"Noesterer Franz"
f.noesterer@eduhi.at
BOOKREPORTS, JULIA NÖSTERER, 6b 1
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N.H. Kleinbaum, a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, is
a former newspaper reporter and editor. Her other novelizations include the Bantam Starfire
title Growing Pains and D.A.R.Y.L. She lives in Mt. Kisco, New York, with her husband and
her three children.
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Dead Poets Society is based on the motion picture written by Tom Schulman, so it is the
novelization of this film.
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The story is set in the US in the US at Welton Academy, which is the best preparatory school
in the US, in the fifties (to be exact 1959) and covers about four months of a school year.
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The story is told in the form of a third-person narrative. He or she is omniscient.
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The teacher of English John Keating inspires Todd Anderson and his friends to recreate the
Dead Poets Society, a secret club where members are free from everyday compulsions and the
expectations of their school and parents. They read poems to each other, discover the beauty
of language and understand the meaning of “Carpe Diem” – to make life extraordinary, to
make each moment count.
Mr Nolan dissolves the Dead Poets Society after Neil after Neil, a member of the club, shoots
himself because his parents forbid him to fulfil his biggest dream: to become an actor.
In the end Mr Keating is suspended for neglecting his responsibility.
The action is presented chronologically with no leaps of time forward (foreshadowings) or
backward (flashbacks). There are subplots which deal with the dreams or activities of Mr
Keating’s students. This makes the action a bit complex.
The novel has an exposition dealing with the beginning of a new school year. The climax is
Neil’s dramatic death. The story has more or less an open ending. Mr Keating is suspended
and so the members of the Dead Poets Society are without a real parent figure. It is not clear
"Noesterer Franz"
f.noesterer@eduhi.at
BOOKREPORTS, JULIA NÖSTERER, 6b 2
what the boys are going to do. Will they forget the concepts of their English teacher or will
they stand up for Mr Keating?
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one of Mr Keating’s students, purposeful, he has strict parents who want him
to become an academic, but his biggest wish is to become an actor, in the end
he commits suicide because his patents are uncompromising with regard to
his dream job
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he joins his friends at Welton a year later because he has had to pull up
his marks at another school, he suffers from the existence of his elder
brother , who is a “genius”, so he has some big shoes to fill, he is
ignored by his parents, he is shy and he isn’t confident, he is Neil’s best
friend
His character changes in the course of the story because of the Dead
Poets Society and Mr Keating, who helps him to gather some inner
strength, self-confidence and courage
•
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he is a dreamer, he loves Chris but she still has a boyfriend, she finds
herself infatuated with Knox in the end
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he plays the sax, he wants to be called “Nuwanda” by his friends, he is a
bit of a macho
These four boys are about the same age (they are peers) and they are good friends. All in all
they are the main members of the Dead Poets Society. Other members are:
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English teacher, breaks the old traditions of the school, addressed “Oh
Captain! My Captain!” by his students (echoing by Whitman, who
wrote about Abraham Lincoln), self-confident, understanding, loves
poems and teaching profession, wants the boys to make their lives
extraordinary, intents to make free thinkers of them, inspires his
pupils to reintroduce the Dead Poets Society, he was a member of the
First Dead Poets Society, he was a former student from Welton, he is
in his early 30ies, he has got a sharp sense of humour
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his own advantages are most important for him, he is an egoist.
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: he is the headmaster at Welton, he is a strict man and in favour of the
four pillars at Welton which are tradition, honour, discipline and
excellence, these pillars should become the cornerstones of the pupils’
lives, conservative
The characters are portrayed in an indirect way. The reader gets a picture of them through
their actions, their speech and their dreams.
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In the main the novel in written in direct speech . The sentences are not too long and not too
difficult with the exception of the poems and a few scenes of “A Midsummer Night’s
Dream”. The language often creates a special atmosphere – sometimes a melancholy or sad
one
"Noesterer Franz"
f.noesterer@eduhi.at
BOOKREPORTS, JULIA NÖSTERER, 6b 3
“One by one, and then in groups, others in the class followed their lead, stood on their desks
in silent and saluted to Mr Keating who stood at he door, overcome with emotion. “Thank you
boys,” he said. “I ..... thank you.....”)
or a dramatic one filled with anguish and grief
“Todd hears about Neil’s death. He runs across the room, screaming painfully, “Neil! Neil!”
