In English - Mary Higgins Clark - A cry in the night

   I would like to share with you a typical holiday book. OK, I know the holidays are over... but let's make them last a little with this article about a mystery novel.

Title: A cry in the night

Author: Mary Higgins Clark

Genre: mystery novel

Year: 1982

Country: USA

Summary

   Jenny Mc Partland is a divorced mother of two little girls. Her struggle with poverty brutally comes to an end as she falls in love with Erich Krueger, a rich painter who is passionately in love with her too, marries her and adopts the children. Jenny follows him and stays in his gigantic farm in Minnesota. But Erich becomes extremely possessive, doesn't allow her to go outside the property, and Jenny feels suffocated in this strange atmosphere, haunted by Erich's dead beloved mother. Moreover, Jenny's ex-husband is prowling around the place. The fairy tale will turn into nightmare as Jenny becomes more and more paranoid.

My opinion

    First, the atmosphere of the novel is fascinating. This strange house, full of the memory of a dead person, is really sinister and creepy. The really fast passage from hapiness to fear is remarkable. The characters are excellent too: the happy Jenny, who turns out to be so nervous, and the dark Erich and his morbid fascination for his dead mother.

    What's also crucial in a mystery novel, the suspense is extremely big. Itis litterally impossible to put the book down. The mystery remains until the very end of the novel, which is, of course, stunning.

    I really like in this novel this psychological aspect about paranoia, amnesia, and other psychological pathologies presented in the book. It is always extremely interesting.

    I really loved this novel and would warmly recommand it to anyone who likes chills ! But don't read it alone in the house at night as I did...

To conclude

   5/5, frightening

   I would like to tell you that as I am now in Terminale S, I will have to work A LOT, so I don't know if I will be able to read as many books as I used to, and regularly post articles on this website. I fear I won't post every week anymore, but rather once in two weeks. Anyway, I will try my best to post every week, but I can't be sure of anything. I hope you won't hold that against me and continue to follow the blog. Thank you all for your support and thanks to everyone who clicked on any of my articles :)

 Follow me on Twitter to stay tuned: @agirlfromfrance

And/or make sure to like the Facebook page.

Thank you !

In English - John Green - The Fault in our stars

   Finally I decided to read this bestseller...

Title: The Fault in our stars

Author: John Green

Genre: YA novel - love novel

Year: 2012

Country: USA

Summary

   Hazel Grace Lancaster, 16 years old, suffers from a thyroid cancer that became a lung cancer, unabling her to breathe properly without an oxygen tank. Thank to a miraculous medicine, Phallanxifor, her life expectancy turned longer. She is forced by her mother to attend a pathetic and depressing Support Group. One day, she meets there a gorgeous and original boy, Augustus Walters. They get on well and quickly become friends. Hazel tells him about her favorite book, An Imperial Affliction, that has the particularity to end right in the middle of a sentence. Her dream is to meet the author to know what happens to the characters. Augustus will do everything to show her his love and make her dream come true.

My opinion

   First things first, the plot. Of course, the subject of the book is not the most joyful ever, and the book in itself can't help being pathetic, rather sad, and, according to me, very cheesy. The love story is a little too easy between them. Hazel and Augustus are of course quite special people, Hazel being obsessed with An Imperial Affliction and Augustus loving all sorts of metaphores. So, of course, they are not banal and that is a good point. But let's be honest: I didn't manage to truly love the characters, especially Hazel, who is the narrator. Maybe I didn't because I found Hazel quite a depressing character, and Augustus a little pale. I mean that I wasn't that interested in what they were going through.

   Then, as far as the reflection about sickness and death is concerned, I found this novel was of varying quality. It could have been very interesting, and sometimes it is, especially at the end where one of the characters is confronted to the weakness and degeneracy of the sick other one, but most of the time, Hazel keeps saying "Dying sucks, dying sucks", which is obviously accurate but not one of the most profound observation ever.

   I can't talk about this book without mensioning the humor. Well, it's not really my kind of humor and a bit repetitive, but I have to admit it made me smile most of the time. The writing is like the reflection, of varying quality. As far as the narration is concerned, I found out why I didn't like that much those YA-books-that-are-told-by-a-teen-girl-who-falls-in-love that are such bestsellers nowadays (I am thinking of Twilight, The Hunger Games, or Divergent): I simply prefer the 3rd person narration than the first person narration. I think it makes the book more interseting by giving the narration some objectivity and allows a better sentimental or social analasis. I am thinking, for example of Zola's novels which are my favorite ever. But of course it is a very personal point of view.

   It is hard for me to give my opinion about this novel, because though I spotted many weaknesses and didn't fall in love with it, I still couldn't put it down and liked it. This is a paradox...

To conclude

   3/5, of varying quality

   I started watching the movie, I have not finished it yet but I can say I find the acting quite bad, except for Shailene Woodley who plays Hazel and is amazing. And I was surprised because the plot of the movie is the same as the one of the book, I even recognized some quotes from the book. So I guess it is a very good point.

In English - Anna Karenina (movie) - Bernard Rose

   Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoï is one of my favorite books ever. That is why I wanted to watch one of the movies. I saw the 1997 movie starring Sophie Marceau as Anna Karenina. Please forgive my mistakes...

Title: Anna Karenina
Director: Bernard Rose
Starring: Sophie Marceau as Anna, Sean Bean as Vronsky, Alfred Molina as Levin, Mia Kirshner as Kitty Shcherbatsky, James Fox as Karenin
Year: 1997
Country: Great Britain

Plot

   Konstantin Levin is a Russian aristocrat who lives in the country. He is in love with Princess Kitty Shcherbatsky, and proposes to her, but she refuses, because she loves count Alexeï Vronsky, a brilliant officer. But Vronsky meets Anna Karenina, a beautiful young married woman who has already a son, Gricha. They love each other passionately. First, Anna tries to reject Vronsky's advances,  but he follows her to Petersburg. Anna's husband is too old and conformist to understand her, that is why she becomes Vronsky's mistress. One day, she decides to confess her  husband to everything...

My opinion

   First, I do not think that the atmosphere was right. In any case, I did not find the atmosphere of the book again. Then, I find the movie aesthetically averadge. The lights were leaden, the hairdresses ugly. Nevertheless, the dresses were nice. 

   Then, to my mind, the characters'personnality was not developped enough, the relations betwin Anna and Vronsky were touched on, so as Anna's suicide seemed inappropriate. The oposition between Levin and Kitty's happy couple, and Anna and Vronsky's troubled couple was not as clear as it should have been.

   As far as comparing with the novel is concerned, the film is globally like the novel (except that Anna's daughter is not mentionned), but it does not have all the subtle details which make Tolstoï's novel brilliant. The character of Levin, who was my favorite one in the novel, due to his spiritual doubts, is hardly developped, like all the country life and the spiritual and philosophical dimension that are so important and interesting in Tolstoï's books.

   That is why I was so disappointed about this film. For my part, I think it is really not as good and close to Tolstoï's work as the excellent War and Peace, a 2007 TV movie directected by Robert Dornhelm, which was really awesome.

To conclude
   2/5; disappointing

 

  I have finished readind Perfume, by Patrick Süskind, and I will write something about it soon.