Tuesday 20 December 2011

C1/B2 ..Christmas book hunting mayhem

{updated Dec 17, 2012}

Fellow literary book hunters,
there are still some days left until the magical Christmas Eve, so I have gathered a list of all the places where you can get your Christmas readings:
kníhkupectvá s anglickými knihami v Bratislave:
e-shopy so sídlom v Bratislave (to už skôr na povianočné výpredaje):
  • http://www.alexis-knihy.sk/shop/index.php --- POZOR, IBA E-SHOP / s donáškou v Bratislave - Kamenný obchod momentálne nefunguje
    Store is currently closed
  • http://www.11th.sk/how-to-shop  V súčasnosti fungujeme z nášho bytu na 11. poschodí typického bratislavského paneláku - preto názov  11th Floor Books. Naša ponuka kníh je obmedzená (rozmermi nášho bytu), starostlivo vyberaná, ale tiež náhodná, usporiadaná a zároveň chaotická. Knihy, ktoré tu môžete nájsť predstavujú len zlomok literárneho sveta. Dúfame však, že tento eklektický výber bude pre Vás inšpiráciou, a že sa Vám podarí nájsť to čo hľadáte, ako aj objaviť niečo nové...
  • opakom 11th je zas Gorila Megastore, kde sa naopak tvária, že majú všetko..  http://www.gorila.sk/t/browse.php?cat_id=1176&gclid=CPbT1_7qjq0CFQOIDgodJyodRg
  • http://www.preskoly.sk/ Osobný odber je možný na Mánesovom námestí 6 v Bratislave (Petržalka). Knihy, o ktoré máte záujem je potrebné si najskôr objednať cez internet. 

kniznice

ÚSEK KRÁSNEJ A CUDZOJAZYČNEJ LITERATÚRY

 

SÍDLO:

Laurinská 5, Bratislava 
Tel.             02/ 544 31 316 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting            02/ 544 31 316      end_of_the_skype_highlighting      
e-mail: studovna.krasna@mestskakniznica.sk
e-mail: vypozicky.krasna@mestskakniznica.sk
Vyhľadávanie v Univerzitnej Knižnici - odporúčam Britské Centrum
Take your time to go through these links and pick something out ;)

Yr Father Christmas



Friday 9 December 2011

C1 Literary Mayhem No. 9 A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

Christmas?! Bah, humbug, I say..
do not forget about your RIDDLES AND PRESENTATIONS, I say! 
(homework for this week is a short riddle - see your Hobbit - and a PRESENTATION for those left from the last week! )

My name is Scrooge, and I am going to tell you a Christmas Carol in prose:




My Author was famous British Author, Charles Dickens. Who was he?

MAKE YOUR OWN VICTORIAN CHRISTMAS

MICKEY MOUSE'S CHRISTMAS CAROL (with your favourite, SCROOGE McDuck)

Saturday 26 November 2011

The Hobbit Riddle Game

Can You Guess?
Gollum and Bilbo have a riddle CONTEST deep in the underground tunnels of Misty Mountains. Their riddles use clues and hints to describe a specific thing--a mountain, teeth, daisies, dark, eggs, fish, and time.
Choose a common subject and brainstorm as many qualities as you can about it. Then, devise a four-lined to eight-lined riddle using the traits of the item. Try to make your riddle rhyme.

Write your finished riddle bellow:

C1 Literary Mayhem no.8 THE HOBBIT..or there and back again!

Dear literary, ehm, Hobbits..

first of all DO NOT FORGET about your current translation HW, deadline is Wednesday 23.59!


and now a little story:


In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and 
an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a 
hobbit-hole, and that means comfort.

 This hobbit was a very well-to-do hobbit, and his name was Baggins. The Bagginses had lived in the 
neighbourhood of The Hill for time out of mind, and people considered them very respectable, not only 
because most of them were rich, but also because they never had any adventures or did anything 
unexpected: you could tell what a Baggins would say on any question without the bother of asking him. 
This is a story of how a Baggins had an adventure, found himself doing and saying things altogether 
unexpected. He may have lost the neighbours' respect, but he gained-well, you will see whether he 
gained anything in the end:


The extract is from the 5th chapter of prof. JRR Tolkien's first book by the name of The Hobbit (1937)

OBSERVE:

WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT GOLLUM AND THE RING?
see this movie 
Award winning unofficial prequel to The Lord Of The Rings dramatising Aragorn & Gandalf's long search for Gollum directed by British filmmaker Chris Bouchard. Based faithfully on the appendices of the books this is a non-profit, serious homage to the writing of J.R.R Tolkien and the films of Peter Jackson. It was shot on locations in England and Snowdonia with a team of over a hundred people working over the Internet. It took two years to make and was released as a non-profit Internet-only video by agreement with Tolkien Enterprizes. 
One Ring inscription.svg

Friday 4 November 2011

C1 Literary Mayhem No.6 The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

Fellow literature lovers,

enjoy your reading for the next week, try to answer the questions for your self:
here you can find the entire short novel: http://etext.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/WilDori.html
and here it is in many formats, including audio book: http://www.manybooks.net/titles/wildeoscetext94dgray10.html

also delightful is the translation we will start with. Please take a look:


Wilde published his only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, before he reached the height of his fame. The first edition appeared in the summer of 1890in Lippincott's Monthly Magazine.It was criticized as scandalous and immoral. Disappointed with its reception, Wilde revised the novel in 1891, adding a preface and six new chapters. The Preface (as Wilde calls it) anticipates some of the criticism that might be leveled at the novel and answers critics who charge The Picture of Dorian Gray with being an immoral tale. It also succinctly sets forth the tenets of Wilde's philosophy of art. 

