VI. Make up your own dialogues on one of the following topics:
a) Speak about your friend’s private collection of books and ask him to lend you an interesting book.
b) Persuade your friend to read the book you like the best / one of the modern bestseller.
VII.That’s what five teenagers told us about their favourite books. a) Read the texts and pick out words and phrases which can be used: a) to describe a character of a book, b) to describe the plot of a book, c) to characterise reading habits.
If you had to spend the rest of your life on a desert island with just one book for company, which book would you take?
| Cindy
The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
This is my favourite book because it’s so funny and original. Normally I hate science-fiction novels because they’re so serious and the people in them always seem completely unreal. Well, in The Hitch Hiker’s Guide there are lots of scientific ideas, but the characters are important, too, and what’s even better, they’re incredibly funny. Sometimes I even had to stop reading and close the book because I was laughing so hard. I don’t remember ever doing that with another novel. I liked it so much I just didn’t want it to end.
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| Rachel
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
This nineteenth-century classic is about a woman who’s married to a boring politician, then leaves him when she falls in love with an army officer called Vronsky. What she wants is an exciting new life. What happens in the end, though, is that she’s rejected by society and loses everything. Tragic? Yes, I suppose Anna Karenina is a tragic story, but it’s so beautifully told and Tolstoy makes the people seem so real that it’s not at all depressing...just dramatic and verymoving.
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| Bella
Hollywood Wives by Jackie Collins
I’m not much of a reader, to be honest. Usually prefer to watch TV or go to the cinema. This book was great, though... I couldn’t put it down. Basically, the story’s about a group of rich, glamorous people in Hollywood... their lifestyles, relationships, and so on... which is a complete fantasy for most ordinary people, but so what? After all, literature doesn’t have to be serious and depressing to be good. I think a lot of people are really snobbish about books. They criticise authors like Jackie Collins because what she writes isn’t ‘art’. Well, who cares? Only a minority of people want ‘art’ – the rest of us just want to be entertained, and that’s why Hollywood Wives is my favourite book...
Carl
The Dead Zone by Stephen King
I’m a big fan of horror stories and this is simply the best one I’ve ever read. It’s got everything – lots of action... amazing ideas... weird characters… great dialogue... Plus, of course, it’s very, very frightening. My mum and dad don’t understand why I like horror stories so much. Well, it’s hard to explain, but maybe the best way is to compare it with riding on a roller-coaster. It’s a great way to get all the excitement of danger without actually being in danger... you know what I mean?
Believe me, if you haven’t read The Dead Zone, you don’t know what terror really is!
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| Mario
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
I first discovered these stories when I was about twelve and I’ve loved them ever since. They’re brilliantly written, full of bizarre crimes and they’ve got a terrific Victorian atmosphere. When you read them, you really feel like you’ve been carried back to nineteenth-century London.
All the twentieth century detectives like Miss Marple and Inspector Morse seem really boring compared to Sherlock Holmes. That’s where Conan Doyle is so clever. He really makes you believe that Holmes is unique – a genius with amazing mental powers.
Normally I only read detective stories once. I mean, why read them again when you know what happens in the end? With the Sherlock Holmes stories, though, it’s different. Each time I read them I discover more and more to enjoy.
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b) If you had to spend the rest of your life on a desert island with just one book for company, which book would you take? Why?
