VIRGINIA WOOLF, A TORMENTED WRITER

 

You must have heard the name Virginia Woolf at least once in your life. She’s one of the most important writers of the 20th century and a woman who committed her life and career  to the cause of gender equality. However, not everybody knows about the sad events that scarred her life.

DE PROFUNDIS: OSCAR WILDE ON LOVE

 

 
 De Profundisis a long letter written by Oscar Wilde in 1897.

Oscar Wilde wrote this letter while he was jailed for sodomy and the addressee of this letter is Lord Alfred Douglas, Bosie, his lover.

ON THE SHORTNESS OF LIFE

 

On the Shortness of Life is a philosophical essay written by Latin author Lucius Seneca and published about 49 A.D.

The author wonders whether life is short or not. In the end Seneca acknowledges  that life is not short, but the time we spend living is fleeting.

ANGELICA'S BOOKS: THE TIME OF INDIFFERENCE

 

 

The Time of Indifference is a novel written by Alberto Moravia and published for the first time in 1929.

This book talks about the bourgeois Ardengo family. Mariagrazia Ardengo, a widow, has two children: Carla and Michele. Moreover, she has had a lover, Leo Merumeci, for 15 years.

ANGELICA'S BOOKS: TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD

 

To Kill a Mockingbird is a bildungsroman and crime novel written by Harper Lee and published in 1960, which in the same year the Pulitzer Prize.

The protagonist and the narrator of this book is Jean Louise Finch, a child nicknamed Scout. She and her brother Jem, orphans of their mother, live in Maycomb (in Alabama) with a dark-skinned governess, Calpurnia, and their father, the lawyer Atticus Finch.  

ANGELICA'S BOOKS: THE LITTLE PRINCE

 

The Little Prince is a fable written by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry and published in 1943. The book starts with the meeting between an aviator, fallen onto the Sahara desert, and a child, the little prince of an asteroid called B-612.

ANGELICA'S BOOKS: FRANZ KAFKA, THE METAMORPHOSIS

 

 The Novel

The Metamorphosis is an allegorical novel by Franz Kafka, published in 1915.

The protagonist of this book, Gregor Samsa, is a travelling salesman. He lives with his sister Grete, his mother and his father, a very strict man (probably inspired by Kafka’s father).  

ANGELICA'S BOOKS: ONE, NO ONE AND ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND

 

 

One, No One and One Hundred Thousand is a psychological novel written by Luigi Pirandello. This story was published in instalments in 1925 in the magazine “La Fiera Letteraria” and, as an integral volume, in 1926.

ANGELICA'S BOOKS: AGNES GREY BY ANNE BRONTE

 

 

Agnes Grey is a novel published in 1847 and written by Anne Brontë, the younger sister of Charlotte and Emily Brontë.

Agnes Grey, the protagonist of Anne’s novel,  is a girl who has grown in a happy family, in contrast to the protagonists of Jane Eyre (by Charlotte Brontë)  and Wuthering Heights (by Emily Brontë), her sisters’ masterpieces. Her dad is a minister, while her mum is woman who has given up her prosperity for love.

ANGELICA'S BOOKS: MARINA BY CARLOS RUIZ ZAFON

 

 

Marina is a gothic novel written by Carlos Ruiz Zafón and published for the first time in 1999.

This book tells about Oscar Drai and his adventure. At the beginning, Oscar recalls one of his memories, something happened to him fifteen years before, which he has pretended to forget.

“I didn’t realise then that sooner or later the ocean of time brings back the memories we submerge in it”

ANGELICA'S BOOKS: ANIMAL FARM BY GEORGE ORWELL. SOME ANIMALS ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS

 

Animal Farm

Animal Farm is an allegoric and satirical short novel written by George Orwell (pseudonym of Eric Arthur Blair) and published in 1945.

The story tells about a rebellion in Manor Farm by the animals who live there. The owner of the farm, Mr Jones, mistreats his animals. At this point, Old Major, the eldest pig, tired about this situation, says that he has dreamt a life without human beings where animals lived in peace and where they were happier. Therefore, he incites other animals to rebel against Mr Jones’ tyranny.

ANGELICA'S BOOKS: WHITE NIGHTS BY FEDOR DOSTOEVSKIJ

 

 White nights is a short novel written by Fëdor Dostoevskij and published for the first time in 1848. This novel is set in Saint Petersburg during those summer days, when the sun sets after 22:00.

The story is told in first person. In this way, the reader lives the same turmoil and the same fears as the protagonist. In addition, the fact that the author does not describe physically the protagonist and does not say his name, ensure the reader can relate and identify with him better.

ANGELICA'S BOOKS: JANE EYRE BY CHARLOTTE BRONTE

Mia Wasikowska as Jane Eyre (2011)

 Jane Eyre is a book published in 1847 by Charlotte Brontë aka Currer Bell (she chose a male pseudonym to publish her books since it was considered improper for women). It is a Bildungsroman novel with Gothic elements. The original title was Jane Eyre: an autobiography. Actually, in the novel, there are many autobiographical elements and Jane Eyre’s life has some features in common with the author’s life.

