HO- HO HO! Rating the books of our ESL -class

1) Finding Forrester
2) Of Mice and Men
3) Flowers for Algernon
4) The Five People You meet in Heaven
5) Shane
6) The Alchemist
7) The Old Man and the Sea
8) The Greek Myths
9) Animal Farm
10) Outliers
11) Syrup
12) The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe
12) A Christmas Carol
14) Beasts Of No Nation

The Child in Us

When we put “Christmas” in Google we will find 498,000 results, nearly half a million. That’s not really surprising. Of course most of the results are about advertising, are commercials. Still, there are thousands and thousands of results about the meaning, the tradition, the history of this very holiday - Christmas is THE event of the year. To many of us Christmas is a time for children. Bringing back memories, making us feel like we used to feel: once again we ARE little boys, we ARE little girls with eyes and mouths opened wide, breathless starring, exited- with red cheeks and ears. With glistening in our eyes. We get lost in the miracle, the spirit of this very days. But what exactly is it that makes us feel like a child again, what is it that makes us sing Christmas carols in the street, bake cookies, decorate the house, get a Christmas tree, put on a candles? It is the time when we rediscover the child in us. The child that is hidden during the rest of the year. Once we’re an adult, curiosity, naivety and playfulness are gone. But- most of all: innocence. If we could see ourselves as a beloved child again, we might remember our innocence. This is our chance to leave everything behind us, to make a brand new start. It’s got nothing to do with buying things, buying Christmas- but to live it. Live it as a child. Once a year we- even as an adult- are allowed to- welcome to- behave, to act and to feel like a child. To exhale what bothers us and to inhale what cheers us to be reborn again. A brand new start. Being innocent again. Like our children. It’s our children that will live our future, our dreams. And the present to us, the grownups, is to share their behavior, their spirit.

Comparing our life to “Outliers” by Malcolm Gladwell

Talking about “Outliers” by Malcolm Gladwell I can say that, looking at some points in this book is comparable with what I’ve heard from some friends of mine. For example the 10,000-hour rule that says that it takes plus/minus 10,000 hours of practice, of exercise to be really good in something. Whether it is sports, programming computers, playing music or others. This friend of mine, let’s call him Michael, he is a remarkable piano player and painter in Hamburg, Germany. He is playing in big concert halls, his paintings are exhibited in the big galleries. One day he told me about his point of view about how long, in average, it takes to get successful as an artist. Yes, he too, he confessed this thesis. He really had the gift to play piano much better than others, he started in an early age to practice. Still, the first six, seven years were just hard work. Of course, as a child and later as a teenager Michael had other things in his mind, friends, girlfriends, parties etc. But- as Gladwell says in his book, after about 10,000 hours he began to be successful with what he practiced all the past years.

3rd “Outliers” by Malcolm Gladwell

Another interesting and exiting part in “Outliers” is when Malcolm Gladwell writes about the “culture of honor”. That’s how this extraordinary author calls people from the south, people that are – since generations- mostly cowboys and having their live stocks. Of course these people are living in a society full of violence because to fight was kind of their daily business. They were forced to prove that they are brave, that they are strong. Being strong was the only guarantee to survive. They had to protect and to defend what they had. So- during generations- these peoples’ violence rate was of course much higher than the one from the people living in the northern parts of the country. The people in the northern parts mostly were farmers, so there was no need for fights, no need for violence because it was not necessary to protect or defend fruits, corn etc. Because of this fact these people, during generations, lived their lives more peacefully.

2nd - “Outliers” by Malcolm Gladwell

As we said before, “Outliers” by bestseller author Malcolm Gladwell is a book about success. Gladwell brings in the point of the 10,000 hours-rule that says to be really good – or successful- in something it takes about 10,000 hours of exercise, of practice. Well, that’s a long time, for sure. But as Malcolm Gladwell is able to prove in his statistics it is a matter of fact that it always took people that long to really be successful. Bill Gates, in his school time was programming computers during about seven years which was in accumulation 10,000 hours. The amazing success of the Beatles was only possible because of their contract they had in a bar in Hamburg, Germany. When they arrived in Hamburg they were only one of hundreds of unknown bands. But part of the Hamburg-contract was that they had to play eight hours, seven days a week. Only because of this high number of hours they were playing- exercising- they reached the goal of a 10,000 hour training.

“Outliers” by Malcolm Gladwell

In our English Class we read the book “Outliers” by bestseller author Malcolm Gladwell.
“Outlier is: a) something that is situated away from or classed differently from a main or related body or
b) a statistical observation that is markedly different in value from the others of the sample.”
Reading this book we find out exciting facts for example that a high IQ is not necessarily a guarantee for success, there also is the need of being creative. Once you are upon the so called threshold it is no more that important weather your IQ is 130 or 200. With a very high IQ it is more important to be, as I said before, creative but also to have practical intelligence. This means that we have to be able to really communicate, to let others know what we like, what we want and what we are able to do. Some people are “talkers”, others are “listeners”. In daily life and- to become successful- it is much more helpful to learn the skills of being a talker, being active.

About “Animal Farm” by George Orwell

For our English class we had to read the classical book “Animal Farm” by George Orwell. It is an allegory about the animals at The Manor Farm that overtake the farm to rule it by themselves. In the beginning of the story the tortured creatures rebel, they attack and chase away the farmer, his wife and men to overtake The Manor Farm. They change the name into “Animal Farm”, then create seven commandments, like “Animals are good, Humans are bad”. But the most important one says that “All Animals are Equal”. In their beginnings they live in harmony and do efficient teamwork. The pigs do all the brainwork because they are the smartest race and soon they also do all important decisions. After a view decades the pigs make the other animals work harder for less food. They betray the others, they change the commandments for their own good. The pigs now live separated in the farmhouse, start dressing like humans, drink alcohol and behave more and more like men. They terrify the other animals and even kill some of them for the prove of their power. At the end of the story, when the pigs invite some farmers for an inspection, they look and act like them, think like them. Like their last, faked commandment that says: “ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL BUT SOME ANIMALS ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS”. I think that this popular, outstanding story is an excellent example that indicates the high value of the idea of communism, the ideal of an equal society. But in most cases, like in the times of Stalin, it is adorable ideal to think about it but nearly impossible to practice.