MADAME DOUBTFIRE Book Review

MADAME DOUBTFIRE   Book Review    

Madame Doubtfire which was written by Anne Fine in 1987, is fiction for young readers.

meet in Daniel’s home only on Tuesdays for tea and every second weekDaniel, an actor who is divorced from Miranda Hilliard, lives in a dirty and untidy apartment. He loves his three children, Lydia, Christopher and Natalie, but they live with Miranda and they can end. He and the children want to meet each other more often, but Miranda, a busy business woman, doesn’t let them.

The story starts one Tuesday tea-time, when the children bring an envelope from their mother. On the same day, Miranda decides to get a housekeeper who can take care of the children until she gets back home. When Daniel see the advertisement, he has a crazy plan.

Mrs. Doubtfire is Daniel’s creation that only his children know about. Gradually, she earns the trust of Miranda, and the other days he is a life painting model at art school. But one day, Miranda’s next-door neighbour, Mrs Hooper with other art group students come into Miranda’s house to do life painting because Miranda allowed her neighbour to do it accidentally, and Miranda wants Mrs. Doubtfire there. So unfortunately, he needs to be a female housekeeper and a male life painting model at the same time that day, and then…

In addition, the author makes an unusual story about a common family problem. Her plot and writing is very interesting and very real. It’s easy to imagine except for the housekeeper being actually a known man acting in real life. I can feel that the author knows about a lot of problems in family, children and school. Maybe she has had a lot of experience in her life, and that makes the story and the character’s talk and feelings natural. Also, “the children in her stories are often wiser than the adults” and this means she knows about children’s feelings. The only sad thing is this book is pre-intermediate level, so probably, it makes the story a little bit less fun.

If you like happy endings, family ties, and funny stories, this book is a good one for you to read. There is a successful film of the story called Mrs. Doubtfire, made in 1993 and Robin Williams played Daniel and Mrs. Doubtfire. You can see how Daniel becomes Mrs. Doubtfire in the real make up in the film!

Book Riview

 Emma written by Jane Austen, is a romance. I hear about Jane Austen but I had not read any of her books. That was the reason I chose this book when I found her name on the book's cover. This book showed me England's old social life which the stunning love story which make me unable to stop reading.

This story begins at the Village of Highbury, which is sixteen miles away London in England in the first decades of the Nineteen century. The main character, Emma Woodhouse, is nearly twenty one years old and beautiful, thoughtful, clever and rich. She has never thought about her marriage and has fun when arrange marriages for her acquaintances.

 After Emma met seventeen year old Harriet Smith, she taught her everything as a kinds and amuses herself by trying to arrange a husband for Harriet. Harriet was proposed by Robert Martin but the opportunity had lost by Emma's mistake. Since that mistake, Emma felt guilty and decided not to match up any couples. She was worried Harriet might not be able to get married anymore so she was helping Harriet to have her equal rights.

 I could understand this book's theme and situation very well because I watched a movie which had a similar background was based on Nineteenth Century's English upper class. I delightedly enjoyed reading a book rather than a movie because reading makes me have imagination of the scene.

 I strongly recommend this book. You will not able to visualize the ending until you finish the book because there is a reversal which makes you keep reading. If there were less characters, it would have been easier to understand. I loved the dramatic ending. Additionally, this book reminded me how being nosy can make a situation worse by themselves and other people.

"The Diary of a Young Girl"

 “The Diary of a Young Girl”

Review by Olga Mora

 

This book is a diary of a real girl called Anne Frank who lived in Holland with her family during the Second World War. Anne was the younger daughter of 13 years old in a family of four and her sister Margot was 16 years old. They were a Jewish family who hidden from the German army to avoid being taken away to the concentration camps. Anne’s father had a business with two other business partners so when they realized that the life of Jewish people was getting worse and they were a big risk to carry on with their normal life, immediately they had to take the decision to close their building business and move with their families to hide in some rooms that Anne called the “Secret Annexe.”

