Dodger - Terry Pratchett
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| Pic courtesy of Wikipedia, cover design by Paul Kidby |
Basic plot
This book is set in London sometime during the early years of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, and the main protagonist is Dodger. This character is clearly based on the well known Artful Dodger (a character of Charles Dickens, who incidently is also a character in the story) but as a young man living pretty much on the streets as a tosher. In this tale the young Dodger happens across some men beating up on a girl and comes to her rescue. He then makes it his primary concern to see that she is kept safe from the people trying to hurt her. He makes some unlikely friends and finds help in unlikely places, and ultimately the boy gets the girl and there are happy endings all round. Sorry for ruining the ending but there you go.My thoughts?
I think my favorite character was Simplicity, the girl that Dodger rescues and falls in love with. She has a back story that you never actually get to hear about but is hinted at, and I like that I can kind of invent her story myself. You have enough sketchy details to make it cool. And I really like how she saw past the fact the Dodger is a street rat.
Something about the whole thing reminded me of the latest 3 Musketeers movie (the one that come out some time in the 2000's, with the young super cute guy) where the lowly unlikely hero ends up dining with royalty and gets the pretty lady.
The funniest thing is I don't usually read these types of stories, I usually prefer something more serious. I also used to go mental for a good sci-fi fantasy story but I have gone off them a bit recently.
Writing?
It is well written. But it should be, Terry Pratchett is a really famous author so if it was bad it would be a worry. The English is easy to read and follow, unlike some books I have read that try and use "old English". I look at books now and try and decide what level of reader it would be suitable for. If they had reasonable good comprehension this book is suitable for high level middle school, there is a little bit of violence but nothing too bad, a bit of kissing but only really light and cute. No sex or sexual references. No innuendo There are some very uncommon expressions and metaphors that ESL learners would have trouble with but it might make for a good conversation topic. I would think it could potentially be used for high school or adult reading classes, none of the words were too bad for pronunciation and all that but I have never had to pick a book for this sort of thing before.
If we were at home and I was teaching a class of Australian students I think it would actually be a fun book to use for reading activities. I have no idea what age it is aimed at but I would think older teens would have no problems, and even younger teens might enjoy it.
I have never read any of Mr. Pratchett's other books, but I know he is famous for the Discworld novels... I did enjoy this book so maybe I will give some of his other stuff a try.
So, i'm not sure... in reviews am I supposed to talk about themes? Because I don't really know much about this type of thing.
When I read books I try not to over analyse things. Some books stay with me for a long time after I read them, and even then I don't know if I would want to start dissecting it. So I won't do it for this one either (or any of the other ones I may or may not review). All up, yes, I would recommend this story for a light, easy read. Was it one of the most amazing stories ever? No. It was not a serious read although I suppose there were some darker themes in it.
:D
In other news...
I am still trying to figure out exactly how this school calender works. It seems that now I have no classes until March, and the students actually have the last 2 weeks of February off for 'spring break'. So I will be desk warming until then. On the plus side we have a seriously long weekend coming up, I get the Friday, Monday AND Tuesday off for Lunar New Year. So thats super cool. I just wish I had known sooner cos I might have been able to plan something fun.
I am really sad at school that one of my co workers is leaving. Jeong I will miss you!!!! Who will I talk to at school now?!?!?!?! But good luck with your studying.
The first of my Korea friends is going home soon. And so comes to pass the things I have been dreading - saying goodbye to friends. I know this was to be expected, but that doesn't mean I am happy about it. I like to think that the friendships I am making here in Korea will be life long but I know how hard it is to keep in contact with people you don't see every day. Look at high school! Pretty much all of us still live in the same state and we never catch up. So I know it will be hard for my friends overseas. I must be very diligent about keeping in contact and staying connected. And the longer I am here and the more we all hang out the closer everyone gets. I am gonna cry like a baby when my besties start dropping off. Thank God Jess is here forever wuahahahahaha.
Anyway, signing out for now. I'm starting another book today so maybe after the weekend I will have another stupidly written review for ya.
xoxoxoxo
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