Amelie från Montmartre - Film

Amelie är en väldigt ensam tjej vars mamma dog vid en ung ålder och pappan endast var nära henne när hon skulle undersökas, eftersom han är läkare. Eftersom det var enda gången som hon kände av sin pappas närhet så slog hennes hjärta snabbare och han antog att hon hade hjärtfel och fick inte gå i skolan på grund utav detta, istället så undervisar hennes mamma henne hemma eftersom hon var en lärarinna. När Amelie blir gammal nog så flyttar hon hemifrån till en liten lägenhet och börjar att jobba på ett kafé.

Amelie är från början en väldigt ensam och avståndstagande tjej som har svårt att släppa in någon i hennes liv. Samtidigt så verkar hon vilja hjälpa människor och det gör hon efter att hon hittar en gammal låda i lägenheten, letar upp ägaren och lämnar tillbaka den. När hon ser hans leende så förstår hon att hon vill börja hjälpa andra lite mer.

Under filmens gång så ökar hennes tillit för andra lite mer och hon träffar en kille, Nino, som hon börjar gilla och försöker få hans uppmärksamhet men är för blyg och gömmer sig. Hon utvecklas inte speciellt mycket under filmens gång men i slutet så kommer hon ändå öppna sig lite mer än vad hon annars brukar.

Filmen en romantisk komedi från Frankrike. Jag ger den 2/10 eftersom den är väldigt svår att begripa och den är inte speciellt rolig att se på heller eftersom den är så mystisk och annorlunda på sitt sätt. Det är definitivt inget jag skulle kollat på i vanliga fall.

Harold and Maude - Film

Harold and Maude handlar om en kille som är runt 20 års åldern som gillar att leka med döden och gå på begravningar. Hans mamma verkar väldigt disträ och självupptagen, allt hon verkar vilja att Harold ska göra är att gifta sig och gör allt i sin makt för att hitta en bra blivande fru. Efter att Harold träffar Maude, en 79-åring som verkar älska den mörka sidan av världen och livet, precis som Harold, så börjar livet låta lite mer lockande för honom. De två träffas på en främlings begravning och snart får de en oväntad vänskap som testar gränser.

Filmen är en svart komedi, det är lite svårt att komma in i Harolds tänkande och hans sätt att leva på. Han verkar gilla den mörka sidan i livet, den med död och livet efter detta och föredrar att vara ensam. Genom filmen så ser man klart och tydligt att han ändras och blir allt gladare och det är tack vare Maude som också upplever en oväntad glädje i Harolds sällskap.

Jag tycker att filmen var lite oväntad, det är ingen film som man ser ofta. Jag personligen hade inte valt att se den här filmen i vanliga fall men på något sätt så är den ändå bra eftersom att den visar att man kan hitta en viss glädje och vänskap i de svåraste tiderna i ens liv.

Jag skulle nog ge den 3/10 för att den är väldigt svår att förstå och ibland är det svårt att hänga med i vad som händer, annars är den väldigt långsam och onödigt utdragen men man skrattade ändå lite åt några scener.

To Kill A Mockingbird, last entry

The authors language in this book was a bit hard, based on the fact that she writes it like they talk in the southern and I guess that it was a bit difficult and challenging because I'm not used to read or hear that. Sometimes I had to read the dialogs out loud to be able to understand them but it wasn't very often. For an example, on p.206: "I told'ja I hollered'n'kicked'n'fought-" that sentence took me a while to read and fully understand.

The book was a bit slow in the beginning and I didn't understand much of it when they mentioned Jem's broken arm in the first sentences but it all became clear in the end of it. Like I mentioned, it was a bit slow the first hundred pages because not much happened that I found interesting but after that a lot of events occurred and it started to get better. After almost 200 pages I couldn't wait to read more because of how exciting it was.

