domingo, 29 de julio de 2018

Review: 'Into the wild' by Jon Krakauer

Writer: Jon Krakauer
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
Pages: 224
Year: 2011
IBSN-13: 978-0330351690
Price: 10.68€ (Paperback Amazon)
Mark: 8/10

SYNOPSIS
Jon Krakauer's Into the Wild examines true story of Chris McCandless, a young man, who in 1992 walked deep into the Alaskan wilderness and whose SOS note and emaciated corpse were found four months later, internationally bestselling author Jon Krakauer explores the obsession which leads some people to explore the outer limits of self, leave civilization behind and seek enlightenment through solitude and contact with nature. A 2007 film adaptation of Into the Wild was directed by Sean Penn and starred Emile Hirsch and Kristen Stewart.

PERSONAL ASSESSMENT
JUSTIFIACTION
I think that, as a lot of people have done, I saw the film before reading the book. I usually wait for reading the book first and then I watch the film, but when that film came to me I didn’t know that there was a book. I saw the film thousands of times and I have a love-hate relationship with it, and it happened to me with the book too. This book has been in my wishlist for years, but I have never bought it. One day I found out that one of my friends has it and asked her (like three or four years ago) to lent it to me, but she always forgets. So, this year she decided to give me the english version of the book because of my birthday. Thus, when I finished the book I was reading I submerse in this book.

PLOT
The book is like a long newspaper article. In it Jon talks about the adventures of Chris McCandless -or Alex Supertramp- from the time when he was graduated, and he left everything behind to set out on a trip and, even though that he doesn’t admit it, to discover himself until SPOLIER his death SPOILER CLOSED. Jon intertwine the Chris’ diary entries with the tales of the people who spent those days with him, with his own experiences, with other similar cases and with his own (Jon’s) suppositions.

ATMOSPHERE AND WRITING STYLE
Here comes the problem. His is a press writing style, that’s why it doesn’t have the ‘novel’ form. He leaps backward and forward in each chapter, he intertwines his own reflections, stories of him and other hikers that died. I thought that it was going to be more like a novel, with the interviews to the people who met Alex along his trip. I think that it would have been easier to be submerse in the history because all that he had added, in one hand it helps you to understand the history but, in the other hand it gets you away from that empathy feeling.
Something that I like about the book was the beginning of the chapters, a lot of them have maps of the place with the important spots marked, and every chapter starts too with a quote related to the theme that that chapter was going to talk about.

GENERAL COMMENT
I general, I like the history. I empathize with Chris to an extent, because a lot of his actions seemed irresponsible to me. I understand his breakup with the world where we live, but he finds out that no matter how much we hate the system, we will always be a part of it. The solution to that is not to break away and became a hermit, if you don’t like the system then fight to change it. But really, he gave everything up because he wanted to find himself or just as a way of punishing his family? Because, not matter how bad is your relationship with your parents, you can’t leave home for years and not contact them, and besides when they receive news from you are to discover that SPOLIER you are dead. SPOLIER CLOSED. That is not fair. The adventure he is living is beautiful, the people he meets are very nice, it makes you wanna grab your backpack with few books and clothes and leave everything behind. But being more trained. What you can’t do is, without any knowledge of plants or botany, to take a book from the library and believe yourself to be an expert. You can’t go to the mountains without any preparation or knowledge and EVEN WITHOUT A MAP OF THE PLACE. What happened to him was because of lack of maps. Because every person knows that in summer (especially in Alaska, for fuck’s shake) the heat produces the melting of the ice and the swelling of the rivers. We don’t need a master’s degree to know that. And the worst part of it? SPOLIER He realized that he wanted to come back to his family! SPOLIER CLOSED. And quoting the book ‘happiness is only real when shared’.
So, to sum up, on one side I admire him for having the courage to leave everything behind and, on the other side he pisses me off because he was so irresponsible and arrogant.

