When he fell onto a live grenade, he was willing to sacrifice his life to save his platoon. But Cormier shatters this illusion by revealing that Francis' act was not truly selfless, but rather a desperate attempt at suicide. This is another one of those books which my son brought home from school, apparently it is part of his GCSE English curriculum. I wasn't really looking forward to it and I was thinking it was just going to be a war thiller. Ich bin froh, dass der Autor nicht nur die bekannten Helden wieder aufgreift oder die altbekannten Heldentaten nacherzählt. Sehr amüsant und lustig werden die Heldentaten aufgezählt, ganz nüchtern ohne die Taten zu urteilen. Als ich das Buch angefangen habe, hatte ich Kommentare vom Autor erwartet, aber wenn man sein Nachwort liest, versteht man, warum er die Geschichten so erzählt hat. Insbesondere haben mir die Geschichten um Herakles und Atalante gefallen. I tend to rate non fiction differently. It’s more about whether I learn or get something out of it which I certainly did! Heroes by Stephen Fry is a book I had to listen to. Fry’s narration is wonderful - perfect pronunciation, timbre, pace, drama for effect, and of course, he's bloody funny. I really recommend listening to this if you can – it is terrific.

Following his first book on Greek mythology “Mythos” ( https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...), Stephen Fry continue to explore the classical tales of ancient Greece with “Heroes”, which explores the stories around such famous characters as Heracles, Jason, Theseus, Orpheus, Atalanta and Oedipus. Humor ovde funkcioniše na tri nivoa. Fraj zna da proširi mitove komičnim ulošcima, a dijalozi su posebno simpatični. Ima deo gde prepričava kako Herakle i Atlas ubeđuju jedan drugog "pridrži mi samo malo ovo nebo, odmah se vraćam". Drugo, Fraj jeste glumac, ali je i talentovan pisac, tako da zna da napiše zabavne igre rečima. I na kraju, u audio knjizi dobijaš i njegovu naraciju. Ne znam da li bih je poredio sa Pajtonovcima, ali su mi padali na pamet.Nicole is a kind girl, and wants to help people. She becomes a volunteer... with the Monument Red Cross... preparing food kits for servicemen. Enrico Rucelli: Francis met Enrico during his time at war. His experiences are used to show the extent of war as he lost both his legs and his left arm. He has a cheerful attitude despite his injuries but he does feel despair. I suppose one of the things that is a deciding factor in which books get to be put on the GCSE line-up is how they are written, and in fact, the rich language used is something that all of my GCSE texts have in common, which I love. However, after that first reading, I came away disappointed- the book was not what I had expected at all. Another resilient young woman, Jane Eyre values her freedom and independence and has an extremely strong conscious.

A serious well written YA novel exploring the nature of heroism, set in post WW2 USA but managing to retain a timeless quality. What happened to some of them, the pain they had to endure (only half the time self-inflicted or deserved) was indeed horrible and tragic. Character upon character had to go through crises, often holding him- or herself quite well through their strength and/or wit. Matilda is one of our favorite heroines because she embodies all of us with her passion for books. Plus—she has powers that are pretty awesome. Fry's wit and erudition come together nicely to make one of the most accessible accounting of a large handful of Greek Heroes I've had the pleasure to read. Perhaps better than Hamilton, definitely better than Bullfinch, but perhaps not quite as bright as Ovid, these are, however, punctuated with Fry's charmingly dry wit and panache.I wasn't expecting any of that. The synopsis won't give you a hint of the depth behind the main character's reason for wanting to kill his childhood hero, and it really got me. We learn how Nicole and her family gradually withdrew from life in Frenchtown before moving away for good, when Francis recalls meeting with Norman Rocheleau during the war, and learns how they left suddenly. The writer creates an atmosphere of mystery around the Renard family when Norman says, All kinds of rumours about her, Francis, and continues, She was like... A hermit. Then she was gone. Her and her family. Left Frenchtown without telling anybody.

In particular, the final chapter was wonderful. It was actually magical. I was just blown away by Fry's description of why he loves these myths, and their importance to him, and why they should be key to our lives. It was amazing, and really summarised everything that Fry can bring to his story. After learning about the exploits of the Primordial Beings and Olympian Gods in Mythos, we now follow their mortal offspring, the Great Greek Heroes. Celie becomes a strong woman after being abused and oppressed throughout The Color Purple. Her new independence inspires us.

To all the NHS heroes who’ve worked tirelessly at the front lines throughout the COVID-19 crisis, we want to say a huge, heartfelt thank you.