Read the book and watch the film: 'Felicia's Journey' by William Trevor
An interview with the author
Felicia's story is sad, but one that is all too common. Many young, pregnant Irish girls travel to England either to terminate a pregnancy or simply to escape the shame that is visited upon them by their families and communities. There was a very famous and controversial case in 1992 of a fourteen-year-old Irish girl who travelled to England to have an abortion. Did this particular story influence the writing of Felicia's Journey?
No. As you say, many young Irish girls make journeys quite similar to Felicia's—although she, of course, was far from seeking an abortion.
You often refer to Eamon De Valera in Felicia's Journey and in your other works. What influence did he have on you and do you agree with his vision of Ireland? What role did politics play in your upbringing?
I do agree with De Valera's vision of Ireland, although often my characters either don't understand or wholly misunderstand it. Politics played no part in my upbringing.
Your characters are marked by a certain fatalism. Do you think this is a particularly Irish trait?
I don't think so. I don't think of my characters as being marked in that particular way; some are, some are not, but it never seems to me to be the most vigorous characteristic.
In Felicia's Journey, you depict the world of the homeless with haunting realism and empathy. How did you gain such an understanding of this world?
Observation and, again, imagination.
Felicia's story is sad, but one that is all too common. Many young, pregnant Irish girls travel to England either to terminate a pregnancy or simply to escape the shame that is visited upon them by their families and communities. There was a very famous and controversial case in 1992 of a fourteen-year-old Irish girl who travelled to England to have an abortion. Did this particular story influence the writing of Felicia's Journey?
No. As you say, many young Irish girls make journeys quite similar to Felicia's—although she, of course, was far from seeking an abortion.
You often refer to Eamon De Valera in Felicia's Journey and in your other works. What influence did he have on you and do you agree with his vision of Ireland? What role did politics play in your upbringing?
I do agree with De Valera's vision of Ireland, although often my characters either don't understand or wholly misunderstand it. Politics played no part in my upbringing.
Your characters are marked by a certain fatalism. Do you think this is a particularly Irish trait?
I don't think so. I don't think of my characters as being marked in that particular way; some are, some are not, but it never seems to me to be the most vigorous characteristic.
In Felicia's Journey, you depict the world of the homeless with haunting realism and empathy. How did you gain such an understanding of this world?
Observation and, again, imagination.
Vous revoir
Vous revoir, cinquième roman de Marc Levy, paru en 2005, est la suite de Et si c'était vrai...
Résumé du livre
Arthur a promis à la mère de Lauren de ne plus la revoir afin que cette dernière ne soit pas troublée. Mais il n'arrive pas à l'oublier. L'expérience qu'ils ont vécu n'est pas banale : dans le coma, Lauren est venue hanter Arthur afin qu'il la sauve d'une mort prochaine, son esprit est venu lui demander d'empêcher sa mère de la débrancher.
Malheureusement, depuis qu'elle a repris connaissance, elle a tout oublié, jusqu'à cet amour qui les a uni pendant son coma...
Citations du roman
· « Je hais ces gens autour de moi qui rient de rien et s’amusent de tout. »
· « La solitude peut être une forme de compagnie. »
· « Certains moments ont un goût d’éternité. »
· « La vieillesse a ses charmes. »
· « Étrangement, on en veut souvent à la personne qui vous dit une vérité difficile à entendre, impossible à croire. »
· « L'homme n'invente l'éternité de son existence que dans les sentiments qu'il partage. »
· " Elle était comme une promesse que la vie n'a pas tenu ; moi je tiens toujours mes promesses."
Film Reviews
'The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas', directed by Mark Herman, is a drama 
film based on the Irish writer John Boyne´s novel. Asa Butterfield, as Bruno, is the actor in the leading role and David Thewlis and Vera Farmiga are his parents, Ralph and Mother.
