Charlie and the chocolate factory

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is a children’s novel by Roald Dahl (Norwegian author Welsh) published twice: first in the United States by Alfred A. Knopf in 1964 and then in the United Kingdom by Allen & Unwin in 1967. This book was adapted into two very important films: Willy Wonka & the chocolate factory by Mel Stuart’s (with Gene Wilder) and Charlie and chocolate factory by Tim burton’s (with Johnny Depp). There is a continuation of this story which is the Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator by the same author and published in 1972.

This is the story of a little boy named Charlie who lives poorly in a strange house … His dad works in a toothpaste factory. He lives with his grandparents and his parents. Little Charlie is a happy child. He is very lucky but does not know it yet. Willy Wonka decides to close his factory overnight by dismissing all his staff. But one day, the factory starts to smoke. People are asking questions. For them, nobody comes in or out so it must be a mistake. Except that Willy Wonka offers children to find one of the five gold tickets that are in five classic chocolate bars in any corner of the world. After three tablets bought Charlie finds the golden ticket in one of the chocolate bars … his dream is finally realized. He is going to be closer and closer with someone from his family when visiting the chocolate factory. In this factory will spend a lot of things … you will discover new continents .. new people ..

I read the book and saw the movie. I think it’s a beautiful story. Willy Wonka is completely « crazy » and it’s very funny. Besides, you will discover why he is like that. It’s a story without any headaches. The relationship between Charlie and his grandfather is just sublime. I really advise you to read the book and then watch the Tim Burton movie which is my favorite.

 

Oscar Wilde

The Picture of Dorian Gray

The picture of Dorian Gray is the only novel of Oscar Wilde published in the July 1890 of Lippincott’s Monthly Magazine. The editor of the magazine explained that the story was indecent and censored five hundred words before the publication. Despite this censorship, The Picture of Dorian Gray offended the moral sensibilities of British book reviewers : they said that Wilde violating the laws of public morality. First, Wilde defended his novel in correspondence with the press. Then, he delete the most controversial words and publicated his book the following year,

The Picture of Dorian Gray begins on a summer day in Victorian era when a famous artist : Basil Hallward is painting the portrait of an handsome youngman named Dorian Gray. Through Basil, Dorian meet Lord Henry Wotton who convinced him of the value of beauty and pleasure above all things. Dorian is really disturbed by Lord Henry’s words and terrify of his own image and fears that his youth and beauty will fade. Dorian becomes jealous of this painting wich remain forever young while he is have to to aging and passionately whishes that the marks of life appeared on the portrait and no on his face. Lord Henry is fascinated of Dorian’s innoncence as much as Dorian is impressed by Henry’s way of life, they become fast friends.

Dorian soon falls in love of a poor but talented young actress named Sibyl Vane. They become engaged and he brings Henry and Basil to a theater. Sibyl plays here but her acting was inexplicaly terrible. On backstage she tells him that now she loves him but that her feelings are going to pass away. Disgusted, Dorian breaks of their engagement and leaves Sibyl. He returns to his home and discovers that his portrait had now a slightly different facial expression. He realized that the portrait was alive : a linving mirror of his soul.

The Gemini Virginia C. Andrew

 

Today I’m going to talk about a book written by Virginia C. Andrew and published in 2006. It’s the first volume of The Gemini serie and it’s entitled Celeste.

This book tells us the story of twins, Celeste and Lionel, who are not living in an usual family. Indeed, their mother believes in spirits and more precisely in her ancestor’s spirits. She educates her children in this philosophy. She regulary talks to family’s spirit, does things based on what they would like to do and promises to her children that soon they could do the same.

When the young Lionel (who was the favorite of her mother) died in an accident, the mother compels Celest to take the identity of her dead brother ( it’s not a spoil, you can read all of it on the blurb ). The young girl loses herself and takes her brother’s identity to satisfy her mother. Indeed, her only wish is to be loved by her mother and she would do everything to please her.

I found  this book very interesting because we don’t know, during all the story, if spirits are real or if the mother has got psychological troubles. You know, in Harry Potter by example witches and wizards are real , it’s a sort of convention between the reader and the author. Well, in Celeste it’s not clear, you always have a doubt, the only « vision » who are describe are those of Celeste and you can wonder if it’s not the imagination of a child. This book is also very based on the psychology of characters, why are they acting like this? how will they get out of this situation ? All is always manipulation, false pretences..  The story looks like some sordid miscellaneous, but we are « behind the scene », we know the truth.

The Gemini is a trilogy and there are many books of this author, generally by series of five.

I hope you enjoy this article. If you read the book tell me what do you think about it !

Waiting for Godot – Samuel Beckett

Waiting for Godot- Samuel Beckett

Hey everyone!! Today is a special day… (No I am joking.), I’m not going to talk you about a novel but about Theater!! Moreover, it fits to one of the topics we saw in LELE… The Nonsense Drama! You know, it’s a Drama where all the logic and the rules of the languages are not applied….