Falling against the wall he starts sobbing again and the other boys leave him alone, sitting on
the floor and crying out his grief.”
Two principles pervade the whole book: Mr Nolan’s four pillars (tradition, honour, discipline,
excellence) and “Carpe Diem”, Keating’s motto. “Carpe Diem” is Latin and paraphrased in a
poem:
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N.H. Kleinbaum writes about the life of 16-year-old boys at Welton Academy. She criticises
the way teenagers are educated at this school. The principle of Welton’s education is to follow
“the four pillars” and you will succeed in life. Mrs Kleinbaums message is that we should
think about “Carpe Diem” and maybe live by this motto. We should set ourselves a goal and
do everything to achieve it. We should realise our dreams. Maybe we will succeed, maybe we
won’t. It is the try which is important. The author of the book challenges us to make our lives
extraordinary.
Mrs Kleinbaum made me think about the motto “Carpe Diem”. She inspired me to organise
my life according to my personal priorities. First we must be happy and satisfied with our life,
no matter how. And then we can think about our career and success.
"Noesterer Franz"
f.noesterer@eduhi.at
BOOKREPORTS, JULIA NÖSTERER, 6b 4
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I am sorry, I couldn’t find any information about Morton Rhue.
I only know that this book is a novelization of a teleplay by Johnny Dawkins based on a short
story by Ron Jones.
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When Ben Ross, a history teacher at Gordon High School, shows his students a film about the
cruelties in the Nazi concentration camps they are shocked and upset. They can’t understand
how such a small minority of people was able to rule the majority and so they ask their
teacher about it. Mr Ross isn’t able to give an adequate answer either, but he thinks that it has
to be something one could only understand by being there or if possible by creating a similar
situation. The idea intrigues him and he thinks it is worth a try. So he invents “The Wave” as
a classroom experiment....
The next history lesson Mr Ross starts the experiment my writing the slogan “Strength
through discipline” on the blackboard. The students have to do drill exercises such as
wandering through the classroom and sit down as fast as they can when their teacher tells
them to do so. From that day on the pupils also have to follow certain rules. As Mr Ross had
feared they are fascinated of the power and the success they can feel.
Christy, Ben’s wife, warns him about the experiment. She says it is more than a game and that
her husband had created a monster. (Later on she warns him that he might lose control. He
keeps right...)
In the next lesson Ben Ross gives the class a new motto “Strength through community” and
also a common salute and a common sign which the teacher draws on the blackboard: A circle
with the shape of a wave in it.
The next day Ross hands out yellow membership cards. Those pupils who get a card with a
red X on it are monitors, that means that they have to inform their leader about any violation
against the group’s rules. Moreover a new watchword is added: “Strength through Action”
and the pupils are asked to attract other students to join the wave. They do so, but by scaring
methods..... For example a Jewish boy who doesn’t want to join the wave gets beaten up and
called “Dirty Jew”,
Laurie’s boyfriend David breaks up with her because she opposes the Wave. But she doesn’t
change her mind and writes an criticising article about the, how she calls it “dangerous and
mindless movement”. After school David waits for her because he wants her to stop talking
against the Wave. When she denies to do so David gets mad and knocks her down. Only just
he realises what bad thing the Wave is and the couple decides to visit Mr Ross to tell him to
stop the experiment. He has already got a plan how to finish it, but he can’t tell Laurie and
David because if the students recognise that he wants to end it they will have learnt nothing or
they will fight against Ben Ross and giving up the Wave.
"Noesterer Franz"
f.noesterer@eduhi.at
BOOKREPORTS, JULIA NÖSTERER, 6b 5
So Ben Ross organises a Wave rally saying that all members have to come because the leader
will speak to them. When the auditorium is filled with people Ben shouts “There is your
leader!” and on the large movie screen behind him appears a gigantic image of Adolf Hitler.
He tells them that they had changed their equality to superiority over non-Wave members,
that they had accepted the group’s will over their own convictions. They all would have made
good Nazis he points out. The effect of this speech on the students is staggering. It had been a
painful lesson for them to see that fascism isn’t just something that other people did, but that
it was right there, in all of them.
