KGV Shadowers REALLY wanted this book to win the 2008 Carnie Medal. A fascinating insight to a culture few of us have prior knowledge, with a strong and convincing female character, who by the last page of the book, the reader understands, even if they disagree with the choices that she makes.
Mrs. Farquhar January 2010
Mrs. Farquhar January 2010
Life of Pi is about a 16 year old boy who is stuck at sea for 227 days with a Bengal tiger. It is the story of how he survives such impossible circumstances which most people would never even dream of. Life of Pi is a little complicated to understand when you initially start reading it, and just seems like a series of random events but eventually all these seemingly random events mentioned at the beginning tie together to explain how he was able to survive for so long. All these things together create an interesting and unique storyline.
Niharika Panjabi 10G
Niharika Panjabi 10G
Life of Pi is a book that tells the life of Pi, it tells how he grew up, problems he encountered such as religion and tells us how he developed into a young adult. When Pi was moving from India to Canada, he got shipwrecked and was stranded on a life boat with a ferocious bengal tiger. The book tells the tale of how Pi survived with such a ferocious beast, and the bond Pi has formed with tiger.
When i first picked up the book i thought the book was going to be very boring, however after reading up to the part where he got shipwrecked i was really enjoying the book. I liked how the author narrates the story, for example he used listing to tell steps at which he controlled the tiger. To conclude, Life of Pi is a great book that I am sure anyone will enjoy.
Jack Yiu 10M
When i first picked up the book i thought the book was going to be very boring, however after reading up to the part where he got shipwrecked i was really enjoying the book. I liked how the author narrates the story, for example he used listing to tell steps at which he controlled the tiger. To conclude, Life of Pi is a great book that I am sure anyone will enjoy.
Jack Yiu 10M
The structure of the novel is skillfully organized by George Orwell, which allows the readers to learn more about the causes of the unworkability of communism. The way he wrote does not only resemble Stalin but also other famous leaders such as Hitler.
Each animal in the story has different features and attitude. The way of how characters are portrayed, they resemble the some styles of human nature, for example selfishness. It clearly shows of what people can do in order to gain what they want. The happenings in the book also display how leaders do things in the past and also resembling other historical philosophers. The story proves the quote of "Evil happens when good people are silent."
From the story you can see that people's mind can change such as betraying their comrade, we can see that from Napolean and Snowball. Not just betraying a comrade but also killing them, their actions also involve innocent animals which is immoral. By the way of how the animals and Napolean is portrayed, it shows that he forces people to work, treating them as slaves. Giving all the luxuries to themselves and left nothing for the animals, merely saying that the luxuries are for pig's health for leading the team.
The leaders in the story allow nothing to oppose them and killing them if they do, all the animals are blindly agreeing to them, from such attitude can be found through history from many countries. They change rules to gain power such as from "All animals are equal" to "All show more animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others". They also decided how an animal live and their death, such as from "No animal shall kill any other animal" they added in the end "without a cause". From the start, no animal were meant to use and learn about human's ways of living. However later in the story as Napolean come into power, they learn to stand on two legs and regard the four-legged populace as inferiors. They start to wear Mr Jone's clothes, sleep in beds and drink alcohol.
In my opinion, its worse than being cared by Mr Jones, there is no freedom for the animals and they get eliminated whether they have done something wrong or not. To the leader, all the animals are just tools for gaining what they want and it shows that in the past, the book shows that most leaders in the past were just selfish, uncaring, cowardly, lazy murderer.
I would recommend this book to people as it is not only a mere fairy-tale, but also the historical analysis of the causes of the failure of communism, it proves that human nature and diversity prevent people from being equal and happy, which is a valuable lesson for everyone.
Philip Fan show less
Each animal in the story has different features and attitude. The way of how characters are portrayed, they resemble the some styles of human nature, for example selfishness. It clearly shows of what people can do in order to gain what they want. The happenings in the book also display how leaders do things in the past and also resembling other historical philosophers. The story proves the quote of "Evil happens when good people are silent."