Waiting for Godot is a play written by Samuel Beckett in 1953 in Paris. Samuel Afficher l'image d'origineBeckett was born in 1906 and died in 1989. It’s the first play of Beckett, who wrote a lot of novels before that. Although Beckett is an Irish man, he wrote this play in French!! He’s one of the most famous Nonsense playwright who give birth to this genre. It was a real success and it’s really well-known at this time. There is only 2 act in this play.

But… What is the story?

It’s the story of 2 characters who are called: Vladimir and Estragon. We know that they are waiting Godot, for a long time already, and they are persuaded that this man will coming. He gave them an Appointment, but we don’t really know when and where… Waiting for Godot, they are talking of a lot of things, of the life, of Godot..

At the middle of the first Act, 2 characters are coming: Pozzo and Lucky, they are pretty strange: Actually, Pozzo is holding Lucky with a rope, and treats him like a horse, because Lucky is holding all the Pozzo’s objects. Pozzo discuss with the 2 main characters and they are talking him that they are waiting Godot.

In the 2nd Act, it’s the next day, and Godot is still missing. A boy said to the main characters that he works for Godot but he don’t know if he going to coming.

Will manage them to find Godot?

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I really liked this play! In fact, I never read a Nonsense play in French and I found it really funny, strange and it wasn’t hard to understand!

At the beginning, I was like: “What? What are they saying? It’s so illogical!”, but I remembered that it was a Nonsense Theater! But, after, we understand better what the main characters are saying (even if there isn’t logic).

We find a lot of elements of Nonsense like neologism (a knouk > a slave), nonsense tautology…

The fact that they are talking of everything and anything, and are changing all the time the subjects of the conversation, make the play really funny and interesting.

For instance: As they are in front of a tree, they decided to hang themselves. They are saying that it’s for spend their time! If Godot is coming they are safe! And as they have no rope, they are talking of another things.

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And during the play, at any moment, when one of the two characters wants to move, the other said : “ we can’t” “We’re waiting for Godot”. And they stay in the same place…

According many people, Godot is a sort of religious character. Indeed, the name Godot is made of God, but there isn’t a really specific explanation at this time… We can suppose that Vladimir and Estragon are waiting a saviour…

It can be really strange at time, and it’s REALLY REALLY different than the others genre like the novel…

Oh, I forgot to say that it’s a really short play to read (I read this in only 2 hours!).

I advise you to read Waiting for Godot!! Have you already read that? 🙂

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Waiting for Godot

Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett and was published in 1952. Samuel Beckett is an Irish author, poet and playwright.  He was a main character in the theatre called « Theatre of the Absurd ». He was born in 1906 and he died in 1989. His  literary movement is the Modernism and Nonsense. Waiting for Godot is a play of Nonsense. It is composed two acts and the original text is a translation to French, because Beckett wrote in english and in french. The first representation was in the theater of Babylone in Paris.

In Waiting for Godot, we have two mains characters : Estragon and Vladimir. They are in the countryside, near a tree. In the play, we have probably a poor stage set. The two characters are alone. They are surely longtime friends. Vladimir is the smartest than Estragon but he is too a little naive and  there is Estragon who is stupid and he is  strange. Both are Tramps. Both waited  for someone who called Godot but we understand to the end of the first act that Gadot never come and we don’t know if he exist really. There are two others characters : Pozzo and Lucky. Their relation is like master and slave. Pozzo is the master and Lucky is the slave but he is treated like an animal, because Pozzo holds him with a rope and he gives him orders like a dog. It is a strange relation between these two characters. Te four characters meet and speak but their coversation are not really logic.

For me, this play is difficult to understand, because it is Nonsense and i don’t really like that, there are no real plot or purpose. But this play is funny and the book reads quickly. I read Waiting for Godot, because we studied this book in French literature.

WaitingForGodot.JPG

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll, 1865.

Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland, or just « Alice in Wonderland », is a novel by Lewis Carroll (Charles Lutwidge Dodgson),

The story speaks about a little girl who fell in the big hole, because she aimed to follow a cut white rabbit with a watch ! Inside the hole, there was a beautiful fantasy world !

In this amazing world, completly , Alice met a lot of characters.

She made friends with the Chesire cat with his extraordinary smile, the white rabbit who was always late, the blue caterpillar who smoked, the twins Tweedeldee and Tweedeldum,  and the crazy Hatter with his friend the March Hare !

During her trip, Alice met the Reg Queen and her soldiers cards ! Because the Red Queen didn’t like Alice, she had to come back at her home. So she left the Wonderland.

It’s a great and magical novel with many engaging characters ! I love this story, because, I find that Alice refers to me. There are two movies adapation. One directed Disney, with some musics and enchantment. And one directed by Tim Burton, with some specials effects, and it’s so amazing !