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she is the only one who feels strange about the Wave, she is a very good
student, as said in the book she is the “class princess”, she refuses to join
the organization and for that reason her boyfriend David breaks up with
her, she has a very good relationship with her parents who she informs
about the Wave, they agree that the motion is like a cult or a sect, it is
too militaristic and like brainwashing, the members of the Wave say that
Laurie is a threat and has to be stopped (for example on day she finds the
word “
enemy
” written in red letters on her locker), especially when she
writes a critical article in the schoolpaper, considering the organization
dangerous, mindless and doing more harm than good, in the end she is
able to convict Ben Ross to stop the Wave.
•
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he is a young History teacher at Gordon High School, he is married to Christy
who is against the Wave from the first moment onward, she warns him that one
day he will lose control and she keeps right, Ben just wants to give his students
an insight into the Nazi regime, he doesn’t know that in the end he will
succeed so well, the Wave is a painful experience for him too.
But it is a more terrible lesson for Robert, the class loser and outcast. He liked
the Wave very much because there he was equal. Ben Ross comforts him in the
end.
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The Wave is based on a true incident that occurred in a high school history class in Palo Alto,
California, in 1969. For three years afterwards, according to the teacher, Ron Jones, no one
talked about it. “It was,” he said, “one of the most frightening events I have ever experienced
in the classroom.
“The Wave” disrupted an entire school. The novel dramatizes the incident, showing how the
powerful forces of group pressure that have pervaded many historical movements and cults
can persuade people to join such movements and give up their individual rights in the process
– sometimes causing great harm to others. The full impact on the students of what they lived
through and learned is realistically portrayed in the book.
(Taken from the afterword)
"Noesterer Franz"
f.noesterer@eduhi.at
BOOKREPORTS, JULIA NÖSTERER, 6b 6
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All in all I didn’t like the book a lot. There are such a lot of books dealing with the subject of
the second world war and for this reason I think that this topic has been “recycled” too often.
But I think it gives an impulse to think about myself. How would I have reacted in this
situation? Would I have joined the Wave or would I have opposed it? Well, I think I would
have swum with the current, because I do not want to make my life more complicated than it
already is. I get influenced and manipulated very easily and so I think I would have reacted
the same as the majority: I would have joined the motion without thinking a lot about what I
was doing, feeling strong through community....
"Noesterer Franz"
f.noesterer@eduhi.at
BOOKREPORTS, JULIA NÖSTERER, 6b 7
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There are two main characters in this mystery novel, which are portrayed through the way
they act, what they say and through their behaviour: The protagonist Natalie Barnes and the
antagonist Tulip Pierces. Natalie, who is the first person narrator of the story, is the daughter
of the manager of a hotel called Palace. She is at a disadvantage by her mother because of her
younger brother Julius who is the apple of her mum’s eye. Everything to do with him comes
first and second and next and last. Although Natalie is still very young she already has very
mature thoughts for her age. She analyses everything except her eight years lasting friendship
with Tulip because they feel like sisters. Every time the two girls get up to mischief Natalie is
the one who gets told off. She just wants to keep her friend out of trouble. But in spite of
everything she is proud of Tulip. Until the day when.....
Tulip comes from a very bad social background. She was never taught how to distinguish
right from wrong. Rules don’t matter to her because whatever she does she gets punished, so
she doesn’t bother about them. She was brought up as if feelings don’t matter and so she
assumes that other people’s don’t matter much either. She is fascinated of death, violence and
fire. Moreover she is nosy about other people’s feelings and it seems as if she had none of her
own. Tulip gets amusement by tormenting animals and persons, even Natalie. She just likes to
prod and invest, and twist and poke, to watch people go ugly with fright, or burst into tears of
misery. Her mother is too feeble to protect herself and her daughter against the vile,
aggressive and bullying father. She is out of school more often than in and when she is there
she is a real nuisance. When she is at the Palace it seems as there was a sort of magic around
her. She does everything to impress her new friend Natalie and her family; she flirts with
Natalie´s dad and sucks up to her mum. But in her “home” she seems different, just a shell, as
if she’d slipped away invisibly and left some strange, strained imitation in her place. Tulip lies
right, but that is what Natalie´s father calls the “Tulip Touch”: This tiny detail that almost
makes you wonder if she might, just for once, be telling the truth. She loathes being teased
and anyone who doesn’t believe her is going to be her enemy and hated for ever. But why
does she tell lies all the time? Well, perhaps because in her eyes it is the world that is wrong,
not her words. The desolate girl with the pale and apprehensive face only acts her age once a
year, and that’s at Christmas day which she spends at the Palace every year. It’s Tulip’s
favourite day and it plays a key role in the story.