This attitude was revolutionary in Victorian England, where popular belief held that art was not only a function of morality but also a means of enforcing it. In the Preface, Wilde also cautioned readers against finding meanings "beneath the surface" of art. Part gothic novel, part comedy of manners, part treatise on the relationship between art and morality, The Picture of Dorian Gray continues to present its readers with a puzzle to sort out. There is as likely to be as much disagreement over its meaning now as there was among its Victorian audience, but, as Wilde notes near the end of the Preface, "Diversity of opinion about a work of art shows that the work is new, complex, and vital."
http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/doriangray/context.html

Lippincott_doriangray.jpgFile:Doriangray.jpgFile:Doriangray wardlock.jpg

Dorian Gray to play with:

Adaptations, resources:
for example

1945 version
2009 version with Collin Firth


P.S.

Friday 28 October 2011

C1 Literary Mayhem No.5 Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

Fellow Londoners,

have you already heard about the The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde?? Read about it here (chapters 1,10) and answer the questions for yourself:


Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is the original title of a novel written by the Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson that was first published in 1886. The original pronunciation of Jekyll was "Jeekul" which was the pronunciation used in Stevenson's native Scotland. The work is commonly known today as The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde or simply Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.[1] It is about a London lawyer named Gabriel John Utterson who investigates strange occurrences between his old friend, Dr Henry Jekyll,[2] and the misanthropic Edward Hyde.
The work is commonly associated with the rare mental condition often spuriously called "split personality", wherein within the same person there are at least two distinct personalities. In this case, the two personalities in Dr Jekyll are apparently good and evil, with completely opposite levels of morality. The novella's impact is such that it has become a part of the language, with the phrase "Jekyll and Hyde" coming to mean a person who is vastly different in moral character from one situation to the next.[3]
Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde was an immediate success and is one of Stevenson's best-selling works. Stage adaptations began inBoston and London within a year of its publication and it has gone on to inspire scores of major film and stage performances.

Please do not forget to translate these pirate rules for 3.11. session (else you will get a black spot!):
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
Resources:
Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde[1] from Internet Archive. Many antiquarian illustrated editions.
"The Beast Within",  the novella has inspired as many interpretations as it has film adaptations. By James CampbellThe Guardian, December 13, 2008

Monday 24 October 2011

C1 Literary Mayhem No.4 Treasure Island

Fellow literary pyrates,
welcome to this week's particularly entertaining edition of our weekly entertainment

this is hilarious! you must take a look and make notes on this amazing chapter:
*(this week's improvement: if you click at underlined words, they will be explained for you!)




Treasure Island is an adventure novel by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson, narrating a tale of "pirates and buried gold". First published as a book on May 23, 1883, it was originally serialized in the children's magazine Young Folks between 1881–82 under the title Treasure Island; or, the mutiny of the Hispaniola with Stevenson adopting the pseudonym Captain George North.
Traditionally considered a coming-of-age story, Treasure Island is an adventure tale known for its atmosphere, characters and action, and also as a wry commentary on the ambiguity of morality — as seen in Long John Silver — unusual for children's literature then and now. It is one of the most frequently dramatized of all novels. The influence of Treasure Island on popular perceptions of pirates is enormous, including treasure mapsmarked with an "X", schoonersthe Black Spottropical islands, and one-legged seamen carrying parrots on their shoulders

Resources
You must translate this - I have told yer already!
have you heard? Robinson Crusoe Island is a Treasure Island?


You have to see this! Hear ye, hear ye!

1990 version starring Christian Bale,Charlton Heston,Oliver Reed and Christopher Lee.

Treasure Island in Outer Space
Treasure Planet is a 2002 animated science fiction film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios, and released by Walt Disney Pictures on November 27, 2002. The 43rd animated feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics, the film is a science fiction adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's adventure novel Treasure Island and was the first film to be released simultaneously in regular and IMAX theaters.[2][3] The film employs a novel technique of hand-drawn 2D traditional animation set atop 3D computer animation.


Coming up next - Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde....
So long, mateys

P.S. Pirrate facebook - go here and change to "English (Pirate)"

Thursday 20 October 2011

Literary Mayhem No. 2 Pride and Prejudice - and zombies..

Fellow literary characters,

first of all, some of what you've already read
Pride and Prejudice chapters 1,2

Audio version of first 2 chapters - really helpful, different narrators, to download or listen online

and now for something completely different...

