Reading Portifolio

Favorite book review: Moby Dick

What did I liked about the book and what I remember about it:
The plot is the best part of the book. The situation they are in is specially interesting, having a combination of different background characters in a closed and small environment: a whale boat. Also, the message of the book is very interesting: I think we should evaluate what we are pursuing for, otherwise it can overtake our life and harm the ones surrounding us.

My relationship with the book
I think I am similar to Ishmael in some aspects because although I want some adventure in my life and I am ready to face new challenges, sometimes I am a bit indecisive. Also I have some sad thoughts when things are not going well.
Two characters of the book: Captain Ahab and the Moby Dick remind me of various relevant people of the world history, but not of anyone that I met personally. People that believe so badly that the other people represent the evil and do so much to try to get rid of it. One of these events is Hitler, who can be compared as the Capitain Ahab, fighting against the nature force (the other races) or the Catholic pope, that send his troops on the crusades, killing people to spread their own beliefs.
Because of the obstinate behavior of Capitain Ahab, I started thinking more about my own behavior, avoiding being obsessed about things that I want to, and considering more the opinion of people that surround me (that are in the same boat as me) and have their own particularities.

About the book
I think the choice of the title is good. It represents the reason why all the characters of the book end up together. The force of the nature that represents different things to the characters, a big whale. The book have several lessons you can learn a bit from, but I liked the ending. It ends a cycle of one of the main characters pursuit, unfortunately not in a good way to him and to most of the boat population.
The best part of the book is when the whole crew meets the whale. I like it because the captain that really wants to see the Moby Dick and his crew that is not so into it, finally see the whale. The conflict of the situation is really interesting and happens a lot in our everyday life. There are lots of messages that can be retrieved from this retold version and probably there are even some more in the whole book, which I intend to read someday.

King Arthur and his Knights

Adapted by William Kottmeyer
122 pages. Paperback. Phoenix Learning Resources, 1988.

The book tells the story about the  life and death of King Arthur. He is the son of Uther Pendragon and Igraine. Merlin realized that Uther wouldn't be a good king, so he thrust the sword Excalibur into a stone and said that only the one that is really able to be a king can pull it off of the stone. Without the sword, Uther was killed. Merlin feared for Arthur get killed too. Many years later, Arthur pulled the sword of the stone and was recognized as the true king. Arthur married Guinevere but he had a child with a sorcerer. Later he founded Camelot. He created also the Round Table, a table that had no "head", or a table where no one sitting there is more important than other member. It represented that he and his Knights that followed him were equals. The King and the land were one--and all were at peace. But one of his best friends, Lancelot, betrayed him with Guinevere. King Arthur felt himself lost and eventually fell into a depression. He lost his power and the land and the peace faded. To make an an effort to regain his power, Arthur had his Knights searched for the Holy Grail, which was the golden metallic and precious cup that Jesus Christ drank wine from at the Last Supper. Unfortunately AMost versions conclude that Arthur was killed by a false knight, Mordred, which is his son with the scorcher, when Mordred attempted to take the throne. Because Arthur was now dead, the Excalibur sword taken to a safe place where it can rest while wait for the new king to appear.

Oliver Twist

Charles Dickens (author), retold by Deborah Tempest.
64 pages. Paperback. Published by Penguin Books, 2000.

Oliver Twist is an orphan that was born in a city near to London in the United Kingdom in the 1800s. His mother was a single mom which died in a workhouse while gave birth to him. He was raised in several places, including a child farm, a workhouse and by a coffin maker, as an apprentice. Because he was mistreated in these places, he went by himself to London. When he's almost there, he met a man who teaches him how to commit small crimes, like pickpocketing. When he tried to steal another man,  he was found doing it. This man figures out that Oliver is not a thief, but a kid in need. So this man, Mr. Brownlow taked Oliver to live with him. But the shady people that met him earlier manage to break the confidence between the old man and the kid. They made Oliver sneak into a house, and during the sneaking, he was shot and left behind by the others in the thief group. The family of the house he sneaked into help him recover and took care of him. Meanwhile the thief group was wondering what have happened to Oliver, he learnt how to read and write and met again with his old friend, Mr Brownlow. A man named Monks is particularly very interested in finding Oliver Twist and making he commit crimes. Mr. Brownlow managed to track Monks history. Turns out that Monks is Oliver's older half-brother, who wants to avoid that Oliver receives part of a heritage. Monks confessed everything. Oliver received the heritage and was adopted by Mr. Brownlow. Monks and the chief of the thief gang went to prison.