When Natalie first meets Tulip she is standing still as a statue in the sea of corn, nursing a
kitten. The two girls make friends and spends loads of time together inventing cruel and
unpleasant games like “Hogs in a Tunnel”, “Road of Bones” or “Fat in the Fire”. They usually
play at the Palace because Natalie´s father forbids her to go to Tulip’s because it is “no fit
place for a child” as he calls it. Natalie´s teachers realise Tulip’s family background problems
and warn her of the bad influence she has on her. They say Tulip is a “hold-your-coat-
merchant”. Tulip starts to influence Natalie´s thoughts and so they slowly become criminals.
When they first start with a game called “Little Visits” it is their aim to get into the people’s
"Noesterer Franz"
f.noesterer@eduhi.at
BOOKREPORTS, JULIA NÖSTERER, 6b 8
by asking them for some small favours, but gradually the two girls set harder and harder tasks.
Finally they invent the “Wild Nights” because of Tulip’s passion for fire. And one of these
nights makes the turning point of the mystery novel. Natalie is bewitched by the fire of the
barn they had set alight. It seems to Natalie as if her friend is living her secret life while she is
doing what she was told. Suddenly she becomes aware of she was Tulip’s slave and decides
not to stand in her shadow any more. She cuts herself off from Tulip and comes across a few
things she’d totally forgotten: the feeling of power and the sense of being in control. She feels
relief as if she was coming out of dust. She doesn’t want to be the Natalie she has been before.
One day the police comes to ask her about Tulip who has got into severe trouble. They want
her to help them to analyse her to understand why she does such things like stealing or arson
attacks. From this day on she checks the newspaper every day to find out if Tulip has done
anything criminal again.
When Natalie meets her again Tulip threats that she will play just one more game, but that
would be the worst of all. So she set the Palace on fire at Christmas Evening.
P
P
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E
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S
O
O
O
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N
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A
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L
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“No one is born evil. No one.” That’s the subtitle of the book. It refers to Tulip. It makes me
think why she behaves the way she does. In my opinion she does so because of the treatment
she gets at home. Her parents never told her what was right or wrong. Where could she know
it from then? So in my opinion the character of a person depends on the upbringing. It are the
parents who build up the mind of a child, who’s responsibility it is to give their child a sense
of right and wrong and to prepare him or her for the future, for life.
I do not know if I feel sympathy for Tulip. One the one hand she is just an ordinary young girl
who hasn’t received adequate treatment. But on the other hand there is something wicked
about her, something evil...
"Noesterer Franz"
f.noesterer@eduhi.at
BOOKREPORTS, JULIA NÖSTERER, 6b 9
M
M
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The story of Matilda is completed with illustrations by Quentin Blake (which I liked even
better than the story itself...). It was first published in 1988 by Jonathan Cape and it was the
winner of the “Children’s Book Award”. The book is processed in three different ways: The
book, the cassette and the video. It is no special type of book; it is a mixture between fiction,
adventure, mystery, thriller and more. But, in my opinion, just for children.
T
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Matilda is a sensitive, brilliant and exceptional girl, but Mr and Mrs Wormwood treat her as a
scab, not a daughter. They think she is a nuisance and a noisy chatterbox.
By the age of one and a half years Matilda’s speech is already perfect and she knows as many
words as most adults. By the time when she is three years old she has taught herself to read by
studying newspapers and magazines that are laying around the house. And after one more
year Matilda is able to read fast and well and she naturally begins hankering after books.
On the afternoon on the day when her father had refused to buy her a book, Matilda set out all
by herself to walk to the public library in the village. It doesn’t take her very long to read all
the books in the children’s section and over the next six months Mrs Phels, the librarian,
introduces her to many books for grown ups written by famous authors.
Matilda’s family is addicted to watch TV. (To watch the “telly” as written in the book.) The
protagonist of the story can’t stand that and so she starts to play nasty tricks on them.