This real diary includes valuable information to analyse aspects of people surviving during war and some human values when they find themselves in a most difficult situation. Also those all the values to keep a family together in spite of the terrible circumstances they lived by day to day. During the 21 months when they were hidden and sharing the small rooms, Anne lived a special feeling in love with Peter who also lived in the same secret annexe and he made her to find meaning of her life.

I highly recommend this book to other readers, especially to young people or teenagers. Sometimes we need to know the harsh and difficult life of other to appreciate where we are, what we have and how blessed we are.

I have read others books about the same theme and I can see there are always different stories to help us.

Anne’s writing is so amusing, she was a very clever and cheerful teen and I felt quite identified with her when she said that many people complained of her because she talked a lot! Also when she had her issues with her mom. I loved it how she expressed her love for her father all the time. Even though she felt terrified most of the time, she was strong enough to deal with her fears.

 

In conclusion Anne’s diary shows us the intelligence, bravery, dreams and maturity of a young girl who was able to convey her genuine feelings and thoughts within narrow circumstances.

 

395 words.

 

   

 

 

Goldfinger

Ian Fleming's first novel, Casino Royale, was very successful and the adventures of James Bond, agent number 007, had been very popular. In 1959, one of Ian Fleming's novels, Goldfinger, which I was very engrossed, was published.Its interesting story kept me up until the wee hours in spite of the fact that I don't often read books. While I was reading it, I felt scaredm thrilled and in love from time to time. It it because alll the details of the book are about spy and love.
 Mainly, James Bond and Goldfinger, who works as a broker in the UK, develop the story. In other words, their fights are critical. James Bond is a British secret Intelligence agent and has become one of the best secret agents gain worknames which  begin with two zeros. He is often sent to difficult missions by M, who is his boss. Goldfinger is an enemy of James Bond and he is good at cheating on card games. However, card games are not the only method that he has made money. Bond eventually figures out a sarcastic plan, which could let some people die, and he carried out his plan to arrest Goldfinger.
 If I recommend this book to other readers, I will introduce this book to readers who are 18 and over 18, because the contents of it will be suitable for them. Sometimes the book talks about killing some people and stealing money and gold, which might badly impact those who are under 18. In addition to this, guessing what will happen is one of the most enjoyable points. People, who are over 18, guess who people in the book really are better than those who are under 18.
 The significant point in this book is that author's purpose of it was for people who were suffering the Cold War. 1959 was very dengerous time and many people were afraid of what would happen to them next. They, therefore, loved reading Ian Fleming's exciting spy stories. Literary, this book gave them some hope. While I was reading it, I think I felt something like the same feeling as them, like smiling. This is true that a smile makes us happy and read more.
 Overall, I was quite happy that I read Goldfinger even though it made me confused and annoyes occasionally, for instance, James Bond has some small mistakes and Goldfinger caught him easier, but I believe that these parts make this book much more fun. I felt as if I was in the bookish world.

BOOK REVIEW

                                           

                                           BOOK REVIEW

                                   Sherlock-A Study In Pink

   Sherlock – A Study in Pink, written by Steven Moffact, is a story which combination of detective story, a thriller and an action, and nerve-racking tension. This story was set in the end of 19th Century which the Victorian era went into decline. Holmes is a fictitious character who live in the story, but for us fans, Sherlock Holmes is made out of blood and bones just like all of us. Because he not only has a very smart mind but also he has disadvantages like a common person, such as he is irritable and extreme. That is evidence enough for the masterpiece Sir Conan Doyle has created.

 

  Holmes is a private detective, who always helps policeman to solve tough cases. But being a part-time detective probably doesn’t pay much, though, for Holmes is in need of a flat mate. Thanks to the friend who invites Dr. John Watson to him, Holmes not only finds a friendly flat mate, but also makes a friend who help him with his work.

 

  I was really addicted in this book, so that I often held my breath with the developments of the plot. I was also baffled by the strange series of deaths, which detective inspector Lestrade can only describe as “serial suicides”. But Holmes solved the mystery easily with his superhuman wisdom.