Bruno, a German child, lives very happily in Berlin but suddenly he has to move due to his father´s job. Ralph is a nazi commandant and his superiors order him to manage a concentration camp in Auschwitz. There Bruno plays on his own because he doesn´t have friends and his 16-years-old sister begins to have a strong nazi ideology that Bruno hates. However, one day he meets a child called Shmuel; he wears a striped suit.
The film is not exactly a copy of John Boyne´s novel. A few events are different but anyway the story is basically the same and, it is just fantastic.
'The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas' is a great film and shows us how unfair life is with innocent people. The film also received some prizes; one of them was the Goya, so it is well worth seeing.
by Vicente López Grimaldos (2 Intermedio inglés)
'Revolutionary Road', drama set in the U.S.A. in the years after World War II, has the appeal of joining again the stars Kate Winslet and Leonardo Di Caprio, the successful couple starring in Titanic, who had not played together since then. The director is Sam Mendes, Kate’s husband at that time. The plot tells us about the unhappy story 
of an American family in the 1950’s. The film’s aim is to dismand house in the suburbs, with the husband outside working the whole day and the remaining wife doing housework and taking care of the children. Their dissatisfaction with life leads them to think about moving to Paris and beginning a new life, but some events and the husband’s attitude will make their new hopes vanish. Not an enjotle the myth of the American dream; that is, the happy family living in a comfortable detacheyable film in spite of the stars’ great performances. It’s not recommended to those who just want to spend a nice time. The film, showing quarrels since the very second scene, matches better to intellectuals and people committed to women’s rights.
by Luis Miguel Peña Comín (2º Intermedio inglés)
of an American family in the 1950’s. The film’s aim is to dismand house in the suburbs, with the husband outside working the whole day and the remaining wife doing housework and taking care of the children. Their dissatisfaction with life leads them to think about moving to Paris and beginning a new life, but some events and the husband’s attitude will make their new hopes vanish. Not an enjotle the myth of the American dream; that is, the happy family living in a comfortable detacheyable film in spite of the stars’ great performances. It’s not recommended to those who just want to spend a nice time. The film, showing quarrels since the very second scene, matches better to intellectuals and people committed to women’s rights.
by Luis Miguel Peña Comín (2º Intermedio inglés)
'Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street', directed in 2007 by Tim Burton, is a remake of the musical with the same name composed by Sir Malcolm Arnold in 1959. The starring role is played by Burton’s favourite Johnny Depp. The story, based on an urban legend of the 19th century in a Victorian London, starts when a famous barber (Sweeney Todd) goes back to London to take revenge on a famous judge and to recover his daughter,
who was under the judge’s tutelage. Todd goes back to his old barbery to wait for the judge to go there and kill him. Meanwhile, he forms an alliance with Mrs. Lovett, who has a bakery and who improves her business thanks to the cakes made of Sweeney Todd’s barbery customers, who he kills with his razor. Depp gives the film his own distinctive character, something he only has in the current cinema industry. That is why Burton has always chosen him for almost all his films, which also have a special essence. This musical film will delight you with its excellent songs and also, for those who don’t like musical films, with its spectacular bloodthirsty scenes and its peculiar humour. It also tells an amazing story.
by Cristina Garrido Abenza (2º Intermedio inglés)
who was under the judge’s tutelage. Todd goes back to his old barbery to wait for the judge to go there and kill him. Meanwhile, he forms an alliance with Mrs. Lovett, who has a bakery and who improves her business thanks to the cakes made of Sweeney Todd’s barbery customers, who he kills with his razor. Depp gives the film his own distinctive character, something he only has in the current cinema industry. That is why Burton has always chosen him for almost all his films, which also have a special essence. This musical film will delight you with its excellent songs and also, for those who don’t like musical films, with its spectacular bloodthirsty scenes and its peculiar humour. It also tells an amazing story.