Alice’s adventures in wonderland

I’m going to talk about Alice’s adventures in wonderland,

This book was written by Lewis Carroll and illustrated by John Tenniel, 2 famous English men. This fantastic novel published in 1865.

It’s about Alice, a young children who waking up in wonderland, first she is trying to catch a white rabbit who says that it is late. Thanks to this extract, she is meeting the cat « dina » it represent the passage of the reality to the fiction. She is also meeting lot of strange people and strange things like the « red queen » who is a nasty woman who plays to games card, it’s a famous passage of this book. In the Alice’s wonderland everything is very strange. In fact, we can interpret these adventures as we want it’s can be Alice’s dreams.

It’s a world where the logic has been abandoned benefit of madness, it’s a surrealist world very colored who is become almost nightmarish.

After this very famous fantastic novel, there were lot of video games, movies, musics etc.. about it. In particular a tim burton’s adaptation with Jonny Deep and a older adaptation by Walt Disney who is the most famous of all and for everyone.

Good reading everybody !

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien and his works The Hobbit and the Lord of The Rings.

To begin, I would like to speak about Tolkien. I know that we had a biography in class but I want to remind you the life of this man. He was born in South Africa in 1892 but he spent his childhood in England (where were his roots) after his father’s death. In 1904, he became orphan with her brother because of his mother’s death. So with this event they were under the responsability of a priest: Father Francis Morgan. Tolkien knew the out-break of the First World War and after to be graduated at Exeter College, he must have gone in France as a second lieutenant in the Lancashire Fusiliers. After his come back in England, he worked as a professor of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford. He was too a philologist who was and is always admired in all the world. In his life he wrote some novels and poems. He was too an essayist and died in 1973.

To continue, I would like to present you his first novel published in 1937: The Hobbit. I think that you know that this book is to introduce The Lord of The Rings. Moreover now with the new films which were realised recently by Pete Jackson, you might know the story of Bilbo… But if you are like me and have seen just an extract (which I found very long, a little bit borring) or may be nothing, I will sum up his adventures. Bilbo lived quietly when a man comed to take him as a thief. But what this passific creature must steal? A precious stone to give it to dwarves. However this stone is kept by a dragon… During his travel to go to the cave of the dragon in a mountain (in fact an old town of dwarves), he found a ring which have a beautiful power: it permits to disappear! And this object is very important in the Lord of the Rings.

If you are again like me and never seen the films, I will resume this second work. Frodon (a member of Bilbo’s family) must destroy the ring because Sauron needs it to can have the power on the world. Still to destroy it, Frodon must go on the country of his ennemy: in Mordor. Parallelly you follow during the story others characters and some wars.

I think that in fact Tolkien is a genius or may be a crazy man to create this universe. He created a new language for Elves, a new system of calendar,… At the end of his books you have family trees of the Sacquet, The Touques, the Brandebouc and the Master Samsagace. There is too the chronology of the old Earth and this is like our history class! Tolkien must have been in an other wolrd to create this fantasy world!

Many people say that it’s difficult to read him but I don’t think.Yes it can be a little be slow sometimes but it’s real pleasant to read this beautiful work! Nevertheless if you find it too long you can listen the CD of the songs which are wrote in Tolkien’s work and created by himself.  You have too a short story about a character that we met in this work: The adventures of Tom Bombadil (1967). And now with tolkienian you have too many many many by-products to can find the atmosphere of this fantasy world. But in fact if you want really this atmosphere, read the books!!!!

An example of voyage and Return Stories : Alice in Wonderland

 

 

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is a novel written by Lewis Carroll in 1865.

The main character is called Alice. She is a girl who finds herself in a strange world of imagination and fantasy. One day, Alice sees a rabbit who is wearing a evening wear and he runs as if he is late. So Alice follows him and she fall down the rabbit hole : she discovers the Wonderland. All are differents, cats smile, we can play croquet with a pink flammand, babies are transformed into small pigs, there are anthropomorphic creatures.

The Alice’s travel is an initiatory tale which permit to travel and discover a different world, to increase, to learn and to escape ourselves.

But it is not only a initiatory journey which permit Alice to grow up and to discover the sense of the outside world. For Alice, Wonderland is her world . For her as for the readers, the sense of the tale is as much a self-discovery (childhood for example) as the discovery of the society.

 

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20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea is an adventure novel writting by Jules Vernes that deals with three sailors send on see by the gouvernment to investigate a strange creature responsible for the disappearance of some sheeps. After months of travel, they finally found the beast and discovered that it is a submarin. The captain, Nemo, decided to keep them captive. While two of them tried to escape, the third is fascinate by captain Nemo. As they was shut in the submarin, they discovered all the strange and wonderfull worlds living under the sea and went through numerous danger.

On this well-known novel, Jules Vernes  imagine a trip under the sea using all the mystery that can offer the seabed to create fictional worlds where the characters evolve. This is a perfect exemple of initiatory journey where they had to face up to strange monsters, unknown area and to brave their own deepest fear.

