Book Reviews by SAMD Students ( adapted / simplified texts ) )
The following presents the titles in alphabetical order ( note that titles starting with ‘The’ and ‘A(n)’ are listed under the second words! )
The Beach, by Alex Garland
( Fabienne Winkelmann )
The book I would like to review is entitled “The Beach”. It was written by Alex Garland.
The story tells about Richard, an English traveller, who visits Bangkok. There he meets a guy named Mister Duck. Mister Duck gives him a map to a secret beach on a little island in the Indian ocean. He also meets a French couple: Étienne and FranÇoise. They decide to look for the island with the secret beach. On their way, Richard meets Sammy and Zeph. They are also two travellers who have heard of the beach. They don’t know that they will see each other again, but not in very happy circumstances. By boat and swimming in the end, they reach the beach. About 30 other people already live there. The boss of the camp on the beach is Sal. They find new friends, for example Keaty, Jed and Unhygienix. With time, more and more people reach the beach. But after the first months, paradise turns more and more into hell. Terrible things happen, people get mad or injured, but that’s only the beginning of a horrible story…
The message of the book is that nothing is what it seems. What at first is thought to be beautiful and peaceful turns into something terrible which nobody can stop.
I would recommend this book to nearly everyone. This book includes a bit of every theme: love, travelling, young people who want to find their place in the world, secrets and horror. Although I enjoyed it, I wouldn’t recommend it to people who like happy endings, because there isn’t really one. With that book, you visit a whole other world, where all kinds of people from different parts of the world live together. They have their own way of life, their own rules and habits. The end is quite surprising, the situation always changes and you never know what will happen. This is what I enjoyed the most about the book.
Memoirs of a Geisha, by Arthur Golden
( Ladina Lanker )
The book I would like to review is ‘Memoirs of a Geisha’, written by Arthur Golden. There is also a film which has the same title and which is based on the book.
The story is about a young and beautiful geisha working in a Japanese village, Kyoto, during World War 2. The most special thing about that geisha is that she has grey eyes and this is a unique feature of all geishas in Kyoto. This makes the other geishas jealous, of course, because she is very popular with the men. There is an important point in this book and that is about the name. When this young girl was sold to this Japanese village by her father her name was Nitta but when she became a geisha she was named Sayuri because the other geishas thought it would sound more sophisticated.
There are many memorable characters including the main person Sayuri, the very cruel geisha Hatsumomo, the very kind geisha Mameha and Sayuri’s chairman. This chairman was very special for Sayuri because it was probably the only man who has ever shown her any kindness.
The main message of this book is that you have to fight for what you believe in and, most importantly, that you can reach your goals. It also shows in a very touching way that it is really not easy to stand in for your persuasion.
I would like to recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading true and moving stories. The fact that the book is based on a true story lets the reader feel involved and the story touches your heart. This book also makes you think about life and its difficulties. Memoirs of a geisha really lifts you out of your everyday life.
Oliver Twist, by Charles Dickens
(Stella Dos Santos )
The book I have read was Oliver Twist. It’s about a little boy who lives in an orphanage. Life in this workhouse is very bad, so he escaped to London. There he met a gang of thieves. The lord of the house is Fagin, an strange old man. Fagin’s friend Bill Sikes is different, he’s a strongly built, aggressive, selfish guy with an angry face and a dog. The gang tries to make Oliver to a thief, and take him to a robbery. Oliver is caught but narrowly escapes being convicted of the theft. Is it the life Oliver really wants? Is Oliver really just an ordinary orphan child and who is Mr. Brownlow? Will it have a happy ending?
This book has many themes. For example the failure of charity, the folly of individualism and how corrupt a city can be. It shows how we were born into the life we have. But in the end we still have the choice to live the way we want to. The book demonstrates how there can be hidden family relationships and how difficult it can be to live how we want.
I recommend this book to everybody because it’s a very good book and very well written. This book is very touching and it shows how the life can be for some. I’m really glad I decided to read this book, I like this book and I want to watch the movie about this book.
( Jeffrey San Diego )
The book which I chose to read is called “Oliver Twist” by Charles Dickens. The plot of the book revolves around the poor orphan Oliver Twist. He is experiencing a terrible childhood, and at the worst moment of time, he gets involved with criminals in the big city of London.
Oliver gets trained by a character called Fagin. Fagin picks up different of orphans, in order to train them so that they will pick pockets for him. You might think that this book is full of criminals and terrible people. However, you will find people who are trying to help Oliver by helping him find out more about his past, since his mother has passed away. But if you want to know how the story ends up, you’ll just have to read the book.
Even though it is a moving story, I find the book extremely boring. In the book you’ll feel a lot of sympathy for Oliver, but the book just manipulates all your sympathies and makes it terrible to read. I almost had to force myself to read the book, and if you have no hobbies and no life, then read the book. If you’re a person that likes reading books which stay the same all the time, then I would recommend it to you. I hope that you won’t make the same mistake as I did.
( Nicholas Bresina )
The book I would like to review is ‘Oliver Twist’ written by Charles Dickens. It’s set in Britain during the time of industrialisation. The story tells about the little orphan boy Oliver Twist, who grows up in a working house. Then, after being treated badly, he runs off to London, where he gets roped into a criminal gang.
The book mainly shows the contrast between the working class and upper class. Also it reveals how cruel criminals are, even with the little well-behaving Oliver. In addition, it points out how upper-class people are willing to help and support poorer people.
On the one hand, there’s the fact that this book is a must-have-read classic, but on the other hand, I didn’t really enjoy reading it, because I couldn’t connect to the story’s time and world. Also I could imagine that reading the original book is way more interesting because another con of this story lies in its simple language, which makes the story easily readable but it might make it less worthwhile reading it.
All in all, I wouldn’t recommend reading ‘Oliver Twist’ in this version. If you really want to read it, I would rather pick the original edition, at which I only took a short look, but its style of writing was way more entertaining while reading.
( Sereina Gisin )
The book I’ve read was Oliver Twist. It tells the story of an orphan child named Oliver Twist, who tries to survive in a world full of crime. Because he dares to ask for more food, he is not welcome anymore in the workhouse. After he runs away, he gets caught by Fagin, who makes the little child steal things for him. So it’s not a surprise that he sees a new chance in Oliver, because Oliver looks so harmless and friendly. Indeed he’s an innocent boy, so he isn’t conspicuous at all. Fagin teaches Oliver to steal a handkerchief without the owner realizing it. But before Oliver can use his ability he gets caught by the police. After that Oliver tries to escape from Fagin, but he is forced to go back there. Oliver finds a friend in Fagin’s band named Nancy. Even though he always tries to do the right thing and to respect the law, he is led astray. He’s always under the spell of criminals.
What I find very interesting is that Oliver survives much maltreatment, and still has hope. He never stops fighting for his life. So the main theme of the book is fighting for the right of existence, even as an orphan child, against all the crime and injustice of the world.
I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the life of a little boy, who lives in a big violent city and actually just tries to survive the next few days. The book is written in an understandable way and therefore also suitable for students of average ability.