by Cristina Garrido Abenza (2º Intermedio inglés)
"UNO SCRITTORE PER OGNI GIORNO": DARIO FO
Dario Fo è uno scrittore, drammaturgo, attore e regista italiano, premio Nobel per la letteratura. Il linguaggio originale, che sovverte i rapporti della retorica narrativa "ufficiale", l’ispirazione al grottesco, con rivisitazioni della storia e intromissioni nella leggenda popolare, sono gli elementi caratterizzanti la maggior parte delle opere di Dario Fo, le cui radici affondano nella frequentazione giovanile della scuola della narrativa non ufficiale, ovvero quella degli artigiani e dei pescatori del lago, che raccontavano favole paradossali e grottesche, proprie della tradizione orale dei "fabulatori".In "Mistero buffo", lo spettacolo che ha reso famoso Fo nel mondo, con le sue oltre cinquemila repliche, l’attore ricostruisce la lingua dei giullari medioevali, il grammelot, l’arte di parlare senza parole.
Con questo autore si chiude la serie di post dedicati alla celebrazione della II Settimana del Libro e della Cultura italiana, perché è proprio lui il protagonista della conferenza che avrà luogo stasera alle ore 19:00 e in cui si parlerà una delle commedie più note di Dario Fo, Morte accidentale di un anarchico. Aspettiamo i vostri commenti.
"UNO SCRITTORE PER OGNI GIORNO": FABIO VOLO
Fabio Volo è uno scrittore, attore, conduttore radiofonico e televisivo italiano. Il suo nome anagrafico è Fabio Bonetti. Nel 2000 inizia l'avventura con Il volo del mattino su Radio Deejay e pubblica il suo primo libro, Esco a fare due passi, che vende oltre 300.000 copie. Nel 2002 è la volta del cinema: Fabio debutta in Casomai di Alessandro D'Alatri. Del 2003 è il secondo libro È una vita che ti aspetto, uno dei best-seller dell'anno. Dello stesso anno, è il suo debutto teatrale, ne "Il mare è tornato tranquillo", pièce scritta e diretta da Silvano Agosti, con musiche di Ennio Morricone. Nel 2005 esce il film La febbre, sempre di D'Alatri. Nel 2006 viene pubblicato il suo terzo libro Un posto nel mondo, che abbiamo scelto quest'anno per il nostro Club di lettura.Nel 2007 è al cinema con Manuale d'amore 2 - Capitoli successivi di Giovanni Veronesi e Uno su due di Eugenio Cappuccio, con cui collabora alla sceneggiatura. Il 27 novembre 2007 è uscito il suo quarto libro dal titolo Il giorno in più. Infine, il suo ultimo libro Il tempo che vorrei è uscito il 24 novembre dello scorso anno.
Ieri abbiamo cercato di conoscere un po' meglio questo artista poliedrico attraverso la visione di un video. Ma queste sue parole ci fanno capire cosa significa per lui la lettura:
Leggere mette in moto tutto dentro te: fantasia, emozioni, sentimenti. È un'apertura dei sensi verso il mondo, è un vedere e riconoscere le cose che ti appartengono e che rischiano di non essere viste, fà scoprire l'anima delle cose. Leggere significa trovare le parole giuste, quelle perfette per esprimere ciò a cui non riusciresti a dare forma. Trovare una descrizione a ciò che tu facevi fatica a riassumere. Nei libri le parole degli altri risuonano come un'eco dentro di noi, perché c'erano già.
E per voi, cosa significa "leggere"?
"UNO SCRITTORE PER OGNI GIORNO": ROBERTO SAVIANO
Roberto Saviano, scrittore e giornalista italiano, fa parte del gruppo di ricercatori dell’Osservatorio sulla camorra e l’illegalità. I suoi racconti e reportage sono apparsi su numerose riviste impegnate, fra cui "Best Off", il meglio delle riviste letterarie italiane.Roberto Saviano usa la letteratura ed il reportage per raccontare la realtà economica, di territorio e d'impresa della camorra e della criminalità organizzata. Scrittore coraggioso e capace di tradurre gli indizi in informazioni, di cui cerca le conferme nei fatti e nei racconti di chi sa, anche se non ha il coraggio di raccontarlo in prima persona, dipinge l'immagine crudamente realista di una società di malaffare che pesa sui conterranei e li vessa, li sfrutta e li....protegge.
