By Chris Perron.
Category Archives: Relatos
The Wind in the Willows
Original title: The wind in the willows.
Title of this edition: The wind in the willows.
Author: Kenneth Grahame.
Gender: Fantasy.
Saga: …
Editorial: Methuen Children’s Books Ltd.
Edition year: 1, 1979.
Prizes: Mr. Toad was voted Number 38 among the 100 Best Characters in Fiction Since 1900 by Book magazine in their March/April 2002 issue (Wiki).
Synopsis [Warning: Spoiler]: Mole and Rat enjoy their life by the river. Taking picnics, row in the river, and stay by the fireplace in the winter, that’s all their life. On the other side, Mr Toad, rich Mr Toad, likes new adventures. That’s why Mr Toad has been trying motor boats, mobile houses… and now motorcars. Because Mr Toad is obsessed with cars, Mole and Rat have to call Mr Badger to chase Mr Toad and make him a good citizen again. But Mr Toad, refusing to give up cars, scape from his friends custody and steals a car, putting him into prison for it, and letting the Weasels into Toad Hall. The story ends by the 4 friends retaking Toad Hall and coming back to their life as it was before Mr Toad started to be a car-addict.
Personal Review: This book is a real classic among literature for kids, and most of the people I know read it while they where in the school. I don’t remember reading it completely at school, but I do remember parts of the story. That makes me enjoy the book even more, because as I was reading it, coming to a chapter I knew triggered memories of things that happened in my life while I first read it. That’s why I recommend adults to read some of the books they read as a kids, as it will be a good experience.
A part from the previous toughs, I would like to comment that this book has become such a big classic, that it has several TV adaptations. I have seen some of them, and they always focus on Mr Toad and cars (forgetting for instance some very nice adventures like Mole and Rat looking for a lost child in the river, or visiting Badger the first time). Other versions turn the Weasels into more dark characters that trick Toad in order to get the control of Toad Hall. It is not bad, but have in mind that it is not the story as it is told by the book.
I also want to comment that despite the book is fantasy, it has some elements of science fiction. There is some passages where Badger speaks about men and how they came and go and how animals are always there. In particular, Badger house connects with old human tunnels. So… what’s going on here? In other parts of the book Mr Toad interacts with several humans…. so can this be a world where some type of war or catastrophe turned animals into superior lifeforms? Did part of the humanity disappeared? How good/bad is relation between humans and animals? Do they share the same laws? More important, is it ok to eat other animals, and if so, are they intelligent as well or not? I think that if somebody wants, it is possible to turn this into a post-apocaliptic world (like Adventure Time for instance). On the other hand, Mole/Rat/Badger/Toad can be humans whose behaviour imitates those of the corresponding animals, and the authors, instead of dealing with long descriptions, simply characterise them as animals to speed up the storytelling.
May the 4th be with you
Dealings of Captain Sharkey and Other Tales of Pirates
Original title: Dealings of Captain Sharkey and Other Tales of Pirates.
Title of this edition: Historias de piratas.
Author: Arthur Conan Doyle.
Gender: Adventure.
Saga: …
Editorial: Valdemar
Edition year: 3, 2004.
Prizes: …
Synopsis [Warning: Spoiler]: This book covers a few stories about pirate captain Sharkey and how he terrorised the Caribbean sea. Basically he is the most ferocious scoundrel in the seven seas. There is nobody as cruel and savage as Sharkey, however, due to his actions, he has lots of enemies who eventually prepare a trap and kill him.
Also in this book there is a short story about a “land pirate” a man that drives his car assaulting other cars to steal from them.
Personal Review: As a Sherlock Holmes fan, I was excited about this book, and it totally fulfil my expectations. Despite being written a long time ago, the pirate tales are completely up to date with bloody battles, savage pirates, and lots of action (in addition, probably the translator updated the language a little bit). I think that if you add some magic and some fun you can easily get Pirates of the Caribbean out of these tales.
On the other hand, the story about the “land pirate” is quite nice and suggestive. Maybe more suitable for a country like USA rather than UK. I would like to see it based in the 70’s with trailers, muscle cars, highways, and pirates in motorbikes… hold on, that’s Mad Max!
In conclusion, this is a book that is worth not missing. It is not Sherlock Holmes but it is also good.
ASFoW
Today M.E. (Mysterious Explorer) send to me this.
FELLOUT 4
ASFoW
Today M.E. (Mysterious Explorer) send to me this.
Bartleby and Benito Cereno
Original title: Bartleby and Benito Cereno.
Title of this edition: Bartleby and Benito Cereno.
Author: Herman Melville.
Gender: Fantasy.
Saga: …
Editorial: Giunti.
Edition year: 1, 2014.
Prizes: …
Synopsis [Warning: Spoiler]: This book is composed by two stories, Bartleby, which is about a man that starts working as a copyist and who is suddenly living in the office and whose boss is not able to take him out, even by selling the company. The second story is about Benito Cereno, a Spaniard captain that is held prisoner in his own ship by the slaves he was carrying. The book narrates an encounter with an English captain and how he became aware that the other captain was being held prisoner.
Personal Review: I brought this book a couple of months ago when travelling from Italy to London. I was too early on the airport and I was finished the book I had for the flight. Not having anything interesting in the shop, I decided to go for this one (other option was re read Frankenstein or Moby Dick).
I would say that the first story, Bartleby, is quite easy to read and interesting at the same time. It is narrated from the point of view of the boss. He is naive and surprised at the beginning, but quite good person at the end. This is because at the beginning he doesn’t understand Bartleby, he thinks he is only a bad person whiling to take advantage of the boss, but little by little he realises that Bartley is a dysfunctional person who needs help.
The second story, on the other hand is not interesting and difficult to read. This is because it is over saturated with adjectives and descriptions (using not common words), which makes its reading difficult and annoying. The story itself… basically there is no story told, just a ship full of slaves, two captains and descriptions on how captain Benito misbehaves.
ASFoW
Today M.E. (Mysterious Explorer) send to me this.
ASFoW
Today M.E. (Mysterious Explorer) send to me this.
the Brick In the Sky 