Princess Diana

Cherry Gilchrist (author)
Paperback: 48 pages. Published by Pearson ESL, 2001.

The book tells the story about the princess Diana and some interesting facts about her life. She was born Diana Spencer in  Norfolk, England, but she turned to be a person of interest for the media, which always followed her, because she married Prince Charles of Wales, in 29 July 1981, the prince of England in the United Kingdom, becoming Her Royal Highness The Princess of Wales. She had two sons with him, William and Harry. The book tells about her family and also the British Royal family. Facts like the death of her father in 1992 are also covered in the book. She traveled all around the world and she was an important and representative figure of the Royal Family. For me, that most interesting thing about her life is how she managed to bring attention to the issues in Africa. Because she did so much volunteer work, she became known as the People's princess. Unfortunately, during the 1990s her marriage wasn't working well, and she divorced form the Prince Charles of Wales in 1996. She tried to pursuit her own life after divorce, and find new relationships. She went to France in 1997, where in a tragic accident she died. It was very unexpected and it showed how vicious can the paparazzi be when they are chasing one celebrity to take pictures.

Cinderella Man

Marc Cerasini (author)
70 pages. Paperback. Published by Penguin Books, 2006.

The book tells the story about James J. Braddock, an Irish-American boxer fighter, born in New Jersey. It was set in the period of time close to United States' Great Depression. Braddock worked as manual labor longshoreman. Because he broke his hand in a fight, he wasn't able to work everyday. Braddock was invited by his friend to fight agains a famous fighter. It was expected for Braddock lose the fight, but he didn't. Instead he beat his opponent with a knockout. A sportswriter gave him the nickname "The Cinderella Man." He fought some other fights. Due to the unexpected score, they called him the underdog. The book covers one of the important moments in the boxing history where Braddock beats the champion at the time, Baer. Baer was famous because he killed the last two opponents in the ring. When the fight was over, Braddock become the heavyweight champion of the world. By the end of the book he  uses the money he earned to buy a house, in which he spent the rest of his life with Mae, his wife.

Moby Dick

Hermann Melville (author), retold by Kathy Burke
40 pages. Paperback. Publisher: Pearson Education Limited, 2006

This book main characters are Ishmael, a sailor of the whaling ship Pequod, commanded by the Captain Ahab. Captain Ahab wanted to seek one specific whale, Moby Dick. Moby Dick had a reputation for its enormous proportions and for its ability to get rid of the whale-chasers. Captain Ahab is one of the ones that have been attacked by the whale, as a result he got a wooden leg to replace the one that the whale took off. His main goal was to revenge from the whale that made he lose his leg. The Captain showed a mean attitude, denying help for the others and being uniquely focused on his revenge. When he finally found the whale, a tragedy happened. The only survivor was Ishmael, that was rescued by a ship that was searching for some members of its crew.

Audrey Hepburn

Chris Rice (author)
Paperback. 22 pages. Publisher: Pearson Education Limited, 2000.

The book told about the life and career of Audrey Kathleen van Heemstra Hepburn-Ruston, the Belgium actress that was very successful and known worldwide. Audrey had passion for dance, even though, she didn't have the desirable features for a classic ballet dancer. In London, Audrey started working in musicals. The main role of Gigi was offered to her in 1951, which gave her more visibility at the time. After that, she worked on a Roman Holiday. For her part on this movie she was awarded with an Academy Award in 1953. In the same year, she received a Tony Award for her work in Ondine. She lived and worked in several locations in Europe, but decided to settle in Switzerland. On 1954, she married Mel Ferrer. She had two miscarriages before her first son was born. Curiously, she declined some important roles in the cinema in the 1960s: a participation in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho and the main role in West Side Story, two acclaimed and awarded movies. Then she acted on some cinema classics: Breakfast at Tiffany's and My Fair Lady. The first one was more successful than the second. She got married again in 1969 and had another kid one year later. She quit her actress career and dedicated the rest of her life working to the United Nations, mostly did humanitarian work in Africa. She visited hospitals and gave food to children that starved at the time. Audrey done a small part in Steven Spielberg's Always.  She passed away in January 20, 1993 in Switzerland.