Matilda is five and a half years old when she enters school for the first time. Mrs Honey, her
teacher, is very friendly and patient. She soon notices that her pupil is someone special and
she is very surprised when she finds out that the young girl is perfect in reading, arithmetic
and more subjects. But she can’t believe that Matilda learns all these things by herself,
without the help of an adult.
But there are some angry and disliking people in her school too. And one day something very
strange happens to Matilda: When she is attacked by her odious headmistress, Miss
Trunchbull, something crazy happens to her body. There is something like electricity all
around her. Suddenly she discovers that she has a remarkable power to avenge herself with.
So when she finds out that Mrs Trunchbull does a lot of dreadful incidents to her favourite
teacher Miss Honey, she decides to help her by her physic forces. Finally, after she had
prepared her project very carefully, her plan works. The next morning Miss Trunchbull
doesn’t turn up at school and all her personal items are missing. The headmistress
inexplicable vanishes. On the second morning Miss Honey receives a letter from a firm of
solicitors informing her that the last will (testament) of her father has suddenly a mysterious
turned up and that she is the rightful owner of a very big house, so to say a villa. And her
father’s lifetime savings have been left to her too! Soon there is a new headmaster instead of
Mrs Trunchbull and Matilda is moved up into the top form.
A few weeks later Matilda completely loses her power. Surprisingly Matilda is glad about that
because as she says: “I do not want to go through life as a mystical worker.” On the same day
"Noesterer Franz"
f.noesterer@eduhi.at
BOOKREPORTS, JULIA NÖSTERER, 6b 10
her family is preparing to go to Spain, because her father is in with a bunch of crooks. So just
sees one way out of this situation: to go to another country where the police can’t catch him.
But Matilda doesn’t want to go with them. She wants to stay with her teacher. Her parents
agree with this proposal (!!!) , drive away and do not even look back. They drive around the
corner and disappear forever. Miss Honey and Matilda live contented and happily in their big
house. All’s well that ends well...
And they lived happily ever after.....
M
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Matilda struggles through her busy life with her crazy family. She discovers her mystery
power and learns to cope with it and to use it. She fights against the horrible headmistress Mrs
Trunchbull to do her favourite teacher Miss Honey a favour. Well, all in all her life is a big
adventure and an endless fight against the “silly members of her life”.
Matilda is a very intelligent, nice girl who loves books even more than her own life and so she
is the black sheep of her telly-addicted family so to say. She doesn’t fit into that so called
“family picture”.
P
P
P
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S
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O
O
O
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Again I am in two minds about a book. On the one hand I didn’t like the story because it was
too childish and so I was bored to death. But I have to pay a great compliment to the author of
the story, Roald Dahl. The way he formulates the sentences really appeals to young readers. I
liked it to be written in a very easy language without any word I had to look up in the
dictionary but perhaps I even didn’t like it for that reason. It wasn’t so much challenge and so
I couldn’t improve my knowledge a lot. And that is the aim of reading a book in a foreign
language, especially at school, isn’t it?!
"Noesterer Franz"
f.noesterer@eduhi.at
BOOKREPORTS, JULIA NÖSTERER, 6b 11
T
T
T
H
H
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Roald Dahl was born on September 13, 1916 in Llandaff, South Wales. He has got three
sisters Alfhild, Else, Asta and Astri. He was educated in Llandraff Cathedral School, then he
was sent to an English boarding school: St. Peter`s. He was good at sports but academically
he was toward the bottom of the class. One of his main hobbies was reading, and some of his
favourite novelists were the adventure writers Rudyard Kipling, Captain Marryat, H. Rider
Haggard and G.A Henty. Their books influenced Dahl’s life and his own writing. By the time
Roald Dahl was 13 the family moved to Kent in England and was sent to the famous Repton
Public School. After completing his education at Repton Dahl decided that he wanted a career
that would take him to “wonderful far places like Africa or China”. So he went on a sea
voyage to East Africa and there he started to work for the Shell Oil Company. In 1939, it was
the second world war, Dahl joined the RAF (Royal Air Force) and learnt to fly warplanes.