Nel 2006 con il romanzo "Gomorra", edito da Mondadori, ottiene un successo strepitoso, che diventa fortemente accusatorio nei confronti delle attività della malavita napoletana, dei suoi boss e degli adepti, di cui non ha paura di scrivere nome e cognome, per cui lo fanno oggetto di pesanti minacce. Dall'ottobre del 2006, dopo le indagini dei Carabinieri di Napoli, gli è stata data una scorta e lo scrittore si è trasferito lontano da Napoli.
Oggi abbiamo avuto occasione di avvicinarci a questo scrittore, attraverso questo video. Guardatelo e mandateci qualche commento.
“UNO SCRITTORE PER OGNI GIORNO”: STEFANO BENNI
In occasione della celebrazione della II Settimana del libro e della cultura italiana, ogni giorno potrete trovare in questo Blog dei post riguardanti scrittori italiani di grande successo. Iniziamo con Stefano Benni, intellettuale assolutamente poliedrico, dapprima giornalista, quindi scrittore e poeta, che ha collaborato e collabora con numerose testate, scrive per il teatro ed è uno degli autori più fantasiosi e creativi del panorama italiano contemporaneo.
Il suo stile si caratterizza per l’uso originale ed innovativo del linguaggio, l’acutezza nel cogliere gli aspetti più aberranti della società moderna, la sua comicità stralunata e l’inesauribile fantasia, nella creazione di mondi immaginari ed straordinari. Potete ascoltare nella voce dell’autore uno dei suoi racconti, tratto da L’ultima lacrima, “Fratello Bancomat”.
ADVANCED ENGLISH READING CLUB
The Inner Life of Martin Frost (screenplay)From The New York Trilogy to The Book of Illusions and Travels in the Scriptorium, Paul Auster is one of America's most spectacularly inventive novelists. Smoke, Blue in the Face, and Lulu on the Bridge established him as an award-winning filmmaker. The Inner Life of Martin Frost brings together his talents as a novelist and filmmaker with a work that is tender, moving, and funny.
Searching for solitude, the writer Martin Frost borrows a friend's country house. Waking up one morning, he is shocked to find a nearly naked young woman beside him in bed. She also has a key to the house and claims to be the owner's niece. Martin's initial annoyance at Claire's intrusion is rapidly forgotten as he falls passionately in love with her. Even when it is revealed that Claire is not who she claims to be, their idyllic passion continues--until she suddenly falls ill.
The Inner Life of Martin Frost is based on an imaginary film that appears in his novel The Book of Illusions.
Searching for solitude, the writer Martin Frost borrows a friend's country house. Waking up one morning, he is shocked to find a nearly naked young woman beside him in bed. She also has a key to the house and claims to be the owner's niece. Martin's initial annoyance at Claire's intrusion is rapidly forgotten as he falls passionately in love with her. Even when it is revealed that Claire is not who she claims to be, their idyllic passion continues--until she suddenly falls ill.
The Inner Life of Martin Frost is based on an imaginary film that appears in his novel The Book of Illusions.
NEW! MINISTRY OF FOOD by Jamie Oliver
Jamie Oliver speaks about his book 'Ministry of Food', which you can borrow from the school library:
'For me, Ministry of Food is without doubt the most important project I've ever worked on and it's still ongoing. I'm massively excited about it. This is the recipe book that accompanied the TV series in 2008, I hope it has helped many of you to be inspired to cook good food again.
Food culture in Britain is a topic that has been close to my heart for a long time. There are loads of great things to say about the state of cooking and food in this country, but also quite a few negatives. Brits have one of the highest obesity rates in Europe and are eating more ready meals than ever.