4 REASONS WHY “NORWEGIAN WOOD” IS ONE OF MY FAVOURITE BOOKS

Hi guys! Today I want talk about a fantastic book, Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami, one of the most famous Japanese writers. 

It is the story of a teenager (Tōru Watanabe) traumatized by his best friend’s suicide,  which happened some years before the narration begins. He meets a lot of characters, teenagers and adults, who bring him from the carelessness and the liabilities of teenage, to maturity and to the personal acceptance of adulthood.

It is one of my favorite books, as well as the coming-of-age story par excellence, and I’m ready to point out why.

WARNING! HUGE SPOILERS AHEAD

THE CATCHER IN THE RYE: 6 FACTS ABOUT MY FAVOURITE BOOK

Hello guys! In today’s post I’m going to talk about my favourite book ever: “The catcher in the rye”, written by J. D. Salinger. I’ve heard lots of opposing opinions on the book: there are the ones who love both the novel and its protagonist, Holden, and the ones who don’t.

 But I’m not here to discuss that, I’m here to talk about a few very interesting facts about the book, its protagonist and its author.

It isn’t an ordinary book because behind its story there’s a lot to know!

But,  first of all,  let me give you a brief summary of the story: Holden Caulfield, a sixteen- year-old guy, is the protagonist of the book. He’s grown up in a false society, full of corruption, conformism and “phonies”, that’s the way he calls hypocritical people. After being expelled from yet another school, he gets even more disappointed and frustrated by the world and by people: the only person he loves is his little sister, Phoebe.

EXSTRINSIC VS INTRINSIC GOALS

There are people who work hard to archieve something they've always wanted to get, thinking about the goal itself and so being focused just on the prize they would get in the end. Those goals are called extrinsic, and they're usually connected with narcisism, individualism and also depression. People having those goals are often people with denied choices or people under pressure who are trying to escape from their condition.

ETHICAL ASPECTS OF THE SCIENTIFIC PROGRESS FROM THE CLASSICS TO PRESENT-DAY ISSUES

Nature is clearly rebelling. Natural disasters and cataclysms have been more and more frequent and their brutality has increased in recent years. We ourselves have certainly had a taste of frightening scenarios  noticing either too hot weather or rather stormy winds which inevitably have been haunting our lives.

The only certainty we have is that this impressive upheaval is due to an enormous industrial activity on the planet. Our world is characterised by a frenzy to make more and more money: at the same time, mankind has been increasingly producing rubbish, which has the worrying feature of being indestructible. 

Therefore, everyone can draw a precise conclusion and recognize capitalism as the reason of today’s issues: the majority of well-to-do people owns more than what they really need.

Most of us have bumped into Greta Thunberg's protest surfing the Net or watching the news. She's  a 16-year-old environmental activist who, despite her tender age, decided to commit herself to this massive issue. As she said in a recent speech, "On climate change, we have to acknowledge that we have failed”, since we have never treated the climate crisis as a real crisis. Unfortunately, these troubles exist  and are endangering our lives. 

If the economic system is responsible for our dangerous reality, we ought to start using our wealth and our advancemments in science and technology in order to find strategies to preserve life on Earth.

ALEXANDER THROCKMORTON AND THE PURSUIT OF GENIUS

In youth my wings were strong and tireless, 

but I did not know the mountains.

In age I knew the mountains

But my weary wings could not follow my vision

Genius is wisdom and youth.

(E.L. Masters, Spoon River Anthology, 1915)

Alexander Throckmorton is one of the protagonists of Edgar Lee Masters’ collection of poems Spoon River Anthology. Each poem tells the story of one of Spoon River’s citizens. All the protagonists,  now dead, confess their desires, ambitions and, above all, their regrets. 

The poem, composed by five free lines, is written in the first person. In the first line Alexander describes life as a flight whose destination is the “mountains”. These mountains stand for knowledge and experience. Instead,  the “wings”, which makes him able to fly, symbolise dreams, ambitions, desires, energy, and freedom.

QUIZ TIME! THE TUDOR ERA & SHAKESPEARE

If you think studying history or literature is boring and hard, you’re wrong. Suggest your teacher to plan team quizzes from  time to time and have fun all together.

OUR QUIZ GAME

Prepare a list of  60 questions,  form two 3-member teams, pick up a presenter and an assistant. The teacher will be the judge and will assign the points to the contestants. The assistant will write down the scores on the blackboard. The presenter will read the questions. The contestants will answer the questions in turns following always the same order,  10 questions for each contestant. If a contestant can’t answer his/her own question, the presenter or the judge will give the answer, NOT the other contestants.

WILL: DISCOVERING SHAKESPEARE’S GLAMOROUS WORLD

 

There are many theories about who William Shakespeare was. What makes him unique is that, unlike his contemporaries, he wasn’t university educated; he was a glove maker. He approached plays and theatre from a very different background.

Shakespeare wrote plays for everyone. He  was - probably - a  Catholic writing  plays in a  protestant world; he had to be very, very careful.

He wrote a lot of plays and people liked them. A lot of people went to see his plays performed in London theatres and, especially at  the Globe theatre after 1599.

Now, probably you are thinking about how I can know all these thing. The answer is … yes, I studied something for school but I  have also seen  an amazing tv series about Shakespeare: WILL.