From the story you can see that people's mind can change such as betraying their comrade, we can see that from Napolean and Snowball. Not just betraying a comrade but also killing them, their actions also involve innocent animals which is immoral. By the way of how the animals and Napolean is portrayed, it shows that he forces people to work, treating them as slaves. Giving all the luxuries to themselves and left nothing for the animals, merely saying that the luxuries are for pig's health for leading the team.
The leaders in the story allow nothing to oppose them and killing them if they do, all the animals are blindly agreeing to them, from such attitude can be found through history from many countries. They change rules to gain power such as from "All animals are equal" to "All show more animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others". They also decided how an animal live and their death, such as from "No animal shall kill any other animal" they added in the end "without a cause". From the start, no animal were meant to use and learn about human's ways of living. However later in the story as Napolean come into power, they learn to stand on two legs and regard the four-legged populace as inferiors. They start to wear Mr Jone's clothes, sleep in beds and drink alcohol.
In my opinion, its worse than being cared by Mr Jones, there is no freedom for the animals and they get eliminated whether they have done something wrong or not. To the leader, all the animals are just tools for gaining what they want and it shows that in the past, the book shows that most leaders in the past were just selfish, uncaring, cowardly, lazy murderer.
I would recommend this book to people as it is not only a mere fairy-tale, but also the historical analysis of the causes of the failure of communism, it proves that human nature and diversity prevent people from being equal and happy, which is a valuable lesson for everyone.
Philip Fan show less
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck is a simple classic novel. The book is about two loyal friends, George and Lennie, who are trying to chase their dream of farming their own land and to settle down.
The main characters are George, the solution of the story and Lennie, the person that caused the problems in the story. George and Lennie are great friends and they are attempting to reach their goal, to own a piece of land themselves. However, it is not as simple as it seems to be. Lennie has caused a lot of problems that stopped them from achieving their dream. George tried his best to solve the problem but in the end, George gave up and just used the only solution available.
Although this might sound like a simple story, it has been written very well. To be honest, I only started to like this story after getting to the arguments George and Lennie had. That made me want to continue the story and find out what will happen to them afterwards.
I think this story went really well until the last few chapters. I especially disliked the last chapter because the ending was a little bit rushed. I prefer the problem to be solved instead of Lennie being killed by his best and only friend, which is a rare unexpected ending.
Patrick Yau 10A
King George V School
Of Mice and Men is a classical novel, set in America. The novel focuses on the views of loyalty and caring. George and Lennie are best friends they travel around to look for work and one day dreams to be able to own their own land. As show more the main characters in the book they represent loyalty and love. Showing this in everyway as they journey though the hard ships of life.
George always looks after Lennie as he is mentally slow and very dependent. Set during the great depression, they go out to find work on a farm. John Steinbeck portrays his characters precisely giving the feeling that they are really interacting with each other. Even the way they speak is written out for the readers. Their strong American accents are hard to understand sometime, but give the whole story a layer of realism. Lennies loves animals and would like to have one for himself preferably a rabbit. He always gets exicted when there is a small fluffy animal around. Unfortunatly almost everything he touches dies as he is obnoxious to his strength and the feelings of other people. Causing a evil vibe to this otherwise totally innocent character.
Making new friends George and Lennie starts work on the new farm and just as they settle in gets into a fight with one of the other workers. This landed Lennie in a horrible situation where he broke the guys hand. Problems continue to develop as the couple works their way to get the last 50 dollars so that they can start a new farm. Lennie was very happy when he got his own puppy. Sadly it also dies. This is a very sad story towards the end and leaves the reader awestruck as it isn’t a ending that could be easily guessed.
Over all this is a wonderful and interesting book that will attract the mind of older readers, as they can better relate to the happenings. A tearful, but ironically joyful read it’s a book that you wont take your eyes off until you bump into a lamp post.
Brian Lam
King George V School
10G show less
The main characters are George, the solution of the story and Lennie, the person that caused the problems in the story. George and Lennie are great friends and they are attempting to reach their goal, to own a piece of land themselves. However, it is not as simple as it seems to be. Lennie has caused a lot of problems that stopped them from achieving their dream. George tried his best to solve the problem but in the end, George gave up and just used the only solution available.