 

  This story is belong to the most popular series called Sherlock Holmes. “A Study In Pink” is the first episode of this series and is based on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s novel “A Study In Scarlet”, through Moffact’s recomposed, this story is easier to understand than before.

 

  We cannot deny that this is quite a good book. The plot of the story is exciting. The readers even feel that they are finding the murderer with Holmes. On the other hand, this book has also some details that incorrect. For example, the story was set in 19^th century, but Holmes and Dr. Watson can use technology like blogs and cell phones, they even can use cell phones to check the map and weathers. This story has brought Holmes into the 21st century. In spite of the fact of this, Holmes’ brain is still his most important tool.

 

  Over all, Sherlock – A Study in Pink was an excellent read that I want to read again. In my opinion It is one of the best episodes of Sherlock Holmes.

 

FALLING LEAVES

                                                     FALLING LEAVES

FALLING LEAVES, had been written by Adeline Yen Mah. It’s an autobiography. We can see some history that happened about 80 years ago in China. Adeline Yen Mah chose a small part of the social as the entry point of her novel – her family life. We can see them have emotions like laughing, sadness and so on.

 When the female leading role wanted to go to school, her father thought that as a girl, marriage was the most important thing she should have done. Studying was just wasting money. And if girl learnt something about freedom at school at that time, they did not want to be a stay-at-home mom. This thought was against the traditional ideology in China. She also had a bad relationship with her second mom. Sometimes they quarreled because of the unfair distribution of property. After these things had happened many times, their relationship had broken down.

 Luckily, she had a good ending after all the bad things that had passed. She married a gentleman when she was 35 years old. Her husband loved her so much and they have a lovely baby. Adeline lives in the USA with her friends at the moment.

This book shows us a social miniature. Adeline felt lonely and she just wanted to find self-identity. I think that’s why she did some rebellious things when she was young.  She wanted to get more attention from others.  

Because the plot is about a family, when readers read this book, most of the things that we have seen in this book was just like the things we have experienced. Adeline Yen Mah was not a writer actually. She was a lawyer. She wrote this book because she wanted to introduce the things which happened in the past. Not the important things like the Nanjing Massacre. She wanted to show us how ordinary people lived in China in war times. That’s the most important reason why I liked this book. If you want to know the culture about one country, you cannot just read the newspapers or laws. You must go among the masses. Listen to how they feel. If you want to know traditional views, this is a good book for you. I think this book is difficult for teenagers. They can just understand the surface spreading. They cannot know the connotation. For the old people, because they experienced that time. They had some feeling by their own. I think the writer wanted to tell us a drift from place to place homeless and miserable.

Over all FALLING LEAVES is a good novel. If you like reading autobiographies, it is a good opportunity for you. The plot is not interesting but it is such a common touch.  

Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman’s Search for Everything

 

Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman’s Search for Everything, written by Elizabeth Gilbert, is a non-fiction story. The book I read is a simplified edition written for English learners of level 5.

This story, in fact, is a true story of the author herself. She spends four months in Italy for the sake of pleasure (Eat), learning a new language and making a lot of new friends. Then she lives in a temple in India for three months, finding spiritual renewal by the hard work of the devotional life (Pray). Finally she ends the year on the Indonesian island of Bali, searching for the balance of pleasure and devotion with an elderly local medicine man (Love).

The themes of this book are the relationship between beliefs and lifestyle, and how the beliefs affect daily life. There are some philosophical and religious beliefs in this book.  For example, do you know how to live with happiness and enjoy pleasure? According to the writer, it depends on your beliefs and searching for a perfect balance between both the inside and the outside of yourself. Then, what can we do to reach that balance and find freedom in our lives? The writer’s answer is just learning to let it go – let the past go, and prepare yourself with happiness for tomorrow – the rest of your life. While I agree with the author’s views, I still think sometimes letting go is easy to think about but might not be so easy to do.