Alice in Wonderland

Hello!

I know everybody knows the famous story « Alice in Wonderland » written by Lewis Carroll. You surely watched the movie, the artwork cartoon or read the book. I’ve already read the book in french and I’ve just finished to read it in english.

Everybody knows the story : Alice is a little girl who falls asleep. Then, she sees a white rabbit, she decides to follow it, she falls in a hole and touches down in a Wonderland where there are many fantastic creatures and places.

Before to read it in english, I thought that I wont understand anything but in fact it’s very easy ! So I advice you to read it if you want to begin to read in english because it’s a very good story and it’s very easy to read.

The test with Alice and the Mock turtle

I don’t wear a real interest in the work of Alice in Wonderland, however, one of the controls of literature we did who is focus on Alice pleased me as strangely. I find this text really interesting because i had never heard about this. This turtle who changes every school subjects in something strange like Washing or Seaography and Alice who tries in vain to understand, it was quite strange for my interest.

The Theatre of the Absurd

The Theatre of Absurd movement began in Paris in the mid of the 20th century, in fact, the first precursors of this movement were french like Eugene Ionesco or Jean Genet. But it considered that several older plays inspiring this movement like The Winter’s Tales or The Tempest by William Shakespeare.

The term of « Theatre of the Absurd » was given by theatre critic Martin Esslin in 1961, he also says that the four leader of the genre were Samuel Beckett, Eugene Ionesco, Arthur Adamov and Jean Genet.

The particularities of this kind of plays are meaningless or repetitive dialogues and nonsense. It says that this movement is an answer to the realistic movement, when playwrights tried to represent the real life in their works. Unlike them, absurdist try to give an unreal and unique exprerience to the viewer. In this kind of plays, time and setting are not precisely defined and the characters can’t exist in real life, they are often metaphorical or archetypal.

This genre is very particular, we can say that it can’t please everyone, but I really enjoy this ! What about you ?

Endgame, by Samuel Beckett.

Endgame is an one-act play written by Samuel Beckett in 1957. It count the story of four characters, three of them are disabled and one can go wherever he want, almost.

This play is very ambiguous, the dialogues are typical Beckett’s work, some lyrics are meaningless and not advance in the plot of the play, and there are a lot of silence and breaks, otherwise, 30% of the play is made of stage directions. Also, the play parody the conventions of classic theatre, in fact, the end of the play is tell at the beginning and, at several moments, the characters speak to the public to say that they are bored. Contrary to Waiting For Godot, this play don’t give way to humor at any moment, all the play is about death or disease.

This play is associated to the Theatre of the Absurd genre but the author denied any membership to any literary movements. It’s another weird creation by Samuel Beckett.

Gothic novel

The first theme we learned was the gotic novel.
The main novel was Frankenstein wrote by Mary Shelley. We saw the different gothics or romantics elemenents, like the setting and the atmosphere with dreary night and castle. Before study the story we had to learn the name and place of the character. Next we learned an extract and to understand all the story we saw the film.
I think that Frankenstein belong to classic of english litterature and Mary Shelley is one of the most famous autor on this time. I think too it was my favorite theme of what we learned because I knew a little the story and I am found of gothic and romantic genre.

Theatre of the Absurd

In the world of theatre, there is a particular play called the Absurd.It had been created in the 1950s after the period of the humanists and is totally different as comedy and drama. It is talking about the absurdity of men which leads to the death.It is totally the contrary of realism.

The relevants things are the dialogues between characters who are not connected or the place where the scene takes place. For exemple in the Dumb Waiter the characters are talking about absurds items, and their sentences are unrelated. In « Waiting for Godot » the characters are always talking because they are terrified by silence and so they don’t have to speak about their condition or anguish.

Every body doesn’t like the absurd because it is a very special genre.

As you like it

We saw in class 3 versions of the play As you like it by Shakespeare. The first version was filmed by somebody in the andience so it was very « natural » and we could hear the laughter of people. The second version seems to be more recent and it was filmed differently. Besides, it was like if the actors played to nobody, the audience was silent. The last version was very modern, and it looked like a movie. The play of the actors was very different from the other and it shocked me because I found it wasn’t faithful to the original play. Consequently I prefer the first and the second version than the third, but it was interesting to see the differences between them.

Politically Correct

I want to speak about the « politically correct » because I think it’s very interesting to show you new special tales.

The Politically Correct avoids language that offences on social minorities. In the 70’s, there were feminist movements in the US. The terms « politically correct » and « politically correctness » became part of the language.

But the previous meaning was « in line with prevailing political thought or policy » : the politically correct is used for the political language it doesn’t refer to illiberal or discrimination.

Toni Cade, a writer, had helped to understand the politically correct. In 1970, he said in Black Woman : « A man cannot be politically correct and a chauvinist too. »

That means that politically correct is used by someone who whants to give another political point of view.