Unfortunately he crashed in the Libyan desert in 1940. His skull was fractured, his nose was
pushed in and blinded him for days. His first book was “The Gremlins”. If the Gremlins never
reached the big screen, the experience certainly made Dahl’s name as a writer. By the fall of
1944 he had a literary agent, Ann Watkins, and he had published a number of stories in
American magazines. In 1945 Dahl moved back home to Amersham to be near his mother
Sofie. There he wrote a book called “Sometime Never”, which was a total flop. Dahl helped
his mentor American Charles Marsh set up a charity known as the Marsh'’ Public Welfare
Foundation. When he travelled to the Big Apple in 1951 he met there his future wife, actress
Patricia Neal. They married on July2, 1953 at Trinity Church in New York. In 1983 he was
the winner of the Whitbread Award. Roald Dahl died in November 1990 at the age of
seventy-four.
S
S
S
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:
:
:
•
Charlie and the
Chocolate Factory
•
James and the Giant
Peach
•
Boy
•
Repton Public School
•
Going Solo
•
Snake-Catcher
•
Shoot one of them
down
•
The Gremlins
•
Over to You
•
Sometime Never
•
Someone Like You
•
Matilda
•
The BFG
•
The Witches
•
The Twits
•
George’s Marvellous
Medicine
•
Charlie and the Great
Glass Elevator
"Noesterer Franz"
f.noesterer@eduhi.at
BOOKREPORTS, JULIA NÖSTERER, 6b 12
•
Danny The Champion
of the World
•
The Magic Finger
•
Fantastic Mr Fox
•
The Vicar of
Nibbleswicke
•
Rhyme Stew
•
The Giraffe and the
Pelly and Me
•
Esio Trot
•
The Enormous
Crocodile
•
Dirty Beasts
S
S
S
U
U
U
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A third person narrator (Roald Dahl) tells the story, or I could also say the fairy tale, of the
change of Henry Sugar. Well, from the beginning. Henry Sugar drives from London to
Guildford to stay with Sir William Wyndham, who owns a magnificent estate. But when he
arrives it is pelting with rain and all the rich people are sitting in the drawing room , all of
them resentful of the bad weather, because that is the only discomfort that their money can’t
do anything about. So he goes to the library and when he finds a book called
A REPORT ON AN INTERVIEW
WITH IMHRAT KHAN; THE MAN WHO
COULD SEE WITHOUT HIS EYES
By
Dr John F. Cartwright
Bombay, India
December, 1934
his interest is stirred. It deals with an Indian (minor character of the story) man who comes to
see a doctor to get the confirmation of his ability to see without using his eyes and to ask him
for the favour blindfold him and so give him the chance to offer proof. So he seals down his
eyelids, fills his eye-sockets with dough, lay a thick wad of cotton-wool on his eyes and
bandage his hand with two rolls of 3-inch bandage. To the physician’s surprise the man walks
out the hospital as if his eyes weren’t covered with several layers of stuff. Outside he takes his
bicycle and proceeds to ride out into the bustling honking traffic of the street. But why all
this? Well, the doctor gets the explanation from the placard the man had with him on his bike:
I
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!
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.
.
.
"Noesterer Franz"
f.noesterer@eduhi.at
BOOKREPORTS, JULIA NÖSTERER, 6b 13
D
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’
’
’
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And because all this is so unbelievable the doctor invites the Indian to have supper with him
after the show. Anyway, out of curiosity, he wants Imhrat Khan to explain him how he
developed this magical power to write his story down, what would moreover help the artist to
become known better. And so he starts to tell him:
He is a Hindu and he was born in Akhnur, in Kashmir State, in 1905. His family is poor
because his father is just a ticket inspector on the railway. When he was 13 an Indian conjurer
comes to his school and gives performance. Imhrat is impressed and feels a powerful wish to
learn this magic himself. So he runs away from home to follow his new hero and becomes his
assistant. After some weeks it comes to him that all this “magic” is just trickery and quickness
of the hand. So he loses every bit of interest in his job and longs to find out about the real
magic and about the strange power calls yoga. One day he hears about Banerjee, one of the
truly yogis of India who possesses the rare power of levitation. Unfortunately he doesn’t want
Imhrat to become his disciple but gives him a note to another yogi who finally gives him
instructions and tells him that he will have to train for about 15 years to become a yogi too.
After three years exercising he is able to walk over glowing embers, and after this success he
decides that he will concentrate everything upon this single aim – to see without his eyes.
