28 January 2012

Book review/Recensione: Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi, *****

Recensione in italiano di seguito!

Synopsis

Wise, funny, and heartbreaking, Persepolis is Marjane Satrapi’s memoir of growing up in Iran during the Islamic Revolution. In powerful black-and-white comic strip images, Satrapi tells the story of her life in Tehran from ages six to fourteen, years that saw the overthrow of the Shah’s regime, the triumph of the Islamic Revolution, and the devastating effects of war with Iraq. The intelligent and outspoken only child of committed Marxists and the great-granddaughter of one of Iran’s last emperors, Marjane bears witness to a childhood uniquely entwined with the history of her country.


22 January 2012

Book Review: Why Men Don't Listen and Women Can't Read Maps, by Allan and Barbara Pease, ****

Synopsis
The classic international bestselling book. Allan and Barbara Pease spotlight the differences in the way men and women think. Boys like things, girls like people. Every boy wants to be in a gang, and wants a gun; every girl has her best friend, with whom she shares her secrets. Men want status and power, women want love. It's amazing, he concludes, that they can ever live together...

21 January 2012

Book Review: What the Chinese Don't Eat, by Xinran, ***

Synopsis
Since June 2003 Xinran has been writing about China in her weekly column in the Guardian. She has covered a vast range of topics from food to sex education, and from the experiences of British mothers who have adopted Chinese daughters, to whether Chinese people do Christmas shopping or have swimming pools. Each of her columns inspired letters and questions and more opportunities for Xinran to shed light on the culture of her native land. What the Chinese Don’t Eat collects these pieces together for the first time to give one unique Chinese woman’s perspective on the connections and differences between the lives of British and Chinese people today.

12 January 2012

Book Review: The Skeptical Environmentalist, by Bjorn Lomborg, *****

Pollution in the Maldives
Synopsis

Lomborg, an associate professor of statistics in the Department of Political Science at the University of Aarhus and a former member of Greenpeace, challenges widely held beliefs that the world environmental situation is getting worse and worse. Using statistical information from internationally recognized research institutes, Lomborg systematically examines a range of major environmental issues that feature prominently in headline news around the world, including pollution, biodiversity, fear of chemicals, and the greenhouse effect, and documents that the world has actually improved. He supports his arguments with over 2500 footnotes, allowing readers to check his sources.

05 January 2012

Film Review: Windtalkers, by John Woo, **

Synopsis
US Marine Nicolas Cage--with a scarred ear and a fed-up look--is given the job of looking after Navajo Adam Beach, whose complex language is the basis of a code being used to fool the Japanese in the Pacific during World War II. His orders are to protect not Beach but the code, (including orders to kill Beach if it looks like capture is imminent) which makes for an uneasy progress from hatred-at-first-sight through growing respect to agonised male bonding.

Recensione Film: Windtalkers, di John Woo, **

Sinossi
Durante la seconda guerra mondiale, l'esercito americano decide di usare il linguaggio degli indiani Navajos per codificare i messaggi segreti così da impedirne la decodifica da parte dei giapponesi. L'esercito giapponese a sua volta decide di catturare dei soldati Navajos per usarli come traduttori. Gli americani, venuti a conoscenza del fatto, assegnano ai Navajos dei marines come guardie del corpo, con l'ordine di ucciderli in caso di pericolo. Il film narra l'amicizia tra il soldato navajo Ben Yazzie e il sergente dei marines Joe Enders, che dovrà mettercela tutta per non far cadere il suo amico nelle mani dell'esercito nipponico evitando però la soluzione estrema.