Towards 1980, the politically correct is used to speak about common opinions.

Now, it is an acceptable expression. The language control is used by this new concept.

James Finn Garner is an American xriter and a satirist based in Chicago. He is the author of Politically Correct Holiday stories, Apocalypse wow, and Politically Correct Bedtimes Stories – I’ll speak about it – published in 1994.

The author was inspired by Charles Perrault and the Grimm brothers that is why he rewrites these tales like Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood and Snow White.

He imposes his points of out to his readers and implicit prejudice and discrimination found in children’s tales.

Magic and wonder don’t appear in these rewritings. Original tales are written for children and are about wonder unlike James Finn Garner’s tales which are modern rewritings. Indeed, the first title was Fairy Stories for a Modern world but it was abandonned.

To sum up, politically correct is a realistic language which allows to be aware of the present world.

To compare with the original tales of Charles Perrault, here is an extract of Little Red Riding Hood written by James Finn Garner in Politically Correct Bedtime Stories :

« On the way to Grandma’s house, Red Riding Hood was accosted by a wolf, who asked her what was in her basket. She replied, ‘Some healthful snacks for my grandmother, who is certainly capable of taking care of herself as a mature adult.’

The wolf said, ‘You know, my dear, it isn’t safe for a little girl to walk through these woods alone.’

Red Riding Hood said, ‘I find your sexist remark offensive in the extreme, but I will ignore it because of your traditional status as an outcast from society, the stress of which has caused you to develop your own, entirely valid, worldview. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I must be on my way’. »

 

Hope you will like it! In my opinion, it’s tales on different way with modern stories and comic.

 

Work by Sarahl1 and MathildeC.

Samuel Beckett

Hello !

Last week we read an extract of a Samuel Beckett’s play, untitled Waiting for Godot.
It’s an absurdist play.

Samuel Beckett (1906-1989) was an Irish novelist, playwright, theatre director, and poet. Today, he is considered one of the last modernists, and he is also sometimes considered one of the first postmodernists. He wrote in English and French.

In 1956, the BBC asked him to broadcast a radio play: it will be All That Fall (« Tous ceux qui tombent »). He continues to write occasionally for radio, but also for an experimental silent film, Film in 1965 (with Buster Keaton) and television. He started writing in English, without abandoning the French.

During the World War II, he participated to the Resistance.
After the war, he published Molloy (1951); Malone Dies (1958); and The Unnamable, (1960).

It is in French that Beckett wrote his most famous works. In fifteen years, three plays are a great success: Waiting for Godot (1948-1949), Endgame (1955-1957) and Happy Days (1960). The extract of Waiting for Godot in your book is p.125 !

Then he won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1969, but he sees that as a « disaster » ; His confusion to receive the Nobel Prize is explained by his dislike of socializing and duties.

He dies in 1989 and is buried in the Montparnasse Cemetery.

Samuel Beckett, Pic, 1.jpg

(Beckett in 1977; (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Samuel_Beckett,_Pic,_1.jpg)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pan’s Labyrinth

The Magic world of Alice in Wonderland reminds me the world of « Pan‘s Labyrinth » wich is a very good fim.

I’m going to tell you the story… Spain , 1944. Under the dictatorship of General Francisco Franco, a pregnant woman , Carmen, accompanied by his young daughter , Ofelia , left to join her new husband in the mountains. This man , Captain Vidal, is a cruel man acting on behalf of General Franco . Its sole purpose is to rid the mountains last guerrillas eliminating them one after the other . One night , the little Ofelia is guided by a mysterious bug that causes outside his residence. She then discovers a strange labyrinth where she meets a faun named Pan. It reveals the existence of a lost world of which it is the princess and tells her she must overcome three tests in order to gain access. Through these tests , Ofelia must be bold and courageous to protect his little brother and his successful mission. Pan’s Labyrinth was released in 2006 . It was written and directed by Guillermo del Toro. The film was first made ??its appearance at Cannes where he immediately received very positive reviews. He was subsequently awarded the Hugo Award as best feature film , as well as several film Oscars.

http://www.google.fr/imgres?q=Le%20labyrinthe%20de%20pan&um=1&safe=vss&client=firefox-a&sa=N&rls=org.mozilla%3Afr%3Aofficial&channel=sb&hl=fr&tbm=isch&tbnid=CGCm5cMwqavFHM%3A&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.stephenking999.com%2FLe-Labyrinthe-de-Pan.html&docid=oCiyzQH0eR1rDM&imgurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.stephenking999.com%2FIMG%2Fjpg%2F3700301013224.jpg&w=400&h=619&ei=g1gpU-3TI9KV0QX07YGgDg&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=718&page=1&start=0&ndsp=24&ved=0CGwQrQMwBw

Tell me if you like this film or not!

Southern Gothic Genre and Beautiful Creatures

I have read a saga, during 4 years entitled Beautiful Creatures (16 Lunes in french).