So every night he lights a candle at dead level to his eyes, stares at the black part of the flame,
then shuts his eyes and concentrates upon one single object. Well, at the age of 24 he is
slowly beginning to develop an inner sense of sight. For him the sense organs are just
instruments which assist in conveying the sensation itself to the brain. Now, at the age of 29,
he is able to read a book blindfolded, “seeing” with his other parts of the body.
That night the doctor feels aware of that he has seen a miracle. From a doctor’s point of view
Imhrat Khan must be the most valuable man alive. He could change the whole course of
medicine. But the next day when Dr John F. Cartwright comes to see him again he is dead.
Referring to this report Henry Sugar realises that if only he could train himself to do the same
he could make a fortune. So he tries the stuff with the candle-flame that doesn’t appear to be
particularly hard work. Surprisingly he shows unusual patience and good sense at this point
and his progress is remarkable. Henry thinks he must be the one-in-a-million person who is
gifted with the ability to acquire yoga powers at incredible speed. He gives up all card games
and razzing to parties with friends. Everything else has to wait until he succeeds. Some time
during the 10
th
month he becomes aware of a slight ability to see an object with eyes closed.
And that’s the time he tries the stuff with the card. And it works! His target is four seconds to
see the reverse side of a card, only within this time he will be able to work the casinos
successfully. After three years and three months he reaches his aim and goes to his favourite
casino. The only problem is that he mustn’t win too much or somebody will get suspicious.
Henry wins a lot of money but he can’t understand why he feels so little excitement about his
tremendous success. In the contrary. He feels melancholy. It is beginning to dawn upon Mr.
Sugar that nothing is any fun if you can get as much of it as you want. So he goes onto his
balcony and throws the banknotes out in the street and decides to give the rest of is profit to
an orphanage or anything like that. So he travels around in the world, winning a lot of money
in the casinos and founds a company calling it ORPHANAGES S.A.
Henry dies at the age of 63 when his work is completed, and he has been at it for just on 20
years. He leaves 21 well-established well-run orphanages scattered about the world.
"Noesterer Franz"
f.noesterer@eduhi.at
BOOKREPORTS, JULIA NÖSTERER, 6b 14
H
H
H
E
E
E
N
N
N
R
R
R
Y
Y
Y
S
S
S
U
U
U
G
G
G
A
A
A
R
R
R
Actually I have to describe the main character before and after his change. He is very well-
drawn and described in a very direct way. At first he is the antagonist of the “true story”, how
Roald Dahl calls it. Henry Sugar is 41 years old and unmarried because he is too selfish to
share his money with a wife. He is wealthy because of inherited money and he has never
learnt anything or done any work before. His motto, which he has invented himself, says a lot
about his character: It is better to incur a mild rebuke than to perform an onerous task. He is
not as good looking a he thinks he is (although plastic surgeons keep correcting his face) and
he pays great deal of attention to his clothes. Mr Sugar drives a Ferrari car and lives in a
country cottage. Men like him can be found all over the world. They are of no real
importance, they are just part of decoration. They have a terrific urge to make themselves still
wealthier than they already are, they are longing to get more money. They employ the same
methods for trying to increase fortunes, for example they buy stocks and shares, play in
casinos and bet just about everything. (For the most part Henry isn’t really fair in those
games....) With games the high society tries to conquer the boredom of being both idle and
rich.
After Henry Sugar has read the book he changes completely. He isn’t that avaricious, vain,
egoistic and standoffish man any more. In the contrary. He is charitable and cares about all
human beings. That change is what makes the story interesting.
P
P
P
E
E
E
R
R
R
S
S
S
O
O
O
N
N
N
A
A
A
L
L
L
O
O
O
P
P
P
I
I
I
N
N
N
I
I
I
O
O
O
N
N
N
That is really a recommendable book! I enjoyed reading it a lot because I could identify with
the protagonist of the “story in the story”. I practice yoga too and to be honest perhaps I have
a slightly esotericism-touch. I am really fond of all these things because I think there is a little
bit of mystery and magic in it. Well, perhaps esotericism is just something I can satisfy my
curiosity with.
Moreover in my opinion the idea of a “story in a story” I almost brilliant. I really got absorbed
by the book and so I devoured it within only one sunny afternoon.
"Noesterer Franz"
f.noesterer@eduhi.at
BOOKREPORTS, JULIA NÖSTERER, 6b 15
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