There are a lot of colourful characters involved in Gilbert’s long journey too, such as her Italian friends and their families, the respectable elderly medicine man, the Indonesian woman, etc. In addition, by following the writer, I feel as if I have travelled across the world – from one culture to another; from city to countryside; from mountain to island – and got the interesting feelings of those places.

Overall, Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman’s Search for Everything is a fascinating book with beautiful sentences, and it is easy to read. If you are interested in a pleasant story and spiritual quest, it will be a good choice. I firmly believe that it is worth spending some time to read.

                                            The Fugitive

The Fugitive, written by J.M.Dillard is a well-known novel, and the novel is suitable for people who are more than 18 years old. Fortunately, it was very good for me to read. I’m so happy that my teacher introduced this book to me. Actually, when I got it, I couldn’t stop reading it, because of its combination of adventure, and nerve-racking tension. It’s so amazing that the author only uses some simple sentences could make the plot become so fascinating. It just attracts you to read it and feel it again.

The story happens on Chicago evening. Kimble is a famous doctor and does a survey with a new drug, R D U-90. In the past, three people who took the drug died, and Kimble knows all of them had damaged livers. At that time he knew the drug is very dangerous and can damage people’s livers. But assuredly, someone doesn’t want others to know this message, so a murder is just the beginning.

The Fugitive’s plot is easy to understand, but just when you begin to read, you can’t help following it. One night a patient needed be treated, so Kimble left his wife at home and went to the hospital. When he came back home, he saw a man killing his wife. Then he hit the killer. However, surprisingly, when he pulled the man’s arm, it came off! It was an artificial arm! Then Kimble lost his balance and fell to the floor. At that time, the killer picked up the artificial arm and ran away. Unfortunately, before his wife died, she left a sentence with a police. “Kimble……he’s trying to kill me.” So, every police both thought that Kimble had killed his wife. But Kimble doesn’t want to die, he wants revenge. In the end, he has to find the killer and hides from the police.

Anyway, in this story, we can find many things to study and learn about humanity that how to choose in front of the money. And we all can know from the theme that the bad guys will be punished and good men will always prove their innocence. So it’s a book with positive energy. Just read it.                                                     

The Piano

The book’s name is The Piano. I read it during two days. It was written by Rosemary Border and I think it is fantastic.

The story began from a dressing room and the main character is Sir Anthony Evans whose original name called Tony Evans. A reporter interviewed him and asked some questions about his success. Then Anthony began to talk about his road to success.

When he was a student, people called him Tony. Tony was not very clever, in fact, he was slow. Because of poverty, Tony had no chance to learn some knowledge of music, and he did not know his talent in the piano at that time. When he was thirteen years old, he dropped out of school. Then, he found a job at Mr Wood’s farm. One day, Mr Wood asked Tony and his friends to clean a building which was behind the house. By accident, Tony found a piano in the corner and he liked this. He played it very well but he had not leant the piano before. Next, his friends helped him move this piano to the school where nobody could find them. Tony practised the piano after dinner every day. By accident, Mr Gordon who was a music teacher at this school, discovered a genius. Luckily, there was a competition in the town and Mr Gordon gave Tony the chance.

I have to say that I like this book and its plot attracted me deeply. All descriptions of characters in the book are very vivid.  We will find some stories can be also occurred like this, so I think it is a inspiring story.

According to this story, I guess maybe a talent will appear for some reasons and chances. If Tony was not drop out, he would never show his intelligence in the piano in the future. Everyone has potency, just need to stimulate it, and if we can get the chance, we will make a difference in our life. So sometimes, maybe we have to give up something just like studying. I think it is not a bad thing, perhaps we can get some abilities which others can’t gain. As the saying goes “God closes a door but will open a window for you.”

 

Frozen Planet - BBC Books

The Frozen Planet is a non – fiction book. I’ve found myself unable to put it down and it has kept me up until the wee hours. I was really so surprised at how completely engrossing the book was and it includes my favourite animal – the polar bear.

