To blame or not to blame

Believe it or not, while we were doing an exercise on verb patterns, David asked me about the dependent preposition that goes after the verb blame. I still don’t not how, but we ended up talking about Rita Hayworth and her role in GILDA (1946), where she sings a  song which represents one of the most powerful scenes in the film.

Well, the good part of the Internet is that you can find nearly everything  “out there”. Here you have the famous song and scene from the film

Gilda (1946) is a black-and-white film noir directed by Charles Vidor. It stars Glenn Ford and Rita Hayworth in her signature role as the ultimate femme fatale. The film was noted for cinematographer Rudolph Mate’s lush photography, costume designer Jean Louis‘ sexy wardrobe for Hayworth (particularly for the dance numbers), and choreographer Jack Cole’s staging of “Put the Blame on Mame” and “Amado Mío.” (from Wikipedia)

The Innocent Man

Title: The Innocent man

Author: John Grissam

Plot:
The story talks about two men that got unfairly caught in the webs of a rotten system and who would have to fight for his freedom because of a murder they did not commit. 1982, Debbie Carter, a twenty-something girl is found raped and dead at her home in Ada, a small town in Oklahoma where justice is more than doubtful. Almost instantly the prosecution is focused in Ron Williamson, a guy from the town, known for his brief career in professional baseball and for his clear mental problems (manic depression, personality disorders, alcoholism and mild schizophrenia); and Dennis Fritz, who gets involved in the crime just because of his old friendship with Ron. Without even trying to get more suspects, two police officers from the town, Dennis Smith and Gary Rogers, begin harassing both men in order to get them in prison. Finally, after tricking them with many doubtful legality cheats, they manage to get false confessions from both men and testifying with many way unreliable sources, false witnesses and snitches they get to put Ron and Dennis behind bars, sentenced to death penalty. Then, they begin their ordeal to prove everyone that they are innocent and the real murderers are still out there.
The story also centres on a similar case, in which Denice Haraway happens to be murdered, and Tommy Ward and Karl Fontenot prosecuted and eventually put behind bars under the same premises of Ron and Dennis.
The Innocent man is a nail biting legal thriller, a heavy descriptive page-turner that will get you almost instantly and will almost make you weep terrified with the cruel injustices committed by those who are supposed to protect us.
Writing Style:
The writing style is very complex, the language is sometimes simple and sometimes quite hard, especially during the trials, mainly because of the great quantity of specific terms related with justice matters and that kind of things.
During the few spoken parts, the language is adapted to the speaker. Thereby, for example, when Ron speaks, the language is full of pet phrases and curses; when Barry Ward, Ron’s attorney, speaks, the language is correct and appropriated to the trials.
Characters:
Ron Williamson: A former baseball player wannabe who was forced to retire early because of his arrogance and injuries and got mad as time passed. During the novel, we can see his mental evolution, since he was a little boy, going through his young sane glory days and ending in his mind losing.

Dennis Fritz: A former teacher at a high school who sees himself involved in a murder investigation just because of his old friendship with Ron. He and Ron had been “drinking buddies” for some time long ago, but Dennis had decided to stay away from him due to his dangerous behaviour. Anyway, their friendship finally takes its cost.
Overall impression/recommendation
This is one of the most thrilling and page-turner book I’ve ever held in my hands. My recent lackness of nails can tell you the emotion I’ve felt until I turned the last page.
Fernando Neira Sánchez

A CHRISTMAS CAROL, by Charles Dickens

A CHRISTMAS CAROL, by Charles Dickens Dickens is probably the best known and loved author of the Victorian era. He wrote many memorable tales.

A Christmas Carol may be the most popular one. At the age of 12, some sources say that Charles Dickens worked for 12 hours a day, six days a week in a boot factory finishing the bottles of boot polish. On the seventh day he visited his family at the Marshalsea debtors’ prison. This lasted for two years (a traumatic time for young Dickens). He never forgot it, yet, he used his pain to create memorable characters like Scrooge and Tiny Tim, Bob Cratchit’s disabled little boy.