Although this might sound like a simple story, it has been written very well. To be honest, I only started to like this story after getting to the arguments George and Lennie had. That made me want to continue the story and find out what will happen to them afterwards.
I think this story went really well until the last few chapters. I especially disliked the last chapter because the ending was a little bit rushed. I prefer the problem to be solved instead of Lennie being killed by his best and only friend, which is a rare unexpected ending.
Patrick Yau 10A
King George V School
Of Mice and Men is a classical novel, set in America. The novel focuses on the views of loyalty and caring. George and Lennie are best friends they travel around to look for work and one day dreams to be able to own their own land. As show more the main characters in the book they represent loyalty and love. Showing this in everyway as they journey though the hard ships of life.
George always looks after Lennie as he is mentally slow and very dependent. Set during the great depression, they go out to find work on a farm. John Steinbeck portrays his characters precisely giving the feeling that they are really interacting with each other. Even the way they speak is written out for the readers. Their strong American accents are hard to understand sometime, but give the whole story a layer of realism. Lennies loves animals and would like to have one for himself preferably a rabbit. He always gets exicted when there is a small fluffy animal around. Unfortunatly almost everything he touches dies as he is obnoxious to his strength and the feelings of other people. Causing a evil vibe to this otherwise totally innocent character.
Making new friends George and Lennie starts work on the new farm and just as they settle in gets into a fight with one of the other workers. This landed Lennie in a horrible situation where he broke the guys hand. Problems continue to develop as the couple works their way to get the last 50 dollars so that they can start a new farm. Lennie was very happy when he got his own puppy. Sadly it also dies. This is a very sad story towards the end and leaves the reader awestruck as it isn’t a ending that could be easily guessed.
Over all this is a wonderful and interesting book that will attract the mind of older readers, as they can better relate to the happenings. A tearful, but ironically joyful read it’s a book that you wont take your eyes off until you bump into a lamp post.
Brian Lam
King George V School
10G show less
I found this a good read. Seeing the holocaust through a different point of view of that of a little boy was different from what you would normally read or hear. I also found it quite interesting that the two boys managed to find friendship even with the circumstances that they lived in with all the prejudice views and inhumanity. But I was shocked at the ending as I found that it did not match the tone of the rest of the book.
Lorna Layfield 10S
Lorna Layfield 10S
Great read! The tension and suspense kept me reading on and i loved the mixture of mystery, adventure and a bit of romance. However I thought the ending was disappointing as it was quite blunt and left too many questions unanswered.
Lorna Layfield 10S
Lorna Layfield 10S
A little creepy.. but the overall storyline is entertaining. It was a little boring towards the end of the book. The author could put a little more imagery and detail in descriptions of things.
Joy Yau 10N
Joy Yau 10N
A mysterious start with a good twist at the end of the book. Very entertaining :D
Joy Yau 10N
Joy Yau 10N
A haunting novel whose characters and their complex familial releationships stay with you long after finishing. A brilliant YA text to use to move on teeengers' reading.
The ninth book from Poland's most famous living author, who enjoys a cult following in Poland and increasingly beyond, as his works become more widely translated. Nine is tough and gritty: a classic action-movie-style chase, with the protagonist owing the bad guy money. Drug dealing, violence and prostitution feature heavily, making this a sometimes challenging read. I could imagine Tarantino or Pedro Almodovar directing the movie version. The imagary is crisp and evocative. The author often uses bright, paintbox colours as metaphor, contrasting starkly with the drab, grey setting of post-communist Warsaw. I got that enervated feeling you often get when reading a well-translated book , because the lexus goes beyond the everyday and includes some breath-taking imagery. But don't think that this book is all about style and literary devices - try it for yourself ! I bet you haven't read ANY other books translated from Polish. (I certainly hadn't until I read this!). I suspect you'll be like me - keen to seek out other books by this author. Mrs. Farquhar - The RC@KGV 18/11/08
While journeying to Zimbabwe from Mozambique, eleven-year-old Nhamo struggles to escape drowning and starvation and in so doing comes close to the luminous world of the African spirits.