This saga belongs to the southern gothic genre. This genre was born in United States of America, more exactly in the south. It’s another genre of fantasy but with some elements of gothic genre. In fact there is a plot all along the novel, punctated by supernatural, oniric or unusual events. Grotesque situations, places or characters are present a lots.

Beautiful Creatures written by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl and published in 2010, tell the story of Ethan, a teenager who lives in Gatlin, a little village of South Carolina. One day a new young girl, called Lena, settles in this village and Ethan falls in love with her. But Lena hides a terrible secrets, and her family too, there are Casters (Enchanteresse) and they have special powers. Ethan, Lena and lots of other characters are dragged in a war between Light Casters and Dark Casters, but humans can be hurt too !

I adore this saga and I read all the four books, I advise you to read it if you like fantasy !

But don’t watch the adaptation, there is very bad and doesn’t look like the novel !

Nonsense

The Adventures of Alice in Wonderland, often abbreviated as Alice in Wonderland , by Lewis Carroll, have a sequel entitled Through the Looking-Glass.

Like Alice in Wonderland, Through the Looking-Glass is a pure dream narrative, at least a fantastic story which has a dreamlike atmosphere.

Others authors before him had mixed in their works the imaginary and the real, but Lewis Carroll has the merit of having created an original mixture of onirism and logic.

In fact, the Nonsense is a genre that Lewis Carroll manipulates with genius. The nonsense pretends to give hope the reader a logical explanation and then treacherously wong habits of throught. Film adaptations, such as Tim Burton for example, often combine elements of both books (Alice in Wonderand and Through the Looking-Glass).

Today, Carroll ‘s book remains popular among both children and adults.

The American writer Martin Gardner published The Annotated Alice (not translated in French), which includes Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass, along with Victorian poems that Lewis Carroll parodied.

Lewis Carroll.

Charles Lutwidge Dodgson better known by his pseudonym Lewis Carroll is a british writer, photographer, and mathematician born January 27, 1832 in Daresbury, Cheshire and died January 14, 1898 in Guildford.

He is famous for writing Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel Trough the Looking-Glass. He also wrote poems like The Hunting of the Snark and Jabberwocky, there are all examples of the genre of literary nonsense. He was also known for his facility at word play.
He began to write poetry and short stories from a young age, he sent them to various magazines, enjoying a moderate success, these works were humorous, sometimes satirical. His first work under the name of Lewis Carroll was a romantic poem called Solitude, this name is a play on his real name Charles Lutwige translated in Latin as « Carolus Ludovicus » and then translate back to english as « Carroll Lewis ».

Charles became a teacher at the Oxford’s Christ Chruch College in 1855, old math students of Lewis Carroll have said that his courses were boring. In 1856 he worked with the magazine The Train for published his photos under the name of Lewis Carroll, he bought his first camera in London March 18, 1856. A few days later, he photographed the Cathedral of the Christ Church College and took for models the three Liddell little girls whose Alice who inspired him for the main character of Alice in Wonderland.

Alice in Wonderland Syndrome

This syndrome come from the eponymous novel of Lewis Carroll. The perception is disturbed spectacularly : people who contracts this sickness see stuff little when they are big (micropsia) and big when they are little (macropsia). A car suddenly become a reduced model, and a cat can transform in a tigre. Subject’s perception of their own body is also distorted as the perception of time. The syndrome can also give rise to more significant hallucinations or touch the other senses. This trouble is sometimes associate to big migraines as Lewis Carroll had suffered, or merely the taking of hallucinogenic drugs.

But oddly this sickness is more contracted by children than adults.

Alice in Wonderland

Last Monday, in class we saw the first film adaptation of Alice in Wonderland dating 1903. At the time, it was the cinema’s birth. I found that it was rather well done for the beginning of the 20th century. Otherwise, I’ve already seen Alice in Wonderland by Tim Burton dated back to 2009, I liked it. Moreover, Johnny Depp plays in this film and I like this actor.

Frankenstein, or the modern prometheus.

Frankenstein, or the modern Prometheus is a novel written by the british author Mary Shelley, it count the story of Victor Frankenstein, an eccentric scientist who created a Monster.

 

The subtitle « the modern Prometheus » is really important, Mary Shelley specify with this subtitle that Frankenstein is a rewrite of the Prometheus myth that she known by reading Ovid. Some have claimed that for Mary Shelley, Prometheus was not a hero but rather something of a devil, he gave the fire to humans and the vice of eating meat, so hunting and killing.

The forbidden knowledge quest is an important theme in the romantic genre. We can notice that « Prometheus » means « foresight », it’s ironical because this is the quality that lack Victor, he create the monster unconsciously and his life became a disaster, he sees his family die.

But Prometheus and Victor want the desire of personal glory. Frankenstein borrows at the same time the greek myth of Prometheus, the thief of the fire, and the latin myth, the creator of a human. Prometheus and Victor are both punished for their actions, Prometheus is tied to a rock and a vulture devours his liver each days, it became an endless suffering, like Victor who lost the love of his life.