The reader can almost see young Dickens chained by poverty to his polish pots as little Tiny Tim is invisibly linked to his crutch. The descriptions and dialogues are rich. The characters are striking and memorable. The imagery is colourful, despite the bleakness of the winter months.

The story told in this book is to apply to most of us. Even in our old age it is not too late to change. In Dickens’ tale Ebenezer Scrooge, an old miser, bitter and resentful man is shown his past, his present, and his future by three ghosts. The first ghost reminds him of how he once enjoyed life’s pleasures. The second ghost shows Scrooge his current deplorable state. The final ghost foretells the likely outcome of his way.

This book it is not so much a Christmas story as a New Year’s story. For those of us who want to change the course of our life, for those of us who want this year’s resolutions to actually mean something, we need to go through an Ebenezer-like process. Whether your life is a bad life or an abused life or a flat life, you can use the ideas from this simple story.

Alberto R. Ayala

A Grief Observer

A “Grief Observed” is a work of C.S. Lewis where he explains his own experience when he comes down to a terrible situation of life; the loss of a beloved one. When his wife dies, he falls in a deep depression and he tries to find the free way to get better in the writing.
When someone who you love dies, the feelings of loneliness and anguish are overwhelmed and here, the author doesn’t find comfort even in God. Where most people turn to religion to keep on the faith in a better life after death, Lewis doesn’t care about the other side but the side where everything reminds him of his wife.
There are no more characters than the sadness of the author and that’s enough to fill the absence of any more. However, this difficult situation of the life is something that everyone has to suffer sooner or later and in this book, Lewis shows that his way of getting one’s strength back is to get angry with everybody about everything. That personal way of expressing himself makes that the book isn’t written in a style immediately accessible to any reader. The language is not plain at all and there are a lot of new adjectives and nouns to describe so personal feelings.
“Grief Observed” is a difficult book due to the amount of new vocabulary that it contains. Its heavy going and the fact of having to re-read lots of paragraph made me that I couldn’t get into it.

David Bulnes

Twilight

About three things I was absolutely positive.
First, Edward was a vampire.
Second, there was a part of him – and I didn’t know how dominant that part might be – that thirsted for my blood.
And third, I was unconditionally and irrevocably in love with him.
Yes, this is all you could read at the back of the book if you take “Twilight” from a shelf in a book shop. Some people could think it isn’t enough to have captivated a million persons over the world but… to tell the truth Stephenie Meyer’s debut novel is already an incredible best seller!! Many critics have described this novel as “a vampire story for people who don’t like vampire stories”. And, to be honest, it doesn’t make you think about it?
At first moment, you can have the impression that it’s a romantic novel for teenagers but, its great and meticulous descriptions (thanks to which you can imagine yourself in Forks), and his fast rhythm, makes this book a good election to all publics: adults or teenagers.
The argument is quiet interesting and it grips the reader’s attention from the beginning (but I know my own opinion is quite subjective because I‘m a crazy fan of this vampire’s and forbidden love story).
Isabella Swan is a teenager who decides move to Forks, at Washington State, to make things easier to her mother, Renée, who wants to travel with her new husband. This is the reason why she decides go to live with her father, Charlie, who is the police chief, there, in Forks. When she arrives, she discovers a reason that allows her think the life in the small and rainy town can be interesting…this reason is called Edward Cullen. He’s a mysterious young boy who lives with his family, the Cullen, at Forks but they have a secret nobody should know…they’re vampires!! But they’re “good” vampires, if they can exist; because they only eat animal’s blood…it should be a guarantee, don’t you think so?
But how people say….love can support everything, and the affair between our two main characters progress…until the risks of their relation became so obvious when a group of vampires appears in Forks without good intentions….
I really recommend this novel…. I think everybody can discover something special in this book…so let’s go!!!! Start to read and go crazy with this mystery and incredible world where fantasy and reality are combined!!!
By Alicia Sandez

