoiling everything in his way, including his future plans of obtaining a good job.

Ignatius Reilly

The Strange Case Of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by R.L. Stevenson

The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is a novel written in 1886 by Robert L. Stevenson. The plot of the novel develops and shows the inner and dark sides of human beings.
Dr Jekyll, the main character, is a respected and decent doctor, who knows how to do experiments, and is through them that he transforms himself into Mr Hyde. Mr Hyde is completely the antithesis of Dr Jekyll. He is a repugnant, violent and cruel man. He also is ugly and deformed, and he seems to have no conscience of his acts. Mr Hyde is Dr Jekyll´s dark side.
Dr Jekyll used to manage the potion and control himself when he became Mr Hyde, but there was a time in which he could not control and stop being Mr Hyde anymore. He needed large doses of the potion to avoid the transformation, and despite all the efforts he could not prevent it to happen again. He suffered from spontaneous metamorphoses that led him to think that he would be Mr Hyde permanently.
The end of the novel shows that all the human beings have a dark side, and that are desperately trying to keep that side under control. In my view, if we could not control our acts and our dark side, we all would be delinquents, or killers, or at least, we would be acting immorally.

QueenV

Misery

Misery is a novel written by Stephen King. It´s an interesting, sad and terrible story, about an obsessive fan called Annie Wilkies. She is the number one fan of a writer called Paul Sheldon. He is an important novelist who wrote some pulp fiction novels in which the main character is Misery Chastein. After rescuing him from a terrible car accident, Annie discovers that he had decided to kill her favorite character and discontinue the series. So she confines Paul in remote cabin and forces him to rewrite his last book. Paul Sheldon used to write for living, but now, he was writing to stay alive. Nobody knew anything about him, she had kidnapped him. He tried to escape many times but he couldn´t. Finally, he went away.
This story shows how obsession could influence on people mind. Some experts talks about `` obsessive-compulsive disorder´´, that is a mental illness in which a person experiences recurrent, intrusive thoughts (obsession) and feels compelled to perform certain behaviors (compulsions) again and again. This obsessive- compulsive disorder usually begins in adolescence or early adulthood. There are many types of obsession, fan obsession, love obsession are the most common ones. But there are many others that are not so frequent, so be careful if you have some of the following symptoms, you can be an obsessive person.
Obsession about germ´s contamination, for example, people with this obsession may avoid shaking hands with other people because they fear contamination.
Obsession about injury someone, for example, people who may avoid driving because they fear injure someone in a traffic accident.
People with checking compulsion, they check and may sure they locked doors and windows or turn off water faucets.

Gocu

Bridge to Terabithia

This novel written by Katherine Paterson, is the story of two lonely children, named Jess and Leslie, who create a magical forest kingdom called Terabithia. This is an imaginary land of monsters, ogres and giants, which these childen, ruled as king and queen. Leslie is a newcomer to Jess´s school and despite many differences between them, including that she´s rich and he´s poor, she´s a city girl and he´s a country boy, they become close friends. The creation of the new land is the way they find to escape from home and school, where they aren´t well treated. This unreal world lets them forget for a moment about their parents, sisters, teachers and classmates. That´s why in Terabithia they set up their own rules. I think that what makes this novel interesting is that, although it´s written for children, it covers many issues related to adult´s life such as love, depression, loneliness, friendship and admiration. In my opinion, it´s really a fascinating and entertainig novel and I´m sure you´ll enjoy reading it.

Bryana

THE CATCHER IN THE RYE

The catcher in the rye is a story about a conflicted teenager who doesn’t know what to do with his life. He thinks of himself as special, different from the rest of the people. He wants to be the protector of children, preventing them from being corrupted by the adult world. Which is why, he decides to be a catcher who helps children to be innocent and pure as long as possible.
In my opinion, it is a very well written story and some of the main character’s attitudes are so accurately described that it seems as if the writer would be talking about you. After I read it, I realized that I had a lot of things in common with the main character. I’m sure everybody would fell the same way. I strongly recommend people to read and enjoy this story.

Sun