 

The Frozen Planet captures extraordinary views of the vast frozen landscapes and animals’ behaviour from the ground and the ocean, including the remote interior of the Arctic and Antarctic. Isolated by frozen seas and extreme weather, the poles can support animals found nowhere else. Frozen Planet’s crew documents their behaviour, often for the 1^st time, including killer whales hunting other whales and seals in the Antarctic; the courtship of the polar bears and the unforgettable hunting exploits of wolves in the far north. Actually, the Frozen Planet’s crew belong to the United Kingdom’s BBC television company and the documentary is one of the BBC’s documentaries.

 

This book is published to accompany the television series – Frozen Planet and the 1^st broadcast was in 2011 on BBC 1 documentaries by BBC books an imprint of Ebury Publishing Random House Group Company. While I definitely recommend this book to all readers, I would especially recommend it to foreign students who are studying in New Zealand mainly because it will be better for them and the contents are easy enough that foreign students can read them. Furthermore, BBC (earth) documentaries and National Geographic documentaries are very good for improving the English level and can increase knowledge, too. However, watching the documentaries needs stamina because each documentary is 45 – 50 minutes long and some are 1 hour long.

 

I felt very amazed when I finished reading this BBC book because the Arctic and Antarctic have many bests in the world. Firstly, polar bears are the biggest carnivores on land on the earth because the average weight of male polar bears can reach 750kg. Meanwhile female polar bears birth baby polar bears in caves during the hibernation – period in the Arctic’s winter and female polar bears can exist 5 whole months without eating until the Arctic spring’s coming. So female polar bears have to catch seals as soon as possible in the spring of the Arctic. Secondly, the polar region’s ice covers about 80% of fresh water resources on the earth and the climate is so extreme too, especially the Antarctic’s ice and climate. Thirdly, almost all varieties of whales and penguins live in the Antarctic’s sea area and inland, including blue whales and the number is so many, too because in the Antarctic’s sea area live lots of krill and the krill will reach over 300 million tons and 60000 per cubic meter.

 

Overall, this book is dedicated to the whole team that worked on the Frozen Planet television series. Nowadays, the polar worlds are melting and changing forever the lives of the animals are indeed the nature of the whole earth. At last, I think this book reveals the frozen planet as we may never see it again if humans can’t find the best way to protect the earth.   

On The Edge (Book Review)

On the Edge by Gillian Cross, is a mystery and horror for teenagers who like solving problems, in addition, Gillian Cross is an author of children’s books and she has won the Carnegie Medal and several awards throughout her life. In this novel, she tries to show the people through either exciting or difficult situations and have to fight battles with themselves as well as with the world. Before finding freedom or peace of mind. She tries to illustrate how her books fit into the wider world we live in. Her stories have many settings. But, On the Edge is set in time when rock music was very popular in 1984 in the USA.

This story tells about a young boy named Tug who got kidnapped by a couple who were terrorists who have a fundamental perception that children should be released from their families. In other words, they believed family is a prison for children. Kids should be given freedom of their own. During the time, Tug was hid with by a man who was a terrorist, he was on holiday. Tug was visiting his grandparents at that time, apparently, he sneaked into their yard with Jenny, a friend of his, and they wanted to catch a chicken. Jenny tried to exclude him for getting into the yard. Nonetheless, He did not listen to her. So, Jenny left him and back to her house. In the morning, he was surprised, he found himself in an old and small room with a window near the roof. Suddenly, He started to forget who he was. His actual name was Liam, son of the prime minister. The story made me stay up until the wee hours. It was an outstanding and breath-taking story. Although, it is for children and intermediate readers, I found it was quite fascinating for the young-adult age.

The author has accomplished to achieve her purpose in this story. Moreover, it needs critical and logic understanding to find the excitement of the book. As well, some of the plots are brainstormed what will occur in the next chapter. The plot was good despite several interchanges that seem questionable about the terrorists kidnapped Tug to be an example of their beliefs. From my viewpoint, it does not make sense as of the characterization. . Overall, I personally recommended this book for anyone who is fond of horror and mystery books. You would feel by yourself how Tug survived the mind games of the terrorists. The story makes you feel as if you are the character of the story in On the Edge.