AROUND THE WORLD IN EIGHTY DAYS (JULES VERNE)

Introducing Phileas Fogg is the way Verne chose to begin one of his most famous novels. This eccentric Englishman and his new servant, Passepartout, find themselves travelling around the world because of a bet. Exotic landscapes and diverse risky situations pass by while Detective Fix follows them in the thought that Fogg committed a robbery. The excitement of a journey against time is the background of the whole story.
The narration takes place in the 19th century, in which England owned colonies all around the globe. This fact is essential to make it go ahead in the way that the reasons Fix has to follow Mr Fogg get conditioned depending on the land they are crossing. Furthermore, Mr Fogg himself personifies the perfectly mathematic and orderly gentleman, and that is why the story works.
Verne’s writing style is very descriptive; hilarious at times and thrilling at others. The adventure is lineal, so it is very easy for the reader to follow. Despite being French, the author decided to put an Englishman acting as the main character, though maybe Passepartout was created to refresh the novel with some lively French spirit.
In my opinion, Verne’s writing can be repetitive sometimes. But over all, the essence of adventure and risk embracing the story is the fact that makes it so attractive. Perhaps mixing up so many interesting ingredients is the secret of the writer’s success.

Marta Pardo

Watermelon by Marian Keyes

Watermelon tells the story of Claire Walsh a young Irish woman who finds herself having to return to her family house in Dublin after her husband leaves her whilst she is giving birth to their first baby. Besides the initial shock, Claire is able to build up again her life supported by her eccentric family. Ana is a lovely hippy who believes in spirits trying to contact her, Helen is a beautiful, heart-breaker who annoys Claire continually but actually loves her and introduces Claire to her handsome college Adam and finally her passive father and erratic but adorable mother.

This book, like all of this author, based on the Walsh family is written in a direct style completely accessible to any reader. Amusing and dynamic dialogues between the main characters are an essential part of the book and makes it very easy to read. The language is plain and full of modern-type expressions.

Watermelon tells the story of a normal girl with problems and this is probably the attraction of Keyes books because so many readers can identify with the characters. These are well-drawn and designed with a remarkable sense of humour mixed with touching moments which makes the story quite engaging

This is probably not the best book that I have read buy I would recommend it if one just want to have a good time a rainy afternoon after a stressed day!!!
Nuria Fernández

IVANHOE By SIR WALTER SCOTT

Richard the Lionheart has gone to the Crusades for some years. Since his departure Prince John, his brother, has been trying to make profit of his absence to control the country and to be proclaimed as King of England.
Both of them, Richard and John, represent the power of Norman people, who have conquered England after having beaten the Anglo-Saxon, the former inhabitants of the island.
On the other hand, a great deal of Saxon people have declared themselves  outlaws and live in the forests of Central England while only a few of them remain in their homes trying to unite their people against The Normans. Between these last ones is ‘Cedric the Saxon’, Ivanhoe’s father, who has disinherited his son because he has accompanied Richard to the Crusades.
The return of Richard and Ivanhoe is going to put an end to Prince John’s power and to the wishes of Cedric the Saxon too. A new era is going to begin between Norman and Saxon people and instead of fighting against each other they finally decide to live together.

Walter Scott wrote this famous novel in 1819 and like most of the Romantic writers from all over Europe, he tried to idealise the origin of their countries, finding the essence of their nations during the Middle Age.

The spirit of Chivalry, the love between Ivanhoe and Lady Rowena, the generosity of  Rebbeca, the determination of Cedric the Saxon and the ambition of Prince John helped the author to describe a difficult time where the differences between Norman an Saxon people was going to disappear with the help of Richard and Ivanhoe.

The book is extremely readable and in spite of having been written 200 years ago it continues to be sold an read, not only all over the United Kingdom but in the rest of the world and its plot has served to do a great number of films.

Ojeda