 

We can consider that Frankenstein is partly a gothic rewrite of the Legend Of Prometheus, they give the same morality that it can be dangerous and unfortunate to defy the ban.

Jabberwocky – Lewis Carroll

Jabberwocky- Lewis Carroll from Through the Looking Glass

‘Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

« Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch! »

He took his vorpal sword in hand:
Long time the manxome foe he sought–
So rested he by the Tumtum tree,
And stood awhile in thought.

And, as in uffish thought he stood,
The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came wiffling through the tulgey wood,
And burbled as it came!

One, two! One, two! And through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back.

« And hast thou slain the Jabberwock?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay! »
He chortled in his joy.

‘Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

 

The last lesson, we watched the Tim Burton’s version of Alice in Wonderland and I understood something that I didn’t perceived when I saw the film for the first time. I understood that, as you can see, Tim Burton was also inspired by this poem in order to make his film. It’s Alice who killed the Jabberwocky.

I perceived that there are not an only referenced but the film is composed of a mix of different references to the works of Lewis Carroll.

I found interesting to show you this poem because even in the film the Mad Hatter recites it for Alice. I find it’s a great homage to Lewis Carroll. I think it’s for that I really liked this adaptation. And you ? What did you think about this film? Did you enjoy watching it?

Alice in Wonderland

We saw in class 2 adaptation of Alice in Wonderland, the novel by Lewis Carroll and the movie by Tim Burton. I liked the two but I prefer Alice in Wonderland by tim Burton. The special effects are fantastic and I like that because during the movie, there are a special atmosphere at a time magic and strange.
Moreover, I chose the two works for the « tpe ». I have compared the two and we have much to say because there are several difference between the novel and the movie.

Alice in the Wonderland and The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

The movie Alice in the Wonderland is an adaptation of the eponymous novel of Lewis Carrol, published in 1865. Directed by Tim Burton in 2010, the film talk about the adventures of Alice in a day-dreaming world. Alice, interpreted by Mia Wasikowska, was at a very important crossroad time of her life, she was in the point to get married. She escape from a Victorian’s England to live a dream that she have dreamt a lot of times before : a World of Wonder. Alice found peoples and animals : Tweedledee and Tweedledum, the White (good) and the Red queen (evil) who had separate the field in two, Tarrant Hightopp (played by Johnny Depp), the Jabberwocky and so many others. This queer world is dominated by the Red queen, this character hates animals, choosing to use them as servants and furniture. Alice is forced to kill the Jabberwocky to save this era. After that fight the withe queen will be the reunification queen who reign and the all era.

     The dream’s world of this movie remind me of The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, a movie directed and stars by Ben Stiller in James Thurber’s classic story of 1939 is about a day-dreamer man who escapes his anonymous life by disappearing into a dreaming world. Walter Mitty works at Life Magazine. Because the monthly magazine turn into a online magazine, the transition manager put Walter in charge of releasing the last cover. A day, Walter received a pack from Sean O’Connell, a very old fashion photographer who takes argentic’s pictures ( played by Sean Penn ) for the cover, but, the 25th negative, the « quintessence » of Life is missing. Walter is forced to find this picture and to broke his daily routine. Walter will travel to distant lands that he never before thought possible.

     More and more he go true the adventure, more and more his dreams disappears because he was giving life to them. Last but not least in this two movies they arrived to set their aims coming true, Alice win the Jabberwocky fight and Walter ultimately find the 25’s negative. As you probably realize, I love ending my items by a quotation. So I’ve decided to end by the purpose of Life magazine.

« To see the world, things dangerous to come to see, to see behind walls, to draw closer, to find each other and to feel. That is the purpose of Life » 

I hope it’s was not that bad and you don’t want to do like the Red queen like to do 

 « OFF WITH HIS HEAD » 

Alice in Wonderland View Master

hello !

I love « Alice in Wonderland » , all movies are surprising! when I was young, I saw the first story of Alice in Wonderland with a viewer, a kind of binocular in which is inserted a cardboard’s disc. Its name was View-Master, have you ever seen this viewer?

(view master)

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BS2zNZ0GcoI/T9sr-QxvG9I/AAAAAAAABQU/WvsZOljRAU4/s1600/view+master.jpg;

( a picture of Alice) on

https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRUZXK8WWqYxZs9Mog4GooXfy8pKEtTRfEXFXgu3n0Oqo9q_vXi)

Alice in Wonderland

The author of the book was Lewis Carroll, in 1865. The story is about a little girl who falls in a rabbit-hole and discovers the imaginary world with a lot of funny creatures like the Cheshire Cat. The first version  was in 1903, we saw the film in class and I loved it, it made me smile because characters were moving strangely. Besides, it was very different than the other versions that we all know, so it was really interesting. After we studied the text of « Alice and pig baby » and « Alice speaks to Cheshire Cat », it was very pleasant for me because I like this story. Many things like the conversation between Alice and the Cat take us in a fantasy world. I was very pleasant and I really loved to work about this story.