How we prepare our food and the food we eat has changed over the last 50 years. Generations are not having cooking skills passed on to them in the same way they used to, which may be why people are turning to takeaways or ready meals as an easy option for meals. I think it's absolutely crucial to get people excited about cooking good food again, and passing it on to as many of their friends, colleagues & family as they can.'
Check back regularly to find out more about Jamie's Ministry of Food
Food culture in Britain is a topic that has been close to my heart for a long time. There are loads of great things to say about the state of cooking and food in this country, but also quite a few negatives. Brits have one of the highest obesity rates in Europe and are eating more ready meals than ever.
How we prepare our food and the food we eat has changed over the last 50 years. Generations are not having cooking skills passed on to them in the same way they used to, which may be why people are turning to takeaways or ready meals as an easy option for meals. I think it's absolutely crucial to get people excited about cooking good food again, and passing it on to as many of their friends, colleagues & family as they can.'
Check back regularly to find out more about Jamie's Ministry of Food
Advanced Reading Club
Hi everyone! The next book we are going to read and discuss is 'Firmin', by Sam Savage. About 'Firmin':
Firmin is the runt of a litter of rats born in the basement of Pembroke Books, a ramshackle old bookstore run by the equally shambolic owner Norman Shine. Forced to compete for food, Firmin ends up chewing on the books that surround him. Thanks to his unusual diet, he acquires the miraculous ability to read. He subsequently develops an insatiable hunger for literature and a very unratlike sense of the world and his place in it. He is a debonair soul trapped in a rat's body¿
But a literary rat is a lonely rat and, spurned by his own kind, he thinks he recognises a kindred soul in Norman. Firmin seeks solace in the Lovelies of the local burlesque cinema and in his own imagination. But the days of the bookshop and of the close community around it are numbered. The area has been marked out for urban regeneration and soon the faded glory of the bookshop, the low-life bars, loan agencies and pawn shops will face the bulldozers.
Brilliantly original and richly allegorical, Firmin is brimming with charm and wistful longing for a world that treasures its seedy theatres, one-of-a-kind characters, and cluttered bookshops.
Firmin is the runt of a litter of rats born in the basement of Pembroke Books, a ramshackle old bookstore run by the equally shambolic owner Norman Shine. Forced to compete for food, Firmin ends up chewing on the books that surround him. Thanks to his unusual diet, he acquires the miraculous ability to read. He subsequently develops an insatiable hunger for literature and a very unratlike sense of the world and his place in it. He is a debonair soul trapped in a rat's body¿
But a literary rat is a lonely rat and, spurned by his own kind, he thinks he recognises a kindred soul in Norman. Firmin seeks solace in the Lovelies of the local burlesque cinema and in his own imagination. But the days of the bookshop and of the close community around it are numbered. The area has been marked out for urban regeneration and soon the faded glory of the bookshop, the low-life bars, loan agencies and pawn shops will face the bulldozers.
Brilliantly original and richly allegorical, Firmin is brimming with charm and wistful longing for a world that treasures its seedy theatres, one-of-a-kind characters, and cluttered bookshops.
Read the book and watch the film
THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES (2008)
Set in South Carolina in 1964, this is the tale of Lily Owens a 14 year-old girl who is haunted by the memory of her late mother. To escape her lonely life and troubled relationship with her father, Lily flees with Rosaleen, her caregiver and only friend, to a South Carolina town that holds the secret to her mother's past. Taken in by the intelligent and independent Boatwright sisters, Lily finds solace in their mesmerizing world of beekeeping.
Set in South Carolina in 1964, this is the tale of Lily Owens a 14 year-old girl who is haunted by the memory of her late mother. To escape her lonely life and troubled relationship with her father, Lily flees with Rosaleen, her caregiver and only friend, to a South Carolina town that holds the secret to her mother's past. Taken in by the intelligent and independent Boatwright sisters, Lily finds solace in their mesmerizing world of beekeeping.
