Books review

Today I prepare 5 interesting books for you as a recommendation to read during hiihtoloma (ski holidays). So let’s start!

1. Trilogy of «Tartarin from Tarascon» by Alphonse Daudet 1872

Main heroes: Tartarin, Mari, Besuke, Emma, Graf Besonson etc.

The cycle of novels, the hero of the trilogy, a funny fat man Tartarin   from a small Provencal town, combines the features of both Don Quixote and Sancho Panza: he thirsts for adventure, although out of cowardice he is in no hurry to meet them. But incredible vanity and a riot of imagination make Tartarin leave his cozy home, a garden with a baobab and set off to meet dangers.

•  Novel «Vanity Fair» by William Makepeace Thackeray 1848

Main heroes: miss Emilia Sedley and miss Rebecca (Becky) Sharp, George Osborne, Jose Sedley, William Dobbin, Rawdon Crowley etc.  

The plot of the novel is based on the development of people’s feelings, their choice between career and family. There are two conflicts in the novel. External conflict is a conflict between Becky and her family. Internal conflict is a conflict of feelings and emotions of family members. The author shows the culmination of the story at the end of the novel, when the housekeeper saw a spider in the kitchen. She lifted the broom and swept it away. This is a metaphor; the author compares Becky to this spider. Like this spider, Becky was unable to be happy. It is, however, modern, as always – it is a struggle to establish oneself in society. Most characters’ lean towards wealth and position regardless of who has them. This worship of false values ​​allows Rebecca to climb to the top of the hierarchy. As you know, “vanity” is the desire to look good in the eyes of others, the need to confirm one’s superiority. Of course, this problem is relevant today, it has not gone anywhere, has not exhausted itself, you can talk about it forever. So in the novel, the heroes are hostages of their own desires, their goal is full wallets, the desire to be better than others.

•  Novel «The House in which…» «The Grey House» by Mariam Petrosyan 2009

Main heroes (nicknames of boys living in the boarding house): Blind, Sphinx, Smoker, Jackal Tabaki, Lord, Macedonian, Gorbach, Ginger, Moose, Vulture, Black Ralph, Black (formerly Sportsman).

A book that takes you to a completely different world, taking you with it and not letting go until the very end. Physically disadvantaged toddlers and adolescents, isolated from the outside world. They have their own laws and their own truth. Children paint their lives as best they can. They give it significance, surround it with mystery, fill it with meaning. To make it interesting. That it was not so dreary. Each of the inhabitants of the House possesses “mysterious powers”, “owns magic”. Every story is a fairy tale. And you never know if it’s true or not. The work is written in the genre of magical realism. What’s in store for them with the release? Who will need them there, in the big world? How will their fates develop? Everyone has it differently. Dom will never let someone go. He will not let someone in. And all of them will forever remain children from «the House in which…» «The Grey House»

• Novel «Madame Bovary» by Gustave Flaubert 1856

Main heroes:  Emma Bovary, ​​Charles Bovary, Rudolph Boulanger, Mister Ome, Lere, Leon Dupuis, Justin

The main character of the novel is Emma Bovary, the wife of a doctor who lives beyond her means and starts extramarital affairs in the hope of getting rid of the emptiness and routine of provincial life. Although the plot of the novel is quite simple and even trivial, the true value of the novel lies in the details and forms of plot presentation. Flaubert, as a writer, was known for his desire to bring every work to the ideal, always trying to find the right words. It is considered one of the masterpieces of world literature. Included in the World Library (list of the most significant works of world literature of the Norwegian Book Club). Emma Bovary suffers from the inability to fulfil her dreams of a brilliant, social life, full of romantic passions. Instead, she is forced to drag out the monotonous existence of the wife of a poor provincial doctor.

• Fantasy « Magic Punch » by Michael Ende  2003

        Screen adaptation of JETIX channel «Wunspunsh» cartoon

Main heroes: Bubonic Irvitzer (magician) nephew of Tyranny, Tyranny Vampadur (sorceress), Meurizio di Meauro – Bubonicas cat, Jacob Scribble-Tyranny’s raven. 

The action of the book “Magic punch” unfolds on New Year’s Eve, when the most incredible events take place around and real miracles happen … The villain and his aunt find themselves in the face of justice for not having time to fulfill the terms of the contract by the New Year and do the required amount of nasty things. meanness and vileness. But there is a lifesaver – a wish punch that can fix everything. If, of course, you cook it correctly and have time to drink it before the bell rings, announcing the coming of the new year. But the villains do not even realize that all their conversations were overheard by the messengers of the animal world assigned to them. Although what can you take from a plucked crow and a fat cat?!

ENJOY READING!