Do you know the wonderful wizzard of Oz?

You have probably heard this story or its name when you were a child, I didn’t read the book but there is a lot of similarities with Alice adventure’s in Wonderland.

The main character is Dorothy, a little girl who flies away because of a hurricane. She arrives in an imaginary world and her house, which has also flown away, kills one of the witchs opposed to the wizzard of Oz. She needs to this wizzard to go back to her home. On the road to reach the wizzard, she meets a lion which needs courage, a scarecrow (used to scare the birds in the fields) which needs a brain and a lumberjack (cuting trees in the woods) who needs heart. Each one goes to the wizzard of Oz to get what he needs. This wizzard asks them to kill the others whitch opposed to him and helps the three Dorothy’s companions but not her ; the wizzard flies away in an airship and another whitch (a kind whitch this time!), that helps her to go back home.

This story seems strange as much as Alice in Wonderland, we can recognize many similarities between both story, but if Alice is only a story for child, The Wonderful wizzard of Oz is indeed a metaphor of the economic situation at the end of the 19th century, in the United States. There is a great depression and each characters of this story represents a political party or an economic agent of the United States society at this time ( for instance, the scarecrow symbolises the farmers, the lumberjack represents the workers and the travel of Dorothy represents the misadventures of a normal citizen ).

Alice in Wonderland

In class, we saw the Alice in wonderland’s film dating 1903.

I was very surprise about the representation of that movie, first it was very short, about 16 minutes instead of nowadays movies that  are about 1-2 hours.                                                      We can also see that there are no special effects but we can understand what happened when Alice becomes large and small when she drinks the potion.                                         Thanks to this film, we can see the cinema’s evolution and another production about Alice by Lewis Carroll.

« Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland » by Lewis Carroll

In class we watched « Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland ». This film was in black and white. Moreover, it’s the first representation of Alice in Wonderland… I find that it’s interesting because he is well made for his age. The customs and graph are good whereas they haven’t special effects ! I like this story. I am in a hurry to study « Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland ».

Alice in Wonderland.

Among the two videos we watched in class, the first one I liked
I found that the « special » effects (such as narrowing of the door …) were well done. Precisely at the time, I thought the movie was well filmed. It is true that the film « suffered » (as said Mathys), but it stay interesting.

However, the second extract me seemed boring and very long. I think it is because I do not like to give me the reading. The illustrations were however very nice and well done

Lewis Caroll : Alice in Wonderland

Lewis Caroll was a brilliant photographer, mathematician and writer of the 19th century. His real name was Charles Lutwidge Dogson, he was born in England in1832 and died in 1898.

He’s mostly famous thanks to his book Alice in Wonderland published in 1865.  He tells a story to a young girl named Alice Liddell who suggest to write this story and published it. This little girl had inspired the name of the main character : Alice, arrived in a world of nonsense.

The huge success of this book had generated his sequel : Threw the looking glass and what Alice found there, published in 1872.

Those books had inspired lot of director : from the first film about Alice in 1903 to the well known Alice in Wonderland directed by Tim Burton.

old cinema!

In class, we watched an adaptation of « alice in wonderland ». it dated back to 1903, only a few years after the cinema’s birth. For the time it was a really good adaptation despite the limites means (money and special effects) and i think a lot of people in class enjoyed that.

Lewis Carroll’s fancy

I found a poem written by Lewis Carroll and I find it is really interesting. This poem illustrates the fact that in first, Lewis Carroll told the story of Alice in Wonderland to Alice Pleasance Liddell, the daughter of Henry George Liddell and the fact that he liked telling tales to children.

Acrostic poem :

A boat beneath a sunny sky,
Lingering onward dreamily
In an evening of July–

Children three that nestle near,
Eager eye and willing ear,
Pleased a simple tale to hear–

Long has paled that sunny sky:
Echoes fade and memories die.
Autumn frosts have slain July.

Still she haunts me, phantomwise,
Alice moving under skies
Never seen by waking eyes.

Children yet, the tale to hear,
Eager eye and willing ear,
Lovingly shall nestle near.

In a Wonderland they lie,
Dreaming as the days go by,
Dreaming as the summers die:

Ever drifting down the stream–
Lingering in the golden gleam–
Life, what is it but a dream?

Lewis Carroll,  Through the Looking Glass.

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/173163

 

Moreover, I find the latest verse of this poem really interesting because I think that it can show the parallel between life and dream, which we can perceived in Alice in Wonderland. In the Tim Burton’s version, it’s really emphasized. We don’t know if Alice is dreaming or not. It’s strange but she doesn’t seem to be tired before going to Wonderland. The story is impossible but it seems to be true. Moreover, we still can see the caterpillar after Alice returns to reality.