-Saru

Reseña: "Hacia rutas salvajes" de Jon Krakauer

Autor: Jon Krakauer
Editorial: Zeta bolsillo
Año: 2007
Páginas: 288
IBSN-13: 9788496778740
P.V.P.: 8 (La casa del libro)
Nota: 8/10

SINOPSIS

En abril de 1992, Chris McCandless, de 24 años, se internó solo y apenas equipado en tierras de Alaska. Cuatro meses más tarde, unos cazadores encontraron su cuerpo sin vida. Su historia, difundida en un reportaje de Jon Krakauer, suscitó una agitada polémica, pues, ¿por qué un joven que acababa de graduarse decide cortar todos los lazos con su familia y perderse en una región inhóspita?
El 18 de enero de 2008 se estrena en España la película basada en este libro, dirigida por Sean Penn.

domingo, 22 de julio de 2018

Review: "Gente que viene y bah" by Laura Norton

Author: Laura Norton
Publisher: Espasa
Year: 2015
Pages: 456
ISBN-13: 9788467043402
Price: 19
Mark: 6/10
SYNOPSIS
 How many odds are there that you'll get the lottery jackpot? Or that the boy you're about to marry is hanging out with the prettiest hostess on TV the same week you lose your job too? Bea's just happened (except for the lottery); so he decides to flee and take refuge in the house of his eccentric family looking for a bit of peace, although it will end up bringing chaos to everyone's life. Bea is like that. In this novel you will find a pink mercedes, a house in the trees, a redhead falling back (literally), a lot of laughter and a few tears of those who mourn at ease, who liberate you and reconcile you with life. A story with which you will discover that there is always something good waiting for you around the corner. If you know how to see it. And if you do not shit it.

Reseña: "Gente que viene y bah" de Laura Norton



Resultado de imagen de Gente que viene y bah reseña

Editorial: Espasa
Año: 2015
Páginas: 456
ISBN-13: 9788467043402
PVP: 19
Nota: 6/10
SINOPSIS
¿Cuántas probabilidades hay de que te toque el gordo de la lotería? ¿O de que el chico con el que estás a punto de casarte se líe con la presentadora más guapa de la tele la misma semana en la que además pierdes el trabajo?A Bea le acaba de pasar (excepto lo de la lotería); así que decide huir y refugiarse en la casa de su excéntrica familia buscando un poco de paz, aunque acabará trayendo el caos a la vida de todos. Bea es así. En esta novela vas a encontrar un mercedes rosa, una casa en los árboles, un pelirrojo de caerse de espaldas (literalmente), muchas risas y unas cuantas lágrimas de esas que se lloran a gusto, que te liberan y te reconcilian con la vida. Una historia con la que descubrirás que siempre hay algo bueno esperándote a la vuelta de la esquina. Si sabes verlo. Y si no la cagas.

domingo, 15 de julio de 2018

Review: “War Storm” (Red Queen #4) by Victoria Aveyard.


Title: War Storm
Book: Red Queen #4
Editorial: HarperTeen
Year: 2018
Pages: 662 (Hardcover)
ISBN-13: 9780062422996
Mark: 9/10 

Reseña: “Tormenta de Guerra” (La Reina Roja #4) de Victoria Aveyard.


Libro: La Reina Roja  #4
Editorial: Océano Gran Travesía
Año: 2018 (todavía no está publicado en español)
Páginas: -
ISBN-13: -
PVP: -
Nota: 9/10

domingo, 8 de julio de 2018

Reseña "El palacio de hielo" de Tarjei Vesaas

Autor: Tarjei Vesaas
Editorial: Bruguera
Año: 2007
Páginas: 208
IBSN-13: 9788402420145
P.V.P.: 15€ (Tapa blanda La casa del libro)
Nota: 10/10

SINOPSIS

El palacio de hielo es una hermosísima historia de amistad entre dos niñas, Siss y Unn, de once años, y la dolorosa huella que la muerte de una de ellas deja en la otra. Historia de una amistad más fuerte que el amor y la muerte, surgida de un breve encuentro en el que las protagonistas juran que se recordarán siempre. Siss, una muchacha despierta, líder de su clase en la escuela, vive intrigada por Unn, una niña de su misma edad llegada al pueblo para vivir con su tía, ya que es huérfana de madre soltera. Tímida, solitaria, siempre aislada de los demás, Unn parece encerrar un secreto que Siss quiere compartir. La amistad entre ambas quedará truncada, apenas iniciada, por la desaparición de Unn, muerta en el interior del palacio de hielo, donde penetra sola, un día en que falta a la escuela.