Review: The Pedestrian by Ray Bradbury Review

The plot of the short story "The Pedestrian" by Ray Bradbury takes place in the future  (the year 2053 A.D.) but it references a present issue.

The main character of the story, Mr. Leonard Mead, walks during the night alone, through the empty streets. The planet where he lives doesn’t have enough oxygen to breathe, so he takes with him a container of fresh air.

He had been doing it for years and in all that time, he has never met another person along the way. The city was peaceful and calm, criminality had been completely eradicated. The local parliament voted to keep only one of the three police cars which the city previously had before.

One day Mr. Mead was stopped during his walk by the police, they accused him of breaking rules. The author presents this action and shows how it unexpectedly takes place: his arrest had no valid reasons, outwardly the police performed their role as it should be.

Ray Bradbury described how the bureaucratic machine worked, works and will be working into the future. That's the idea readers should begin to work with.

Here is the text of the story (on page 52 of pdf-file):

http://www.chs.accomack.k12.va.us/ourpages/auto/2017/2/10/31077797/se_unit6.pdf

The Life of Harry Houdini by Tom Lalicki - Review

Most of Tom Lalicki's works present biographies. "The Life of Harry Houdini" belongs to this genre too. This is a story about American magician Harry Houdini.

The author highlighted the very important feature of Harry Houdini's character - persistence in achieving the aim. Success came to him after years of painstaking work. The book can be interesting for people who like learning history through narrations and biographies.

Here is the text of the story:

https://d3jc3ahdjad7x7.cloudfront.net/jyKNTwcfLmOUQVJORjzdXU9OAk0C6z46S3QqscA35CXFe90l.pdf

The Pool by William Somerset Maugham - Review

The story 'The Pool" written by famous British writer William Somerset Maugham is about love. The main character, Scottish mam Mr. Lawson lived on the island Samoe. The island is located in the Pacific ocean close to Australia.

The author used the method of narration from the first side for the beginning and end of the story. The main part, the story of love Mr. Lawson with the girl Ethel was written from the first side. Ethel was a daughter of a native woman and a man from Holland. The author called her and people who had mixture parents - half-caste.

The plot of the narration took place on the island Samoe, in Scotland and on Samoe again. It is a very touching story about unhappy love, differences between cultures, human weaknesses and prejudices. 

Maugham's stories are highlighted by a very rich style, clear message- the main idea and the plot is really captivating. 

Here is the link to the text of the story:

https://www.gutenberg.org/files/26854/26854-h/26854-h.htm

Review: The District Doctor by Ivan Turgenev

The short story “The District Doctor” by Ivan Turgenev belongs to the genre of narrative. The author caught a cold and invited the district physician to his hotel. After some medical procedures were completed, the main characters had a frank conversation during which the district doctor told the story of his life.

The author said "I am going to impart his narrative to the indulgent reader. I shall endeavour to express myself in the physician's words". Ivan Turgenev is a classical Russian writer, his works are studied in schools. One reason for such success is the ability of the author to use the language of simple people. The translation text from Russian to English can't display all the nuances of this folklore.  

The story is very touching, it is a love story without a happy ending. The feelings of people, their thoughts and actions, all of them are very authentic. The slice-of-life narration style conveys perfectly the atmosphere of place and time, where and when the story took place.

Here is the link to the text of the story:

http://public-library.uk/ebooks/29/6.pdf

Review: ​Two Friends by Guy de Maupassant

Two Friends by Guy de Maupassant is a touching story about two French fishermen who make an attempt to come back to their hobby (catching fish) during the war with Prussia.

Two main characters indulge in nostalgic memories about the peaceful life they had before the war. The story represents the best qualities of two friends: they are honest, sincere and love their fatherland. The story is realistic and tragic, without a happy ending.

Here is the link to the text of the story (page 24 in the file):

http://www.chs.accomack.k12.va.us/ourpages/auto/2016/9/2/41450592/10se_unit4.pdf

Movie review: Barry Lyndon by Stanley Kubrick

The movie "Barry Lyndon" by Stanley Kubrick represents a genre of epic historical costume drama surrounding Europe in the 18th century. The plot is based on a free interpretation of the novel written by a classic author of British literature, William Makepeace Thackeray.

The movie starts with the scene of a duel where Barry's father is killed. At the beginning of the movie, a young Irishman, Barry Lyndon, falls in love with his cousin. He was shy and honest. With youthful confidence, he defers his honor calling for a duel with a captain of the British army who made efforts to establish a romantic relationship with Barry's girl. They had the duel after which Lyndon had to leave his homeplace.

Barry Lyndon experienced many adventures during his life. He was robbed, served in the army as a simple soldier along with lower-class people. He was a hero during the war in Europe, a wastrel in high society, a gambler, husband and father. The plot is really interesting as it captures the attention of the viewers, as Kubrick portrays the time and lives of these people in a realistic manner. He is able to capture the emotions and complexities of the time.

Stanley Kubrick very cleverly makes use of the paintings of that period as a reference for both costume and make up for the characters in the film. He is also able to encapsulate the trails and tribulations of the time period.

This movie is less famous than other Kubrick's works like “The Shining” and “2001: A Space Odyssey”, but it should definitely be classified as a masterpiece. It is highly recommended to watch.

The Ant and the Grasshopper by William Somerset Maugham Review

William Somerset Maugham began the short story "The Ant and the Grasshopper" by using the same name in the fable of La Fontaine. According to this fable, the ant worked hard during the summer preparing shelter and food for the winter. The grasshopper, however, was singing the whole summer and when the winter came, he asked the ant for food, to which the ant answered: "You sang. Why, then go and dance."

The author described in the story the life of two brothers: George and Tom. Tom was a careless person. He spent his life at parties and gambling, borrowed money without aim to return it. Society did not approve of his lifestyle. Though he was forty–six he looked as young as thirty–five. George was only a year older than his carefree brother and he looked sixty. He always did what was to be done, worked hard, saved money for his retirement.

What happened in the story and the author's opinion about the moral of the fable in real circumstances ... readers will know about it after reading this funny short story.

Here is the link to the text of the story:

https://lingualeo.com/ru/jungle/the-ant-and-the-grasshopper-by-w-somerset-maugham-266668