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is a 2009 parody novel by Seth Grahame-Smith

chapters 1,2,19,20
whole book

resources - please read and listen:

Grahame-Smith began with the original text of Austen's novel, adding zombie and ninja elements while developing an overall plot line for the new material; "you kill somebody off in Chapter 7, it has repercussions in Chapter 56".According to the author, the original text of the novel was well-suited for use as a zombie horror story:

You have this fiercely independent heroine, you have this dashing heroic gentleman, you have a militia camped out for seemingly no reason whatsoever nearby, and people are always walking here and there and taking carriage rides here and there . . . It was just ripe for gore and senseless violence. From my perspective anyway.


Beware on your next trip to the bookstore — zombies have invaded a classic. The living dead have come to Longbourn, the land of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice.

Author — make that co-author — Seth Grahame-Smith altered Jane Austen's original text ever so slightly to accommodate brand new scenes of the Bennet girls forming "The Pentagram of Death" and taking on hordes of the undead, along with a ninja or two.

Grahame-Smith talks to Jacki Lyden about Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.

Looking forward to discussing the texts on Thursday,
Ondrej

Monday 17 October 2011

C1 Literary Mayhem no.3 - The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, of York, Mariner: Who lived Eight and Twenty Years, all alone in an un‐inhabited Island on the Coast of America, near the Mouth of the Great River of Oroonoque;.

Fellow literary friends, 
Welcome to a deserted island edition of our weekly book sessions:


or otherwise known as Robinson Crusoe.

You are going to read:



We are also going to discuss:


Colonial


Crusoe standing over Friday after he frees him from the cannibals.
Novelist James Joyce noted that the true symbol of the British conquest is Robinson Crusoe: "He is the true prototype of the British colonist. … The whole Anglo-Saxon spirit is in Crusoe: the manly independence, the unconscious cruelty, the persistence, the slow yet efficient intelligence, the sexual apathy, the calculating taciturnity."[10]
In a sense Crusoe attempts to replicate his society on the island. This is achieved through the use of European technology, agriculture and even a rudimentary political hierarchy. Several times in the novel Crusoe refers to himself as the 'king' of the island, whilst the captain describes him as the 'governor' to the mutineers. At the very end of the novel the island is explicitly referred to as a 'colony'. The idealised master-servant relationship Defoe depicts between Crusoe and Friday can also be seen in terms of cultural imperialism. Crusoe represents the 'enlightened' European whilst Friday is the 'savage' who can only be redeemed from his barbarous way of life through assimilation into Crusoe's culture. Nonetheless Defoe also takes the opportunity to criticise the historic Spanish conquest of South America.

Religious

According to J.P. Hunter, Robinson is not a hero but an everyman. He begins as a wanderer, aimless on a sea he does not understand and ends as a pilgrim, crossing a final mountain to enter the promised land. The book tells the story of how Robinson becomes closer to God, not through listening to sermons in a church but through spending time alone amongst nature with only a Bible to read.
Robinson Crusoe is filled with religious aspects. Defoe was a Puritan moralist and normally worked in the guide tradition, writing books on how to be a good Puritan Christian. Cruso would have been remembered by contemporaries and the association with guide books is clear. It has even been speculated that God the Guide of Youth inspired Robinson Crusoe because of a number of passages in that work that are closely tied to the novel.[11]
The Biblical story of Jonah is alluded to in the first part of the novel. Like Jonah, Crusoe neglects his 'duty' and is punished at sea.
A leitmotif of the novel is the Christian notion of Providence. Crusoe often feels guided by a divinely ordained fate, thus explaining his robust optimism in the face of apparent hopelessness. His various fortunate intuitions are taken as evidence of a benign spirit world. Defoe also foregrounds this theme by arranging highly significant events in the novel to occur on Crusoe's birthday.

Moral

When confronted with the cannibals, Crusoe wrestles with the problem of cultural relativism. Despite his disgust, he feels unjustified in holding the natives morally responsible for a practice so deeply ingrained in their culture. Nevertheless he retains his belief in an absolute standard of morality; he regards cannibalism as a 'national crime' and forbids Friday from practising it. Modern readers may also note that despite Crusoe's self-proclaimed superior morality, he uncritically accepts the institution of slavery.

Resources
Movies

Robinson Crusoe -- Luis Buñuel (1954)

1964 Television series

!PLEASE WATCH! 1997 Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfNrwE6aSNk WITH SUBTITLES - MORE ABOUT DANIEL DEFOE

2008 "Crusoe" TV Series

A Game

In this game you will need your dictionary skills to help Robinson

A Free AudioBook

Chapter 5 – Builds a House – The Journal – 00:38:15 

Classic Literature VideoBook with synchronized text, interactive transcript, and closed captions in multiple languages. Audio courtesy of Librivox. Read by Mark F. Smith. WITH CZECH SUBTITLES, RECOMMENDED!



And that's all, folks.

Friday 30 September 2011

C1 Literary Mayhem No.1 Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen

Fellow literary friends, you will find this useful in week 2:


Literary text
excerpt you should read - 
Chapter 1,2
Chapter 19,20

Audio version of chapters - really helpful, different narrators, to download or listen online

Movie versions of the scene - for comparison of dramatized versions
Resources
Pride and Prejudice
Dictionaries
Games

With kind regards, 
Ondrej