The main conflict of this book was, in my opinion, how the colored people and how everything unfamiliar was treated at that time. That's where I connect the on-going trial and all the speculations of Boo Radley, the trial is about a colored man and Boo Radley is unfamiliar so they are both treated and handled in the wrong way. The trial should've ended differently and they shouldn't have been talking so much about Boo Radley to make him look like a maniac when he in fact just seems lonely and scared.
     The book is written in the perspective of a child and the way everything seems to her. You can follow the story by reading about everything that happens around her and how she grows up and matures with it. I think Scout acted more grown up than she should have. She is way to young to go to trials, worry about her father and brother, deal with the rest of the kids talking about her father and how all the adults around is trying to form her to something she isn't. While the main conflict was going on I think I found a smaller one along with it, one about a child trying to fit in by being her and not acting or dressing in a certain way to please everyone around her.

On p.249 Jem says: "There's four kinds of folks in the world. There's this ordinary kind like us and the neighbours, there's the kind like the Cunninghams out in the woods, there's the kind like the Ewells down at the dump, and the Negroes." Then he explains how they all hate each other, the ordinary folks hates the Cunninghams, the Cunninghams hates the Ewells and the Ewells hates the Negroes.
     I don't think that something like that is valid in Sweden today at least not what I can come up with immediately. I think that all of that hate, families in between, isn't that valid in todays society at all.

Atticus is always able to see the good in others and maybe the reason is because of all that he went through. Maybe he was being judged to fast as well and didn't want anyone else to experience it and that's why he always could look past the bad in people and focus on the good. When you read the book you can notice that unknown people are judging him, by the way that they threat Jem and Scout in school, because as soon as he's up to defend Tom Robinson, everyone starts talking about him and judging, saying that he did something bad.

The theme of this novel is fiction because it's realistic, it's easily something that could happen in real life and something close to it was happening in the 1960's.
     The message is how wrong it is with racism and to judge anyone based on looks or previous actions instead of getting to know them and then judge. The Tom Robinson case shows you really clearly how strong racism was at that time, and unfortunately still is in big parts of the world, and the way that Atticus was treated when he had that case shows that no matter how kind you are to others, there will always be people there to judge you on all your actions. It also shows how hard it was for a child to grow up at that time with a lot of questions that was answered differently depending on who you asked and what they considered to be wrong and right.

To Kill A Mockingbird, 2nd entry

On p.99 Atticus said to Jem, ”...but remember it’s a sin to kill a Mockingbird” and that line is connected to the title  of this novel. On the next page, 100, miss Maudie explains why, ”Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don’t eat up people’s gardens, don’t nest in corncribs, they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it's a sin to kill a mockingbird"

     When Atticus shot the mad dog, Tim Johnson, both Scout and Jem were surprised about how good their father shot without aiming and even if his glasses had slipped off so he couldn't see well enough, he shot it  perfectly and hit. They asked around and found out that their father was called One-Shot Finch when he was younger but he wasn't proud of it, of killing anyone so that's why he never told them about it. 

     On p.148 Atticus was talking to Jem and Scout and said, "It's no time to worry" I found that quote interesting because he tells them not to worry but at the same time he seems to be saying that they should be worrying soon because of something that is about to happen. Also on p.176 he was talking to miss Maudie and said, "They hafta try him in public, Miss Maudie" and then continued with, "Wouldn't be right if they didn't" that quote shows how smart and kindhearted Atticus is, that he wants to give everyone a fair chance.

     The similarities between the both churches' that the church for the white ones is only for them, no one with dark skin color is accepted enough to go in and the other way around when it comes to the church that the black people attends. 

     Atticus comes out as a man with a strong authority that wants everyone's best and it's not often that he gets mad at Scout or Jem. Scout stops fighting everything and everyone, slowly she starts to understand that not everything can be solved with a fist fight no matter how much she wants it, it shows clearly that she starts to grow up in that way. Jem on the other hand, starts to get more and more irritated when it comes to small things, like when Scout wants to play something with him because he just had his twelfth birthday and thinks that it's childish to play with his younger sister in the garden. At the same time it gets tougher for him when it comes to hold his anger back when someone insults Atticus. In this entry you can also find out that Calpurnia, their housekeeper, can read which is very strange with the thought of that she's not white and has never gone to school before, but Atticus and her other boss teached her to read and write and she later also teached her son, Zeebo. 

     On p.173 Atticus says that every mob is made up by people you know. I think he wants to tell them, Jem and Scout, that even people they know can't be trusted with the fact that they will turn against you. When Atticus was threatened by the mob, Scout ran up to him and saved the situation with a little speech that left everyone speechless  for a while before leaving Atticus alone.

     I think that Tom Robinson and Atticus will win the case. Because during the trial on page 206 you realize that Mayella, the victim of the rape, starts to change her story and gets very nervous and when Atticus asks her if her father maybe hit her when he was drunk and blamed Tom Robinson instead, she gets quiet for a while, glancing at her father a few times. I think that is enough to understand that they made up this whole story and blamed Tom just so her father would get out of trouble for hitting her and hurting her pretty badly. Also the fact that they didn't get a doctor to her immediately shows that they've made up the whole case and blamed someone who happened to be black and would get in to trouble for it no matter how many times he objects and tries to prove his innocence or how much proof he got. 

To Kill A Mockingbird, 1st entry

The story is set around the 1930s and it takes place in Alabama, Maycomb County.
    Jean Louise Finch, also called Scout, is the younger sister to Jeremy Finch, also called Jem. Their father is called Atticus, their mother is dead and they have a maid, Calpurnia, also called Cal. They also have a friend that is in Maycomb every summer that is called Dill. Then there is their uncle Jack Finch, Aunt Alexandra and cousin Francis.

It seems a little unusual with the thought of Boo Radley. He just seems so odd and I do not think that someone like him have ever existed in reality. Otherwise it seems true to life and, it is a really down to earth story about the 1900s and how different someones life would be based on their skin color.

Scout is the narrator and she is the youngest in the family. Even though she is a girl, she likes to act like a boy, play the same games, use the same language and dress like them which everyone think is weird and not okay, beside of Atticus and Jem.
    Jem is the older brother that likes to be kind of rebellious and is pretty much obsessed with the Boo Radley story and wants to figure out as much as possible about him. He also have theories about everything and everyone that seems a little unusual.
    Atticus is a lawyer. He never want to school but knows a lot and want his children to be down to earth, not judging anyone based of what other thinks and says and to be true to who they are. He is one of the few that does not judge anyone because of their skin color which was really weird at that time and that made a lot of people to talk bad about him.

I think that Scout will grow up, drastically, throughout the book and tell the story through the eyes of an older and more mature, girl. I think so because on paige 98 it stood, "...it was not until many years later that I realized he wanted me to hear every word he said", so she will grow up and understand more about how Atticus sees the world and maybe see it in the same way.

Under jorden i Berlin av Friedrich Strindberg

Under jorden i Berlin handlar om två judar, Herbert och Lotti. De bor i Berlin under andra världskriget. De är två av väldigt många judar som håller sig undangömda från Gestapo. Lotti och Herbert rymmer i sista minuten genom en källarväg när Gestapo tänker deportera dem. Trots att de helst vill hålla ihop så går det inte. De måste vara på två olika ställen och det slutar med att Lotti uppsöker en gammal vän och gömmer sig hos henne. Herbert å andra sidan flyttar runt från ställe till ställe för att inte väcka uppmärksamhet. Men efter ett tag så stannar han på ett ställe lite längre än någon annanstans. Där får han väldigt mycket hjälp och börjar lita på fler människor och själv hjälpa andra judar.
   Man får läsa om hur livet är för de judar som håller sig gömda i Berlin och inte deporteras eller flyr utomlands. Hur de försöker fortsätta leva ett så vanligt och säkert liv som möjligt trots omständigheterna.

Jag tänkte väldigt mycket på att vi egentligen inte vet hur det var för de människor som stannade i Berlin. Man brukar oftast bara höra talas om de som deporterades och var i koncentrationsläger. Den här boken gav mig en riktig tankeställare. Det kanske inte var lika illa för de som hade klarat sig undan koncentrationslägren men de hade det i alla fall ändå väldigt väldigt dåligt.

Jag tycker att det är en stark och gripande bok. Om man bara tänker på själva berättelsen som skrivs. Dock så kunde författaren ha med fler miljö- och personbeskrivningar eftersom det hade gjort den mer levande på ett sätt och lite roligare att läsa. Jag rekommenderar boken för de som gillar lite äldre romaner som har med andra världskriget att göra.